Flight and defensive behaviors of wild black rats (R. rattus) in response to nonpainful threatening stimuli were examined before and after regional amygdaloid lesions. Striking disruption of flight was found following damage to all major amygdaloid regions. In contrast, reduced defensiveness was most consistently associated with damage to cortical and, perhaps, central nuclei. The diffuse organization of flight behavior may result from extensive modality-specific cortical afferents to the amygdala and the varied provided by naturalistics threats. The more restricted representation of defensive attack may have resulted from diminished responsiveness to vibrissal stimulation mediated by medial and dorsomedial amygdaloid structures.