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When you think of scary animals, what comes to mind? Maybe lions, hippos or snakes? But you might be surprised to know that the world's deadliest animal is actually a lot tinier...
Mosquitoes cause around a million deaths every year, according to several sources. The blood-sucking creatures are among the many things lurking in the animal kingdom that we should not underestimate.
People have been sharing the most terrifying animal behaviors and facts in response to a viral TikTok video. And many might make a great horror scene. From bees making honey out of meat, to crows having the ability to hate people, Bored Panda has put together a list of the most spine-tingling stories about all God's creatures, great and small. Feel free to refer back to them before your next stroll in the woods or swim in the ocean!
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#1
Manatees don’t have a defense mechanism other than swimming away so don’t panic if you see one approaching you. It’s literally a water potato
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#2
This is finally getting more widespread: Dogs don't operate on an "alpha" or "dominance" model like wolves. Wolves don't even act like that. All of it was made up from one study done on one small wolf group in captivity.
Virgil Blue 5 months ago
And the guy who did the original study repealed it himself after he learned about new evidence, and not only that, he is actively trying to dispelled the myth that is now used by so many toxic gurus. That's scientist behaviour.
#3
Crows can hate you. they remember and recognize faces and voices. they can also like or love you.
#4
Birds like ravens and crows can sound exactly like humans, I think story’s of skin walkers and voices in the forest could be birds mimicking their fav sounds
Nikki Sevven 4 months ago
Someone in my neighborhood has one of those old car alarms that makes a series of different annoying noises. Also in my neighborhood, a mockingbird who mimics the car alarm sounds. All of them.
#5
Cats amygdala is nearly the same size as a humans. We have the same emotional range
#6
Rats make amazing companions based on the fact they are affectionate, litter-trainable, intelligent, cuddly, caring, clean, and energetic. 🐁🐀 -Sincerely a rattie owner 💕
#7
Surprising no one with this but Polar bears hunt humans. They are ABOVE us on the food chain. And the reason you always see them so calm around humans is because they are actively hunting them. They will hunt people for days and weeks on end, even following different cars and stalking outside facilities. They don't care if you run because they KNOW they will eventually catch up.
#8
Bears can pause their pregnancy... if it has become time for hibernation and they have not stored enough fat but are pregnant, they pause the development of baby till next hibernation
#9
Crows will fiercely defend anyone who feeds and befriends them and that can be terrifying when they’re in a big flock. They also learn attack commands with surprising ease.
#10
Dolphins are intelligent enough to be capable of genuine malice and actual evil. Just like humans.
Family's_disappointment 5 months ago
Yeah. Saw enough videos to know they're actually far more worse than dolphins.
#11
Touching an animals/birds babies will not cause them to abandon them. it’s a myth to keep children from touching wild animals
#12
There’s a slime mold that’s so effective at navigating through mazes to find nutrients that it first grows randomly and then reorganizes itself to find the most efficient way to grow towards the nutrient in the maze. They designed a maze replicating the Tokyo subway system leaving nutrients within the maze that corresponds with major cities and let the mold grow. It ended up redesigning the subway system and showing the most efficient routes between the cities, the mold does not have a brain or any nervous system whatsoever, just cells with some sort of memory system somehow.
Wild Cream 4 months ago
I’ve read about this, it’s actually so cool. Need to find the most efficient way between point A and point B? Slime mold’s got your back.
#13
Mantis shrimp has the fastest/strongest punch than any animal. So much force that it boils the water around it when it punches
#14
Sloth hands work opposite to ours. They have to exert energy to open their “fist” and relax to close it. This is how they can hang from trees while they’re sleeping and not fall off.
BeesEelsAndPups 4 months ago
I'm fairness, a relaxed human hand is neither completely open nor completely closed.
#15
Not particularly scary but my dog rapidly developed dementia and it was like a switch flipped & he became EXTREMELY aggressive towards us. We could not even walk in the house w/o getting viciously attacked. I had no idea it could happen to dogs
#16
It's not a surprising fact, but the ability that mountain lions have to sound like screaming women has gotten to me a few times. Being in the wilderness and hearing it was terrifying
#17
Orcas, whales, and dolphins have many different cultures and languages across different pods and geographic locations in the same way that humans do.
Foxglove🇮🇪 4 months ago
I've heard of one dubbed the loneliest in the sea, because he sings in a different wavelength and none of the others understand him. Ah, here is the Wikipedia entry: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/52-hertz_whale
#18
Humans are more sensitive to petrichor than sharks are to blood in the water.
#19
When a butterfly or moth is in the cocoon/chrysalis they completely dissolve and reform. And they still have memory of being a caterpillar when they come out.
#20
We're not sure how big an anaconda can get. every time we've had an estimate it's around 3-4 years then we find one that's bigger than the estimate.
#21
A couple primates, elephants, a few whale species and biological female humans are the only mammals that experience menopause. That extends life up to ten years after our male counterparts, leaving us available to teach and support our younger females.
superfluous 5 months ago
Thank goodness! (the part about menstruation ending - not so sure about the waiting to teach/support until beyond reproduction)
#22
Modern apes are still evolving. some chimpanzees in the wild have been seen using spears to hunt with, and orangutans have been seen using spears to fish with. there is an argument on whether they are going into a stone age timeline or not
#23
The "ugly" blobfish actually looks normal when it's in its natural environment near the ocean floor. The pressure change when its brought to the surface causes it to collapse from the inside out.
#24
Spiders can learn your routine and when your routine changes that’s why you see them
#25
Seagulls, vultures, crows and other carrion birds won't wait for you to die before they start eating you, they'll just wait until they think you can't move anymore, then they start with the soft parts like the eyes
#26
Vulture bees make honey from meat, rather than nectar. Their hives look like a mass of tumors.
#27
There are over 300 types of zombie fungus and due to global warming they are becoming more resilient to higher temperatures
#28
Many animals like some bird species, whale species, dolphins, can pass down hate genetically. Which is why we saw the rise in Orcas flipping boats!
#29
Humans used to just follow their prey for days until the prey died of exhaustion because humans have an amazing endurance and other animals need more rest.
Harry Gondalf 4 months ago
Kalihari Bushmen do this even now. In college I saw a documentary about Bushmen tracking and killing a giraffe; took them a day and a half. We humans can run down just about any prey animal because we sweat to cool off. Sure, a deer or horse can run faster, but but they overheat and must rest. And that's when the human arrives.
#30
Not scary, but scientists claim that Elephants have the same reaction to us as we do puppies. They think we're cute! But you have to wonder if they get the cute aggression too?
Captain Kakapo 5 months ago
False. Not all elephants, but only baby elephants. And not to puppies but to any living thing as baby elephants are naturally curious and well protected, so they explore with little to no fear. Later (when turning into adult animals) they will learn that people are a-holes and will became less exited
#31
River Otters have a bite force of a Rottweiler
Becky Samuel 4 months ago
A famous wildlife presenter in the UK (Terry Nutkins) lost two fingers to an otter bite as a teenager. He was working with the otter when it turned on him suddenly.
#32
Hyena birth is a horror movie in and of itself.
superfluous 5 months ago
"What makes the female hyenas so interesting is that they do not have a typical vaginal opening" https://a-z-animals.com/blog/hyena-birth-what-makes-it-so-unique/
#33
Moray eels have about the same bite force as an brown bear💀
VikingAbroad 5 months ago (edited)
When an eel has a maw, with a pharyngeal jaw, it's a moray./ When it sulks in the reef, and has two sets of teeth, it's a moray./ When an eel bites your thigh, and you bleed out and die, it's a moray.
#34
The T. Rex had amazing eyesight with binocular vision- meaning not only could it see for miles, but if it was looking at you, it’s looking AT you
#36
Animals can see our skin marks, we actually have tiger like patterns in our skin. imo this would explain why cats see us as giant cats
#37
Most cats are lactose intolerant so that whole thing about milk being their fav that we learned from old Disney movies and tom and jerry isn't true.
Ace 5 months ago (edited)
Some cats do indeed like milk and cream, a la T&J. And many are not particularly sensitive to it, those that are mostly just getting a slightly upset tummy, perhaps diarrhoea, if they ingest a significant quantity. One of ours, Jack, who was not sensitive to it, used to get cream on a regular basis, as he was on liquid meds twice a day for the last two or so years of his life, so this was the easiest way to dose him. We started him with lactose-free cream but eventually just used ordinary UHT stuff, had the advantage of last for ages. Anyway, he used to get perhaps a couple of tablespoons worth every day. IMG_202104...ba188c.jpg 
#38
There are more ants on Earth than any other animal. Estimated to be about 20 quadrillion ants.
#39
Corvids have been seen using tools. 🐦⬛ some as simple as placing rocks to raise water levels to using more complex like a branch as a fulcrum.
#40
RATS DIDNT CAUSE THE BLACK PLAUGE!!! The dang fleas and lice did. AND they are naturally very clean animals, despite popular belief to the contrary.
Ace 5 months ago (edited)
I do hate it when people confuse The Plague (especially when they can't spell it) with The Black Death. The latter was one specific pandemic that killed up to half of the population of Europe over a five year period. But there were a number of other significant outbreaks through history, just not as well-known. Anyway, rats were implicated because the fleas that carried the disease lived on them, so yes, they were very much a part of the cause.
#41
There’s an isopod that severs the tongue of fish and effectively becomes the new tongue to the fish while feeding off of its blood and mucas
#42
We are one of the few groups of animal to lose our ability to synthesize our own vitamin C. our fruit-dependent primate ancestors didn't need to make their own, and it ended up being lost and deactivated in our genome. scurvy is the result of our ancestors reliance on fruit.
#43
Chipmunks feed on newborn rabbits. Squirrels will eat hatchlings and bird eggs. Deer eat grown nesting species hatchlings and will snack on birds caught in mist nets if researchers don’t get to the site fast enough. Disney lied.
#44
Worms don’t come to the surface when it rains because they love water, they come to the surface so they don’t drown as all the water pockets in the soil get filled with water
The danish woman 4 months ago
And to get the worms out of the ground, birds "tap dance" to imitate rain hitting the ground
#45
Bats aren’t blind, hippos cant swim, peanuts aren't a nut, camels don’t store water in their humps
#46
Narwhals are REAL CREATURES. they're not like aquatic unicorns, those things are real and swimming in our oceans with their SEVENTEEN FOOT HORNS
#47
Fox cries can sound like a woman screaming or baby crying. Same with cats that are fighting.
Nope 4 months ago
Cats fighting have produced some sounds I would have sworn were not possible for an animal to make. Especially right before they finally decide to scrap. Can almost forgive ancient folk for thinking they were the spawn of hell. (also, in the morning, when my cat jumps on my head while I'm asleep...definitely hell spawn behavior)
#48
Some jellyfish can revert themselves back to babies. meaning some jellyfish can live indefinitely until something eats them.
#49
Tarantulas have retractable claws like cats 🥰
#50
Komodo dragons dig up graves to eat human corpses. You’re also advised against visiting the island if you’re on your period or else they’ll track you down thanks to the smell
#51
a manatees skeleton is what humans would look like as mermaids
#53
There’s a parasite called the Guinea Worm that gets up to 800mm long and crawls its way out of your feet
#54
Chameleons don't actually camouflage into their environment like they do in media, but rather change different shades of green or sometimes yellow when stressed. (A bright green if happy!)
#55
Rats can grind their teeth so intensely it wiggles their eyeballs in their skull, it's called boggling and it means your rat is happy. and in some cases distressed, but mostly happy
#56
Woodpeckers have a naturally long tongue, so the back of it curls up around the skull protecting their brain while they work their 9-5s
Becky Samuel 4 months ago
Debunked. The tongue does curl up around the back of the skull, but only for storage reasons. The mechanisms for protecting the brain are entirely different.
#57
Out bodies are covered in tiny skin mites that eat majority of our dead skin and if we didn't have them we would all be really flakey. a symbiotic relationship if you will.
#58
Snail teeth (I think sea snails especially?) are considered the strongest natural material known, spider silk is second place. I didn't even know snail had teeth!
#59
There’s a fly that can smell a dead body from a mile away, in just three minutes of the person dying.
#60
electric eels aren't actually eels
Foxglove🇮🇪 4 months ago
They are knife fish, Scientific classification closer to carp or catfish
#61
That like 80-90% of the ocean is unexplored and there’s large species under there we have never, and will never see. But they’re there, and that’s why the ocean gives me the heebs
RiceRiceBaby 929 5 months ago (edited)
That and the depths. I would never swim out in the ocean. I would never scuba dive 😖
#62
Bulls don't see red. They charge the movement of what they perceive as a threat
#63
lions scavenge more than hyenas do hyenas eat their prey alive after running after it until it collapses. they will tear at any soft tissue they can get to, including the rear. hyenas can bite straight through bone
Lynne Hammar 5 months ago
I saw a documentary years ago about hyenas - I still remember that their testosterone levels are so high, they sometimes eat their siblings at birth 😫
#64
Frogs aren't capable of vomiting so if they eat something they shouldn't have they throw their stomach out of their mouths and wait for it to empty before swallowing it again
#65
Alligators are technically immortal and usually only die due to conflict, disease, and lack in food to support their ever-growing size
Sara Shamsabadi 4 months ago
a dumb way to explain that they don't age in the same way so many other species do but ok sure go with immortal.
#66
horses sync their hearts. so if one senses danger it will sound their heart rate and warn the others
#67
Sometimes animals with Rabies will actually act overly friendly and timid. It’s called lethargic rabies I think
#68
Also don’t hold rats by the tail as they have the ability to “deglove” aka lose the skin of their tail as a desperate attempt to escape
Panda Cat 4 months ago
Hey! That sort of happened to me. An SUV hit me while I was riding my bike and pulled off the end of my finger. The surgeon told me it had been degloved and wouldn’t reattach correctly. I really miss that finger. It was my left pinky finger. If you lose one you find out that they’re all pretty necessary, especially if you’re a flutist.
#69
Humans don’t come from monkeys. We both come from the same ancestor who there’s hardly any information about and we took different paths
#70
The Tarantula Hawk Wasp immobilize Spiders with their sting and drag them to their Lair where they Lay a Egg that eats the spider Alive(it avoids the life preserving Organs. and the Spider is still feeling everything).
#71
Some moths drink tears of big animals (e.g. cows), and scientists are not sure what's the purpose of it, but the fact is that only MALE representatives of spieces do this. I find it very poetic and horrifying at the same time. It's called lachyrophagia.
#72
OMG YES! So. Hummingbirds don't have receptors to taste sweet like we do. They actually have a mutated umami (savory) receptor that responds to sugar. So nectar tastes like MEAT to them.
Fellfromthemoon 5 months ago
Right and wrong at the same time. According to the labbeled line pathway theory, if the information triggers the same part of the (sensory part of the) central nervous system, the sensory response will always be the same. Also, the umami and sweet receptors are closely related. In other words, if the hummingbirds feel the umami on the same receptos as the sweetness, then the two tastes are identical.
#74
clown fish were born male then turns female when there's no female is around so in finding nemo, Nemo's dad's purpose on finding nemo is to find nemo to mate with him since they're the only clownfish there and no females
#75
Hamsters eat their own [poop] 🫶🐹
#76
Horses can tell whether a human has good or bad intentions. That’s why even the “craziest” horses are usually so gentle with children, they can tell they mean no harm, that they’re fragile.
#77
When Penguins in the South Pole were discovered by people they behaved so terribly that researches wrote about them exclusively in Latin so the general public wouldn’t be able to find out that they were deviants.
SleepyPoppet 5 months ago
This may be somewhat incorrect. A Google search only turns up descriptipns of how one researcher, Dr George Murray Levick, coded some of his observations about the sexual behavior of Adélie penguins using the Greek alphabet in his personal notes.
#78
Butterflies don’t have the chemical receptors in their brain that would allow them to get “high”. This is the only insect that does not possess cannabinoid receptors. 😁 Love this one
#79
Snakes have legs! Well, old world snakes like pythons and boas do. They have vestigial hind legs that look like little claws or “spurs” near their cloaca.
Lynne Hammar 5 months ago
I am outraged that BP didn't censor c****a. This is a family platform!
#80
Bears don't actually sleep all winter long. Lemmings do not usually follow each other off of cliffs.
#81
Dragonflies stomachs are directly connected to their brains: making them the most efficient hunters on the planets with a 96% success rate. They are eating their prey before they have had the ability to process what’s going on.
#82
Cats are biologically programmed to forget who their families are. It's not "I'm cleaning my baby" to them it's just "ugh your dirty and you aren't insufferable."
#83
Wasps remember faces
#84
Scientists found that octopuses actually have really unique DNA, and one big theory they have for this is that their DNA could have been potentially brought here by an asteroid. Not very scary, but definitely interesting lol
#85
Butterflies will choose blood over nectar. Butterflies.
#86
Our fat cells are more closely resemblant to marine mammals fat cells in comparison to land mammal fat cells. We're more closely related to salmon than a salmon is related to a tuna.
#87
Sharks have an organ to sense electricity so they always know where you are and can feel your heart rate to know if you’re scared
superfluous 5 months ago
Feel your heart rate to know if you're scared? They can tell the difference between scared and exertion? Does 'scared' exist for a shark? Why would a shark care about scared? Does the food taste better flavored with scared?
#88
Manatees go to the ocean to die alone because they don’t want to pass away in front of each other
#90
Parasitic Wasps Turn Caterpillars into Bodyguards. Some wasps lay eggs inside caterpillars. After the larvae hatch and crawl out, they don’t kill the host. Instead, the half dead caterpillar stays alive and acts like a zombie bodyguard.
#91
Recent bug was discovered called the bone collector caterpillar! It builds a nest out of a bunch of different bug corpses!
#92
Koalas carry chlamydia. Armadillos carry syphilis
#93
The theory on how we can hiccup!! When our early ancestors were evolving out of water to live on land, we developed lungs as well as our existing gills. We later dropped our gills because we chose to stay on land, but a semblance of the ability to switch between gill breathing and lung breathing remains. So when the diaphragm contracts, we hiccup! my fav evolutionary tidbit ever!!
#94
Goldfish don’t “grow to the size of their tank,” the outside of their body will stop growing due to stress of being in too small of an environment, while their organs continue to grow.
Sylvia Baker 4 months ago
Goldfish do not strictly grow to the size of their tank, but their growth can be influenced by it. They can self-limit their growth based on their environment, which means that if kept in a small tank, they may not reach their full potential size. While common goldfish can grow to about 10 inches, stunted growth can occur in smaller tanks or poor water conditions. Therefore, while tank size is not the only factor, it plays a significant role in the overall growth and health of goldfish.
#95
There are 5ft tall bats in Madagascar. I can’t even imagine seeing a FIVE FOOT TALL bat!!
#96
The inside of a pig and the inside of the human body look almost the same except for the acing of the intestines...
#97
The harpy eagle. the largest predatory bird on earth , more than likely hunted humans at one point. that's why in Greek mythos there are creatures such as the Stymphalian birds, a roc , harpies and sirens. ( sirens are two creatures of the same name. one looks like a mermaid the other a harpy ) there is always some truth to myths , whether we like it or not. otherwise myths would not exist. for example dinosaurs were once thought to be myth not fact. and look how that turned out.
superfluous 5 months ago
And Aliens!!!! They are in myths and depicted in art! Wait, maybe we are misinterpreting? Nah! It's aliens 👽
#98
Eels have a second jaw that comes up out of the inside of their mouth to drag their pray down their throat
#99
Hyenas and other animals have been documented eating their own organs after severe injuries: The pain makes them delirious and they panic, destroying any chance of survival.
#100
Elephants can hear the clouds move
#101
When fishes hit a hard surface above land it’s extremely painful. Their whole life is spent on in the softness of water.
#102
Piranhas are actually a pray animal and only eat dead stuff. Hollywood made them seem like savages but there not
#103
Squirrels have the same amount of rods/cones in their eyes as we do - meaning - technically speaking they “see” the same as we do… Think about that next time one is staring at u & ur looking at it
Becky Samuel 4 months ago
That's nonsense. This doesn't take into account the types of visual pigments that determine what colours we can see, the level of ultraviolet protection offered by the cornea (surprisingly high in humans), or the fact that a lot of what we see is controlled by post-processing in the optic nerve and brain.
#104
Grasshoppers turn into locusts when they’re starving, and they don’t just eat crops - they eat EACH OTHER.
#105
If your dog is very old and it runs away, it died. dogs will try to run away from their owners before they pass away so they don’t have to see their body
Bookworm 4 months ago
BS. Individual dogs might do this but it's not true as a whole. They're just as likely to turn to their people for comfort and protection. That's what every single dog I've had has done. And if they're elderly be a responsible owner and keep them close for their protection. Don't give them a chance to run off.
#106
Cows lay down before a big storm because the change in barometric pressure gives them a tummy ache 😭
VikingAbroad 5 months ago
Cows are herd animals. They lie down because they want to. And when one does, the rest follows. It is a wife's tale that it has anything to do with barometric pressure.
#107
We do know where all the eels come from, but we do NOT have any fking idea why THERE, or HOW TF THEY REPRODUCE
Becky Samuel 4 months ago
Eels are not a single species. This applies only to a single species.
#108
Axolotls live in groups and if they can’t find food they will eat each others limbs because they know they will regenerate the limb back
Becky Samuel 4 months ago
They 'know' nothing of the sort. The inhibition against cannibalising their siblings may have been lowered by evolution, but this has nothing to do with mental awareness of the facts.
#109
Humboldt Squids. Every single thing I learn about them is TERRIFYING. Like, for example, they hunt in packs of up to 1000… They have so many human k*lls under their belt, it’s insane.
#110
Rams don't headbutt against a tree because they're shedding but because of a mental illness (don't know which, tho) they can't she'd like deers because their horns are pure bone and have no tissue on them
#111
Koalas have human fingerprints so when they’re near crime scenes, they don’t investigate. Which causes many cold cases.
Foxglove🇮🇪 4 months ago
Not sure that's quite true. Koalas do have human-like fingerprints and it is difficult to impossible to ascertain if a particular print is human or koala, but I doubt police "don't investigate" such cases.
#112
There's a slug(?) that takes over it's hosts brain and uses its body, basically possessed/zombie
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Susie Elle 5 months ago
(Nearly) All female mammals have a clitoris. Dogs, cats, horses, cows ... Kind regards, my ADHD-hyperfocus
Becky Samuel 4 months ago
And female hyenas have extra-large ones that are indistinguishable from the male pénis. They then have to give birth through it, which is exactly as physically traumatic as it sounds. Hyenas are tough.
Load More Replies...
Uncle Schmickle 4 months ago
There's more BS in this than you can shake the proverbial stick at !
Don Adams 4 months ago
There is a small fish in the Amazon River, the Candiru. It is one of the most feared fish in the area. While very slender and small, it is attracted to the scent of urine in the water, and will swim up the urethra of cattle, or humans. Once inside, it will extend it's fons, and the spines will puncture tissue and lock them in. Treatment is not pretty, often amputation of the tallywhacker.
Susie Elle 5 months ago
(Nearly) All female mammals have a clitoris. Dogs, cats, horses, cows ... Kind regards, my ADHD-hyperfocus
Becky Samuel 4 months ago
And female hyenas have extra-large ones that are indistinguishable from the male pénis. They then have to give birth through it, which is exactly as physically traumatic as it sounds. Hyenas are tough.
Load More Replies... Uncle Schmickle 4 months ago
There's more BS in this than you can shake the proverbial stick at !
Don Adams 4 months ago
There is a small fish in the Amazon River, the Candiru. It is one of the most feared fish in the area. While very slender and small, it is attracted to the scent of urine in the water, and will swim up the urethra of cattle, or humans. Once inside, it will extend it's fons, and the spines will puncture tissue and lock them in. Treatment is not pretty, often amputation of the tallywhacker.
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