Friday, April 4, 2008

Cute Little Creatures That Can Kill You in Minutes





(Artwork above by Jason Jacenko)

As if you don't have enough to worry about! Dark Roasted Blend has posted a list of some of the world's most dangerous (and easy to miss) creatures. These are the ones that you step on when you aren't paying attention--or end up under your bed sheets if you've made an enemy in the mob.

Take, for example, the venomous caterpillars of the lonomia genus (shown below). Native to South America, their exotic colors dazzle the eye and beckon young children to play with them. But the moment a human's skin brushes against the barbed hairs that cover the little beasts, a powerful poison is delivered into the bloodstream. It's said to kill dozens of people each year.




Check out the rest of the Dark Roasted Blend list here.

I was surprised to see that only one animal from Australia made the list. Aussies must contend with a wide range of deadly creatures, including the horrifying funnel-web spider and the lovely blue-ringed octopus. Heck, even the duck-billed platypus is poisonous, and you wouldn't want to mess around with any kangaroos, either! How DO you do it, guys?

18 comments:

Nellie said...

That's kind of sad. All those cute little creatures that can kill you.
*cries*

Nellie said...

Hazel just had a WONDERFUL!!!!!! idea! Get Jin Ai's permission to put her picture of Iris on t-shirts!!! Hazel has more brains than I give her credit for. lol

International Mastermind said...

Yeah- my cousin and her boyfreind were leaving their native home of Ireland to go to Australia together. (They ended up staying for a year after everything, passports, liscences and all, were stolen.) Anyway, we bought them an Aussie's Guide to Surviving the Outback. It actually came in handy when the boyfriend got bitten by a snake!

Patricia said...

I love the picture of the box jellyfish. They're such beautiful, graceful creatures.

Kitty said...

Kangaroos? I heard they taste good. XD

Anonymous said...

Funnel web spiders give me recuring nightmares (and they're alone in that catagory)...

Ananka: You should be happy to know that I chose underground cities for my End-of-the-Year report (I just hope they'll let me) !!!!!!

ananka said...

Nellie: You're so sensitive! Great idea, Hazel. Jin Ai? What do you think?

Kitty: Yes, they do. ;)

Anonymous: Cool! Let me know if you get the OK, and I'll fill your head with AMAZING information.

Raph said...

*sigh* Thanks for reminding me. xD
I do have a funny Australian animal story, though. I was camping in a rural area with my dad when I was about 8. We were cooking a humble dinner of what ended up as burnt sausages, when a wallaby hopped up to us. I immediately dropped the hot dog, fearing for my life (I was, and still am, a bit of a wimp) and hid under a bench. And when I returned, my meal and the creature were gone.

Jin Ai's picture would look AWESOME on a T-shirt. Or at least on the website where the other Irregular's pictures are. :)

Bohae said...

Sigh. It's always the innocent-looking ones...

Anonymous said...

wow. that is really amazing such small animals can kill. Even if its a small amount of poison. Kind of puts things in perspective...haha. Yeah Im freaked out now.

A-Ninny-Mouse said...

Yikes! Woulsn't want to go near them!

hania said...

la nature...
I've fed a knagaroo. They are sooo cute. Once, I joey came upto me and started eating from my hand. I patted it and it was so cute(i've said that, haven't I?)

Yes, Iris desereves a t-shirt. So does Jin-Ai.

Sekrit7 said...

I LOVE the pic of the evil mushrooms!

Anonymous said...

this is still on the subject of Horton Hears a who, but yesterday I was at the state GeoBee, and the final round was all boys! Also, my girl's soccer team shirt has a grown man playing soccer on it!
~spiffy

Anonymous said...

Ananka: Thanks! Pray they say yes!!! (but even if they don't I'll find some way to work underground cities in...heh heh heh...*plots menically*)

Patsee said...

"Patricia" is me, by the way. Oops.

Auralia Fire said...

I live in Australia and we don't just randomly get attacked by dangerous animals walking down the street. The answer for funnel webs is to stay away from places they like to live e.g don't just randomly lift rocks up but the point is funnel web spiders don't just hang out in the open. Secondly platypus's are so cute and they live in streams and rivers anyway so they are not widely seen in the wild as most Australians live within an hour of the coast therefore they are more likely to go swimming in the beach and also thirdly and most importantly and this applies to kangaroos as well (kangaroos are NOT dangerous) the animals usually run away when you approach or are scared off it is only in zoo's that you are able tp approach the animals without them running away and even then they do not attack you.

Lucy B said...

i ate a kangaroo once
not a whole one of course
that would just be silly
but it tasted like chicken (no joke)
btw can you wish my friend Dani a very happy birthday (finally she is a teenager) and i need some ghost help *eerie music* dundundunnnnnnnnn