Animal encounters

Dangerous animal of the month—assassin caterpillar

by admin on July 11, 2011

in Animal encounters, Read

Assasin caterpillar. Photo courtesy craigandstephsvacations.blogspot.com

It may not stalk and kill people on purpose, but in its caterpillar stage, the giant silkworth moth (lonomia oblique) has caused hundreds of human deaths in South America. Commonly known as the “assassin caterpillar,” its back is covered with hundreds of tiny, detachable venomous spines. When someone accidentally brushes against this otherworldly-looking creature (which likes to hang out in groups on tree trunks), the poisonous spines lodge in their skin, causing massive internal bleeding, kidney damage, and sometimes death within a matter of hours. The incidence of human contact with the caterpillars is on the rise, and their range seems to be increasing. Brazilian scientists have developed an antivenom that stops the damage—if it’s administered quickly.

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Dangerous animal of the month—Hispianolan solenodon

by admin on May 31, 2011

in Animal encounters, Read

Photo courtesy www.news.bbc.co.uk

Perhaps it doesn’t have the star quality of a hulking predator like a bear or a tiger, but the large, shrew-like Hispianolan solenodon has something else: the ability to inject venom into its prey through its teeth. The odd-looking solenodon, which is found only in Haiti and the Dominican Republic, shambles through the forest at night looking for insects. Why it needs dental venom to capture insects is anyone’s guess. Researchers think the solenodon’s dental venom delivery system is the last known example of a trait that many ancient mammals possessed. Scientists would like to know more about this extraordinary creature, but deforestation and hunting by dogs, mongooses, and humans have all taken their toll on its population.

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Dangerous animal of the month—shocking pink dragon millipede

Animal encounters

As the list of endangered animals around the world grows, it’s easy to forget that there are creatures out there that have never been officially catalogued or even photographed. In the past decade or so, more than a thousand new species have been documented in Southeast Asia. One of the flashiest—and deadliest—is Thailand’s shocking pink [...]

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Dangerous animal of the month—tarantula hawk

Animal encounters

Among wasps, there is a curious subset of predators called spider wasps that stalk and kill spiders for a living. The kingdom of spider wasps is ruled by the orange-winged tarantula hawk, whose preferred prey is—you guessed it—the tarantula. The tarantula hawk inhabits the high desert regions of Arizona and New Mexico and is generally [...]

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Dangerous animal of the month—wolverine

Animal encounters

Wolverines, the largest members of the weasel family, have accrued a slew of nasty monikers over the centuries. But is the “Devil of the North” as dangerous as we think? It’s getting harder and harder to tell, because this rare animal is so elusive that wildlife photographers consider themselves very lucky to ever get a [...]

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Dangerous animal of the month—scorpion

Animal encounters

The scorpion has earned a dangerous reputation by virtue of its sharp, venomous stingers and disconcerting habit of sneaking into houses and tents in search of good nap spots. And its fearsome looks don’t help. But the truth is, this bad reputation is mostly hype. It turns out that nearly all of the known 2,000 [...]

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Dangerous animal of the month—saltwater crocodile

Animal encounters

Not only are Australian saltwater crocodiles huge (averaging 15 feet long and tipping the scales at 1,000 pounds), they are fantastic swimmers and are often spotted far out at sea. For those of us who thought sharks were the only gigantic, prehistoric killing machines in the ocean, this is a rude awakening. Depending on where [...]

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Dangerous animal of the month—king cobra

Animal encounters

Here’s an odd fact: though a king cobra’s venom can kill a human in 15 minutes, it can’t kill a mongoose. That’s because the mongoose has evolved high-tech defense systems in its blood that reject the snake venom. And what’s with the fancy name, anyway? Unlike other venomous slitherers, the king cobra hunts and eats [...]

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Book review—The Devil’s Teeth

Animal encounters

When a fascination becomes an obsession, things can get a little bit wiggy. That’s how it was for Susan Casey. In 1998, the New York-based journalist watched a BBC documentary about a “Sharkwatch” program on Northern California’s remote Farallon Islands that was revealing some startling new facts about great white sharks. Operating on a shoestring [...]

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Dangerous animal of the month—box jelly

Animal encounters

Who knew that jelly was dangerous? Actually, scientists have been trying for years to rebrand jellyfish as “jellies,” since they aren’t fish at all. These odd, transparent creatures live underwater like fish, but since they have no backbones they belong to the group of animals collectively known as invertebrates. They pulsate around the ocean mostly [...]

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