What would you imagine a poisonous animal to look like? Is it brightly coloured to warn people away from itself, or is it like a snake or scorpion? These ten creatures you are about to see are none of those things and while they don’t look poisonous in any way they really are deadly…
Komodo dragon
Komodo dragon
They might look big and scary, but their bite and whipping tail should be the least of your worries. While they have a powerful bit anyway it is the deadly bacteria in their mouths that will really cause you problems.
Hooded pitohui
Hooded pitohui
This happy, bright looking bird hides something deadly under its feathers in the form of high-amounts of batrachotoxin. In fact, it is such a high amount of scientists still today have not idea how the birds manage to stay alive!
Maned rat
Maned rat
It might look like a porcupine, but it is an East African rodent at heart. But this rat is not poisonous, doesn’t have any poisonous glands, but what it does do is chewing off the bark of a tea that is full of toxic venom and rub itself all over the sap making the rat itself unable to its prey.
Duck-billed Platypus
Duck-billed Platypus
This creature is loved by a lot of people, but what you might not know is just how poisonous it really is. They have keratinised spurs located on the hind limbs that are connected to the venom-producing crural glands. During the mating season, these glands become highly active and produce deadly amounts of venom
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Hedgehogs
Hedgehogs
Even I have picked up and handled many Hedgehogs, but what I didn’t know is they anoint their spines with a range of toxic and irritating substances that can kill some toads, but have also been knowing to cause illness in humans as well.
Common quail
Common quail
They might look like cute, fluffy birds, but these common quail are also known to be toxic and able to cause coturnism (muscle cell breakdown) in some humans. This is mostly down to the poisonous berries they enjoy eating.
Slow lorises
Slow lorises
How can this lovable mammal be poisonous? Well…it might look cute and huggable, but you might want to avoid doing that because they are known to produce 142 volatile components in their saliva glands meaning a single bite from them can cause you to suffer severe illness and even death!
Common Vampire Bat
Common Vampire Bat
If you think being bit by one of these large bats would be the biggest problem you need to think again. These bats produce toxic saliva with anticoagulant (commonly referred to as blood thinners) properties. This means just a few bits could mean you bleed out till you pass away!
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Spur-Winged Goose
Spur-Winged Goose
You might enjoy seeing these birds down the local pond, but they sequester poison in its tissue meaning anyone trying to eat them or even bite them will become quite ill. This is one bird you won’t see on any menu.
Pebble Crab
Pebble Crab
Most crabs are pretty safe to eat, but not this one. Called “xanthid crabs” they have two of the most lethal natural substances known to man (saxitoxin and tetrodotoxin) and they are both located in their muscles and egg masses.
Source Used…
- https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Komodo_dragon_with_tongue.jpg
- https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lophiomys_imhausi.jpg
- https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pitohui_dichrous.jpg
- https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ornithorhynchus_anatinus.001_-_Natural_History_Museum_of_London.JPG
- https://www.nps.gov/fiis/learn/nature/bats.htm
- https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Spur-winged_goose_(Plectropterus_gambensis).jpg
- https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lumpy_Pebble_Crab_-_Paraxanthias_taylori_(3140576656).jpg