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Should’ve known you couldn’t trust ‘The Assassin Bug’

42 Animals You Would Not Have Wanted to Bunk Up With on the Ark

August 19, 2024

The Pacific striped octopus does that thing where it taps you on the opposite shoulder so you look the wrong way. Seriously!

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GRACKED.COM Male topi antelopes often trick their mates into having more sex with them by staring and snorting at non-existent predators. That way, the females will be tricked into staying longer in the males' territory. They don't warn their romantic rivals, though. Even though there is an actual predator behind them. — Source

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The Assassin Bug A crafty insect that preys on spiders using such dastardly methods as plucking on a spider's web so it thinks a small insect is caught and then striking when the spider comes close enough. They're also known to physically dismantle webs to get to spiders on windy days, so the spider doesn't notice the vibrations. CRACKED.COM — Source

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CRACKED.COM Male bluenose dolphins have been known to forcefully mount other males to assert their authority while others in the same groups take fertile females away. — Source

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42 Animals You Would Not Have Wanted to Bunk Up With on the Ark — Source

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The boxer crab holds a sea anemone in each of its claws and uses them as actual stinging boxing gloves. If it loses one of its anemones, the crab tears the remaining one into two parts, which then regenerate into a new pair. It's a rare case of one animal inducing and exploiting the asexual reproduction of another. CRACKED.COM — Source

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CHIMPANZEES ARE VERY THOROUGH IN HUNTING TERMITES. CRACKED.COM Before sweeping a termite nest with a fishing stick, chimps run the fishing stick through their teeth, giving it a rough, frayed edge that catches more termites. — Source

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New Caledonian Crows can catch prey hidden under leaves. They shape leaves with barbed edges into a tool for pulling out tasty bugs from underneath fallen leaves. CRACKED.COM — Source

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Some caterpillars disguise themselves as a pile of bird poop to seem less appetizing. Studies show birds are less likely to go after poop-colored caterpillars that are curled up rather than ones that are elongated. CRACKED.COM — Source

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Humpback whales team up to catch fish in 'bubble nets' by using 180dB calls and swarming around shoals. They blow air around the fish to prevent dispersion and then swim through the 'bubble net' and devour their prey. CRACKED.COM — Source

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Drongos use their deception skills to imitate the sound of a predator or the alarm calls of a species. They've been observed to follow meerkats with their food and sound false alarm calls to scare them away and steal their food. CRACKED.COM — Source

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42 Animals You Would Not Have Wanted to Bunk Up With on the Ark — Source

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Cuckoos lay their eggs in other birds' nests and leave them to do the hard work of bringing up their offspring. Cuckoo chicks have also been documented pushing the original eggs out of the nest. CRACKED.COM — Source

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Since sharks become paralyzed when turned belly-side up, orcas ram them in the side to flip them over when they hunt them. This suggests that orcas know a little something about shark biology. CRACKED.COM — Source

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CRACKED.COM The Margay cat of Brazil's rainforest has been known to mimic the sounds of a baby Pied Tamarin in distress. Once the other Pied Tamarins come to investigate, the Margay launches a swift and stealthy attack. — Source

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Pissed off ONE crow? Prepare for a lifetime of crow attacks. Crows don't just hold grudges. They pass on their anger to their friends and teach their young ones to attack the specific person they're mad at. The result? Multiple generations of angry crows attacking you. CRACKED.COM — Source

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CRACKED.COM Some moths emit a siren-like noise to jam bats' echolocation as they hunt. Some moths also mimic bats which 'freeze' nearby females with fear, so the males can mate with them. — Source

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Male peacocks sometimes make fake sex noises CRACKED.COM to attract more females. By convincing females they are more sexually active, the male seems like a more attractive mate. — Source

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TICKS CAN SECRETE SMALL AMOUNTS OF ANESTHETIC SALIVA TO PREVENT YOU FROM FEELING THEM ON YOU. CRACKED COM — Source

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42 Animals You Would Not Have Wanted to Bunk Up With on the Ark — Source

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When squirrels find food to be stored for later, they carry it tucked inside their cheeks while searching for a place to bury it. If a squirrel knows it's being watched, it will dig a hole but pretend to spit the food in, covering the hole with debris as normal before running off in search of privacy. CRACKED.COM — Source

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42 Animals You Would Not Have Wanted to Bunk Up With on the Ark — Source

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CRACKED.COM Sharks can track the position of the sun and often hunt with the sun behind them. This is so they can mitigate sun glare that may obstruct their vision while hunting and conceal their approach. — Source

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When certain species of spiders want to pack up and take over new lands and resources, they use a process called ballooning They climb to a high point, spin a few strands of silk, catch some air and float away. Some have even traveled hundreds of miles overseas Mass ballooning events have led to horror scenes like this field in Australia, taken over by spiders and cobwebs CRACKED.COM — Source

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THE SPIDER-TAILED HORNED VIPER LURES ITS PREY WITH A SPIDER-LIKE APPENDAGE CRACKED.COM — Source

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Killer whales have a clever technique to hunt seals that take refuge on ice. They will wave wash them by swimming in unison towards the slab of ice, creating a huge wave that can knock their victims off balance. CRACKED.COM — Source

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By staying still, opening its mouth, and twitching a worm-like appendage in its tongue, an Alligator Snapping Turtle tricks fish and frogs into approaching its mouth. CRACKED.COM — Source

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Elephants have learned how to evade electrified fences. CRACKED.COM When hungry for a meal, elephants have been known to tiptoe over fences, one leg at a time, to escape enclosures and freely hunt for food. — Source

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Male cuttlefish can be really sneaky when they want to steal someone else's female. They will get between the couple and disguise half their body as a male to attract the female and the other half as a female to make the unsuspecting husband think that it's a girls' night out. GRACKED.COM — Source

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Neurophysiologists discovered wild rodents enjoy running on hamster wheels placed in the woods. CRACKED.COM Some activists pre- viously believed the running was neurotic behavior due to con- finement. — Source

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All pigs are full-sized. CRACKED.COM Alleged teacup pigs are typically underfed to be- come smaller pigs. Breed- ers then take the smaller pigs to reproduce even smaller ones and then sell them as pets. — Source

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In Siberia, a 42,000 year-old foal was found fully intact in the frozen ground. CRACKED COM Researchers have been able to remove liquid blood from the baby horse's heart vessels in an attempt to clone it. — Source

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A researcher studying wolves in Wisconsin found that auto collisions with deer are reduced by 24% when wolves are able to colonize. GRACKED COM Wolves don't al- ways kill deer, but the deer have a fear response to roam- ing wolves. — Source

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In 2014, a basset hound named Yo Yo was allowed to stay on campus at Cambridge University despite the rules. CRACKED.COM After meeting with the college council, the dog owner was told Yo Yo would classify as a very large cat. — Source

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Domestic cats can jump up to five or six times their height on average. GRACKED.COM In human terms, this is the equiva- lent of a 6-foot-tall person jumping be- tween 30-36 feet in the air. — Source

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Only about 50% of dogs in training to become official service dogs pass testing. CRACKED.COM In 2018, South Korean scientists successfully cloned DNA material of qualified service dogs so they would pass efficiently. — Source

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Czech scientists studied red foxes to see which direction they jump in to catch mice. GRACKED.COM Red foxes jumping in a Northeastern direction caught mice almost 73% of the time as ор- posed to jumping in other directions. — Source

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In 2015, scientists studied dwarf goats to see if they could track down uncooked pasta when hidden. CRACKED COM Multiple times, in several different locations, the dwarf goats suc- ceeded in sniffing it out. — Source

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In 2021, a black-footed ferret named Elizabeth Anne became the first endangered species in the U.S. to be cloned. CRACKED.COM An identical animal's DNA that had been frozen since 1988 was used. The 33-year-old frozen ferret's name was Willa. — Source

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Reindeer and caribou are both in the deer family. CRACKED COM In North America, they're called caribou when in the wild and reindeer if domesticat- ed. They are called reindeer only in Eu- rope. — Source

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European magpies passed a scientific test that proves when animals are able to recognize themselves in a mirror. CRACKED.COM The magpie ex- periment proves the birds have high cognitive abilities. — Source

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In 1997, a poacher named Vladimir Markov shot and injured a tiger. GRACKED COM After 12-48 hours, the tiger tracked down Markov's cabin, demol- ished everything, and waited patiently by the front door to kill him. — Source

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Prairie Dog Language is Insanely Complicated. CRACKED.COM Prairie dogs have a compli- cated animal language sys- tem. Scientists discovered and decoded specific names for objects in their environment, and distinct alarm calls for individual predators. — Source

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5 Inventions That Their Inventors Refused to Patent for All Our Sakes