Animals that are culturally adorable but are actually dangerous

Message Bookmarked

Bookmark Removed

Antarctic seal kills snorkeling scientist

Damn. Was just thinking about how odd I feel whenever I read a story like this, and how all of childhood memories of learning about animals really has warped by perception of animal kingdom reality. Hippos are certainly worthy of mention, but what other creatures are like "awww" for everybody, but in real life, are actually very nasty and potentially fatal?

― donut bitch (donut), Thursday, 24 July 2003 23:37 (twenty-two years ago)

Koala's I believe.

― Leee (Leee), Thursday, 24 July 2003 23:43 (twenty-two years ago)

hippos really aren't dangerous, though? they're kinda dirty and smelly and slimy, and cause they're so fat it wouldn't be good if one toppled over on a person. but they're not really dangerous, i don't think?

bears are so obviously in the "culturally adorable but actually dangerous" category.

― Tad (llamasfur), Thursday, 24 July 2003 23:45 (twenty-two years ago)

Dude, I've heard hippos can physical maul humans and chase them for miles when provoked. That kinda qualifies as dangerous to me.

Bears have always been given a schizo treatment culturally. They are menacing monsters in the children's books of yore, but they have become more "cuddly" in public in recent times.

― donut bitch (donut), Thursday, 24 July 2003 23:48 (twenty-two years ago)

physically

― donut bitch (donut), Thursday, 24 July 2003 23:48 (twenty-two years ago)

platypussies

― electric sound of jim (electricsound), Thursday, 24 July 2003 23:49 (twenty-two years ago)

you do NOT want to facing down a hippo, the thought that they are not really dangerous will not come into your mind.

Having witnessed a hippo trample over our tent when i was a kid may have somewhat biased me though.

― H (Heruy), Thursday, 24 July 2003 23:49 (twenty-two years ago)

Pandas

― Prude (Prude), Thursday, 24 July 2003 23:55 (twenty-two years ago)

Hippos are ill-tempered brutes with vicious teeth.

― Leee (Leee), Thursday, 24 July 2003 23:59 (twenty-two years ago)

ill-tempered brutes with vicious teeth

that also sounds like yer typical british soccer fan!

― Tad (llamasfur), Friday, 25 July 2003 00:00 (twenty-two years ago)

squirrels

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Friday, 25 July 2003 00:06 (twenty-two years ago)

minks

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Friday, 25 July 2003 00:07 (twenty-two years ago)

bjork

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Friday, 25 July 2003 00:07 (twenty-two years ago)

cows and chickens have unsuspected nastiness.
So do keas, kakapo and nz bats.

― isadora (isadora), Friday, 25 July 2003 00:08 (twenty-two years ago)

dugongs

― electric sound of jim (electricsound), Friday, 25 July 2003 00:08 (twenty-two years ago)

hippos kill more people in Africa per year than any other creature on that continent. those jaws can literally bite people in half.

we have nasty creatures in oz:

koalas are notoriously bad tempered and like to scratch.
kangaroos tend to kick you in the guts.
the male platypus has a poisonous spur.
possums piss, shit, brawl, bite and scratch.

― Chris Radford (Chris Radford), Friday, 25 July 2003 00:11 (twenty-two years ago)

big furry spiders

― electric sound of jim (electricsound), Friday, 25 July 2003 00:11 (twenty-two years ago)

and aardvarks have really sharp claws for digging, right?

also, monkeys of all sorts.

but...

>hippos kill more people in Africa per year than any other creature on that continent<

Not more than mosquitos, I bet. (Think about it.)

― chuck, Friday, 25 July 2003 00:12 (twenty-two years ago)

i was not including insects but i take yer point chuck!

― Chris Radford (Chris Radford), Friday, 25 July 2003 00:13 (twenty-two years ago)

but the witchedy grubs don't harm no-one

― Tad (llamasfur), Friday, 25 July 2003 00:14 (twenty-two years ago)

Are woolly bear caterpillers dangerous? I forget. (They're definitely the cuddliest insects around, either way.)

I bet yaks, buffalos, and musk oxen have killed a few in their time.

And oh yeah, lots of small breeds of dogs belong here, too.

― chuck, Friday, 25 July 2003 00:18 (twenty-two years ago)

http://www.npsc.nbs.gov/resource/2000/cateast/jpgs/pyrrisab.jpg

They are cute li'l creatures. They look warm and fuzzy.

I suppose after that one virus scare we can name prairie dogs?

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 25 July 2003 00:20 (twenty-two years ago)

also, monkeys of all sorts.

And just about all other nonhuman primates. Michael Jackson's damn lucky Bubbles never went after him.

― j.lu (j.lu), Friday, 25 July 2003 00:27 (twenty-two years ago)

The Gulo Gulo wolverines!
so bouncy and fuzzy.. yet so deadly..

― Fabrice (Fabfunk), Friday, 25 July 2003 07:16 (twenty-two years ago)

http://www.arlington.k12.ma.us/penguinproject/_borders/leopardseal.jpg
http://www.judith-g-yaker.com/images/portfolio/color/tn/9658.jpg

― Pinkpanther (Pinkpanther), Friday, 25 July 2003 07:35 (twenty-two years ago)

i only found out about leopard seals recently and now they are my new found fav animal - they are huge and have huge heads and they catch jumping penguins straight out of the air - but above all i love the fact that they are great predators when that is the last thing you would expect them to be

― james (james), Friday, 25 July 2003 07:41 (twenty-two years ago)

http://www-aadc.aad.gov.au/common/images/animals/seals/leopard

― Pinkpanther (Pinkpanther), Friday, 25 July 2003 07:46 (twenty-two years ago)

http://www.yourexpedition.com/umbrella_images/a2_images/peninsula_gallery/005.jpg

― Pinkpanther (Pinkpanther), Friday, 25 July 2003 07:46 (twenty-two years ago)

Gareth

― Larcole (Nicole), Friday, 25 July 2003 14:21 (twenty-two years ago)

Hippos do not kill more people per year than any other animals. That accolade goes to water buffaloes.

― thoth (Jake Proudlock), Friday, 25 July 2003 15:08 (twenty-two years ago)

That seal looks very like Chris Moyles.

― thoth (Jake Proudlock), Friday, 25 July 2003 15:10 (twenty-two years ago)

killer whales.

i blame the "Free Willy" franchise for perpetuating the benign image. i was really fucking surprised, whilst watching a documentary, to see a killer whale beach itself in order to feast on baby seals. the horror. THE HORROR.

― Chris Radford (Chris Radford), Friday, 25 July 2003 15:16 (twenty-two years ago)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/olmedia/665000/images/_665336_free-willy-oregon_150.jpg

(oh my God Chris that's the most amazingly synchronistic x-post evah!)

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Friday, 25 July 2003 15:19 (twenty-two years ago)

Blimey!! that's a rather benign photo nick!! howsabout an enraged killer whale hungrily devouring a pup!!

― Chris Radford (Chris Radford), Friday, 25 July 2003 15:23 (twenty-two years ago)

or at least a whale with an erect dorsal fin! you know, a free willy.

― Chris Radford (Chris Radford), Friday, 25 July 2003 15:28 (twenty-two years ago)

even worse is when they take the seal out to sea and bat it around for pleasure - that shocked me to my very soul

― james (james), Friday, 25 July 2003 15:30 (twenty-two years ago)

Dude, don't knock it til you try it.

― NA (Nick A.), Friday, 25 July 2003 15:32 (twenty-two years ago)

Orca aren't the only ones that do that, dolphins of all sorts can be remarkably cruel (bottlenosed in particular).

― Leee (Leee), Friday, 25 July 2003 19:24 (twenty-two years ago)

i http://us.news1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/rids/20030722/i/1058836000.3825606779.jpg

― Paul Eater (eater), Friday, 25 July 2003 19:31 (twenty-two years ago)

Isn't that i thing supposed to work? Anyway:

http://us.news1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/rids/20030722/i/1058836000.3825606779.jpg

― Paul Eater (eater), Friday, 25 July 2003 19:31 (twenty-two years ago)

Put that bear on a popsicle stick!

― Leee (Leee), Friday, 25 July 2003 19:33 (twenty-two years ago)

I think we all overlooked the obvious...

http://www.kuci.org/~brianm/ile/dogvsferret_12.jpg

― donut bitch (donut), Saturday, 26 July 2003 02:11 (twenty-two years ago)

bees and hornets are dangerous because of neddle in ass

― Mike Hanle y (mike), Saturday, 26 July 2003 03:31 (twenty-two years ago)

i'd be afraid of anything with a ned in its ass

― donut bitch (donut), Saturday, 26 July 2003 03:38 (twenty-two years ago)

is that an angry ferret, donut?

― Chris Radford (Chris Radford), Saturday, 26 July 2003 05:33 (twenty-two years ago)

http://www.visi.com/~chiareli/photos/cats/vicious.jpg

― Dada, Saturday, 26 July 2003 05:34 (twenty-two years ago)

http://www.translucence.com/polarbear1095/images/polarbear061.jpg

http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~ex5t-fkd/index-p/gallery/p-bear-blood.jpg

― N. (nickdastoor), Saturday, 26 July 2003 11:50 (twenty-two years ago)

Isn't that i thing supposed to work? Anyway:

Yes, but you put a space in there.

― N. (nickdastoor), Saturday, 26 July 2003 12:23 (twenty-two years ago)

Half a cat vs. gareth's head FITE!

― Leee (Leee), Saturday, 26 July 2003 23:25 (twenty-two years ago)

Chinese girls in miniskirts and high heels!
http://www.prideofkorea.com/news/t_sleek3.jpg

― Jesus Greenberg, Sunday, 27 July 2003 01:37 (twenty-two years ago)

http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/2514/photos/suzukisarina6.jpg

Chinese girls in miniskirts and high heels!
Japanese not Chinese. Barefoot. Not highheels!

― Japman Caruthers, Sunday, 27 July 2003 03:20 (twenty-two years ago)

http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/2514/photos/suzukisarina6.jpg

― Japman Caruthers, Sunday, 27 July 2003 03:30 (twenty-two years ago)

Wanks!

― Japman Caruthers, Sunday, 27 July 2003 03:37 (twenty-two years ago)

four years pass...

Japman Caruthers

― Curt1s Stephens, Tuesday, 13 November 2007 03:30 (eighteen years ago)

tiggers

― electricsound, Tuesday, 13 November 2007 03:32 (eighteen years ago)

HUMMINGBIRDS why are you so ansty? why be such tiny, fast-metabloism assholes?

― Abbott, Tuesday, 13 November 2007 03:33 (eighteen years ago)

they are like the joe pescis of the animal kingdom.

― one love, Tuesday, 13 November 2007 03:35 (eighteen years ago)

I expected more pictures in this thread.

― Ivan, Tuesday, 13 November 2007 07:11 (eighteen years ago)

You must be logged in to post. Please either login here, or if you are not registered, you may register here.