Weirdest, scariest, creepiest animals

Lampreys and hagfish.

Jerusalem crickets.

Banana slugs.

Western red-backed salamanders.

Another vote for lampreys.

Rabid wolf spiders.

Cockroaches.

Earwigs

Snakes x 10

Surinam toads. The hatchlings leave the female's body by burrowing out through holes in her back. I feel itchy all of a sudden.

Please, don't even ask about traumatic insemination in bedbugs.

Not sure if this is beautiful or gross.

Komodo dragons: ugly, creepy, and vicious

Another vote for cockroaches. I can't stand 'em.

But really large insects freak me out as well, like the weta of New Zealand:

Human Beings. Particularly those in politics.

The Anglerfish attracts his prey with his light then eats them alive.

Another vote for wolf spiders. Tarantulas. Any and all snakes.

There's a difference between looking ugly and being dangerous. Except for spiders (and Trump), I don't find any creatures to be truly ugly. It's only sensible to be afraid of dangerous critters and there are many of those -- some fairly ugly, such as alligators (and Trump) -- some beautiful, such as tigers. But I don't get OP's antipathy for harmless stick insects who look like twigs, & porcupines (who won't hurt you unless you threaten or hug them, and who look cute).

My favorite "creepy" critters are lizards, especially bearded dragons when they smile!

Ghost bats are hideous.

(Before you rush to F&F me for insulting someone so hung, please take note that he’s also uncut.)

It may not be strange in other circumstances, but I saw a small creature coming towards me on the sidewalk and I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. My mind couldn’t accept that I was seeing a scorpion, in the midwest. I’ve only seen them in zoos and I thought they only lived in the desert.

Gay Republicans.

R14, the scorpion may have hitched a ride in a traveler's luggage -- or some fool may have acquired it as a pet and it escaped. In Brazil, scorpions have been moving into urban areas due to climate change, but the American midwest isn't that bad yet.

I’ve been bitten by earwigs. They're nasty.

But I’m going to change my answer and side with R7. I saw komodo dragons at a zoo and they are scary looking. The stuff of nightmares.

I kinda look like someones great Uncle Louis , ugly but cute

Goannas, the pretty, charming lizards of Australia

Another vote for Komodo dragons

Centipedes!

That scaly thing that they say caused the covid virus. I can't remember the name and had never heard of it before. Disgusting and prehistoric looking. I cannot believe people eat that shit! Leave it to the Chinese. They eat their fucking dogs for fuck's sake!

Any kind of spider, alive or dead.

Komodo dragon saliva is not only poisonous, their mouths are filthy from eating meat that's been lying in the tropical sun for days and days. So they kill their prey by biting it, and following it around for days while it dies slowly from toxins and sepsis from an infected bite. '

Did you ever see the episode of "Crocodile Hunter" where Irwin went to Komodo Island, and was chased around by Komodo dragons who wanted to kill him? He'd stand in trees, gazing adoringly down at the monstrous lizard, and coo "Oooh, he wants to eat me!" like he was playing with a kitten that was trying to bite his fingertips. Gawd, he was a nutter.

R22, do you mean the pangolin? It's just a kind of anteater -- only about a foot to a yard long, covered with scales (similar to an armadillo), poor eyesight and no teeth. I think they're cute!

Pangolins are very cute, totally harmless, and horribly persecuted and killed for crackpot Chinese medicine.

The bugs have *cute* faces when you zoom in on them lol. It is all the legs, claws and antennas that are off-putting.

I can't believe no one has mentioned the aye-aye of Madagascar.

The aye-aye is adorable. Did you know they are the only venomous primate in the world?

Not true, R29. You're thinking of the Slow Loris.

The poor Aye-Ayes have a bad reputation; natives think they're an ill omen, and tend to kill them whenever they find them.

#1. Any spider that is large, hairy or runs and jumps. #2. scorpions. #3. wasps. #4. predatory sharks. #5. meth users. #6. drunks and drunk drivers.

Please welcome to the stage: SLOW LORIS

Flying roaches make me scream.

Pangolins make me not want to eat artichokes.

Possums. I know they are harmless but they make my skin crawl.

Oyster toadfish

R22 r25 r34: Pangolins are unique and fascinating creatures. They are also the most heavily trafficked mammal in the world. China has finally banned commercial sales of the meat and scales, which are used in Chinese traditional medicine (i.e., hocus pocus bullshit but if you say that you’re anti-China’s death culture of killing and eating anything you can).

Grubs

You have to ask?

Pangolins are very fascinating animals: they are the closest living relatives to carnivores.

Eric Trump

Witchetty grubs. Considered a taste treat by the Australian aboriginies.

Here's Prince Charles enjoying Australian hospitality, and being offered a nice witchetty grub as a snack.

No, really!

The scariest, creepiest animal I ever saw was while hiking in the California desert.

......

Yet another vote for goannas. Especially the 2.5 meter bugger sleeping in the middle of the track you're trekking on, who opens one eye, looks at you and thinks "Ahhh, lunch has arrived".

(It may help to remember that goannas run at an average speed of 20 km/hour.)

r41, don’t be mean to the mole rat.

OMG, so many!

Armadilloes, which to me look like giant insects

Slugs

Te giant snails with the long necks I see my French neighbours happily collecting after every rainstorm

Cane toads

Palmetto bugs - giant flying cockroaches

Scorpions

Blobfish

Stonefish

Nutria - giant water rats very common in Europe

House centipedes

I don't see how that anglerfish gets any action at all.

Sea Spiders

Salamanders with sticky, moist bodies.

Basket starfish

The Vampire Octopus's scientific name is not actually "vagina dentata", it's "vampyroteuthis infernalis". Latin for "vampire squid from hell".

[quote]Cane toads

How could anyone not love this face???

I saw a Nutria stuck in a tiny pen at a sideshow, being billed as the World's Largest Rat.

Poor thing.

All due respect to our friends Down Under, but you guys have some really freaky wildlife.

Nutrias are everywhere in the swamps of Louisiana.

House Centipedes

Ahhhh!! Like a demon straight out of hell

r58 Don't kill 'em, they eat all manner of household critters: roaches, spiders, bedbugs, pillbugs, ants et al. They remind me of tiny golden lobsters without a shell.

The hideous Goosefish, which can get up to five feet long, capable of swallowing ducks and geese whole.

The fearsome looking, but otherwise harmless, Hickory Horned Devil caterpillar:

House centipedes are incredibly scary and freaky, and incredibly big. They can run so fast... I once saw one on the wall and my first thought is dear god, don’t let the cat see him and knock it off the wall because it will come running straight at me. Sure as shit, two seconds later....

Dead animals, I have a phobia of dead animals.

Most types of insects. Too many legs and too many of them bite or sting.

Not at all scary looking, but.....weasels. They're bloodthirsty killers. My nearest neighbor is a dog breeder. There's forest behind our houses. A couple of summers ago, he had his dog and her puppies in an outdoor pen because of the nice weather. The pen is behind his house. At some point one evening, a weasel entered the pen and killed the puppies by biting their throats, also attacked and bit the mother, but she survived.

I don't like moles with their exploded faces.

R62, I had a house centipede actually go after one of my cats, chased him a bit down the hallway. I wasn't going to kill the centipede but at that point I didn't really have any choice.

Kill the centipede! KILL IT!!!

Ahem

During times of pandemic, do you ever think about long it takes a centipede to wash its hands?

The thing.

[quote]My favorite "creepy" critters are lizards, especially bearded dragons when they smile!

Aww, bearded dragons are cute, as evidenced by Roxy in the GH threads. They're like the dogs of the reptile world.

Ladybugs

Gaboon viper...

The quokka. Creepiness personified.

I have never heard of a quokka, but that little rodent in the pic is adorable.

Giant Coconut crab (see the 4 minute mark)

Shaun King. If Rachel Dolezal maintained a huge devoted following, she'd be Shaun King.

Here's a coconut crab!

And you thought raccoons getting into your garbage cans were bad!

jellyfish, all kinds of toads, sea cucumbers

R79 that is a monster 😱 almost looks like a facehugger

Axolotls are creepy af, but also oddly fascinating. The albino ones remind me of fetuses

I feel that you need to hear my testimony.

R82 could have been the end of my development. That pale fetus could have been the last photo you ever saw of me. All glory to Jesus for touching my mama’s heart and making her run from that Filipino abortionist like she had just seen the face of Satan himself — or something even worse, like a vagina. Eeee! And that’s how I was saved.

Fat whores of Datalounge rejoice, for I am risen!