BE AFRAID! BE VERY
AFRAID!
Halloween
is my daughter’s favorite holiday. When I was young, we had a blast dressing up
and collecting candy in pillowcases. Today, it seems to be a bit different. The
young people today really like to be frightened out of their wits. Haunted
hayrides, haunted houses, and haunted theme parks are all the rage. They’re all
in good fun ‘cause they’re not real. Thank goodness!
Real
life scary monsters do exist, and in honor of Halloween we’ll take a look at a of few of the scariest looking critters on the planet. Which one do you think is the most
frightening? Get back to me with your comments. I’d love to hear from you.
PHILIPPINE
TUBE-NOSED FRUIT BAT
(NYCTIMENE RABORI)
Nosferatu
(Dracula) has nothing on this little guy. This endangered bat is found, as its
name suggests, in the Philippines. It is endangered due to habitat destruction. I think this bat may require a separate post in the near future because it's just so interesting looking, and it's endangered. In the meantime, if you'd like to read more about
this very unusual bat, visit: http://www.arkive.org/philippine-tube-nosed-fruit-bat/nyctimene-rabori/image-G61900.html
THE SCOTOPLANES –
SEA PIG
Now that's crazy looking! It's got fangs and some strange growth coming out of its body. The Sea
Pig, which is a species of sea cucumber, lives in the deepest part of the
ocean. It can be found (or not, which is what I would prefer), in water more
than 19,000 feet deep. It is a mixture of frightening, ugly and
yucky. I’m not sure which word best describes it. They are not endangered.
There are plenty of them. Go figure! You can learn more about sea cumbers here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_cucumber
THE AYE AYE
This
little critter’s got issues. Is he ugly, or so ugly that he's cute? You be the judge. He just looks
horrific, but he is a harmless member of the lemur family. The only place that the ‘threatened’ Aye Aye is found is on the
island of Madagascar, which makes sense since there are a lot of unusual animals on
that island. I think that the weirdest thing about this animal is it’s
elongated finger, which it uses to tap on trees. The taping helps the Aye Aye
find insect larvae in crevices under the bark. That’s just not right!
To learn
more about the Aye Aye, go here: http://www.arkive.org/aye-aye/daubentonia-madagascariensis/
THE WOLFFISH (Anarhichas lupus)
Now that's a seriously scary fish! Even though they
look ferocious, this fish, which is also known as a wolf eel, is not aggressive
and does not attack people. Their teeth are the perfect tools for the fish, which hunts and eats hard-bodied sea animals like, crabs, sea urchins, and even large
sea snails. Wolffish are not endangered and live in the cold waters of the
Atlantic Ocean. To learn
more about the wolffish, go here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlantic_wolffish
I hope you've enjoyed reading our Halloween post about nature's scariest looking animals. I've certainly enjoyed compiling this small sampling. There are many weird looking animals. Perhaps we look real scary to them.
Have a
happy and safe Halloween. See you all next week.
Enjoy!
Jeanne
E. Rogers, Award Winning Author
The Sword of Demelza and The
Gift of Sunderland
Middle
Grade Fantasy Where Endangered Animal Heroes Roam the Pages!
