I used to feel so much safer in the solitude of the forest than near people.
As a child, I was taught that animals were more afraid of me than I was of them, making me feel somewhat bulletproof when it came to predators around me. But then I discovered that there are animals that eat people.
As I studied nature more and more, I learned about times when animals hunted people – and even hunted them.
So now I use a little more caution in the woods because I don’t want to end up as prey.
We will talk about what these animals are, where they come from and how they attack people.
And for good reason – they have sharp teeth that can easily cut your skin. Usually they eat livestock usually available where they live in Central or South America.
But they don’t discriminate – a bat will use echolocation to locate its prey and then use infrared senses in its nose to find a tasty blood vessel or artery near the skin.
According to pbs.org, a vampire bat will only take about a tablespoon of your blood, so you’ll probably be fine!
On the other hand, in 2010, children in Peru died of rabies due to the bite of a vampire bat.2.
They will crawl onto our bodies and feed on our blood for five to ten minutes at a time, then return to their hiding place. Although bed bugs have been known to eat people, their bites are rarely dangerous unless you get a rash or have allergic reaction.3.
Most species of leeches prefer to feed on fish rather than humans, but a hungry leech will happily latch on to you too! Leeches have very sharp teeth.
TigersBengal Tigers don’t usually eat people – but they can, and they sure have!
In the 1920s, a Royal Bengal Tiger became a serial killer of sorts, as it hunted down and ate at least 430 people in India.
This tiger, known as the Man-Eater of Champawat, even hunted people in their own homes.
Finally, a hunter was tasked with killing the tiger and removing the danger, says lithub.com.
Too little too late, as many people lost their lives to this man-eating tiger. Regardless of whether or not tigers typically eat people, it’s pretty scary to know that they can!5.
Lions Like tigers, lions rarely eat humans, although they will attack a human in their range.
However, in 1898, two lions killed and ate as many as 35 people in Kenya.
Scientists studied why these two lions, along with a third lion in Zambia, would have turned to humans for so many diets.
Typically, lions are more likely to eat buffalo and giraffes than humans. It turns out that these lions probably had dental and jaw diseases that made them want a softer, easier meal, like a human. So while you should be afraid. lions in the wild, you should be extra careful around lions with bad teeth if you don’t want to become their next meal!6.
WolvesI’ve seen wolves up close in the zoo, and I’ve heard them howl in the mountains where I’ve camped, but I’ve never met a hungry wolf.
And while wolf attacks on humans are rare in the United States, they can actually happen. In 2010, Candice Berner, an Alaskan teacher, was killed by two wolves.
In 2005, 22-year-old Kenton Joel was bitten and killed by wolves when he was walking alone in the woods.
According to nbcnews.com, children have been caught and eaten by wolves in India.
Although there may be 60 to 70,000 wolves located in North America, it only takes a few that have been habituated to humans to become lethal.7.
Hyenas We love to laugh at the crazy creatures in children’s movies, where they are depicted as evil but dumb animals.
But just because these animals seem funny to us, does not make them any less dangerous.
In fact, Hyenas are such incredible hunters that they can kill and eat people – especially smaller women and children. Hyenas have a reputation for being scavengers, but in reality, most of their food comes from hunting.
They can weigh close to 200 pounds and have a bite force of 1100 psi. If food is plentiful, hyenas are more likely to eat easy prey.
A hungry pack can easily knock down a person and devour them. 8.DingosDingos are a species of wild dog found in Australia.
The female has been known to kill the young of all the other females in the pack! In 1980, a baby was taken from her family’s tent where they were camping.
After years of public debate and imprisonment of the baby’s family, it was determined that a dingo had, in fact, taken and killed the baby.
Although dingo populations have declined and the animal is protected by law in Australia, they are wild animals and have been known to attack.9.
BearsIn Yellowstone National Park in 2015, a bear was killed for killing and eating a hiker.
Typically, bears do not hunt humans for food.
In general, a bear will only attack a person if disturbed or feels threatened.
The park has zero tolerance for man-eaters and has exterminated the bear.10.
We learned to coexist – giving him plenty of space and staying inside when he was around. But crocs aren’t the lazy, sun-loving creatures we think they are.
Instead, they are aggressive killing machines that will just as happily eat a human as anything else. Nile and saltwater crocodiles are the most dangerous of all.
In Uganda, a 16-foot crocodile is believed to be behind the deaths of more than 80 people between 1991 and 2005.
Crocodiles can cause up to 1000 attacks a year, according to wildexplained.com.11.
Alligators I remember the sad news in 2016 when a young boy was killed by an alligator at Disney World.
A few years later, an adult was attacked in Florida while playing frisbee, and although he was rescued, he later died. Like their crocodile cousins, alligators may seem lazy and complacent, but they can be aggressive and incredibly deadly. Alligator attacks are more. likely to occur in or near the water when it’s mating season or when an alligator is hungry or protecting its babies.
That said, never eat an alligator because feeding animals can cause them to lose their natural fear of humans.12.
Sharks The movie Jaws made many people suspicious of sharks.
And while most sharks don’t eat people, the Great White Shark is the type of shark usually involved in human attacks.
The United States has the highest number of shark attacks in the world, and the state of Florida has the most!
Half of all shark attacks involve surfing and other board sports. You can watch a shark attack a man in Australia in this video.
It’s terrifying and scary to think that you could be eaten by a shark just by swimming, but remember that you’re more likely to die while taking a selfie than by eating a shark, according to the New York Post.13.
Some people even keep pot-bellied pigs as pets, although you may change your mind after this. Pigs will eat almost anything – including humans!
Snakes I’ve had a healthy respect for snakes since I was a little girl and encountered a young rattlesnake on a nature outing.
But where I live, snake attacks are rare, and a pair of thick boots and a watchful eye will usually keep you pretty safe from a snake bite. But in other countries, that’s just not the case, and a pair of boots isn’t going to save you from being swallowed whole of a giant snake.
It’s the stuff real nightmares are made of when a woman in Indonesia was swallowed whole by a 22-foot python. Most snakes are not large enough to swallow a person whole, but there are a few species that can. When Jarah disappeared, her family began to search and discovered a very swollen python.
When they killed and opened the animal, they found her intact remains inside. There have been other cases of adults being swallowed whole by such large pythons, such as in 2017 when a 25-year-old was found eaten by a python.
Piranha have strong jaws and teeth and will attack almost anything!
That said, most piranha attacks on humans have occurred from the red-bellied piranha species.
You’ll find that attacks are more common when food is hard to come by, and the water level is low – leaving a lot of hungry fish!And although reports of piranhas eating people are rare, it can happen, so you might want to reconsider keeping them. such as pets.16.
Komodo Dragons You’ve seen the big lizard on TV, but is it as dangerous as it looks?
You don’t want to tangle with a Komodo dragon. Komodo dragons can grow up to 10 feet long and weigh up to 200 pounds and run up to 12 mph! Komodo dragons have incredibly sharp teeth and produce venom that can kill a person inside. hours.In 2007, a fisherman and a young boy were killed in unprovoked Komodo dragon attacks.
And although you’ll find Komodo dragons in zoos around the world, the only natural population left is in Komodo National Park.
There are approximately 2,500 of these dangerous lizards left in nature. 17.
Mosquitoes You might be completely surprised to discover that the deadliest animal in the entire world is the tiny mosquito.
According to the CDC, mosquitoes are responsible for more deaths than any other animal.
Mosquitoes are attracted to humans by the carbon dioxide they give off when they breathe.
Not only do they suck our blood, but they can also leave behind dangerous diseases such as malaria, West Nile fever and yellow fever, just to name a few.
So while mosquitoes may not eat a person whole, they will suck your blood and possibly kill you.