10 Freaky Animals: More Living Proof that God has a Sense of Humor (Part 4)

 Here are 10 more of those freaky animals you love that make you cringe, shudder and laugh!

Sucker-Foot Bat
This freaky animal has a name that is quite misleading.  While he appears to have suction cups on his body, recently scientists have realized that suction is not used, but in fact a wet adhesive is secreted from the “suction cups”.  This particular bat is found in Madagascar and is classified as “least concern” on the endangered species watch list. Read more . .



Elephant Shrew
The Elephant Shrew is a rare, but not an endangered freaky animal.  They are found all over Africa, but their population is not particularly dense in any one region.  They can be found in desert areas, to thick forests. *Beware* If you have ever been pregnant, you might be horribly jealous of this next little tidbit of information...Females gestate for only roughly 45 days!  That’s right, a month and a half of pregnancy.  Their young are born quite developed but will stay safe in the nest with mommy for several days before being tossed out into the cruel cold world. Read more . .



Geoduck
Despite it’s name, the Geoduck is in fact in no way related to Ducks.  The freaky animal is a very large species of salt water clam.  Sometimes it is known as the King Clam, or as translated from Chinese, Elephant Trunk Clam, and for good reason.  A funny little tidbit about the Geoduck is that it is the official mascot of The Evergreen State College, in Washington.  The school’s Latin motto is Omnia Extares, which means “let it all hang out”.  Whether or not this is intentional, many have remarked that this appears to pay homage to the Clam’s phallic appearance. Read more . .



Glass Frog
With such a perfectly accurate name as this, there isn’t much else to say about this freaky animal. Read more . .



Hooded Seal
In Greek, the official name for the hooded seal means “bladder-bearer”, humorous and accurate.  The bulge atop the head of the freaky animal begins to develop when it is 4 years old.  The male can blow this bulge up to be about the size of it’s head.  The Hooded Seal lives to be between 30 and 35.  Out of the endangered classifications, it is in the least danger, officially classified as “vulnerable”. Read more . .



Liger & Tiglon
Ligers and Tigons and bears oh my!  The Liger and the Tiglon are exactly what you think they are, crosses between lions and tigers.  For a very long time, these freaky animals were thought to be sterile, but recently, it has been discovered that only the males are sterile.  Meaning they can’t perpetuate their species naturally, but the females can breed with other lions and tigers. Read more . .



Long-Beaked Echidna
This freaky animal is classified as “critically endangered”, and inhabits areas such as New Guinea, Australia, and Tasmania. Read more . .



Naked Mole Rat
This is one freaky animal if I ever did see one.  It’s highly unusual physical features also have highly unusual features.  For example, in order to survive in such a harsh climate, the naked mole rat has a lack of pain sensation in it’s skin, and a very low metabolism.  It also lives for an extremely long period of time, and holds the record as longest living rodent.  They generally live up to about 28 years.  They also have a high resistance t cancer.  Cancer has never once been detected in a naked mole rat.  Due to their toughness and their apparent immunity to cancer, they are not endangered what so ever. They seem to be the cockroach of the rodents, they just keep surviving no matter what anyone does. Read more . .



Narwhal
This almost mythical in appearance freaky animal lives mostly in the inlets and fjords of Northern Canada and Western Greenland.  They are classified as “near threatened”.  Their unusual appearance leads to the following mythology:
“In Inuit legend, the narwhal's tusk was created when a woman with a harpoon rope tied around her waist was dragged into the ocean after the harpoon had struck a large narwhal. She was transformed into a narwhal herself, and her hair, that she was wearing in a twisted knot, became the characteristic spiral narwhal tusk.
Some medieval Europeans believed narwhal tusks to be the horns from the legendary unicorn.  As these horns were considered to have magic powers, such as the ability to cure poison and melancholia, Vikings and other northern traders were able to sell them for many times their weight in gold. The tusks were used to make cups that were thought to negate any poison that may have been slipped into the drink. During the 16th century, Queen Elizabeth received a carved and bejeweled narwhal tusk for £10,000—the cost of a castle (approximately £1.5—2.5 Million in 2007, using the retail price index). The tusks were staples of the cabinet of curiosities.” Read more . .





Giant Coconut Crab
Doesn’t seeing this picture just give you the shivers?  This hugely gigantic freaky animal is the largest land-living arthropod in the world.  It lives in areas bordering the Pacific and Indian Oceans.  Interestingly enough, with the exception of the larvae stage, coconut crabs cannot swim. Read more . .

10 Freaky Animals: More Living Proof that God has a Sense of Humor (Part 3)

Even more freaky animals for you to enjoy. You know you love to cringe at these creepy little things, so here's more for you to take a gander at!

Pink Fairy Armadillo
This freaky animal is found in central Argentina, and likes to live in dry areas such as grasslands and plains with thorny bushes and cacti.  The Pink Fairy Armadillo has the awesome ability to completely bur itself in a matter of seconds if something frightens it.  It is on the threatened species list because of the very gradual destruction of it’s habitat due to cultivated area encroachment. Read more . .



Platypus
While on the endangered watch list, the Platypus is classified as “least concern”.  It is one of the only mammals to lay eggs instead of giving live birth.  One thing most people don’t know about this freaky animal, is that is excretes a particularly nasty type of venom.
“While both male and female Platypuses are born with ankle spurs, only the male has spurs which produce a cocktail of venom, composed largely of defensin-like proteins (DLPs), three of which are unique to the Platypus. The defensin proteins are produced by the immune system of the Platypus. Although powerful enough to kill smaller animals such as dogs, the venom is not lethal to humans, but is so excruciating that the victim may be incapacitated. Oedema rapidly develops around the wound and gradually spreads throughout the affected limb. Information obtained from case histories and anecdotal evidence indicates that the pain develops into a long-lasting hyperalgesia that persists for days or even months”. Read more . .



Rosy Lipped Batfish
Ever walk down the street and see an old lady with loads of makeup on in a transparent attempt to reclaim her youth?  Well, the animal kingdom has one of those too, and the freaky animal is called the Rosy Lipped Batfish.  They are not good swimmers, they use their fins to walk in a way on the ocean floor. Read more . .



Yeti Crab
This creepy freaky animal is relatively new to our knowledge.  It was first discovered in the South Pacific in 2005.  It’s official name is Kiwa Hirsuta.  Kiwa is the goddess of the shellfish in Polynesian mythology (or a male guardian of the see in the Maori mythology), and the word Hirsuta means “hairy” in Latin.  I’d say this crab was very descriptively, and accurately, named. Read more . .



Saiga Antelope
The Saiga Antelope is found in the vast stretches of land in beautiful Russia.  This freaky animal is critically endangered and is only found in captivity in the Moscow Zoo. Read more . .



Star-Nosed Mole
I hate the look of this freaky animal.  It gives me the absolute creeps.  Very little is known about it’s social behavior, but scientists do believe that it lives in colonies.  That creepy nose of his is very sensitive and is covered with teeny tiny little touch receptors that are called Eimer’s organs.  The Star-Nosed Mole is found in Canada and throughout the Northern United States. Read more . .



Turtle Frog
Not much is known about this freaky animal.  It is known to have a diet almost entirely made of termites.  So if your house is falling apart and you suspect those pesky little bugs, it might not be such a bad idea to release a Turtle Frog I the immediate area. Read more . .



Weta
The word Weta comes from a Maori word, basically meaning “God of Ugly Things”.  How astute those Maori were.  This is perhaps the nastiest of any freaky animal we have yet discussed.  It is definitely the most “heebeejeebee” inducing of them all.  These giant bugs have very powerful mandibles, and can deliver a nasty bite.  While the bite is certainly very powerful, it isn’t usually serious.  Tree wetas rarely bite, as they are quite docile, and will definitely choose flight rather than fight if given the opportunity to escape.  Possibly more dangerous than a full blown Weta bite is a scratch from a Weta.  The scratches often leave little irritants in the scratch and lead to serious infections. Read more . .



Mantis Shrimp
Over the centuries, the Mantis Shrimp is a freaky animal that has been called many things.  The ancient Assyrians called them “sea locusts”, Australia knows them as “prawn killers”, and nowadays modern divers call them “thumb splitters”, referring to the ease in which this animal can destroy small appendages.  They have very powerful claws they use for spearing, stunning, and dismembering their unfortunate prey.  Something crazy they are able to do, although rarely, is to break open and destroy an aquarium in which they are housed with but a single strike from their powerful claws. Yikes! Read more . .



Dumbo Octopus
This weird little animal likes to hover just over the ocean floor, and searches for pelagic copepods, worms, bivalves, and various crustaceans.  The way they move is by either shooting water through their funnel waving their Dumbo ears, or pulsing their arms.  Often times the freaky animal will move about by doing all 3 simultaneously.  The males and females are easy to tell apart gas they look and move very differently from on another.  The females have no breeding pattern, but rather lay eggs all year long. Read more . .

10 Freaky Animals: More Living Proof that God has a Sense of Humor (Part 2)

Here are 10 more of those animals you love, even though they might make you cringe!

Chinese Giant Salamander
This freaky animal is very rare and is classified as “critically endangered” due to pollution, habitat loss, and over-collecting, because it is considered a delicacy and used in traditional Chinese Medicine.
The Chinese Giant Salamander was terrible eyesight and depends on sensory nodes that run along its body form head to tail.  The average size of these Salamanders are between 55 and 66 pounds, and grow to about 4 feet in length. Read more . .



Purple Frog
This frog is mostly found in India, and is also called the Pignose frog.  This freaky animal spends most of it’s time underground, and only surfaces for about 2 weeks out of each year, during the monsoon season, and only comes out for the purpose of mating.  For this very reason, The Purple Frog escaped the notice of early scientists.  Most burrowing frogs like to emerge in order to feed, however, the Purple Frog is different.  It feeds mainly underground on termites, foraging with their tongue. Read more . .



Pygmy Marmoset
The Pygmy Marmoset is a cute freaky animal that is also known as the dwarf monkey, for obvious reasons.  This is a New World monkey that is native to the protective rainforest canopies of western Brazil, eastern Ecuador, southeastern Columbia, northern Bolivia, and eastern Peru.  The Pygmy Marmoset is one of the smallest primates, and is the very smallest true moneky in existence. Read more . .



Sea Dragon
The Sea Dragon is a type of Seahorse found primarily around Australia.  They are very fragile and unstable outside of their natural habitat.  This freaky animal is very popular in alternative medicine. Read more . .



Tarsier
All living species are found in the islands of Southeast Asia.  The Tarsier is a type of lemur, and lemurs are not lacking on the freaky animal front, most of them are quite odd looking.  Interestingly enough, one of the Tarsier’s large eyeballs is the same size of it’s entire brain.  Tarsiers have never really been successfully bred in captivity.  When cages, they have been known to injure and possibly kill themselves because of the stress they feel. Read more . .



Axolotl
The Axolotl is classified as “critically endangered” and lives only in a lake beneath Mexico City.  In captivity, this freaky animal eats a variety of readily available foods, including trout and salmon pellets, frozen or live bloodworms, earthworms, and waxworms.  Yummy! Read more . .



Angler Fish
Thanks to the Disney/Pixar hit Finding Nemo, many children have had nightmares about this particular freaky animal.  What you see on the movie is really what you get.  They lure their prey in and snatch them quick as can be.  Angler Fish are found all over the world and use an unusual mating method.
“Anglerfish employ an unusual mating method. Because individuals are presumably locally rare and encounters doubly so, finding a mate is problematic. When scientists first started capturing ceratioid anglerfish, they noticed that all of the specimens were females. These individuals were a few inches in size and almost all of them had what appeared to be parasites attached to them. It turned out that these "parasites" were the remains of male ceratioids.
At birth, male ceratioids are already equipped with extremely well developed olfactory organs that detect scents in the water. The male ceratoid lives solely to find and mate with a female. They are significantly smaller than a female angler fish, and have trouble finding food in the deep sea. This necessitates his quickly finding a female anglerfish to prevent his death. The sensitive olfactory organs help the male to detect the Pheremones that signal the proximity of a female anglerfish. When he finds a female, he bites into her skin, and releases an enzyme that digests the skin of his mouth and her body, fusing the pair down to the blood-vessel level. The male then slowly atrophies, first losing its digestive organs, then its brain, heart, and eyes, and ends as nothing more than a pair of gonads, which releases sperm in response to hormones in the female's bloodstream indicating egg release. This extreme sexual dimorphism ensures that, when the female is ready to spawn, she has a mate immediately available.” Read more . .



Angora Rabbit
If you have ever heard of an angora sweater, and wondered what an angora was, here is your answer.  If is a very large rabbit, largely bred for their wool.  The Angora Rabbit is one of the oldest domestic rabbits.  This freaky animal looks odd with all this hair, but looks even odder when it is shorn over the summer, as it gets too hot and the fur too difficult to maintain. Read more . .




Blobfish
Perhaps one of the most aptly names animals in the world is the Blobfish.  It inhabits the deep waters of the coasts of Australia and Tasmania.  Due to the inaccessibility of it’s habitat, this freaky animal is still largely unknown to the world because it is very rarely ever seen by humans. Read more . .



Giant Soft-Shelled Turtle
The Giant Soft-Shelled Turtle is classified as “endangered” and tends to spend around 95 % of it’s time buried, lying absolutely motionless, with only its eyes and mouth sticking up out of the sand.  It does, however, surface twice a day to take a breath.  This freaky animal lays around 20-28 eggs in February or March on riverbanks. Read more . .