Aninals that make you go "What that crap?"

Not really a product of nature, but here you go...

nightmares insue now

In all seriousness, though, if you take away the big brain, the human being is surely one of the most pathetic animals on the planet.

Sphynx cats...thugh they actually appeal to me, while Mexican hairless make me want to avert my gaze:









What I thought were Mexican hairless, but are apparently some weird chinese thingy:

That's a less old and decrepit version of Sam, the fella in Patiodog's picture. Chinese crested I think.

I've developed some fondness for Sam, and was sad to learn he died. (That happened after the picture Patiodog posted was taken, believe it or not...)

Hard to beat a warthog for ugly.

Rhinoceros beetles are pretty damn cool:













































Just kidding...here's a real one:













Our little desert lizard, the thorny devil, is out there:










Guess what...their skin directs any condensation on it to their mouths.


And the naked mole rat is always good to see.......they have a social structure similar to that of the ants, bees and termites!





And a real vampire:

Ay, but he's well-equipped.

Some interesting critters:

Aye Aye (unflattering photo)



It has a special digit for extracting grubs:




Umbrella mouth gulper eel




Deep sea Anglerfish





Black Dragonfish




Chimaera Fish





Budgie, with feather mutation, known as "feather duster"






I have no idea what this is:



Or this.

The 2nd to last one is called a star nosed mole.

not sure about the last.

Dlowan named most of the animals I'd have listed.

This one gives me the hebie jeebies.

Seed wrote-



All of them. To think they have been here for millions of years, hundreds of millions of years, longer than us and they still can't peel potatoes and fry them in olive oil or pot the black off its spot kills me. It's as if they don't have any intelligence whatsoever. I saw one rolling its own dung uphill and even a moron knows to send it according the Newton's laws.

Monkeys are best and penguins. Penguins have me in tucks but they are not as witty as monkeys.

So my answer depends on how intellectual I'm feeling. If I've just come back from the pub penguins have my vote.

Ah...thank you!

I DO know my last one, I just can't think of its name.



Now for the smaller wee folk:

Eyelash mites




clustering arond your hair follicle:








Dust mites








Microscopic beasties from sea and pond:

Nah-- None of them are funny.

I'm for penguins if you're stoned and monkeys if you have been reading a philosophy book.

Oh, I've got a sweet one to post. Back in a minute...




photo credit Manuel Roig Franzia
An interesting story goes with that photo...

Ever since I read "Hop Frog" by Edgar A. Poe, this one gives me the creeps:

The cecal worm (Heterakis gallinae) lives in the cecum (a pouch off the large intestine in most animals besides humans) of pheasants and sometimes other fowl (e.g., chickens). It lays eggs, which the chicken craps out. The eggs hatch are eaten by the an earthworm, inside which they hatch and live until the earthworm is eaten by a chicken, at which point the earthworm is digested and the cecal worm takes up residence in the cecum, and the circle of life continues.

No one really cares about the cecal worm. It causes no harm to fowl or earthworm -- except that it carries its own parasite, the protozoan Histomonas meleagridis. This parasite causes blackhead in chickens and turkeys and is a source of consternation for poultry producers.

The parasite has a parasite. Gross.

Ok, already, I'll show you the link for the Panama Hotel for the Golden Tree Frog... an interesting place, no kidding.

Froggy Bottom