King Cobra
The king cobra has earned the title of Dangerous and Scary Animal very rightly because it is one of the most venomous snakes on the face of the globe, and you definitely don’t want to come face to face with one in a dark alley. (Of course, that’s improbable given that they reside primarily in tropical rainforests, mangrove swamps, and bamboo thickets in areas like India, Southeast Asia, and Southern China, but you get the picture.) We’ll get right to it: these snakes kill through venom, and they have the ability to deliver enough venom to kill 20 people in a single bite. Alternatively, one elephant. Their bodies will stand up and they will stare straight into your eyes while hissing (although it is reported that this sounds more like a growl) and flaring their hoods about them when they are threatened. They can also grow to be up to 18 feet in length. Make no mistake: photos of snake charmers with their king cobras under control in a basket are not to be taken seriously. These snakes have typically been subjected to torturous treatment in order to ensure that they do not attack their handlers, which would be against their natural instinct. Despite their intimidating appearance, king cobras are actually quite timid animals that will only attack, or threaten to attack, which is frightening enough, if they feel threatened. As a result, it is strongly advised that you do not threaten this magnificent beast!
King Cobra
Africanized Bees
In our minds’ eye, bees are typically pictured as charming, fluffy, buzzy creatures, who are far more adored than their nasty buzzy rivals, the picnic-destroying wasp. In contrast, the Africanized bee is even more aggressive than a drowsy wasp near the end of summer, and it can sting many times per minute. The Africanized bee, often known as killer bees, is found in the Americas (in spite of its name) and came into being by chance rather than design. For a better honey output, scientists in Brazil bred the gentle, high-yielding European bee with the lower-yielding African bee in the 1950s to see if they might boost production. They were successful. It was ultimately determined that the African bee’s aggressive temperament had won out, and then a year later, some of these hybrid bees escaped from the lab, in what must have felt like something out of a horror movie. They can still be seen in the wild in North and South America, reproducing year after year, and they enjoy swarming together in large groups. Africanized bee swarms ranging in size from 300,000 to 800,000 individuals have been documented, and they will attack if they believe their colony is in danger. It only takes 1,000 stings from one of these human-bred bees to kill you.
Africanized Bees
