![24 Real Creatures That Will Haunt Your Dreams [VIDEO]](http://townsquare.media/site/74/files/2014/04/CrazyAnimals_GlaucusAtlanticus.jpg?w=980&q=75)
24 Real Creatures That Will Haunt Your Dreams [VIDEO]
While perusing through Reddit the other day, I came across a post asking Zoologists to share the craziest creatures that exist in nature everyday people like you and I didn't know were there. Some look like they were pulled straight out of a science fiction film, while others look like they wouldn't think twice about eating your face off, and more than likely would if given the opportunity.
Our own Mesker Park Zoo has its fair share of wild animals (both figuratively and literally), like the bright blue tree frogs in the Discovery Center, to the new Komodo Dragon and nocturnal creatures in the Kley Building, along with the Tapir and Howler Monkey's inside Amazonia. All of which you feel comfortable viewing from a safe distance, and can rest peacefully knowing they're safely locked away in captivity.
Then there are these 24 monstrosity's living among us, out in the open, some less harmful than their appearance, but still frightening nonetheless. Read on, if you dare.
*Click on the name of each creature for more information
Found in the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Oceans, these tiny water-dwelling animals look like some brain eating parasite an alien race would place inside the ear of their enemy to torture them. Don't let their small size fool you, they feast on the stinging cells of the "Portuguese Man-O’-War" a highly poisonous jellyfish, storing the poison inside their own tentacles to use as a defense against other predators. Like swallowing a bullet fired from a gun, then spitting it at someone else.
More odd than frightening in appearance, the Saiga Antelope looks like some futuristic mammal that would have been found on Alderaan, you know before Darth Vader blew it up (nerd test!).
The smallest species of Falcon are less than eight inches long and have the ability to catch and eat insect IN FLIGHT!
Another species that looks like some sort of pet the bad guy in a sci-fi movie feeds his enemies to, the Saracastic Fringehead is by no means the prettiest girl at the dance, and even more frightening when it opens its mouth.
The eyes of this odd looking fish are inside his transparent head. Enough said.
A normal shark needs to bite and tear to devour its meal, this one could just swallow you whole.
Not really terrifying, unless you find massively long tongues scary (although my guess is that some would feel quite the opposite). This little booger lives almost exclusively on termites.
With an appearance that looks like a rejected character from the Sonic the Hedgehog series of video games, Pangolin's can live up to 20 years and weigh anywhere between 30-40 pounds.
Snakes are bad enough when their crawling along the ground, but a flying snake instills a whole new level of fear. They're also mildly venomous which doesn't help.
These ugly-as-sin birds of prey can stand as tall as four feet, and sport a wingspan of just over eight feet.
Turkey's look down right adorable next to the ugly mug of this beard who feasts on the leftovers of other predators in the jungle.
Basically a flat toad, the Surinam likes to get freaky during mating by performing somersaults while locked in the throes of passion. And if you thought human childbirth was painful, the eggs of Surinam Toads incubate under the skin of the female until they hatch by BURSTING THROUGH HER SKIN!
A relative newcomer in the world of, "Holy crap! What is that thing!?!?" creature discovery, the Yeti Crab was first observed in 2005 and features freakishly long claws covered in some kind of fur.
The clear wings of this butterfly allow it to camouflage itself from predators by appearing to blend in with its surroundings. To defend themselves during their caterpillar stage, they absorb the toxins of the highly poisonous "nightshade" plant which they attach themselves to during metamorphosis. Basically, if eaten, they will kill whatever animal decided to make them dinner.
The underbelly of these small frogs is transparent, allowing their vital organs to be seen clearly, which would have made Biology class WAY easier, and less messy.
Gerenuk's look like a horrible experiment of gluing a giraffe's neck onto a deer's body.
Giving off the vibe that it's a mad scientist's genetic experiment gone horribly wrong, Okapi share qualities of both horses and zebras.
It what appears to be a mash up of a deer and a rat, little is known about the behavior of Chevrotain as researchers have noted they are secretive in nature which clearly means they're planning to win us over with their cuteness before enslaving us all.
Remember cartoons where the characters would walk into a spooky location and they'd be watched by glowing eyes? Flashlight fish are like that, only they're real.
Growing up to 10 FREAKING FEAT LONG with a taste for flesh, these worms from Hell bury themselves in the ocean floor and wait patiently for their unsuspecting victim.
Aptly named for their goofy-looking "ears" that are actually fins to help them get around, Dumbo Octopus' pounce on whatever poor sap they decide to make a meal out of and eat it whole.
Thought to be extinct until their re-discovery several years back, the nose of the appropriately named Pinocchio Anole (a fancy term for lizard), serves no other purpose than to attract the attention of lady anoles.
As if their chicken-crossed-with-a-peacock appearance wasn't freaky enough, they have an uncanny ability to mimic sounds including known impersonations of car alarms and chainsaws.
Think Taratula's are creepy, they have nothing on the Tarantula Hawk Wasp. A large insect that hunts the large, furry spiders for the purpose of forcing them to become surrogate mothers to their vicious Hawk Wasp offspring which then eats the paralyzed spider after it's born. Seriously.
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