Top 10 Creepiest Animal Behaviors Caught on Camera

They may be tiny, and they may be shrimp, but these sea creatures are no joke when it comes to attacking their prey. There are several species of them, and their main sources of attack are either a clubbing or spearing motion. This isn’t the creepy part, however. The creepy part is the speed at which the mantis shrimp attacks: twenty-three meters per second. That’s essentially the same speed as a .22 caliber bullet. They’re also known to be rather intelligent creatures, displaying both social and ritualistic behaviors. Somehow that makes the entire thing that much more unsettling.

This is truly the stuff of an arachnophobe’s nightmares. In 2010, flooding in Pakistan got so severe that water had engulfed over a fifth of the country. What’s a creepy-crawly to do in cases like these? Well, as a result of the natural disaster, millions of spiders flocked to trees, and essentially nested. They created enormous webbed cocoons, becoming completely arboreal. Though these ethereal nightmares are insanely creepy, they actually had a positive effect. The spiders nested in areas of stagnant waters, which attract malaria-carrying mosquitoes, the population of which saw a decrease due to the massive arachnid traps.

Starlings are adorable, little birds. They’re definitely not of the creepy variety, unlike their raven and crow cousins. However, they are capable of being creepy, as is evident in their strange habit of murmuration. Large flocks of anywhere from 500 to 5 million starlings perform a sort of aerial extravaganza, in which they travel as a group in a seemingly rhythmic fashion. It’s beautiful, sure. But it’s creepy as well. What’s most unsettling is that we have no concrete idea why it happens. There are a couple of theories, including predatory defense or warmth, but the mystery of it is perhaps eerier than anything.

There are over 1,700 species of sea cucumber that have been discovered in the world’s waters. Their heads consist of ten to thirty tentacle appendages surrounding the mouth, which is kind of creepy in itself. But the creepiest part of the sea cucumber is its defense mechanisms. These unusual creatures practice what is known as “autotomy,” or casting off a part of the body when threatened. Sea cucumbers actually expel their sticky internal organs out of their cloaca and onto potential attackers. This leaves the attacker confused, and sometimes temporarily blinded by the adhesive goo it’s received to the face. Organs expelled by the cucumbers are then regenerated within a few weeks. Yuck.

No, they don’t actually think everything is hilarious. Hyenas emit a sound that is eerily similar to human laughter, hence their seeming a tad less serious than other animals. However, the “laughter” sound doesn’t mean someone told an amusing hyena limerick. There are different pitches and tones to be heard in the cries, but they mostly come when they’re feeling threatened, under attack or in times of frustration. They’re also not the nicest of creatures; killing and scavenging without remorse, murdering livestock and other such fun activities. So if they really were to be laughing, it’d be likely for a sinister reason.

Some animals are just bizarre. The Surinam toad has an interesting, albeit kind of terrifying way of reproducing. When the male produces the mating call, the female lays up to one hundred eggs. The male then fertilizes them, much like many other animals. However, after he’s done his business, he pushes the eggs onto the female’s back. Her skin then grows over the eggs, creating tiny, enclosed pockets. After a few months, the babies push their ways out from under her skin. If that wasn’t creepy enough, should they not find any other food immediately, sometimes the babies eat their siblings.

How about some more spiders? In this case, not even the fish are safe. The Dolomedes, or fishing spider, is known to find food underwater. These arachnids can submerge their entire bodies, trapping air bubbles in their bristles to breathe. They can lay in wait in this way for up to thirty minutes, hunting smaller fish or frogs, as well as tadpoles. They use the vibrations in the water to detect oncoming prey, much like land spiders use their webs. All we can picture at this point is a spider in a little camo jacket and scuba mask, picking out the perfect moment. Nope.

When eagles are in the mood for some delicious mountain goat, they have an interesting way of approaching the issue. Eagles primarily kill with their talons, each of which has an estimated crushing weight of 400 pounds per square inch. Despite this, however, they can only carry up to one-third of their body weight, meaning goats aren’t carry-out food for them. So, what to do? Eagles have been known to grab mountain goats off guard, and basically throw or push them off cliffs and mountains. They can then dine to their heart’s content. Sure, it’s clever. But it’s also terrifying. Who’s to say they won’t do the same for some tasty human meat? Mountain climbers beware!

Lopburi, Thailand is often referred to as “Monkey City,” and has long been a tourist attraction. The city is inhabited by thousands of macaque monkeys, normally kept happy and fed by tourists and locals alike. However, when COVID-19 forced the city to shut down, the monkeys went bananas without their, well, bananas. The city was overrun with thousands of angry, underfed and promiscuous monkeys. Citizens were forced to barricade themselves indoors to avoid the onslaught, essentially caging themselves in their homes while the monkeys had the run of the place. “Planet of the Apes” can’t be far behind.

Orcas seem like nice animals. “Free Willy” anyone? But in reality they’re downright mean when it comes to their food. Mean in the sense that they actually pick on their food prior to killing it. Orcas have been known to toss smaller animals in the air and form gangs to attack groups of seals, among other prey. They hunt very quickly, and apparently it’s far easier to stun their prey by ramming them before going in for the kill. They’ve also been seen teaming up to create waves that knock seals off their icy seats. These odd displays of seeming sadism may be hunting tactics to the orcas, but to us, it’s just creepy.