In nature there are many species of animal who are either predatory or prey and, yet either one can exhibit deadly behavior in order to defend themselves when they are attacked. Many animals such as elephants can adopt monstrous behavior when they are in Musth, producing huge amounts of testosterone and secreting temporin from the sides of their heads. Even the most docile elephants become hostile toward humans and other animals during this time. Elephants who bond with their trainers have been known to kill their human companion under this influence of this reproductive condition. In the animal kingdom there is no etiquette or compassionate manners. Those who eat flesh do it to survive. Those who eat plants do so for the same reason, yet both can be incredibly powerful and dangerous.

Modern day dragon

One animal that has earned its reputation for being a monster is the Komodo dragon. This monitor lizard on steroids is an apex predator capable of taking down huge prey even larger than themselves. Located from Australia to Indonesia, they make their habitat in the climate of the south Pacific where they know no enemies other than man. Komodo dragons at a maximum of 10 feet long and up to 300 pounds feed on deer, water buffalo, pig, smaller Komodos, carrion, and even humans. A Komodo dragon can smell carrion 5 miles away. They can eat 80% of their own body weight in a single feeding. They are known to stalk their prey for days until they catch the animal or until the victim dies from a bite delivered by the Komodo!

Triple threat

What makes these predators monsters? It’s not just having huge claws and a jaw full of sharp teeth with a strong bite strength. They possess not only venom but 57 known bacteria strains in their saliva that can cause blood poisoning and rotting flesh at the point of the bite wound thus dooming their prey once it has been bitten. At times the Komodo has been known to storm into a small village wreaking havoc! In one case, a dragon showed up at the local school and got inside a classroom! The men of the village had to group together beating at the giant lizard with desks and wooden clubs to drive the monster away! The Komodo certainly qualifies as a natural monster. They have become quite a tourist attraction due to their fearsome reputation and remarkable dragon-like appearance.

Ambush from the woods

A dangerous trend has been developing in North America for decades now as man infringes more and more upon the wilderness territory of the wild animal kingdom. The Cougar, puma, mountain lion, has become numerous in supposedly civilized neighborhoods on the outskirts of wooded areas mountainous terrain. They maintain coverage that involved all of the North America continent from the Baja Peninsula to the Pacific Northwest, from the south Texas coastline to Appalachian mountain range all the way to Canada and Alaska. These predatory cats can range from 120 pounds to over 200 pounds and will even confront bears if it involves food for feeding their young. The mountain lion has an incredibly adaptable range and variety of different environments just as people do, and there is the deadly proposition!

Striking unseen from anywhere

Recorded killings and mauling’s tabulated since the early 1900’s tell us that in the US there have been 125 attacks resulting in death and being eaten. Children out on a tricycle ride in the front yard of their home, joggers out to exercise at hiking trails, bikers out for a ride on a biking path, or simply people out for a stroll after dinner have found themselves unwittingly in the role of the cougar’s prey. Even if a pet owner has a guard dog a cougar will not be deterred. There have been incidents of a puma breaking through a glass window of a house to get the domestic cat that has been staring at the wild cat from the other side of the glass. One Canadian postal worker on his bike for a relaxing ride found himself engulfed by a thunderstorm and sought refuse in a small cave in some rocks off the biking path. What he didn’t know was he had ventured into a cougar’s lair. Attempting to escape the lightning had brought him into an even worse danger.

Life or death

The mountain lion immediately attacked, partially crushing the man’s skull on one side against the rocky interior of the cave. The man fought back reaching for a pocket knife in his pants and was able to pull it out and start stabbing the big cat as it sank it’s teeth in him and wrapped itself around him. Finally, after several minutes the cougar succumbed to the repeated stab wounds and released the bleeding man. He had to stagger to a neighbor’s house to get medical help to treat the lacerated flesh on his face and his fractured skull but managed to live. This is just one of many such attacks.

Death awaits

Cougars have been seen to double team a human being or even three cats at one time have coordinated a careful attack as the unsuspecting person was mauled and then eaten! Whether these accounts are of a mother and two siblings attacking as a pack and becoming emboldened due to other food sources becoming scarce has not been adequately determined yet as at some point cougars will lose their natural fear of humans when in close proximity long enough. Any animal that can stealthily blend in with its surroundings seeing humans as prey and attack children or adults in supposedly well urbanized areas qualifies as a naturally occurring monster. In Canada which is more sparsely populated than the US to the south attacks have become disturbingly common place.

Deadly cousins from the past

In the seas there seems to be the perfect environment for either man’s imagination to create monsters or the enormous depths of the ocean to hide creatures of huge proportions and deadly capabilities. From the earliest geologic periods millions of years ago when the Mosasaurs, Ichthyosaurs, and other vicious ocean predators roamed the seas they ruled the waters and eventually would evolve into the modern day whales, dolphins, and porpoises we know now. Amazingly though, these marine mammals developed from unknown land animals who went back to the sea rather than remaining on land. In the fins of dolphins a five fingers hand remains as a vestige of a time before when they were land dwellers!

Intelligent and deadly

A true monster existing today in our oceans is not the commonly considered shark as many would think of. Though sharks are extremely dangerous to humans. There is a modern day predator of the sea who can neutralize the Great White or the Tiger Shark with intelligence and great strength. That is the Orca. Known by many as the Killer Whale, they are considered to be the wolf pack of the sea. Orcas can take the feared Great White or Tiger, turn them over on their backs and induce a state of trance or tranquilizing confusion that converts the feared killers into prey. The killer whale uses infrasound to stun dolphins before they eat them, they hunt seals and even teach their young to stalk other aquatic mammals in order to feed and survive. In one instance a pod of Orcas have surrounded a seal stranded on floating ice. The parent shows the calf how to push down on the ice to get the seal to slip across the flattened ice and into the Orca’s waiting jaws.

Baddest of the bad

Evidence indicates even the massive ancestor of the Great White-Megalodon-the greatest oceanic predator that ever lived fell prey to the Orca wolf pack who came at the huge shark from all angles and killed the formidable dinosaur of the ocean. Even the great whales such as the gigantic Gray whale and its calf fall prey to modern day Orcas! By attacking the mother as she attempts to protect her calf the Killer Whales craftily coordinating their efforts will separate the baby whale and devour it! The Killer Whale is intelligent and savage. Even the shark is no match for them. These monsters definitely rule the sea. Though in captivity the Orca is a great source of entertainment they have been known to murder their handlers who have been training them to perform for shows.

The family that kills together stays together

Zoologists and oceanographers have noted that any time a Great White shark has been killed in the waters off a certain shore apparently a warning has gone out to other Great Whites who seem to vacate the region. It’s easy to see how the Killer Whale has earned its reputation and has even been observed ramming the boats of whalers armed with harpoons. A pod or family of Orcas will remain together and hunt along hundreds of miles of traditional migratory routes from the warmer southern oceans to the north Pacific for mating. These monsters are the invincible predators of the seas.