Have you ever heard of a cow with a taste for blood? Herbivores rely on a plant-based diet for nutrition... but you might be surprised by how many "herbivores" happily chow down on other creatures when given the chance! Check out...
It gets even more sinister - deer have been spotted consuming human remains at a "body farm." Body farms are open-air graveyards where forensic scientists can observe how human remains decompose... which is how a research team caught the creatures gnawing on human ribs!
One particular bovine named "Lal" was behind a spate of missing chickens at his home in Kolkata, India. The calf's nocturnal activities were discovered when a local family decided to keep watch after losing forty-eight chickens. They had assumed that a dog was getting in, but instead Lal crept over and devoured several of the younger birds alive!
Between 1973 and 1980, researchers found over 680 Arctic Tern chicks and 10 Arctic Skua chicks mutilated by sheep. These birds were living while attacked, usually having their legs and wings consumed. Perhaps the sheep were looking for a nutrition boost while grazing the dry grassy heaths that make up part of the island.
In 1945, keepers made the disturbing discovery of blood on the floor of his enclosure. Examining the scene, keepers found a human hand and toe - it turned out that Chang had devoured a human whole. The unfortunate victim was Bertha Walt, an office worker that had entered the enclosure late at night with some leftover bread as a snack for Chang. Despite the clear chain of events, keeper Hans Rietmann managed to talk authorities into sparing Chang from execution.
In 1947, Chang repaid Rietmann's efforts by crushing him with his trunk and attacking another elephant. Having killed his protector, Chang was shot to death by the surviving keepers.
Researchers have found that an all-bamboo diet is actually fairly high in protein and low in carbohydrates - similar to that of a pure carnivore. For this reason, the panda has retained the digestive system of a carnivore despite not eating meat.
Gough Island in the South Atlantic was a haven for seabirds, being free of all the usual predators. Things changed when it developed an infestation of house mice, which probably made the trip on a whaling ship.
The image of a hare amidst the grass is pretty standard fare - right up until it buries its head inside a corpse and starts gnawing. Caught on motion-sensitive trail cameras, Snowshoe hares have been recorded scavenging from the corpses of all kinds of animals - including those of a lynx and even other hares. Since the scavenging occurred over winter, researchers think that the animals may simply be supplementing their diet during the cold months!
Enter the South Georgia pintail. This duck is only found on the island of South Georgia, and is the very definition of an opportunistic carnivore. Lacking claws or a hooked beak for butchery, the duck waits for a hole to rot into the side of a beached seal corpse. Once this occurs, the duck dives headlong into the carcass and gorges itself on the soft innards!
- Nest-Raiding Deer
- Lal the Chicken-Eating Cow
- Bird-Eating Sheep
- Chang the Killer Elephant
- Serial Killer Squirrels
- Hungry, Hungry Hippos
- Pandas - Vegetarian Carnivores
- The Mice That Devour Birds From Beneath
- Carrion-Eating Hares
- Corpse-Diving Ducks
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| It's just getting the taste... (Ralphs_Fotos) |
1) Nest-Raiding Deer
Deer are known for tearing through vegetation, but as it happens they'll gobble up small animals or carrion if given the chance! One research team caught white-tailed deer taking chicks from low nests and consuming them during the night, leaving no evidence behind.
2) Lal the Chicken-Eating Cow
Cattle can be dangerous creatures. Even when not in a stampede, the CDC notes that they can kill an unwary farmer with blunt force trauma to the chest or head. Less well known is the fact that cows sometimes eat chickens.One particular bovine named "Lal" was behind a spate of missing chickens at his home in Kolkata, India. The calf's nocturnal activities were discovered when a local family decided to keep watch after losing forty-eight chickens. They had assumed that a dog was getting in, but instead Lal crept over and devoured several of the younger birds alive!
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| Innocent as a little lamb... (celtick27) |
3) Bird-Eating Sheep
Beyond the cult horror "Black Sheep" movie, it's hard to picture these docile balls of wool as predators... but seabirds nesting on Foula in the Shetland Islands would disagree.Between 1973 and 1980, researchers found over 680 Arctic Tern chicks and 10 Arctic Skua chicks mutilated by sheep. These birds were living while attacked, usually having their legs and wings consumed. Perhaps the sheep were looking for a nutrition boost while grazing the dry grassy heaths that make up part of the island.
4) Chang the Killer Elephant
Chang the elephant was brought to Zurich zoo in 1937, arriving as a ten month old calf. He seemed to adapt well, attempting to swipe peanuts and sweets from visitors - or occasionally spraying them with a bit of water from his trunk.In 1945, keepers made the disturbing discovery of blood on the floor of his enclosure. Examining the scene, keepers found a human hand and toe - it turned out that Chang had devoured a human whole. The unfortunate victim was Bertha Walt, an office worker that had entered the enclosure late at night with some leftover bread as a snack for Chang. Despite the clear chain of events, keeper Hans Rietmann managed to talk authorities into sparing Chang from execution.
In 1947, Chang repaid Rietmann's efforts by crushing him with his trunk and attacking another elephant. Having killed his protector, Chang was shot to death by the surviving keepers.
5) Serial Killer Squirrels
In the 1980s, a team of researchers found that lemmings they had trapped and radio-tagged were going missing - and that lemming remains were appearing in or around Arctic ground squirrel burrows. As if that wasn't sinister enough, live-traps set for lemmings were being robbed. After a lemming was found with her brain devoured, the researchers decided to leave the remains inside a trap overnight.
The next day there was a plump squirrel in the trap - and no lemming carcass!
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| You don't want to be bitten by those... (ArtTower) |
6) Hungry, Hungry Hippos
Hippos are large and dangerous herbivores, equipped with a digestive system that ferments and breaks down plant material. However, their large mouths and interlocking teeth look far more suited to the jaws of a mammalian carnivore.Scientists are beginning to suspect that the creatures are much keener to eat meat than previously thought. There have been incidents where hippos killed and ate other animals in captivity, or consumed carcasses (including those of other hippos) in the wild. This might also explain their unusual susceptibility to anthrax epidemics - the consumption of an infected animal could infect the hippo in turn!
7) Pandas - Vegetarian Carnivores
Pandas are known for their bamboo diet, but scientists actually class them as carnivores. We know the ancestors of the panda were meat-eaters... and that the animals will still consume unwary gnu, goats, sheep and carrion.Researchers have found that an all-bamboo diet is actually fairly high in protein and low in carbohydrates - similar to that of a pure carnivore. For this reason, the panda has retained the digestive system of a carnivore despite not eating meat.
8) The Mice That Devour Birds From Beneath
Mice are small omnivorous rodents that can (at a push) add small insects and vertebrates to their plant-based diet. It's hard to picture them as being particularly dangerous, but some bird populations are learning that the rodents have a killer appetite.
Gough Island in the South Atlantic was a haven for seabirds, being free of all the usual predators. Things changed when it developed an infestation of house mice, which probably made the trip on a whaling ship.
These mice have grown larger in the absence of predators and are two to three times the size of a normal mouse. They've also broadened their diets, with researchers estimating that 60% of the chicks on Gough are eaten by mice each year. The rodents burrow up through the base of a nest, ripping into the defenseless chicks while leaving the adults unaware of what's happening to their brood!
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| Not so charming now, is it? (NathalieBurblis) |
9) Carrion-Eating Hares
10) Corpse-Diving Ducks
Ducks generally specialize in surface feeding or diving for food. They typically eat vegetation but can supplement their diet with any small insects and snails they encounter.Enter the South Georgia pintail. This duck is only found on the island of South Georgia, and is the very definition of an opportunistic carnivore. Lacking claws or a hooked beak for butchery, the duck waits for a hole to rot into the side of a beached seal corpse. Once this occurs, the duck dives headlong into the carcass and gorges itself on the soft innards!
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