What are Harmful Animals? vermin are those who, in some way, harm human beings. It may be the spread of disease, causing injury, the destruction of crops or unpleasant effects, severe pain and paralysis of the body, even death.
Some examplesof these species are snakes, mosquitoes, fish and bees.
see more
Mystery: Discovering the function of balls in high voltage wires
Employee prohibits children from sleeping when they arrive at daycare
However, it is necessary to emphasize that, even being a harmful animal in some circumstances, it may not be in others. A good example are the bees that, despite having a fatal sting, produce honey, which is a food very appreciated by human beings.
mosquitoes
Despite being animals that cause relative discomfort to humans, they are considered very insignificant due to their small size. However, mosquitoes and their various species are responsible for transmitting a number of diseases.
Dengue, malaria, yellow fever, chikungunya, filariasis and leishmaniasis are some of the examples of pathologies transmitted by mosquitoes, which together cause millions of deaths every year.
Contrary to what most people think, snakes, scorpions and spiders are not the animal with the highest number of fatalities. Interestingly, those who take this position are mosquitoes.
tsetse fly
Quite different from the mosquito, but belonging to a similar group, the tsetse fly, popularly known as the sleep fly, takes this name because of the main characteristic of the disease caused by it, Human African Trypanosomiasis (HAT), also called sleep.
The pathology, without proper treatment, can be fatal. The fly itself is not poisonous. The big problem is in the protozoan carried by it. Through the bite it is deposited in the human body, and without proper treatment, it reproduces until it reaches the brain.
The disease, among other symptoms, can cause severe muscle pain, tremors, fever and neurological problems. The infected individual can take months or years to die, depending on the aggressiveness of the infection.
scorpions
When it comes to harmful animals, the scorpion is always among the most remembered. And worst of all, they hit, fatally, especially children. In Brazil alone, according to data from the Ministry of Health, in 2015, 74,598 thousand cases of stings and 119 deaths were recorded as a result of scorpion attacks.
They have nocturnal habits, but bites during the day are frequently reported, especially in the vicinity of places with a lot of garbage and debris. Scorpion venom affects the nervous system and, in addition to severe pain, can lead individuals to death.
stonefish
It is reputed to be one of the deadliest fish in the world. Its venom, which is strong enough to kill a human being, is found in its spiny dorsal fins. They also have bones in the eye region that are similar to the shape of pocketknives.
Better known as the “tear saber”, the mechanism is located on the cheek of the animals and they are very effective in protecting against large marine predators.
In addition, they are “super camouflaged” species, able to look very similar to stones and corals, which increases their chance of attacking humans. When they attack their prey, they inject a neurotoxic substance that can be lethal to humans.
spiders
Although there are over 40,000 species of spiders, few are harmful. Those with these characteristics can be divided into three main groups: wandering spiders, latrodectus (black widows) and brown spiders.
The sting of the armadillo, which are among the deadliest animals on the planet, is capable of experiencing unimaginable pain. In addition, it can cause heart, respiratory and central nervous system damage.
Despite being responsible for fewer accidents, the black widow bite acts directly on the nervous system and muscles of affected individuals. Its attacks are frequent in cattle and horses, since they hide in the middle of the grass on which the animals feed.
The brown spider, although very small, often causes fatal victims. And it also has an aggravating factor: the bite does not cause any pain. Because of this, attacked people only realize that something is wrong when the first symptoms appear.
Among them, the most common are necrosis of cells in the affected region and organ failure, the most common being the kidneys.
Africanized bees
It is no coincidence that they are nicknamed killer bees. It is a hybrid animal, the result of crossing between African and European bees. As a result, Africanized bees are somewhat smaller than more common bees and their venom less powerful.
The big problem of the species is the way it defends its territory. Because they are more sensitive to disturbances, they attack in large groups and with a large number of stings. The reaction can be potentiated in individuals who are allergic to the insect. As a result, hundreds of people have been killed in recent years.
black Mamba
The black mamba is among the deadliest snakes in the world. In addition to having hunting habits, its venom is highly lethal, being able to kill an adult human being in approximately 20 minutes. Therefore, she takes the title of most poisonous in Africa.
As if that were not enough, it is the fastest land snake in the world, with the aggravating factor being that it becomes even more aggressive when it feels threatened. On average, she travels at 20 km per hour, which is equivalent to a professional marathon runner.
Even if a serum that combats the action of its venom has already been developed, it will hardly be found in regions with the highest rate of attacks, as in the case of Southern Africa and Africa Western. Precisely because of this, it causes the greatest number of fatal victims of snake attacks.
Blue-ringed octopus or octopus hapalochlaena
Small and beautiful, that's the definition of a blue-ringed octopus. To these two adjectives, we can add another that best characterizes the animal: poisonous.
Often found off the Australian coast and between Oceania and Japan, they tend to attack only when provoked by their prey. Its size is inversely proportional to the lethality of the venom. When they attack, they use a small mouth to deposit the toxin. This, in turn, is capable of killing an animal weighing up to 1,200 kg.
The venom's action is also extremely fast, once injected it can kill a person within 30 minutes. The good news is that despite being fatal, their attacks are somewhat rare, which means that the species has many victims per year.
See too: The Giants of the Animal Kingdom – Largest Animals in the World
