Meet The Hannibal Lecters Of The Animal Kingdom

Hamsters are furry, cute, cuddly little baby eaters.Baby eaters.Horrifically, this description is 100% accurate. If you own a pet hamster and small children, you can rest easy. Hamsters do not kill other people's babies. They only kill their own young. They do this due to scent confusion (like if a human touches the babies), extreme stress, or lack of food. Sometimes mommy hamsters simply do not want to be parents.

This situation is called infanticide. It takes cannibalism to a new level of terror. Many animals kill their young for sacrifice, especially if they look deformed or sick. Hamsters are one of the few animals that kill their young by eating them. The average hamster litter has seven pups. If hungry, mommy hamster might pick them off one by one. Or, she might set some aside to eat the next day while the others watch in horror as their siblings are eaten. When mommy's hunger returns, these second-chance hamsters learn about their parent in ways we cannot imagine.

Spiders are terrifying. Ancestors feared them so much scientists now suspect they passed those fears through our DNA.DNA passed these fears to us.Possibly the scariest part? Spiders eat each other after sex.

A female spider often dumps her lover after sex—right down her throat. This is a brutal way to end a relationship. The motive is not noble. Scientists confirm...Female spiders eat their male lovers.because they do not want to search for food after rolling in the hay. The male spider is much smaller and already nearby, so it is a 'win-win.'

For the sparse walleye fish, food competition and predation lead to cannibalism. In Minneapolis, cannibalism among these fish spread widely.it caused an entire fishing town to declineFish that survive get large, but their community becomes less strong. Multiple cannibal feasts caused fish to eat each other at once in a horrifying massacre.

Who knew polar bears could eat their own kind? Nobody knew. Scientists think polar bear cannibalism is disturbing because it did not happen before. It may be related to global warming.Polar bears going cannibal is a new nature phenomenon, not natural.As polar ice caps melt and seals become harder to reach, male polar bears bloody the Arctic sea. They devour their own cubs out of sheer, heartbreaking desperation.

The Humboldt squid lived over 400 million years; that explains its ruthlessness. This fierce, tentacle-clad cephalopod shoves its razor-sharp teeth into another.The Humboldt squid loves eating its own flesh.Other foods include red crabs, lantern fish, and other squid. These creatures prey on squid caught on human hooks. Toss your line deep, and you promote squid cannibalism.

What is scarier than an animal eating its young, ripping them apart and swallowing them? Consider the opposite: when an animal eats its parents, it is called matriphagy; this is not pleasant.

Most mothers participate. Earwigs often...eat their mothers.This behavior happens after earwigs finish their care cycles. Studies show this strange act does not happen against the mother's will; mama earwigs that sacrifice themselves for their young raise healthier babies. This maternal sacrifice beats hamsters.

Who knew the...strongest cannibal would be a tiny beetle.This tiny beetle looks harmless, but it savagely turns buddies into food. Flour beetle cannibalism is common; studies show predictable patterns. This is the beetle's way to balance the population.

Two salamander larvae exist: regular and...cannibalistic morph.(Yikes). The cannibalistic morph salamander eats its own kind. It has a huge, crushing jaw and a wide mouth. It outsizes other salamanders and often survives when things go wrong. Salamanders adapt to their environment; they eat their own if needed. If one morph salamander exists, other larvae are more likely to be cannibals.a higher chance other larvae are also cannibals.Cannibalistic salamanders possess larger jaws than regular salamanders.

Cannibalism is a cold dish in the animal kingdom, especially for frogs. Frogs eat other frogs, called anuraphagy. This happens due to size or movement. Larger frogs eat smaller ones, and frogs from one area eat newcomers. Studies show a 40% rise in frog cannibalism if one frog comes from out of town. Worse, some frogs eat their own species, often their siblings.Frogs eat their own siblings.If one frog comes from out of town, things get stranger; some frogs eat other frogs of their own species, often eating their siblings.

Mother rabbits clean up after pregnancy by eating their own children. This is a bizarre case of spring cleaning madness.Mother rabbits eat their own children.Pet dealers tell owners of pregnant rabbits to build sneaky hiding places.Owners build sneaky little hiding places for baby rabbits so they can hide from moody mothers. This is nightmare fuel.This behavior is definitely nightmare stuff.

When a snake wants food, it eats other snakes or parts of itself. This self-mutilation is called autosarcophagy.Autosarcophagy.One rat snake ate two-thirds of its own body. Another snake died this way.A different snake died in this manner.Scientists think overheating causes this self-destructive behavior.

We often talk about the amazing human-like social systems of great apes.We often talk about the amazing human-like social systems of great apes.We leave out a gory detail when discussing these systems.That detail is cannibalism.Rare instances of cannibalism happened among these primates. One event stemmed from social politics. In 2005, scientists in Senegal watched a chimpanzee group. In 2007, the leader, a chimp named Foudouko, was overthrown and exiled. The chimp tried to return years later. They killed him, then they ate him. This ritualistic political slaughter is new. Scientists struggle to explain it.

The chicken community might be the only spot in the Animal Kingdom where cannibalism spreads. Chickens lack high intelligence, so they survive by copying others. Experts state,Chickens consume their own young.Chickens eat their own children without knowing what they do. They see an egg, see it is safe to eat. They do not think about the babies inside. They get hungry. Soon, they start setting an example. Other chickens follow blindly and eat their own eggs.