Horrifying Tuesday: The Mantis Shrimp

The Mantis Shrimp is possibly one of the most innovative creatures of the ocean due to its cleverness and undeniably powerful jabs. If you thought that you were a good boxer, wait until you meet this little guy and get introduced to a whole new world of pain. But how could a small marine crustacean pose any threat to your masculinity? It may or may not be related to the fact that they're common referred as "sea locusts" and "thumb splitters".

"Why hello there, my good man!" - The Mantis Shrimp

To emphasize how hardcore these creatures are, the Mantis Shrimp are commonly placed into two different groups depending on which type of claw they have. There are "Spearers" which have spiky appendages with barbed tips, which are used to rapidly stab and break prey. The other group is called "Smashers" which have their appendages in a blunter form which gives them a more developed club that can be used to smash their victims apart like a hammer, while making their stabbing less effective as a result. But you can't win them all, right?

But despite only having a "spear" or a "club", these creatures are capable of taking on and killing much larger victims with these rudimentary weapons. They are commonly known for their unbelievable quickness in both spear and club, capable of firing a single jab/smash at the same acceleration of a .22 caliber bullet. Their lunging punch can be shot at their prey with an acceleration of nearly 335,000 ft/s^2. What does this all mean? It means that by the time you finish your first punch, this little guy would probably be starting dinner.

"Would you like a plate? I've made way too much for my own appetite." - The Mantis Shrimp

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The Cassowary - Another Animal That Will Most Likely Rip You Apart

According to this title, this animal must be some type of fearless, muscular, super-dexterous animal capable of ripping you apart with his/her bear hands. What if I told you that the Cassowary was a shy, two limb bird that resembles a turkey to the untrained eye? Before you close this page in betrayed disgust, I assure you that this bird is fully capable of destroying you on the multiple levels.

I mean look at him, he looks like a little Bruce Lee incarnate.

The Casssowary is one of the heaviest known flightless birds in the world. They generally eat fruits, plants, grass, seeds, fungi, and the occasional small animal. Thanks to their diet, Cassowarys are known to be a keystone species in the rain forests because they help re-distribute seeds from fallen fruit after they eat them; they're known to eat fruit whole from apples to bananas. When eating however, they are territorial about their their land (up to 1,700 acres) and defend it for themselves and their mate.

So... What's the big deal? Why are these animals "likely to rip me apart?" Other than a few birds or rats every year, how do they pose a threat to me at all? Are they going to run after me and peck my eyes out in a stereotypical bird manner as depicted in cartoons, animes and humorous movie/TV scenes? Looks unlikely since I'm a highly sophisticated human that's capable of a few punches or two. The thing about Cassowaries is that they're known to be extremely shy animals towards humans unless they are disturbed. When the are "disturbed", they're fully capable of completely dominating you in footsies. (The bad kind.)

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3 Reasons That Going Back To School Is Great

School, it can be one of the most exciting time during your lifetime or one of the most time wasted, boring periods of your life. Despite what you think, it's actually a good thing that a lot of us are going back to school soon. Before you grab your torches and pitchforks, hear me out.

3. Purpose

One of life's biggest mysteries is life itself. How did we come into being? What is the purpose of life? Some people at adolescent stage of life feel that life has no purpose, and that we're simply small lifeforms that mean nothing and compared to the number of people in the world and how large the galaxy is, we are insignificant. (Feel free to add more ranting to the end of the previous sentence.)

As a child or 'young adult', life is pretty simple. You go to bed,  you eat, you drink, you shower, you go to school, you do homework and you repeat. (Including various social acceptance sub-plots) Although, during the summer, many people haven't found activities to replace school, such as volunteering, tutoring, or work. The result is 3 months of meaningless 'hanging out with friends' and browsing the web.

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Horrifying Sunday - Tarantula Hawk

Hello good friends! I hope nobody notices that it is in fact Sunday, not Tuesday. Perhaps nobody will notice eh? It'll be between me and you, don't tell anyone! If anybody asks, it's Sunday. Without further ado, here's today's post.

The Tarantula Hawk towards in un-trained ear, sounds like a combination of a giant creepy crawlie, and the swift power of a hawk. In the terms of being horrifying, you'll be completely correct. The Tarantula Hawk isn't a giant Hawk flying around with eight legs, spinning random webs everywhere; It's actually a "Spider Wasp".

"Well that sure did clear it up Mister Norman!" Hold your horses, let me explain. The Spider Wasp could be easily defined as a Wasp grown and trained, to be natural Spider Bounty Hunters. In our case, our species specifically hunts Tarantulas.

Film Not Related.

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