The 7 Scariest Home-Invading Animals Around the World

No matter how hard you try to keep them out, animals can find a way to get into your home. A hole only a pencil-width in diameter is enough for mice or bats to get in. Squirrels can get through a baseball-sized hole, and raccoons can fit through a grapefruit-sized one. Chimneys, vents, windows and doors, and pet doors can all let them in, but some of them can just chew right through the exterior siding to make their own entry point.

Annoying as this might be, these common pests don’t compare to the home-invading animals we’re going to introduce you to. Put on a football helmet and arm and knee pads, and get your tennis racket ready—it’s time to defend your home!

1. Flying Snakes

Chrysopelea is the scientific name for a genus of snakes in South and Southeast Asia. Growing up to 4 feet long, these guys have unbelievable skills. These guys can glide vertically straight up a tree trunk using rough scales on their stomachs. Not only that, they can launch themselves from a tree branch, flatten themselves by flaring out their ribs, and whip their bodies to glide through the air. They can glide like this nearly the distance of an American football field! With this ability, it’s entirely possible for them to launch themselves right into the upper windows of houses and apartment buildings. They’re only mildly venomous, but that doesn’t mean they won’t give you a heart attack!

2. Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake

Fortunately, those flying snakes live far away from us in the United States. But then again, we have the eastern diamondback rattlesnake. At up to 7 feet long, it can strike a distance up to 1/2 its body length. Those who get a full dose of venom in a bite can experience bleeding, hypertension, swelling, and cardiac arrest. It can literally give you a heart attack! Fortunately, while about 8,000 people are bitten by rattlesnakes every year in the United States, only 10-15 die.

Rattlesnakes can and do get into people’s houses, garages, barns, and sheds. Sometimes, they’re pursuing prey, such as mice. Sometimes, they need a warm place to coil up in cool weather or a place to cool down in hot weather. Since they really do avoid people, you’re most likely to find them in a storage area or someplace else that doesn’t get a lot of traffic. If you suspect there’s a rattlesnake in your house, call animal control to take it away for you. Those 8,000 people who get bitten every year? A lot of them were trying to mess with a rattlesnake instead of leaving it alone.

3. Bear

Brown bears (including grizzlies) and black bears are the two species found in the continental United States. These animals are not endangered, and their numbers have been increasing in recent decades. That fact, along with the spread of human development into bear habitats, has increased the number of human-bear interactions. A woman in Charlottesville, Virginia, for example, encountered a curious black bear while walking her dogs in her own backyard. In another part of the state, a bear wandered through the automatic doors of a hospital and roamed the halls until wildlife officials could arrive to remove it.

Bears are especially active in the spring when they emerge from hibernation, emaciated and ravenous. If you get too close, they’ll remind you to respect their space with a swipe of a massive, sharp-clawed paw or a vicious, bone-breaking bite.

4. Scorpion

Scorpions live on every continent except Antarctica and not only in the desert. They have also adapted to tropical and subtropical climates. In the United States, they live mainly in the Southwest. Scorpions can get into woodpiles, laundry, and in people’s shoes. They sting with their tails, inflicting enormous pain with their venom . Of the over 1,500 species of scorpions in the world, only 25 or so are toxic enough to kill humans, but some others are still potent enough to cause cardiovascular and respiratory issues. The age and health of the victim are important factors in how deadly a sting is. Most fatalities, tragically, happen to children under 6.

5. Alligator

Alligators are found along the rivers and swamps of the Southeastern coastal region of the United States, all the way around from Texas to South Carolina. Once endangered, their numbers have bounced back to the point that they’re spreading along rivers inland and have been sighted as far north as Tennessee! It’s not unusual for a gator to wander onto a golf course or get into a backyard pool in Florida. Despite the size of these animals, they have been known to climb chain link fences. They can deliver a nasty bite with their powerful jaws, strong enough to crush an arm or leg bone in a single snap. Sometimes, they eat pets, and larger ones have killed adult humans. Feeding them is the worst possible idea. They’ll start associating humans with food—not only as a source of food but as food themselves.

6. Cassowary

In Australia, no matter how beautiful and harmless-looking an animal species is, there’s a good chance it could kill you. And that’s true of the cassowary, a flightless bird that’s the height and weight of an adult man: 6 feet and 187 pounds. In addition to their imposing size, cassowaries can run at up to 30 mph, jump 5 feet in the air, and slash you velociraptor-style with 5-inch razor-claws. They usually avoid humans, but when people feed them, they become bold and aggressive. Attacks on people and pets happen every year in Australia, and 75% of those are from cassowaries who have previously been fed. There have also been cases of them wandering into homes. You’ll need more than a tennis racket to handle this one!

7. Black Widow Spider

Around the world, there are about 34 species of spiders called “widows,” such as the black widow and the brown widow. They’re called “widows” because the female will eat the male after mating if she’s hungry. Typically, the females are dark and have a red hourglass-shaped mark on their bellies. They have a powerful venom that, in people, can cause muscle spasms, cramps, excessive perspiration, respiratory problems, and nausea but rarely results in death. About 2,500 people are bitten every year in the United States, but most do not need medical care for a bite. There is an antivenom that can be given to relieve the pain, which, by all reports, is intense.

Up Next:

• 12 Invasive Species Deliberately Introduced into the U.S. – Plus 1 INSANE Near Miss!
• Invasive Animal Population by State
• The Top 5 Deadliest Animals in Australia

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