10 Deadly Animals that Fit in a Breadbox

The Gila monster, at about 20 inches (50 cm) long, might have to curl up a bit depending on the size of your breadbox. While it may not live up to its moniker in size, this tiny monster packs a punch. Its strong jaw allows it to clamp on to a victim while its nerve poison venom seeps into the bite wound. Luckily, fatalities to humans are rare, but the bite is said to be very painful. Watch out for Gila monsters in the southwestern United States and northern Mexico.

The bloodsucking tsetse fly of Africa is less than an inch long. It uses its bladelike mandibles to pierce skin and feed on the blood of humans and other animals. This little fly won’t drain your blood like a vampire would, but two species of tsetse fly are known to transmit the parasites that cause sleeping sickness. While “sleeping sickness” may sound like what you get after a huge meal, it can be fatal if left untreated. In addition to drowsiness, symptoms include fever and swelling of the lymph nodes. Sometimes a sufferer may develop fatal inflammation of the heart. Uncontrollable sleep caused by the infection can eventually lead to coma or may cause fatal accidents while driving.

The Indo-Pacific stonefish is a silent assassin of the sea. This 13-inch (33-cm) fish likes to hang out in shallow waters near the rocks and mud it resembles, making it difficult to see—and easy to step on by accident. The fish’s spines inject venom that is extremely painful and can be fatal to humans. On second thought, you’re better off with this guy in your breadbox, where it’s easier to keep an eye on him.

The boomslang is a 6-foot-long (1.8 metres) snake, but coiled up it could certainly be waiting among your bread products. However, this snake usually makes its home in sub-Saharan savannas. Its wide-mouthed toxic bite causes bleeding and renal failure, and its venom can be fatal to humans even in small amounts. Luckily, the boomslang tends to be a bit shy, and human deaths are rare.

The slow loris might look like your favorite teddy bear, but you might want to think twice before cuddling this primate. There are five species of slow loris, ranging to about 14 inches (37 cm) long, all living in Indonesia and on the Malay Peninsula. One, the pygmy slow loris, would even fit in the palm of your hand. Slow lorises produce a toxin near their elbows that gets transferred to their mouths by licking. This toxin has been known to cause a severe allergic reaction in humans unfortunate enough to experience a slow loris bite. While most people experience only painful swelling, untreated allergic reactions can potentially be fatal.

You may have seen a puffer fish inflate and extend its spines like a rotund aquatic porcupine, but did you know that many species of puffer fish are poisonous? And, even inflated, many of them would fit in your breadbox. In Japan puffer fish are called fugu—widely considered a delicacy. They can only be prepared by specially trained chefs because of their highly toxic organs. Hundreds of people have died of fugu poisoning, though usually from trying to prepare it without proper training. Eating just a tiny sliver of a poison liver or ovary can cause numbness, paralysis, and death. There is no antidote. Even so, many people make fugu their dinner for the delicious thrill—would you?

The skin of the poison frog is, fittingly, extremely poisonous. These tiny frogs range from only about half an inch (12 mm) to about two and a half inches (65 mm) long, so really it’s possible that there are several dozen lurking in your breadbox. Luckily, they tend to prefer living in the tropics of Central and South America. Some South American tribes coat the tips of their darts and arrows by rubbing them across the backs of poison frogs. The skin secretions of these hopping poison factories isn’t usually dangerous to humans through regular handling, but they can be lethal if absorbed through a mucous membrane or a cut on the skin. So if you see one of these brightly-colored frogs, you don’t necessarily have to run—but don’t pop it in your mouth, either.

If you like collecting seashells, you may want to take a pass on the cone shell. The cone shell is a type of marine snail that occurs predominantly in the Indo-Pacific region. They can grow to be as much as 6 inches (15 cm) long and are extremely toxic. This little snail delivers a potent venom through a harpoonlike dart, causing pain, numbness, dizziness, and paralysis. The venom from one sting is enough to kill several people, and, although fatalities are rare, there is no anti-venom.

The sea wasp is a type of jellyfish found in the Indo-Pacific region. It would probably have to fold up its tentacles to fit in your breadbox, but its bell grows only to about 10–12 inches (25–30 cm) in diameter. A sea wasp’s sting is extremely painful and dangerous, and it can easily kill a human. Human victims have died from shock or heart failure before even reaching shore—the venom can paralyze the heart in 30 seconds. Perhaps the worst thing about the sea wasp is that if it’s not lurking in your breadbox its translucent skin can make it very difficult to spot.

If you live in a warm or temperate climate, chances are good you’ve seen a mosquito. You’ve probably even been bitten by one, or maybe a dozen. And you lived to tell the tale! So why are mosquitoes on this list? Mosquitoes transmit diseases such as yellow fever, malaria, filariasis, and dengue, killing millions of people every year. These tiny bloodsucking insects can become hosts to parasites that are transferred in their tiny bites. In many parts of the world conditions aren’t quite right for the deadly parasites to grow in the mosquitoes, and medical treatment can be effective…but you might want to check your breadbox, just in case.