5 terrifying predators in nature

Try to think quickly of a terrifying predator. What species will appear in your mind? Crocodile? Cobra? Or tiger?

You may not think about running away when you see a short northern shrew . But that is a big mistake.

This small animal can take down a prey twice as large as a bite. Their secret is poisonous saliva.

A bite of a northern shrew can also kill prey.

Shrews are among the few mammals on Earth with venomous bite. However, they cannot compete with the next hunting killer: mongoose .

Civet mainly feeds on insects, small reptiles, birds and rodents. But some mongoose species hunt dangerous prey such as cobra, mamba snakes and many other venomous snakes. Certainly, in addition to courage, they need to equip more weapons to deal with poisonous snakes.

Civet can resist nerve toxins in snake venom. Normally, toxins attach to cell receptors in muscles that block signals from the brain, causing paralysis. But some mongoose species have special receptors that help to avoid toxins.

Next is the giant otter .

On average, they are as long as a man. They like prey like catfish and piranhas. But on rare occasions, the giant otter hunted pythons anacoda and crocodile crocodile, at least twice as long as them. They don't even have any secret weapons like poison saliva to help, only the same kind of people help because sometimes they go hunting.

However, there is a type of weasel that specializes in hunting larger prey, which is wolves .

Wolves are as big as a border collie dog and reindeer hunt. They like to ambush prey. When this is ineffective, wolves are ready to steal prey from larger predators like wolves and bears.

Finally, the most unexpected predator: Epomis beetle.

Immediately after birth, hungry larvae can hunt. Frogs, clones, salamanders are all delicious meals for them. But newborn babies cannot hunt big prey. Instead, they lure prey by pretending to let the opponent attack. Then, they flipped, snapped the jaws into the prey body and ate the flesh.