Animals that get an undeserved bad reputation.

[Vrex360]

We all know that in this world there are some nasty animals (like those filthy humans) but do you ever get the impression that some nasty animals are being unfairly typecast as the bad guy, or are the only ones being blamed for a crime when in reality there do exist others? Well I do and that's why I made this thread, sure people can accuse the spider or the snake of being dangerously poisonous but if you can believe it the cute and loveable platypus contains enough poison to kill a man in just under a few minutes... yet the platypus is beloved and the snake and spider are getting disaproving glares. The Great White Shark gets a bad reputation as being an infamous killer but in reality (first of all it never attacks humans intentionally as they are not regularly part of the eco system) it as a species no longer has the numbers to put humans at risk, yet we hunt them frequently anyway. Crocodiles keep getting the accusation that they attack and kill humans all the time but really they are provoked by us entering their territory... I could go on for days.

So yeah if I had to choose I would simply say that most reptiles get unfairly typecast as villians (just look at all the old fairytales and stuff, creatures that look like lizards and snakes ae consistantly made out to be the bad guy) and really that isn't fair as a judgement. So yeah that's my pick, what's your example of an animal getting an unfair bad reputation?

 

[Internet Kraken]

Can you explain exactly what a bad reputation for an animal is? I've been sitting here thinking about what you could mean, but I keep drawing blanks.

 

[Chicago Ted]

Snakes and sharks are all I can really think of. I do loathe frogs though.

 

[VicunaBlue]

Cats: they are misjudged as scratchy, hateful evil things when, if you treat them with respect, and don't try to command them like a dog, are as affectionate as any animal.

 

[Vrex360]

Can you explain exactly what a bad reputation for an animal is? I've been sitting here thinking about what you could mean, but I keep drawing blanks.

You know, being labelled as a vicious hideous killer animal... essentially the animals that aren't labelled as 'cute' and are condemned for it.

 

[YuheJi]

Ostriches? Because they don't stick their heads in the sand believing that they are hidden like people believe. They are fast enough to outrun most predators anyways, they probably stick their heads down to look for food. If it did hide by sticking its head in the sand, it would have gone extinct ages ago.

 

[Internet Kraken]

Can you explain exactly what a bad reputation for an animal is? I've been sitting here thinking about what you could mean, but I keep drawing blanks.

You know, being labelled as a vicious hideous killer animal... essentially the animals that aren't labelled as 'cute' and are condemned for it.

Well I'd say most of the animals you described are perfectly fitting of those descriptions. Crocodiles? They are definitely vicious. Salt Water Crocodiles could easily crush your bones. Great White Sharks? They're killers. Incredibly deadly and efficient killers. i don't see how these creatures are misunderstood.

 

[Mr. Grey]

Me... You maim a few villages here and there and suddenly your name lives on in infamy. I mean come on! You obviously were not taking good care of your sheep leaving them out in the open like that!
Or there is a frog out there, the poison dart frog. All he wants is a hug, but whenever people do, they die. That has to suck.

But seriously, there is a fish called the alligator gar that actually does get a bad rep and was nearly hunted into extinction. Turns out, it never really was the reason for people disappearing, it was actually an alligator or crocodile. They just look similar before the attack.

 

[Aqualung]

I hear pigs are getting a pretty bad reputation these days.

 

[Vrex360]

Can you explain exactly what a bad reputation for an animal is? I've been sitting here thinking about what you could mean, but I keep drawing blanks.

You know, being labelled as a vicious hideous killer animal... essentially the animals that aren't labelled as 'cute' and are condemned for it.

Well I'd say most of the animals you described are perfectly fitting of those descriptions. Crocodiles? They are definitely vicious. Salt Water Crocodiles could easily crush your bones. Great White Sharks? They're killers. Incredibly deadly and efficient killers. i don't see how these creatures are misunderstood.

Well yes they are deadly but it is just their nature, doesn't really make them evil. Besides predators like that are essential to the ecosystem and when people go on mass cullings it just seems wrong to me. People just seem to forget about that and also forget that a crocodile is only harmful to you if you enter its home.

 

[Mordwyl]

Sharks were already mentioned, so I'll go with the next best thing: Pigs. People have the general common belief these are dumb animals. Frankly, it seems intelligence made us so arrogant to think our ways work better than those developed by other creatures over their line of evolution.

Hell, ants have managed to work as a massive-scale society.

 

[badgersprite]

Great White Sharks get blamed for Bull Shark attacks, largely because of Jaws, I guess.

I also think crocodiles get a bad reputation when it's really human stupidity that's at fault. Seriously, I was in the Daintree Rainforest in Queensland riding on a boat tour with 'Crocodile Jack' in a notoriously crocodile-filled river. Seriously, we only went like five kilometres up the river, and we saw like thirty crocs. When we came back to the dock, I honestly couldn't believe what I saw - there were all these sunbathers (probably tourists) lying on a sandbank right on the fucking edge of the river. And you could SEE the damn crocodiles in the water. They were EVERYWHERE.

Honestly, if any of those people got bitten, they fucking deserved it. They may as well have been doused in gravy and waving a sign that says, "Eat me!" I've never seen anybody so stupid.

Also, bats get a bad reputation. There are only about two species of bat that suck blood, and even then they only take a tiny amount, usually from pigs. Vampire bats are more of a myth than anything else.

 

[Internet Kraken]

Can you explain exactly what a bad reputation for an animal is? I've been sitting here thinking about what you could mean, but I keep drawing blanks.

You know, being labelled as a vicious hideous killer animal... essentially the animals that aren't labelled as 'cute' and are condemned for it.

Well I'd say most of the animals you described are perfectly fitting of those descriptions. Crocodiles? They are definitely vicious. Salt Water Crocodiles could easily crush your bones. Great White Sharks? They're killers. Incredibly deadly and efficient killers. i don't see how these creatures are misunderstood.

Well yes they are deadly but it is just their nature, doesn't really make them evil. Besides predators like that are essential to the ecosystem and when people go on mass cullings it just seems wrong to me. People just seem to forget about that and also forget that a crocodile is only harmful to you if you enter its home.

Oh I see. You're talking about people who think these animals should be killed just because of their nature. Well then yes, I would agree since that's simply the ecological niche they fit into. But I wouldn't call the ecosystem a Crocodile lives in it's home. It doesn't own the bog it chooses to swim in. Plus a Crocodile is just as dangerous out of it's ecosystem. That's why crocodiles that stumble into areas populated by humans can be a problem.

Though really, every animal is misunderstood under this criteria.

 

[Ocelot GT]

Cats: they are misjudged as scratchy, hateful evil things when, if you treat them with respect, and don't try to command them like a dog, are as affectionate as any animal.

Prrrr :3 *rubbing against your leg*


I'd say sharks... sea lions... and sea land lions.

 

[NeutralDrow]

<url=http://www.cracked.com/article_17481_5-most-hated-creatures-on-planet-dont-deserve-it.html>The 5 Most Hated Creatures on the Planet (Don't Deserve It).

And cats. I don't know why they have such a bad reputation.

 

[Hallow'sEve]

Bats. And you know why.

 

[GoldenCondor]

Bats. And you know why.

Is it because they have the highest homosexual count?

 

[Graustein]

Platypus venom is not fatal to humans. It's agonising, but little more than that. And kill a grown man in a few minutes? The funnelweb spider is one of the most venomous creatures in the world, and even that takes at least fifteen minutes to kill a child.