The StoneFish

There are worse things it seems in the depths of the beautiful blue ocean than the Great White Sharks or the Tiger Sharks that frighten sunbathers and swimmers with their circling fins in all the best movies. This one is barely worth a second look. He’s not at all spooky and has no large teeth or even a big fin to warn you of his presence, but all the same, he’s probably more deadly.

The Stonefish is a hider who lies on the bottom of the sea waiting for the next victim to come along. One wrong step, one single tread is all it takes to leave you wishing you were home again and not in the sunny seas.

That single step that carries you over the back of these deadly killers is going to have you in nearly immediate agonizing pain while you wait for the end. The back of the stonefish is loaded with spines, each of which offers enough venom to kill you in minimal time, but is death really the worst of it? Some say no. There are reports of those who beg to have their hand or foot removed because the pain is more than they can bear. Even though the venom will kill you in a matter of hours, some say that is far too long to live with the pain of the sting that you’ve just received.

The next silent killer is so completely nondescript that you’re probably not going to notice him at all. Beautiful butterflies come from the fuzzy little caterpillars that we all played with as children, but some of them aren’t quite as friendly as they might seem…

Read more: http://www.itsnature.org/what-on-earth/4-silent-killers-of-the-natural-world