When one thinks of a fearless animal, the typical names come to mind like that of a tiger or lion, but boy do we have a surprise for you because some of the most fearless animals are not who you would expect.
These other animals, although smaller, are more fearless and powerful than the known felines in their own way.
Hippopotamus
Although its size makes it fearsome looking, the hippo is often one of the most underrated animals in Africa in terms of its fearless and potentially bad-tempered nature.
Hippos rank as one of the largest animals in Africa and are not known for their sunny dispositions, causing more human deaths in Africa annually than lions, leopards, crocodiles, or any other of the major predators.
A hippo’s most important requirement is a permanent water source.
Hippos save an impressive deal of energy by staying in the water. The water keeps their large barrel-like bodies and consequently, they need not eat as much as expected.
Hippos can remain submerged for up to 6 minutes as they can close their nostrils and ears to prevent water from entering.
Whilst a hippo is very adaptable in water and can walk on the bottom of rivers or dams, they are clumsy on land.
Pods of hippo can range from two to 200 animals but typically contain 7-15. Bulls are especially grumpy and do not tolerate one another, and they slash even young bulls on the head and shoulders with their sharp teeth.
Dominant bulls typically display their status through Widemouth yawns that show their formidable canine teeth, and plenty of grunting.
Their lower canines are modified into huge tusks that grow continuously and may reach 30-50cm long.
Their teeth are instruments of defense and it has been recorded where a hippo bit a 3-meter crocodile in half! That’s called sharing your meal with your partner without making a fuss.
LEAF CUTTER ANT
The Leafcutter ant is abundant in the American tropics, easily recognized by its foraging columns composed of hundreds or thousands of ants carrying small pieces of leaves.
These moving trails of cut foliage often stretch over 100 feet across the forest floor and up and down the trunks of canopy trees.
After clipping out pieces of leaves with their jaws, they transport the fragments to an underground nest that can include over 1,000 chambers and houses millions of individual ants.
Deep within the nest, the ants physically and chemically cultivate subterranean “gardens” of fungus that grow on the chewed leaves.
The ants remove contaminants and produce amino acids and enzymes to aid fungal growth. They also secrete substances that suppress other fungal growth.
Leaf-cutter ants profoundly affect their surroundings. By pruning vegetation, they stimulate fresh plant growth, and, by gardening their fungal food, they enrich the soil.
Excavating nests that may occupy 800 cubic feet, a colony of Leaf cutters may turn over 88,000 pounds of soil in tropical moist forests, stimulating root growth of many plant species.
In New World tropical rain forests, the large nests of these ants are often found among enormous trees that are spaced far apart with little undergrowth—a park-like setting created by the ants themselves.
Leaf-cutting ants are serious pests, especially in Brazil, where they may ravage extensive plantings of cultivated plants overnight. These insects are used locally as a source of food by people in South America.
And here I was thinking only the Chinese liked their noodles with insects?
