# What animals creep you out? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 8, 2006, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animals-creep-you-out/371960 "2006-09-08T19:13:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Surly\_Chick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Surly\_Chick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surly_Chick)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2006, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animals-creep-you-out/371960/21 "2006-09-08T20:57:36Z")
Aardvarks. Creepcity! Not animals but book me a seat on the “I hate those creepy, rat-assed bastards of arachnia” train. The dog caught one the size of a canned ham yesterday and watching him eat it while it tried to crawl out of his mouth made me heave and squick simultaneously. ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2006, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animals-creep-you-out/371960/22 "2006-09-08T21:08:08Z")
[QUOTE=Surly Chick] The dog caught one the size of a canned ham yesterday and watching him eat it while it tried to crawl out of his mouth made me heave and squick simultaneously. [/QUOTE] :eek: I don’t even dislike spiders and this would freak the shit out of me! ---
**Author:** ![Surly\_Chick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Surly\_Chick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surly_Chick)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2006, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animals-creep-you-out/371960/23 "2006-09-08T21:11:20Z")
[QUOTE=alice\_in\_wonderland] :eek: I don’t even dislike spiders and this would freak the shit out of me! [/QUOTE] The worst part was that I _had_ to watch as he caught it in the _house_ :eek: and I had to make sure he finished it off. ---
**Author:** ![Caridwen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c89c15/32.png) [@Caridwen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caridwen)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2006, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animals-creep-you-out/371960/24 "2006-09-08T21:27:05Z")
[QUOTE=Dung Beetle] I was _hoping_ someone would say cats! I have heard of people who are scared of cats, but never had an opportunity to ask why. Are you actually scared or disgusted by cats, the way I am about spiders? [/QUOTE] I’m not afraid of cats, and I actually do like them but picking a cat up sort of creeps me out. I know they aren’t fragile, but when you pick them up you can feel their bones and I’m always afraid I’m going to hurt them. Spiders I love! They fascinate me. When my son was young I used to build boxes and put them outside under the trees. All of their webs looked different. He didn’t share the spider thrill. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![FormerMarineGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/65b543/32.png) [@FormerMarineGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FormerMarineGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2006, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animals-creep-you-out/371960/25 "2006-09-08T21:43:38Z")
[QUOTE=Dung Beetle] I was _hoping_ someone would say cats! I have heard of people who are scared of cats, but never had an opportunity to ask why. Are you actually scared or disgusted by cats, the way I am about spiders? [/QUOTE] I am both scared (I have never said the word scared describing myself before) and disgusted by cats. I refuse to believe they are clean animals. They will scratch for no apparent reason. The argument of declawing does not work for me, they still want to scratch you. They eat animals and bring them in the house (how the hell is that clean?). Don’t/Can’t they cause diseases in babies? This is coming from a three-time war vet. ---
**Author:** ![hawksgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ed655f/32.png) [@hawksgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hawksgirl)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2006, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animals-creep-you-out/371960/26 "2006-09-08T21:45:40Z")
[QUOTE=FormerMarineGuy] Don’t/Can’t they cause diseases in babies? [/QUOTE] Yeah, pretty much any animal, domesticated or not, carries one disease or another. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2006, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animals-creep-you-out/371960/27 "2006-09-08T21:51:57Z")
[This thing](http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object/article?o=0&f=/c/a/2006/06/29/MNGKQJMRT811.DTL) ---
**Author:** ![Surly\_Chick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Surly\_Chick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surly_Chick)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2006, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animals-creep-you-out/371960/28 "2006-09-08T21:59:43Z")
[QUOTE=astro] [This thing](http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object/article?o=0&f=/c/a/2006/06/29/MNGKQJMRT811.DTL) [/QUOTE] C’mon **astro**! That thing is no match for your Hands of Steel! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2006, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animals-creep-you-out/371960/29 "2006-09-08T22:06:46Z")
It’s not like I stand a chance of ever running into one, but I can’t abide African hyenas. Their blunt brown snarly muzzles and their eerie whooping make me shudder with disgust. Sometimes I watch those Lions vs. Hyenas nature documentaries just in the hopes of seeing the lions off a few hyenas. Also, those hideous big tropical centipedes, about which we have posted our loathing _ad nauseum_ here on the Dope. They’re the only creepy-crawly which truly terrifies me. ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2006, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animals-creep-you-out/371960/30 "2006-09-08T22:08:16Z")
Computer-generated snakes on a plane. ---
**Author:** ![FormerMarineGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/65b543/32.png) [@FormerMarineGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FormerMarineGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2006, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animals-creep-you-out/371960/31 "2006-09-08T22:09:16Z")
[QUOTE=JThunder] Computer-generated snakes on a plane. [/QUOTE] Yeah. Those, too. ---
**Author:** ![SmartAleq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smartaleq/32/163_2.png) [@SmartAleq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAleq)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2006, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animals-creep-you-out/371960/32 "2006-09-08T22:10:21Z")
[QUOTE=astro] [This thing](http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object/article?o=0&f=/c/a/2006/06/29/MNGKQJMRT811.DTL) [/QUOTE] Is it just me or did Dr. Seuss draw that critter? I don’t gross out over monkeys much, but I’m scared shitless of baboons–there’s something so implacable and scary about them, they’re like dog/human hybrids and I’m not crazy about the technicolor buttholes, either. Hyenas freak me out a bit, so misshapen, unfinished and dirty looking, bleah… If I ever saw a pangolin walking around unrestrained I might get a bit freaked out. Centipedes. _shudder_ Ditto millipedes, those things are just not right. ---
**Author:** ![MoodIndigo1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e8c25b/32.png) [@MoodIndigo1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MoodIndigo1)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2006, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animals-creep-you-out/371960/33 "2006-09-08T22:53:06Z")
I love just about all animals, even spiders. When my son comes over with his wife, I have to make sure I pick up all the spiders that might be living in my house and put them outside. She is absolutely terrified, horror-film shrieking freaked-out. I will put a spider on my hand and watch it walk up my arm. My husband tends to squash a spider every now and then if I’m not looking, but he’s not scared of them. On the other hand, a simple garden slug horrifies me. My worst nightmare is to touch one when I go to pick vegetables from the garden. \ ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2006, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animals-creep-you-out/371960/34 "2006-09-08T22:54:20Z")
I had no idea there were so many of us who don’t like monkeys/apes/etc! I hate them and they creep me out, and usually when I mention that, people act like I am the biggest grinch ever. They have creepy, grabby hands! Gah! Those little tiny ones, like organ grinder monkeys, are especially bad, because 1. people put clothes on them, and 2. they are small so they could hide in something like a breadbox and then jump out and touch you with their creepy hands. Baboons are nearly in a Creep League of their own. I am also seriously creeped out by eels. They just seem so … floppy. Ugh. I’m not bothered by snakes, so I’m not really sure why eels set me off so much. You’d think they’d be the same. In theory, I can see how electric eels are cool, in a sense, but I have very strong opinions that electric eels should go off somewhere and be cool very, very, very far away from me. [QUOTE=FormerMarineGuy] I am both scared (I have never said the word scared describing myself before) and disgusted by cats. I refuse to believe they are clean animals. They will scratch for no apparent reason. The argument of declawing does not work for me, they still want to scratch you. They eat animals and bring them in the house (how the hell is that clean?). Don’t/Can’t they cause diseases in babies? This is coming from a three-time war vet. [/QUOTE] As a cat-lover myself, I was surprised to discover that I find this almost endearing! ---
**Author:** ![Surly\_Chick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Surly\_Chick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surly_Chick)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2006, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animals-creep-you-out/371960/35 "2006-09-08T23:05:06Z")
[QUOTE=MoodIndigo1] I love just about all animals, even spiders. [/QUOTE] How many times do I have to say it?? Spiders are not animals! They are Satan’s evil spawn direct from the sulfurous depths of Hades! ---
**Author:** ![Vision\_of\_Love](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Vision\_of\_Love](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vision_of_Love)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2006, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animals-creep-you-out/371960/36 "2006-09-08T23:14:57Z")
Worms. They’re just these long, slimy, ribbed creatures. No appendages, eyes, or visible mouth. That’s creepy. The bigger the worm, the creepier it is, and the more I am disgusted by its lack of appendages/eyes/mouth. ---
**Author:** ![11811](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/1/9d8465/32.png) [@11811](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/11811)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2006, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animals-creep-you-out/371960/37 "2006-09-09T00:26:11Z")
[QUOTE=Surly Chick] The dog caught one the size of a canned ham yesterday and watching him eat it while it tried to crawl out of his mouth made me heave and squick simultaneously. [/QUOTE] Hee. My late dog got a smallish praying mantis outside but coughed it up pretty quickly. More comical than squickish. Slugs. Hate them. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2006, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animals-creep-you-out/371960/38 "2006-09-09T00:35:17Z")
[QUOTE=delphica] > [@FormerMarineGuy](#): > > Originally Posted by FormerMarineGuy > I am both scared (I have never said the word scared describing myself before) and disgusted by cats. > > I refuse to believe they are clean animals. > > They will scratch for no apparent reason. The argument of declawing does not work for me, they still want to scratch you. > > They eat animals and bring them in the house (how the hell is that clean?). > > Don’t/Can’t they cause diseases in babies? > > This is coming from a three-time war vet. As a cat-lover myself, I was surprised to discover that I find this almost endearing! [/QUOTE] I think the former Marine in **FormerMarineGuy** may find he agrees with P.J. O’Rourke here: > [@](#): > > Its easy to understand why the cat has eclipsed the dog as modern America’s favorite pet. People like pets to possess the same qualities they do. Cats are to dogs what modern people are to the people we used to have. Cats are slimmer, cleaner, more attractive, disloyal, and lazy. Cats are irresponsible and recognize no authority, yet are completely dependent on others for their material needs. Cats cannot be made to do anything useful. Cats are mean for the fun of it. In fact, cats possess so many of the same qualities as some people (expensive girlfriends, for instance) that it’s often hard to tell the people and the cats apart. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2006, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animals-creep-you-out/371960/39 "2006-09-09T00:42:28Z")
I recently moved to Portland. First order of business was to check out a local golf course. I had never seen, nor heard, of [this](http://www.conceitedindependence.com/uploads/images/largenutriabtc1.jpg) animal before in my entire life until I laid eyes on about five of them, all wet and squawky, lurking around my ball. I’m sure all the other golfers enjoyed me running directly across three fairways shrieking like a toddler in order to get away from them. ---
**Author:** ![FormerMarineGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/65b543/32.png) [@FormerMarineGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FormerMarineGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2006, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animals-creep-you-out/371960/40 "2006-09-09T00:58:07Z")
[QUOTE=delphica] As a cat-lover myself, I was surprised to discover that I find this almost endearing! [/QUOTE] You are a sick, sick, sick person. Sick I tell you. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animals-creep-you-out/371960.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animals-creep-you-out/371960.md?page=3)