# What animals would be more dangerous if enlarged?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animals-would-be-more-dangerous-if-enlarged/983050
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [April 22, 2023, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animals-would-be-more-dangerous-if-enlarged/983050 "2023-04-22T12:51:54Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 3
### Author:  [@Common\_Tater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Common_Tater)
#### Post date: [April 23, 2023, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animals-would-be-more-dangerous-if-enlarged/983050/41 "2023-04-23T14:16:02Z")
Let’s not leave the plant Kingdom out of the fun.
Gigantic Venus Fly Traps!
Would keep the teeming hordes thinned out at some of our crowded parks and recreation areas.
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### Author:  [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)
#### Post date: [April 23, 2023, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animals-would-be-more-dangerous-if-enlarged/983050/42 "2023-04-23T14:54:25Z")
> [@Banksiaman](#):
>
> The sulphur-crested cockatoo is a common urban bird in eastern Australia, and [often eats building trimmings with its scary chomper beak](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FE4GxzZ4Sr4).
Thank you!
Folks, that was a _lot_ more interesting / entertaining than I expected. Do click the link.
Hell, in Oz even the cute and pretty creatures are dangerously fierce.
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### Author:  [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)
#### Post date: [April 23, 2023, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animals-would-be-more-dangerous-if-enlarged/983050/43 "2023-04-23T15:04:50Z")
> [@mixdenny](#):
>
> Any of the weasels, ferrets, minks, etc. I read once about an escaped mink that was seen stalking a cow! Shrews.
Madagascar had the now-extinct Giant Fossa, basically a six-foot long man-eating weasel.
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### Author:  [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)
#### Post date: [April 23, 2023, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animals-would-be-more-dangerous-if-enlarged/983050/44 "2023-04-23T15:27:52Z")
> [@Lumpy](#):
>
> Madagascar had the now-extinct Giant Fossa, basically a six-foot long man-eating weasel.
Could it [dance](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Fosse)? (Stupid joke, I know.)
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### Author:  [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)
#### Post date: [April 23, 2023, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animals-would-be-more-dangerous-if-enlarged/983050/45 "2023-04-23T22:20:18Z")
> [@Banksiaman](#):
>
> A cat increased in size (and appetite) several fold would be a scary thing to ponder.
Or incredibly cuddly. Have you seen a Maine Coon Cat?
[ ](https://www.boredpanda.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/yuliyamnn_20211228_1-61cb9f45916a6__700.jpg)
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### Author:  [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)
#### Post date: [April 23, 2023, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animals-would-be-more-dangerous-if-enlarged/983050/46 "2023-04-23T23:09:26Z")
That’s why it has 12 legs:
[ ](https://i.imgur.com/p7zWjRw.png)
It’s also largely hollow, partly negating the cube-square law. Hayao Miyazaki was clearly a student of [J. B. S. Haldane](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_Being_the_Right_Size).
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### Author:  [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)
#### Post date: [April 24, 2023, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animals-would-be-more-dangerous-if-enlarged/983050/47 "2023-04-24T00:06:37Z")
That thing in Sam Stone’s pic needs to be killed with fire. Evil personified. Even of there is forced perspective going on and the woman is teeny.
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### Author:  [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)
#### Post date: [April 24, 2023, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animals-would-be-more-dangerous-if-enlarged/983050/48 "2023-04-24T00:17:56Z")
Giant otters look big enough to be dangerous (6 feet long). They’re social, hunting in groups, sometimes taking on caimans and anacondas. Groups of them can drive off jaguars.
You wouldn’t have to enlarge them much to make them nightmare fuel.
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### Author:  [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)
#### Post date: [April 24, 2023, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animals-would-be-more-dangerous-if-enlarged/983050/49 "2023-04-24T00:28:02Z")
And then of course there are the giant apes. Regular chimps are dangerous enough.
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### Author:  [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)
#### Post date: [April 24, 2023, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animals-would-be-more-dangerous-if-enlarged/983050/50 "2023-04-24T01:39:16Z")
> [@Si\_Amigo](#):
>
> Imagine a 75 pound Chihuahua.
I thought of a chihuahua the size of an alligator. It would be Cocaine Bear level scary.
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### Author:  [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)
#### Post date: [April 24, 2023, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animals-would-be-more-dangerous-if-enlarged/983050/51 "2023-04-24T01:39:54Z")
And don’t get me started on the 300 foot tall walking lizards. Those would definitely be hazardous.
> **[Godzilla (franchise)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godzilla_(franchise))**
>
> The Godzilla (Japanese: ゴジラ, Hepburn: Gojira) franchise is a Japanese monster, or kaiju, media franchise consisting of films, television series, novels, comic books, video games, and other merchandise. The franchise is centered on the fictional kaiju Godzilla, a prehistoric reptilian monster awakened and powered by nuclear radiation. The franchise is recognized by the Guinness World Records as the "longest continuously running film franchise", having been in ongoing production since 1954, with se...
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### Author:  [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)
#### Post date: [April 24, 2023, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animals-would-be-more-dangerous-if-enlarged/983050/52 "2023-04-24T01:42:46Z")
Sharks.
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### Author:  [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)
#### Post date: [April 24, 2023, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animals-would-be-more-dangerous-if-enlarged/983050/53 "2023-04-24T02:08:38Z")
And going the other direction The Incredible Shrinking Man, or Antman.
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### Author:  [@BobR\_421](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobR_421)
#### Post date: [April 24, 2023, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animals-would-be-more-dangerous-if-enlarged/983050/54 "2023-04-24T03:09:08Z")
Little dogs.
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### Author:  [@EdwardFound](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EdwardFound)
#### Post date: [April 24, 2023, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animals-would-be-more-dangerous-if-enlarged/983050/55 "2023-04-24T04:01:54Z")
If you want dangerous animals, don’t make them bigger - make them more venomous. How about mosquitos with botox in their saliva?
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### Author:  [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)
#### Post date: [April 24, 2023, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animals-would-be-more-dangerous-if-enlarged/983050/56 "2023-04-24T04:28:52Z")
> [@BobR\_421](#):
>
> Little dogs.
Piranha dogs?
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### Author:  [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Half_Man_Half_Wit)
#### Post date: [April 24, 2023, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animals-would-be-more-dangerous-if-enlarged/983050/57 "2023-04-24T05:30:58Z")
Dragonflies are supposed to be the most efficient hunters, catching [up to 95%](https://biology.ucdavis.edu/news/how-dragonflies-catch-prey-midair) of their prey. In the Permian (due to the higher concentration of oxygen already mentioned), there was a dragonfly with a [75cm wingspan](https://entomology.unl.edu/scilit/largest-extinct-insect).
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### Author:  [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)
#### Post date: [April 24, 2023, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animals-would-be-more-dangerous-if-enlarged/983050/58 "2023-04-24T06:01:14Z")
> [@Banksiaman](#):
>
> The sulphur-crested cockatoo is a common urban bird in eastern Australia, and [often eats building trimmings with its scary chomper beak](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FE4GxzZ4Sr4)
That just confirms my long-held belief that all Australian wildlife is out to kill you! 😉 Between giant deadly spiders, snakes, crocodiles, jellyfish, and even house-eating cockatoos, enlargement is not necessary for these creatures to be fearsome and deadly!
And of course, Australia is one of the very few places in the world to which the cassowary is native (along with Papua New Guinea). The cassowary is about the closest thing we have to a modern-day dinosaur, and indeed is said to be descended from the velociraptor. This guy (in the US) had a cassowary as a pet and it nearly killed him:
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBM7AI0yp78)
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### Author:  [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)
#### Post date: [April 24, 2023, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animals-would-be-more-dangerous-if-enlarged/983050/59 "2023-04-24T18:21:31Z")
> [@Banksiaman](#):
>
> A cat increased in size (and appetite) several fold would be a scary thing to ponder.
Judging from the way Tootsie has swatted my hand when I stop brushing her, before she’s finished being brushed, I have to agree.
Obligatory photo of Tootsie:
[ ](https://i.imgur.com/DiIoP3H.jpeg)
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### Author:  [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)
#### Post date: [April 24, 2023, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animals-would-be-more-dangerous-if-enlarged/983050/60 "2023-04-24T18:34:49Z")
@Sam_Stone Photoshopped, or corroborated?
> [@Yllaria](#):
>
> Piranha dogs?
That makes me think of the sf novel “In the Courts of the Crimson Kings” by S.M. Stirling. Set on a counterfactual Mars that’s habitable, the protagonist has to pass through a lethally biohazardous area, where swarms of communal carnivorous mice are the **least** dangerous lifeform in that area.
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