Nature is the Worst: 500 reasons you'll never want to go outside again

by E. Reid Ross

Overview

500 of the most absurd and horrifying things that happen in nature!
 
Crashing waves, stunning sunsets, sprawling landscapes. Nature is beautiful, right? Wrong. Nature Is the Worst. Need proof?

• The giant pitcher plant not only eats bugs, it's large enough to trap small mammals.
• Almost 90 percent of the koala population in Australia has chlamydia.
• A hailstorm in Bangladesh in 1986 killed 92 people with giant balls of ice weighing more than 2 pounds apiece.
• Crocodiles can climb trees.
• The poisonous Dracunculus vulgaris, or voodoo lily, smells like rotting flesh, looks like it's splattered in blood, and features a central black spike that can grow up to 4 feet tall.
• Cats often kill their first litter.
• A "haboob" is a biblically-huge wall of dust that can reduce visibility to zero, reach a height of 5,000 feet and stretch as far as 100 miles wide.
• Vampire bats are totally real, and yes, they love blood.

Nature Is the Worst contains hundreds of cringe-worthy, shocking facts you never knew about nature that prove the world is a terrifying—and sometimes very strange—place.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781440599071
Publisher:	Adams Media
Publication date:	01/02/2017
Pages:	272
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 7.50(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

E. Reid Ross resides in Maryland and is a columnist/editor at Cracked. He’s no scientist, that’s for sure, but with a background in military intelligence and law enforcement, he’s not just the author this book needs, he’s exactly the one it deserves.

Table of Contents

Introduction 7

Chapter 1 Denizens of the Deep and Lurkers of the Lakes 9

Chapter 2 Backstabbing Birds and Other Airborne Atrocities 47

Chapter 3 Pernicious Parasites and Baleful Bacteria 77

Chapter 4 Insidious insects, Surreptitious Spiders, and Other Vindictive Vermin 111

Chapter 5 Menacing Mammal Maliciousness 147

Chapter 6 Poisonous Plants and Fearsome Fungi 181

Chapter 7 Ravenous Reptiles and Appalling Amphibians 209

Chapter 8 Wrathful Weather and Other Nefarious Natural Phenomena 241

Editorial Reviews

"Cracked writer E. Reid Ross puts together 500 of the most god-awful things that happen in nature—enjoy! Where to Read it: Poolside at an all-inclusive resort, and really lap up the smugness about things like fresh towels."

Fodors.com 2017 Holiday Gift Guide