10. Monster Pig
The history of the Internet is full of viral images that show giant animals. In May of 2007, a large domestic farm-raised pig was shot and killed by an eleven-year-old boy named Jamison Stone. The location of the shooting is claimed to be a 150-acre (60 ha) enclosure within the commercial hunting preserve called Lost Creek Plantation, outside Anniston, Alabama. According to the hunters, the pig weighed 1,051 pounds (477 kg) and was 9 feet 4 inches (2.84 m) in length from the tip of its snout to the base of its tail. Stone said he killed the animal with a Smith & Wesson Model 500 that had a mounted holographic scope and ported barrel.
9. Living on the Edge
In December of 2006, photographs were taken of a car accident that involved a close encounter with a 200-foot (61 meter) cliff. During the event, a man was driving his 1991 GMC pickup on Highway 59 near Hurricane City, Utah. While on the road, the man’s car slipped, he overcorrected, and plowed through a cement barrier. The vehicle left the highway, moved over a drainage culvert, did a complete 180, and landed 12 inches (0.3 m) from a 200-foot (61 meter) cliff. The truck ended up in the opposite direction it was traveling. In 2007, a collection of three photographs showing the scene went viral. In the picture, you can see in the upper right hand corner where the truck left the highway, moved over the drainage culvert, did a 180, and stopped next to the massive cliff.
8. Plane Hits Truck
On February 4, 1976, a large earthquake struck 160 km (99.5 miles) northeast of Guatemala City, Guatemala. The area suffered extreme damage and most adobe type houses near Guatemala City were completely destroyed. The earthquake hit during the early morning (3:01 am), which contributed to the high death toll of 23,000 people. In June of 1976, National Geographic magazine published an issue dedicated to the earthquake. One picture in the magazine (captured by Robert W. Madden) shows a plane crash. The caption reads: “Buffeted by crosswinds, a rescue plane crashes into a truck, while trying to land on a mountain highway near Sanarate. Miraculously no one suffered serious injury.” Sanarate is the largest city in the El Progreso department of Guatemala.
7. Black Fawn
In some organisms, melanism is a usual genetic color variation that has been described as “an increased amount of black or nearly black pigmentation on the skin, feathers, or hair. In humans, melanin is the primary determinant of skin color. People whose ancestors lived for long periods in the regions of the globe near the equator generally have larger quantities of eumelanin in their skins, making them black. The melanin pigment is one of the most mysterious found in living organisms. In 2010, images of a rare melanistic black fawn surfaced on the website of photographer Richard Buquoi, who specializes in nature photography. Buquoi captured the pictures near Austin, Texas.
6. Pink Dolphin
In June 2007, pictures of a pink albino bottlenose dolphin were captured in Calcasieu Lake, which is a brackish lake located in southwest Louisiana, United States. The pictures were taken by Captain Erik Rue of the Calcasieu Charter Service. According to marine biologist Dagmar Fertl, the event was only the third reported sighting of an albino bottlenose dolphin in the Gulf of Mexico and the fourteenth spotted anywhere in the world.
5. Snake Grabs a Wallaby
In 2005, the Australian news outlet ABC Far North Queensland reported on a picture that shows a large olive python pulling a wallaby from the water. In 2007, the image went viral under the description that the snake was eating a cow, which is false. The olive python is Australia’s second largest snake species and they have been known to consume large animals. The snake in the photo is enormous and if you look closely it extends all the way off the right side of the picture. It is difficult to see the entire snake because it is so well camouflaged in the rock face. The picture was taken in the Kimberley region of Western Australia.
4. Anjana the Chimp
Anjana is a chimpanzee that lives at TIGERS: The Institute of Greatly Endangered and Rare Species in South Carolina, U.S. Since she was young, Anjana has taken it upon herself to help zoo keeper China York raise young animals that have become separated from their families. In 2008, her story was reported by media outlets around the world when pictures of Anjana with a baby white tiger went viral. TIGERS founder Dr. Bhagavan Antle has said of the chimp: “Anjana has joined China in caring for baby animals. She has acted as a surrogate mother to leopards, lions, orangutans and white tigers. She gives them a bottle and lies with them. She is a great assistant.”
3. Mixed Twins
In February 2006, a collection of articles appeared in a variety of UK newspapers that told the story of a set of mixed race fraternal twin girls. In 2005, the girls were born to Kylie and Remi Horder. Kylie and Remi are also of mixed race and have a white mother and black father. The case was extremely rare as the twins were fathered by the same man. Most similar occurrences involve twins from two separate men. The Daily Mail wrote that the odds of the couple producing a set of mixed race fraternal twins are about a million to one.
2. Alligator with Deer in its Mouth
In 2004, an image surfaced on the Internet which claimed to show an alligator on Cross Lake (located near Shreveport, Louisiana) with an adult deer its mouth. The image shocked viewers as the lake is a popular spot for fishing and recreational boating. Other websites claimed the photo was taken on Lake Martin in Alabama or in South Carolina. In August of 2004, the U.S Fish & Wildlife Service announced in a press release that the picture was taken in South Georgia, near the South Carolina border by an officer who was preparing to ignite a prescribed fire. The worker was surveying the area in a helicopter. “The sight of a 12-14 foot (3.6-4.3 m) alligator is something that South Georgia folks see occasionally, but few have seen one take an adult deer out to lunch.”
1. Shark Follows Kayaker
In September 2005, Africa Geographic magazine published an article titled Shark Detectives, which examined great white sharks off the coast of South Africa. The article included a collection of photographs that show a kayaker’s experience with a great white shark. The caption for the photo reads: “Sitting in a 3.8 meter (12.5 foot) kayak and watching a 4 meter (13.1 foot) great white shark approach.” In the publication, the researchers described the tense situation. However, they had already tested the shark’s reaction to an empty kayak and observed no signs of aggression.
