Nature reflects itself through all living beings. Nature is merciless and we can witness this by studying the behavioral pattern of some animals towards their prey. Here is the list of such ten merciless creatures on the planet.

1 Killer whale

Orcas,  also known as “wolves of the sea,” incapacitate their prey, usually, whales, causing severe injury, chase them to the extent of exhaustion, and finally kill to feed on their tongue and blubber leaving the rest of their body for scavengers feast on. 

Killer whales, or Orca, the largest member of the oceanic dolphin family, is one of the most merciless creatures on earth. Orcas are also known as “wolves of the sea”. They don’t only run after prey smaller than their size, they often chase and kill gray, humpback, and even blue whales.

They prey on dolphins as well causing severe injuries to their spine by ramming them at 30 knots speed and throwing them out of water. Orcas target the weak ones from the group while hunting large prey.

If observed, a specific pattern can be seen. They start ramming and biting the fins of a whale until it becomes exhausted. Once the prey slows down, they get on its back and try to prevent the blowhole from working.

A chase can extend for hours. They wait for their prey to be incapacitated and drown. Meanwhile, they fill their stomach with the most nutritious parts of the prey – the tongue and the blubber. Rest is left for the scavengers. (source)

2 Shrew

The shrew, a small, mouse-like mammal with a very high metabolism rate, slow-poisons its prey and gnaws on them for a long period of time to satisfy its constant need for food.

The shrew, a short-tailed mouse-like creature from North America, lives a very fast life. Their heart rate is between 800-1,000 beats per minute. With a very high metabolism rate, they are in need of food almost all day long.

If they don’t eat every hour or so, they die. To satisfy such a trait, they need to store some fresh food for a longer period of time as hunting may not go great every time.

Unlike snakes, they don’t have hollow fangs. Instead, they have a gland allowing saliva to flow with venom. When they attack a prey, they cause a wound in its body and allow the saliva to flow through it. The venom in the saliva paralyzes the prey but doesn’t kill it.

It keeps the prey alive for the prolonged feeding of the shrew. According to a report American Chemical Society, a mealworm can still be alive after 15 days once stung and paralyzed by the shrew. (source)

3 Bear

Bears don’t wait for their prey to die once they kill them by biting in them in the neck or back.

Bears have the tremendous physical strength and are omnivorous. Their diet includes grain, berries, insects, fish, birds, and mammals. Their way of hunting is quite painful as they use their forepaws to attack their prey causing a severe injury to their spine. This hunting technique makes them one of the most merciless creatures on the planet.

At times, they leave a deep canine mark on the snout of the prey. However, they love to store the carcass under several cubic meters of moss, sprigs, and soil. Not only that, but bears are seen to cover the carcass under snow in early spring or even under running water.

At times, bears start to feed immediately without waiting for their prey to die after killing them by biting them in the neck or back. (source)

4 Margay

Margay, a jungle-dwelling wild cat with remarkable mimicry skills, imitates the baby tamarin’s crying voice to separate the prey from the group.

Margay, a member of the versatile cat family, is one of the shrewdest animals on the planet who has the skill of mimicking monkey calls to lure their prey. This particular species kept on baffling researchers about their preying technique as they spend most of their life span in the tree-tops.

Finally, while making the observation at the Reserva Florestal Adolpho Ducke, the researcher noticed a group of tamarin monkeys. They gathered at the fig tree for a feast, and a margay was nearby. Suddenly, a crying sound of a baby tamarin was heard. One individual from the group went in search of what baby was crying and what was going on.

A few minutes passed by, and the strange sound stopped. Within a minute, the rest of the tamarins fled away from their feeding spot once the margay appeared there. Though the hunting attempt did not work that time, the researchers reported that mimicking the cry of a baby tamarin was the preying technique of the margay. By doing this, they drew a targeted one into a better position to attack. (source)

5 Black Mamba

Black mambas chase their prey, paralyze the prey with venom, wait for them to die a slow death, and then devour them whole.

Merciless and ruthless can be the best synonyms for the black mamba when it comes to preying. If you try to invade the territory of a black mamba, it’s not going to spare you. As Liam explained about these merciless creatures, “It will look for you, it will find you, and it will kill you.”

Though their diet includes mainly small mammals and birds, there have been reports where black mambas were found with a whole parrot or a full-length cobra in their stomach. Their jaws are flexible enough, and they can easily dislocate them to grab prey that is four times the size of their head.

As Klein wrote in his book, Black Mambas, they bite their prey and inject the venom into them, then release them. They repeat this process until the prey is paralyzed, though it doesn’t take a long time for it to die once a black mamba bites it. Once dead, black mambas devour the whole prey. (source)