Drop Bear

Drop bears are carnivorous, tree-dwelling marsupials found throughout Australia. Their preferred dwelling is eucalyptus trees or gum trees. They are related to koala bears, though larger and equipped with sharp teeth and razor-like claws. Sometimes people refer to them as the koala bear's evil twin.

Drop bears prefer to feed at night. They wait in trees and then drop down on top of their prey, usually instantly knocking it unconscious. They will then proceed to devour it. They will quite readily attack creatures larger than themselves, including humans.

The only known way to deter a drop bear is to spread toothpaste or vegemite behind your ears and on your neck. It also makes sense not to pitch your tent beneath a tree that contains a drop bear. A good way to find out if a drop bear is in a tree is to lie down beneath the tree and spit upwards. If a drop bear is sleeping up there, it will wake up and spit back.

Australians are known for going to great lengths to make sure that backpacking tourists are aware of the dangers posed by drop bears. Young children attending camp are also frequently warned of this threat to their safety.



More content from the Hoax Museum:

Comments

You know, I'm really amazed about the coverage that the Drop Bear and Stick Snake get here, but has no-one heard of the Hoop Snake?

It's a cross of the Tiger, Little Fierce and introduced Boomslang.

It achieved its fame by being able to grab it's tail in its mouth and by rapidly undulating its body at such a fast rate that it becomes horizontal and is able to propel itself along the ground like a wheel.

Thereby allowing to chase down normally faster prey.

Once close enough, it then contracts its body and with lightning like reflexes can propel it's body at its prey like an arrow, burying its fangs deeply and disabling its prey near on instantaneoulsy, which it can then ingest at its leisure.

For shame that this deadly creature has been neglected....
Posted by Senutyenool  on  Tue Sep 12, 2006  at  12:26 AM
Senutyenool, the hoop snake is covered here. You needed to click to the next page of the list.
Posted by The Curator  in  San Diego  on  Thu Sep 14, 2006  at  11:31 PM
Senutyenoool,the hoop snake is covered.Sadly sveral animals aren't.One example is the splintercat.This cat resembles a domestic cat with a large head and gliding membrane.It is dangerous to approach as it is very feroucious thought to be due to a constant headache.This is caused by it's feeding habits.It glides into trees with such force that it knocks anything on the tree off.This dislodges bee hives that thesplintercat then eats.Therefore it could be used as a much better way to check for drop bears.Another animal is the goofang.This fish swims backward and has backward fins.Go to a website fantastic zoology to find a picture.The strange roperite deserves a mention.It looks like a pony with a trunk. IT USES THE TRUNK TO SNARE RABBITS.
Posted by J  on  Wed Oct 11, 2006  at  01:32 AM
There are quite afew I missed out.These include the snapalope.Thiscreature,about the height of a pig,looks like a stick figure of a deer with yellow and red skin.They live in supermarkets and small stores.They eat soda.There are several ways of catching snapalopes.For more info on hunting snapalopes,just put snapalope through google and select the S.H.A.A. homepage.
Posted by J  on  Wed Oct 11, 2006  at  01:03 PM
Im continuing my list.These critters deserve a mention.The hugag (no I havent mispelt hodag)Is large and moose like.It has no joints in its legs and browses with its huge mobile upper lip.It will travel most of the day and leans on trees to sleep.The snow wasset has no legs.This should not be seen as a handecap.They hibernate in summer when there fur turns green and it disguises itself as a bush.In winter they adopt a hunting method similar to the hot-headed naked ice borer,tunneling through snow to catch prey.Later in winter they sit and wait,lunging out of the snow with its head and pulling animals as large as moose under the snow to eat. Im suprised the argopelter isnt here,it should be.This wiry american ape is best known for throwing branches at lumberjacks with there whip-like arm.reports of these attacks vary,ranging from always deadly to just a frequent annoyance.In addition to the splinter cat there are two other cats I wish to add.First the cactus cat.This cat has thorn like hair, a branched tail and blades on there arms.They use these to cut open cactus to drink the sap.This however, gets the cat drunk,making a easier target.If they get to drunk they are dangerous.Next creature on the agenda is the silver cat.This highly dangerous american feline has a knob and three spikes on its tail.It stuns prey by hitting them withs knob then kills them with spikes.ANYONE WHO KNOWS TALL-CREATURES NOT MENTIONED IN THE GALLERY PLEASE COME FORWARD!!!
Posted by J  on  Wed Oct 18, 2006  at  12:39 AM
Sorry for not finishing my list.From Chile comes the alicanto.This bird eats gold and silver as a food.The weight of it's food keep it grounded.They are followed frequently by miners who follow it to find gold and silver.The Gumberoo is bear like but has no fur.It is a ravenous beast that can eat a horse in one sitting and still be hungry.Its hide,like that of the rubberado repel bullets,stones and any attack except fire, which causes them to explode.Pinnacle grouse have one wing and fly in circles, around hills.Goofus birds fly backwards and nest upside down.Teakettlers walk backwards and are known for their cry which sounds like a boiling kettle.Luferland has three joints in legs and can walk in any direction.It has a deadly bite but it can only bite once a year so if a Luferland bites someone you are safe.Well I will be back with more.
Posted by J  on  Wed Oct 18, 2006  at  09:30 AM
These are all american and are very dangerous.Snoligosters are aquatic with no fins save a spike on its back.They use three bony plates on theyre tail,spun like a propeller as propulsion.It impales people on the spike and eats them.Slide rock bolters are huge and look like fish with claws on theyre tail.They live on mountains and slide down to eat tourists.Whirling whimpus stand on paths and spin till invisible but produce a droning sound which seems to come from overhead.Anyone not recognizing the sound usually walks within strike distace and are kill instantly.
Posted by J  on  Fri Oct 20, 2006  at  01:29 PM
Drop bears are real man. Oh yeah.
Posted by Grant  on  Thu Nov 02, 2006  at  05:38 AM
Drop Bear Haiku

Rustling leaves - wind? birds?
Fear not the eucalyptus
But what hides within
Posted by Terran  on  Thu Nov 16, 2006  at  09:37 AM
Attacked by drop bear
Why'd I sleep b'neath Euclptus!
Oh I'm such a fool
Posted by J  on  Mon Nov 20, 2006  at  01:25 PM
walking round a tree
look up see something oh poo
drop arrr dead
Posted by The chupacabra from Pluto  on  Tue Nov 21, 2006  at  12:05 PM
Did I see something?
Up there in the trees branches?
I wil not sleep there
Posted by J  on  Wed Nov 22, 2006  at  12:45 AM
spit high and spit low
Koala doeppelganger
waits up there for you!
Posted by #1F  on  Wed Nov 22, 2006  at  06:50 PM
eucalyptus tree
I hear growls from within
Koala? Or worse?
Posted by Thisisnotadrillalienshaveinvadadedtheplanetearth  on  Wed Mar 21, 2007  at  01:41 AM
do dropbears really exist?
Posted by kat  on  Fri Mar 30, 2007  at  12:36 AM
I googled drop bears and now I'm scared :ahhh: They seem so scarey! I'm glad I don't live in Australia. I hate the internet-I always find something that'll scare me-and I don't scare easily. I don't get scared of things I know exist-only of things I find out about. Strange. Anyways, in all my years of life I've never encountered such an animal and hopefully, I never will.
Posted by Aliza  on  Thu Jul 19, 2007  at  10:26 AM
Believe they don't exist at your own peril.
Posted by Merrick  on  Sun Oct 07, 2007  at  07:19 PM
Haha, before I moved to Australia everyone warned me to beware of drop-bears... except they didn't say that koalas and dropbears were different animals, they just said that koalas will drop on top of you if you walk past and eukalyptus tree and scratch out your eyes. It took me a few months to find out that koalas are as harmless as they look;)
Posted by Oksanna  on  Thu Nov 01, 2007  at  07:24 AM
Drop Bears 😊 love "warning" all the tourists about it, especially the yanks, they'll believe anything! Never heard the spitting thing though...
Excellent work!
Posted by Jessica  on  Sun Jan 06, 2008  at  04:47 PM
i saw the drop bear once outside of my rv it was moving around i call my friend he told to not get out of my rv i locked the doors i left my tv on and i close the window curtens i tried to sleep i woke up at 2:00 pm i went outside my chairs and tables where destroy
Posted by arthur  on  Sun Jan 20, 2008  at  06:15 PM
Hey i dont know if drop bears are true or not coz i dont rilli belive it at all !!!!!!!!!
Posted by Missy  on  Fri Apr 04, 2008  at  08:50 PM
hi do drop bears realy exisit or are they just a myth, ledgend or even a fable.
Posted by ashley greene  on  Thu Oct 23, 2008  at  07:36 PM
I find this article very interesting considering i have been attacked by a dropbear myself. While exploring Australia i found myself smoking what we Americans call a "dubie" under a eucalyptus tree. i had heard about the spitting rumor so feeling devious i decided to try it out. i spit into the tree and for the first few seconds got no response until the dropbear returned the favor on my forehead. all of the sudden a dropbear shaped like a tree branch jumped down from his nest and clawed me in the face. it seemed to have shape-shifted from its original appearance. the beast knocked the "dubie" out of my mouth angering me beyond measure. to make a long story short, i pulled out my switchblade and slashed his throat. as i slashed, his claws impaired my vision but i somehow got away. i would like to use my experience as a tool to protect others from my ordeal in the future. good luck to all who venture to Australia and remember....... beware of the deadly dropbear.
Posted by Rosie Palmer  on  Thu Dec 11, 2008  at  10:52 AM
Drop bears ARE indeed well and truly alive in Southern Queensland.I own a property about 250km north of Brisbane. It is mainly forest and on a quite steep side of a mountain. In the 20 years I've lived here I don;t think I've covered the entire property.
A few years ago I had some German backpacker friends visit and stay for a few days.
One of them, Anna, decided to go for a morning walk, by herself!
(This is not adviseable, especially in early summer mornings as there are many wild dogs out hunting at that time of the morning).

The rest of us were sitting out on the back deck after just waking up when we we heard a loud scream.
We rushed into the forest (about 30 metres away) and found Anna with severe cuts to the side of her head and neck.

Once the rescue service had evacuated her by helicopter we found a baby Drop Bear dead at the foot of the tree where Anna was found.
We suspect that she had wandered into the mother Drop Bear's territory and was trying to defend her already-dead baby from Anna (seen as a predator).

Luckily Anna survived okay, but she ended up with stiches across the left side of her neck and to the side of the head.

Since then we have seen a couple of the bears in the trees, and make sure we stay out of their way at night and early mornings.
Posted by Simon  on  Sat Jan 31, 2009  at  10:02 PM
If anyone's ever read Marvel's "Nextwave: Agents of Hate", the bad guys in that use Drop Bears as a weapon (they throw them out of an airplane on the heroes).

I'm trying to think of what one would say if an evil koala bear dropped onto them from a tree. "WTF?" comes to mind...

Oh yeah, and I heard one theory on the creation of the drop bear myth: That parents used it to keep their kids from playing under trees and getting hurt from falling branches. Making idiots of tourists is also a use for it though I guess.
Posted by ZeldaQueen  on  Mon Mar 02, 2009  at  07:24 AM
http://www.geocities.com/muirnin/Dropbear.jpg

Look at this picture and be afraid for your life. It's of a drop bear. (I promise to God it's not a stupid picture with something flashing up on the camera and scaring the crap out of you..seriously, I hate those.)
Posted by liddle bum  on  Sun Mar 15, 2009  at  01:39 AM
I hate the internet.I always find something that will scare me-and i don't scare easily.
Posted by Social Media Optimization  on  Fri Jul 31, 2009  at  12:24 AM
hurray i got it!i was looking for this.now i can take a deep breath.wow wow wow what a site!
thanks for sharing a tremendous information with me.good job.
keep it up.
Posted by Jazz  on  Sat Oct 03, 2009  at  09:03 AM
The first real experience I had with drop bears was at a youth camp. They were all over the place! We could hear them on the roof (during mating season they get extra excited and drop down whenever they hear a noise). There was one guy who had a near miss - if the drop bear doesn't get you right away, run, they chase after you.
😊 I love Australia
Posted by ignorance  on  Tue Oct 20, 2009  at  12:44 AM
For the record, koalas aren't bears, they are related to wombats. Oh, and have any of you guys heard of stinging trees? Their leaves are covered in tiny hairs and if you touch them, the stinging can last for months. Down Under we also have blue ringed octopuses, spiders the size of a pea that can kill you as well as emus that sneak up behind you and steal your food and dingos that attack in packs.

Welcome tourists, our whole ecosystem is out to get you. 😉
Posted by ignorance  on  Tue Oct 20, 2009  at  12:53 AM
Comments: Page 2 of 3 pages  < 1 2 3 >