A parade of the weirdest Halloween animals
\u00a9 Bastetamn\/iStock<\/p><\/div>\n

Creatures Destined for Halloween Fame<\/h2>\n

It all started with a Jerboa sighting . . .<\/p>\n

This desert hopping rodent recently won the heart of the internet (and my heart as well). More cute than scary, Jerboas inspired me to expand my fauna horizons and begin virtually traveling the world in search of weird animals. And, apropos to the season, the results are creative fodder for last-minute Halloween costumes.<\/p>\n

The Jerboa\u2014Who designed this fella?
\u00a9 Reptiles4all\/iStock<\/p><\/div>\n

The Jerboa\u2014An Experiment in Mix \u2018n Match<\/h4>\n

Long-eared Jerboas are such a mixture of parts, it\u2019s as if they were drawn by a halluncinatory cartoonist. A rat head, cat whiskers, owl eyes, jackrabbit ears, kangaroo back legs, prairie dog front legs, and an oddly long tail.<\/p>\n

They are found in Asian and African deserts. When fleeing from predators (or hurrying to an appointment), the Jerboa leaps and lands and leaps and lands (up to 10 feet with each hop), with kangaroo precision, appearing to be flying. You can almost see the cartoonist\u2019s words floating above\u2014Boing! Boing!<\/em><\/p>\n

I thought not much could be weirder than the Jerboa, but I kept searching.<\/p>\n

The Tarsier\u2014Does it remind you of anyone?
\u00a9 Haveseen\/iStock<\/p><\/div>\n

The Tarsier\u2014The Eyes Have It<\/h4>\n

This wide-eyed, tiny primate is, like the Jerboa, more cute than scary. It\u2019s also a jumper and can jump more than 40 times its body length.<\/p>\n

The Tarsier is found in the forests of Malaysian, Indonesian, and Philippine islands. It has the distinction of being able to turn its head 180 degrees in each direction\u2014a truly all-seeing creature.<\/p>\n

Does it remind you of anyone? (Hint: Star Wars)<\/p>\n

While some say Yoda was based on Albert Einstein or was born directly from the creator\u2019s imagination, the similarities between the Jedi master and the Tarsier have sparked some interesting discussions.<\/p>\n

The Wolffish\u2014What big teeth you have, my dear.
\u00a9 Paylessimages\/iStock<\/p><\/div>\n

The Atlantic Wolffish\u2014A Fish with a Fang<\/h4>\n

There\u2019s something about a fish with teeth that\u2019s a bit disconcerting, especially one with fangs.<\/p>\n

The Wolffish, sometimes called a devil fish or seawolf, looks ferocious with its large canines, powerful jaws, and thick eel-like body.<\/p>\n

It is an aggressive predator, with a particular penchant for crunchy invertebrates such as sea urchins, shellfish, and crustaceans.<\/p>\n

Wolffish don\u2019t get out much. They keep to themselves in rocky cracks and crevices primarily in the cold water of the North Atlantic. The good news: they are so shy, they rarely take a bite out of a human.<\/p>\n

The King Vulture\u2014All the finery of royalty
\u00a9 Miroslav1\/iStock<\/p><\/div>\n

The King Vulture\u2014Look Out Las Vegas<\/h4>\n

Let’s move from scary to showy.<\/p>\n

The King Vulture looks like a Vegas showbird, with piercing red-ringed eyes and all the flash and color that might appear at the festivals of their habitat in Central and South America. Their face looks as if it\u2019s adorned with an array of military braided cord as well as other striking splats of color.<\/p>\n

They are the ultimate scavengers in their tropical lowland forests, and are called King because their size allows them to win a territorial fight over other, lesser, vultures.<\/p>\n

In Mayan mythology, King Vultures often carried messages between humans and gods, a fitting task as they can soar for hours on air currents with very little effort.<\/p>\n

The Aye-aye\u2014Wide-eyed and witch-fingered
\u00a9 Javaman3\/iStock<\/p><\/div>\n

The Aye Aye\u2014Just Another Wide-Eyed Weirdo with Witch-Like Fingers<\/h4>\n

The Aye Aye lemur from Madagascar just begs for jokes about its name.<\/p>\n

Knock. Knock.
\n<\/em>Who\u2019s there?
\n<\/em>Aye Aye.
\n<\/em>Aye Aye Who?
\n<\/em>Aye Yai Yai Yai Yai. Will you stop with the knock knock jokes. (Bad lemur joke)<\/em><\/p>\n

Aye Aye look cute and cuddly, but they are actually the world\u2019s largest nocturnal primate. When they\u2019re full-grown, they are around three feet in length, including their long tail.<\/p>\n

They spend most of their time in the upper canopy of the forest\u2014eating, sleeping, traveling, and mating in tree tops.<\/p>\n

A knock knock joke is not completely out of line since they use their extra long 3^{rd<\/sup> and 4th fingers to tap on trees to look for grubs and then extract them (a technique called percussive foraging<\/em>).<\/p>\n}

They are endangered, primarily because the local people believe that an Aye Aye sighting will lead to the death of a villager. They also believe that the only response is to kill the animal as quickly as possible.<\/p>\n

The Hairy Frogfish\u2014Watch out for the big gulp.
\u00a9 Atese\/iStock<\/p><\/div>\n

The Hairy Frogfish\u2014A Fish that Fishes<\/h4>\n

One minute, the Hairy Frogfish looks like a sea monster having a bad hair day and the next it looks exactly like an ocean sponge or drifting seaweed near a coral reef. These pom-pom-like, spikey-haired creatures are masters of camouflage.<\/p>\n

Hairy Frogfish are found in tropical and subtropical waters around the world. They are voracious carnivores, eating everything and anything that comes within reach of their lightening mouth. Size doesn\u2019t matter. They\u2019ll eat fish even bigger than they are. They will even eat one of their own.<\/p>\n

Oddly, they don\u2019t much like to swim. They use their fins like legs to amble along the ocean floor, looking a bit like prehistoric dinosaurs thundering through a forest. You can almost feel the ocean floor shake.<\/p>\n

They plant themselves in a prime feeding location and dangle their built-in wormlike lure to attract innocent passersby. Then . . . the big gulp, one of the fastest strikes of any animal on earth.<\/p>\n