Halloween Animals Myth-Busting!

_{PUBLISHED 31/10/24}

Why ‘Creepy’ Creatures are nothing to fear! 

If you’ve given your home a spooky Halloween makeover this year, you might have chosen décor featuring spiders, rats, and snakes. ‘Creepy’ creatures that Halloween movies would have you believe are truly terrifying and dangerous. But have you ever stopped to think about whether they deserve their scary, unpleasant reputations?

Ahead of Halloween tomorrow, Drusillas Park Academy Keeper Emily Robinson is sharing some facts about some of nature’s most misunderstood creatures; to hopefully change the way people think about them:

Myth: Brightly coloured snakes are always poisonous:

“Some snakes, like our milk snake, Sully, have brightly coloured scales which can look quite alarming, but aren’t actually venomous.” said Drusillas keeper Emily Robinson.  “These snakes are completely harmless, and their coloured markings scare off their predators by tricking them into thinking they are poisonous, when they actually aren’t. Sully is very sweet and friendly and not at all scary!”

Milk snakes got their name because people used to believe they snuck into barns to steal the milk from the cows. This wasn’t true, but as with so many myths about these creatures, the story stuck, and they kept the name.

Snakes play a vital role in controlling pest populations that can damage crops, naturally reducing the need for pesticides, and they also balance the food chain.

Myth: Cockroaches are scary looking critters found in dirty places: 

“People are always depicted as screaming and running away from cockroaches, but the features that some people find scary are actually really cool adaptations,“ said Emily.  “The little horns you see on the front of their heads aren’t supposed to frighten you, they are there to scare off predators and other males when they are competing for a mate.”

Madagascan Hissing Cockroaches make a loud ‘hiss’ like a snake when they feel threatened. Again, this isn’t intended to scare humans, it’s meant to frighten away predators like birds, frogs and snakes, who like to eat the cockroaches.

The reason you sometimes find them near rubbish is that they are nature’s clean-up crew! They like to eat rotting vegetation and then when they excrete this it acts like a natural fertiliser help plants to grow.

Myth: There are poisonous spiders in the UK:

“So many people are scared of spiders, but the one thing you have to remember is that there are NO poisonous spiders in this country,” said Emily. “False Widow spiders, might look like Black Widows, but they don’t have the same poisonous bite.”

Spiders are very unlikely to bite you in the first place, preferring to run away if they feel threatened. They have very poor eyesight and sense you are near by feeling vibrations from the hundreds of tiny hairs they have on their legs.

We really need spiders in the world because they play a crucial role in keeping the insect population down. Without them, we’d be knee deep in bugs! Not all insects are beneficial to humans and spiders are hugely important in keeping our ecosystem balanced.

Myth: Rats are dirty, smelly, and spread disease:

“People assume rats are dirty and smelly, but they really aren’t, they clean themselves all the time!” said Emily.  “They got the blame for spreading the Plague, but it was fleas and not the rats that were responsible.”

Rats are also portrayed as animals that will bite humans, but they are just as likely to bite as any other creature and will only do so if they feel threatened. They make amazing pets as they are super intelligent and easy to train. Drusillas’ rats love taking part in all kinds of puzzles and games as part of daily enrichment programmes. They are very sweet natured and sociable and nothing to be scared of.

Rats also play a crucial part in our ecosystem, often carrying seeds and nuts to different locations to store for food which helps plant biodiversity, and their digging in the soil aerates the soil which also supports plant growth.

So, if you spot a spider scuttling across the floor, or a rat, or cockroach in your garden this spooky season, never fear. Years of misrepresentation mean many of us have fears about these animals that last well beyond spooky season. But rather than being something to be afraid of, these creatures play a crucial part in keeping the planet’s eco-systems healthy and thriving. And a world without them is a far scarier alternative!