Oscar nominee Ryan Gosling named the mosquito the scariest animal in the world. He has a point.
David Gannon/AFP via Getty Images; Paul Sarosta/Getty Images
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David Gannon/AFP via Getty Images; Paul Sarosta/Getty Images
Oscar nominee Ryan Gosling named the mosquito the scariest animal in the world. He has a point.
David Gannon/AFP via Getty Images; Paul Sarosta/Getty Images
Ryan Gosling, fresh off his triumphant appearance as the man who looks like Beavis but isn’t Beavis Saturday Night Livedemonstrated that he had a thorough understanding of animal subjects.
This week he took on the Colbert Questionert, administered by Stephen Colbert, host of The late show. A question: “What is the scariest animal?”
At first he responded “man.” Who can argue? But then he pivoted and named the mosquito.
Ding, ding, ding!
As Goats and Soda has noted in past articles, the mosquito is actually the deadliest animal on earth.
Here’s how we rated the deadly animals:
“Sharks get a lot of press. But they are overrated as killers. According to the International Shark Attack File, organized by the Florida Program for Shark Research, the confirmed total of “unprovoked” bites in 2022 was of 57, a decrease compared to 2017-2021, an average of 70 per year. Five people died after an attack in 2022.
“Snakes easily eclipse sharks with their deadly toll: the World Health Organization estimates that 5.4 million people are bitten by snakes each year, with 81,000 to 138,000 deaths annually.
“However, it is nothing compared to mosquitoes. Mosquitoes can carry parasites of many diseases: dengue, zika… and malaria.
“Females of the genus Anopheles can feed on an infected person or animal and ingest the malaria parasite, which passes into the insect’s blood and eventually enters its salivary glands. Then the insect bites , releasing its infectious – and potentially fatal – sputum.” .
“UNICEF reports that in 2021, there were 247 million cases of malaria worldwide, resulting in 619,000 deaths in total. Of these deaths, 77% concerned children under 5 years old.
“This makes the little mosquito the most dangerous animal on the planet.
“And the insects seem to be expanding their range.
“In 2023, there have been a handful of cases of local transmission (of malaria) in the United States, which has not been so common since the massive campaign to eradicate malaria-carrying mosquitoes in the 1940s and 1950s . Malaria victims this year Didn’t American mosquitoes travel outside the country Did American mosquitoes bite anyone who contracted malaria while traveling abroad – for. then bite and infect an American? Or have warming temperatures allowed malaria-carrying mosquitoes to thrive in areas that previously would not be hospitable? in the United States – although climate change experts say mosquitoes are indeed expanding their range as temperatures rise.
So kudos to you, Ryan Gosling.
PS We also think you’ve answered the “best sandwich” question. The answer: the ice cream sandwich. Um, of course!
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