X “Exotic” Creatures That Actually Live In The U.S.

8 min readMay 12, 2020

The world is full of amazing creatures, but sometimes it seems like the most flashy ones only live in tropical settings or otherwise far away from the United States. The wildlife of the U.S. has a reputation for being bland and boring compared to the rest of the world. However that couldn’t be farther from the truth. The U.S. is home to all sorts of crazy “exotic” animals and plants, many of which can’t be found anywhere else in the world. Below is a list of 6 bizarre, striking, and exotic creatures that live in the U.S.

1. Hickory Horned Devil

Bob Warrick / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)

What it Is

This huge caterpillar is covered in horn-like protrusions called scoli, making it look like a video game boss. Reaching up to 5 inches in length, these caterpillars are about the size, and shape, of a hot dog. Despite their size and threatening coloration they’re actually harmless, though chickens have been known to fall for their ruse and avoid them. They turn into large moths with the color scheme of cheese puffs, interchangeably called the regal or royal walnut moth because their name always has to be something dramatic. And of course this giant colorful bug lives-

Where it Lives

-in the eastern United States, ranging all the way from New Jersey to Florida. They live in forests, feeding on such basic trees like walnut or hickory, which is where they get the less impressive part of their names from. Young devils need to eat a lot, because the regal moth is one of the many unfortunate species of moths who can’t eat. Their mouths are just nonfunctional leftovers from their time as a caterpillar, leaving them with no choice but to mate and then die within a week.

2. Pronghorn

Larry Lamsa / CC BY (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)

What it Is

Between it’s odd two-pointed horns and the dramatic white stripes on its neck, the pronghorn looks like what pops into your head when you try to imagine some strange species of antelope. But instead of just being another weird antelope, the pronghorn is actually in it’s own unique taxonomic family distinct from antelopes or deer, with its closest living relative being the giraffe! And while giraffes use their long legs to fight off attackers, pronghorn can easily outrun their own predators.Clocking in at around 53 miles per hour, the pronghorn is the second fastest land animal in the world, with only the cheetah being speedier. But while the cheetah can run at 60 mph only in quick bursts, the pronghorn can keep going at blazing speeds for miles. That means if a cheetah started chasing a pronghorn, the pronghorn could escape it with just a slight lead-

Where it Lives

-if they lived on the same continent. The pronghorn lives all across the western half of North America, from New Mexico to Montana, and in most states west of them. It’s extreme speed is complete overkill when it comes to outrunning the relatively slow predators that live in the U.S. It’s theorized that the pronghorn developed it’s running abilities thousands of years ago, back when faster predators like the american cheetah were still around. Though all it’s rivals died out, the pronghorn never slowed down. Nowadays one of it’s main threats is the fences humans build across their grassland habitats, which they have trouble getting over. Pronghorns may be super fast, but they’re ironically terrible at jumping.

3. Venus Flytrap

Peter Heron/Public Domain Pictures/Public Domain

What it Is

This one needs almost no introduction. Venus flytraps are the poster childs of meat-eating plants, instantly iconic monsters found all over popular culture. Even though they’re plants, their unique ability to quickly close their mouth-like traps lets them catch live insects,and earns them respect and fear. But what most people don’t know about venus flytraps is why they need to eat insects, when other plants get by without meat. The flytrap actually gets its energy from water and sunlight like any other plant, but the acidic sandy soil it grows in is missing key nutrients it needs in order to grow. So it eats bugs like they’re vitamin supplements, using them to get the nutrients that other plants simply take from the soil. And since they’ve adapted to get all their nutrients from bugs, the kind of good quality soil that other plants thrive on actually hurts them. They’re just dead-set on living in-

Where it Lives

-North and South Carolina. Despite looking like something out of a tropical jungle, the flytrap actually makes its home in the bogs and wetlands of the Carolinas, surrounded by pine trees and kept moist by water seeping through the spongy soil. They even go dormant during the cold winters, turning black and appearing dead until spring comes around again. Unfortunately most people don’t know this fact when they get a pet venus flytrap from the store, so a lot of people throw out flytraps who appear to be dead when they’re actually just resting. Next time you get a venus flytrap from a museum gift shop, remember that they hate normal soil and prefer live bugs over hamburger meat.

4. Kangaroo Rat

Pacific Southwest Region from Sacramento, US / Public Domain

What it Is

This adorable rodent hops around like a mini-kangaroo. It even has pouches, though they’re on its face and it uses them to store seeds instead of babies. And it’s T-rex like stance isn’t just for show; it’s super long legs allow it to jump up to 9 feet high to avoid predators. Combined with its excellent hearing and ability to survive on very little water, it’s perfectly suited for life in the harsh brutal deserts-

Where it Lives

-of the southwestern U.S.. Despite looking like it belongs in Australia, the kangaroo rat actually ranges across the deserts of the Southwest to the Rocky Mountains. California is home to the largest number of unique kangaroo rat specieses. Some species of kangaroo rat are endangered, but others are numerous enough to be pests, eating grain crops and even being possible carriers of the plague. So really their relationship to humans isn’t that different from normal rats, even though they look like Pokemon.

5. Smalltooth Sawfish

D Ross Robertson/Wikipedia/Public Domain

What it Is

It’s a shark-like ray with a chainsaw on its face, an objectively cool combination. It even uses its saw to hunt, slashing through schools of fish like something out of a horror movie. If that wasn’t enough, it also has the ability to sense electricity which allows it to detect the faint electric currents that its prey gives off. That means that even creatures hidden under the sand aren’t safe from it. The females also give birth to live young, which doesn’t seem like a good idea when your babies have weapons for faces. Luckily, the young sawfish are born with organic “sheaths” on their saws. And despite seeming like something invented to spice up a Jaws sequel, these sharp fish live-

Where it Lives

-just off the coast of Florida. Young sawfish need to live in shallow water of Florida such as mangrove swamps, lagoons and even rivers, while adults can be found off beaches and reefs. But before you decide to never go back in the water, you should know that there’s only ever been one case of a sawfish attacking a human unprovoked. They can still hurt you, but that will most likely happen just because you fished them up by accident while trying to catch something else. Sawfish have way more reasons to be afraid of us than we do of them. They are severely threatened because waterfront development in Florida has destroyed the nurseries of young sawfish, and their saws often get accidentally caught in nets.

6. Coati

Joseph C Boone / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)

What it Is

This critter looks like a strange mix between a badger, a lemur, and a raccoon, though it’s only related to the last one. It holds up it’s striped tail when it walks, just like a ring-tailed lemur. It uses that prehensile tail and double-jointed ankles to climb trees with ease, and strangely enough the females actually build bird-like nests in the trees to raise their young. It is exactly the type of bizzare tree dwelling mammal you’d expect to find in a rainforest, and while it does live in the rainforests of South and Central America it can also be found-

Where it Lives

-In Arizona and New Mexico.They live in the mountain ranges that extend across the border from Mexico, living a semi-nomadic lifestyle. They’ve been in the U.S. for more than 80 years and in the late 1950s their population in the U.S. was at its peak, before a disease reduced their numbers to the rare sightings of today. Unfortunately it doesn’t really look like their population will ever recover to their former numbers, and before you ask; no, they don’t make good pets. Despite how cute they are, taking care of one has been likened to raising a toddler with sharp teeth, the ability to climb anything, and who will never grow up.