Komodo Dragon
It's not always easy being the world's largest lizard--especially one who's just hatched. Young Komodo dragons spend most of their time hanging out in trees on the Indonesian islands where they live. Sure, they find lots of yummy stuff to eat there, like grasshoppers, beetles and smaller reptiles such as geckos, but the main reason they stay so high up is to avoid being eaten by adult Komodos. (In other words, "Hey ma, what's for dinner?" wouldn't be the greatest thing to ask!)
If juvenile dragons can survive until they're about four feet in length, they're safe to ditch tree-top living and devote themselves to fully achieving their adult proportions of up to nine feet long and 550 pounds. That takes food--and lots of it! To kill their prey (deer, wild boar and water buffalo), Komodos lie in wait until an animal passes, then lunge and attack.
The bite of a Komodo dragon is almost always deadly. Their saliva contains about 50 different kinds of bacteria that cause fatal blood poisoning, usually within a week. And you thought garlic breath was bad!