Baby animals that are cute but become ugly adults

[bugmankeith]

Don't get me wrong, I love animals and they all are fascinating. This thread is for those that start off cute but don't get better looking with age. Here are a few I think fit the bill.

Pigs, little piglets are cute with a tiny pot belly and little snorts and squeals, they bounce around and are soft to the touch. Adults ( especially boars) smell horrible, drool, get a Mohawk on their neck, tusks, become so obese and grunt and get warty and a bad temper!

Octopus, little baby octopus are see through with huge eyes and you see the color changing spots on them, they slowly swim around and have cute little arms. Adults get huge and dark colored with creepy looking flesh and that nasty beak, and being wrapped in those huge suckers ugh!

Chinese Crested dogs, the almost hairless puppies are adorable, but when they grow up they just look freaky with mostly bald, thin bodies and long snouts and patches of uneven hair.

African Baboon, have you see the cute baby baboons with pink face and tiny noses, holding onto mom, adorable! When they grow up they get monstrous fangs, eyebrows that look scary to intimidate you , huge pink butts words cannot describe, and a nasty attitude.

Elephant seal, seal pups are cute and blubbery, however adults are just plain fat and make farting noises and those ugly noses and scarring all over their bodies.

Green iguana, those bright green babies with thin bodies are cute for reptiles, then they grow up and darken and get spines and really scaly and rough looking.

Pacman frog, young froglets are round with big eyes and small bellies, they hop around often. When they grow up they become big and fat with horn growths on top and loose their cuteness factor.

 

[PlaidJaguar]

Well, almost all of them really. Baby animals are pretty much cute by definition, aside from the obvious exceptions. (Baby parrots, anyone? Eeewwww)

The more compelling question here would be "what baby animals are ugly but become cute adults?"
I submit monkeys (although most would disagree with me), Poodles, parrots, and frogs.

 

[pitbulllady]

Actually, I find Chinese Crested puppies to much uglier than the adults, assuming that you're talking about a good quality, purebred specimen. Most of the "Chinese Cresteds" you see out there, Bugmankeith, are mutts, or poor quality animals bred for the pet market. I've had some show Cresteds that were handsome little dogs, very muscular and althletic, basically small sighthounds. Most people have never seen a good quality Crested, just those old, sick dogs that their owners parade around in "ugly dog contests", even though the dog itself has no quality of life to speak of by that point. And octopi and iguanas, to me, are beautiful animals. All of the Cephalopods to me are beautiful examples of adaptation, and few spectacles can generate "oohs" of amazement from me like an octopus changing color and patterns to match a backdrop it's never seen before. Beauty is truly in eye of the beholder.

pitbulllady

 

[RzezniksRunAway]

Male pygmy goats. African pygmy or Nigerian Dwarf. The babies are so absolutely freaking adorable, but the adult males are vile, disgusting creatures. Peeing on their beards and faces and just generally being greasy, smelly urine covered messes.

I do agree with pitbulllady about the Chinese Cresteds, well bred, well maintained adults are beautiful dogs. I disagree with the octopus, too. I love me some cephalopods.

Poorly bred English Bulldogs fall into the cute puppy, ugly adult category I think.

Bothrochilus boa, the Bismarck Ringed Python, is stunning orange and black as a baby, but dulls out as an adult.

 

[JZC]

Pacman frog, young froglets are round with big eyes and small bellies, they hop around often. When they grow up they become big and fat with horn growths on top and loose their cuteness factor.

Pacman frogs are always cute!

---------- Post added 02-23-2014 at 01:57 PM ----------

Poorly bred English Bulldogs fall into the cute puppy, ugly adult category I think.

Never seen a bulldog that I didn't find adorable.

 

[lordhero3k]

Maybe it's just me, but I rarely ever find animals ugly looking. Even from those listed above. Even as adults, pacman frogs have their own special charm. And I've always liked the way iguanas look, while I wouldn't consider most cute at first glance, I wouldn't be thinking "ugly" either.

 

[Galapoheros]

I remember hearing a theory that babies might generally look that way, or "cute", so that something will want to take care of them. A lot of holes in that theory but it makes a little sense imo.

 

[kellakk]

i think it's more that we instinctively find animals with large head/eyes compared to body size cute. This is because we are social animals and need to take care of our own babies, and the side effect is that we find anything with that shape cute.

 

[The Snark]

Are we supposed to ignore the fact that the word 'cute' is not necessarily synonymous with the antonym of the word 'ugly'? But then the word 'ugly' did not originally mean unattractive but started out as 'to cause dread or fear'. Also ignoring that the concepts of beauty and ugly are entirely subjective. Sorry about being pedantic. Carry on.

"We are bound to a language that makes up in obscurity what it lacks in style" T. Stoppard

 

[Tleilaxu]

Imn gonna go with humans Almost all are cute when babies, but when they grow up its a 50/50 shot at whether they will be decent looking or ugly as sin. And then there is like that top 2 percent that are just stunning LOL

 

[lordhero3k]

The only animal I could think of is the hyena. They're known for feeding on carcasses and decaying meat, etc. Not many people would look at a large hyena as cute.
BTW, I think a lot of people (that aren't complete arachnophobes) would find a little spiderling tarantula, especially a fuzzy one, a little cute but not so much with adults.

 

[pouchedrat]

An adult, well cared for iguana is amazing looking and majestic. I'd still never own one, I don't think I could care for one properly.

I don't know, a lot of animals are cute as babies, but I'm more impressed with the adults. Especially with animals that take a very long time to grow up into adults...... like some reptiles, snakes, invertebrates, etc. There can be hundreds of little babies of some of these guys, but very rarely do you see an adult that's been properly cared for and still kept. Things like sulcatta tortoises, pythons, iguanas, etc. A tortoise with zero pyramiding? a lizard without poor bone density? I'm much happier seeing that.

 

[pitbulllady]

Male pygmy goats. African pygmy or Nigerian Dwarf. The babies are so absolutely freaking adorable, but the adult males are vile, disgusting creatures. Peeing on their beards and faces and just generally being greasy, smelly urine covered messes.

I do agree with pitbulllady about the Chinese Cresteds, well bred, well maintained adults are beautiful dogs. I disagree with the octopus, too. I love me some cephalopods.

Poorly bred English Bulldogs fall into the cute puppy, ugly adult category I think.

Bothrochilus boa, the Bismarck Ringed Python, is stunning orange and black as a baby, but dulls out as an adult.

You do know that ALL male goats that have not been castrated stink, pee on their beards and are generally quite disgusting, regardless of breed, right? I have a friend who has three purebred Pygmy goats, including a wether(castrated male goat), and he is just as clean and odorless as the two females. Lots of male animals, including deer, ferrets and often cats, will urinate on themselves or rub/roll in their own urine, when they're in full hormone mode.

I wouldn't call an adult Bismark Ringed Python ugly by any stretch, given their iridescence, but it is rather disappointing that they lose that bright orange coloration and turn into basically a brown and black snake, and even more intriguing that their babies are the ones with the bright, attention-grabbing colors, quite the opposite from most snakes, which start out as dull, well-camouflaged babies before maturing into colorful adults.

pitbulllady

 

[catfishrod69]

I love the look of hyenas! I would love to have a african spotted hyena.

The only animal I could think of is the hyena. They're known for feeding on carcasses and decaying meat, etc. Not many people would look at a large hyena as cute.

 

[pitbulllady]

Not being "cute" does not equal UGLY, though. Personally, I find adult hyenas of any species to be attractive, handsome animals. I would not call any large dog "cute" by any stretch. Catahoulas are not cute, for example, but a well-bred Catahoula is a very handsome dog. Tigers aren't cute. Wolves aren't cute. Horses aren't cute. My White-Lipped Python isn't cute. But all of them are still very pleasing to look at, aesthetically speaking. I don't use the normal behavior of any animal in determining whether it's "cute" or "ugly" or "handsome" or whatever. Those are terms that relate entirely to visual appeal, or lack thereof. Most people consider Koalas cute, for example, the classic "Teddy bear", but baby Koalas graduate from nursing to eating their mother's feces, which is pretty gross if you think about it. MOST carnivorous animals will eat decaying carcasses if they have a chance, including most of your beloved pet dogs; they will eat them AND happily roll around on them and blissfully walk around reeking of decomp with maggots falling from their fur. Dogs drink from toilets, sniff each other's rectums, lick themselves and other dogs in unmentionable places, and devour other animals' feces with gusto, so if we're to take behavior into consideration when deciding what's a cute animal and what's ugly, dogs would all rank pretty low on the "cute" scale!

pitbulllady

 

[pyro fiend]

ima throw this out there as well. i dont find most animals ugly. i mean sure theirs the weird looking ones.. ever had an elephant seal try and get you to pet it? i have its creepy in a way XD but also adorable in other ways...but i prefer the term beautiful. it gives nature her credit for the amazing creatures a little more then cute [also to many kids use those kind of words to impress so slightly distorted meaning]

some animals can be kept discustingly, like pigs.. you think the slobber etc.. but i know a man with a 7 yr old boar nice as can be. always so clean no drool etc.

now ill give you the ugliest dog contest mutts, yea those are kinda sad.. not so much omg hide the kids ugly. more like "poor puppy" 'ugly'

parrots babies are a little silly looking. especially wiel fresh out the egg LOL but not ugly imho. alot of animals are silly looking but still a silly cute if you look at it to a degree


humans on the other hand... def an ugly creature lmao... want proof? ill find a baby pic and a current pic of me...your screen cracking due to my looks is not covered in your phone or computers warranty and i shall not be held responsible for said damage lmao as for animals not many are ugly if you look in a scientific and standard POV [meaning not in a "img id totally keep that as a pet" lol]

 

[viper69]

Tigers are cute at all ages to me-- cute is a subjective term-- so cute to me is another person's garbage- who cares??? Hahah

 

[klawfran3]

Honestly though, there hasn't really been an animal that I looked at and thought "ew OH GOD". I may think things like "Nasty" or "gross", but those are just expressions when seeing something disgusting. Like how hippos splatter themselves with their own feces. I think the only two animals I may very well dislike is a guinea fowl and a llama.the guineas are just damn annoying (anyone who has been around them for a week should know) and I think llamas are just kind of gross. Ugly, to be in fact.the only animal I guess I think is ugly is a llama. But seriously though. Just thinking of a llama makes me cringe a little.

 

[PlaidJaguar]

Imn gonna go with humans Almost all are cute when babies, but when they grow up its a 50/50 shot at whether they will be decent looking or ugly as sin. And then there is like that top 2 percent that are just stunning LOL

See, I was thinking the opposite of that. I think baby humans, with very few exceptions, are ugly as sin. But lots and lots of adult humans are reasonably (and sometimes exceptionally) attractive.

 

[RzezniksRunAway]

You do know that ALL male goats that have not been castrated stink, pee on their beards and are generally quite disgusting, regardless of breed, right? I have a friend who has three purebred Pygmy goats, including a wether(castrated male goat), and he is just as clean and odorless as the two females.

Yeah, I know all billies do that. I just find the pygmy and dwarf billies exceptionally gross looking. I loved our adult male Nubian, he was tall and lean and generally well mannered. Our African Pygmy (Billy Bob) was a raging mess of gross, he'd try to mate with everything and you couldn't go near him without getting pee on you.

The Nigerian Dwarf male was only on our property for a short time, he was a breeder loan, but he was definitely gross.

We had one wether out of all the goats we had, and he was a sweetheart. The mother had triplets and went absolutely bananas on them, so we had to take them from her. We bottle raised him inside, and castrated him. He was 140 pounds of derpy goat who thought he was a lap dog.

I can handle male goats being musky when they aren't short and fat and remind me of someone whose parents are siblings and like NASCAR.

See, I was thinking the opposite of that. I think baby humans, with very few exceptions, are ugly as sin. But lots and lots of adult humans are reasonably (and sometimes exceptionally) attractive.

It's so hard to force yourself to go "Oh, your baby is so cute" because it's almost legally required, when you want to scream "oh my god what is wrong with that". That's generally frowned upon, but a majority of babies are just so freaking gross looking.