What are 'drop bears' and why has one town named a street after them?
Koalas are cute and cuddly, right? You gorgeous, naive reader, don't know just how deeply wrong you are.
The koala's vicious cousin, "drop bear" is totally a real thing and it will bite, kill and even embarrass you, if you get too close.
The mythical creatures are widely regarded (at least in camp fire tales and articles such as this, designed to scare foreigners) to be the size of a small leopard. They drop from the camouflage of eucalyptus trees onto unsuspecting bushwalkers.
It's about time such a formidable beast got naming rights to an Australian landmark.
Drop bears are so ingrained in the collective imagination of Australians keen to scare visitors, that even the Australia Museum has a web page devoted to them -- including the locations of vicious attacks.
Now, to honour the terrifying critters, mayor of Tamworth in New South Wales has taken charge and given drop bears the fear and respect they deserve by blessing them with naming rights to a local lane. Drop Bear Lane.
Mayor Col Murray told Mashable the council decided to honour the made-up, mythical creatures in a picturesque setting just outside of the town.
"The habitat in this beautiful country area where this unknown road runs up along the creek with quite heavily timbered surrounds. It [is] an ideal habitat for the drop bear to sustain," he said.
Murray told the ABC that the decision to rename the lane has attracted a fair bit of positive attention onto the town. "It's just something that's attracted a lot of interest from people," he said.
One can see why: Everyone loves a bit of koala karnage.
For more information on drop bears and how to survive drop bear attacks, visit the offical Drop Bear Protection Agency website here.
UPDATE: Feb. 9, 2017, 1:31 p.m. AEDT Story updated to reflect news that the lane has officially been renamed.
