Rodents, Reptiles and Toads

A crocodile's bite is 10 times more deadly than the bite of a great white shark.

In Papua New Guinea, restaurants serve crocodile meat with turmeric to create a tasty stew. Some people believe eating croc meat can cure asthma.

Monitor lizards grow up to 9 feet long. A single bite can cause an allergic reaction that could lead to death.

A female monitor lizard can carry 30-40 eggs. The eggs are usually boiled in water and eaten as a treat in the Philippines.

In the Philippines, monitor lizard meat is usually cooked with coconut milk and chili. Filipinos believe eating the meat can help treat heart and liver problems.

In 2008, a small village in the Philippines became deathly ill after eating the cooked flesh from hawksbill turtles. The turtles eat a variety of toxic sea sponges.

Despite the health hazards, several villagers continue to eat the meat from hawksbill turtles.

In Thailand, a cane toad's skin is covered with alkaloid, a poisonous venom. The venom can enter the body through a cut or by eating the toxic critter.

Cooks must be skilled to prepare a dish with poisonous cane toad as the main ingredient. In Thailand, some locals deep fry the toads in garlic.

A Vietnamese man skins rats after boiling them in hot water. Rats can carry a bacterial infection called leptospirosis that can liver and kidney failure.

Three thousand tons of rats are consumed in Vietnam each year.