Turns Out Dart, the Demo-Dog Baby from "Stranger Things", Is Basically a Real Animal

Some (stranger) things are better left untouched.

Recently, one Twitter user innocently shared a discovery on social media, after joining a salamander research team in the United States.  

But little did he know that a horde of Stranger Things fans had seen this creature before.

Beware, minor Stranger Things Season Two spoilers ahead.

In Season Two of Stranger Things, Dustin encounters a little salamander-like creature, which he adopts, calls D'Artagnan (Dart for short) and hides in his room. That once-cute slimeball turns into a fully-fledged flesh-eating machine, switching its diet of nougat and chocolate to domestic cat. Dustin soon realises that he's been raising a baby Demogorgon (which he calls Demo-Dogs) and proceeds to freak the hell out.

The real-life creature in the picture is rightfully called a "Hellbender" and it's a type of salamander found in the North-Eastern United States (which happens to be where the fictional town of Hawkins is too). It's also known as a Devil Dog (we should've known) or Water Dog, which is just outright freaky.

But, I must confess, they're also supposed to be completely harmless to humans and are happy to just munch on small crayfish in the river systems during their relatively peaceful existence.

However, while they've never been observed to evolve at fast rates into slimy dog-like amphibians with faces that open like a Venus Flytrap, you never truly know. 

Regardless, the resemblance was uncanny and it got people well-and-truly spooked after binge-watching the latest season of Stranger Things.

Why did u make me remember that pic.twitter.com/nEeQ76Fgsq

— lil bump 👶🏽💌 (@pincheamarla) November 13, 2017

Dart is that you pic.twitter.com/3QhtO39SN8

— Amir jöi (@harryloveskiwiz) November 13, 2017

Hellll no, @Stranger_Things taught me better than that pic.twitter.com/byhQtO9ziP

— eye see ॐ ✨ (@Beautii_Trend_) November 13, 2017

So, if you happen to come across one in the wild, please don't adopt it as a cute new pet. For humanity's sake. 

Photo: Netflix