You're bound to fail at this frustrating animal optical illusion

We all love a test of creativity, right? And an optical illusion that claims to separate the elite creative minds from the rest is as good a way as any to challenge your worth. Apparently, if you manage to find all 13 of the hidden animals in under 20 seconds, you have a creative mind. If you don't, sorry, you need a new industry.

This frustrating optical illusion is a head-scratcher – everyone on the CB team fell one or two short of the final tally. We'll let you have a look below and then give you the solution to the puzzle. Start the timer, and good luck! (And be sure to check out of favourite optical illusions here.)

Animal optical illusion

(Image credit: Brightside.com)

Did you manage it? Some of them are pretty well hidden – the prawn in particular had us universally shouting at the screen (how is that a prawn?).

But you should be able to find an an elephant, a dog, a mosquito, a snake, a donkey,  a cat, a prawn, a mouse,  a crocodile, a dolphin, a bird head, a fish, and a tortoise. Check out the explanation image below if you're really struggling.

Animal explanations

(Image credit: Brightside.com)

Yup, a prawn. And a bird's head? We all missed those on CB. So maybe we aren't as creative as we'd like to believe. For more animal-themed illusions check out the famous spinning horse illusion and this roundup of the hottest three animal optical illusions we've seen. 

Thank you for reading 5 articles this month* Join now for unlimited access

Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1

*Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription

Join now for unlimited access

Try first month for just £1 / $1 / €1

Georgia Coggan

Georgia is lucky enough to be Creative Bloq's Editor. She has been working for Creative Bloq since 2018, starting out as a freelancer writing about all things branding, design, art, tech and creativity – as well as sniffing out genuinely good deals on creative technology. Since becoming Editor, she has been managing the site on a day-to-day basis, helping to shape the diverse content streams CB is known for and leading the team in their own creativity.