There are worse mothers than you... in the animal kingdom

Check out the tasty popsicles that zoo animals delight 2:41

(CNN) --

If you're a mom, you've probably experienced the classic "what if?" exercise.

since you found out you were going to be a mother.

What if my child never learns to read?

What if she likes another parent better?

What if his food isn't organic, or if I choose the wrong preschool?

Worrying that you are going to fail is normal, and you will make mistakes, but if you put it in perspective you should know that there are mothers far worse than you, wrote comedy writer Glenn Boozan in her new book

.

It was illustrated by Priscilla Witte.

Among those questionable mothers are Dracula ants, which suck the blood of their young, Boozan wrote, and sexton beetles, which lay their eggs on or next to a decomposing mouse and take care of the young by feeding them from the carcass.

The inspiration for Boozan's book came from her surprise at learning of her sister's fear and guilt for being a bad mother, as she is "the best mother in the world," she said.

"Her children of hers are perfect angels, and I am obsessed with them."

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• A family in the US thought they had rescued a puppy from the street.

  It turned out to be a coyote

As a comedy writer, Boozan said, "Obviously dumb things come out of my mouth all the time. Instead of some inspirational quote, a beautiful instagrammable quote, I responded with, 'Well, I don't know. Hamster mothers eat their babies. So at least you don't do that.' And that made her laugh. And she felt better."

Boozan hopes his book will help alleviate fears that can be heightened by social media, television, advertising, and overprotective family members, if only "for a moment with a bit of laughter."

The book is a 20-minute read you can do while your child refuses to nap in the crib or silently wipe snot on the wall.

Here's the scoop on three other "bad" moms who could make you feel better this Mother's Day.

pandas

Female giant panda Yaya cares for her 5-month-old baby at the Chongqing Zoo in Chongqing, China, on January 17, 2016.

"Panda mothers are perfect, until they're blessed with two. Twins are tough, so getting rid of one...it's terrible. And true."

If a panda has twins, it abandons the weaker of the two as it only has the energy and resources to care for one, according to a 2016 study. Being a panda mother is a demanding job, as newborn pandas cannot see, hear, crawl, regulate their body temperature or expel waste on their own.

They need to be rocked for warmth and have their bellies rubbed to stimulate the muscles that help them expel waste.

Being able to raise two newborn pandas is a rare thing.

“I found that even in a zoo with totally ideal and controlled environments, one of the panda twins usually doesn't survive,” says Boozan.

koala

A male koala cub clings to its mother's back at the zoo in Duisburg, Germany, on March 27, 2013.

"For dinner time, a mother koala will feed her children her poop. Remember that when you feel bad about giving your children fast food."

Eating feces or dung is known as coprophagy, which "helps animals acquire the gut microbiome needed to digest a complex and more varied diet," according to a 2020 publication. In the case of koalas, this practice can help them to adapt to new habitats with different species of eucalyptus plants, which are their main food source.

quokka

This image is an excerpt from Boozan's book.

"If a mother quokka comes face to face with dingoes in the wild, guess what she'll do to escape? That's right: she'll throw her child out," Boozan wrote.

The quokka, a type of small wallaby, does not literally launch its young at a predator.

But when threatened, this furry marsupial creates a distraction by ejecting its young from its pouch by relaxing its muscles, allowing its load to fall to the ground.

"The young serve as a delicious distraction for the predator while the mother runs to safety, hoping to breed again," Boozan wrote.

The life expectancy of quokkas is about 10 years, and females can have 17 young in their lifetime, with two young born each year, according to the Australian Museum.

Giving your best is enough

Reading about these "horrible animal mothers," you might think, "Wow, how could they do something like that?"

Boozan says.

But the spirit of the book "There Are Moms Worse Than You" links humans and animals in their maternal exploits: even the seemingly dubious practices of animal mothers are survival strategies designed to help themselves or their young. Sometimes societies just don't foster ideal child-rearing environments.

"The best reaction I've ever gotten from people is when they tell me that the book gave them a deep breath for a minute, and they laughed and surprised themselves and thought, 'Well, maybe for today, at least for next 15 minutes, I don't have to be so hard on myself,'" Boozan said.

"If I can make a mother feel that way, the book has been a success."

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