Wild Animals

Magpies are much-maligned as harbingers of doom, thieves of shiny objects and songbird eggs, but they're smart, monogamous for life and actually hold funerals for one another.

By Patty Rasmussen

Finches can live for five to 10 years and make great companion pets as long as they are given enough space to fly around.

By Laurie L. Dove

Often confused with the venomous coral snake, which advertises its toxicity through bright bands of color, the milk snake is harmless to humans.

By Mark Mancini

And we mean really loud. Like up to 100 decibels loud. Get all the buzz on what's making these bug-eyed bugs return.

By John Cooley & Chris Simon

They look a lot like beavers and the two rodents have a lot in common. But muskrats are their own species with their own signature scent.

By Meg Sparwath

Badgers love to dig — one den, or "sett," in southern England is thought to cover a territory of over a square mile and have up to 100 entrances.

By Jesslyn Shields

The cartoon Roadrunner beep-beeped his way through the desert, outfoxing Wile E. Coyote every time, but the real bird can run up to 27 mph and, in some Native American traditions, offers protection from evil spirits.

By Jesslyn Shields

Red squirrels have a big attitude, which might have to due with their small size. They have to act big. And they do so with noisy and aggressive behavior.

By Mark Mancini

When threatened, the slow loris licks venom secreted from a gland under its arm. Licked and loaded, the loris is ready to poison an attacker with a bite.

By Patty Rasmussen

There are over 60 species of langur in the world, all of which eat a plant-based diet and most of which burp a lot.

By Wendy Bowman

Suet is a fat long used in British cooking. But in the U.S., this high-calorie, nutritious item is favored as bird food. Here's why.

By Melanie Radzicki McManus

These chunky little guys aren't dogs at all. They're actually part of the rodent family, and they're shockingly smart.

By Meg Sparwath

The showy lionfish is a stunning beauty. But this invasive species, which was released into the wild in the 1980s, is wreaking havoc on delicate reef ecosystems worldwide.

By Wendy Bowman

Pit vipers also carry venom in twin glands behind their eyes, delivered through movable fangs that can be folded up against the roof of their mouth.

By Mark Mancini

The name dik-dik comes from the repetitive 'dik' sound the tiny female dik-dik makes when she feels threatened.

By Patty Rasmussen

These two amphibians look similar and are often confused for each other. So how many traits do they share?

By Mark Mancini

The lemon shark isn't as aggressive as some other sharks and it isn't quite as yellow as its name suggests.

By Katie Carman

Servals have long legs and necks, which allow them to spot prey over the tall grasses of the savanna, but their huge ears give them their best weapon — an acute sense of hearing.

By Mark Mancini

Vampire bats do it and so should we: socially distance when ill, that is. That's what a new study found.

By Francisco Guzman

Sperm whales are one of the largest creatures in the ocean. And they have the biggest brain on the planet. So are they also the smartest? We'll tell you.

By Wendy Bowman

These snakes are some of the best reptilian actors you'll ever meet, but don't let the act fool you.

By Mark Mancini

This denizen of the frigid deep not only lives a crazy long life, it also can grow up to 24 feet in length and eating its flesh can make humans "shark drunk."

By Katie Carman

Yes, this terrifying worm was named after the infamous Bobbitt case. And with good reason.

By Francisco Guzman

The praying mantis is a powerful predator, and not as robotic (or as romantic!) as it seems.

By Jesslyn Shields

The blue-footed booby is known as much for its comical mating dance as for its intensely colored blue feet.

By Laurie L. Dove