Wild Animals

The most iconic agricultural pest of the past 200 years just wants to eat your potato plant.

By Jesslyn Shields

These spiders are big enough to eat a bird, but they don't often have the chance.

By Jesslyn Shields

Cymothoa exigua will make you feel very glad you're not a fish.

By Jesslyn Shields

Although it looks like a tiny showgirl, the female Sabethes mosquito will still bite and could even give you yellow fever.

By Jesslyn Shields

These massive mollusks are one of the world's most invasive species. They have the potential to devastate Florida's agriculture. Oh, and they can cause meningitis in humans.

By Sarah Gleim

Though it's true that joeys poop in their mother's pouch, also known as the marsupium, it's still a pretty cozy place to spend the first few months of life.

By Jesslyn Shields

It's hard to imagine Nemo catching some z's in the Great Barrier Reef. But fish do need rest. Do they sleep like we do?

By Allison Troutner

Cone snails are marine animals that harpoon their prey and incapacitate them with deadly toxins. They may be beautiful, but they are highly venomous.

By Jesslyn Shields

Tons of these humongous bug-like creatures live in the darkest depths of the sea, but they are still somewhat of a mystery to us humans.

By Jennifer Walker-Journey

If you see a small hummingbird zip by your face, take a second look — what looks like a hummingbird may actually be a moth.

By Laurie L. Dove

Never heard of the tarsier? Well it's one of the smallest primates in the world but has some of the biggest bug eyes you've ever seen.

By Allison Troutner

Turtles, whether giant land tortoises, sea turtles or the pet turtle in your aquarium, tend to be omnivores and love a varied vegetarian and protein diet.

By Laurie L. Dove

Leopard seals are the second largest species of seal in the Antarctic after the southern elephant seal. They're fast, powerful and eat basically anything that moves. Their only natural predator? The killer whale.

By Jesslyn Shields

Even washed up on the beach, the Portuguese man-of-war can deliver searing pain with its stinging tentacles, so whatever you do, don't touch it.

By Mark Mancini

For decades scientists assumed these insects looked so much like orchids as a form of camouflage. But they were wrong. They look this way because they're deceptive predators.

By Allison Troutner

The elusive hagfish is a master at hiding in holes and crevices, but its main defense is its ability to release a noxious, suffocating and sometimes poisonous slime when attacked.

By Mark Mancini

An orangutan who could unscrew bolts to bust out? A gorilla who climbed the vines out of her enclosure to just roam the zoo? These are wild animals, and these are their wild escape stories.

By Allison Troutner

Creating an insect hotel gives local bugs and pollinators a place to live and people of all ages a super cool garden project.

By Jesslyn Shields

Budgies are the same species as parakeets and make fabulous pets – and, yes, they love to talk!

By Laurie L. Dove

The Atlas moth is one of the largest moths out there, with a wingspan of up to 12 inches, but the 'cobra' faces on its wings are even more frightening to predators than its size.

By Laurie L. Dove

A bullet ant's sting will hurt for a long time, but it probably won't kill you.

By Jesslyn Shields

Pine martens are elusive and love to stay hidden in deep forests, but with strong claws, they are great climbers and hunters.

By Katie Carman

Marmosets are some of the smallest monkeys in the world and are found primarily in the forested areas of central Brazil. And the males support their mates in a very unique way.

By Patty Rasmussen

A federal judge reversed a Trump administration ruling that removed the gray wolf from the Endangered Species Act. Here's why.

By Logan Smith

You might not think a worm could be longer than a whale, but allow us to introduce you to the bootlace worm, one of the longest animals on the planet. And, oh and it packs a potent toxin, too.

By Mark Mancini