Wild Animals

Tarantulas are the largest spiders in the world and, believe it or not, some can live for up to 30 years.

By Jesslyn Shields

Not all spiders spin webs, but the eight-legged arachnids that do, spin all kinds of different webs, some big, some small.

By Mark Mancini

A Texas man caught an alligator gar estimated to be over 300 pounds in May 2022. The alligator gar is sometimes referred to as a "living fossil" and, while it may look threatening, it's harmless to anything larger than itself.

By Michelle Konstantinovsky

Starlings are short and thick, with dark feathers and long, pointy bills. Collectively, however, they transform into something else entirely.

By John Donovan

These colorful snakes are found all over the world and are highly venomous, so the best strategy is to avoid them.

By Michelle Konstantinovsky

Rumors of giant squid have terrified sailors for centuries, but new technology is now helping to bring these mysterious creatures up toward the light.

By Michelle Konstantinovsky

Those red butts on baboons do serve a purpose, sort of, but it's probably not quite what you think.

By Kristen Hall-Geisler

Orphaned Bornean orangutans need all the help they can get — the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation steps in to teach them the art of survival.

By Jesslyn Shields

It's the job of the huge grizzly bears at Montana's Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center to test the everything from coolers and trash cans to food storage containers.

By Michelle Konstantinovsky

Most jellyfish are more bothersome than threatening, but the box jellyfish is so poisonous you might not make it out of the water alive.

By John Perritano

Clearing land with goats rather than machinery is eco-friendly, effective and adorable.

By Jesslyn Shields

Fisher cats aren't actually cats, but cat-sized members of the weasel family, and their favorite snack is — yikes — the porcupine.

By Michelle Konstantinovsky

These nasty pests are developing cross-resistance to multiple classes of insecticides.

By Kristen Hall-Geisler

Arguably the most charming rodent in the world, the capybara is also the largest.

By Jesslyn Shields

The colorful superstars of backyard water gardens are actually ornamental varietals of domesticated carp.

By Michelle Konstantinovsky

Cottonmouth snakes are often called water moccasins and are one of only four venomous snakes found in North America.

By John Perritano

It is the largest animal ever to exist on the planet.

By Tara Yarlagadda

Though a copperhead will bite if disturbed, and it is venomous, its bite is rarely fatal.

By John Perritano

Just like bees, wasps are pollinators that are also endangered. But you rarely hear anyone pleading to save wasps. A study finds out why wasps are despised by the public and researchers alike.

By Dave Roos

Despite being known as the "lesser panda," the red panda is so totally cute, we simply can't use that moniker. No way. Not now. Not ever.

By John Perritano

The parrots of the Telegraph Hill neighborhood of San Francisco are legendary, but how did they get there?

By Jesslyn Shields

It's one of the gentle giants of the sea. It loves sunbathing, dining on crabs and taking deep dives to the ocean floor.

By Mark Mancini

The ocelot may look like a slightly wilder version of a domesticated tabby cat, but they are three times the size of house cats, much fiercer and, though abundant in some areas, still endangered.

By Michelle Konstantinovsky

Garter snakes are harmless, very common and beneficially feed on slugs, leeches, large insects and small rodents in North American gardens.

By John Perritano

Ninety percent of brown recluse bites don't have any effect at all — but the mythology around these creatures and their bites is legendary.

By Jesslyn Shields