This little piggy did not make it to the market.
Source: Reddit
FREEDOM! Let’s call this pig Wilber, after the pig in “Charlotte’s Web” that was also desperate to avoid the slaughterhouse. Well, Wilber seemed to have taken advantage of an over-crowded livestock truck, reportedly heading to market, to plan his escape. We are not sure of the outcome of this incident, but we hope this little piggy learned to tuck and roll or he may have ended up a tenderized ham on the freeway.
President Theodore Roosevelt riding a moose across a river in 1908.
Source: Reddit
This photo is a fake. It was created for a political ad when Teddy Roosevelt was running for the presidency for the Progressive Party, whose mascot was the moose. During this election, Roosevelt was running against Woodrow Wilson, the Democratic candidate, and William Howard Taft, the Republican incumbent. The photography firm of Underwood and Underwood carefully cut a photograph of Roosevelt on a horse and superimposed it on the image of a moose crossing a river. This image appeared in the September 8, 1912, edition of the New York Tribune.
In the past, Beluga whales have often been mistaken for mermaids because of their human-like knees.
Source: Wikimedia Commons
Sailors have been reporting mermaid sighting for hundreds of years. Clearly, most of them were seeing something out in the waters, but it probably wasn’t a sexy, seductive human-fish hybrid. Perhaps some of the sightings could be attributed to beluga whales, a native of the Arctic waters. This whale species has adapted to include several unique anatomical and physiological traits that separate it from other whales, including its white coloring and missing dorsal fin. But the odd, knee-like formations that resemble human knees is probably why it has been mistaken for a sea siren.
I'm stuck! A baby Elephant Stuck in Manhole.
Source: Google
What an adorably clumsy baby elephant! Despite their massive size, baby elephants take a long time to reach adulthood so they have years of youthful antics to look forward to. Elephants take their time to grow and mature emotionally and may be between 15 and 20 years old before they cross over into adulthood. That’s about as long as it takes a human baby to become a mature adult. Elephants also have the longest pregnancy of all mammals. Elephant mothers carry their young for more than a year and a half before giving birth.
The only known photograph of the giant 28ft crocodile that was killed in Queensland, Australia, in 1957.
Source: Wikimedia Commons
This 28-foot crocodile was shot and killed in Queensland in 1957 by a female croc hunter! Krystina Pawlowski was a Polish immigrant who moved to Australia and earned a reputation as an accomplished crocodile hunter. The local media loved the pretty blonde who wore outback khakis and bright, red lipstick. Krystina Pawlowski gained national attention when she shot and killed this monster crocodile with a single shot, earning her the nickname One Shot. The massive size of this crocodile attracted world-wide attention. A beast of this size is uncommon in Queensland. In fact, this kill earned Pawlowski a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records.
Meanwhile in Alaska.
Source: Pinterest
Bear attacks on human are rare, despite what this photo and dramatic news reports say. Visitors to the backwoods of Alaska are more apt to die from bee stings and snake bites than they are to be mauls by a bear, yet we fear bears more than bees and snakes. Humans have a primal fear of being eaten by a wild animal, like a bear. This may be an involuntary fear left over from our pioneer days. Still, anytime we venture into the natural habitat of a wild animal, especially an apex predator, we need to be on alert and avoid any sort of behavior that could provoke an attack...perhaps, riding a bike.
A comparison showing the size of an ancient Megalodon compared to a modern day Great White shark.
Source: Pinterest
Thank goodness the Megalodon is extinct! No one would venture into the water this giant species of shark patrolling the shores. As this photograph shows, the megalodon was big…enormous actually! The fossilized remained of this monster show that this animal was a killing machine. It was built like a great white shark on steroids. The megalodon could reach nearly 60 feet in length with a biting force of more than 40,000 pounds. The monster shark is often described as one of the largest and most powerful predators to ever live on Earth, but thankfully, that was a long time ago. Scientists estimate that the species died out at the end of the Pliocene era.
This is an actual photo of a wild dingo eating a shark while two snakes make love on the beach.
Source: Google
Ok, so it is actually two photographs that someone masterfully merged together under a “meanwhile, in Australia” caption. But, both incidence…the snake sex session and the dingo dining on shark sushi really did happen. They just happened separately. Still, both incidents are great captures. It is not often we see a great example of steamy snake lovemaking. As for the dingo, if that whole “dingo ate my baby” event wasn’t frightening enough, here we have a dingo, a fierce, wild dog of Australia, casually munching on an apex predator. One thing is for sure…this image wasn’t endorsed by the Australian Tourism Council.
Morocco's tree climbing goats.
Source: Wikimedia Commons
It is not the goats that are special in Morocco. It is the trees. The Argania tree is a rare tree that produces such a tasty nut that the local goats just can’t get enough. They will even climb to the top branches in order to pick the delicious nuts. Goats are natural climbers and are extremely sure-footed. Their cousins, the mountain goats, often scale high cliffs on the narrowest of ledges, so climbing on a average size tree is not a difficult task for them. Goats are herd animals, so once one goat spots an Argania tree, all his friends follow him. Soon the tree is full of goats.
B-25 bombers fly over Mount Vesuvius in Italy while it erupts in March 1944 during the Italian Campaign of World War II
Source: Google
The same Mount Vesuvius that erupted in 79 AD and buried the Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum under layers of rock and ash has actually erupted several times throughout history. In fact, it is the only volcano located on the European mainland that has erupted in the last several decades. The last significant eruption of the volcano occurred in March of 1944. This eruption destroyed four nearby villages. During the eruption, the U.S. Army Air Force was stationed in nearby Terzigno and the volcanic eruption damaged several aircrafts, but not these B-25 bombers who got a bird’s eye view of the eruption.
Mauled to death by a bear inside of his tent in 1996. Discovered on his camera, this is the last photo Michio Hoshino would ever take.
Source: Reddit
Often compared to Ansel Adams, the Japanese-born Michio Hoshino was an award-winning nature photographer who specialized in photographing Alaskan wildlife. It was in Russia’s Kurilshoye Lake in 1996, however, that Michio Hoshino’s own story came to a tragic end. He was killed by a brown bear in his own tent while on assignment in Russia. This photograph is allegedly the last image Hoshino ever took and shows his killer. Generally, brown bears do not attack humans unless they are provoked or feel threatened. Female bears are especially dangerous when they are protecting their young.
A very wise dog waiting until his buddy finishes eating!
Source: Pinterest
This dog doesn’t want to mess with the skunk. Smart dog! This smelling mammal found in North and South America is closely related to the weasel despite its nickname, stink badger. The skunk has an effective way of keeping predators away. It sprays a strong smelling liquid from a gland near its anus. Curious dogs are often the unfortunate victim of a skunk spraying. There are special shampoos on the market that are said to remove the odor of skunk from dog fur, or you could try the home remedy of bathing the dog in tomato juice.
This tornado that was caught on camera near Oklahoma City back in 1898.
Source: Reddit
When this tornado struck the town of Waynoka, Oklahoma, in May of 1898, someone was prepared with a camera to capture the twister. Some claim that the two unidentified gentlemen in this photograph were engaging in storm chasing when this image was taken, but David Hoadley, who was born in 1938, a whole forty years after this photograph was taken, is the first recognized storm chaser. Hoadley began his career as a storm chaser in 1956 in North Dakota, using date from nearby airports and weather offices. Hoadley founded “Storm Track” magazine. If the men in this pic were, indeed, storm chasing, they were most likely just amateurs who liked to watch wicked weather.
A hermit crab using a human skull for a shell.
Source: Reddit
Hermit crabs don’t come with their own shells like other sea creatures. Instead they make their homes in scavenged shells of other animals, or, as this image shows, whatever other handy container is available to them. In this case, a human skull serves as a perfect home for a hermit crab. This is probably a temporary home. As the hermit crab grows, it needs to find bigger shells. It searches for vacant shells or other items to move into before abandoning their current shell. Since vacant shells can sometimes be a rare commodity, hermit crabs will fight each other for the best shells. We are not sure if this hermit crap was the winner or the loser.
A star nosed mole.
Source: Wikimedia Commons
This odd-looking creature is the star-nosed mole. It is easy to identify the star-nosed mole because the tiny rodent has twenty-two pink appendage-like structures surrounding its nose. These pink tentacles-looking organs are sensory structures called Elmer’s organs, and they are so sensitive that they pick up vibrations, touch, smells, and temperature changes. This unique evolutionary adaptation makes the star-nosed mole’s Elmer’s organ the more sensitive sensory system of any mammal. You can find the star-nosed mole in the northern regions of North America and it makes its home in low, wet areas.
Mammatus clouds over Nebraska after a tornado.
Source: Wikimedia Commons
Because they are said to resemble the udders of an animal, this unique cloud formation is called mammatus clouds, or mammary clouds. These odd-looking clouds are formed by cold air that drops down to form pouches in the convection of warm air. Mammatus clouds most often occur in conjunction with anvil clouds, cumulonimbus clouds, and cirrus clouds and form on the heels of thunderstorms. They have also been associated with volcanic ash clouds. This cloud phenomenon was first recorded by William Clement Ley in 1894. Mammatus clouds can be dangerous for pilots because they form in downdrafts.
A touching photograph showing a seagull trying to save his friend from a bald eagle.
Source: Reddit
We wish we knew if this incident had a happy ending. A bald eagle has a seagull in his clutches and is attempting to make off with his future meal, but the seagull’s friend is desperately trying to save him. Bald eagles may be the majestic symbol of the United States, but they are also effective predators. They hunt and kill small to medium sized animals, as well as other birds. So skilled are they at flight that they can attack and capture prey in the air. Seagulls, unfortunately, are an easy and tasty treat.
Tippi Hedren and her tiger Gregory on the set of her film, Roar 1981.
Source: Reddit
“Roar”, the 1981 film starring Noel Marshall and his then-wife, Tippi Hedren, along with Hedren’s daughter, Melanie Griffith, is considered to be the most dangerous movie ever made. The film is about an American woman and her children who travel to Africa to visit a scientist who lives with wild animals. It was the supposed tame animals on the set of the movie that caused multiple injuries. In all 70 cast and crew members were hurt in the filming of “Roar”. The injuries ranged from scratches to broken bones to a scalping. Some of the injuries were life-threatening.
Abandoned by his mother in a Chinese forest, Qizai is the only known Brown Panda in the world.
Source: Wikimedia Commons
Poor Qizai! He was bullied by other pandas because of his unusual coloring and was abandoned by his mother when he was just a few months old. Some sort of genetic mutation gave Qizai brown and white fur instead of the black and white fur that other pandas have. In fact, Qizai is the only known brown panda in the world. Fortunately, Qizai was found by humans and taken to the Foping Panda Valley in China where he is safe from bullying and thriving. Now seven years old, caretakers are hoping to find him a mate.
An apocalyptic sunset over Moscow.
Source: Pinterest
A mountain of storm clouds and a beautiful sunset combined to create this stunning image over the streets of Moscow. It is amazing that a simple collection of visible water vapors can form such powerful and majestic billows in the sky. These clouds indicated that a storm is either approaching Moscow or has just passed the area. The sunlight playing on the clouds makes for a dramatic scene that looks like it was taken from a movie backdrop.
Terri and Steve Irwin with a croc at their Australia Zoo in 1996.
Source: Reddit
My, how we miss Steve Irwin! The Crocodile Hunter, pictured her with his wife, Terri, was a more than just a zookeeper. He was a conservationist, educator, showman, and television personality. The world was shocked when Irwin was suddenly killed by a wild animal he as filming. In the Batt Reef of Australia on September 4, 2006, a stingray pierced Irwin’s heart with its barbed tail. It was a freak attack, but it robbed the world of a popular animal expert and TV host. Irwin once said, “I have no fear of losing my life – if I have to save a koala or a crocodile or a kangaroo or a snake, mate, I will save it.”
Catch of the day! Here's a 20-foot wide, 5,000 lb. manta ray that got entangled in a boat's anchor line.
Source: Pinterest
This manta ray is enormous! This is about as big as you can expect a manta ray to get. Rays are unusual sea creatures. These triangular animals seem to fly through the water and are typically found in subtropical and tropical waters. Manta rays are classified as a vulnerable species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. The biggest threats to these majestic filter feeders are pollution, fishing for use in Chinese folk medicine, and fishing nets. In fact, more manta rays are killed after becoming tangled in fishing nets, just like the giant specimen in this pic.
Catatumbo lightning only happens over the Catatumbo River, Venezuela.
Source: Google
An unusual atmospheric phenomenon takes place in only one location on Earth, the mouth of the Catatumbo River in Venezuela. The magnificent lightning display takes place 140 to 160 nights a year, and during those times, the lightning can be seen for up to ten hours with more than 250 strikes per hour. The lightning originates from storms that pick up energy as the winds blow across Maracaibo Lake and the bogs that surround the lake. Mountains are on three sides of the area, so the air masses are forced to climb, picking up electrical charges on the way. This area of Venezuela has the most sustained lightning activity of any spot on the planet.
Cell tower after snowstorm.
Source: Reddit
Cold and menacing, these ice spears are the result of high winds sweeping across and open space until it hits a structure, like lighthouses, fences, or this cell phone tower. Like horizontal icicles, the icy tentacles are as destructive as they are beautiful. The weight of the ice can damage the integrity of the structure and cause a significant amount of damage. It could be that this technician has been tasked with scaling the cell phone tower to chisel off some of the ice…a difficult and dangerous job.
Incredible lightning storm over Lake Michigan.
Source: Wikimedia Commons
Just off the Chicago shoreline, Lake Michigan, one of the five Great Lakes, is a major factor in the city’s weather patterns. The third largest of the Great Lakes and the only one located entirely in the United States, Lake Michigan is technically a large freshwater sea instead of a lake. The massive body of water intensified thunderstorms and adds fuel to them. The photographer who snapped this image had impeccable timing and was able to capture several lightning strikes in the lake in one impressive shot.
King cobra bites python. Python constricts cobra. Cobra dies of constriction. Python dies from venom.
Source: Reddit
What we see in this photograph is a great example of the two killing methods of snakes…venom and constricting. Some snakes, like the King cobra, the rattlesnake, the coral snake, black mamba, and the saw-scaled viper are venomous serpents. They kill their prey by injecting them with venom via their fangs and rely on their speed to suddenly strike their victims. Other snakes, like the Python and boa constrictor wrap their strong bodies around their prey and squeeze until the blood flow to vital organs is stopped. So which killing method is most effective? Both the King cobra in this photo and the Python succumb to their injuries so I say it is a draw.
Source: Wikimedia Commons
People have mistaken lens clouds for UFOs and when you look at these saucer-shaped clouds, it is easy to see how that could happen. Lens clouds, lenticular clouds, and fairly uncommon cloud formations. Lens clouds are formed when air travels over a mountain that disrupts the air flow. Moist stable air causes the water vapor to condense and form these round, flat clouds. You have to admit, they look other-worldly so it is understandable that so many people think they are seeing a flying saucer when it is just a lens cloud.
Stunning 50-ft blue ice monolith in the Antarctic.
Source: Reddit
Some of these photographs floating around the internet claim this is a tsunami wave that was flash frozen, but that is fake news. This is actually an exciting example of the natural phenomenon of blue ice. The ice is extremely thick…so thick, in fact, that as light passes through it, the red wave lengths are filtered out so the ice only reflects back blue. Formed of compressed ice with tiny air bubbles, the giant ice monolith in Antarctica is frozen year-round, though some ice melts off the surface in the summer months. New layers are added in the winter months.
One of the rarest animals on the planet, the Black Jaguar.
Source: Pinterest
It takes two spotted black jaguar parents to produce spotted black jaguar cubs. The animal’s fur is a rich golden color and the spots are a deep black. Black jaguars were once considered to be a separate animal from the standard jaguar but biologists now classify them as different colorings of the same animal. Jaguars are most closely related to panthers and leopards and all are members of the feline family of big cats, a group that also included lions and tigers. Like their other family members, the black jaguar is a skilled and dangerous hunter.
Photographer Darren Pearson captured this incredible long exposure shot of lightning striking a tree.
Source: Reddit
Ben Franklin famously demonstrated the lightning is really electricity slicing through the air. In this image by Darren Pearson, we can really see the power of the electricity. Pearson claimed he took this shot using a long exposure on his camera which captured the movement of the electricity as it passed through the tree and into the ground. The color changes show us how the intensity of the electricity dissipated after it is grounded. Some critics on the internet claim that this image is fake and that the color and pattern of the lightning has been photoshopped. Whether that is true or not, this is still a striking image.
Proof that cats are smarter than dogs.
Source: Pinterest
What a clever kitty hiding from this pair of Doberman pinschers! Dobermans may look menacing, but they are actually really good with cats, kids, and other dogs. The breed has gotten a bad rep as a dangerous dog, partially thanks to Hollywood’s portrayal of Dobermans as fierce and aggressive. Developed in Germany in the late 1800s, the Dobermans were bred to be guard dogs to protect tax collectors who were carrying large sums of cash around the countryside. Sure, they are good guard dogs, but that just means these gentle giants will protect their human and feline family, too.
A crab and sea stars feast upon a squid carcass.
Source: Wikimedia Commons
It’s the circle of life. Nothing in nature goes to waste. A dead animal becomes food for the living. As this photograph has captured, a couple of sea stars and a crab are all sharing a meal together and a squid carcass is the main course. When we look at the adorable and peaceful-looking sea stars, it is hard to imagine that they are carnivores, but they are. In the wild, sea stars will eat snails, clams, barnacles, and sea urchins. There are
Sir Ernest Shackleton’s Trans-Antarctic exploration vessel ‘Endurance’, as it sits stuck in sea ice, later to be crushed from the force and sink, 1915
Source: Wikimedia Commons
The 2002 movie told the remarkable story of survival of Sir Ernest Shackleton and his crew of the aptly-named Endurance in the frigid Antarctic ice. Shackleton was racing to be the first person to the South Pole, but was beat out to pole by Roald Amundsen in 1911. It was the return voyage that would test Shackleton’s endurance. The ship became trapped in the shifting ice and was slowly crushed to bits by the powerful ice. The captain and crew survived by camping on the ice for 497 days until they braved the open sea in life rafts to reach an inhabited island.
Soviet soldiers feeding polar bears in the 1950s.
It takes some guts to hand-feed a polar bear, but that’s exactly what these Soviet soldiers did. This picture was snapped in the Chukchi Peninsula in the Soviet Union. In this harsh environment, the temperature can did to 25-degrees below zero and the snow can be so deep that animals have a hard time finding food. This polar bear mama and her cubs were facing starvation until the soldiers fed them tin cans of condensed milk, an item they had in abundance. The mama bear licked the milk from the can and fed some to her cubs. Near starvation must have mellowed this polar bear. A mother polar bear protecting her young is among the most dangerous animals on the planet.
Photo of a Morning Glory cloud formation taken from a plane near Burketown (plane heading to Normanton) in QLD, Australia
Source: Wikimedia Commons These look fake, but the morning glory cloud is a real and rare meteorological phenomenon that only occurs with some predictability in the southern region of the Gulf of Carpentaria, located in Northern Australia. Morning glory clouds are formed of low-level atmospheric waves that develop into a series of waves or rolls. From late September to early November, visitors to Burketown, where this photo was taken, can often see this strange morning glory clouds. In fact, the area attracts visitors, weather experts, nature photographers, and glider pilots who are all hoping to experience these unique cloud formations.
Texas State Capitol Austin tornado May 4, 1922.
Source: Wikimedia Commons
A tornado outbreak on May 4, 1922, spawned a twister that struck Austin, Texas, before splitting into two tornadoes. This was the worst tornado disaster in Austin. Damage from the twin twisters was wide spread, with damage reported a St. Edward’s University, East Austin, the University of Texas, Manchaca, the State Institute for Deaf, Dumb, and Blind Colored Youths, and Oak Hill. One person was killed on the campus of St. Edward’s University when a roof was torn from a dormitory. An additional 13 people were killed throughout Austin and more than 50 people were injured. The funnel cloud hovering about the State Capitol building in this photograph would soon split into the twin twisters.
The Arctic hare, also known as the polar rabbit.
Source: Pinterest
The arctic hare has evolved to have some unique adaptations that make it better suited for life in the frigid ice than its cousins in the south. The most noticeable adaptation is in the animal’s fur color. During the summer months, the hare sports brownish-gray fur that helps the animal blend into its surroundings. But in the winter months, the hare’s fur becomes stark white. The white fur helps camouflage the animal in the snow and ice. The arctic hare also has a lower surface area to volume ration than other rabbis. Its shorter legs and stockier physique helps it to retain more body heat. The paws of the arctic hare are padded fur that helps give the animal traction in the ice.
The craziest thunderstorm photo ever.
Source: Reddit
The complex relationship between lightning and tornadoes is one that scientists are only just beginning to study. While visible air-to-ground lightning is common in thunderstorms, we often see a decrease in lightning strikes during tornado outbreaks. That doesn’t mean there is not lightning being produced. There is actually a lot of lightning, it is just air-to-air, or cloud-to-cloud lightning, as shown in this photograph. This type of lightning never reaches the ground, therefore, it is not recorded as a lightning strike. This means that the energy from the lightning is staying in the clouds, adding fuel to tornadoes.
The exact moment lightning strikes water.
Source: Pinterest
Water and electricity don’t play well together. So when lightning strikes over the ocean, it is a dangerous combination. The US National Weather Service says that the average lighting strike contains 300 million volts and 30,000 amps, which is more than enough power to kill a person. When lightning hits water, the electrical discharge spread out horizontally across the surface of the water, rather than vertically. Fish and other marine life dodge the danger by swimming deeper, but humans tend to stay at or near the surface of the water, increasing their risk of death from lightning. If an electrical storm hits while you are at sea, your best chances of survival are to find shelter or dive deeper.
The Milky Way over the ancient Pyramids of Giza.
Source: Reddit
Our home, the Milky Way galaxy, is a barred spiral galaxy that creates the illusion of a milky pathway across the night sky. Ancient cultures have long invented myths and legends associated with the Milky Way. In Egyptian mythology, the legends said that the Milky Way was a stream of cow’s milk from the cow goddess, Bat, who ruled over fertility. The milky appearance of the Milky Way is from the light of so many stars that they are indistinguishable for each other but present as a light and dust linear glow.
The moment you realize this is only one photo.
Source: Pinterest
That perfectly horizontal line of the lake creates a bit of an optical illusion. It tricks the eye and makes this image look like two different photographs, but in reality, it is one pic. What a stunning scene this is! Who wouldn’t want to travel down this winding waterfront road, and look up to see this massive sweep of mountainside. The low-handing clouds just make it look more picturesque. Mountains and lakes make for some of the more spectacular scenery.
The phenomenon of ball lightning.
Source: Wikimedia Commons
Ball lightning is one of the most unusual and unexplained type of lightning. It is, technically speaking, a luminous, spherical atmospheric electrical phenomenon, which just means it is a round, glowing ball of electricity. Ball lightning is so rare that hard scientific data on this freak of nature remains scanty, but scientists have been able to replicate the phenomenon in the laboratory setting. Ball lightning is associated with thunderstorms, but last much longer than the split-second bolt lightning. The ball of lightning has been reported to explode after a few moments, emitting a strong sulfur smell in its wake.
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