Wild Things

The weird and wonderful in the natural world

  1. Animals

    A diet of corn turns wild hamsters into cannibals

    Female European hamsters fed a diet of corn eat their young — alive. They may be suffering from something similar to the human disease pellagra.

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  2. Life

    A message to rock climbers: Be kind to nature

    Scientists are only just starting to figure out the impacts that the sport of rock climbing is having on cliff ecosystems.

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  3. Animals

    World’s largest reindeer population may fall victim to climate change

    Climate change and wolves are driving down the reindeer population in Russia’s Taimyr population.

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  4. Animals

    Chimps look at behinds the way we look at faces

    Humans demonstrate something called the inversion effect when gazing at faces. Chimpanzees do this too — when looking at other chimps’ butts.

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  5. Animals

    Why a mountain goat is a better climber than you

    For the first time, scientists have analyzed how a mountain goat climbs a cliff. Big muscles in the shoulder and neck help a lot, they find.

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  6. Animals

    Now there are two bedbug species in the United States

    The tropical bedbug hadn’t been seen in Florida for decades. Now scientists have confirmed it has either resurfaced or returned.

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  7. Animals

    Old bonobos have bad eyesight — just like us

    As bonobos age, they lose their ability to see things close up, a new study suggests.

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  8. Life

    City dolphins get a boost from better protection and cleaner waters

    Bottlenose dolphins near Adelaide, Australia, are slowly growing in number due to better environmental conditions and better protection.

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  9. Animals

    With climate change, grizzly bears may hibernate less

    New research shows that food availability and weather are driving when grizzly bears enter and exit their dens for hibernation.

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  10. Animals

    Painted lady butterflies’ migration may take them across the Sahara

    The migratory patterns of painted lady butterflies are largely unknown. Now scientists have found evidence that some may migrate across the Sahara.

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  11. Animals

    Nature has a dog problem

    Free-roaming dogs spread disease, kill wildlife by the thousands and have even caused extinctions. But their full effect on the environment has been little studied.

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  12. Animals

    Kauai’s native forest birds are headed toward extinction

    Kauai’s honeycreepers are losing their last refuges from mosquito-borne diseases that are spreading due to climate change. Some could become extinct within a decade.

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