Wild Life

The Problem with Pythons

Burmese pythons are slowly, inexorably eating their way through Florida’s wildlife—is hunting them the answer?

Latest in Wild Life
New research shows that juvenile beavers master the art of directional tree felling by copying adults in the most advantageous approach to a tree and placement of the initial cut. Here, an adult female and her son from last year alternate in cutting a large Douglas fir near a forested lake in northern Montana in the United States. Cuts at different height on opposite sides of the trunk enable the most efficient and safest tree felling. Still, an adult pauses periodically to assess tree angle and stability. Cameras mounted high in the canopy and fired remotely from about 50 m away, just outside of a tree fall reach, were instrumental in discovering crucial aspects of tree cutting behavior in this beaver colony.
Nature’s Lumberjacks

Tree-felling is dangerous business, so naturally a mother shows her young kit how it's done.

A pair of grey foxes visit one of the ‘skeleton trees’ in their territory
Skeleton Tree

Gray foxes climb into the trees to grab a few feet of vertical advantage.

Young Baikal seal (Pusa sibirica) at breathing hole. Lake Baikal, Russia, April.
Ice Seal

Meet Lake Baikal’s most famous resident, the world’s only freshwater-specific seal.

sea wolves
Sea Wolves

A pack of wolves along Canada’s Pacific Coast have become seafood specialists.

bumper bees
Lens of Time: Bumper Bees

See how scientists use high-speed videography to investigate—and learn from—the clumsy flight of the bumblebee.

Close the CTA

We’re 45 percent of the way there! Help us reach $20,000 by October 2.