Wild Things
The weird and wonderful in the natural world
- Animals
Microbes may help bears stay healthy when fat for hibernation
Brown bears fatten up for hibernation without suffering from weight-related problems. A new study shows that their gut microbes may help.
- Animals
Purpose of zebra stripes remains a mystery
Zebra stripes don’t help the animals disappear in the vision of predators, a new study finds.
- Animals
Feral dogs take a bite out of Andean wildlife
A survey of a remote park in Ecuador finds feral dogs are a problem for many species of native mammals.
- Animals
Climate change may be deadly for snowshoe hares
The mismatch between coat color and the landscape can be deadly for a snowshoe hare.
- Plants
To catch a meal, a Venus flytrap counts to five
It takes two taps to trigger a Venus flytrap to close. Another three, a new study finds, are needed to turn on genes for producing enzymes.
- Animals
Meet the bugs that call your house home
A census of arthropods in human homes finds plenty of diversity — but few pests.
- Animals
Whales are full of toxic chemicals
For decades, scientists have been finding troublesome levels of PCBs, mercury and other toxic chemicals in whales and dolphins.
- Animals
Alien species fly on the wings of ducks and other waterbirds
Ducks, geese and other waterbirds can transport nonnative species and help alien invaders establish themselves.
- Animals
The moon drives the migration of Arctic zooplankton
In the darkness of the Arctic winter, the moon replaces the sun as the driver of zooplankton migration, a new study finds.
- Animals
Animals get struck by lightning, too
Scientists found a group of sea lions apparently dead from a lightning strike. But those animals certainly aren’t the first animals to die that way.
- Animals
Lemurs chat only with their best friends
Ring-tailed lemurs maintain friendships built with grooming by calling to each other, a new study finds.
- Animals
Fog ferries mercury from the ocean to land animals
Scientists have traced mercury in the waters of the Pacific Ocean to animals, including mountain lions, in California.
