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Nature can be absolutely beautiful. But it can also be scary as hell. Earthquakes, volcanoes, tsunamis, tornadoes, floods and fires cause mass destruction around the world. But Mother Nature is also home to a melting pot of creepy creatures and scenes.
For some, nature is literally panic-inducing. Arachnophobia: fear of spiders. Ophidiophobia: fear of snakes. Astraphobia: fear of lightning. Thalassophobia: fear of large bodies of water. Agrostophobia: fear of grass. Yes, it’s a real thing.
People have been sharing photos of nature that send shivers up the spine. Bored Panda has scoured the net to find the most terrifying images captured in the wild. Turn on the lights, keep scrolling, and don't look away. Let us know your thoughts in the comments, and upvote the ones that give you goosebumps.
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
Why Does This Tree Look Like It’s Sneaking Out Of The Woods?!
Janissary35680 11 months ago
Yes, but this one's a youngling--I mean sapling.
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RELATED:
#2
Taken By Chris Holmes While Swordfishing Off The Coast Of Nova Scotia
BeesEelsAndPups 11 months ago
Great pic. But it's easier to catch fish with a pole. Using a sword seems unnecessary
Queen Mab 11 months ago
This should be an entry in the wildlife photography contest. First of all, the picture is so clear, especially in that stormy ocean. Second, someone is actually on a boat fishing in that Atlantic weather. It is an amazing photo - just incredible
rullyman 11 months ago
Those waves are crazy! Thank you fishermen for the food you put on our tables!
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#3
My View Of The New Volcano Eruption In Iceland
Janissary35680 11 months ago
"That's what you get for not feeding me on time. Want to see my next trick?"
The American Psychological Association defines biophobia as “the fear toward certain species and general aversion to nature that creates an urge to affiliate with technology and other human artifacts, interests, and constructions rather than with animals, landscapes, and other elements of the natural world”.
One study found that some of the most common biophobias are fear of spiders, germs (mysophobia), and parasites (parasitophobia). Researchers say biophobias are becoming more common, as the world's population becomes increasingly detached to nature.
#4
I Took A Picture Of A Green, Mossy Forest...and Captured A Creature Rising Up From The Ground
#5
Tongue Mushroom Commonly Found On Oak And Chestnut Trees
Son of Philosoraptor 11 months ago
TIL there is a tongue mushroom. Or there is a large dog trapped in a tree.
SkippityBoppityBoo 11 months ago (edited)
Well... *bluuurp* right back at ya Mr Cheeky Tree!!! 😄
#6
I Just Outran A Massive Dust Storm Over Phoenix In A Helicopter To Get This Photo
A massive dust storm (haboob) rolls across the Phoenix, Arizona area on 8/2/2018.
Dl B 11 months ago
If you have never been in one, it is usually the precursor to a rainstorm. You can see the dust cloud coming for miles away. When it gets to you every thing gets carried in a layer of dust. It only lasts for a few minutes then the rain comes. It rains by the bucket full for a few minutes and stops. Everything is covered with mud and the streets are flooded.
nottheactualphoto 11 months ago
Dust sucked into turbine engines... what could go wrong?
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Panda-sized Potato 11 months ago
A haboob is a dust storm. It's called a haboob when it is massive like that.
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Amelia Lewin 11 months ago
Thank you! I was waiting for someone to say it!
Load More Replies...The World Bank estimates that over half of the global population now lives in cities. It expects that figure to rise to nearly 70% by 2050. "People continue to exhibit strong phobic responses toward organisms that do not live in our immediate vicinity even if they pose no tangible threats," notes The Conversation, adding that it's a worrying trend. Biophobias can cause people to avoid nature altogether, despite the fact that it provides a range of physical and mental benefits.
#7
Mystical And Unreal Atmosphere At Beynac Castle Due To Lightning Storm
Riley Quinn 11 months ago
Getting a photo of Red Sprites, which occur above thunderstorms, with this quality level is amazing since they only last milliseconds.
Multa Nocte 11 months ago
Then you must live close to me. Hello, neighbour!
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#8
This Dried Plant That Looks Like Tortured Souls
HamptonsBorderCollie 11 months ago
Yup- the google machine gave me this: "The dried seed pods of snapdragons are often used in Halloween decorations and other spooky events. The seed pods look like shrunken, tiny, brown skulls due to the flower's bilateral symmetry and structure."
Load More Replies... Riley Quinn 11 months ago
Snapdragons are gorgeous flowers in bloom, and they're... uh,... interesting in death.
#9
Found A Sea Snail That Looked Like It Had A Giant Eyeball
Julia Mckinney 11 months ago
That is a green operculum shell. They are used in jewelry periodically as a good luck token and to ward off the evil eye.
Disgruntled Panda 11 months ago
Operculum, the backs are also very pretty as you can see the growth spiral keeping it the same size as the opening of the shell
Marguerite Barnett 11 months ago
That eye is the footplate of the snail which means it is still in there alive. Please return it to its home.
The American Hiking Society has also reported an increased fear of nature among visitors of wildlife refuges around America. "Whether it’s because today’s visitors tend to live more indoor lives than past generations or watch too many TV survival shows, fears of nature are flourishing — in all ages," notes the AHS website.
#10
This Living Fossil Is 200 Million Years Older Than The Oldest Dinosaurs, Its Been On The Planet For Longer Than There Have Been Trees. A True Wonder Of The Natural World
Bookworm 11 months ago
And we're making them endangered because we can't find an alternative to horseshoe crab blood to safely make vaccines.
ElfVibratorGlitter 11 months ago
I thought I remember hearing there was an alternative, but too expensive?
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Upstaged75 11 months ago
It's too late at this point. They don't wash up on the beach until they're dead.
Load More Replies... Son of Philosoraptor 11 months ago
I have a trilobite fossil pendant. 500 million years old. When I feel... troubled... It reminds me of how ephemeral this moment in time is.
Earonn - 11 months ago (edited)
I'm lucky enough to work with the trilobite collection of one of Scotland's biggest museums. It's so wild to hold something in your hand, even if it's just the imprint of a shed carapace, that was made by a creature just as alive as I am, in a time unimaginably long ago. They are dear to me, all my wee beasties.
Load More Replies... The Big Bad 11 months ago
My brain interpreted this as a very cool pirate ship for a moment there.
LakotaWolf (she/her) 11 months ago
Horseshoe crab! :) It's not actually a true "crab" despite its name, however, and is actually most closely related to scorpions, spiders, and ticks.
Load More Replies... Riley Quinn 11 months ago
Horseshoe crabs play an important role in science. Their special blood "Limulus Amebocyte Lysate", is used to detect pathogens/bacterial contamination in medicines, vaccines, and medical devices, and to diagnose fungal infections. Unfortunately, many die during the blood extraction process, although efforts are made to release live ones afterwards. Horseshoe crabs are important in science because their blood is used to detect diagnose fungal infections.
Julia Ford 11 months ago
Using animals for our benefit is wrong. And there is an alternative, but it’s “too expensive.”
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Melissa Matusevich 11 months ago
I grew up by a beach that was rife with these critters. They always scared me even though I knew intellectually they are harmless.
Jane Alexander 11 months ago
To a small child during WW2 they looked like helmets partly buried in the sand and I shuddered to think what might be under them
Load More Replies... #11
View Of The Iceland Volcano Eruption On 1/14 From My Flight
It happened right before we took off
Riley Quinn 11 months ago
These 2024 volcanoes caused significant destruction in Grindavík despite the damage barriers that were intended to redirect the path of the lava. Luckily, the people were evacuated in time.
Steve Robert 11 months ago
But the incoming president says you can stop eruptions by simply filling the volcano with concrete.
#12
Meteor Falls On The Peak Of Mount Merapi ??, Kali Adem, Cangkringan, Yogyakarta (May 27, 2021, 23.07 Wib)
Bill Swallow 11 months ago
"No one could have believed, in the first years of the 21st century, that human affairs were being watched from the timeless worlds of space. No one could have dreamed that we were being scrutinized as someone with a microscope studies creatures that swarm and multiply in a drop of water. Few men even considered the possibility of life on other planets. And yet, across the gulf of space, Minds immeasurably superior to ours regarded this Earth with envious eyes. And slowly and surely, they drew their plans against us."
The Society interviewed several rangers to find out how they deal with visitors' fears of nature. Toni Westland is a supervisory refuge ranger at a Florida refuge, and believes that a little bit of fear is healthy, especially when it comes to wild animals.
“There should be a natural fear we have of them, and they of us; it’s a good thing to be fearful of a large predator like an alligator,” said the ranger. “We tell them we’re not going to have alligators jumping out of bushes. It’s safe. But it’s only safe because we respect wild animals and don’t feed them.”
#13
My Friend Found This Nightmare Fuel While Beachcombing In Dorset
Be Weird 24/7 11 months ago (edited)
....I now can't unsee it and I feel like I will see it in my nightmare tonight...Edit: I was right...i did see it in my dreams,scared the c**p out of me 🤣
HardBoiledBlonde 11 months ago
It needs to be framed or put in an acrylic box for posterity's sake.
Jossh Nine 11 months ago (edited)
It'd make a cool horror movie poster. I'd go see that movie without even watching the trailer.
#14
Nope
#15
The Terrifying Hiss Of A Satanic Leaf Tailed Gecko
Kristen Sharp 11 months ago
said in a high pitched, chipmunky like voice....
Load More Replies... Be Weird 24/7 11 months ago
Is it weird I want to hold it...it looks adorable and terrifying at the same time,all I see is a cute little face
#16
What In The Hell?
Riley Quinn 11 months ago
They guys were fishing for stripers when they got this dogfish. A comment on the site explained this situation: That is the spiracle which many sharks, especially benthic feeders like spiny dogfish, have. The spiracular tract in this case allows them to swallow food on the bottom and expel sediments through the tract while still being able to pump water over their gills. This sand eel may have been slick enough to get out though this hole.
FoxEcoLimaIndiaCharlieIndiAlfa 11 months ago
I did a little digging and learned that this Sand Eel made it through this Dogfish Sharks head via the spiracle. The spiracle is a gill slit that appears as an opening behind the eye, this allows the shark to breathe, while resting or eating, as well as provides oxygenated blood directly to the eye and brain.
BrunoVI 11 months ago
A gill forms a direct passage from the mouth to outside in the back of the skull.
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#17
Scary When You See Clouds Like This
Anon822209 11 months ago
Yeah, it's pretty. Um, if you need me, I'll be in the basement. Thanks.
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Marvin HeartofGold (she/them) 8 months ago
Oooh this is what it looked like shortly before a funnel cloud formed over the Ameristar last year
#18
Steady Processing All Photos From Our Stormchasing Trip Last Month
Trista JW 11 months ago (edited)
That is a very good picture. However, as someone who lives in a tornado-prone area (I have had tornadoes go above my town more than once. They've touched down three blocks from where I live, six miles where I live and all over the state) they are not the least bit fun. Hearing the siren go off is not fun. Running across my back yard and throwing the storm shelter door open to go down and wait out the tornado is not fun. Watching them come in is not fun. Waiting for them to pass and hoping they do not touch down is not fun. They cause nothing but fear and destruction. The photographer here was very talented and hopefully they took shelter as soon as they got the picture. They are not something to joke about, any more than a wildfire, hurricane, tsunami or other natural disaster is something to joke about.
#19
Just Met This Moose That Was On A Evening Walk
medcrest 11 months ago
I'm told that road kill moose in Alaska have to go the native population. Reason: too many people were buying junkers and going road hunting when you got to keep the carcass
Random Panda 11 months ago
@medcrest As someone born and raised in Alaska, you are correct. There is a list you can sign up for for roadkill moose. https://dps.alaska.gov/AWT/Roadkill
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Stephanie Did It 11 months ago
That's right about where your headlights will show it, demonstrating why it's so dangerous to hit one with a vehicle. You're going to knock its legs out from under it so that it skids right over the hood through your windshield.
Schnitzel 11 months ago
Yep! Happened to me and husband. We were in a van, sitting high up..ended up with helicopter to the ER. Mentally, I haven’t been the same since.
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#20
Part Of This Zucchini's Skin Didn't Form
#21
Longest Worm I Have Ever Seen
#22
This Piece Of A Tree Branch Looks Like A Zombie Hand
#23
The Result Of A Battle Between A Snake And A Scorpion
Tha Monkey 11 months ago
Yeah, this looks sus. Maybe something for tourists to buy? Capture-67...a2797f.png 
Allie Herz 11 months ago
I’ve seen snakes with a scorpion in its mouth exactly like that in an alcohol bottle. One of my dads coworkers got it on a work trip at some point.
Wendy Hamilton 11 months ago
Gross. I got stung by a scorpion in the middle of the night in my own home.
#24
The Owl Watches
#25
As Requested, The Goblin Shark
Beak Hookage 11 months ago
As a child I saw the preserved severed head of one of these weirdoes in a museum. I was traumatised as hell.
Major Harris 11 months ago (edited)
the "B" movie, "malibu shark attack" features these sharks as the villains!
#26
Two Water Spouts On Lake Erie
Taken last year.
Riley Quinn 11 months ago
Lake Erie has an average depth of only 62ft/19m. Lake. Gives the impression of placid water fun and enjoyment. It's just a lake. Yet this lake has swallowed ~2,000 fishing boats, tugs, freighters, steamships, and schooners, with 400 found. Storms and its shallow depth are the main reasons for lost ships/boats.
#27
In Case You Ever Wondered What Triggerfish Teeth Look Like
PeepPeep the duck 11 months ago
Parrot fish are the coral eaters that poop sand - trigger fish eat the little urchins and shrimps
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#28
The Trees Are Watching
I was just going for a walk when these trees caught my eye. Or I caught theirs :o Don’t know what kind of trees they are, maybe I’ll post it in a tree sub. Looks pretty weird to me. I can see how it’s cut off branches, but the outline of the “eyes” is what made e stop and stare. Then I noticed how the other branches grow and the weirdness makes more sense. Still a real weird tree to me though.
#29
A Deep-Sea Angler Fish, Called A Pacific Football Fish (Himantoliphus Sagamius) Was Found By Local Beachcombers Just South Of Cannon Beach, Oregon
Living in complete darkness, at 2,000 -3,300 feet, these fish are rarely seen. In fact, only 31 specimens have been recorded around the world. While a handful of football fish have been recorded in New Zealand, Japan, Russia, Hawaii, Ecuador, Chile, and California this is the first one reported on the Oregon Coast to our knowledge. Little is known about their life history but what is known is unusually fascinating. Like other angler fish, they use light that shines from a phosphorescent bulb on their forehead to attract prey. Food at the depths that these guys peruse can be very sparse, so football fish are not picky eaters. They eat anything that can fit into their mouths. Only females actively hunt as the males are actually more like parasites. Males being 10 times smaller than females, find a female to fuse themselves to. They lose their eyes and internal organs, getting all their nutrients from their female partners. In return, they provide females with a steady source of s***m. How the males find the females in the pitch dark is still unknown.
SnackbarKaat 11 months ago (edited)
Admit it we were all looking back at the picture to spot the male on the female
#30
Nope Rope In Australia
Grudge-holding Treefrog 11 months ago
Nope rope can be any snake. Danger noodle is usually reserved for the venomous ones
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Beak Hookage 11 months ago (edited)
This one's a python. Unless you're a rat you should be okay.
Dumb teenager 11 months ago
We love these guys. Carpet pythons are usually super tame and make great pest control
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#31
Abandoned Tree Farm
Kabuki Kitsune 11 months ago
May actually not be abandoned. Tree farms take up to 20, sometimes 30 years to mature, so they often look abandoned prior to reaching full maturity.
LakotaWolf (she/her) 11 months ago
It's hard to tell, but from the trunks, bark, and what little we can see of the canopy, maybe pines or spruces of some kind? They look like needle-bearing trees.
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#32
Coyote At Bernal Heights Yesterday
LakotaWolf (she/her) 11 months ago
Ah, that's my cousin Zach! His family moved up to the San Francisco area to be near the tech bubble. It's good to see he's doing well!
Dumb teenager 11 months ago
Why did I think you were talking about the rat at first :/
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Lew k 11 months ago
If you're bigger than 50-60 pounds you're safe. They aren't any bigger than a medium breed dog and very skittish. Other than snagging cats and small dogs they're harmless. Very pretty though. I probably see one every other week. Been within 10-15 feet of one and few times and they will run as soon as you move.
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Jossh Nine 11 months ago
That's nature....it's how things are supposed to be. Think about this, that coyote may have gone days without a meal.
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JayWantsACat 11 months ago
Crazy to think but Bernal Heights is a neighborhood here in San Francisco and I have personally run into coyotes when walking to my rail stop.
#33
Some Red Bugs Made A Little Circle On My 2nd-Floor Window
Dumb teenager 11 months ago
Each to their own. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a bug or insect I’ve found gross.
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Leekier 11 months ago
That was exactly my thought, followed by keep the window closed!
Load More Replies... Panda-sized Potato 11 months ago
Fire is a perfectly acceptable answer. I'm referring to the whole complex.
Elladine DesIsles 11 months ago (edited)
There are insects and spiders everywhere. Everywhere! Burn what you don't understand is a pretty useless and destructive strategy whether the target is arthropod, literary, or human.
Load More Replies... #34
This Spider Is Trying To Tell Me Something
Dumb teenager 11 months ago
Looks like it says “YYY YTVYYYYVO NO”. I think it’s sending us code
Elladine DesIsles 11 months ago
This is typical for the webs of some orbweaver species, possibly to help guide flying insects into the web. Although this example is unusually erractic, both the zigzag pattern and the overall structure of the orb web. Beautiful spider, however.
#35
Sawfish (Was Tangled In Fishing Lines) 1967
G A 11 months ago (edited)
Amazing creatures now sadly near extinction. I think the woman holding it may be the famous film maker Valerie Taylor who worked on Jaws. Certainly looks like her.
Tucker Cahooter 11 months ago
Correct -> https://collections.sea.museum/en/objects/210292/valerie-taylor-on-beach-holding-nose-of-sawfish
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Steve Robert 11 months ago
A sawfish, a hammerhead shark, and some carpenter ants. And, now you have a construction contractor.
#36
This Bug I Found Had A Demon Face On Its Back
#37
Today’s Super Close Up Bug Pic By Yours Truely. A Pipeline Swallow Tail Butterfly
#38
This Weird Flower Plant Seedling Thing I Found On A Walk
Found on the side of a path while on a bush walk .
Norm Gilmore 11 months ago (edited)
Close. NZ. I saw the original post was Natty-NZ so the answer was supplied by Stook211 on the Reddit site. https://www.nzpcn.org.nz/flora/species/knightia-excelsa/
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Huddo's sister 11 months ago
So many people do this, and even eat things and only ask what they are after on foraging pages I follow!
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Spencer's slave no longer 11 months ago
Rewarewa or New Zealand honeysuckle is used in making honey that has a caramel/butterscotch flavour.
MsPlants 11 months ago
I love picking up and collecting weird stuff in nature however you said bush walk that implies Australia they someone corrected to new Zealand which is close by and not as deadly. Australia is the one place in the world Im not touching c**p unless I know what it is. Everything there is out to get you. I want to move there so bad but my dumb a*s would be dead within weeks.
Spencer's slave no longer 11 months ago (edited)
We bush walk in New Zealand too, the wild countryside is called the bush.
Load More Replies... #39
Black Snake In Maryland
Upstaged75 11 months ago
We have a birdhouse hanging on our porch and one time we caught a huge black snake winding its way up the railing to try and get to some baby birds. Knocked it off with a broom and never saw it again. Baby birds saved! :)
Load More Replies... Multa Nocte 11 months ago
Do you know about the ones that glide from trees yet? Where's your God now? ;-)
Load More Replies... #40
Fallen Tree In The Middle Of A Forest
#41
Random Skull In The Forest
Went on a hike today and found this random skull on a tree stump. If you know what animal it was please share, im curious. Thanks
Luis Hernandez Dauajare 11 months ago
I'd be more worried about whoever placed it on the tree stump...
Montanavanna 11 months ago
That looks way too big for a deer skull. Perhaps a huge elk or a moose even. But there should be indications of horn placement on it if it is a horned animal, maybe? I wouldn't say bear because the teeth aren't carnivore teeth.
Kabuki Kitsune 11 months ago
Deer skull. Note, no canines, large herbivore grinding teeth. Probably set there by some hunter.
Zuccini Yaga 11 months ago
Valid. The pig head (what was it, on a stake?) I read that book AGES ago, but I remember liking it~ I especially like what they did by combining "Sam and Eric" into "Samneric" since the twins were together all the time..
Load More Replies... #42
Deer Skeleton Found In The River
Just Cosmo 11 months ago
well, it probably drowned, and then got eaten by stuff that eat dead animals
Load More Replies... Earonn - 11 months ago
Ahem, do you swim in the ociean? Where do you think do dead fish and whales go? Hint: not always to a conveniently deep spot (exploding whale in Scotland, anyone? :D )
Load More Replies... JayWantsACat 11 months ago
And this is just one of the many reason you don't just drink water even if its clear and looks clean.
Earonn - 11 months ago
Only if we get some mud covering it up quickly. Come on, guys, someone go out and do something for future palaeontologists!
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#43
[Southern California] What Is This Spider With A Skull On Its Back And Is It A Sign Death Has Befallen Our Chicken Coop? (Kidding, But Really What Is It?)
Initial searches says Steatoda Nobilis, but I’m not expert.
Maggie Fulton 11 months ago
Looked the photo up on Google. Steatoda nobilis is the noble black widow spider. I suspected it was some kind of widow spider because of its incredibly messy web.
MsPlants 11 months ago
awe its a noble black widow, like its there royal ruling family, you should bow or curtsey to it or something
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Elladine DesIsles 11 months ago
Steatoda species are related to true widows (Lactrodectus species), but not considered medically significant to humans. Unless, like me, one has a very rare allergy to their venom (and even then, my reactions are highly unpleasant but not especially dangerous). There are plenty of Steatoda triangulosa around my house and I manage fine; they only bite on the rare occasion I accidentally sit or roll over on one, and then I will need antihistamines for a couple of weeks.
Caroline Seguin 11 months ago
Steatoda Nobilis are considered one of the most dangerous spiders in western Europe.[
Jane Alexander 11 months ago
The little whhite skulls on ours in central coast CA were clearer than this one. One appeared a few days before Halloween outside my window and Nov 1 was Gone.
Major Harris 11 months ago
"it was found in the victim's throat." "the significance of the spider has changed. it looks our killer wants to change as well."
#44
What Is This Bug Found Inside Of A Spring Onion?
Just Cosmo 11 months ago
I don't think so. Earwigs look quite different, as Chewie said in another comment, it might be some kind of larva of some kind of beetle.
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Stephanie Did It 11 months ago
Looks like Nevromus austroindicus, the larva of a dobsonfly. Also known as a Helgrammite. Good fish bait!
Kira Okah 11 months ago
That is my thought, pincers really make me think ground beetle larva.
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#45
My Friend An I Found This On A College Trip
BRIANNA YSABEL SUAREZ RUBIN 11 months ago
It looks like a butterfly bc it looks like it has wings.
#46
Just Noticed That My Indoor Chillies Are Absolutely Crawling In These. Any Idea What They Are?
I’m in the uk if that helps narrow it down.
Steinem Sukker Rumpe 11 months ago
Plant mint and basil around it. They hate it
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Add New Image
What do you think ?
RamiRudolph 11 months ago
Whoever had the bright idea to put "plants" in the pool at the end? There's hardly anything more predictable in nature than plants.
RamiRudolph 11 months ago
Whoever had the bright idea to put "plants" in the pool at the end? There's hardly anything more predictable in nature than plants.
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