60 Chilling Nature Photos

Hyena matriarch fighting off a pack of African wild dogs

Take a closer look...these are the scariest, unedited photos ever taken of nature.

Nature may be gentle and kind, but on the day these photos were taken, it was dark, demonic, and dangerous.

Walking out your front door is a risky business and these photos prove it. They include scary animals, unrealistic weather patterns, and some of the most astonishing and disturbing scenes ever seen. Nature is bound only by the laws of physics... It has the ability to blast lava through the earth, freeze houses and throw up sand like a tidal wave, but it can also create miracles that will lift even your soul. Get touched.

Hyenas are some of the most feared animals in South Africa. Apart from looking strange when out and about, they are the type of animals that become downright cruel to get what they want. Hyenas may be scavengers but they are also apex predators. They kill and steal prey, and while they hunt primarily at night, they have been known to come out during the day, although then they will be in a defensive position. African wild dogs are similar, although they are not entirely dependent on hunting. These little beasts tend to retreat in battle, meaning there will be nothing but blood on the ground when they decapitate.

Marmot realizes he has been caught by a fox

Do you know that feeling when you get caught walking around the house in only your underwear? This is what the face of this marmot is saying. But how is such a picture taken? It's the shot of a lifetime that is one of the London National History Museum's Wildlife Photographer of the Year winners for 2019. Captured by Chinese photographer Yongqing Bao, "The Moment" became a worldwide sensation, although unfortunately the marmot did not survive the attack. Museum spokesperson Zoe Summers told the New York Times:

I can confirm that sadly the marmot did not survive. The fox was successful in the attack and was able to feed some very hungry cubs!

king of the sea

You can hear it now, right? He's building dun dun, dun dun faster and faster and louder and louder until he attacks. The Great White Shark is one of the deadliest predators on the planet and once it finds prey, it doesn't stop at anything. There are very few people who have encountered one of these deep-sea monsters and survived, but a man called Jerry Ventouras told the Guardian what happened when his friend Ken found himself killed by a shark in Perth. Found victim of attack:

I looked back and saw this huge feather traveling inside the can. It came after him. It was unreal. This very large shark – somewhere between five meters and six meters long – emerges from the water, its jaws open, and moves towards Kane. Without stopping, it seemed as if [he] was being grabbed by the lower part of his body, pulled out of the water and given a couple of shakes like a dog shaking a bone, [and then] dropped him in the middle Gave up the pool in a large cloud of blood. There was no sound.

coyote pups learning howl

Everyone needs to learn how to howl – even coyote puppies. These "barking dogs" are known as being the most vocal among North American mammals. These animal vocalizations include high-pitched screams, barking and howling, each of which means something different, giving them their own kind of language. In 1978, Philip N. Lehner wrote about their complex sounds in Coyotes: Biology, Behavior, and Management, explaining:

The vocal repertoire of the adult coyote includes eleven vocalizations, several of which are also given by the pups. These vocalizations are so close to each other that their separation into eleven types is somewhat arbitrary based on their different sounds, behavioral context, and physical characteristics.

Was this moose struck by lightning or not?

This photo of a moose outside Anchorage is somewhat from Noodles Baker. Initially it was not clear who had torn apart this moose, but according to the Anchorage Daily News, this moose was not trapped by lightning, but was attacked by a bear. At least that's what Patricia Grenier, the woman who took the photo, says. He told ADN:

That moose was attacked by a bear from a neighbor's house. [The moose] was gone and everyone thought he was dead, but then he came back and was in my neighbor's yard.

However Dr. Kimberly Beckman says there is no way to know exactly what happened without taking a closer look at this moose. He said:

Without a biopsy and some diagnostics, it's impossible to say what originally caused the skin lesions, so speculation is just that: speculation.

The Honey Badger, also known as Rattle, can survive even in the worst conditions due to its super power...thick skin.

If there's one animal you absolutely don't want to mess with, it's the honey badger. These creatures are known for their ability to survive and their ferocious nature. They do not have a single specific enemy because they have nothing but enemies. When cornered they will fight, no matter how big the predator. They fight off lions and hyenas and withstand bee stings and animal bites – apparently even porcupine quills don't penetrate their skin. If any animal chooses to have the unfortunate choice of becoming trapped in honey badger territory they will be chased and attacked.

These goats defy gravity

There's no animal like the mountain goat, a creature that climbs steep cliffs and ridiculous heights like it's nothing. They hibernate on mountain peaks during the winter, where they grow a hairy coat, which they lose during the spring when they descend to lower elevations. These goats are actually more closely related to antelope than goats and they climb to such ridiculous heights to escape predators like bears, wolves, cougars, and golden eagles. These animals learn to climb from a young age and can climb rocks with their parents when they are only a few days old.

This black timber wolf is ready to attack

The last thing you want to see is a face like this when you're out on a walk. Timber wolves are not born mean, but they do not want you to roam freely in their territory. As scary as these dogs look, their hearts are just as big. According to Reader's Digest a prospector who rescued a pack of timber wolf cubs from Coho Creek in Alaska and returned them to their mother and helped nurse them back to health found the animals missing them years after the fact. After returning from World War II he saw a black figure roaming in the meadow.