Teddy Fotiou is a writer, a photographer, and a naturalist. He loves everything wild, especially the dangerous kind. If he's not scuba diving with sharks and barracuda, he's probably hiking along nature trails, looking for venomous snakes, alligators, and bears.
On hydrothermal vents deep beneath the Indian Ocean lurks a scaly-footed gastropod. While this minute deep-sea snail might seem unassuming, it actually has a special ability: it incorporates metal into its body, forming a hard protective armor around its fleshy, exposed foot. It is the only animal known to science that can to do this. […] More
Dragonflies are beautiful, fascinating insects to observe. On warm days, you’ll often see them flitting and fluttering around your local pond or lake. But what you don’t see is their disturbing childhood. As you can see, this weird, wingless creature looks nothing like a dragonfly. In that case, it isn’t all that different from the young […] More
This rarely-seen squid is one of the most hellish, demonic creatures that can be found in the deep sea. When we think about deep-sea creatures, we often picture strange and frightening beasts. Beasts with huge eyes watching from the darkness and teeth larger than their mouths. Yet, even with those images in mind, we’d probably […] More
Despite being much smaller than us, spiders strike fear into the hearts of many humans. Perhaps, it is their hairy bodies. Or, perhaps, it is their cluster of eyes. Whatever the reason, spiders scare a significant amount of people. But, more importantly, spiders scare a significant amount of spiders. How? Well, aside from female spiders […] More
Prairie dogs are adorable, puppy-like rodents that are common across the Great Plains in the Midwestern United States. But, as cute as they are, they have a much darker side, especially white-tailed prairie dogs. Although white-tailed prairie dogs are herbivorous, they have been documented killing rival rodents, such as Wyoming ground squirrels. This makes them […] More
The freshwater bass is an underestimated predator — documented feasting on frogs, snakes, and even baby alligators. In North America, freshwater fish in the genus Micropterus are also known as black basses and are a highly regarded game fish. These animals are widespread throughout the eastern regions of North America, including parts of Canada and Mexico. Although plain […] More
Like most animals, snakes need water to survive. Even deadly, venomous ones. But do snakes actually need to drink water like other animal? For many species, yes, they do, but it can be a bit complicated. Check out this cobra drinking a glass of water. It looks more like a weird, scaly cat than a […] More
On this Roaring Earth, the sea is a powerful force of nature, and humanity has spent millennia attempting to quench her fury. Yet, even in the era of steel-hulled ships, we have not fully placated the angry sea, and even the biggest ships are just toys in a furious ocean. These gifs depict the raw […] More
Raccoons are renowned mischief-makers with a knack for theft and debauchery. They even have little burglar masks permanently imprinted into their facial fur, and in North America, you’ll often see these fuzzy thieves lurking around trash cans and doggy doors. This leads to a series of mixed emotions surrounding raccoons. On one hand, raccoons are […] More
Woodpeckers are generally believed to be harmless birds that feed on insects and tree sap, and for the most part, they are. However, their strong, sharp bills, used for drilling and drumming on trees, and their long, sticky tongues, used for extracting food, can also act as lethal weapons. While other birds might seem safe […] More
Deep in the tropical lowland forests of northern and eastern Madagascar, a truly bizarre critter trundles through the undergrowth. With an elongated snout and bright yellow and black quills covering its body, this mammal resembles a cross between a shrew and a porcupine. Meet the lowland streaked tenrec. Like porcupines, lowland streaked tenrecs can shed […] More
Included below is a remarkable account of a deadly snakebite. Aside from the possibility of death, the side effects of envenomation vary depending on the snake species and venom dosage, but they are certainly unpleasant and not often recorded in intimate detail. In 1957 at The Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, famed snake expert […] More
