We often forget how powerful nature can truly be. From animals to plants to the weather, we often forget the strength of Mother Nature until it flexes its impressive muscles at us. But when it does, it leaves quite the impression on our forgetful minds.
From silly animals with quite the crazy personalities to plants doing the darnedest things, too, of course, the most obvious of the bunch, any time a natural disaster or phenomenon occurs before our eyes, nature is constantly amazing, confusing, and inspiring and surprising us.
Here are 24 examples of nature at work that people managed to capture in photos.
1. This squirrel proves that he literally couldn’t care less about what people want after photobombing this couple’s picture. The couple, who probably left their camera on a rock with a timer in order to take a romantic photo with the scenic mountain landscape in the background, were left laughing after this little furry friend decided to join in. The adorable squirrel was most likely checking out the camera to see if he could take it with him. No, little guy, that’s not a nut!
2. On the other hand, here’s a certain moose that was feeling a little camera-shy. Photographer Liam Richardson captured this moment and submitted the photo to the Comedy Wildlife photography competition. We can see why: what’s funnier than a moose attempting some camouflage to get out of a picture? Not everyone likes seeing themselves on camera!
Liam Richardson3. Imagine taking a canoe out for some scenic R&R on a lake somewhere when all of the sudden you’re bombarded by not 1 bird or even 10, but more like a few hundred birds who decided to crash the serene moment? Might be a little overwhelming to be approached by so many flying animals at once, but I’m sure in the end these people didn’t mind when they saw the captured moment on camera. At the end of the day, birds probably don’t care if you were looking for some peace and quiet.
4. A Reddit user uploaded this photo in which the passenger managed to capture a thin line of snowfall as they were flying over Ohio. Radar footage of the area was used to identify lake effect snow bands, confirming it really is possible for snow to be this narrow! They say it was most likely the edges of the snow band melting, which left a more centralized narrow band remaining.
Reddit | Elementalillness
5. Even animals aren’t always a fan of Mother Nature. Here’s a hilarious-looking frog who is clearly unamused by the rainfall. Apparently, animals have their own version of umbrellas just like us humans! Except, our umbrellas are manufactured whereas this frog’s leaf umbrella is much more eco-friendly. We could learn a thing or two!
6. Another fan-favourite among the Comedy Wildlife photography competition, photographer Julie Hunt captured this adorable moment of a seal that looks like it’s having the chuckle of its life. It’s always funny to see so much expression on an animal’s face, as people often forget their incredible likeness to humans in expression and feeling. Wonder what had this little guy cracking up?
Julie Hunt7. The moment when nature decides apple picking season is OVER. Looks like Mother Nature, or maybe just these trees, were done with the apple-picking season and wanted those things off of them! Unfortunately for park-goers, this sudden decision made by Mother Nature now makes for a pretty intense clean-up. How else are people who enjoy strolling in the park going to have space to walk?
Pikabu | KRua
8. Another prank by Mother Nature that probably had very few people complaining is when this giant pile of snow decided to plant itself right in front of the entrance to this building, hence making it inaccessible to its employees. Either that or this was conspired by some workers who really needed a day off.
Pikabu | Zega
9. People captured this crazy photo of these white footprints in the sand. The white on brown is caused by the fact that there was snow mixed into the sand, thus creating the contrasting effect between dark and light elements. Aside from the cool aspect that snow and sand meet in this photo, people were more mesmerized by how much this actually looks like tiramisu.
Pikabu | Ground 55
10. Apple is literally everywhere and we’re not talking about the fruit! The Apple logo (a lone apple) haunts us everywhere we go; from movies to malls, to pretty much anywhere on the internet, the Apple symbol is always lurking nearby. But I don’t think anyone expected, especially the person who captured this photo, to find an Apple logo hidden within the bark of this tree. Crazy!
Pikabu | gnom2211. Now, this isn’t something you see every day… or, ever! After some rain caused a flood one Reddit user was able to capture this crazy moment where they found a certain someone creeping into their window. The water got to such high levels it looks like this swan was confused as to why there was a house in their pond unless they just stopped by for a chat…
Reddit | epicmoe
12. Another submission from the Comedy Wildlife photography competition, photographer Marc Mol captured a very startled hippo who found himself being used as a landing strip for several birds. This distressed baby hippo was not okay with these birds taking residence on his back, and the look on his face says he has every intention of getting rid of the pests.
Marc Mol
13. No, it’s not a reflection or a terribly photoshopped picture. One of these is actually a door, and the other is merely an imprint of a door. One Reddit user shared this photo which may appear like 8 feet of snow was covering their house (which would be very scary) but was actually just snow surrounding their door from a drift. So before you panic, the Reddit user confirmed that they were able to push the snow away as it was actually only 3-4 ft of snow, the rest being pushed up against the house by some crazy winds.
Reddit | Xingua92
14. One lucky Reddit user was not only able to witness this beautiful display of rainbows along these canyons but also managed to capture an equally breathtaking picture of the sight on camera. “Moments after a passing monsoon in the Grand Canyon. Went from running for shelter from the rain to running to the edge of the canyon for photos.” Who wouldn’t have started running to take in a scene like this!
Reddit | zacharyem15. Wildlife photographer Graham McGeorge managed to capture this somewhat creepy moment where three owls squished into the inside of a tree seemed to be well aware their photo was being taken (and don’t appear very happy about it, either). If it’s not the picture they’re mad at, maybe it’s the fact that there doesn’t appear to be much room if the look on the owl’s face stuck at the bottom of the pileup is any indication.
Graham McGeorge
16. What about this beautiful rainbow dome in Australia? Imagine walking out of your house to discover that you’re basically in a stunning multi-coloured bubble. The contrast of the rosy rainbow against the purplish-blue sky is too incredible to put into words, so we’ll just leave this picture right here for you to enjoy and try to come up with ways to describe this phenomenon on your own.
Pikabu | khemfrov
17. The sky isn’t finished looking amazing quite yet. Probably mistaken for UFOs on more than one occasion, crazy cloud formations seem to be one of nature’s favourite pranks. Here are some pretty crazy clouds that look like little mini tornados. Some people even stopped driving after witnessing these beautiful formations to stop and get a closer look.
Reddit | Hellholder
18. One final Comedy Wildlife submission, here’s photographer Mohammed Alnaser’s entry of a cheetah in a rather silly pose. The funny picture had people listing off various reasons as to why a cheetah would be in this strange position, from doing its daily yoga routine, to incorporating a few handstands into its workout to just a very odd stretch.
Mohammed Alnaser19. Let’s take this picture in for a second and ignore the fact that it’s one of the most insane pictures you’ve probably ever seen. I mean, how often do you see a home like this, lawn and all, surrounded by water and only accessible by boat? We’re guessing slim to none, but that’s just us.
Pikabu | Palpat1ne
20. Another incredible sight. Here is one very brave human standing next to this frozen waterfall. It’s like a giant icicle but about a hundred times more menacing. Or a very slippery slide to your death. Here is one very brave human standing next to this frozen waterfall of doom. Definitely, an incredible sight to take in while it’s frozen, but I wouldn’t want to be anywhere near it when it starts to melt.
Pikabu | Palpat1ne
21. Among many things, nature would also like to have a say in whether or not we have a productive day at work. This Reddit user managed to capture this crazy photo of a leak in their office, and “leak” is a passive-aggressive word to describe what probably led to hundreds of dollars in damages. Although an excuse to have a day off work everyone and a while is nice, this is taking it a little too far.
Reddit | age104
22. This picture is so crazy it’s hard to believe it’s real, but this is a captured photo of the destruction left in Hurricane Matthew’s wake back in 2016. Hurricane Matthew was the first Category 5 Atlantic hurricane since 2007, which caused widespread damage in the southeastern United States and a humanitarian crisis in Haiti. This photo captures the strength of the hurricane as it not only managed to lift a tree from its roots but the entire ground underneath it.
Imgur | thisisnotmufault23. Not only does nature enjoy exercising its powerful muscle over us, but apparently they refuse to adhere to any lowly human rules, either. One tree showed how it felt about this “DO NOT EAT” sign by pretty much literally eating it. I think it manages to get its point across quite effectively in this photo.
Pikabu | holykash
24. Have you ever seen a firefly this close up? The name of this family of insects isn’t just an expression; they really do emit light! Fireflies, or lightning bugs, use a chemical reaction called bioluminescence to produce light in their light-emitting organs usually located in their lower abdomens. This usually occurs during twilight to attract mates or prey. Fireflies can be found in both temperate and tropical climates.
Pikabu | mymbaka
