Nowadays, we can click a few buttons and see endless beautiful photos of the world and the people traveling throughout it. But with perfectly taken, filtered pictures of nature and tourist sites so readily available, we can't help but appreciate these raw, unedited snapshots even more. From chilling places to bizarre occurrences, come take a walk on the wild side and see a different side of our planet.

1) The African Fruit Bat: Yes, It's Real
This guy might look like something out of photoshop, but it's actually called a Buettikofer's epauletted fruit bat. The long-snouted bat is found along the coast of sub-Sahara Africa, and despite its look, the bats only eat fruit. They are also pretty common throughout their range, meaning that if you really want to see one, you likely can. However, like most bats, they are nocturnal and only come out at night.

Just don't be too afraid when you see that face flying towards yours in the middle of the night. And to be honest, the more we look at this photo, the more this little guy actually looks kind of cute.

2) Abandoned Silver Mine
No, this area wasn't damned or flooded; it actually used to be an underwater silver mine. These shafts located under Lake Superior were at one time the entrance to one of the richest silver deposits in the world. However, as you might imagine, it's not easy to mine underwater. The company that ran the mine had to build up a wall around the deposits and run a pump day and night to keep water out of the shafts.

3) Standard Buildings Are Out, Human Towers Are in
The Iberian peninsula is home to some pretty crazy cultural traditions. In addition to running with the bulls, it also hosts this spectacle. The Catalonian tradition dated back to the early 18th century and started as a simple cultural activity. However, in the 1980s, the region began constructing these "castells" or human towers as part of competitions. Today, the tradition is listed under UNESCO, and the festivities are carried out every year in the region.

The groups often wear specially-colored costumes. In order to build them so tall, children are the ones who sit at the very top. Of course, helmets are worn, and anybody who falls is likely to be caught by the mass of people at the bottom.

Crazy!!

4) Not Even Hollywood's Special Effects Could Make This Look Scarier

Seeing photos of nature in a rage hits different when it's right next to an everyday suburban house. This shot seems to have been taken in someone's yard and shows an incoming storm front. The way the clouds are swirling makes you think this place might be in for a tornado or at least some pretty heavy gusts. However, it's also pretty cool and gives the viewer a sense of scale. It also gives off a feeling of eery calm.

There probably wasn't a lot of noise when this photo was taken, besides probably the sound of thunder in the distance and the wind bearing down. Though simple, this photo manages to evoke the senses.

5) An Other-Worldly Coincidence

This photo is a pretty good reminder that sometimes the best shots aren't of gorgeous scenery or Instagram-worthy waterfalls but, instead, tiny details found all around us. If you have some trees around you, it's likely you could find a leaf with similar matching veins to the ones on your hand. Of course, it might take a couple of hours of searching, but it honestly sounds like a unique and beautiful way to connect with nature.

This photo is also a good reminder that you don't always have to travel to some far-off place or scenic retreat for some decent nature photographs. If you're creative enough, it can be done in your own backyard.

6) This Snake Dress Is Made Out of Palm Leaves

Artists aren't the only people who are known to take their creations to the extremes, and fashion designers are known for creating some pretty outlandish costumes. This snake dress, while incredible, also looks like it took days and possibly weeks to create. Made from leaves, someone had to weave every little detail by hand, and then this model had to somehow put it on. Like seriously, how does this thing unzip?

Apart from that, this is a pretty cool work of art that is probably on display in a museum or fashion house somewhere today. It's certainly not sitting in a closet.

7)Mt. Fuji From a Different Perspective

We all know that nothing beats the views from the window of an airplane, but it can sometimes be tricky to know just when something worth looking at is within view. This passenger had no so problem and managed to take a snapshot of Japan's Mt. Fuji at the perfect time. What makes this photo especially appealing is the way the mountain seems to be cutting through the clouds.

It's almost like looking at water cutting across a rock. Nature really is pretty amazing, and this photograph demonstrates just that. We just wish we were on this same flight.

Over Three Decades Later
Whales are amazing creatures. Not only are they absolutely huge and intelligent animals, but compared to other creatures in the wild, they actually have pretty long lifespans. Whales can live anywhere from 10 to more than 70 years, depending on the species. The shape and patterns of their fins can also be distinguishing features, which is what this photographer(s) captured. Someone took a picture of this whale in 1985 and again in 2020.

The patterns on the whale's tail match up perfectly, meaning this guy or girl has been around for quite a while. This makes you wonder what the whale has been up to all those years and how old it actually is.

9) WWII Pilot Reunites With His Plane
This is a pretty cool story. Apparently, this man was a pilot during World War II, and that plane in the background was one that he piloted during the war some 97 years ago. The look on his face says it all, and we would be just as proud if a warplane we piloted was being displayed in a museum somewhere in the world. It's kind of hard to believe this plane was once flying through the skies and could've even been involved in a dogfight or two.

This just goes to show that the world is a pretty small place, and some things just have a way of coming full circle. We would love to know more about his guy's story.

10) The World's Largest Flower Smells Bad and Only Blooms for a Day

This gigantic flower has a reputation that matches its size, but it's not for being particularly lovely. The corpse flower unleashes a pretty pungent smell whenever it blooms, which is only about once every eight years. It also only opens up for a day, which attracts visitors who aren't afraid to brave the smell and snap a photo. These flowers are present in a number of botanical gardens all over the world.

The flower's unpleasant smell is actually an evolutionary trait meant to attract pollinators. The chemicals in the flower mimic the smell of decaying meat to attract things like flies and other insects.

11) Peep the Tiny Human Next to Germany's Konigstein Castle

Unless you happen to live somewhere in Europe, chances are you've never seen a castle up close and personal. Many times the photos just don't do them justice. These massive structures were made to be impenetrable, and this is a good example of conveying scale that is often missing from travel photography. If you look towards the bottom right, you can get a sense of how tall these walls actually are.

As one might suspect, the fortress in this photo was never occupied. Funnily enough, a chimney sweeper did manage to scale the walls once. However, he was promptly detained by guards after he reached the top.

12) Bulgaria's Unique Babugeri Tradition

Taken in Bulgaria, these costumes are part of a pagan tradition that's still practiced in the country. The costumes are mainly worn by men and made out of leather. The men used to wear these costumes and dance in order to ward off evil spirits. Today, it's mostly performed in Bulgaria as a way to practice the local culture. However, this is a pretty cool local tradition that has endured and still hasn't been covered very heavily by major media outlets.

The costumes are pretty freaky looking as well, especially without any context. For anyone wanting to see this in person, the tradition is practiced on New Year's Eve.

13) An Octopumpkin

Nature isn't always serious, and sometimes it can be downright weird. We aren't sure what went into turning this pumpkin into its, well, odd shape, but we're certainly curious after seeing this photo. The octopumpkin in this photo looks like something an artist spent hours carving out, but this pumpkin apparently grew into this shape all on its own. It certainly makes carving for Halloween all the more easy.

It even looks like the pumpkin grew suction cups on its tentacles. Of course, it's all just a coincidence, but it's a strange and somewhat funny one that had us chuckling a bit.

(14) This Ancient-Looking Lizard Still Exists Today

You don't have to go back in time or delve into a fantasy TV drama to see dinosaurs or dragons. This little guy could be either, and it's alive and well today on Africa's southwestern coast. These are called armadillo girdled lizards, and while they're quite small, they still look frighteningly like their ancient relatives. The reason this guy is biting his tail is that he's trying to protect his soft underbelly.

This little lizard closely resembles another spiny reptilian called an Ouroborus, which is known to curl up in a defensive posture to protect its underbelly in the same way.

16) A Melting Beehive

This photo is just another example of nature being absolutely weird and wonderful. The beehive pictured here looks like it's melting and falling to the ground, but it's actually perfectly fine and stable. Some bees have probably been making their hives this way for thousands of years, but it's kind of cool to note that this also looks like some kind of futuristic building out of a sci-fi TV show.

It also makes us wonder how these bees just instinctively know how to make a stable structure that's hundreds of times bigger than they are without any blueprints. Either way, this is another example of art imitating nature, as we're sure at least some architects have taken inspiration from beehives.

17)The Four Seasons All in One Yard

Despite the way it looks, this photo was not altered. This person's window panes make it look like a different time of year is happening in each pane. Of course, this is just a coincidence, and the trees pictured here just have different types of foliage, but it's still pretty cool. The shot also makes for some pretty great nature photography inspiration. The only thing that could make it better would be some snow in one of the panes, but that's bordering on the fantastical.

The tree on the far right already does a pretty good job of selling the photo anyway. Hopefully, that's just a result of the natural time of the year and not climate change.

Can You Guess What This Is?
This might look like something out of a horror movie, but it's actually just a close-up view of some pizza dough. The details in the stringy dough are easy to see at this magnification, and it's no wonder dough can often feel bouncy and stringy when you hold it in your hand. This photo reminds us of a pile of spider webs all stuck together, though, and now we're not sure we can ever look at pizza dough the same.

It's also possible that this person just completely messed up their dough, and it turned out like this, but we're no experts, and either way, this is a fascinating and rare look at an otherwise mundane object.

20)Launch Pads From a Bird's Eye View

This photo is actually of the Kennedy Space Center and NASA's vehicle assembly building in Florida. Apart from being pretty isolated, the photo is striking for the distance between the main building and the two launch pads pictured towards the bottom of the photo. The center is where astronauts first launched off and eventually touched down on the moon and where today, companies like SpaceX are vying to lead the way in commercial space flight.

While travelers can visit the center to this day, they can also watch launches and take photos as the spaceport has been particularly busy during the last five years or so.

21)A Crow Being A Crow

It might come as a surprise to some out there, but crows and ravens are actually very intelligent creatures. They've been documented dropping seeds into oncoming traffic in order to break them open, and their problem-solving skills are among the best in the animal kingdom. They also like to annoy people and other animals. This photo shows a crow nagging a much larger hawk or eagle, who could turn around at any moment and take this fearless crow out.

Scientists also think crows mess and attack hawks in order to deter them. In other words, the best defense is a strong offense, so these little guys are known to team up on much larger predators.

22) Blue Tomatoes Exist

These tomatoes, called different names depending on what seeds are used to grow them, are actually a variety of blue tomatoes you can plant and grow yourself. The inside is usually a deep red or pink color, and some sources say they taste "clear" and a bit sweet. These particular tomatoes are called "indigo rose," but there are different varieties that were created using different methods. However, even though they are purple, they don't contain as many antioxidants as you might find in other purple fruits.

While these were created at a university, other varieties have been created using traditional growing techniques. We know it probably wouldn't be a very good idea, but the color makes us want to bite right into these tomatoes.

Very informative, educative and a push for a good start for a Monday.. front page please

24)We Didn't Even Know Birds Could Do That

We knew birds could miraculously form shapes in the air without any pre-planning whatsoever, but we didn't know they could morph into a full-blown bird cyclone or whatever this terrifying thing is. Seeing this picture totally makes us understand why there are so many classic horror movies about birds; they really can be terrifying when they band together like this and gang up on you. Wouldn't want to be near that.

We would, however, want to be near enough to witness this thing in person, but far enough to still feel safe. Just look at that thing: who wouldn't want to get a good look at it?

25) Yeah, This Guy Should Probably Take the Bus
Okay, we have so many questions about this photograph right here. First of all, how long did this guy leave his bike in one place that so many bees managed to amass under his bike seat? Second of all, why on Earth did those bees, out of the many different bikes visible in this picture, pick this bike in particular? Did he smear honey under his seat or something?

To top it off, our final question is: what is this guy supposed to do now? Just forget the bike ever existed? How is he supposed to get all those bees off his precious bike?

26) Toads Catching A Ride on A Snake? Perfectly Normal

These little froggies are catching the Greyhound snake to the big city. We wish them luck on their cross-country endeavor, and may they have a safe and eventful journey. Okay, but now in all seriousness, we're not quite sure how this situation came to be, as in how a bunch of frogs felt safe enough to catch a ride on the back of a snake, and we definitely wouldn't have believed it were this person not smart enough to carry a camera with them.

But they did bring a camera and took a photo of this strange occurrence, and now we can marvel at it from the comfort of our own computer screens. Thank you, random stranger!

27) This Is Actually One of the Safer Spiders in Australia

Or perhaps we should say least dangerous, given just how notoriously dangerous Australian spiders can be. Now, while this thing may look like something straight out of your nightmares, he's actually quite a useful pet to have; he won't bite unless provoked, and his bites aren't very dangerous at all. What he will do, however, is keep cockroaches away from your home. That doesn't surprise us one bit, really.

If we were a cockroach, and we knew this guy was out to get us, we would stay the heck away from him forever. He's literally one of the most terrifying creatures in the world.

28)Birds Will Nest Anywhere

Apparently, and we just found out about this through this picture right here, that birds will nest inside a dead animal's mouth when there's no other choice available. Yeah, this pike is housing a full-blown bird's nest in his deceased mouth. If that isn't enough to make your skin crawl, we truly don't know what is. Seriously, what's up with the bird housing market? Are things so bad that they're forced into nesting inside a dead creature's mouth?

Or perhaps birds are just so depraved that they actually like nesting up in spaces such as this. We truly don't know, we aren't ornithologists, but this does freak us out.

29)This Can't Be Real

oh no, no, no, no. There's just no way this gecko managed to get inside a toy spider like that. That is just so heinous. It's terrifying and hilarious and crafty and surprising and even kind of impressive all at once. In fact, this situation is so weird, that we kind of find it suspicious. Call us conspiracy theorists, but we suspect that that gecko was placed inside the toy spider.

Who on Earth would do that, you ask? Well, that would be the person who posted this photograph. People will do a lot of things to go viral. That much has already been established.

Amazing post tnx OP
the castle left my mouth wide open, such a gigantic structure!

30)Oh Great It's the Appocalypse

Oh, so zombie fingers are just casually spurting out of the ground for no particular reason these days? Cool, guess it's the apocalypse. We'll go ahead and stack up on canned food and toilet paper and whatnot. Just joking. This isn't the apocalypse, it's just a weird species of Fungi known as Xylaria Polymorpha, also known as Dead Man's Fingers - a Saprobic Fungus known for resembling zombie hands.

Who even knew Mother Nature had things like this up her sleeve? We thought zombies were a thoroughly manmade creation. Apparently, that isn't the case. Maybe there's a natural inspiration to every mythical horror creature.

31)Is This A Landmass Shot From Above or A Sawfish?

We'll spill the beans: It's a sawfish. Sorry to ruin the riddle, but we couldn't help ourselves. Look at this thing, it looks so weird. It really does resemble some kind of satellite photograph of a Middle-Eastern harbor or something. You know, like one of those timeline photos of Dubai before and after they renovated the entire city. Except this is just a picture of a fish. Doesn't get any more natural than that.

That just goes to show you that there's a natural equivalent to every man-made treasure ever created. No matter how crafty we get, nature will always have some sort of a comeback.

32)Battle of the Titans

These two noble creatures are just battling it out, as nature probably intended. It's truly a sight to see. The great Bald Eagle fighting a lone Grey Wolf. There is just something irreducibly noble and graceful about these two animals duking it out in what we can only presume to be a battle to the death. And yet, the sigh it also kind of morbid and terrifying. We have mixed feelings about this one.

It may seem cruel, but this is just what nature looks like when left to its own devices. Don't believe us? Watch any National Geographic documentary and see for yourself.