Re-evaluate Your Idea of “Scary” with These Adorably Spooky Animals

Yes, Halloween's all about things that go bump in the night, but at the Field Museum, we're also all about seeing the beauty (and yes, the cuteness) in the natural world. Here are some of our favorite animals that get a bad rap but are actually pretty gosh-darn adorable.

1. Honduran White Bats

2. Jumping spiders

We know that some people don’t love spiders the way that we at the Field do, but come on. Look at those eyes. Those enormous peepers give jumping spiders some of the best eyesight of all 40,000 species of spiders in the world. Jumping spiders put their eyes to good use in hunting, getting around, and communicating with each other.

3. American alligators

If you’re swimming down in Florida, you probably don’t want to see a gator. But these ten-foot reptiles have a soft side—they’re excellent moms. Mother alligators stand guard by their nests to keep their eggs safe from predators (they don’t sit on the eggs, though—they build a nest similar to a compost heap that warms the eggs). Once the eggs hatch, Mom opens her enormous jaws and gathers the babies in her mouth—but just to keep them safe so that she can bring them to water for their first swim. The mother alligator stays with her babies for up to a year.

Photo credits:

1. Wikimedia Commons contributor Leyo.

2. Thomas Shahan.

3. Wikimedia Commons contributor Catholic 85.

4. Bruce Patterson, The Field Museum.

5. Jurgen Otto.

6. Kate Golembiewski, The Field Museum.