Author Nick Baker
Nick Baker

Nick Baker

TV presenter and naturalist

Television wildlife presenter Nick Baker has travelled to the wildest parts of the planet in search of weird, bizarre and incredible creatures. Nick writes a monthly Hidden World column in BBC Wildlife Magazine where he shares wildlife stories from around the globe.

Recent articles by Nick Baker
Bipes_biporus

“It was moving like a worm and a mole simultaneously.” This strange creature has a pair of ‘hands’ and uses its head as a battering ram

This freakish mole-worm hybrid is well-equipped for burrowing life
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Cuckoo spit

"It makes one or two priming pumps of its abdomen, before starting to secrete the first of many clear liquid droplets from its anus..."

Nick Baker takes a look at cuckoo spit, a common sight in our countryside also known as spittlebugs, and its role in protecting and nourishing the juvenile common froghopper
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Closeup of an Abbot's bagworm moth stick cocoon

"She emerges, not looking like a moth at all, but rather a peculiar pale thing with reduced legs and antennae that you could easily mistake for a maggot..."

Nick Baker takes a look at the weird and fascinating life of a bagworm
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A picture of barnacles

"It has – proportionally – the longest penis in the animal kingdom. The human equivalent would be a man impregnating his neighbour via the letterbox."

Nick Baker reveals all you need to know about acorn barnacles
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Devoured, paralysed, enslaved: The alien-like horror that drills inside and turns its victim into a very sinister, nursery

Discover a sinister creature that is like an alien character from Star Trek
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Bolas Spider (Mastophora cornigera) arachnid web insect nature Springtime pest control araneidae.

It looks like bird poop, is armed with a deadly projectile weapon and imitates ‘perfume’ to lure prey

The spider that looks like bird poo and sports a lethal hunting weapon
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Welwitschia mirabilis

It’s longer than a blue whale, is thousands of years old and drinks fog – meet this weird ‘living fossil’

This living fossil (having unchanged for more than 200 million years) can survive some of the harshest conditions on Earth
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It’s the oldest individual living creature in the world, survives at 400m deep underwater and uses its ‘foot’ to move along the seafloor

A slower pace of life is behind the longevity of the world’s oldest ever animal, the ocean quahog
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Trap ants Amazon

‘Over the next hour, it’s dispatched, dismantled and butchered, piece by piece.’ This may be the most savage ambush attack we’ve ever heard

Discover a delicate alliance between shrub, fungus and tiny forest guardians in the Amazonian understorey
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Fairy wasp

This parasitic creature penetrates its host with potent venom and injects its eggs – and could be lurking in a pond near you

Discover the fairy wasp, a dastardly winged insect that parasitises beetle eggs in the depths of garden ponds
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Moon Snail illustration

This deadly killer - which looks like it's riding a pale pink magic carpet – likes to paralyse and liquidise its prey

If you're visiting a sandy beach you may like to reflect on something that might be going on below your feet. Lurking behind the veil of wet sand, a killer is on the prowl. A driller-killer, no less. Let me introduce you to the moon snail
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giraffe-necked weevil

He uses his huge, giant neck to wrestle and show off with. She uses hers to sew an intricate leaf cradle for her one, very precious egg

This curious species of long-necked beetle is unique to Madagascar
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Hair ice

It may look like ice – but don't be fooled for this is a rare and alive eerie woodland phenomenon that even astounds the experts...

Nick Baker takes a look at the weird phenomenon that produces hair ice, a rare winter wonder formed by a bit of alchemy magic
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Cayenne caecilian

This creature looks like a big worm – but has teeth, tentacles, a pseudo penis and can pop its own eyes out of its head

It looks like a big worm – but has teeth, tentacles and a pseudo penis
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Pyrenean desman

There's a rare and mystifying animal in the Pyrenees that looks like a tiny, furry elephant – known as a 'trumpet rat'

Webbed feet, a flexible snout and waterproof fur – the curious Pyrenean desman is surely one of Europe's oddest mammals.
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Gliding ant

It looks like a gothic demon – complete with spiky horns – and has a bizarrely large, square aerodynamic head, which allows it to fly...

The sizeable forest insect that glides because its life depends on it
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Weird fungi

7 weirdest fungi in the world you (probably) haven't heard of, from the gross-looking bleeding tooth to the creepy dead man's fingers

Fungi can be very strange. Here's our round-up of some of the weirdest fungi on the planet.
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A magnificent stag Muntjac Deer, Muntiacus reevesi, feeding at the edge of woodland in the UK.

It's the size of a Labrador and barks like a dog, yet has fangs like a snake and doesn't eat meat. Meet one of the weirdest wild animals on the planet

Discover all you need to know about muntjac deer, including why it has glands on its face
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It looks like a bundled-up sheet of bubble wrap or a weird ball of jelly bubbles and is often found on strandlines – but what on earth is it?

Paradoxical frog

The bizarre paradoxical frog shrinks as it grows up – and could help treat diabetes in humans

This amphibian’s colossal tadpole breaks one of nature's biggest rules and shrinks down into adulthood
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Sea spider gangly lancer

This bizarre ocean creature has 8 legs, looks like an alien and sucks up and spits out its prey after taking a tasty bite

Sea spiders are strange creatures, and the gangly lancer sea spider is one of the strangest of all
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Weirdest insects in the world

12 weirdest insects in the world - including a moth that resembles a poodle and a fly with eyes on stalks

The insect world is definitely a weird one - and there are some that are even weirder than the others. Discover some of the world's strangest and bizarrest insects
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Monkey slug

This creepy crawly has ‘tentacles’ that can break off, pops out of a hatch and its name translates to ‘a frightening monkey thing’

It’s also furry and slides slowly over leaves. So… what the heck is it?
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Horned screamer

This honking ‘satanic turkey’ has a unicorn-like horn, hollow bones and rustles like bubble wrap

The 'air jousting' avian is famed for its loud calls akin to a rubber foot pump with hiccups
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