Wildlife

Seeing an ant is a good omen in nearly every tradition, until ants swarm your house or bite you. What ants mean by room, color, and in the Bible, Hopi, and Islamic tradition.

Tail slaps, kit whines that sound like a crying baby, mumbles, hisses and gnawing. The eight beaver sounds, when you hear each one, and what gets mistaken for them.

A bat in a dream points to a transition you sense but cannot see yet. The seven common bat dreams, what each one means, and how traditions disagree about the omen.

Hares stand for intuition, fertility and fast change, and in Celtic lore for shape shifting. What each tradition claims, plus readings by situation.

Weasel droppings are thin dark cords with twisted ends, full of fur and bone. Here is how to measure them and tell them from mink, rat and skunk scat.

A lizard that crosses your path, visits your porch or turns up in your house is a good omen in many traditions. What each sighting is believed to mean, and the plain explanation beside it.

Warning color, stolen alkaloids, climbing toe pads, daylight hunting, and tadpoles carried into the canopy. How five poison dart frog adaptations work as one system.

A praying mantis is considered good luck in nearly every tradition that mentions it, from Chinese courage symbolism to West African ancestor beliefs. What a sighting means and what to do about it.

A baby copperhead wears hourglass bands that pinch over the spine and a yellow tail tip. Here is how to read both from a safe distance, plus the four snakes it gets confused with.

A wasp is a good omen in the majority of spiritual readings, a sign of protection, productivity, and firm boundaries. It turns into a warning when it stings, swarms, or keeps coming back, and the meaning shifts again in the house, in dreams, and in the Bible.