Compared to the age of the earth, humans are relative newcomers.
Maybe that’s why nature knows that it can outlast us.
In fact, it’s very capable of erasing human-made structures and reclaiming what it originally occupied.
If you think you are waging a war with your lawn or weeds, just take a look at these 40 photos to see what Mother Nature is really capable of.
1. Nature At Work
Don’t be fooled. This carpet doesn’t look like that because it’s from the 1970s. What you’re seeing are patches of moss growing on an abandoned office space’s floor. Pretty groovy, huh?
2. Sailing Off into the Sea
This is an abandoned beach house located in the Outer Banks, North Carolina. Done with its job on land, it looks like it’s bound to sail off into the sea.
Abandoned beach house in the Outer Banks, North Carolina, slowly being reclaimed by the sea. [1426 × 950]
by inAbandonedPorn
3. Road to Silent Hill
If we didn’t know better, we’d think this is the road that leads to the famous abandoned town of Centralia (which is where Silent Hill takes inspiration from). In reality, it’s a road not much traveled in Washington state.
4. All-Natural
Don’t leave your shoes lying around when you’re out camping in the woods. You might just never see it again considering how good nature is at camouflaging things.
5. Successful Reclamation
While people are busy dumping soil in the ocean to create more land, nature is also busy with its own reclamation projects inland. And it looks like it’s doing pretty well too – by the looks of this flooded road.
6. Perfect Horror Movie Set…
…or a video game. What you’re seeing is the abandoned town of Akarmara, Abkhazia in the former USSR country Georgia. It seems to be a former residential complex. However, since there are no longer people in it, trees have become the new tenants.
7. A Sign’s Final Plea
If you look closer, you’ll see that the sign seems to be saying ‘Please’ to the tree that’s eating it. Can’t blame it though, we can only imagine how terrifying it would be to be consumed by a tree.
8. Sacred Reclamation
Banyan trees are considered sacred by Hindus. With this in mind, it successfully grew on the side of a residential building freely as people wouldn’t dare to cut a holy tree associated with their gods.
A sacred tree reclaiming an occupied 5 story building in an old section of downtown Kolkata
byu/JohnBrownsHolyGhost inreclaimedbynature
9. Goodbye, Yellow Brick Road
Looks familiar? That’s because this yellow brick road is part of an abandoned theme park dedicated to the classic film. It looks like Dorothy won’t be coming back to Oz anytime soon.
The eerie yellow brick road of abandoned “Land of Oz” theme park in North Carolina [2592×3888]
byu/notateselecta inAbandonedPorn
10. Trespassing Tree
What’s even more interesting than this seemingly trespassing tree is how it retained the diamond pattern of the fence it ate on the way. Look closely at the tree’s bark and see what we’re talking about.
This tree near my school track that absorbed a fence and shows the pattern on the bark
byu/Epicminecrafter69 inmildlyinteresting
11. Technically Still a Greenhouse
This abandoned Victorian-era greenhouse may have been abandoned, but it still serves its function to this day.
12. A Warning to Nearby Cars
No, that’s not a new Nissan Leaf model you’re seeing. But it’s pretty hard to tell anyway with how well the plants have covered this car in Beijing.
13. Becoming One with Nature
This tree-street sign hybrid is one cool street post, isn’t it? Too bad, residents living on this street might not be getting their mail for a while.
14. Unique Connection
This tree, which looks like it’s dressed up in camo gear, is either just ‘shaking hands’ or devouring this fence. Whichever it’s trying to do, it seems like it’s succeeding.
15. Goodbye Childhood
The photo’s owner says the background is a navy base in Puerto Rico where they grew up in. The first frame was taken in 2004. And the right one is what it looks like today. Nature really is quick when it comes to taking back its territories once humanity leaves.
I grew up on the Puerto Rico navy base which closed in 2004. It’s now overgrown and taken over by nature. I found a picture of the road I grew up on- this is the part after the hill behind me. It makes me sad, there were lots of good memories there
byu/jenpriester inpics
16. Traces of a Lost Road
If you look closely, you’ll realize that this isn’t your typical ground of dirt. Once a cemented road, this patch of roadhas been consumed by soil and shrubbery. Think this old road still shows on Google Maps?
17. Haunted House
It looks like Muriel and Eustace have moved out of their home in the middle of nowhere. Wonder whether they took Courage with them when they left?
I lit up this spooky abandoned house with my drone and a lume cube attached to it.
byu/GaryCPhoto inAbandonedPorn
18. Indoor Garden
We wonder whether these mushrooms sprouting out of an empty home’s floorboards are edible? One thing’s for sure, though; those things probably aren’t the tasty shiitake mushrooms you’ll find in Japanese restaurants.
19. Reaching for the Sunlight
Notice how the branches of this tree growing out of a silo only begin towards the top? That’s because it knows it won’t be getting the sunlight it needs from way down there. Pretty clever, huh?
20. Just a Little Moss
We’re pretty sure the hippies who must have left this van behind won’t mind its current state today. As nature lovers, this is probably the best-case scenario they could hope for.
21. Where the Old Trains Disappeared To
This is a railway bridge that connects Krásný Jez and Ležnice in the Czech Republic. Without the constant running of trains, local flora has made the tracks their home.
Source:
JanSuchy via Wikimedia
22. Disappearing Act
This house, which is completely covered in ivy, is said to be originally built in the 1820s. It ended up ‘disappearing’ because the old lady who currently lives there reportedly didn’t do much upkeep.
23. Rollercoaster Ride
We never thought roller coasters could get any more terrifying. This certainly looks like it could be straight out of the upcoming Zombieland 2 movie. Remember the abandoned theme park the foursome went to in the original movie?
24. Straight Out of a Fairytale
This abandoned stone cottage in rural Ireland looks like the cottages you’ll find in children’s books, doesn’t it? Minus the overgrowth and moss, it could be the witch’s house where Hansel and Gretel escaped being turned to dinner.
25. A Landscape by Bob Ross
The view from this abandoned asylum in Italy totally looks like it could be a landscape Bob Ross would paint, right?
Abandoned asylum in Italy that has been touched by bob ross [5031×3291]
byu/urbex_sno inAbandonedPorn
26. Meanwhile at a Japanese Shrine
What if these were actual Japanese monks who meditated too long in nature that they eventually turned to stone?
https://www.instagram.com/p/BxkBX1gAz05/
27. Gone Forever
Imagine coming back to this cemetery to visit a loved one’s grave only to see this tree has eaten their gravestone. What would you do?
28. Where the Orient Express Broke Down
The view from the tracks that used to run through this Chinese forest must have been stunning back in the day. Too bad the only remnant is this abandoned train car.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Br-igaZgHTN
29. Straight Out of a Movie
A postapocalyptic one at that. Nature really does thrive in the absence of humanity. We wonder how long it’ll take these plants to completely cover this escalator until it’s unrecognizable.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BxM24ZTAJOq/
30. The Fun Never Stops
Since kids won’t ride this Ferris wheel anymore, plants thought they’d have some fun with it.
31. Thriving Amidst Ruins
This is an aerial view of a bunch of trees growing from the hull of a ship that was sunk in the sea.
32. Would You Live Here?
Also known as the tower of St. John the Baptist, Scola Tower used to be a former military building in Italy.
Source:
PlusFeeds via Imgur
33. No Stopping Nature
This sign might be saying STOP, but it was unable to stop this tree from eating it up. Next, the tree will consume the NO sign below, also, despite its protests.
34. Something Dali Would Paint
Photographed above is the inside of a home in a ghost town in Namibia. Straight out of a surrealist painting, the sands from the nearby desert took it over once the miners who lived there left.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BpD–wWhMhd/
35. A New Species of Trees?
Now, these are some pretty tall trees, we must say. Although it’s unclear whether they’ve really grown from the ground up or if there’s some platform near the chimney tops.
36. The Buddha Doesn’t Seem to Mind
This Buddha statue is totally consumed by mangrove trees and near-drowning. It doesn’t seem to mind, though.
37. Straight Out of a Disney Movie
Doesn’t this abandoned French church look like it could be the interior of a castle in a Disney princess movie? We bet you’ll even be able to spy fairies flying by if you look long enough.
https://www.facebook.com/189591237840992/photos/a.189593587840757/946695655463876/?type=3&theater
38. A Christmas Tree Takes Over in Norway
This is why you should never leave your Christmas tree up after Easter. It could take over your entire home and even propagate.
Source:
Imgur - iam4real
39. A Very Hungry Tree
This tree was caught trying to eat up this bridge. Finding the sight interesting, someone must have put googly eyes on the tree to amp up its comedic factor.
40. New Tenants Have Moved In
Once the kids moved out, and their parents have moved on, nature became the new residents of this beautiful estate.
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