Compared to the age of the earth, humans are relative newcomers.
Maybe thatโs why nature knows that it can outlast us.
In fact, itโs 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
Donโt be fooled. This carpet doesnโt look like that because itโs from the 1970s. What youโre seeing are patches of moss growing on an abandoned office spaceโs 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 itโs bound to sail off into the sea.
3. Road to Silent Hill
If we didnโt know better, weโd think this is the road that leads to the famous abandoned town of Centralia (which is where Silent Hill takes inspiration from). In reality, itโs a road not much traveled in Washington state.
4. All-Natural
Donโt leave your shoes lying around when youโre 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 itโs doing pretty well too โ by the looks of this flooded road.
6. Perfect Horror Movie Setโฆ
โฆor a video game. What youโre 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 Signโs Final Plea
If you look closer, youโll see that the sign seems to be saying โPleaseโ to the tree thatโs eating it. Canโt 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 wouldnโt dare to cut a holy tree associated with their gods.
9. Goodbye, Yellow Brick Road
Looks familiar? Thatโs because this yellow brick road is part of an abandoned theme park dedicated to the classic film. It looks like Dorothy wonโt be coming back to Oz anytime soon.
10. Trespassing Tree
Whatโs 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 treeโs bark and see what weโre talking about.
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, thatโs not a new Nissan Leaf model youโre seeing. But itโs 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, isnโt 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 itโs dressed up in camo gear, is either just โshaking handsโ or devouring this fence. Whichever itโs trying to do, it seems like itโs succeeding.
15. Goodbye Childhood
The photoโs 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.
16. Traces of a Lost Road
If you look closely, youโll realize that this isnโt 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?
18. Indoor Garden
We wonder whether these mushrooms sprouting out of an empty homeโs floorboards are edible? One thingโs for sure, though; those things probably arenโt the tasty shiitake mushrooms youโll 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? Thatโs because it knows it wonโt be getting the sunlight it needs from way down there. Pretty clever, huh?
20. Just a Little Moss
Weโre pretty sure the hippies who must have left this van behind wonโt 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 Krรกsnรฝ Jez and Leลพnice in the Czech Republic. Without the constant running of trains, local flora has made the tracks their home.
22. Disappearing Act
This house, which is completely covered in ivy, is said to be originally built in the 1820s. It ended up โdisappearingโ because the old lady who currently lives there reportedly didnโt 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 youโll find in childrenโs books, doesnโt it? Minus the overgrowth and moss, it could be the witchโs 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?
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?
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27. Gone Forever
Imagine coming back to this cemetery to visit a loved oneโs 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.
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29. Straight Out of a Movie
A postapocalyptic one at that. Nature really does thrive in the absence of humanity. We wonder how long itโll take these plants to completely cover this escalator until itโs unrecognizable.
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30. The Fun Never Stops
Since kids wonโt ride this Ferris wheel anymore, plants thought theyโd 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.
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.
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35. A New Species of Trees?
Now, these are some pretty tall trees, we must say. Although itโs unclear whether theyโve really grown from the ground up or if thereโs some platform near the chimney tops.
36. The Buddha Doesnโt Seem to Mind
This Buddha statue is totally consumed by mangrove trees and near-drowning. It doesnโt seem to mind, though.
37. Straight Out of a Disney Movie
Doesnโt this abandoned French church look like it could be the interior of a castle in a Disney princess movie? We bet youโll even be able to spy fairies flying by if you look long enough.
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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.
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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