Creature Feature

To celebrate cicadageddon 2024, here's one of my favorite past episodes, this one on cicadapocalypse 2021: BROOD X has been waiting 17 years to emerge from the ground. What is Brood X? Should we panic? Discover this and more as we answer the age old question: How is it fair that swarms of baby turtles are considered cute, but swarms of bugs are considered “horrifying?” Guest: Mara Wilson Footnotes: Cicada https://live.staticflickr.com/3067/2607912292_150e08400e_z.jpg Cicada tymbal https://www.cicadamania.com/images/tymbalanism.gif Cicada sounds https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNJ6DL_1R9I Holes left by mass cicada emergence (warning for trypophobia) https://plant-pest-advisory.rutgers.edu/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/A-e1373044330806.jpg Lots of cicadas! https://mk0charlottestopdskr.kinstacdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Cicadas-swarm-north-carolina.jpg Mass sea turtle hatching! https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/olive-ridley-sea-turtle-swarm-filmed-costa-rica Giant river turtle! https://zooinstitutes.com/img/animals/83/831567514683_33.jpg Mass river turtle hatching! https://www.treehugger.com/rare-turtles-hatch-beach-brazil-5092340 Soft coral https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/proxy/84bPOAlpoBNPmyhMTsbhJ-iF7UDOo1lCST_18GrEChIqlOg6CL-nO1yx_6AVw8g2FWgRFAndhaD3HAUw_zMrVDbbNGYQS2Uqob1196fcVrNv7bveRZTylg03CdBwB3BCnpQ Stony coral https://www.ecomagazine.com/images/Newsletter/0_2020/Week_1-6-20/underwater-photography-of-coral-reef-3100361.jpg See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You can be a citizen scientist in your own backyard! Broods! Birds! And mushroom butts! I'm joined by podcaster and voice actress Janet Varney. Guest: Janet Varney See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

They're in the air! There's billions of them! And they're tiny! We're talking about aeroplankton, what they're doing up there, and what happens when they get in your nose. Guest: Soren Bowie Last week's mystery animal sound source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8Phip5U-Wo See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today, we talk RATS! From plague to pets, rats have had a huge impact on humanity! What was the role of rats in the plague? What even is a rat?? Should you keep them as pets??? And are we so different after all? Guest: Jeff May Footnotes: https://docs.google.com/document/d/199aAaHgq-CmEoMcR4iRMnbePedjKrs0iafQalrKhp0I/edit?usp=sharing See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We talk about wild human inventions inspired by animal designs! Guest: Ellen Weatherford Footnotes: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ZEGyyeNn8trH-FmcchVthmmppq8-XiQlKILt-9fIISk/edit?usp=sharing See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today on the show, we're doing a re-broadcast of an Easter classic! We're firing the Easter Bunny and looking for a replacement! That's right E.B., you're getting benched and we're sending another animal out there to make merry with the eggs and the flowers! Guest: Soren Bowie Footnotes: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1uBq4b0mnk0TsQJfe5CqOZSg3Yk8CqCZ5vG5I1CgsYM8/edit?usp=sharing See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I answer your questions, from the realism of Tarzan, to the details behind a frog Buffalo Bill, and how to best serve the birds of your community! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On today's show I subject my guest to a gauntlet of strange oddities, and he (and you) must guess whether these are animals, minerals, vegetables, or something else entirely... Guest: DJ Danl Footnotes: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1rRUT2Ywx6B9XF-1SyNJ8lxVyLX94eY2n06FjiE4x-O8/edit?usp=sharing Mystery animal sound credit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMwAgft_kZ8 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today: we're turning animals into robots! All the weirdest and wackiest ways that roboticists and researchers have played robo-god with animals. From robosaurus, to robot bees, and robo falcons, Adam and Katie discuss whether robots will inherit the earth. Guest: Adam Ganser Footnotes: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1t7NmSAXc6vg0zMZkMHIZKlXSQI_ROlsAyglMHNQ53Ww/edit?usp=sharing See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today we're talking about animals that look like they jumped off of a page from Lisa Frank's notebook! Pink dolphins, rainbow squirrels, surprisingly fabulous pigeons, and the most beautiful butts in the world. Guest: Joelle Monique Footnotes: https://docs.google.com/document/d/12uHLiRYjc0_-rKv_fCFSpkTMN8f4ysX9do1j_uLC0r4/edit?usp=sharing See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I dragged my husband on the show to talk about animals who give romantic gifts, like dead voles and nutritional secretions! Hope he takes the hint! Guest: Brett McCully Footnotes: https://docs.google.com/document/d/17Kn459lVK4NKOeLYcUM47R-EWo4RX6tgwp0cTvQBPFs/edit?usp=sharing See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Feed drop time! Check out this Let's Learn Everything episode I was a guest on! We talk about BIRDS. IN. SPAAAAAACE! Guests: Ella Huber, Tom Lum, Alex Schmidt, Caroline RoperFootnotes: Space quails video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7-hm3A7ayI See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's a listener questions episode which means I answer your questions about animal baldness, skin, and poop! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I'm joined by naturalist, educator and author Heather Montgomery as we talk about her book "Sick" and the fascinating world of animal immune systems (and poop). Guest: Heather Montgomery See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Summary: Happy holidays! I'll see you soon in the new year, until then, enjoy some of my favorite classic holiday episodes! This one's about weird ungulates. Guest: Alex Schmidt Footnotes: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ofN2BMRRxu3ITqZZZjcH7LSae9rq2umS0pJ39rHJlRU/edit?usp=sharing See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Happy holidays! I'll see you soon in the new year, but until then, enjoy a past episode... millions of years in the past. Who will pull Cave Santa's sleigh? Guest: Alex Schmidt Footnotes: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-moJs64fD53QyE_xt77iNcMexcY-sP4Pis2g7KK5qmo/edit?usp=sharing Credit to Aaron Kenny for Creative Commons music See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

From hibernations to teeny naps, these wintery animals know how to catch a few z's! Guest: Jeff May Footnotes: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1dEiKigGPXidNf5Jaa_LQ8HvJkP0h-9Tz6KNzC-OkFds/edit?usp=sharing See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The weirdest, most expertly engineered eggs in the world! Not all eggs are, well, egg-shaped with Alex Schmidt! Footnotes: https://docs.google.com/document/d/16kSwzHPVP2CaYDiXf0jYvP1pBw140Ep8rjv77hOjAno/edit?usp=sharing See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I answer your questions, like why are there so many parasites? Do frogs really not have teeth? And what's going on with these ants?!? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Katie got the stomach flu, so here's one of her favorite old episodes! We promise the title is merely a coincidence. Guest: Will Poole Footnotes: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1uJ2hX52ElPgYMGS8nVpxjDX1ioBmv5lIc1V_zDG9QII/edit?usp=sharing See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.