BewilderBeasts!

BewilderBeasts!

Host Melissa McCue-McGrath dives deep into the weirdest, funniest, sciency-est ways in which animals intersect at humanity. How is a horse responsible for the FDA? How did fish farts nearly cause bombs to fly between Russia and Sweden? Which pigeon saved 194 soldiers in WW1? Why are honey bees trained to find unexploded landmines in Croatia? Let's go!

Episodes

July 14, 2024 27 mins

First aired February 2023

Twitter bans an ornithological society for posting photos of "woodcocks" while Melissa gets banned for "Hairy Man"; The Media takes special care to protect the identity of one little jailbird with hilarious results; and, no post is complete without a little butt science.

There is a photo that I can't stop laughing at in this episode - that photo is attached but also a part...

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First aired October 2021

Fat Bear Tuesday is the culmination of a week-long bracket-style event inspired by mega-chonk bears and March Madness. What is it? Why is it? Who is going to win? Let's go!

****

Resources:
https://www.nps.gov/katm/learn/fat-bear-week.htm


https://www.npr.org/2021/09/30/1041674219/fat-bear-week-2021


https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/get-to-known-th...

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June 30, 2024 21 mins

First Aired: Feb 10, 2022

A series of the best and funniest animal escapes, all inspired by a police blotter where a camel chase was afoot on a Kansas golf course.

Resources for today's episode:

http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2041628_2041646_2041645,00.html

https://www.livescience.com/wildest-animal-escapes-2021

https://www.facebook.com/BonnerSpringsPD/posts/211926681120376

https:/...

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June 23, 2024 12 mins

First aired: August, 2022
The Belgian government once used cats to deliver the mail. It went about as well as you would think.

Resources for today's exclusive episode:
https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/64025/time-cats-delivered-mail-belgium


https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-42098216


https://www.vernonmorningstar.com/news/morning-start-cats-once-delivered-mail-in-belgium/

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First Aired: January 20, 2023
This month's bonus ep for you is all about the chickens who give back in rather surprising ways - from keeping 100 tons (?) of food out of our landfills to preventing Dengue Fever in Central Florida.

BTW: Florida, you ok?

So, get some chickens, put on a farming hat, and let's go learn about chickens who do more than just poop you breakfast. Let's GOOOOOOOO!

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June 9, 2024 21 mins

First Aired: Nov 5, 2021
This month, New Zealand's Bird of the Year competition ruffled feathers, as per usual, when a bat took the gold. A look at the complex and controversial BotY awards and mean tweets at the non-tweety bats.

I got today’s information from :

https://www.npr.org/2020/11/14/934749679/for-the-birds-voter-fraud-ruffles-new-zealand-bird-of-the-year-competition

https://www.scoop.co.nz/storie...

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June 2, 2024 13 mins

First aired April 19, 2022

Let's learn about the time an actual chimpanzee saved the Today Show, and changed morning news-ertainment forever. 



Resources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._Fred_Muggs
https://allthatsinteresting.com/j-fred-muggs
https://www.ebay.com/itm/324954729281
https://www.grunge.com/598607/the-truth-about-celebrity-chimp-j-fred-muggs/

And an episode of R...

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May 28, 2024 29 mins


First aired: Nov 26, 2023

One man dreams of being completely alone, but it turns out, companionship is human nature.  An unlikely meal ticket doesn't just save his life - but saves his humanity in 70 days of darkness, in Greenland's icy solar night. 


Big thanks to The Outlook Podcast Archive from BBC World Service for a podcast called “The chicken who sailed the world”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/w3ct34...

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May 26, 2024 14 mins
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May 19, 2024 25 mins

First Aired August, 2023:

A series of scientific studies to understand the human mind, but using a slimy gastropod in our place.

Because using meth on a human is illegal.

I got today’s information from 

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/snails-memory-molecules-spd

https://www.vice.com/en/article/z3vww3/scientists-are-repeatedly-fucking-with-snails-memory

https://www.livescience.com/62559-...

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May 12, 2024 13 mins

First aired: Sept 13, 2022

As promised - this week there was just TOO MUCH to put in a main feed episode. The Unkindness episode was really, really long. This 10-minute tangent was added after the Queen of England died last week and her son, Charles, ascended to the throne, assuming the name "King Charles III", but then promptly had to cut because of time. Also, it didn't fit as well as I had hoped, and I wa...

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May 5, 2024 23 mins

First aired July 28, 2022

A bunch of stitchin' women in a Washington Women's Correctional Facility who have put their knitting needles to good use - helping the chickens who helped them in jail, plus some other unusual animals who find themselves behind bars. 

Support the show

Intro/Outtro music: Tiptoe Out The Back - Dan Liebowicz
Interstitial Music: MK2
Additional music: Freesound.com, Pixabay.org 
<...

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April 28, 2024 22 mins

First Aired on Dec 25, 2022

When a farmer in small-town St. Severe, Quebec, noticed 20 head of cattle broke through a fence during a thunderstorm, he thought, "Easy. I'll just get them back."

Listener. He did not "just get them back." It's been 5 months and these uncatchable ungulates are now terrorizing the neighboring town of St. Barnabee.


Resources for today's ...

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April 21, 2024 25 mins

First Aired June 8, 2022

Rich Strike won the Kentucky Derby with 80-1 odds - meaning out of every 81 races, he's thought to win ONE. Well, he won the Kentucky Derby. If you're going to win a horse race, that's the one to win! Today, we dive deeper into Rich Strike's inspiring underdog win, and investigate a few other longshot winners in horse racing who made a few people some pretty pennies. Let's ...

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April 14, 2024 22 mins

First aired June 22, 2023: 

Two sisters combined their love of historically accurate dioramas, the Civil War, and clay-making to pen an ode to the US in one of the most historically significant cities in the United States. They even purchased a building with deep roots in the aftermath of the Battle of Gettysburg to bring the stories of the dead to life. But, the clay characters aren't human - they are a different spe...

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April 7, 2024 28 mins

First aired July 2023: 
In 1912 when the "adventurer" was a job description & also an alibi, two brothers took their dogs on a road trip - before roads existed.

These brothers loved their dogs and hated shirts but that didn't stop them from circumnavigating Australia several times by bike and car - often digging their own roads IN THE OUTBACK!



Resources (Hey, look, I remembered!)
https://en.wikip...

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March 31, 2024 15 mins

This Patreon Exclusive episode (#2)  first aired on August 4, 2021. 

This is a fun turn I never saw coming, that Pikachu is based on a squirrel and there are new species of real animals named after fictional Pokethings. My favorite? An animal called a Pika who survives on ...yak poop. Why didn't they show THAT in the kid's show? 

Regular episodes will resume in September, but for now, enjoy your Patreon exclusive ...

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March 31, 2024 7 mins

The very first Patreon Exclusive episode was ....super short. It first aired on July 22, 2021. I wasn't sure if it would play or work at all. But, this test led directly to another 28+ episodes, so thank you, evolution ;) 

Here's a shortie for you to enjoy about a #1 moth who looks like #2. 

Stay Curious - 

 Xx
M3

Support the show

Intro/Outtro music: Tiptoe Out The Back - Dan Liebowicz
Interstitial...

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March 24, 2024 18 mins

Patreon exclusive #6: First aired Dec 7 2021

Geneticists made Daddy Shortlegs. (WHY GOD, WHY?) 

We imagine the Jane Fonda workout with 50' human legs (WHY GOD, WHY?!?) 

And we learn about some very sneaky males who look like females in a devious plot to slide into her DMs.

Let's get right into it :) 

Support the show

Intro/Outtro music: Tiptoe Out The Back - Dan Liebowicz
Interstitial Music: ...

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March 17, 2024 24 mins

This Patreon Exclusive Episode first aired May 16, 2022

Patron started his life in entertainment by illustrating how dogs can be trained for search work. And now, he's employed by the government. He found over 200 bombs in the town of Chimigov since February. Let's meet Patron, the hero dog who has a similar entertainer-turned-hero storyline as Ukrainian President Zelensky himself. 

(Thank you, Christy, for the s...

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