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

April 23, 2023 30 mins

In this season finale, we'll catch up with the world's best dad - a 31-year-old bald eagle who wanted to be a dad. 

I got information from:

World Bird Sanctuary Twitter (the comic I first saw, completely out of context) by Jules Behrens: https://twitter.com/WBSSTL/status/1647965975034183684

https://www.instagram.com/worldbirdsanctuary/

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/murphy-eagle-rock-...

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The history of Mike the LSU tiger, the dark reality of meeting tiger cubs, and a new law puts dumb criminals and America's worst behind bars. 

I got today's information from: LSU Tiger https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/mike-the-tiger

Undercover Cop https://www.newsweek.com/man-tries-sell-tiger-cub-undercover-cops-20k-gets-arrested-1776558

1 eyed hero tiger: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/machl...

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April 10, 2023 25 mins

A farewell to a good friend, and a revisit to the Dolphin who gave up pod life for the people of a small Irish fishing village in Ireland.


All show notes, links and resources for this episode can be found at episode 32: The Dolphin of Dingle Bay (https://bewilderbeastspod.podcastpage.io/episode/ep-32-the-dolphin-of-dingle-bay)

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

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When we discuss an invasive species on this show, the discussion turns to the distruction by that species on the environment. But, here is an animal that has become part of the food web,is saving other species from a warming climate by digging 5' water wells, and is now part of the very fabric of America's desert. Federal biologists are faced with some inconvenient data thanks to an out of the box scientist, and now they ...

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March 26, 2023 29 mins

An unusual team of bounty hunters, biologists, possums, mosquitos, and trash pandas are finally making a dent in the Florida Everglades Python Problem. But, can they save the  Everglades before the snakes find refuge in Key Largo?

*****

University of Florida blog: https://blogs.ifas.ufl.edu/news/2018/01/30/uf-study-mosquitoes-can-lead-researchers-elusive-burmese-python/

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/t...

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March 19, 2023 28 mins

What does the Black Death, scotch whiskey, cats, the worst laws in Tennesee, and bad taxidermy have to do with each other? Oh, buckle in - we're going for a ride!


I got today’s information from A LOT OF PLACES:!
https://www.purr-n-fur.org.uk/famous/towser.html

https://www.thegreatcat.org/towser/

https://iheartcats.com/protecting-breweries-ne-of-cats-many-noble-endeavors-throughout-history/

https://ww...

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March 12, 2023 23 mins

This week, an unusual employee shows up to work at the R & R Garage and ended up changing their logo. Meanwhile, Melissa has the early 2000s country/pop hit, "Goodbye, Earl" stuck in her head FOR NO REASON!



Resources for this episode:
The best artwork around: https://www.kharrisbcreative.com/ Kharris B

https://www.pilotonline.com/news/article_8b541d6e-611b-11e9-adcd-6b2b8cf4fb21.html<...

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March 5, 2023 33 mins

New season & BIG news, plus a quartet of parrots at criminality! Let's DO this thing!


Thank you PodFix Network :)
*******
I got information for today's episode from the following sources:
Mugshot: https://time.com/5689057/bird-arrest/
Twitter of the bird in jail: https://twitter.com/CampbellxEmma/status/1178400639208116224

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-40665520
h...

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Episode updates; turkey feathers were a huge part of your childhood; unicorns are real in LA; a revisit of the nightMARE before Christmas. 

Support the show

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

Twitter: @BewilderedPod
Website: BewilderBeastsPod.com
Support the Show and get stuff! Patreon.com/Bewilde...

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December 12, 2022 21 mins

In 75 miles of winding roads in Alaska, Trooper Shanigan's GPS froze up, leaving him lost en route to a fire in his own neighborhood. He'd have to settle for GS to get him there - a German Shepherd named Buddy, who was looking for help and found it.


Resources: 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L53sAVRZUE4 - the raw footage is in the notes and on BewilderedPod on Twitter. Also, search “Dog leads police t...

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December 5, 2022 38 mins

This week's episode is a dry run of the live show that will take place at the Kennebunk Free Library on Dec. 6th at 6:30 pm.  As this is an audio format, wild gesticulations,  slides, and bad haircuts are all absent from this media - you need to come in person to get the full experience :) 

https://kennebunklibrary.org/
--------

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

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November 28, 2022 39 mins

A relisten to everything we got wrong about the first Thanksgiving celebration, including the animals on the table. Deerducken, anyone?

Resources for today's episode can be found on the show notes for episode 52:"5 Deer"

Support the show

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

Twitter: ...

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November 21, 2022 51 mins

The National Dog Show is a staple in many homes for the pre-Thanksgiving event - so Melissa (and special guest Paul Csomo from Avast) discuss all the terrible things we've done to purebred dogs in the name of beauty. 

I'm so sorry :) 

Happy Thanksgiving! 


Support the show

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

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November 13, 2022 24 mins

Let's meet the "Little Boatman," the "Black Devil," the "Horse Inspirerer" -----the Schipperke, with Paul Csomo of Avast!.

You can visit the Avast website or download it wherever you listen to podcasts!

Resources for today's episode:
https://nationalpurebreddogday.com/he-inspired-horses/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schipperke

https://www.akc.org/dog-breeds/schipp...

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November 7, 2022 16 mins

A look at all the animals who make Google maps Google-possible, including a camel named Raffia and a whole lot of sheep in the Faroe Islands. 


Resources for today's episode

https://www.google.com/earth/education/tools/street-view/#:~:text=Google%20collects%20Street%20View%20imagery,a%20single%20360%2Ddegree%20image.

https://www.boredpanda.com/google-street-view-animals/

History of the Google View Camera, ...

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October 16, 2022 24 mins

This week, we meet a 1600 pound animal who is also using their noses to find missing people, narcotics, and more. Giddyup. 

Resources: 
Intro Music is “Tiptoe out the back” by Dan Lebowicz and Interstitial music is by MK2. Additional music provided by Pixabay and Freesound.org and introducing HappySoulMusic.com! 

newscentermaine.com/article/life/animals/maine-horses-being-trained-to-track-people-by-scent-for-s...

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October 9, 2022 25 mins

As promised, another series of animal escapes - this time, airport edition, plus why cats love boxes so dang much, the most dangerous job at the Singapore airport, and the zoo escapees who found refuge at a Miami area airport.

Resources for today's episode:
https://apnews.com/article/oddities-boston-animals-personnel-46bc06a91121d8d51da1696b69486aed

 https://www.travelandleisure.com/travel-news/cat-lost-at-boston...

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October 2, 2022 29 mins

After a pod of dolphins saved Todd Endris from a Great White Shark, Todd went on to advocate for the sharks who nearly killed him.


Resources:
Daisy to the Rescue by Jeff Cambell (and consultation with Marc Bekoff!)

https://www.surfer.com/features/monterey-shark-attack-2/

https://www.today.com/news/dolphins-save-surfer-becoming-sharks-bait-2D80555123

https://www.theinertia.com/surf/todd-endris-survivor-of-...

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