April 21, 2025 • 19 mins
What weird fish is making you happy today? You’ll hear Laura and Robert pick what weird fish are making them happy, a song about a colorful fish that poops out sand, awesome animal clues from 7 year old Finley, plus an interview with shark scientist Tricia Meredith, who studies shark noses. What animal is making Tricia happy today? Here are some clues: It has feathers, it is very common, it is smart, and when it’s in a flock, there is a pecking order.
The Happiest Animal Show (on Planet Earth) is a comedy podcast for kids and families who love wildlife, with original animal songs, stories, jokes and special guests from comedians to scientists to kids.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:03):
And now for an animal joke.
Who grants fishes wishes?
Who grants fishes wishes?
The answer is going to be revealedat the end of the episode.
But first, get your ears ready.
Because it's the Happiest AnimalShow on Planet Earth.
(00:27):
The Happiest Animal Show on Planet Earth.
You want to be sad? No1Do you want to glad?
No. Wait. Yes.
Well, it'sthe Happiest Animal Show on Planet Earth.
Hello and welcome to the Happiest Animal
Show on Planet Earth, the podcastthat asks the very important question.
(00:49):
What animal is making you happy today?
Not yesterday,not even last night, but today.
I'm Rob and I'm Laura.
And we are a sister brother pairof zoologists, filmmakers and songwriters.
We are here to explore the wonderful worldof wildlife and discover
why animals make us happy.
(01:10):
Today we have a song about an animalthat poops out San.
Yes, you heard that right.
And we'll be speaking with shark scientistDoctor Tricia Meredith,
who has a surprising thingto say about shark noses.
Here we go.
What animal is making you happy today?
I want to know.
(01:31):
The themewe gave ourselves today is Weird Fish.
Laura,what weird fish is making you happy today?
Okay, you're totally going to get it.
But it's very colorful.
Maybe even different kinds of rainbowcolors.
Nice. It lives on coral reefs.
It has some of the strongest teethin the world.
(01:53):
Yeah,apparently a scientist figured out that
if you had a one inch cube of its teeth,a little cube like that, that 80 elephants
could stand on top of that cubeand it would not break.
Oh, wow. Yeah.
I am going to venture a guessthat you are talking about fish.
(02:13):
Yay, parrot fish!
Hey! Which fish?
Yes, I'm talking about the parrot fish.
It's a kind of fishthat lives on the coral reef.
They swim around.
They're awesome looking.
They have beaks
that kind of look like parrot beaks,but they're really colorful fish.
And why are they making you happy?
The reason they make me happyis because parrotfish do an amazing thing.
(02:36):
They're eating algae on a coralall the time, and they crunch.
You can actually hear them crunchingwhen you're scuba diving underwater.
It's crunch, crunch, crunch.
And then they eat the coral,
and then they poop it out.
And when it comes out of their bodies,it comes out as sand.
So a lot of the white sand on the sandy
(02:56):
beaches that you sit onis actually parrotfish poop.
And that I think is hilarious.
Yeah, it really is funny that we loveto vacation in parrotfish poop.
So that was just thinking about that.
And Rob and I spent a long time
also filming parrotfish underwatertrying to film them pooping,
and it was harder than we thoughtit was going to be.
(03:16):
Yeah.
Do you remember Rob?
What you Rob finally figured out to tell?
Yeah.
We seemed like if you watched through their back fins
that they would kind of shimmytheir fins a little bit.
And if you lookedfor their little wiggle, then
it seemed likethey were about to poop sand.
So we spent a lot of timejust following parrotfish around
(03:39):
looking for
their little thin wiggle,and we waiting for them to poop.
Yeah.
So, parrotfish, they poop out sand,and that sand ends up on the beach
and we sit on it.
Okay,so a parrotfish is making Laura happy.
We'll find out what I pickedright after this.
And now enjoy ten relaxingseconds of nature
(04:03):
before your uncle sneezes way too loudly.
Oh, you,
wasn't that relaxing?
Hey, comecheck out this parrotfish poop castle.
(04:25):
I just made.
And we are back.
So, Rob,what weird fish is making you happy today?
Well, I'm worried
that you're going to get it right awaybecause you know me really well.
It's okay.
But, this is an animal that has always been
on my bucket list for life of animalsthat I want to see.
Okay, this is an animal
(04:48):
that can grow much bigger than me.
Is it flat?
Pretty flat. In the scheme of things.
Yeah, yeah,it's pretty flat in the scheme of things.
Does this animal look likeit's just sort of a swimming head?
Yeah, yeah.
This is an animal that looks like a giant,flattened swimming
(05:08):
head with weirdo fins.
Is it a Mola Mola?
Yes, it's the Mola Mola,also known as the ocean sunfish.
Look on the lab.
There are several different typesof Mola species out there,
but they are all weird looking.
But what is it?Why does it make you happy?
(05:30):
Well, I think it makes me happy.
Because it makes you think about just
how wacko the planetis, that things like that exist.
Okay, so it's the mola mola,but it's also called the ocean sunfish.
Is that right? Yeah.
And that's because
these fish will sometimes be found
(05:52):
swimming up right at the surface,and they kind of flatten their bodies out.
And so it looks like they're sunningthemselves up on the ocean surface.
I've actually talked to other wildlifefilmmakers who have seen them
right up at the surface of the water,and then a seagull has landed on them,
and it's just eatingparasites off of them. Oh,
(06:14):
wouldn't that be?
Wouldn't that be awesome?
These are fishthat can weigh up to 5,000 pounds.
I mean, they weigh as much as a car.Okay, wait.
Have you seen them all a model before?
I have, yeah,I saw one once when I was filming
down in Monterey Bay, California,and it was a baby.
It was really small and it was adorable,and I was so excited to see it,
(06:35):
because it's the only oneI'd ever seen in my life.
But I think the idea ofjust being in the water with a true
behemoth,a huge mola that is bigger than I
am, that is something that I really wantto see someday.
It's fun to see big things.
Yeah, a parrot fish.
A mola mola.
I feel happier already.
In just a moment, we'll be talkingwith today's special guest, Tricia.
(06:58):
But first, a song about parrotfish.
I wrote this song on a trainwhile I was thinking about
how funny it isthat parrotfish poop out sand and joy.
I got a little song about parrotfish.
Here it goes.
What parrotfish eat, they also excretein a curtain of limestone sand.
(07:19):
They eat some coral and they poop it outand it washes up on land.
It covers the floor and they eat somemore, almost countless times each day.
So thank you parrotfish friendsfor making the sand in which we play.
Delightful.
Let's sing it again.
(07:40):
What parrotfish eat, they also excretein a curtain of limestone sand,
They eat some coral and they poop it outand it washes up on land.
It covers the floor and they eat somemore, almost countless times each day.
So thank you parrotfish friendsfor making the sand in which we play.
So thank your parrotfish friends
(08:04):
for making the sand in which we play.
Thank
you, parrotfish for pooping outsandy beaches.
Before we get on with the show.
Here's a quick message for the grownups
And we are back.
It's that time in the showfor the Happiest Fanimal,
(08:26):
where a fan like you gives us cluesfor what animals.
Making them happy.
Today's submission is from seven yearold Finley from Portland, Oregon.
Clue number one.
This animal climbs trees.
Clue number two.
This animal is black and white.
Clue number three.
(08:47):
This animal has a long tail.
Clue number four.
This animal rubsfruit on itself to keep mosquitoes away.
Oh! Tough one.
And the answer is the capuchin monkey.
Capuchin monkeys make Finley happybecause they are good at climbing
trees, just like Finley is.
(09:08):
Thank you for your submission,Finley and Grown-Ups.
If you or your family would like to submita happiest animal, visit our website at
Happiest Animal show.com.
Now it's time
for our special guest, doctorTricia Meredith.
She is a shark scientistwho studies shark noses.
Well, welcome to the Happiest Animal show.Thank you.
(09:29):
We're so excitedthat you're chatting with us.
This is. Yeah. Me too.
So for you, what's your favorite thingthat you've learned
during your research about shark noses?
I think it's that sharks aren't these
super smelling swimming nosesthat we once thought.
So, like, I grew up in Ohio.
(09:50):
I learned a lot about sharks throughwatching Shark Week, and I was like,
that's the truth.
And I was memorizing these factslike it was a textbook.
And then come to find later,we actually don't know that
much about their basic biologybecause they're hard to study.
And then through our studiesand like the work I got to be a part of,
I got to be one of the people to discoverlike oh this is how sensitive
(10:12):
they are to odors.
Now we know.
Let's compare itto other fish in the ocean.
Are they super similar?
Turns out they're not.They're about as sensitive as other fish.
So kind of like thatmyth busting thing was really cool.
That's awesome. That's so cool.
People are obsessed with sharksbeing, like,
sniffing out blood to find humansand eat them.
(10:33):
And, like, there's just so many flawsto even consider that as
a thing to investigate. But
sometimes when we would, you know,when I was a baby
grad student, we would have documentaryfilm crews come in for,
you know, shark documentaries.
And we would try to show themthe science of, like, let's deliver prey
related odors, odorsthat actually make sense and test that
(10:55):
and see how sensitive they are.
And they're like,but what about human blood?
And we're like, but that's not relevantto the animal like, but should we try it?
Like, what if I don't know?
I guess you go in there like let's try it.
So we did.
And did anything happen?
Now what?
Well, it makes sense.
(11:16):
I mean, humans are not in a shark's foodchain, right?
Like, we wouldn't smell like food to them.
So sharks are not attractedto human blood.
Boom. Science.
My blood even.
Oh, okay.
Wow. You put your own blood in the waterto see if a shark
(11:36):
would be attracted to it. And it was not.
Yeah, I know, sosharks are not attracted to human blood.
And we have this verifiedby a shark scientist today.
If you learn nothing else,that's pretty cool.
It's good to know.
Totally.
Oh, well, next time I have a gaping wound,
I'll feel more comfortablewhen I go for a swim in the ocean.
Good.
(11:57):
Okay, now it's time to find outwhat animal is making Tricia happy.
But first this.
It's time to play everybody'sfavorite game show.
What did Tricia just say?
We've got a yes or no question for you.
Are sharks attracted to human blood?
(12:17):
Yes or no?
The answer is
no. They're not attracted to human blood.
Thanks for playing everybody'sfavorite game show.
What did Tricia just say?
And we're back.
(12:38):
Tricia, here is the important question.
What animal is making you happy today?
I love this question.
And I have to say, it's chickens. Yes.
The shark scientistfixed chickens for today.
I love it.
Chicken.
I have chickens as pets.
(13:00):
And I think.
I think I've never been able to reallywatch, like, group behavior of an animal.
Over time,the way I have with my flock of chickens.
Like,I know some people have a bunch of dogs
or cats in their house,but you, like you don't often have a whole
group of animals that has their ownlike hierarchy and group behavior.
And it is hilarious and bonkers.
(13:22):
They're, they, like, are freeranging in my backyard.
So it's like these little minifeathered dinosaurs.
Like, they look like little velociraptorsrunning around the yard,
being fierce and fighting over food and,like, doing really silly stuff.
Like, they like, jump really highto try to reach flowers
that they want to eatand look goofy doing that.
And then like,you can see their pecking order.
(13:45):
So literally ooh,
like the order of importancein the chicken community.
Yeah. Who's the top chicken?
My chicken named. Hey, hey.
Yeah, I'm top one.
Hey, hey.
And Groot's is at the very bottom.
It's so sad for her,but Groot just watching, like,
when I put treats downand watching the pecking order play out
(14:08):
is fascinating because, like, Groot'stactic, being at the bottom of the pecking
order is she comes in as fast as possiblebefore anybody even knows her
streets grab something takes off,or she's not getting anything
because they'll kind of block herwith their body movements.
They don't even have to peck her to, like,keep her out of the, like, circle
where the food is.
(14:28):
They decide who goes into the coopfirst at night.
They, like, line up at a certain time,you know, I have to teach them.
They're just like preprogramedto go inside at night and just.
Hey, hey, go in first.
She goes, unless she goes, actually.
So the top chicken goes in last.
Interesting.
Yes, but the way they play, like, it'salmost like they look at their watches
(14:50):
and they're like, okay, everybody line up.
And then you like, you look outsideand you're like, what are they doing?
And they're like, standinglike one foot apart waiting to go in.
And they like take turns.
Did you raise them as chicksor hatch them from an egg?
Would you? No. We got day old chicks.Yeah.
Okay. Yeah.You have chickens, too? We did.
And we had toto say goodbye to our chickens.
(15:11):
We took them to a farm that, this isjust down the street from our house,
but we can still visit them.
And one time, Rob saw a coyote in the yardtrying to go after the chickens.
Yeah, I was,so I was in the house one time,
and I heard a fast Eddie was her name.
Fast Eddie was out making a lot of noise,and I looked out the window
and she was doing.
She was pullingfootball moves on a coyote, just like.
(15:35):
And, like, zigzagging.
And. Yeah, she was darting backand forth in the coyote.
It was amazing.
Kylie was having troublekeeping up, and I banged on the window.
And then I ran outsideand I watched that coyote run
and jump over a six footfence to get out of the well,
and it made me realizehow incredibly athletic a coyote is.
(15:56):
We've had a couple of predatorsituations, too,
and it's funny because the chickens will,like, call to you.
Like,we had a situation at two in the morning
with a raccoon, and they woke us upand I came out and she was like,
standing outside, like, squawking at melike, hello, let's go.
And then like, I followed her overto where the situation was unfolding.
(16:17):
But they like very clearly communicatedto me to like come deal with this.
Yeah.
Which chicken was yelling at you.
Hey hey hey hey hey. Yeah.
Protecting her flock into the top.
Chicken came and got you to be.
Yeah.
To say hey come outjust screaming like you said.
They like their.
The pitch changeswhen they're having a situation.
Yeah.
(16:38):
So it's likehey he's kind of like classy in that way.
Just like coming to get help.
Timmy's down the well. Yeah.
And they make you breakfast like. Yeah.
Well can you say that for most pets.
No you definitely can't.
It's quite the oppositefor my other pets. Right.
Theseones are productive members of the family.
(16:59):
And we have, like, bluish green eggsand some brown eggs.
Ooh, awesome.
I think it's really coolthat chickens have different colored eggs.
Yeah, it's really fun.
I like
so because we had different size chickens,we used to get different sized eggs
and we had like a biga medium and a small.
And every now and then you'd getlike a chicken would lay just a weird egg.
(17:19):
And I was like thosewhen you get just weird.
Oh yeah. Crazy small crazy huge.
Yeah.You got like a super small one one time.
It was tiny.
It was so tiny and it was funny.
And then we had one that was huge.
Then, you know,we frequently got double yoked eggs, too.
Oh, cool. Yeah.
So it's fun whatever's going on insidethose chickens to make that happen.
(17:41):
But it's fun. Yeah.
Well, Tricia, thank you so much forjoining us on the Happiest Animal Show.
It has been a pleasure. Thank you.
Now it's time.
It's thetime you have all been waiting for.
To find out the answer to our animaljoke of the day.
(18:02):
Who grants fishes wishes?
Do you have a guess?
The answer is.
A fairy codmother.
And before we go,
remember, we live on a beautiful planet.
(18:22):
So go out and findwhat makes you happy today.
Hey, grown ups, we know you're busy,but if you like
our show, we'd love for youto tell your friends and family about it.
It's the best way for our podcastto grow and grown ups.
You can also follow us on social mediaat Happiest Animal Show,
(18:42):
or check outother fun things on our website,
like how to submit an animaland how to get merch.
Visit Happiest Animal Show.com.
The Happiest Animal Show is createdby Laura Sams, Robert Sams and Dave Cain.
Produced by Sisbro Studios, hostedand directed
by Laura Sams and Robert Sams,and written by Laura Sams.
Robert Sams with story editor Dave Cain,
(19:05):
and with only a little helpfrom our cat walking across the keyboard.
Now let's talk music.
Original music is written and performedby zero time Grammy Award winning
songwriters Laura Sams and Robert Sams,except for the end credits music,
which was written by Laura and Robert'sgrandma Max and the joke answer
suspense music written by David Schultz.
(19:26):
The theme song was written
and performed by Laura and Roband mixed by Jason Wells of Audiowells
Wells.Thanks for listening. You're the best.
And now for an animal joke.
Who grants fishes wishes?
Who grants fishes wishes?
The answer is going to be revealedat the end of the episode.
But first, get your ears ready.
Because it's the Happiest AnimalShow on Planet Earth.
(00:27):
The Happiest Animal Show on Planet Earth.
You want to be sad? No1Do you want to glad?
No. Wait. Yes.
Well, it'sthe Happiest Animal Show on Planet Earth.
Hello and welcome to the Happiest Animal
Show on Planet Earth, the podcastthat asks the very important question.
(00:49):
What animal is making you happy today?
Not yesterday,not even last night, but today.
I'm Rob and I'm Laura.
And we are a sister brother pairof zoologists, filmmakers and songwriters.
We are here to explore the wonderful worldof wildlife and discover
why animals make us happy.
(01:10):
Today we have a song about an animalthat poops out San.
Yes, you heard that right.
And we'll be speaking with shark scientistDoctor Tricia Meredith,
who has a surprising thingto say about shark noses.
Here we go.
What animal is making you happy today?
I want to know.
(01:31):
The themewe gave ourselves today is Weird Fish.
Laura,what weird fish is making you happy today?
Okay, you're totally going to get it.
But it's very colorful.
Maybe even different kinds of rainbowcolors.
Nice. It lives on coral reefs.
It has some of the strongest teethin the world.
(01:53):
Yeah,apparently a scientist figured out that
if you had a one inch cube of its teeth,a little cube like that, that 80 elephants
could stand on top of that cubeand it would not break.
Oh, wow. Yeah.
I am going to venture a guessthat you are talking about fish.
(02:13):
Yay, parrot fish!
Hey! Which fish?
Yes, I'm talking about the parrot fish.
It's a kind of fishthat lives on the coral reef.
They swim around.
They're awesome looking.
They have beaks
that kind of look like parrot beaks,but they're really colorful fish.
And why are they making you happy?
The reason they make me happyis because parrotfish do an amazing thing.
(02:36):
They're eating algae on a coralall the time, and they crunch.
You can actually hear them crunchingwhen you're scuba diving underwater.
It's crunch, crunch, crunch.
And then they eat the coral,
and then they poop it out.
And when it comes out of their bodies,it comes out as sand.
So a lot of the white sand on the sandy
(02:56):
beaches that you sit onis actually parrotfish poop.
And that I think is hilarious.
Yeah, it really is funny that we loveto vacation in parrotfish poop.
So that was just thinking about that.
And Rob and I spent a long time
also filming parrotfish underwatertrying to film them pooping,
and it was harder than we thoughtit was going to be.
(03:16):
Yeah.
Do you remember Rob?
What you Rob finally figured out to tell?
Yeah.
We seemed like if you watched through their back fins
that they would kind of shimmytheir fins a little bit.
And if you lookedfor their little wiggle, then
it seemed likethey were about to poop sand.
So we spent a lot of timejust following parrotfish around
(03:39):
looking for
their little thin wiggle,and we waiting for them to poop.
Yeah.
So, parrotfish, they poop out sand,and that sand ends up on the beach
and we sit on it.
Okay,so a parrotfish is making Laura happy.
We'll find out what I pickedright after this.
And now enjoy ten relaxingseconds of nature
(04:03):
before your uncle sneezes way too loudly.
Oh, you,
wasn't that relaxing?
Hey, comecheck out this parrotfish poop castle.
(04:25):
I just made.
And we are back.
So, Rob,what weird fish is making you happy today?
Well, I'm worried
that you're going to get it right awaybecause you know me really well.
It's okay.
But, this is an animal that has always been
on my bucket list for life of animalsthat I want to see.
Okay, this is an animal
(04:48):
that can grow much bigger than me.
Is it flat?
Pretty flat. In the scheme of things.
Yeah, yeah,it's pretty flat in the scheme of things.
Does this animal look likeit's just sort of a swimming head?
Yeah, yeah.
This is an animal that looks like a giant,flattened swimming
(05:08):
head with weirdo fins.
Is it a Mola Mola?
Yes, it's the Mola Mola,also known as the ocean sunfish.
Look on the lab.
There are several different typesof Mola species out there,
but they are all weird looking.
But what is it?Why does it make you happy?
(05:30):
Well, I think it makes me happy.
Because it makes you think about just
how wacko the planetis, that things like that exist.
Okay, so it's the mola mola,but it's also called the ocean sunfish.
Is that right? Yeah.
And that's because
these fish will sometimes be found
(05:52):
swimming up right at the surface,and they kind of flatten their bodies out.
And so it looks like they're sunningthemselves up on the ocean surface.
I've actually talked to other wildlifefilmmakers who have seen them
right up at the surface of the water,and then a seagull has landed on them,
and it's just eatingparasites off of them. Oh,
(06:14):
wouldn't that be?
Wouldn't that be awesome?
These are fishthat can weigh up to 5,000 pounds.
I mean, they weigh as much as a car.Okay, wait.
Have you seen them all a model before?
I have, yeah,I saw one once when I was filming
down in Monterey Bay, California,and it was a baby.
It was really small and it was adorable,and I was so excited to see it,
(06:35):
because it's the only oneI'd ever seen in my life.
But I think the idea ofjust being in the water with a true
behemoth,a huge mola that is bigger than I
am, that is something that I really wantto see someday.
It's fun to see big things.
Yeah, a parrot fish.
A mola mola.
I feel happier already.
In just a moment, we'll be talkingwith today's special guest, Tricia.
(06:58):
But first, a song about parrotfish.
I wrote this song on a trainwhile I was thinking about
how funny it isthat parrotfish poop out sand and joy.
I got a little song about parrotfish.
Here it goes.
What parrotfish eat, they also excretein a curtain of limestone sand.
(07:19):
They eat some coral and they poop it outand it washes up on land.
It covers the floor and they eat somemore, almost countless times each day.
So thank you parrotfish friendsfor making the sand in which we play.
Delightful.
Let's sing it again.
(07:40):
What parrotfish eat, they also excretein a curtain of limestone sand,
They eat some coral and they poop it outand it washes up on land.
It covers the floor and they eat somemore, almost countless times each day.
So thank you parrotfish friendsfor making the sand in which we play.
So thank your parrotfish friends
(08:04):
for making the sand in which we play.
Thank
you, parrotfish for pooping outsandy beaches.
Before we get on with the show.
Here's a quick message for the grownups
And we are back.
It's that time in the showfor the Happiest Fanimal,
(08:26):
where a fan like you gives us cluesfor what animals.
Making them happy.
Today's submission is from seven yearold Finley from Portland, Oregon.
Clue number one.
This animal climbs trees.
Clue number two.
This animal is black and white.
Clue number three.
(08:47):
This animal has a long tail.
Clue number four.
This animal rubsfruit on itself to keep mosquitoes away.
Oh! Tough one.
And the answer is the capuchin monkey.
Capuchin monkeys make Finley happybecause they are good at climbing
trees, just like Finley is.
(09:08):
Thank you for your submission,Finley and Grown-Ups.
If you or your family would like to submita happiest animal, visit our website at
Happiest Animal show.com.
Now it's time
for our special guest, doctorTricia Meredith.
She is a shark scientistwho studies shark noses.
Well, welcome to the Happiest Animal show.Thank you.
(09:29):
We're so excitedthat you're chatting with us.
This is. Yeah. Me too.
So for you, what's your favorite thingthat you've learned
during your research about shark noses?
I think it's that sharks aren't these
super smelling swimming nosesthat we once thought.
So, like, I grew up in Ohio.
(09:50):
I learned a lot about sharks throughwatching Shark Week, and I was like,
that's the truth.
And I was memorizing these factslike it was a textbook.
And then come to find later,we actually don't know that
much about their basic biologybecause they're hard to study.
And then through our studiesand like the work I got to be a part of,
I got to be one of the people to discoverlike oh this is how sensitive
(10:12):
they are to odors.
Now we know.
Let's compare itto other fish in the ocean.
Are they super similar?
Turns out they're not.They're about as sensitive as other fish.
So kind of like thatmyth busting thing was really cool.
That's awesome. That's so cool.
People are obsessed with sharksbeing, like,
sniffing out blood to find humansand eat them.
(10:33):
And, like, there's just so many flawsto even consider that as
a thing to investigate. But
sometimes when we would, you know,when I was a baby
grad student, we would have documentaryfilm crews come in for,
you know, shark documentaries.
And we would try to show themthe science of, like, let's deliver prey
related odors, odorsthat actually make sense and test that
(10:55):
and see how sensitive they are.
And they're like,but what about human blood?
And we're like, but that's not relevantto the animal like, but should we try it?
Like, what if I don't know?
I guess you go in there like let's try it.
So we did.
And did anything happen?
Now what?
Well, it makes sense.
(11:16):
I mean, humans are not in a shark's foodchain, right?
Like, we wouldn't smell like food to them.
So sharks are not attractedto human blood.
Boom. Science.
My blood even.
Oh, okay.
Wow. You put your own blood in the waterto see if a shark
(11:36):
would be attracted to it. And it was not.
Yeah, I know, sosharks are not attracted to human blood.
And we have this verifiedby a shark scientist today.
If you learn nothing else,that's pretty cool.
It's good to know.
Totally.
Oh, well, next time I have a gaping wound,
I'll feel more comfortablewhen I go for a swim in the ocean.
Good.
(11:57):
Okay, now it's time to find outwhat animal is making Tricia happy.
But first this.
It's time to play everybody'sfavorite game show.
What did Tricia just say?
We've got a yes or no question for you.
Are sharks attracted to human blood?
(12:17):
Yes or no?
The answer is
no. They're not attracted to human blood.
Thanks for playing everybody'sfavorite game show.
What did Tricia just say?
And we're back.
(12:38):
Tricia, here is the important question.
What animal is making you happy today?
I love this question.
And I have to say, it's chickens. Yes.
The shark scientistfixed chickens for today.
I love it.
Chicken.
I have chickens as pets.
(13:00):
And I think.
I think I've never been able to reallywatch, like, group behavior of an animal.
Over time,the way I have with my flock of chickens.
Like,I know some people have a bunch of dogs
or cats in their house,but you, like you don't often have a whole
group of animals that has their ownlike hierarchy and group behavior.
And it is hilarious and bonkers.
(13:22):
They're, they, like, are freeranging in my backyard.
So it's like these little minifeathered dinosaurs.
Like, they look like little velociraptorsrunning around the yard,
being fierce and fighting over food and,like, doing really silly stuff.
Like, they like, jump really highto try to reach flowers
that they want to eatand look goofy doing that.
And then like,you can see their pecking order.
(13:45):
So literally ooh,
like the order of importancein the chicken community.
Yeah. Who's the top chicken?
My chicken named. Hey, hey.
Yeah, I'm top one.
Hey, hey.
And Groot's is at the very bottom.
It's so sad for her,but Groot just watching, like,
when I put treats downand watching the pecking order play out
(14:08):
is fascinating because, like, Groot'stactic, being at the bottom of the pecking
order is she comes in as fast as possiblebefore anybody even knows her
streets grab something takes off,or she's not getting anything
because they'll kind of block herwith their body movements.
They don't even have to peck her to, like,keep her out of the, like, circle
where the food is.
(14:28):
They decide who goes into the coopfirst at night.
They, like, line up at a certain time,you know, I have to teach them.
They're just like preprogramedto go inside at night and just.
Hey, hey, go in first.
She goes, unless she goes, actually.
So the top chicken goes in last.
Interesting.
Yes, but the way they play, like, it'salmost like they look at their watches
(14:50):
and they're like, okay, everybody line up.
And then you like, you look outsideand you're like, what are they doing?
And they're like, standinglike one foot apart waiting to go in.
And they like take turns.
Did you raise them as chicksor hatch them from an egg?
Would you? No. We got day old chicks.Yeah.
Okay. Yeah.You have chickens, too? We did.
And we had toto say goodbye to our chickens.
(15:11):
We took them to a farm that, this isjust down the street from our house,
but we can still visit them.
And one time, Rob saw a coyote in the yardtrying to go after the chickens.
Yeah, I was,so I was in the house one time,
and I heard a fast Eddie was her name.
Fast Eddie was out making a lot of noise,and I looked out the window
and she was doing.
She was pullingfootball moves on a coyote, just like.
(15:35):
And, like, zigzagging.
And. Yeah, she was darting backand forth in the coyote.
It was amazing.
Kylie was having troublekeeping up, and I banged on the window.
And then I ran outsideand I watched that coyote run
and jump over a six footfence to get out of the well,
and it made me realizehow incredibly athletic a coyote is.
(15:56):
We've had a couple of predatorsituations, too,
and it's funny because the chickens will,like, call to you.
Like,we had a situation at two in the morning
with a raccoon, and they woke us upand I came out and she was like,
standing outside, like, squawking at melike, hello, let's go.
And then like, I followed her overto where the situation was unfolding.
(16:17):
But they like very clearly communicatedto me to like come deal with this.
Yeah.
Which chicken was yelling at you.
Hey hey hey hey hey. Yeah.
Protecting her flock into the top.
Chicken came and got you to be.
Yeah.
To say hey come outjust screaming like you said.
They like their.
The pitch changeswhen they're having a situation.
Yeah.
(16:38):
So it's likehey he's kind of like classy in that way.
Just like coming to get help.
Timmy's down the well. Yeah.
And they make you breakfast like. Yeah.
Well can you say that for most pets.
No you definitely can't.
It's quite the oppositefor my other pets. Right.
Theseones are productive members of the family.
(16:59):
And we have, like, bluish green eggsand some brown eggs.
Ooh, awesome.
I think it's really coolthat chickens have different colored eggs.
Yeah, it's really fun.
I like
so because we had different size chickens,we used to get different sized eggs
and we had like a biga medium and a small.
And every now and then you'd getlike a chicken would lay just a weird egg.
(17:19):
And I was like thosewhen you get just weird.
Oh yeah. Crazy small crazy huge.
Yeah.You got like a super small one one time.
It was tiny.
It was so tiny and it was funny.
And then we had one that was huge.
Then, you know,we frequently got double yoked eggs, too.
Oh, cool. Yeah.
So it's fun whatever's going on insidethose chickens to make that happen.
(17:41):
But it's fun. Yeah.
Well, Tricia, thank you so much forjoining us on the Happiest Animal Show.
It has been a pleasure. Thank you.
Now it's time.
It's thetime you have all been waiting for.
To find out the answer to our animaljoke of the day.
(18:02):
Who grants fishes wishes?
Do you have a guess?
The answer is.
A fairy codmother.
And before we go,
remember, we live on a beautiful planet.
(18:22):
So go out and findwhat makes you happy today.
Hey, grown ups, we know you're busy,but if you like
our show, we'd love for youto tell your friends and family about it.
It's the best way for our podcastto grow and grown ups.
You can also follow us on social mediaat Happiest Animal Show,
(18:42):
or check outother fun things on our website,
like how to submit an animaland how to get merch.
Visit Happiest Animal Show.com.
The Happiest Animal Show is createdby Laura Sams, Robert Sams and Dave Cain.
Produced by Sisbro Studios, hostedand directed
by Laura Sams and Robert Sams,and written by Laura Sams.
Robert Sams with story editor Dave Cain,
(19:05):
and with only a little helpfrom our cat walking across the keyboard.
Now let's talk music.
Original music is written and performedby zero time Grammy Award winning
songwriters Laura Sams and Robert Sams,except for the end credits music,
which was written by Laura and Robert'sgrandma Max and the joke answer
suspense music written by David Schultz.
(19:26):
The theme song was written
and performed by Laura and Roband mixed by Jason Wells of Audiowells
Wells.Thanks for listening. You're the best.
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