The Wild Life
Episodes
We're flipping the script this Valentine's Day with a three part series where we show some love to nature's unloved: spiders and snakes! In part 2, we talk to Shakira Quiñones about Nephilid Spiders (like North America's Golden Silk), weird spider sex, and have her and Sebastian Echeverri answer your listener submitted questions! We talk spider oral sex, copulatory plugs, Spider-Frog Buddy Comedies, flying spider... Read more
We're flipping the script this Valentine's Day with a three part series where we show some love to nature's unloved: spiders and snakes! In part 1, we talk to Sebastian Echeverri about everything from fear of spiders, spider VR, spider dancing, spider sex, tiny spiders on tiny treadmills, and everything in-between! Part 2 will air on February 18th! Special thanks to Sebastian Echeverri (Twitter: @spiderdaynight, I... Read more
In this episode, Devon and Richard talk snow, Frozen 2, whether or not water has memory (and if it's good or bad), the Big Bang, the formation of planets, the secret role of bacteria, why snowflakes are intricately symmetrical, and more! **Stay tuned for an updated episode description containing a link to 2 video demonstrations for our Try This at Home segments! Become a patron (and our best friend), and get tons of cool p... Read more
My how the turntables! In today's special holiday episode, Devon and Richard summarize some recent news of tenacious turkey turmoil, and explain how it is that the wild turkey became our Thanksgiving centerpiece. Prepare for a hearty helping of puns, unnecessarily long historical interviews, and straight facts! Check out thewildlife.blog later this week for our favorite turkey attack footage and recent news stories! Sup... Read more
Discover why we are seeing less fireflies, the secrets behind their natural glow, how to find yourself a lady firefly, and so much more in this jam-packed episode. Our guest is Lynn Frierson Faust, the lightning bug lady of Knoxville, TN. She’s the author of Fireflies, Glow-worms, and Lightning Bugs,which details flash patterns of the 75+ species found in the eastern and central United States and Canada. She has over 20 years... Read more
It's summer and a storm has just passed through. You step outside and are instantly greeted with that good ole' familiar smell---the smell of rain. But what is that smell? After all, water itself isn't particularly smelly, right? In this episode, Richard's first solo mission, we explore the surprising secrets behind the smell of rain. It is also our first ever member drive. If you become a member during the Novemb... Read more
Happy Halloween! In this super special, unexpected, and therefore super last minute holiday treat (and trick), Devon reads a retelling of Edgar Allen Poe's famous short story, A Tell Tale Heart, that you undoubtedly were coerced into reading in high school. In our somewhat modernized version, we get a different, more wildlife oriented ending that turns out to be the most opposite from horror as you can get. Become a patron (a... Read more
The Wild Life presents, Stardust---a show that explores all of the other science-y things that don’t quite fit under the umbrella of The Wild Life. Things like why is the ocean salty, where did all the of earths water come from, how is gold made, what happens when two black holes collide, time travel, lithium, and basically everything else. This is our test pilot, of sorts! In this episode, we explore the Earth's moon, it... Read more
In honor of Spooktober, we are doing the time warp to revisit two fan-favorites on one of nature's most needlessly feared and misunderstood critters: bats. Part 1 Belief…belief is an interesting thing. Some of our beliefs are very close to our hearts, untouchable, unchangeable. Some of our beliefs are more flexible, changing if you have some kind of evidence or experience that can convince you otherwise. Belief can be harm... Read more
In this episode, we sit down with Stanford's Dr Kabir Peay, self described mykophile and fungi expert who recently helped to maap out the Wood Wide Web on a global scale. We talk Spongebob, Gringotts, Wall Street, and reveal the secrets of an underground ecosystem that will change the way you see the forest for forever! Become a patron (and our best friend), and get tons of cool perks at www.patreon.com/TheWildLife and help us... Read more
It's our very first #CitizenScienceFriday! We sit down to chat with Carrie Seltzer, Stakeholder Engagement Strategist at iNaturalist to discuss their amazing platform, how it works, the democratization of science, bird feathers, dragonfly wings, Russian nature geeks, and so much more! Now, you can join our new The Wild Life community on iNaturalist with a new joinable project! Connect with a community of over 750,000 scientist... Read more
In this episode, we sit down and chat with a really fun guy (get it? like fungi? aha..ha...), Dr Tom Volk of UW-Lacrosse, and holy cow, pun intended (you’ll see), we covered a lot of ground. Everything from how mushrooms are made, to the best mushrooms to forage, how fungi hunt, fungi in the brain, whether or not bakers yeast is the same organism associated with yeast infections, an underground Gringotts, how to avoid exploding out... Read more
Interview with Dr. Tim Caro, professor of Wildife Biology at UC Davis, on his research which may have revealed the truth behind the mystery of zebra stripes. Support this podcast
An unexpected turn of events, a last-minute decision, and here we are! This week, we revisit an oldie but a goodie as we preview what is to come. Next week is The Fungus Among Us Part I, and the following week will be a double whammy: Part II and our first #CitizenScienceFriday! Thank you for being patient while we work to make sure you get the awesome episodes that you deserve! Read more and see images of the find here: https://t... Read more
This creature is one of the oldest living animals in existence, it shoots a death slime out of its face, and drinks it’s prey up like a smoothie. They're one of the coolest creatures on 20+ legs--- I’m talking about, of course, the Velvet Worm. Hold onto your butts, you’re about to get a whole face full of velvety worm. ***CORRECTION*** As it turns out, there are actually currently just about 200 species identified. The 70... Read more
Nothing is ever as it seems. Get ready for a tangled web of semantics and systematics! To read the blog version and see the video mentioned, visit https://thewildlife.blog/2019/07/09/when-a-spider-isnt-a-spider/ If you are interested in learning more about our upcoming hikes, visit https://thewildlife.blog/hike/ Become a patron (and our best friend), and get tons of cool perks at www.patreon.com/TheWildLife and help us to keep ... Read more
If you live in the north, you almost definitely know we have frogs, but how do they survive the winter? If you are interested in learning more about our upcoming hikes, visit https://thewildlife.blog/hike/ Become a patron (and our best friend), and get tons of cool perks at www.patreon.com/TheWildLife and help us to keep doing what we are doing and getting better! Follow us on instagram at instagram.com/devonthenatureguy and in... Read more
How do Pelican beaks work? How much can they fit in their pouch? How do Pelicans hunt? I've got the answers to those and more! To read the blog version and see the video mentioned, visit https://thewildlife.blog/2018/07/07/pelicans-are-fly/ If you are interested in learning more about our upcoming hikes, visit https://thewildlife.blog/hike/ Become a patron (and our best friend), and get tons of cool perks at www.patreon.com... Read more
Toe-Biter, Electric-Light Bug, Alligator-Tick; people have come up with many names for the fascinating critter. It’s actual name is perhaps the most boring—the Giant Water Bug. They are the largest of the ‘true bugs’ and belong to the Belostomatidae family of insects. To read the blog version and see the video mentioned, visit https://thewildlife.blog/2018/06/02/the-electric-light-loving-scuba-diving-toe-biting-giant-water-bug/ B... Read more
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