All the Critters

Holly Jolly Crittermas, world! Spend a little time with us this season as we do our own rendition (and vastly improve) a classic holiday hit! Our version is sure to make your day a little merrier, and a whole lot brighter. Species highlighted in this Episode: Loggerhead Shrike, American Coot, Tropical Kingbird, Ash-throated Flycatcher, Gray Kingbird, Northern Harrier, Winter Wren, White-crowned Sparrow, Wilson's Snipe, Hooded Merganser, Ringneck Duck, Brant, Common Grackle, Southern Screamer, Harbor Seal Participate in the Christmas Bird Count!- https://ebird.org/news/ebirding-on-christmas-bird-counts  Check out the Catching Them ALL Blog

This is one wanderlust-filled episode! Courtney shares the overwhelming amount of biodiversity she experienced in Costa Rica and April prepares for her next big adventure.  Species highlighted in this Episode: Scarlet Macaws, Zompopas, and the cutest little birdos imaginable!  Critter Links:  Re:wild Iberá- https://www.rewild.org/projects/ibera-wildfire-fund   A look inside a Zompopa colony- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6oKJ5FGk24

Courtney takes us on a 10 day wildlife adventure through Panama and Costa Rica, confirming that every critter lover needs to journey to these amazing countries at some point in their lives. Some of the wildlife experiences even mirror April's time in Mexico. Plus the next CTA Host wildlife adventure is announced (suspenseful music plays!). Species Highlighted in this Episode: More than you can shake a stick at...   Check out the Catching Them ALL Blog Critter Links & More: Sloth and Moths! - https://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/sloth-named-velcro-sloth-moths-mutually-beneficial-relationship/11159/ Lucy Cooke TED Talk: Sloths! The strange life of the world's slowest mammal- https://www.ted.com/talks/lucy_cooke_sloths_the_strange_life_of_the_world_s_slowest_mammal?language=en

April has a United States towhee "clean sweep", which brings us to our first Pokemon reference on Catching Them All! Birding life lists leads this episode into the world of vampire bats.  Species Highlighted in this Episode: Vampire bat species, Big Brown Bat, Virginia Big Eared Bat, Eastern Towhee, Spotted Towhee, Canyon Towhee, California Towhee, Green-tailed Towhee, Abert's Towhee.  Check out the Catching Them ALL Blog Critter Links & More The Case For Vampire Bats- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0YB6_7Kync Important Bat Boy Information- https://weeklyworldnews.com/mutants/183465/bat-boy-30th-anniversary/  Paywall Nation! That Nat Geo Article on bat eating bats we mentioned - https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/more-mysteries-revealed-about-bat-eating-bat Endangered! Virginia Big Eared Bat + Coloring Page - https://dwr.virginia.gov/wildlife/information/virginia-big-eared-bat/ Birds of the World! Towhees - https://carolinabirds.org/HTML/Passerellidae_Towhee.htm CHARITABLE DONATION RECOMMENDATION! Indiana State University Center for Bat Research, Outreach, and Conservation - https://www.givetoindianastate.org/ISU-Bat-Center

Happy spooky season! Courtney and April talk "spooky" stories, bust some myths, and share our overall excitement at finding new to us species of spiders. Enjoy! Species Highlighted in this Episode: Spotted orb weaver, Black widow species, Rose-rumped tarantula, tailless whip scorpion Check out the Catching Them ALL Blog Critter Links & More Six surprising facts about spiders Sticky science: Evolution of spiderwebs Photo catalog of tailless whip scorpions on faces Wolf's milk slime Spider taxonomy Adorable spider PAWS

It’s invasion of the James’ part 2!  Get beguiled with Courtney and her James as they share their recent trip to the Virginia mountains. This episode talks trout, forest ecosystems and how not to get your boots confiscated in New Zealand.  Species Highlighted in this Episode: Brook Trout, Caddisflies, Unknown salamander, Mushrooms! Check out the Catching Them ALL Blog Critter Links & More Fish Stocking History- https://www.webpages.uidaho.edu/css496/secure/Readings/WFishStockingHistory.pdf  Virginia Interactive Trout Map- https://www.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=441ed456c8664166bb735b1db6024e48  An Entirely Synthetic Fish: How Rainbow Trout Beguiled America and Overran the World- https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt1nq8bk Mushrooms and Other Fungi- https://www.nps.gov/mora/learn/nature/mushrooms.htm Salamanders from Virginia Herpetological Society- https://www.virginiaherpetologicalsociety.com/amphibians/salamanders/salamanders_of_virginia.htm

We thought this would be a minisode, but man do we like to talk! And talk we do about lots of the color morphin' things in the animal kingdom. On highlight are finches, flickers, warblers, and corn snakes! This one may leave you with more questions than answers, but wondering is half the fun isn't it?  Species Highlighted in this Episode: Yellow Warbler, Northern Flicker, House Finch, Corn Snake Check out the Catching Them ALL Blog Critter Links & More What Causes Birds to Show Weird Color Variations  How Birds Make Colorful Feathers  Geographic Variation in Animal Colour Polymorphisms and its Role in Speciation  Population Genomics of Mangrove Warblers: Looking for candidate genes in Costa Rica  Northern Flicker's Fascinating Color Differences Explained  10 Fun Facts about the House Finch  The Corn Snake Genetics Primer

It’s a back to school special! Courtney and April kick off their tales of what they did on their summer vacation starting with Courtney and the glamorous Razorbill and leading into a Choose Your Own Adventure book of April’s first 36 hours in Tulum, Mexico. Species Highlighted in this Episode: Razorbill, Social Flycatcher, Spiny Black Iguana, Thick-billed Flycatcher, Great Kiskadee Check out the Catching Them ALL Blog Critter Links & More Charitable Suggestion- https://www.3billionbirds.org/ Common Murre (Guillemot) Chick's First Flight- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4kqIXS1ruw The Extinction of the Great Auk- https://johnjames.audubon.org/extinction-great-auk We Chatted Invasive Species Spreading!- Here's how you can help! We Chatted Extinction (sobbing emoji)!- Here's how you can help!

Siblings unite! For this episode we talk MOTHS with our favorite theme song writer (and Courtney’s brother), Grayson Cody Harlow. Who knew moths and their host plants were so cool? Well… we did, but now you will too! Slight content warning, we talk adult beverages and Cody drops a minimal, non-bleepworthy cus. Episode Photo: Not Virginia Creeper nor a skeletonizer.  Species Highlighted in this Episode: Luna Moth, Crecopia Moth, Virginia Creeper Sphinx Moth, Clearwing species Check out the Catching Them ALL Blog Critter Links & More Mothman Legend (this is important): https://folklife.si.edu/magazine/mothman-point-pleasant-west-virginia  Virginia Creeper USDA Fact Sheet: https://plants.usda.gov/DocumentLibrary/factsheet/pdf/fs_paqu2.pdf  Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation (an article and a great charitable organization): https://xerces.org/blog/for-love-of-moths#:~:text=Moths%20play%20a%20vital%20role,settled%20down%20for%20the%20night.  Hickory Horned Devil (it's PG y'all, chill): https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/IN209

Did you want to learn more about grassland birds? Us too! April chats with October from the Piedmont Environmental Council about grassland birds and what efforts are being taken to protect them.  Species Highlighted in this Episode: Vultures, Obligate grassland birds, Non-obligate grassland birds Check out the Catching Them ALL Blog Critter Links & More Piedmont Environmental Council- https://www.pecva.org