Strange by Nature Podcast

It's finally here, EPISODE 300! It is hard to believe we've been at this for 300 episodes. A huge THANK YOU to our Patrons and all of our listeners who make this show possible. Thank you as well to everyone who sent in clips for the show. Here's what's on the plate this week. Kirk starts the show with a question. Is this shape Bubuo or Kiki? It turns out it isn't just humans who have a preference for what names go with shapes. Our long-time companions, dogs, have added to this strange field of research. Rachel is up next with the absolutely phenomenal discovery of cartwheeling snakes. Why slither away when you an turn yourself into a snake lasso and cartwheel away? Slow motion reveals this newly discovered ability is even stranger than we suspected. Finally, Victoria rounds out the show with a discussion of William's Syndrome. This strange deletion of genes in humans comes with a specific set of effects but new research is showing that gene deletions in wolves may have lead to the domestication of the first dogs.   Join us weekly for more strange nature. Our supporters on Patreon get every episode ad-free!  Support us: patreon.com/strangebynature Email us: [email protected] Visit us at: strangebynaturepodcast.com  where you can sign up for our episode emails.

This week, Victoria brings us the history behind "the vine that ate the south" a.k.a. Kudzu! She shares not only the history but also some hope that things might not be as bad as we think.  Kirk is up next with strange new research about the scarriest thing in the ocean. It turns out that Killer Whales/Orca are actually afraid of Pilot Whales.  Rachel must have had some leftover Halloween spirit in here because she rounds out the show this week with the Giant Amazonian bloodsucking leech.  This is LAST CALL for sending us your short voice memo to appear in episode 300. We need it by TOMORROW, Thursday, November 5th. Let us know your name, where you listen and what episode topic is most memorable for you. Send voice memos to [email protected]. Join us weekly for more strange nature. Our supporters on Patreon get every episode ad-free!  Support us: patreon.com/strangebynature Email us: [email protected]  

It's that time, Halloween is here. In a Spooky coincidence, somehow it finally happened. Rachel and Kirk brought the same topic to the show! Not the fear though, they took different angles on it so we ended up with a supercharged mega topic of The Plague and how it influenced Halloween. Victoria luckily did NOT research the plague this week, she bring us the story of the Vampire Moth! What an amazing topic for Halloween. Sit back, light a candle, eat some candy and come along on the journey to strangeness with us. Remember, this is your second to last week to turn in your audio recording for our 300th episode. Don't delay, you have until Thursday, November 5th to send your recording to [email protected].

Kirk takes us to Africa this week to meet the Bat-eared fox. This strange pseudo-fox has more teeth than other foxes and is the fastest chewer in the world. Rachel talks about weaver ants and some of their incredible feats. Finally, Victoria brings us the strange story of robots that are being used to restore poor soils in Australia. This is LAST CALL for sending us your short voice memo to appear in episode 300. Let us know your name, where you listen and what episode topic is most memorable for you. Send voice memos to [email protected]. Join us weekly for more strange nature. Our supporters on Patreon get every episode ad-free!  Support us: patreon.com/strangebynature Email us: [email protected]  

This week Victoria starts us off with one of the weirdest looking birds in the world. She presents...the Potoo. This strange muppet-looking bird can see with closed eyes and looks like a tree stump. Kirk then brings us the Longest Animal in the World, siphonophores, specifically, the string jelly. This bizarre super-organism is even longer than a blue whale! Rachel wraps up the show with a discussion of two libraries in Portugal that have for centuries used colonies of bats to keep insects from eating the books. Be sure to send us an audio clip with your name, where you listen and a favorite topic you remember and you have a chance to be included in our 300th episode! Send entries to [email protected] Join us weekly for more strange nature. Our supporters on Patreon get every episode ad-free!  Support us: patreon.com/strangebynature Email us: [email protected]  

Rachel starts us off with a surprising tubenose bat that hibernates where you'd least expect it...in the snow. Victoria tells us about the strange locomotion and other adaptations of the Sidewinder rattlesnake. Kirk takes us to Movile Cave, a world hidden from the rest of Earth for 5.5 million years and where life survives completely without the sun. Be sure to send us an audio clip with your name, where you listen and a favorite topic you remember and you have a chance to be included in our 300th episode! Send entries to [email protected] Join us weekly for more strange nature. Our supporters on Patreon get every episode ad-free!  Support us: patreon.com/strangebynature Email us: [email protected]  

There is still a tiny bit of time to get your submission in to be a part of the 300th episode. Use your phone to create a short voice memo and email it to [email protected]. Include your name, where you listen from and a topic from the show that has been memorable for you. Kirk kicks things off this week with the strange story of scientists who had people bury 2000 pairs of mens cotton underwear in their gardens to watch how they decompose. It seems silly but it was a very serious way to brig attention to the quality of soil. Rachel is up second and she brings us wondrous star-shaped sand from Japan. Found only in a few places on earth, these beaches are made of the star-shaped skeletons of microscopic creatures. Victoria brings us the absolutely bizarre looking sea creature, Salps. They look out of this world and their life cycle (and everything else about them) is equally strange. Join us weekly for more strange nature. Our supporters on Patreon get every episode ad-free!  Support us: patreon.com/strangebynature Email us: [email protected]

What a fun episode this week. We didn't intend to but all of our topics nicely tie together. Victoria starts us off with a creature feature on Bee Eaters. These fascinating birds eat stinging insects as a regular part of their diet and are unharmed by the process.  You know who else loves bees? The Brown Animal. Kirk talks about how the name for the large wild animal that eats honey was once taboo and the name "Bear" doesn't really mean bear.  Rachel rounds out the show with another in her running series of bears so this week we're learning about the Sloth Bear and their fabulous hairdos.  Be sure to send us an audio clip with your name, where you listen and a favorite topic you remember and you have a chance to be included in our 300th episode! Send entries to [email protected] Join us weekly for more strange nature. Our supporters on Patreon get every episode ad-free!  Support us: patreon.com/strangebynature Email us: [email protected]

Rachel starts off with a nearly unbelievable story about frogs that raise their young inside their stomachs for six weeks. Victoria brings us...the Tuna! What's strange about tuna? You'll have to listen to find out. Kirk wraps things up by revisiting the topic of the oldest animals on Earth by looking this time at the oldest living things (other than animals) and the numbers get ridiculous. Be sure to send us an audio clip with your name, where you listen and a favorite topic you remember and you have a chance to be included in our 300th episode! Send entries to [email protected] Join us weekly for more strange nature. Our supporters on Patreon get every episode ad-free!  Support us: patreon.com/strangebynature Email us: [email protected]

Kirk kicks off the show talking about the Rock Hyrax. These little furry critters have a wide array of strange things about them including being closely related to two very surprising and different relatives. Rachel stays in Africa with a deep dive on the White Rhino and surprising research that won the ignobel prize by figuring out if it is better to carry a rhino right side up or upside down. Victoria blows our minds by bringing us a story about sea cucumber "feet" that seem to be able to be torn off and stay alive for years! Be sure to send us an audio clip with your name, where you listen and a favorite topic you remember and you have a chance to be included in our 300th episode! Send entries to [email protected] Join us weekly for more strange nature. Our supporters on Patreon get every episode ad-free!  Support us: patreon.com/strangebynature Email us: [email protected]