Dispatches from the Forest

Episode 39: Sea Turtles on the Seashore

Sea turtles are amazing creatures!  The largest species, the Leatherback Sea Turtle can grow to be over 1000 pounds.  Learn more about these ocean-dwelling reptiles on this episode!

Episode 38: The Bear Necessities

I know plenty of people that would hibernate through the winter if they could.  For the last episode of the year, we take a closer look at those iconic hibernators (or are they?) black bears, grizzly bears and polar bears.

Episode 37: Reindeer Games

You know Dasher and Dancer and Prancer and all the rest, but do you know all the amazing features that make Reindeer the perfect animal to pull Santa's sleigh?  Learn all about these amazing and unique members of the deer family!

Episode 36: Invasive Species

What's the difference between a native species, a non-native naturalized species and an invasive species?  Good question!  Listen to this week's episode and find out!

Episode 35: The Junk Drawer

I frequently find cool stuff that I want to talk about that just don't warrant their own episode, so this episode is dedicated to some of those critters.  Crayfish, dusky salamanders, ground beetles and a parasite that drives its host to drown itself.  Dig through the junk drawer of my observations!

Episode 34: Wonders from Down Under

On this episode we'll take a look at 3 "Non-placental" mammals from Australia: Wombats, Platypuses and Tasmanian Devils.  2 marsupials and a monotreme.  There's cube-shaped poop, butt slams, egg-layng, venom and a whole lot of teeth!  If you need a conversation starter for Thanksgiving dinner - this is the episode you need!

Episode 33: Creepy Crawlies

Continuing with a Halloween theme, this episode takes a closer look at some "Halloween adjacent" arthropods - the crawliest of the creepy crawlies: Centipedes and Millipedes.  Some of the first land animals on earth, Centipedes and Millipedes don't just have a lot of feet, they can perform a lot of feats - including glow in the dark - how cool is that?
 
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Episode 32: Who’s there? Just us Owls!

Welcome to spooky season!  In ancient Greece owls were associated with protection and wisdom, but sometime in the Middle Ages in Europe they became associated with witches - probably owing to the fact they were nocturnal and mysterious.  Learn about how these amazing birds and how they have evolved to be masters of the nighttime hunt!