Joining The Wild Life today is Dylan Beckham! She spent two years as a zookeeper caring for all sorts of exotics, including reptiles, invertebrates, fish, emus, wallabies, genets and Eurasian harvest mice. As a herpetology enthusiast, she was surprised to find it was the mice that stole her heart. This led to the development of her independent research project investigating their nesting behaviors in captivity, before ultimately leaving the zoo to pursue her passion for wildlife research. She...

Where there's smoke, there's fire. But when that fire tears through a landscape, what happens next? Today, we dive into the world of pyrophytic ecosystems—those that not only survive but thrive on fire. Our guide on today's journey is Ross Barreto, a master's student studying native plant population dynamics and spatial ecology. He's also an Urban Forester and likes to experiment with native plant propagation, seed production, and outplanting for restoration and horticulture purposes. We...

Welcome to The Wild Life! On today's episode, we have a fascinating guest: wildlife cinematographer Jake Davis. Jake’s career began by focusing on the wildlife of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. Growing up, he spent his summers in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, where the Teton Range's jagged peaks and abundant wildlife fostered a deep love for nature and a desire to share and preserve it. Today, while Jake travels the globe to film the stories of vulnerable wildlife, the Greater Yellowstone...

In this episode of The Wild Life, animal welfare scientist Maggie Herskowitz helps us navigate the tangled webs society has woven around the treatment of animals, both wild and domestic. Gray areas, moral calculations, trophy hunting, industrial-scale fishing and livestock, and the emerging field of conservation ethics. Our conversation spans a range of topics including sloth bears, baby chicks, wolves, porpoises, The Grind, social media's impact on monkeys, and the infamous case of Cecil the...

The world is full of science and, in turn, scientists, and not enough people who truly have that spark for communicating all of that discovery and wonder to the rest of the world. People like today's guest—Dr Carly Anne York (@BiologyCarly). She's an Associate Professor at Lenoir-Rhyne University, an Animal Physiologist, a Science Communicator, and an Author. Today, science communication, children’s books, squid physiology, mindblowing animal facts, things that are true that are hard to...

Welcome to The Wild Life, the podcast where we explore the wonders of the natural world and the science that helps us understand it. In this episode, we have an extraordinary guest: Aidan Branney. When we first recorded this interview nearly a year ago, Aidan was working as the large carnivore scientific aid for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. Today, he’s a Presidential Research Fellow at the University of Georgia, where he studies large carnivores including lions, leopards,...

17 years ago, I was a 14 year old attending Connor Middle School in Hebron, Kentucky. Small little town, just across the Ohio River. In 2018, I moved away, back down to Houston, TX. But in the few years I was there, I met and became friends with some of the most amazing people, most of which I lost contact with over the years Then one day, sometime last year or so, a familiar name popped up on my feed—an old friend, and today’s guest. On today's episode, Dr Tiffany Slater tells us all about...

From their three hearts to their ability to transform and communicate, discover the extraordinary world of octopuses with host Devon Bowker and special guest Sy Montgomery, the "octopus whisperer" herself, and octopus expert Warren Carlyle, founder of OctoNation®. In a new adventure, Secrets of the Octopus, they dive deep into the secrets of the ocean's most enigmatic creatures, exploring the latest revelations in octopus research and conservation efforts. With captivating storytelling and...

In this episode, Devon (@devonthenatureguy) sits down with Lauren Jackson (@lauren.queenofthewild on Instagram and HERp_trap_queen on TikTok) to chat about becoming a wildlife tech, woodpeckers, federal jobs, the friction of private land, scicomm and education, battles big and small, and above all else, love for the world around us. Support the show at www.patreon.com/thewildlife for as little as $1 per month

Today’s episode, social media SciComm, all things cephalopod, their super cool brains, their mind-blowing camouflage, RNA editing, peculiar romances, underappreciated "living fossils", and why octopuses are most definitely not aliens. All with special guest Meg Mindlin, Octopus Biologist Meg's Website Save the Ocean, Save the World Hoodie Meg's Sticker Club Support The Wild Life

In this episode, I sit down with Eric Eaton, author of Insectpedia: a Brief Compendium of Insect Lore, Wasps: The Astonishing Diversity of a Misunderstood Insect, and more! Wasps are far more diverse than the familiar yellowjackets and hornets that harass picnickers and build nests under the eaves of our homes. These amazing, mostly solitary creatures thrive in nearly every habitat on Earth, and their influence on our lives is overwhelmingly beneficial. Wasps are agents of pest control in...

This episode, which originally aired on March 24 2018, takes us all the way from Copenhagen to the rainforest of South America, from the belly of the beast to its excrement, as we explore nature’s Vampires. Our guest is Dr Marie Lisandra Zepeda Mendoza, who had recently finished her postdoc in Copenhagen, Denmark and whose recently published research on vampire bats and how they survive on such a peculiar diet is at the center of this story. If you'd like to support the creation of this show,...

Sharks are in the water. But is the ocean shark-infested, or shark-depleted? I sat down to talk with Dr Alexandra McInturf to find out. Learn more about Alexandra and her work Papers Referenced: Half a Century of Global Decline in Sharks and Rays Half a century of rising extinction risk of coral reef sharks and rays Global catches, exploitation rates, and rebuilding options for sharks Bycatch Solutions NOAA Link

Another stroll down memory lane as I revisit the second-ever guest episode of The Wild Life, Myth-Understood: Busting Bat Myths and Mistruths with Liz Dengate from March 6th of 2018. If you'd like to support the creation of this show, the blog, and my science communication efforts on social media, you can do so for as little as $1 per month at www.patreon.com/thewildlife This week we focus on an animal that has been the victim of superstition and fear for thousands of years. Despite what many...

This was the first ever episode of The Wild Life back in 2017, and it was never supposed to happen. That's right, The Wild Life, as a podcast, was an accident. The result of a series of unfortunate events. But that's life, isn't it? It happens in the most unexpected of ways. I never imagined that this is where I would be today, and I'm so incredibly grateful for the experience and all those who have been a part of it, as guests, as listeners, and as people who believed in the work I was doing...

It's been awhile. I think it's time for some reintroductions. I've spent a lot of time over the past year, 6 years really, reflecting on the journey so far, the ups and downs, the struggles, the wins, the change (oh, so much change), and I think I've finally landed comfortably with where I am and what I want this to be. I look forward to sharing my work and the perspectives of scientists from around the world with you every Wednesday as we explore the natural world, the dizzying amount of...

Ticks, for as small as they are, strike a disproportionate amount of fear and disgust into our hearts and minds (no matter what good they might do!). Perhaps it’s their arachnid nature. Maybe it’s the fact that they burrow their creepy mouthparts into your body and feast off of your blood. Oh yeah, and there’s Lyme Disease and the ever-increasing red meat allergies. Whatever the reason, one thing’s for certain— nothing quite warps our conceptions of reality like fear. For example, there’s a...

While it's true you should keep your distance, is there any truth to the tale of a tenacious porcupine shooting their quills? Have a question you want answered on the show? Send them over to [email protected]! Have your voice featured on the show when you send a voice memo recorded directly on your phone! Support the creation of The Wild Life for as little as $1 per month at www.patreon.com/thewildlife Transcript

Unfortunately, we can’t ask the worms directly, but it turns out that plenty of scientists have been asking this very question for, well, a very long time. Today, we explore the leading hypotheses for what drives worms to the surface for these rainy-day adventures. Have a question you want answered on the show? Send them over to [email protected]! Have your voice featured on the show when you send a voice memo recorded directly on your phone! Support the creation of The Wild Life for as...

Star Wars is as much a product of human ingenuity as it is a space odyssey. Just look at how they solved the Puffin Problem. Have a question you'd like answered on The Wild Life? Email me at [email protected]. You can even have your voice featured by sending a voice memo recorded directly on your phone! You can support the creation of The Wild Life for as little as $1 per month at www.patreon.com/thewildlife AND get exclusive perks as a bonus :) Transcript

Who doesn’t love goats? Especially baby ones. Their gait, their bleat, their tiny horns. But there comes a time in any goat interaction I’ve had where we lock eyes and I’m struck with a mixture of curiosity and unease.  On today's episode, why goats have rectangular pupils, their auto-leveling eyes, and a surprising connection to cuttlefish! Transcript Support The Wild Life Check out Avast! and Planthropology

Most would agree that Polar Bears are white, but there's more to the story than things may appear. Transcript Support The Wild Life at https://www.patreon.com/thewildlife for as little as $1 per month and check out Avast!, a pirate pod from my friend Paul Csomo

According to a paper published on August 24th, 2022 in the journal Royal Society Open Science, the Dugong is now “functionally extinct” in China. These gentle marine mammals, sometimes referred to as sea cows, are one of four species of the order Sirenia. They are the cousins of the Amazonian manatee, West Indian manatee, West African manatee, and the now extinct Steller’s sea cow. These peaceful creatures invoked myths of mermaids and fantasy, existing in Chinese waters for thousands of...

Ask yourself, when was the last time you saw a roseate rhinoceros, a bronzed bunting, or a peeling porcupine? Can other animals get sunburns? Transcript Support The Wild Life