Strange by Nature Podcast

Kirk starts us off with a strange nematode parasite that causes spiders to drown themselves. Rachel also takes us to the water but we don't want to get in. She tells us about Lake Natron, a lake that will calcify anything that dies it in it and turn you to stone. Victoria tells us about cordyceps fungus and how it zombifies the insects it infects and causes them to engage in strange behaviors. Joi...

Victoria takes a page from Kirk and brings us to space with some weird facts about Mars and how it got where it is. Kirk breaks our brains with a genealogy puzzle. When was the most recent common ancestor to all humans alive? The answer is bizarre. Rachel doesn't want to break our brains so she brings us a beautiful rainbow sea jelly. Join us weekly for more strange nature. Our supporters on Patre...

Rachel tells us this week about spiny rats. These strange little mammals can actually drop their tails when in danger. Victoria brings us the fascinating topic of fasciation, when plant flowers go a bit wrong. These blooms get really weird. Kirk rounds out the show by talking about how plants are master manipulators and this time we discover that they can mimic the smell of ants attacked by spider...

Rachel shocks no one when she goes back to the ocean this week and comes up with the rather strange looking Goosefish. Not to be outdone, Victoria takes us to Brazil to see glowing termite mounds. It turns out, the glowing is actually click beetles. Join us weekly for more strange nature. Our supporters on Patreon get every episode ad-free!  Support us:  patreon.com/strangebynature Email us:  cont...

This week Victoria tells us all about the bizarre process of Anting. What's that? That's when birds cover themselves with ants. Yeah, it's strange. Rachel follows that up with a story about the Hero Shrew, this cunning little guy is incredible and tough. Join us weekly for more strange nature. Our supporters on Patreon get every episode ad-free!  Support us:  patreon.com/strangebynature Email us: ...

This week, Victoria brought us the Sand Bubbler Crab. These guys are wild. Native to the Indo-pacific, they breathe though their legs and they hide out underground in a bubble of air during high tide. That's just one of the reasons this strange little animals is called the Sand Bubbler Crab. Kirk brings us some research trying to solve the mystery of why Damselfish dads eat some of the eggs they a...

Once again we're back with weird tales from thsi amazing planet we live on. This week, Rachel tells us about Ichneumon wasps. They may look like they are out of a horror movie but these giant insects don't harm humans. Victoria delves into the history books to tell us about a famous celebrity, Mike the Headless Chicken. Spring is a time of migration so naturally Kirk is talking about birds and how...

Kirk is up first this week and he brings us the wild truth behind Toad Licking. Rachel brings us a weird story of two unlikely buddies. Frogs and Tarantulas. Their relationship turns out to be beneficial to both. Victoria rounds out the show with a story of caterpillars that mimic snakes! The illusion is pretty amazing and even fools Rachel. Join us weekly for more strange nature. Our supporters o...

Welcome to another week of strange nature! Victoria goes first and brings us a story of an absolutely bizarre insect that seems to defy our rules of what an insect is. It has no common name so we give it one. We call this alien-like chest burster the Peek-a-boo Twisted-wing. Kirk takes the middle spot this week and he tells us about the only nocturnal monkeys in the world. Night Monkeys are specia...

Rachel starts us off this week with the totally awesome Honey Badger. They have abig reputation and they completely live up to it. From fighting lions to killing some of the most venomous snakes in the world, Honey Badgers are simply amazing. Victoria wasn't thinking this episode would come out Mother's Day week. However, coincidentally, she brings us a story about baby spiders that liquify the in...

Kirk revisits the Loneliest Tree in the World to tell us all about the (former) Loneliest Tree in the World. This week he tells us about the Tree of Ténéré. Rachel then brings us a completely nonsense endoparasitic crustacean that lives INSIDE of sea stars. Turns out Dendrogasters are truly bizarre. Victoria wraps things up with weird lizards that live above the arctic circle and some of the adapt...

Victoria is up first this week and she talks about the incredibly loud Pistol Shrimp. These little creatures make a sound as loud as a jackhammer with their claw. She shares more incredible facts about these wild critters as well. We're all impressed. Kirk is up second and also heads to the ocean and brings us the Headless Chicken Monster. What an amazing name. This sea cucumber is a fascinating d...

Hello Everyone and a big THANK YOU to our patrons for making this episode possible. Rachel starts off the show this week with another installment on her series about bears. This week, the Sun Bear. They are cool and all but they have a secret that is...just...it's so much. Victoria gets us into a sticky situation with chameleons. We know birds build nests to keep their eggs from falling to the gro...

This one is wild. Kirk brings us the disturbing tale of a woman in Greece who ended up with botfly maggots living up her nose. Rachel has a hard time making it though this story but we believe in you dear listeners. Rachel predictably goes back to the ocean and brings us a creature feature on the Blanket Octopus. These creatures have incredible differences in size between males and females. Victor...

This week Victoria takes us to the depths of the Mariana Trench. After taking us to the deepest cave in the world she felt it was only fair to visit the deepest spot on Earth! Kirk then brings us new research about how bumblebees survive having their homes flooded by spring snow melt. It turns out, they can survive for 8 days underwater! Rachel rounds out this week's show with the mystery of The A...

What a wild ride this week. We've all heard stories of someone needing their appendix removed but what if the only surgeon available is you? Rachel brings us a horrifying tale of a doctor in Antarctica who had to remove their own appendix. Victoria tells us the tale of African sleeping sickness. This nasty disease is spread by the tse-tse fly and humans are making strides in fighting both the dise...

Kirk starts the show this week with an odd story about Perceptual Narrowing. The long and short of it is that babies are better at remembering monkeys than you are. Rachel takes the second slot this week and bring us a story of one of the cutest little bats in the world. These odd creatures are one of the only mammals to get colors from the plants they eat. Let us introduce you to the Honduran Whi...

It's that time again, our annual anniversary show. Guest naturalist and friend of the show Brett Sieberer takes control of the snow and quizzes us about our past year of shows. He challenges us to pronounce nearly unpronouncable latin names, makes us make tough choices about the animals we talked about on the show and of course we play a rousing round of Eat, Ride, Jacket. Let us know which you wo...

This episode was made possible by our Patrons. Thank you! Victoria starts off today's show with a completely bizarre parasite. Usually parasites are secretive and don't want to be seen but the amazing Green Banded Broodsac absolutely loves attention and goes great lengths to be seen. Kirk is up next and, big surprise here, he has a bird story for us. It turns out that not only are New Caledonian C...

This episode was made possible by our Patrons. Thank you! Rachel kicks off the show this week by talking about the strange pollinators of the beautiful Red Hot Poker flowers. Turns out it is the Ethiopian wolf! This is an incredible and rare example of pollination by large mammals. Victoria is up next and she brings us the mysterious case of the all-female population of whiptail lizards. This popu...

Kirk starts us off this week with the bizarre story of a form of life that literally feeds on radiation. Found growing in Chernobyl, radiotrophic fungi are strange and amazing. Rachel tells us about a medieval potion from Bald's Leechbook containing garlic, onion, wine, and ox bile that scientists have discovered kills up to 90 percent of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Victoria lets us know about...

Victoria is back with us this week and she kicks things off with a doozy of a story about a species of bark lice that has undergone a complete swapping of genitals between males and females. It's a very cool story but has frank discussions of reproductive parts so parents feel free to decide if you're ready for those discussions with your young ones. Kirk is up next with a story about Redheads! Su...

Kirk kicks things off this week with a wild story about how the magnetic field of the Earth has completely flipped in the past. The European Space Agency recently used data sonification to help people better understand this bizarre event.  Rachel heads to South America to let us know about a new species of scorpion recently discovered that can actually shoot their venom at foes. This is the first...

Rachel starts us off this week with the strange Box Jellyfish. This is an animal you don't want to get mixed up with. Kirk never wants to go in the ocean again. Speaking of Kirk, and speaking of strange, this week he's talking about Yams. Not any old yam, this one particular species does something never before seen in a plant anywhere else on Earth. It tricks birds into helping it reproduce asexua...

Hello Everyone and thanks for listening this week. Kirk kicks things off with a story about Vampire bats that just won't learn their lesson. In fact, they aren't able to. New research shows vampire bats may be the only mammal that doesn't develop food aversions after eating bad food. Rachel is up next and she tells us about the tricky Harlequin bug. It comes in so many colors and varieties, scient...