Strange by Nature Podcast

Hello Everyone, time for another weekly dose of weird. This week, Victoria kicks things off with a story about Brown-headed cowbirds and their amazing nesting strategy of being nest parasitizers.  Rachel then stinks up the place with a deep dive on those cuddly creatures...skunks.  Join us weekly for more strange nature. Our supporters on Patreon get every episode ad-free!  Support us: patreon.com...

This week we've got two amazing stories that couldn't be more different. Rachel spins a tale that spans millions of years. Could the explosion of life during the Ordovician have been the result of meteor impacts? Could those meteors have come from a time when Earth had rings like Saturn? She explores this possibility this week! Victoria is up next and scoops Rachel with a topic off her secret list...

Victoria kicks off the show this week with yet another flying animal that usually can't fly. She's brought us flying snakes and flying spiders, how about flying fish? Kirk takes us on a winding journey connecting the dots over millions of years of history to connect a high-school sex-ed class with Sue the T-rex and an ancient protozoan disease. Rachel rounds out the show with the Secretary Bird. A...

Rachel brings us the beautiful and disgusting Bradford pear this week. Thank you? Victoria takes us deep underground to discover mind-blowingly large gypsum crystals discovered deep in the earth in Mexico. Kirk round out this week's show with the strange mystery of a toad with eyes in mouth. Join us weekly for more strange nature. Our supporters on Patreon get every episode ad-free!  Support us: p...

Kirk starts off the show with the mysterious story of the Basra Grain Poisoning of 1971, a terrible story of the dangers of methylmercury. Rachel is up next with the amazing story of Lake Baikal, the oldest and deepest freshwater lake on Earth.  Victoria rounds out this week's show by talking about animal asymmetry. Turns out, not all animals are symmetrical and they can get real weird.  Join us w...

Victoria starts us off with a wealth of information about hermit crabs and the strange process of shell swapping. Kirk brings us the strange tale of Conan the Bacterium, a bacterium that can withstand amazing amounts of radiation and survive. Rachel wraps us up this week with...wait for it...even MORE facts about dandelions. Join us weekly for more strange nature. Our supporters on Patreon get eve...

What's so strange about Dandelions? That's a good question and Rachel gets to the bottom of it. Victoria is up next with some wild research into just how large of an object a snake can swallow. Kirk rounds out this week's show with a creature feature about a strange mole-like creature in Europe that is a relic of the past. Join us weekly for more strange nature. Our supporters on Patreon get every...

Kirk brings the strange tale of the King's Lomatia, quite possibly the oldest living plant on Earth. It is a strange tree that has lost the ability to sexually reproduce and yet...it keeps on living for thousands of years. Rachel has a doozy of a story about a man who let himself be bitten by venomous snakes over and over and over. Now he's helping scientists make a better anti-venom. Victoria tra...

This week, Victoria starts us off with a discussion probably not suitable for all ages by talking about the massive penis of the Serotine Bat. It's a lot to take in. Kirk then shares the remarkable story of a palm tree that both flowers and fruits completely underground. Rachel rounds out this week's show talking about the fastest moving predatory appendage in the animal kingdom. The jaws of the T...

Rachel kicks off this week show with the strange colonial creatures of the sea known as "By the Wind Sailors." Victoria makes us all a bit uncomfortable talking about giant bird-eating spiders. Kirk encourages us to smack rocks with hammers as he explains the mysterious Ringing Rocks of Pennsylvania. Join us weekly for more strange nature. Our supporters on Patreon get every episode ad free!  Supp...

Kirk tells us about how scientists finally discovered the identity of a frog that had puzzled the scientific community for 80 years. Rachel tells us all about the Binturong, the bizarre bearcat that smells like buttered popcorn. In a salute to Mother's Day, Victoria tells us about the truly strange Sea Hares and her mom's research connection to them. Join us weekly for more strange nature. Our sup...

Anyone fancy a yawn? Victoria did some investigation into the strange phenomenon of social yawning. Are yawns really contagious? Kirk then brings us the story of the Bone Collector Moth. When it is a caterpillar, it creates a disguise by gluing dead bodies to itself. Yikes. Rachel rounds out the show with brand new research showing that sharks can make sounds! Join us weekly for more strange natur...

Victoria talks about the amazing tropical super-canopy tree the Almendro that actually seem to attract lightening in order to kill off the trees around them. Talk about a bad neighbor! Kirk then brings us the strange story of the Ruff, a shorebird with three distinct versions of males. They each have their own distinct plumage and role in the mating dance. One of them even disguises itself as a fe...

Kirk blows our minds with the age of Bristlecone Pines. Did you know there are living trees that predate the invention of written language? Victoria then has a doozy of a story about White-throated sparrows developing a new secondary sex chromosome. This bizarre occurrence means there are technically four different sexes of this bird instead of the regular two.   Join us weekly for more strange na...

Victoria starts us off this week with the surprising reason that blue-eyed white cats are often deaf. The reason is truly bizarre. Kirk brings us the story of an amazing adaption recently discovered in Hummingbirds. Researchers just discovered that the White-necked Jacobin have babies who's feathers perfectly mimic dangerous caterpillars in order to scare away predators. Rachel rounds out this wee...

Rachel is up first this week with a lighthearted study that investigated why banana peels are so slippery when stepped on. Victoria then swerves into Rachel's lane and takes us to Australia to investigate the origin of the Dingo. Kirk is up last and brings us the story of a newly discovered wasp from millions of years ago that had an amazing adaptation for trapping insects like a venus flytrap. Jo...

Are you ready for another wild episode? This week we have three wonderful stories for you. Kirk goes first with the astounding story of archerfish that not only have an amazing hunting adaptation but researchers just showed they can remember and pick out a human face when presented with over 40 options. Simply stunning. Who said fish have a bad memory? Rachel is up new with an update on one of the...

Here's your weekly dose of weird. Up first, Victoria revisits slime molds so she can tell us about a truly massive single cell organism. Kirk is up next answers the question, snakes can be venomous but can they be poisonous? We get to the bottom of this sneaky snake question. Rachel rounds out this week's show with a truly strange bird, the horned screamer. Find out all about it and hear the funky...

Welcome to the beginning of year 5 of the podcast. We're happy to have all of our amazing listeners along for the ride. Rachel kicks things off this year with the bizarre story of a fish that spends more time on land than in water. Welcome to the world of mud skippers. Victoria probes the depths of the ocean to unravel the mystery of Dark Oxygen. This finding has big implications for rare earth mi...

It's the end of our 4th year doing the show so that means it is time for our annual quiz show! Our Special guest Brett Sieberer is here once again to ask us strange questions that all relate to the past year of the show. Don't worry, your favorite game, "Eat, Ride or Jacket" is back for another round! Join us weekly for more strange nature. Our supporters on Patreon get every episode ad free! Supp...

Kirk kicks things off the the Medlar, an ancient fruit with a decidedly NSFW nickname. Maybe this one isn't for the kids.  Rachel then gets to the bottom of why people put grape leaves in pickle jars.  Victoria then bring us the horrifying story of the Loa Loa, otherwise known as the Eye Worm.  Join us weekly for more strange nature. Our supporters on Patreon get every episode ad free! Support us:...

Victoria starts things off with a bang this week and that bang is ants that explode their bodies releasing a toxic yellow goo epoxy to trap their attackers. It's just...wow. Kirk is up next with the strange case of disappearing stars. There are stars vanishing in the night sky and astronomers aren't sure why. Rachel rounds out this very strange episode with a story about a trapper who gave mouth-t...

Rachel tells us an astounding fact, the metal of the Titanic is being eaten by bacteria and could collapse in just 6 years. Victoria helpfully lets us know that beautiful beach sand is actually Parrotfish poop. Kirk is up last and he introduces us to the mystery of Fast Radio Bursts from outer space. Join us weekly for more strange nature. Our supporters on Patreon get every episode ad free! Suppo...

Kirk gets to start us out this week and he's all ears. Ears are weird but all those shapes actually mean something. Learn how the shape of an animal's ears can tell us about their habitat and behavior. Rachel is up next and she goes on on the ice to tackle the question of why does ice on lakes crack in the winter? It turns out it relates to some of the very strange properties of frozen water. Vict...

Victoria is up first with a mystery part of the cell and we have no idea what it does or why it is there but it is inside you right now. Learn more about the strange "Vaults" in our cells. Kirk is second this week and he brings us some new research into the strange social urination of animals. Rachel rounds out the episode with a creature feature on Kangaroo Rats/Kangaroo Mice. Support us: patreon...