Strange by Nature Podcast

This week we Rachel and Kirk both head to the ocean but or very different reasons.   Rachel tells us all about the Portuguese Man-O-War, one of the strangest creatures in the sea. Upon hearing the story, Kirk decides he may never swim in the ocean again.   Kirk brings us back to the sea again with a story about the time his ship almost fell victim to the North Sea and then fills us in on the pheno...

This week Kirk kicks things off with details of a fascinating study that determined which perfume tigers find most alluring. The implications for research are surprisingly useful.   Rachel takes on a listener suggestion and covers new research into the bizarre ability of Reindeer to eat while they sleep!   Join us weekly for more strange nature. Our supporters on Patreon get every episode ad free!...

This week Victoria starts us off by having us think about dinosaurs and why we haven't updated our portrayals of them based on new science. It turns out, T-Rex probably had lips.   Kirk then tells the tale of a time in the far distant past when birds ate our ancestors.   Rachel wraps things up this week with the bizarre tale of a moth with a surprising diet.   Join us weekly for more strange natur...

Rachel kicks off this week with a bizarre tale of a parasite that invades the nests of red ants, pretends to be their queen, works the ants to death, and eats their young all in a quest to become a beautiful butterfly.  Victoria takes us to Australia and asks the question, why are there so many poisonous animals there? Kirk rounds out the episode with the strange story of how volcanoes may be chan...

This week on the show, Kirk talks about how Beer saved his life (and yours.) Rachel then has a mystery animal that isn't anything like you would suspect from the name. The Mountain Chicken doesn't live in mountains, and isn't a chicken. It isn't even a bird. It is the biggest frog in the world. Weird.  Join us weekly for more strange nature. Our supporters on Patreon get every episode ad free!  Su...

Two great topics this week. Rachel tells us about mysterious rivers that flow under the ocean and Kirk tracks the history and evolution of the tongue! Join us weekly for more strange nature. Our supporters on Patreon get every episode ad free!  Support us: patreon.com/strangebynature Email us: contact@strangebynaturepodcast.com Visit us at: strangebynaturepodcast.com

This week, Kirk kicks things off by sharing some incredible research that shows it may be possible to induce a torpor/hibernation state in mammals with ultrasound. Rachel lets us know all about the Gopher Tortoise, and Victoria tell us all about the strange world of Mussel reproduction.  Join us weekly for more strange nature. Our supporters on Patreon get every episode ad free!  Support us: patre...

Hello Dear Listeners. Here's what we have for you this week. Victoria kicks things off by telling the tale of her recent encounter with one of the world's few venomous mammals and you'll never guess where she found it...her basement! Kirk invents a weird quiz about strange ways nature might try to kill you. Which is more likely, getting hit in the face by a duck while jet skiing or being gored by...

We had an absolute blast this week with the full crew. Rachel kicks us off by telling us exactly how strange Scallops really are. Are those eyes? Yup. Next up, Victoria tells us the story of the golf course with bull sharks in the water traps. Kirk then wraps things up by testing out how well the other hosts can spot a hidden snake in digitally altered images all to test out something called the S...

Kirk takes us on a journey to learn about where the smell of Musk comes from and along the way we find out about a problem with the synthetic versions that took our nostrils by storm starting in the 1990s. Rachel then tells the amazing story about how the physical structure of dragonfly wings can destroy bacteria just by coming into contact with it.  Support us: patreon.com/strangebynature Email u...

Rachel kicks things off this week with the most ridiculous looking spider ever. Seriously. This thing is bizarre and cool and completely stupid looking. Listen as we learn about the Pelican Spider. Kirk takes us on a real-life Hero's Journey to the briny depths of the Galapagos Spreading Zone where biologists got a little help finding a rich biological treasure below the waves.  Support us: patreo...

This week Kirk kirk kicks things off by talking about a fungus showing up somewhere unexpected.  Speaking of unexpected, Rachel shares a story about two species that were accidentally cross-bred in a lab when it shouldn't have been possible.  Victoria rounds out the show this week by talking about how weirdly we're all getting cooler over time.  Support us: patreon.com/strangebynature Email us: co...

Victoria brings us the amazing story of the world's first ever known fruit eating frog. Yeah, it pollinates flowers too.  Kirk delves into the Salt Cedar and tries to puzzle out whether or not invasive species really are to blame for being the way they are.  Rachel blows our minds by telling us about pollinators and flowering plants in the ocean. She presents new research on crustaceans as pollina...

This week, Rachel ask the question, "Can you tell if something is wet?" the answer may surprise you.  Kirk talks about a new surprising use for waste beer yeast, it just might be the key to clean drinking water.  Support us: patreon.com/strangebynature Email us: contact@strangebynaturepodcast.com Visit us at: strangebynaturepodcast.com

Kirk just can't help himself and goes with another episode about a parasite. Ladies and Germs, we present, the Rat Lung Worm.  Rachel keeps the infection theme going by talking about the first ever case of a cross-kingdom infection when a man was found to have a fungus growing in his throat.  Support us: patreon.com/strangebynature Email us: contact@strangebynaturepodcast.com Visit us at: strangeb...

Welcome to the Halloween Episode.  This week we have three spooky stories. Rachel talks about the terrifying Black Swallower Fish, Victoria bring us the story of Pirate Spiders and Kirk examines the smell of fear. Happy Halloween! Support us: patreon.com/strangebynature Email us: contact@strangebynaturepodcast.com Visit us at: strangebynaturepodcast.com

As we ramp up toward Halloween things really start to get weird. Kirk makes us all queasy by talking about Bot flies that prey on humans. Rachel brings us the bizarre looking Monkey Slug Caterpillar and Victoria tells us all about Cockroaches. We had a ton of fun this week, we hope you do too.  Support us: patreon.com/strangebynature Email us: contact@strangebynaturepodcast.com Visit us at: strang...

Victoria kicks things off with a bizarre story about Fire Beetles, a strange animals that actually goes TOWARD fire instead of away from it. Kirk then shares some disturbing news about powerful solar storms that could disable society and Rachel rounds out this week's show with the spookiest of near-Halloween topics...mistletoe? Oh yeah, we also answer a strange listener question about Pineapple. A...

Rachel starts us off this week with the strange history of Jackalopes. It seems they are a fairly recent fabrication and not real animals...or are they? The story is stranger than you may expect.  Kirk swerves into Rachel's lane this week and takes us to the depths of the ocean where the mysterious Volcano Snail lives aside hydrothermal vents and creates a shell and body covered in metallic armor....

Kirk brings some new science around Bamboo. Are we on the verge of a massive die-off? Rachel talks Cheetahs! Are they strange? Yup! Support us: patreon.com/strangebynature Email us: contact@strangebynaturepodcast.com Visit us at: strangebynaturepodcast.com

Victoria starts off this week making us squirm with the story of a worm in a woman's brain. Kirk then shares some strange facts about the Fossa, the main antagonist in the kids movie Madagascar that for sure did NOT make it into the cartoon and Rachel wraps things up this week where else but the ocean where she shares about an amazing and enormous colonial animal. Support us: patreon.com/strangeby...

The whole gang's back together this week and it ends up being an unplanned invertebrate extravaganza! Rachel blows our mind this week with new research that shows spiders dream, Victoria then talked about absolutely astounding ant super-colonies that span several countries in size. Kirk rounds out our invertebrate celebration with a story about an amazing new wasp named after the Dementors from Ha...

This week Kirk answers the question, "Can plants smell?" by looking at some really interesting experiments. Rachel then decides to rise to the occasion of talking about the weird world of yeasts.   Support us: patreon.com/strangebynature Email us: contact@strangebynaturepodcast.com Visit us at: strangebynaturepodcast.com

This week Rachel takes us (unsurprisingly) to the depths of the ocean to meet a bizarre and ancient creature while Kirk talks about how the smell of fresh cut grass may actually be a cry for help.    Support us: patreon.com/strangebynature Email us: contact@strangebynaturepodcast.com Visit us at: strangebynaturepodcast.com

Kirk kicks things off with a deep dive on Sea Devils, Rachel brings us the story of a squid that seems to have an invisibility cloak and Victoria tells us the tale of a strange bird that smells exactly like tangerines.    Support us: patreon.com/strangebynature Email us: contact@strangebynaturepodcast.com Visit us at: strangebynaturepodcast.com