Strange by Nature Podcast

This week Victoria starts us off with one of the weirdest looking birds in the world. She presents...the Potoo. This strange muppet-looking bird can see with closed eyes and looks like a tree stump.

Kirk then brings us the Longest Animal in the World, siphonophores, specifically, the string jelly. This bizarre super-organism is even longer than a blue whale!

Rachel wraps up the show with a discussion of two libraries in Portugal that have for centuries used colonies of bats to keep insects from eating the books.

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Rachel starts us off with a surprising tubenose bat that hibernates where you'd least expect it...in the snow.

Victoria tells us about the strange locomotion and other adaptations of the Sidewinder rattlesnake.

Kirk takes us to Movile Cave, a world hidden from the rest of Earth for 5.5 million years and where life survives completely without the sun.

Be sure to send us an audio clip with your name, where you listen and a favorite topic you remember and you have a chance to be included in our 300th episode! Send entries to contact@strangebynaturepodcast.com

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

There is still a tiny bit of time to get your submission in to be a part of the 300th episode. Use your phone to create a short voice memo and email it to contact@strangebynaturepodcast.com. Include your name, where you listen from and a topic from the show that has been memorable for you.

Kirk kicks things off this week with the strange story of scientists who had people bury 2000 pairs of mens cotton underwear in their gardens to watch how they decompose. It seems silly but it was a very serious way to brig attention to the quality of soil.

Rachel is up second and she brings us wondrous star-shaped sand from Japan. Found only in a few places on earth, these beaches are made of the star-shaped skeletons of microscopic creatures.

Victoria brings us the absolutely bizarre looking sea creature, Salps. They look out of this world and their life cycle (and everything else about them) is equally strange.

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What a fun episode this week. We didn't intend to but all of our topics nicely tie together.

Victoria starts us off with a creature feature on Bee Eaters. These fascinating birds eat stinging insects as a regular part of their diet and are unharmed by the process. 

You know who else loves bees? The Brown Animal. Kirk talks about how the name for the large wild animal that eats honey was once taboo and the name "Bear" doesn't really mean bear. 

Rachel rounds out the show with another in her running series of bears so this week we're learning about the Sloth Bear and their fabulous hairdos. 

Be sure to send us an audio clip with your name, where you listen and a favorite topic you remember and you have a chance to be included in our 300th episode! Send entries to contact@strangebynaturepodcast.com

Join us weekly for more strange nature. Our supporters on Patreon get every episode ad-free! 

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Email us: contact@strangebynaturepodcast.com

Rachel starts off with a nearly unbelievable story about frogs that raise their young inside their stomachs for six weeks.

Victoria brings us...the Tuna! What's strange about tuna? You'll have to listen to find out.

Kirk wraps things up by revisiting the topic of the oldest animals on Earth by looking this time at the oldest living things (other than animals) and the numbers get ridiculous.

Be sure to send us an audio clip with your name, where you listen and a favorite topic you remember and you have a chance to be included in our 300th episode! Send entries to contact@strangebynaturepodcast.com

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