Gone grabblin'!

Forget your pole... if you want to catch the biggest, meanest catfish out there... you gotta use your hand. In the August 26th show, we heard a Nature Stories podcast out of Mississippi in which Doc Harrington describes how best to grabble.

We also listened to a recorded version of The Auklet from 1977, a lampoon publication put out by the American Ornithologists Union at their annual meeting (bird dorkdom at its finest). It included such gems as "Women's Lib. and the search for Graduate Students" and "Patience in Mistnetting by George Junkie".

In the news, They Might Be Giants have come out with a new album all about science. We heard an interview they did for Nature Podcasts. Check out their website for more news.

For the news in nature, we learned about:

• prosthetics for animals (like Lucky the Turtle, right)
  
• swapping DNA to avoid inherited diseases, and
• flowers that mimic the distress pheromones of bees to attract bee-predators for pollination.

Alas, we ran out of time for the sound quiz... but we did hear from such artists as: Primus, The Books, Aphex Twin, Brian Eno, Blockhead, TV on the Radio, Al Green, Nat King Cole, Josh Rouse, Ratatat, The Beatles, and the Pixies. Lots of music this week!

Pygmy Marmosets Grooming at the Philly Zoo

Here's a video of pygmy marmosets grooming one another at the Philadelphia Zoo. These are the smallest of the monkeys - weighing in at around 4.5 oz. They live in the rainforests of South America. An interesting things about these guys is that they are gummivores, meaning that they gouge the bark of trees with their elongated lower incisors to release sap or gum, which they then lap up. I was SO excited to see them close up because you could actually see their miniature underbites. For more on these little cuties, click here.

I just had to include the picture below to show how tiny their offspring are. These marmosets reproduce by twinning, meaning they have two offspring at a time. The young cling to their family members as the troop moves through the canopy in search of food.

A little taste of man vs. nature

I wrote a little ditty for the August 19th show, and it goes something like this:

Oh Great Pacific Garbage Patch
Your trash a turtle mouth does catch
And airplanes do get in the way
Of migrating birds on their flyway
Why does man have to make
Our presence appear such a mistake?

So you might guess that we covered some ways in which man and nature collide, including the article that definitively linked the US Airways Flight 1549 crash to an air collision with Canada Geese. We also learned about some current research regarding the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, which is a clump of trash the size of Texas swirling in the Pacific Gyre.

As for the news in nature, we learned about:

• biting back on World Mosquito Day
  
• a bird behavior experiment that gives credit to one of Aesop's fables
• a new set of twin pandas at a rescue center in China
• and much more!

We spent some time listening to an awesome record of nocturnal bird vocalizations that I scored at the annual conference for the American Ornithologists' Union in Philadelphia. To carry on the theme, the sound quiz was all about owls like the Great-horned Owl and the Northern Saw-whet Owl... my favorite! You should google images for this owl for some seriousness cuteness.

And your mouse can sing

La-te-da! For the July 29th show, we heard from animals that you might not typically think of as being big noise makers. For example, did you know that mice can sing? Oh yes... of course you did. Ever wonder why? If you've learned anything from listening to this show, you probably guessed it's sex. Well... you're right!

Another oddball in the noisy animal world is the midshipman, a fish that vibrates its swimbladder to attracts mates. Hear what one sounds like at npr.org or watch video here.

We also talked about how to get rid of pesky animals in a friendly way by visiting a webpage for how to get rid of things. I recommended visiting the site Bird-X for gear and tips for getting rid of nuisance birds specifically.

As for the news in nature, we learned how:

• little creatures can stir big oceans
• toucans keep cool
• jays use their ninja skills to keep from being robbed

For our animal sound quiz, we heard from midshipman, singing mice, a pika, a bonefish, and a back-swimming congo catfish.

Music featured included The Wrens, Bert Jansch, PJ Harvey, Pavement, Paul McGrattan, Joanna Newsom, The United States of America, Modest Mouse, Catfish Haven, and Animal Collective.

Ornithology I

Deviating a bit from the usual show, on July 22nd I featured music provided by my future father-in-law, David Peeples. He called the mix 'Ornithology I' because each of the songs has something to do with birds.

Artists included: Jerry Douglas, The Everly Brothers, Tom Leher, Tennessee Ernie Ford, Leon Russell, and more! Check out the links for samples of the music, or check out the entire show for one big serving of bird.

Herp-mania!

For the July 8th show, I had a James Van Dyke, a graduate student in the Biological Sciences Department, join me in the studio for a chat about issues concerning invasive reptiles in the United States. We also touched on how pesticides used by your local "bug-man" could harm non-target animals such as lizards.

As for the news in nature, I featured the following articles:

• Cancer DOES discriminate
• Human sperm created by British scientists (although you should check out this follow-up)
  
• Center for Biological Diversity suing EPA over pesticides in polar bears

As for the sound quiz, we heard from the likes of alligators, rattlesnakes, frogs, and toads.

Music featured included Matt Pond PA, Jose Gonzalez, Built to Spill, Modest Mouse, and Mirah.

Mayfly + Herbie = Bacon

That equation makes no sense you might say... but if you give a listen to the July 1st show, it will all become clear. I had a special guest in Pablo Andres Bacon, a graduate student in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Arkansas. He studies mayflies and their habitat here in Arkansas. He spoke to us about his project as well as his love for Herbie Hancock. We got to hear a lot from Herbie, including how he believes women are as delicate as butterflies.

As for the news in nature we learned about evolution heating up in the tropics and how salamanders keep from regrowing tails where their arms should be.

For the sound quiz, we covered the realm of crickets. Including the confused ground cricket pictured here. For more on singing insects of North America, visit this website.

Music featured included: Curtis Mayfield, Neil Young, The Maybelles, Elvis Perkins, Belle and Sebastian, and of course... Mr. Hancock himself.

Are ya hungry?

For the June 24th show, we talked about some questionably delectable dishes from the natural world. Could I interest you in a spot of blood? If you were a tick... you would say "Yes, please"! Ticks are a part of summer if you spend time in the woods of Arkansas. Just coming back from the field... I can say that I've had many ticks try to make a meal of me recently. Some have succeeded... others have met my friend the lighter. Whether you're a friend or foe of ticks, you have to admit that they are persistent and well-adapted little buggers. The folks at Living Healthy podcasts agreed.

Another "tasty" treat we featured were aquatic turtles... although I'll say right now that I'm not a fan of freshwater turtle harvests. But... apparently there are those who are because the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission recently shot down a proposal to ban freshwater turtle harvests for commercial purposes. What does this mean for our fine, scaled friends? That's just the problem... we don't know! We don't know how populations of Arkansas turtles are doing right now... which makes frequent harvesting a dangerous idea.

Stories featured in the news in nature included a study with evidence that suggests birds did not descend directly from reptiles, the big C in animal populations, and a 35,000 year old flute found in Germany.

For the sound quiz, we heard a random smattering of creatures from our stories of the day: tortugas making sweet love, beluga whales, elephants, canaries, and Stephen Colbert, Jr. (aka a Bald Eagle).

Music featured included: Devendra Banhart, The Knife, The Cure, Radiohead, Calexico, Tortoise, Johnny Cash, James Brown, and Aphex Twin.

Back in the saddle again.

Nature You Should Know is back this week - same day, DIFFERENT TIME. For the summer, we'll be on Wednesday nights 8-10pm CST.

Tune in this week for discussions on ticks and aquatic turtles and dinosaur-birds, oh my!

In the field and out of touch

I'm officially in the field doing my research on the effects of forest disturbance (e.g. fire, ice, oak decline) on breeding birds of the Ozarks. I regret that I wasn't able to post decent summaries of my final three shows before the break, but with family visits, graduations, and field prep... somehow I didn't find time. I will post the links to the shows now and hopefully get a chance to write standard recaps once I return to the world of technology. For now, it's all birds, vegetation, and arthropods for Mojo!

April 22nd: Earth Day Extravaganza

April 29th: 100% Pure New Zealand

May 6th: Baby's on Fire