Prairie dogs are a keystone species of the Great Plains, and as it turns out, they are AMAZING!  You may have FaceBook drama, but Prairie Dog social networking is almost as bad - and they have one of the most complicated vocal repertoires of any animal.  Take a look UNDER the prairie and learn more on this episode of the Dispatches from the Forest Podcast!

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"Oh give me a home, where the buffalo roam and the deer and the antelope play..."  But there were not actually buffalo or antelope roaming or playing.  You can learn more about bison and pronghorn - the ones that were roaming and playing with the deer on this episode of the Dispatches from the Forest Podcast!

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The recording of "Home on the Range" at the end of the episode is in the public domain.  It is sung by James Richardson and was recorded at the Raiford Penitentiary in Florida on March 6, 1939.

What's black and white and red all over?  A penguin with a sunburn!  Learn more about these flightless fowl of the south on this week's episode of the Dispatches from the Forest Podcast!

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Sea turtles are amazing creatures!  The largest species, the Leatherback Sea Turtle can grow to be over 1000 pounds.  Learn more about these ocean-dwelling reptiles on this episode!

I know plenty of people that would hibernate through the winter if they could.  For the last episode of the year, we take a closer look at those iconic hibernators (or are they?) black bears, grizzly bears and polar bears.

You know Dasher and Dancer and Prancer and all the rest, but do you know all the amazing features that make Reindeer the perfect animal to pull Santa's sleigh?  Learn all about these amazing and unique members of the deer family!

What's the difference between a native species, a non-native naturalized species and an invasive species?  Good question!  Listen to this week's episode and find out!

I frequently find cool stuff that I want to talk about that just don't warrant their own episode, so this episode is dedicated to some of those critters.  Crayfish, dusky salamanders, ground beetles and a parasite that drives its host to drown itself.  Dig through the junk drawer of my observations!

On this episode we'll take a look at 3 "Non-placental" mammals from Australia: Wombats, Platypuses and Tasmanian Devils.  2 marsupials and a monotreme.  There's cube-shaped poop, butt slams, egg-layng, venom and a whole lot of teeth!  If you need a conversation starter for Thanksgiving dinner - this is the episode you need!

Continuing with a Halloween theme, this episode takes a closer look at some "Halloween adjacent" arthropods - the crawliest of the creepy crawlies: Centipedes and Millipedes.  Some of the first land animals on earth, Centipedes and Millipedes don't just have a lot of feet, they can perform a lot of feats - including glow in the dark - how cool is that?

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