How is the story of tule elk tied to the story of California? What’s the difference between a grazer and a browser? Why do tule elk have such big feet? How much grazing is the right amount of grazing? Why do elk bugles sound like something straight out of a horror movie?  

Come with me and Orlando Rocha as we strike out in search of tule elk in the Grizzly Island Wildlife Area, and then join me and Tom Batter as we discuss the ecological importance of tule elk along with the ties between their story and the story of California. 

Historic range of California elk subspecies

Current (2017) range of California elk subspecies

Read more about Henry Miller, “the cattle king of California”

Thank you so much to Steve Shepard of The Natural Curiosity Project podcast for sharing the elk bugle audio. 

Tule Elk photo by Katie Booth / National Park Service

Support Golden State Naturalist on ⁠Patreon⁠ and get perks starting at $4/month. 

Follow me on ⁠Instagram⁠. 

My website is ⁠goldenstatenaturalist.com⁠. 

Merch 

Listen next: ⁠Central Valley Water and Wetlands with Ellen Wehr⁠ 

Did you know that California's Central Valley once contained a vast inland sea and was home to camels,  400 lb. saber-toothed salmon, and tiny four-tusked mastodons? Or that, just a couple of hundred years ago, it was a network of wetlands, peat bogs, riparian forests, and shallow lakes? So how did this place that was once so defined by an abundance of water become somewhere marked by water-related controversy? 

Come along with me and Ellen Wehr as we discuss the history of this remarkable Valley, the wetlands that remain, and what we can do to both protect and coexist with the many species that still call the Central Valley home today. 

Links: 

Fossils! 

NatGeo on Estuaries 

NOAA Life in an Estuary 

Native Tules 

Nisenan Tribe 

Sinking Central Valley 

Wetlands of California's Central Valley (cool interactive map) 

You can find me on Instagram and Tiktok @goldenstatenaturalist

My website is www.goldenstatenaturalist.com

MERCH 

The theme song is called "i dunno" by grapes, and you can find it and the Creative Commons License here. 

Some animals plod across roads without hesitation. Others dart across quickly, while still more freeze at the sight of an oncoming car. A final group avoids roads altogether. Four distinct approaches, yet roads can have devastating impacts on animals regardless of their type of response. 

Thankfully, wildlife crossings can help. 

Join me and award-winning author Ben Goldfarb as we explore a fragment of old growth oak woodland, discussing how roads impact the environment and imagining a future that’s safer and more connected for humans and wildlife alike. 

Make sure to check out Ben’s book, Crossings: How Road Ecology is Shaping the Future of Our Planet, available just about everywhere books are sold.

If you’d like to buy Crossings from The Bookery in Placerville, you can reach out to Heather and Darin via DM on Instagram @bookeryplacerville or give them a call at (530) 626-6454. If you’re quick, you may even get a signed copy! They also carry Ben’s first book, Eager: The Surprising, Secret Life of Beavers and Why they Matter. 

Helpful Links: 

Ben’s Website

California Crossings Map by the Wildlands Network 

Report roadkill hotspots with CROS (California Roadkill Observation System) 

Support Golden State Naturalist on Patreon and get perks starting at $4/month. 

Follow me on Instagram. 

My website is goldenstatenaturalist.com. 

Bird song recordings are from Xeno-Canto. The western bluebird recording, XC237281, is by Denise Wright, and the Creative Commons license can be found here. The wrentit recording, XC408459, is by Frank Lambert, and the Creative Commons license can be found here. 

by John Carrel License.

The theme song is called “i dunno” by grapes and can be found here.

What are your top ten favorite California native species? 

Join me, Griff Griffith, and Michael Hawk as we joyously compile our collective top ten list (a veritable menagerie meets botanical garden) and discuss how we can help each species. 

Don’t forget to follow Nature’s Archive and Jumpstart Nature wherever you’re listening now.  

Learn more about the great work Jumpstart Nature is doing on their website. 

The cover photo is by Charles Hood, who is generously allowing me to use it for this episode.

Support Golden State Naturalist on Patreon and get perks starting at $4/month. 

Follow me on Instagram. 

My website is goldenstatenaturalist.com. 

The theme song is called “i dunno” by grapes and can be found here. 

Are coastal wetlands the same thing as estuaries? What about salt marshes? How can some plants grow in saltwater? Can I use them to salt my french fries? What’s an endangered river? Why do some birds build floating nests? Why should I visit nature that’s close to home? 

Join me and Empress Holliday as we explore the Tijuana Estuary to admire plants, gush over birds, and discuss everything from blue carbon to baby halibut.

Helpful Links:

⁠Divided Together Podcast⁠

⁠Tijuana Estuary (TRNERR) ⁠

⁠Endangered River⁠

⁠San Diego Coastkeeper⁠

You can find me on Instagram ⁠@goldenstatenaturalist⁠

My website is ⁠goldenstatenaturalist.com⁠

Support GSN on ⁠Patreon⁠ (and be first to know about Cafe Ohlone tickets!)

The song is called "i dunno" by grapes and can be found ⁠here⁠. 

What makes California such a great spot for snake diversity? Where does antivenom come from, and why is it so expensive? Can you really inoculate yourself against snake venom? How did evolving alongside snakes impact who we are as humans today? 

Join me and Michael Starkey, founder of Save the Snakes, as we get a close look at California snakes and then sit down to discuss bright blue snakes, snakes with legs, snake myths, evolutionary arms races, babysitter snakes, and how this diverse group of animals makes our lives better every single day.

Links:

Save the Snakes

Medicines derived from snake venom

GSN website

Get the GSN newsletter

Join the Patreon community

See GSN videos on Instagram

The song is called "i dunno" by grapes, and you can see the Creative Commons license here.

Greetings from the break between podcast seasons! Find out what I've been up to and where I'm headed next.

More to come soon!

Links:

Podcast Feedback Form. A 5-min. way to help a ton and be entered into a drawing! Yay!

Seaweed Class! Use code GOLDEN to get 20% off Allison's two-part course.

Patreon: Support the show and get perks!

My website is goldenstatenaturalist.com

Find me on Instagram @goldenstatenaturalist.

The theme song is called "i dunno" by grapes. Find the Creative Commons license here.

How do sea stars move around? Why am I jealous of giant green anemones? When's the best time to go tide pooling? Why is life so hard in the in the place where the ocean meets the land? How have so many creatures adapted to thrive in this strange place where two worlds meet?

Join me and Michelle Kunst as we explore the intertidal zone on the Northern California coast and discuss the incredible diversity of life that can be found there.

Links:

Trinidad Coastal Land Trust

Seaweed with Allison Poklemba

Orange Cup Coral

California Deep-Sea Corals

Southern California Tide Pools

My website is goldenstatenaturalist.com

Follow me @goldenstatenaturalist on Instagram and TikTok

The song is called "i dunno" by grapes and can be found here.

Indigenous people have lived in the place now known as California since time immemorial and are still here today.

In this episode, join me and Frank Lake as we discuss mutualistic relationships between Indigenous Californians and the land, traditional burning, oak orchards, the powerful ways Indigenous and Western knowledges can come together, common misconceptions about pre-colonial California, reciprocity, and how we can move from a mental model of scarcity to cultivating a shared abundance that leaves no one behind. 

Links:

Frank Lake

California Indian History Curriculum

Sue-Meg State Park

Slavery in California

Lightning safety tips

My website is goldenstatenaturalist.com

Support GSN on Patreon

Follow me on Instagram

Have you ever noticed a bee that looked a little…different? Maybe it was a bit fuzzier than a typical honey bee, or maybe it was obsidian black, bright orange, startlingly large, or as tiny as a gnat. Chances are, if you’ve seen a bee meeting any of these descriptions, you observed one of Earth’s 20,000 species of native bees (with around 1,600 of those species living in California). 

Join me and National Geographic Explorer, TEDx speaker, and community scientist Krystle Hickman as we head outside to find native bees and discuss the widely varied social lives of bees, bee architecture, whether or not honeybees are an invasive species, buzz pollination, where to find native bees near you, the potential of native bees in agriculture, and the importance of these beings not just to humans, but to entire ecosystems.

Follow Krystle @beesip on Instagram

Krystle's website

Native Bees of the Western United States (cards)

My website is goldenstatenaturalist.com

Find me on Instagram @goldenstatenaturalist

⁠Article⁠ on honey bee pollination outcomes compared with native bees.

The song is called "i dunno" by grapes, and the Creative Commons license can be found here.