Romance is in the air as Ellen commits to the trumpeter swan & Christian catches the lovebug bug. We discuss clown shoe runways, air horn duets, bird monogamy, a mysterious case of missing bugs, and the true meaning of going out with a bang.

Links:

• Trumpeter swan sound found here via freesound.org
• Learn more about native swan conservation & how you can help: Trumpeter Swan Society
• For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website!
• Follow Just the Zoo of Us on Threads, Facebook, Instagram & Discord!
• Follow Ellen on TikTok!

Join Ellen & science educator and nature hype man Nick VanAcker to sing praises for some of our favorite true bugs: cicadas! We discuss how and why cicada choruses sing the song of the summer, why they spend so much of their lives underground before emerging and what’s so special about prime numbers anyway, the real parasitic fungus that inspired a cicada-themed Pokémon, and so much more.

Links:

• Follow Nick on TikTok!
• Check out more of Nick's work at his website!
• For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website!
• Follow Just the Zoo of Us on Threads, Facebook, Instagram & Discord!
• Follow Ellen on TikTok!

Christian makes some noise for the Freddy Kreuger frog & Ellen picks a bouquet of bone-eating snot flowers. We discuss life as a mouth with legs, being born into literal Hunger Games, meme lore, whalefalls, and eating the bones.

Links:

• It Is Wednesday My Dudes
• Whale Fall (After Life of a Whale) by Sweet Fern Productions
• For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website!
• Follow Just the Zoo of Us on Threads, Facebook, Instagram & Discord!
• Follow Ellen on TikTok!

Join Ellen & special guest, deep sea biologist Dr. Thom Linley, for a literal deep dive into an animal that just might change the way you think about the creatures of the abyss: the ethereal snailfish. We discuss what it’s like to be among the first humans to ever see a species, life in the trenches - like, the actual Mariana trench, freedom from beauty norms and justice for the blobfish, slurping up meat-flavored jellybeans off the ocean floor, and the adorable side of the hadal zone.

Links:

• Check out Thom's podcast, Deep Sea Podcast!
• Follow the podcast on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram!
• Follow Thom on Twitter or Instagram!
• For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website!
• Follow Just the Zoo of Us on Threads, Facebook, Instagram & Discord!
• Follow Ellen on TikTok!

Ellen gets the zig-zagging zoomies with tiger beetles & Christian has an existential crisis over the giant siphonophore. We discuss the REAL fastest land animal on Earth, literally blinding speed, reverse Naruto running, world record technicalities, zooids (not Zoids),  and what it means to be an organism.

Links:

• For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website!
• Follow Just the Zoo of Us on Threads, Facebook, Instagram & Discord!
• Follow Ellen on TikTok!

Join Ellen & special guest, environmental educator Jamison Cole, for a review of our very own backyard apex predators: bobcats! We discuss topics including but not limited to tail nubs, ear tufts, coyote pee, the bobcat’s Final Smash, relationship tips from nature, tomcat jowls, and the interconnectedness of every member of the ecosystem from the tiniest rodent all the way up to the bald eagle.

Links:

• Check out the Ocean Advocacy Workshop and Plastic Ocean Project
• For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website!
• Follow Just the Zoo of Us on Threads, Facebook, Instagram & Discord!
• Follow Ellen on TikTok!

Ellen & Christian share stories, observations and inspiration from special guest: you! We discuss what sounds fish make, memory transfer via cannibalism, and what to do when you're attacked by a zebra. 

Links:

• For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website!
• Follow Just the Zoo of Us on Threads, Facebook, Instagram & Discord!
• Follow Ellen on TikTok!

Join Ellen & returning special guest, wildlife biologist Alex Troutman, for a review of some of our favorite mohawked chatterboxes: belted kingfishers. We discuss topics including but not limited to the vicious mockery of birds who fish better than us, biomimicry in train engineering, the truth behind Hollywood bird calls and lion roars, and stories from the field including spooky sounds in the forests of Borneo.

Links:

• Check out Alex's books, including Critters of Georgia: Pocket Guide to Animals in Your State!
• Learn more about Alex and his work over at his website!
• Follow Alex on Instagram and Twitter!
• For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website!
• Follow Just the Zoo of Us on Threads, Facebook, Instagram & Discord!
• Follow Ellen on TikTok!

We're out traveling this week! In the meantime, please enjoy this episode of Bugs Need Heroes, in which Ellen joined hosts Amanda Niday and Kelly Zimmerman for a conversation about bug-type Pokemon, the real-world bugs that inspired them, and the ecology we can learn from the world of Pokemon. Originally aired on the Bugs Need Heroes podcast on November 5, 2023.

Links:

• Get the original full version of the episode, including additional quiz segment, over at the Bugs Need Heroes podcast!
• Learn more about the podcast on their website!
• Follow Bugs Need Heroes on Instagram, Twitter and Reddit!
• Follow Just the Zoo of Us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram & Discord!
• Follow Ellen on TikTok!

Christian digs into the star-nosed mole & Ellen goes for a deep dive into the Devil's Hole pupfish. We discuss flowery tentacles, mole lore in Avatar: the Last Airbender, waves in the desert, a Supreme Court ruling, and the future ecological impacts of nuclear testing.

Links:

• For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website!
• Follow Just the Zoo of Us on Threads, Facebook, Instagram & Discord!
• Follow Ellen on TikTok!