From binoculars to bat detectors, and from thermal scopes to thermarest pillows, we all have our own preferences for mammalwatching gear. We are joined by Charles Hood and Fiona Reid to discuss our kit and share some packing hacks that can make life a little more comfortable on a trip ..... because any fool can be uncomfortable in the bush!

We had so much to talk about we decided to split this episode into 2 parts, though we didn't make a video.

Notes: Here is a list of some of the gear we about. And here are the exhibitors at the USA's National Rifle Association annual conference in 2022. Cover art - Travelling Light - by Charles Foley.

For more information visit www.mammalwatching.com/podcast

Dr Charles Foley is a mammalwatcher and biologist who, together with his wife Lara, spent 30 years studying elephants in Tanzania. They now run the Tanzania Conservation Research Program at the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago.

Jon Hall set up mammalwatching.com in 2005. Genetically Welsh, spiritually Australian, currently in New York City. He has looked for mammals in over 100 countries.

Produced and edited by Charles Foley.

We interview Tony Friend, legendary West Australian mammalogist, from his home in Albany, Australia. Tony talks about almost 40 years of work to save some of West Australia's iconic and wonderfully-named mammals including species like the Chudditch, Woylie and Dibbler. (And if you want to know what they look like you'll need to listen!) Tony talks about the rediscovery in the mid-1990s of Gilbert's Potoroo, a rabbit-sized kangaroo that was thought extinct for 100 years, that was hiding in plain sight. And he describes his role in ensuring that this, the world's rarest marsupial, survives today.

Notes: you can read more here about West Australian mammalwatching. Tony mentions local mammal watcher Jimmy Lamb and his Instagram feed is also well worth a visit. You can learn about Western Australia's Western Shield program to remove foxes and cats here. Cover art: Noolbenger or Honey Possum by Rob McLean.

Here is the YouTube trailer.

For more information visit www.mammalwatching.com/podcast

Dr Charles Foley is a mammalwatcher and biologist who, together with his wife Lara, spent 30 years studying elephants in Tanzania. They now run the Tanzania Conservation Research Program at the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago.

Jon Hall set up mammalwatching.com in 2005. Genetically Welsh, spiritually Australian, currently in New York City. He has looked for mammals in over 100 countries.

Produced and edited by Jon Hall & Charles Foley.

We interview Rob Foster from his home in Ontario, Canada about his work in the Canadian boreal forests and his frequent run-ins with Black and Grizzly bears. He describes an astonishing encounter with a predatory Black bear that he fought off for over 45 minutes in the back-woods with only a single can of bear spray and a pocket knife. He also dispenses good advice on how to protect yourself from bears if you are alone in the woods. 

Notes: Rob has a huge number of entries from his survey work on iNaturalist. The newspaper article highlighting Rob’s fight with the black bear is here. There are many trip reports on looking for Spectacled bears and Mountain tapirs on mammalwatching’s Ecuador page. Cover art – American black bear – by Dr. Rob Foster.

Here is the YouTube trailer.

For more information visit www.mammalwatching.com/podcast

Dr Charles Foley is a mammalwatcher and biologist who, together with his wife Lara, spent 30 years studying elephants in Tanzania. They now run the Tanzania Conservation Research Program at the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago.

Jon Hall set up mammalwatching.com in 2005. Genetically Welsh, spiritually Australian, currently in New York City. He has looked for mammals in over 100 countries.

Produced and edited by Charles Foley.

We interview British economist turned conservationist Terry Townshend from his home in Beijing. about the work he has done over the past 12 years in China and some of the mammals he has encountered along the way. Terry describes stumbling on the Valley of the Cats, and its Snow Leopards, thanks to two students who overslept their alarm. He explains why he thinks Tibetan people are some of the happiest and wealthiest on earth. And he recalls a mesmerizing encounter with a family of Pallas’s Cats was the best birthday present ever.

Notes: You can read more about the work of the Paulson Institute here and the ShanShui Conservation Center here or on Facebook. More information on the Valley of the Cats is here. Terry also runs the Birding Beijing site which also includes information on mammals.  Don’t forget the very many reports from China on mammalwatching.com. Terry also mentioned Sid Francis, a mammalwatching guide in Chengdu, as the best source of advice on Giant Pandas. You can email him here. Cover art: Pallas's Cat by Terry Townshend.

Here is the YouTube trailer.

For more information visit www.mammalwatching.com/podcast

Dr Charles Foley is a mammalwatcher and biologist who, together with his wife Lara, spent 30 years studying elephants in Tanzania. They now run the Tanzania Conservation Research Program at the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago.

Jon Hall set up mammalwatching.com in 2005. Genetically Welsh, spiritually Australian, currently in New York City. He has looked for mammals in over 100 countries.

Produced and edited by Jon Hall.

We interview world famous Danish mammalogist turned wildlife photographer Mogens Trolle from his home in Copenhagen. Mogens talks about the philosophy that underpins his photography and choice of subjects,  as  well as his earlier work as a wildlife guide then researcher in Brazil. He describes greeting a herd of 3000 migrating Saiga on the Russian steppes and coming face to face with a Jaguar in the Brazilian Pantanal. And he explains why the most sociable primates have the most interesting faces.

Notes: The major focus of Mogen's photography in recent years has been primates and his photo of a Proboscis Monkey - The Pose - won the Animal Portraits category of the 2020 Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition. You can follow him on Instagram and Facebook and see more of his wildlife portraits on his homepage. He's also published books on the wildlife of Africa, Greenland and the Galapagos (in Danish), as well as several mammalwatching reports including Mandrills in Gabon and Saiga Antelope on the Russian steppes. This is Charles's report on Lynxes in Minnesota, and here is Jon's on his Transylvanian Lynx. Cover art: Mandrill by Mogens Trolle.

Here is the YouTube trailer.

For more information visit www.mammalwatching.com/podcast

Dr Charles Foley is a mammalwatcher and biologist who, together with his wife Lara, spent 30 years studying elephants in Tanzania. They now run the Tanzania Conservation Research Program at the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago.

Jon Hall set up mammalwatching.com in 2005. Genetically Welsh, spiritually Australian, currently in New York City. He has looked for mammals in over 100 countries.

Produced and edited by Jon Hall.

Charles and Jon interview Chris & Mathilde Stuart - renowned wildlife researchers and authors - from their farm in South Africa. The Stuarts have had the sort of life many mammalwatchers can only dream of, searching and surveying for wildlife in much of Africa and beyond, including areas which had barely been studied before they arrived. They have written about 30 books and several apps over their long career. During this episode they explain how much work is involved in writing their field guides (answer: a lot!). Chris talks about rediscovering the Arabian Tahr in the United Arab Emirates, and Mathilde explains why her willingness one night to fill her pockets with frogs and small mammals was key to their budding romance.

Here is the YouTube trailer.

For more information visit www.mammalwatching.com/podcast

Notes: Chris and Mathilde's books are available in many book stores worldwide. Several of their books and apps have been reviewed on mammalwatching.com. Todd Pusser, who showed Charles and Jon a Red Wolf, a Golden Mouse and other North Carolinan mammals, takes wonderful photographs too.

Dr Charles Foley is a mammalwatcher and biologist who, together with his wife Lara, spent 30 years studying elephants in Tanzania. They now run the Tanzania Conservation Research Program at the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago.

Jon Hall set up mammalwatching.com in 2005. Genetically Welsh, spiritually Australian, currently in New York City. He has looked for mammals in over 100 countries.

Produced and edited by Charles Foley.

Charles and Jon interview Regina Ribeiro, arguably Brazil's top mammalwatching guide. Regina talks about her journey to become one of Brazil's first female wildlife guides, and runs through her own list of the Brazilian Big 5. She also talks about what can go wrong when you have to take a minibus along the Transpantaneira.

Here is the YouTube trailer.

For more information visit www.mammalwatching.com/podcast

Notes: Many trip reports featuring Regina are on mammalwatching's Brazil page, including Jon's first trip to Brazil in 2007. Information from the citizen science report on Jaguar's that Regina mentioned is here.  Cover art: Pantanal Jaguar, by Regina Ribeiro.

Dr Charles Foley is a mammalwatcher and biologist who, together with his wife Lara, spent 30 years studying elephants in Tanzania. They now run the Tanzania Conservation Research Program at the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago.

Jon Hall set up mammalwatching.com in 2005. Genetically Welsh, spiritually Australian, currently in New York City. He has looked for mammals in over 100 countries.

Produced and edited by Jon Hall.

Charles and Jon talk with Vladimir Dinets, naturalist extraordinaire, about his adventures travelling the world searching for wildlife. We hear about a quest to Pakistan to be the first biologist to see a Woolly Flying Squirrel in the wild; and how 48 hours inside a Mexican hollow tree is the perfect place to recover from the flu and look for black Jaguars. And he remembers his first near death encounter, when a 14 year old Vladimir had to battle a monster bear in Siberia. Plus we hear from Howard Frederick about the animal behind his recording of the mystery mammal in episode 18.

Here is the YouTube trailer.

Notes: Vladimir has a ton of trip reports up on mammalwatching.com : just search for "Dinets". He has many more adventures and reports on his own website. Vladimir has written several books including Dragon Songs about his work with crocodilians, and guides to finding the mammals of North America and Japan.

For more information visit www.mammalwatching.com/podcast

Cover Art: Vladimir Dinets in Siberia, 1997.

Dr Charles Foley is a mammalwatcher and biologist who, together with his wife Lara, spent 30 years studying elephants in Tanzania. They now run the Tanzania Conservation Research Program at the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago.

Jon Hall set up mammalwatching.com in 2005. Genetically Welsh, spiritually Australian, currently in New York City. He has looked for mammals in over 100 countries.

Produced and edited by Jon Hall & Charles Foley.

On New Year's Eve 2021, Ellesmere and Sierra Foley sat down with Patrick and Katy Hall to reflect on the highs and lows of growing up in a mammalwatching world. Ellesmere reveals the real reason to visit the Louvre, and Patrick gives tips on how to stare down a Tassie Devil. Sierra has an overly-close encounter with leeches. And Katy makes a shocking confession about feeling "lucky" to have had a mammalwatching childhood!

Plus try to identify a mysterious mammal call that Charles plays at the start of the episode. More than 99% of mammalwatchers won't know the answer.

Here is the YouTube trailer.

For more information visit www.mammalwatching.com/podcast

Notes: If you think you know what animal made the mysterious noises that Charles played at the start of the podcast please email us at [email protected]

Cover art: from left to right, Ellesmere, Sierra, Katy and Patrick on New Year's Eve, by Lara Foley.

Dr Charles Foley is a mammalwatcher and biologist who, together with his wife Lara, spent 30 years studying elephants in Tanzania. They now run the Tanzania Conservation Research Program at the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago.

Jon Hall set up mammalwatching.com in 2005. Genetically Welsh, spiritually Australian, currently in New York City. He has looked for mammals in over 100 countries.

Produced and edited by Jon Hall & Charles Foley.

Charles and Jon interview Bob Pitman, a marine ecologist from Oregon who has recently retired after spending more than 40 years working with the USA’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Bob has seen more cetacean species than anyone else on the planet - over 80 species of whales and dolphins in the wild - and has only a handful left to find. During a fascinating interview Bob discusses some of his work researching Killer Whales including the day he had a snowball fight with a pod of Orcas. He also talks about memorable encounters with mythical species like Pygmy Right Whales and the ghosts of the seas: the beaked whales.

Here is the YouTube trailer.

For more information visit www.mammalwatching.com/podcast

Notes: Here is a video of Bob working with Killer and Minke Whales in Antarctica. While this  page has great images and information on Bob's September 2021 expedition off of Oregon, where the cetaceans included Hubb's and Baird's Beaked Whales.

Cover art: Bob Pitman looking for beaked whales off of Oregon in 2021, by Todd Pusser.

Dr Charles Foley is a mammalwatcher and biologist who, together with his wife Lara, spent 30 years studying elephants in Tanzania. They now run the Tanzania Conservation Research Program at the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago.

Jon Hall set up mammalwatching.com in 2005. Genetically Welsh, spiritually Australian, currently in New York City. He has looked for mammals in over 100 countries.

Produced and edited by Charles Foley.