The Cryptonaturalist

When a landscape chooses a rhyme scheme, we must join in the poetry.

This episode is written as a series of Shakespearean sonnets.

Hidden lore by Leslie J. Anderson

If you crawl into a burrow to meet its owner, it’s good to keep an open mind and a close eye on all your body parts.

Thank you to Jeffrey Cranor for playing Dr. Simon Blank. Jeffrey is a co-creator of a number of my favorite podcasts including Welcome to Night Vale. Give a listen to Jeffrey’s newest podcast Start with This. It’s a creativity and writing focused show and each episode centers around a topic from world building, to opening lines, and even failure.

Hidden lore by Tyver Foucault. Tyver can be found exploring the unusual places that radiate outward from Columbia, South Carolina. He has written over a thousand micro stories in the Strange Twitter sphere, and he welcomes you to read along on Twitter @TheDoorTHEDOOR

Cats are cats, even when they’re also trees or crustaceans.

This episode was co-written by Alice Pow. You can find Alice on twitter @AlicePow8. Special thanks to Matt Young for playing Skipper McCloud. You probably know Matt as Usidore the Blue from (one of my favorite podcasts) Hello from the Magic Tavern. The premiere of Magic Tavern season three that starts on July 22nd.

Hidden Lore poetry by Aspen Hougen. Aspen Hougen is a poet and anti-racist educator. She lives in Montana's Gallatin Valley with her wife and son. Find her on Twitter @anagyo_yo.

I don’t want to alarm you, but today’s creature is a lot closer to you than it is to me.

Angela Hall played by Jordan Cobb. Learn more about Jordan’s work at www.jordanvcobb.com or on Twitter @inkphemeral.

Hidden Lore poetry by Taylor A. Greene. Taylor A. Greene is a graduate student of archaeology at Ole Miss and a Kentucky native. His poetry is inspired by love, loss, and the beauty of Southern nature. His work has been featured in Rootstalk: A Prairie Journal. In lieu of a personal website, Taylor requests listeners "pay it forward" with love and joy.

Sound Effect Credits:

Splatter: https://freesound.org/people/Aegersum/sounds/344904/

Chitter: https://freesound.org/people/Tomoyo%20Ichijouji/sounds/279040/

Owl Screech: https://freesound.org/people/Yacob_l/sounds/397690/

This is a bonus episode from the CryptoNaturalist Patreon page. Subscribing to our Patreon page supports the show and unlocks more bonus content. Visit www.patreon.com/cryptonaturalist for details.

Winter Horses and Other Unknowables was written by Leslie J. Anderson

Find Leslie on twitter @inkhat or at www.lesliejanderson.com.

You are a cryptid worthy of study, a creature of the marshland night, a fascinating animal who is about to make a new friend.

Hidden Lore poetry by Jarod K. Anderson.

Please take a moment to leave a review for The CryptoNaturalist wherever you listen to this podcast.

Ambient wetland sound credit: https://freesound.org/people/tonant/sounds/260760/

Today we learn about the small, migratory songbird that’s bigger than all existence.

Holly Day’s poetry has recently appeared in Plainsongs, The Long Islander, and The Nashwaak Review. Her newest poetry collections are In This Place, She Is Her Own (Vegetarian Alcoholic Press), A Wall to Protect Your Eyes (Pski’s Porch Publishing), Folios of Dried Flowers and Pressed Birds (Cyberwit.net), Where We Went Wrong (Clare Songbirds Publishing), and Into the Cracks(Golden Antelope) .

You can’t always believe your ears and you shouldn’t trust cute, furry faces peering up from the sea.

This episode was thought-up and mostly written by the wonderfully talented Julia Schifini. Julia is a writer, sound designer, voice actor, and aspiring professional wrestler. She is the co-host and producer of Spirits, a boozy dive into myths and legends. She loves world-building, fancy cheese, and all things creepy and cool. She works with networks like Multitude Productions and The Whisperforge. You can hear her work on other shows such as Janus Descending, Tides, What’s the Frequency, 1994, and Greater Boston. (You can also hear her on episode 14 of this show.)

Our hidden lore piece “The Seaweed” was written by Doug Marshall. Doug Marshall, known to many as Spyglass, is a crepuscular gremlin of the twilight hours who engages in a variety of creative pursuits, including the creation of two podcasts: the science fiction anthology Starhopper Radio, and the upcoming actual-play tabletop RPG show called The Escape Artists. He is an avid consumer of fiction in many forms, a student of astrobiology, and an occasional world traveler on the side. He can be found under the handle of SpyglassRealms on Twitter, Instagram, and Tumblr.

The patchwork islands of greenery nestled on the edges of roadways hold secrets worth our attention.

Hidden Lore fiction by Olivia Williams. Olivia is a student of geoscience and literature. She writes short fiction, poetry, science articles, funding applications, and D&D sessions, but when she’s not doing any of that you can find her in the woods looking for cool fungus. Her writing and opinions about rocks live on Twitter @OliviaOnCampus.

Willow Armstrong was played by Lucille Valentine. Lucille Valentine is a desert rat masquerading as a voice actor, poet, visual artist, and LGBTQ+ community advocate whose works often include themes of poverty, womanhood, queer and trans experience, along with whatever her current existential crisis is. You can hear her in the podcasts The Six Disappearances of Ella McCray, the upcoming second season of Unplaced, among a number of other upcoming shows, or by pressing your ear up against a cactus skeleton on a windy night. You can find her disappointing every grammar elitist over on twitter @severelytrans.

Beneath our feet, the under hawks glide in search of shadows to pluck from the surface of the world.

Hidden Lore poetry by Eli Reeve. Eli is an aspiring artist and writer from Norway nesting in the jungles of Hawaii. Find her on Instagram at username eli.reeve (instagram.com/eli.reeve).