Grace is basically synonymous with butterflies. The truth, however, is far...dirtier. Like poop, pee, blood, sweat, and tears dirty. After this, you'll never be able to look at one the same way again.

Oh, and also, stay tuned for a big announcement coming soon about the future of the podcast and The Wild Life. You're not going to want to miss it!

To read the blog version, visit https://thewildlife.blog/2018/08/18/mud-puddling-the-dirty-truth-about-butterflies/

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It’s #FossilFriday, and you know what that means—fossils. Big surprise, right? This week, with an unoriginal but begging to be used titular parody on the classic Star Trek episode ‘The Trouble with Tribbles”—we’re talking trilobites!

In the mid-season finale, Devon and Richard talk to Lucas Brotz, research associate at the Marine Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries at the University of British Columbia and a Cnidaria Scientist for Quantitative Aquatics, to discuss how a creature without a brain dominates the worlds oceans, and the many ways they impact our lives.

In this episode, Devon and Richard look into the void to unveil the cause of the once mysterious Deep Scattering Layer, taking you on a journey involving covert military research in World War 2, the largest migration on earth, shimmering creatures of the deep (and their food), and an organic machine responsible for capturing carbon and sinking it into the depths of the ocean.

In this episode, Devon and Richard explore the animal magnetism. No, not the kind you might be thinking. Instead, we're talking about the surprisingly common animal superpower which allows creatures all around the world, from the skies to the oceans, to sense the magnetic field of our planet.

We as humans often think of ourselves as unique. In this episode, we discover that we may not be as unique, or advanced, as we thought as we learn about amazing subterranean fungi farmers, cowboy insects, and a 55 million year old relationship that puts our use (or misuse) of antibiotics to shame. Special thanks to our guest for the episode, Dr Cameron Currie of UW-Madison.

In the Season 2 premier of The Wild Life, Devon attempts to settle an age old argument between him and his co-host by enlisting the help of renowned biochemist, professor, and author, Dr Nick Lane of the University College of London. The debate: is there complex alien life somewhere out there, or is it improbable that there is anything more than cellular life. We look to the improbable origins of complex life on earth in search of answers.

A random find while hiking that lead to a life history story that was unexpectedly fascinating.

Read more and see images of the find here: https://thewildlife.blog/2018/09/06/this-ghostly-parasitic-plant-survives-by-hacking-the-wood-wide-web/

In this short, Devon shares a story from thewildlife.blog of a hoarfrost christened hike he had last spring and explains how this magical rock candy frost phenomena occurs.

While we work on Season 2, I decided to begin a sub-series of shorts in which we take some of our most popular blog post and create audio versions. Now, something you may have read on the website (thewildlife.blog)will be available to listen to on the go! Be sure to stay on the lookout for Season 2 snippets and teasers.

If you've ever seen a gelatinous blob of ick floating in the water and wondered what type of alien life you were seeing, it was probably a Bryozoan, and they're honestly pretty neat.