Taste! Stick out your tongue and read this out loud as you do so! Welcome to week 3 of our 5 week series on the five senses where we tongue the sense of taste like French kissing your high school boyfriend by looking closely at the tongues and tastes of snakes and catfish.Snakes, or nope-ropes, are known for that long forked tongue. But what's the point? The taste....or smell? Its kind of both, but since this episode is about taste, we talk about that (tune in next week for smell!). Working p...

VISION!! No, not WandaVision; but vision as in the thing that helps us and animals see! This is week 2 in our 5 week journey into the five senses. For vision we look at two animals that are known to have some of the best vision out there: Hawks and Cats. Join me, zookeeper Deidre, as we take a deep dive into the eye and find out how it functions. We learn somewhat fancy words like rods, cones, retina, and re-learn the word fovea from last episode. With the use of rods and cones we find ...

Touch! Today starts week 1 of our 5 week journey into the 5 senses. The Black Fire Beetle and Star-nosed Mole are the perfect amount of weird for us to focus on the sensation of touch. With the ability to feel and sense heat, the fire beetle (a member of the Jewel beetle family) is able to fly miles in search of a forest fires. Why? Is it to put it out, to mate, lay eggs, worship its savory the Fire God? I guess you'll have to listen to find out. As for the star nosed mole; their nose i...

Before you just slide on past this episode because the word tapeworm makes you cringe, I'd like to also let you know that once you listen to the tapeworm segment and its entirely you will be rewarded with cuteness! FENNEC FOX! Also these are two separate segments. I'm not talking about tapeworms foxes get, nor do all foxes have tapeworms, we're just learning about both independently of the other. With over 5,000 tapeworm species in the world (and multiple intestines) its no wonder they can gr...

Two words you might not have ever heard of frigatebird and gharial. I assure you that these are real words and most importantly, real animals. Both leave near the water. One shouldn't touch it as their feathers aren't waterproof... weird adaptation but okay. And the other can't get its stomach off the ground while on land. Frigate bird is a bird best known for that red drum that they use to seduce the ladies. However, they spend most of their time in the air... like they spend ALOT of time in...

The weird animals of today are the guanaco and cicadas.Don't change that channel as you get a chance to learn about the camel like guanaco; who is much more related to the llama then the alpaca. Nonetheless, all are ruminants with multiple stomach chambers! But as a camel they maybe missing one...This odd looking animals comes from multiple elevations of the Andes Mountain range of South America. 2021 is the year of noise! At least if you're a cicada. As their 17 years of slumber will come to...

To finish up Responsible Pet Ownership month we take a look at two exotic pet species: parrots and bearded dragon. Just the sound of an annoying parrot squawk should be enough for you to think twice before brining one into your home. Parrots are social birds: macaws, conures, cockatoos, you name it they are gregarious. And when you bring one into your home you can bet that they are going to need some attention...did I say some, I meant LOTS! Think of them like a child...a two year old child b...

Happy (belated) Valentines Day!What is love? I don't know, I've been single for a VERY long time, but I do know how the barnacle and spotted hyena show their love...or urge to mate. Since it (was just) Valentines Day I thought it best to talk about two animals who have some amazing love parts... the penis and pseudo-penis. Also sperm.Just how long is a barnacle's penis you ask?What is a penis range? And what does it have to do with spermcasting?How long is the birth canal of a spotted hyena?W...

Happy Chinese New Year!Today we look at 2020's Chinese Zodiac and 2021's and tell the tale of how and why there are 12 animals in the Chinese calendar. We start with 2020, the year of the rat. And even though 2020 sucked, DON'T BLAME THE RAT! If anything they were the perfect animal to tackle such a horrible year. In today's world rats do everything from make great pets, giggle, play basketball and win bomb sniffing awards! Rats are amazing!2021 is the year of the ox. Yes the cow. Learn the C...

HAPPY RESPONSIBLE PET OWNERSHIP MONTH!! February is responsible pet ownership month; that means this week we will be looking at two of our domestic friends (we'll look at exotic pet ownership during the last week of this month)! The domestic dog and domestic rabbit. What's the best breed of dog? Well, that's a matter of opinion. My opinion is my dog, Dolly, who just happens to be a mutt (half amazing, half terrific). If you are considering bringing a dog in to her home then consider...