I’M PRIVILEGED to observe a fascinating diversity of animals outside where I live, but the term “Outsider Animals” was new to me. It’s the title of a recent book by today’s guest, Marlene Zuk, a leading expert in behavioral evolution and a professor at the University of Minnesota. The book’s subtitle is “How the Creatures at the Margins of Our Lives Have the Most to Teach Us” (affiliate link), and among her subjects are ones that many gardeners may know—or think they know—like raccoons, cabbage white butterflies, cowbirds and snakes (like the garter snake, above, devouring one of “my” frogs in the garden some years ago). All these animals have one thing in common, she writes: “When we see them, we ask, what are you doing here?” Outsider animals were the topic of my conversation with Dr. Zuk, the Regents Professor of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior at the University of Minnesota, and a member of the National Academy of Sciences. Plus: Comment in the box near the bottom of the page for a chance to win a copy of the book. Read along as you listen to the April 13, 2026 edition of my public-radio show and podcast using the […]

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