In this week's re-broadcast of an episode from April of 2023, Christian cheers for pom-pom crabs & Ellen explains what makes mourning doves so coo-l. We discuss how crabs clone their own pets,  what type of milk pigeons order in their lattes,  and a suspicious pattern of criminal activity.

Links:

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It's fall yall - time for Ellen and Christian to embark on a multi-generational odyssey with monarch butterflies. We discuss why butterflies are total heartstoppers and their style twins, real-life shinies, what's going on inside a chrysalis, an annual journey that takes multiple generations to finish, how to best support wild monarch butterflies, and so much more.

Works Cited:

• "Danaus plexippus" - U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
• “Predator induced colour polymorphism in Danaus plexippus L. (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae) in Hawaii” - John Stimson and Mark Berman, Heredity, March 1990
• “Comparative unpalatability of mimetic Viceroy butterflies (Limenitis archippus) from 4 South-Eastern United-States populations” - David B. Ritland, Oecologia, Jan 1995
• “What was learned?” - Monarch Watch,  University of Kansas
• "The phenomenal monarch migration" - Mara Koenig, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
• “An experimental displacement and over 50 years of tag-recoveries show that monarch butterflies are not true navigators” - Henrik Mouritsen et al., PNAS, April 2013
• "Joint Statement Regarding Captive Breeding and Releasing of Monarchs"
• “Is Captive Rearing Hurting Monarchs?” - Elizabeth Anne brown, National Wildlife Federation, March 2026

Links:

• For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website!
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Join Ellen & very special guest zookeeper and conservationist Alice Vassallo for the inside scoop on one of the world’s most mysterious not-so-big cats. We discuss differences between zookeeping practices in Europe and the US, swiping right if you have rotatable ankles, marshmallows as a last resort, have an eclipse interlude, and so much more.

Links:

• Check out Alice's podcast (profanity warning)!
• Follow Alice on Instagram!
• Check out the Clouded Leopard Working Group!
• For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website!
• Follow Just the Zoo of Us on BlueSky, Facebook, Instagram & Discord!
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Ellen weaves her magic on sociable weavers. We discuss the three pillars of science communication, trick entrances, plane cabin pressurization, bullying for the greater good, lizard gossip, and more.

Works Cited:

• "The Sociable Weavers of the Kalahari" - Ultimate Safari, YouTube
• "Kapokvoel, Cape Penduline-Tit.(Anthoscopus-minutus)" - Coerie Ferreira, YouTube
• “Largest bird’s nest” - Guinness Book of World Records
• “Sociable Weavers Increase Cooperative Nest Construction after Suffering Aggression” - Gavin M. Leighton, Laura Vander Meiden, PLOS One, March 2016
• “At home with the birds: Kalahari tree skinks associate with sociable weaver nests despite African pygmy falcon presence” - Tasmin L. Rymer et al., Austral Ecology, May 2014
• “Kalahari skinks eavesdrop on sociable weavers to manage predation by pygmy falcons and expand their realized niche” - Anthony M. Lowney et al., Behavioral Ecology, June 2020
• “Pygmy Falcon predation of nestlings of their obligate host, the Sociable Weaver” - Rita Covas et al., Ostrich - Journal of African Ornithology, Nov 2009

Links:

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Join Ellen & special guest marine biologist Kristyn Plancarte for a review of the world’s wettest weasels. We discuss beluga whales’ fake six packs, the unique challenges of caring for animals who so desperately crave chaos and destruction, dolphin MLMs, how adorable animals could save the world, and so much more.

Links:

• Follow Kristyn on Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, and Twitch!
• Learn more about Kristyn on her website!
• Check out the Elakha Alliance to learn more about sea otter conservation!
• For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website!
• Follow Just the Zoo of Us on BlueSky, Facebook, Instagram & Discord!
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Ellen is blowing up about pufferfish. We discuss what pufferfish have in common with chameleons, seafloor crop circles, culinary applications of deadly neurotoxin, and so much more.

Works Cited:

• “All puffed out: Do pufferfish hold their breath while inflated?” - Georgia Evelyn McGee & Timothy Darren Clark, Biology Letters, Dec 2014
• “Treatment of Tetrodotoxin Poisoning” - Sophie Yushuo Li, Theoretical and Natural Science, April 2023
• Dolphins purposely 'getting high' on pufferfish - Dolphins - Spy in the Pod: Episode 2 - BBC
• "Pufferfish Builds Sand Sculpture for Mating" - Nature on PBS
• “Seeking a Deadly Delicacy: Pufferfish, Regional Gastronomy, and Pharmacology in Middle Period China” - Zihan Guo, Journal of Chinese History, July 2026
• “Chefs Train for Years to Serve This Rare Poisonous Fish” - Bon Appetit, June 2024
• “Pufferfish in China: diners lured by delicacy now country has bred them poison-free” - Elaine Yau, South China Morning Post, February 2019

Links:

• For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website!
• Follow Just the Zoo of Us on BlueSky, Facebook, Instagram & Discord!
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Join Ellen & special guest, journalist and writer Sharon Guynup, for stories from the world of conservation. Our guest’s career has taken her all over the world, from the forests of India to the highways of rural America, where she has experienced both ends of the spectrum of human relationships to nature. She’s been part of busting wildlife trafficking rings and abuse and she’s seen communities join forces to protect and preserve their native species. Her stories include a population of lions brought back from near extinction, a crime campus, a tiger attack, e-mails from Joe Exotic, gas station pizza, influencing entire new laws, a Hollywood celebrity cougar, and so much more.

Links:

• Pre-order Sharon and Steve's book Big Cats, available October 6!
• Read more from Mongabay at mongabay.org!
• For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website!
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Ellen & special guest Isaac answer questions from young listeners! We discuss bug guts, milking squids, the blobfish's secret Final Form, getting upped, ancient sharks with table saws for faces, and so much more.

Links:

• For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website!
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Join Ellen & special guest, writer and scientist Dan Werb, for a look at the animal neighbors that have made themselves at home in our own backyards: synanthropes. The word means a wild, undomesticated animal that lives closely alongside humans, whether that means scurrying through subway tunnels or curling up in an old refrigerator at the bottom of the sea or quietly roosting right over your head, all of which we discuss in this episode. We also talk about a university campus turf war between dogs and baboons, the genetically enhanced Super Soldiers of New York City, villainous plants, the ancient prehistoric roots of our spiritual relationship with ravens, and other fascinating stories featured in Dan’s book, Our Wild Familiars, which has just released this week.   

Links:

• Pick up Our Wild Familiars where books are sold!
• Follow Dan on Instagram!
• For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website!
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Ellen and Christian return from their travels to review the good, the bad, and the ugly of the mongooses. We discuss the Shedd Aquarium and the Field Museum, historical plurals, neurotoxin Darth Vader, checking in with Pliny the Elder, the most "mean girls" scientific study ever, mysteriously weird pupils, the global issue of mongoose-induced ecological destruction, and so much more. 

Works Cited:

• "Mongoose" - Etymonline
• “How the mongoose can fight the snake: The binding site of the mongoose acetylcholine receptor” - Dora Barchan et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, August 1992
• “Why the honey badger don't care: Convergent evolution of venom-targeted nicotinic acetylcholine receptors in mammals that survive venomous snake bites” - Danielle Drabeck et al., Toxicon, March 2015
• Book 8, chapter 36 of Natural History - Pliny the Elder, 77 CE
• “Experimental evidence for delayed postconflict management behaviour in wild dwarf mongooses”  - Amy Morris-Drake et al, eLife, September 2021
• Hawaii Invasive Species Council - Mongoose (Urva auropunctata)
• “Negative Impact of an Invasive Small Indian Mongoose Herpestes javanicus on Native Wildlife Species and Evaluation of a Control Project in Amami-Ohshima and Okinawa Islands, Japan” - Fumio Yamada & Ken Sugimura, Global Environmental Research, December 2004
• Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act 1996, Schedule 2 - New Zealand government

Links:

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Ellen & special guest, science journalist and host of Radiolab and Terrestrials Lulu Miller, discuss the lifelong impact of science communication, review bald eagles, and share a very special podcast treat. Terrestrials: The Trio originally aired on July 26, 2024: https://radiolab.org/podcast/terrestrials-the-trio240726

From the original episode description:

"High above the banks of the Mississippi River, a nest holds the secret life of one of America’s most patriotic creatures. Their story puzzles scientists, reinforces Indigenous wisdom, and wows audiences—all thanks to a park ranger named Ed and a well-placed webcam. If you want to spoil the mystery, here ya go: it’s a bald eagle. Actually, it’s three bald eagles. A mama bird and daddies make a home together for over a decade and give new meaning to our national symbol."

Links:

• Learn more about Terrestrials: https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/radiolab-kids
• For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website!
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