This month, Daniel leads the guys into uncharted waters for the podcast…that’s right, it’s our first-ever episode about fish! The Great Lakes salmon fishery is one of the greatest angling spectacles in the US. Large predatory salmon, native to the Pacific Northwest, are stocked in the Great Lakes region to maintain a world class fishery and control invasive baitfish. The undisputed monarch among these stocked species? The appropriately named King Salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha). While they are fished for year-round, the action heats up when mature King Salmon run (well, they swim, but that’s what it’s called) up the creeks and rivers where they were born or stocked each fall. The salmon run attracts anglers from all over the country, fostering a multi-million dollar industry and countless memories. But what is with all the excitement? Why are Pacific salmon even put here? Dare we even ask, should they be here? In this episode, the guys venture to a popular salmon fishing spot near Lake Ontario and reel in the story of one of the most consequential actions in fisheries management history. 

This episode was record at the Burt Dam Fishermen’s Park in Olcott, NY on October 8, 2024.

Episode Notes

Daniel mentioned the scientific name and meaning for the Coho Salmon: Oncorhynchus kisutch.  But he failed to mention that the Chinook or King Salmon’s scientific name, which is Oncorhynchus tshawytscha. Oncorhynchus as mentioned in the episode from Greek origin, loosely means “hooked snout,” referring to the “kype” these salmon develop. Tshawytscha is derived from a Russian name for the King Salmon, like how kisutch is derived from a Russian name for the Coho Salmon.

Chinook Salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) are also known as King salmon.  Chinook and King are used interchangeably in the episode, as Daniel can’t seem to settle on a common name he likes.  As mentioned in the episode, “King” comes from the fact that this salmon species is the largest salmon species in the world.  Steve asked Daniel what “Chinook” means, and he did not know.  After further research, it is found that the word Chinook is derived from the Chinookan people.  This includes several groups of indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest, where the Chinook Salmon is native. And what about Coho Salmon? “Cohos” is a word in one of the dialects of the native peoples of the Pacific Northwest with an unknown meaning, possibly the name for the fish itself. 

Depths of the Great Lakes

The books the guys mentioned were Dan Egan’s The Death and Life of the Great Lakes and Margaret Wooster’s Living Waters: Reading the Rivers of the Lower Great Lakes.

Visit thefieldguidespodcast.com for full episode notes, links, and works cited.

If we want to help wildlife, we need to know when and where they’re moving on the landscape. Dr. Scott LaPoint has spent his career researching just that. When our recent episode on fisher cats left us with a lot of questions, we figured who better to help us out than Dr. LaPoint. He was kind enough to join Daniel and Bill for a hike, sharing his expertise and his amazing ability to communicate science with enthusiasm, humor, and clarity. Join the guys for a wide-ranging discussion on fishers, connectivity, and wildlife-human interaction.

Visit thefieldguidespodcast.com for full episode notes, links, and works cited.

Pinesap (Monotropa hypopitys) is a goofy little plant that parasitizes fungi and can often be found beneath pine trees. It is not the sap of pine trees like Daniel thought. In this episode, Bill leads the discussion about the complex relationships between pinesap, its fungal host, and the tree species the fungi has a symbiosis with. Garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata) also makes a guest appearance! Join the guys as they get caught in a sudden rainstorm and learn about this amazing plant.

This episode was recorded on July 14, 2024 at Chestnut Ridge County Park in Orchard Park, NY.

Episode Notes

Bill brought up whether or not Pinesap (Monotropa hypopitys) should be in it’s own genus, Hypopitys. Steve asked some overly complicated questions to clarify whether or not he should believe it. With a quick search, at least Braukmann et al. (2017), Liu (2020), Shen et al. (2020), and Freudenstein & Broe (2024) found that Hypopitys groups distinctly from Monotropa in its phylogeny (i.e., evolutionary history). Hypopitys is more closely related to other genera, such as Pityopus, for example, than other species in the genus Monotropa. Steve is satisfied with this quick dip into the lit.

Thank you to Always Wandering Art (Website and Etsy Shop) for providing the artwork for many of our episodes!

Visit thefieldguidespodcast.com for full episode notes and works cited.

Fishers (Pekania pennanti) are a predator species reclaiming much of its former range in the northeastern US, but, as sightings become more common, so do stories of what fishers (AKA fisher cats) are up to. Are they eating young turkeys and housecats? Are they the animal you hear screaming from the woods at night? Why did one study find fisher toes and feet in the stomachs of other fishers?! This episode, the guys are on the trail - both literally and figuratively - tracking down the life history of this elusive member of the weasel family.

This episode was recorded on April 24, 2024 at Hunters Creek County Park in East Aurora, NY.

Episode Notes

Are skunks weasels? The guys debated whether or not skunks are members of the weasel family, with Daniel saying that they were not. Turns out he was correct. The Canadian Encyclopedia states:

Skunks were previously considered as part of the weasel family (Mustelidae) but DNA research has placed them in their own family, Mephitidae.

What do you call a genus that contains only a single species? Bill asked Steve this question, and Steve responded that he thought the term was monotypic. He was right!

Visit thefieldguidespodcast.com for full episode notes and works cited

Who doesn’t love an eclipse? Apparently, wildlife has very mixed feelings about the whole affair.

This month, the guys prepare for the upcoming 2024 total eclipse by looking into the research around how animals react to the moon photobombing the sun for a few minutes. The reactions are not universal, but they are varied. And trying to figure out what the animals are up to makes for a fascinating listen.

This episode was recorded on March 20, 2024 at Reinstein Woods Nature Preserve in Cheektowaga, NY.

Episode Notes

Bill mentioned that “wind is air moving between temperature differences.” When listening back to the episode during editing, he worried that maybe he was wrong on that. Looking it up, he did find some websites claiming that wind is due to differences in air pressure and that temperature has little to do with it, but it turns out that’s not quite true either. According to the good people at NOAA (The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the organization referred to in this episode), the answer is both. Their short answer to “what makes wind?” is that it’s the movement of gases from high-pressure areas to low-pressure areas. BUT, they go on to say that the main cause of wind is actually temperature. More specifically, it’s differences in temperature that lead to different air pressures.

It all starts because as the sun warms up the air on the Earth, it does so unevenly. Because the sun hits different parts of the Earth at different angles, and because Earth has oceans, mountains, and other features, some places are warmer than others. Because of this, we get pockets of warm air and cold air.

Since gases behave differently at different temperatures, that means you also get pockets with high pressure and pockets with low pressure. Generally speaking (and notice we said generally), in areas of high pressure, the gases in the air are colder and more crowded. In low pressure zones, the gases are warmer and a little more spread out.

And this is why wind happens. Gases move from high-pressure areas to low-pressure areas. And the bigger the difference between the pressures, the faster the air will move from the high to the low pressure. That rush of air is the wind we experience.

Bill stated that perigee when the moon is farthest from the Earth. WRONG! The point in the moon's orbit where it is farthest from the earth is called apogee, while it's closest approach is known as perigee.

Steve mentioned he though an eclipse viewer was like a camera obscura, and he was correct! A camera obscura is a darkened room with a small hole or lens at one side through which an image is projected onto a wall or table opposite the hole. The camera obscura was used to study eclipses without the risk of damaging the eyes by looking directly into the Sun. From Wikpedia

Links 

Ways to get involved recording weather and/or animal behaviors during the eclipse:

The Eclipse Soundscapes Project is a NASA Citizen Science project that's studying how eclipses affect life on Earth

Solar Eclipse Safari is another Citizen Science option that invites you to collect data on animals and their behaviors during the eclipse. This project looks at domestic and well as wild animals.

https://www.greatamericaneclipse.com/ - a great website for general info about eclipses

What Do Birds Do During a Total Eclipse? - an article compiling eBird sightings and descriptions of bird behavior during the 2017 eclipse, including an animation of radar data that shows bird activity during totality

Sponsors and Ways to Support Us

Gumleaf Boots, USA (free shipping for patrons)

Thank you to Always Wandering Art (Website and Etsy Shop) for providing the artwork for many of our episodes!

Support us on Patreon!

Check out the Field Guides merch at our Teespring store. It’s really a great deal: you get to pay us to turn your body into a billboard for the podcast!

Works Cited

Buckley, E.M.B., Caven, A.J., Gottesman, B.L., Harner, M.J., Pijanowski, B.C. and Forsberg, M.L., 2018. Assessing biological and environmental effects of a total solar eclipse with passive multimodal technologies. Ecological Indicators, 95, pp.353-369.

Fulton, S.A. and Dodd, L.E., 2018. Acoustic Activity of Bats in Kentucky During the Total Solar Eclipse of 2017. Northeastern Naturalist, 25(3).

Hartstone-Rose, A., Dickinson, E., Paciulli, L.M., Deutsch, A.R., Tran, L., Jones, G. and Leonard, K.C., 2020. Total Eclipse of the Zoo: Animal Behavior during a Total Solar Eclipse. Animals, 10(4), p.587.

Mekonen, S., 2021. Bird Behaviour during the June 21, 2020 Solar Eclipse. Egyptian Academic Journal of Biological Sciences, B. Zoology, 13(1), pp.103-115.

Fazekas, Andrew. Surprising Ways Animals React to Solar Eclipses, Nationalgeographic.com, 14 August, 2017, https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/animals-react-total-solar-eclipse-august-space-science. Accessed 17 Mar. 2024.

Gerasopoulos, E., Zerefos, C.S., Tsagouri, I., Founda, D., Amiridis, V., Bais, A.F., Belehaki, A., Christou, N., Economou, G., Kanakidou, M. and Karamanos, A., 2008. The total solar eclipse of March 2006: overview. Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 8(17), pp.5205-5220.

Nilsson, C., Horton, K.G., Dokter, A.M., Van Doren, B.M. and Farnsworth, A., 2018. Aeroecology of a solar eclipse. Biology Letters, 14(11), p.20180485.

Platt, S.G. and Rainwater, T.R., 2018. Unusual diurnal roosting behavior by turkey vultures (Cathartes aura) during a solar eclipse. New York State Ornithological Association, Inc. Vol. 68 No. 1 March 2018.

Ritson, R., Ranglack, D.H. and Bickford, N., 2019. Comparing social media observations of animals during a solar eclipse to published research. Animals, 9(2), p.59.

Tramer, Elliot J. "Bird behavior during a total solar eclipse." The Wilson Bulletin 112, no. 3 (2000): 431-432.

VanDoren, Benjamin. Project Update: What Do Birds Do During a Total Eclipse? Observations from eBird and Radar on August 21, 2017, The Cornell Lab of Ornithology, 26 Aug. 2017, birdcast.info/news/eclipse/. Accessed 17 Mar. 2024.

Wheeler, W.M., MacCoy, C.V., Griscom, L., Allen, G.M. and Coolidge, H.J., 1935, March. Observations on the behavior of animals during the total solar eclipse of August 31, 1932. In Proceedings of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (Vol. 70, No. 2, pp. 33-70). American Academy of Arts & Sciences.

Florida Panthers (Puma concolor couguar) are a distinct population of pumas that live predominantly in southwest Florida. Pumas used to roam the entire United States, but habitat loss and overhunting in the 1800’s and early 1900’s caused them to disappear from much of their range. Every breeding population of pumas East of the Mississippi river vanished, except for one. South Florida, due to its wild and swampy nature, was able to thwart human development just enough for its inhabiting pumas to narrowly avoid oblivion. These surviving pumas, or Florida Panthers, represent the resiliency of wild south Florida. The decades since their near extinction have been filled with controversy, conservation, and politics. This iconic cat still has many challenges to face, and with only 200 or so remaining in the wild, their future is uncertain. 

Daniel was first introduced unofficially to this animal during his first trip to Everglades National Park in 2017. The Florida Panther and the swampy, remote areas in which they are found captivated Daniel’s imagination. Every subsequent trip to the Everglades and southwest Florida had at least some time dedicated to searching for this cat, all to no avail. In January 2024, after spending months preparing and researching, Daniel embarked on a five-day solo trip in the backcountry of the Big Cypress National Preserve, with the sole objective of finally crossing paths with a panther.

But what exactly IS a Florida Panther? Are they only found in Florida? Are they black? What is the difference between a Florida Panther and a mountain lion? And of course… do they eat people?! 

Luckily, Bill was able to meet Daniel in south Florida to record an episode about the Florida Panther and tackle the questions and misconceptions that leave this cat shrouded in mystery. 

This episode was recorded on January 8th, 2024 at Everglades National Park in Homestead, FL.   

Episode Notes

When Daniel was talking about Florida Panther size, they were described as smaller than other pumas out west. It should also be noted that while they do fall to the bottom of the size and weight scale of pumas in North America, the populations of pumas closer to the equatorial rain forests in South America are even smaller. This reinforces the notion discussed in the podcast that pumas in colder climates or higher elevation tend to be larger than pumas in warmer climates and lower elevation. 

Also, Bill asked Daniel what their life span was, and Daniel was not sure.  Bill guessed 20-30 years. According to Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, “Panthers can live up to 20 years or more in the wild. Female kittens have a good chance of living 10 years or more. Males have a tougher time, but if they survive to five or six years old, they are likely to live even longer to 10 or more years.” Nicely done Bill!

While discussing vehicular collisions as the number one cause of death of Florida Panther, Bill and Daniel discussed how in 2023, 13 Florida Panthers were killed by vehicular strikes. So far in 2024, there have been five. 

Bill and Daniel referred to the rule about animals being larger the farther you get from the equator, but they couldn’t remember the name of the rule. It’s Bergmann’s Rule, and it’s defined as:  “one of the best-known generalizations in zoology. It is generally defined as a within-species tendency in homeothermic (warm-blooded) animals to have increasing body size with increasing latitude and decreasing ambient temperature. That is, Bergmann's rule states that among mammals and birds, individuals of a particular species in colder areas tend to have greater body mass than individuals in warmer areas. For instance, white-tailed deer are larger in Canada than in the Florida Keys, and the body size of wood rat populations are inversely correlated with ambient temperature. This principle is named after a nineteenth-century German biologist, Karl Bergmann, who published observations along these lines in 1847.” - from The New World Encyclopedia

Links 

Panther Pulse, the database containing documented Florida Panther deaths and depredations: https://myfwc.com/wildlifehabitats/wildlife/panther/pulse/

Path of the Panther: https://pathofthepanther.com 

Sponsors and Ways to Support Us

Gumleaf Boots, USA (free shipping for patrons)

Thank you to Always Wandering Art (Website and Etsy Shop) for providing the artwork for many of our episodes!

Support us on Patreon!

Check out the Field Guides merch at our Teespring store. It’s really a great deal: you get to pay us to turn your body into a billboard for the podcast!

Works Cited

Caudill, Gretchen & Onorato, Dave & Cunningham, Mark & Caudill, Danny & Leone, Erin & Smith, Lisa & Jansen, Deborah. (2019). Temporal Trends in Florida Panther Food Habits. Human-Wildlife Interactions. 13. 87-97. 10.26076/kta5-cr93.

Cox, J. J., Maehr, D. S., & Larkin, J. L. (2006). Florida Panther Habitat Use: New Approach to an Old Problem. The Journal of Wildlife Management, 70(6), 1778–1785. http://www.jstor.org/stable/4128112

Frakes RA, Belden RC, Wood BE, James FE (2015) Landscape Analysis of Adult Florida Panther Habitat. PLOS ONE 10(7): e0133044.  https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0133044

Hostetler JA, Onorato DP, Nichols JD, Johnson WE, Roelke ME, O'Brien SJ, Jansen D, Oli MK. Genetic Introgression and the Survival of Florida Panther Kittens. Biol Conserv. 2010 Nov 1;143(11):2789-2796. doi: 10.1016/j.biocon.2010.07.028. PMID: 21113436; PMCID: PMC2989677.

Johnson WE, Onorato DP, Roelke ME, Land ED, Cunningham M, Belden RC, McBride R, Jansen D, Lotz M, Shindle D, Howard J, Wildt DE, Penfold LM, Hostetler JA, Oli MK, O'Brien SJ. Genetic restoration of the Florida panther. Science. 2010 Sep 24;329(5999):1641-5. doi: 10.1126/science.1192891. PMID: 20929847; PMCID: PMC6993177.

Land, Darrell & Shindle, David & Kawula, Robert & BENSON, JOHN & LOTZ, MARK & Onorato, Dave. (2010). Florida Panther Habitat Selection Analysis of Concurrent GPS and VHF Telemetry Data. The Journal of Wildlife Management. 72. 633 - 639. 10.2193/2007-136.

Maehr, David S. (1997).  The Florida Panther: Life and Death of a Vanishing Carnivore.  Island Press ISBN 155963507X, 9781559635073

Pienaar, Elizabeth & Rubino, Elena. (2016). Habitat Requirements of the Florida Panther. 10.13140/RG.2.1.1887.2722.

Robert A. Frakes, Marilyn L. Knight, Location and extent of unoccupied panther (Puma concolor coryi) habitat in Florida: Opportunities for recovery, Global Ecology and Conservation, Volume 26, 2021, e01516, ISSN 2351-9894, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gecco.2021.e01516. (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2351989421000664)

Urbanizing Landscape. PLoS One. 2015 Jul 15;10(7):e0131490. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0131490. PMID: 26177290; PMCID: PMC4503643.

Vickers TW, Sanchez JN, Johnson CK, Morrison SA, Botta R, Smith T, Cohen BS, Huber PR, Ernest HB, Boyce WM. Survival and Mortality of Pumas (Puma concolor) in a Fragmented, Urbanizing Landscape. PLoS One. 2015 Jul 15;10(7):e0131490. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0131490. PMID: 26177290; PMCID: PMC4503643.

Photo Credit

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Everglades_National_Park_Florida_Panther.jpg?uselang=en#Licensing

Part 2 of our Timber Rattlesnake episode. If you haven’t listened to part 1, go and do that. We’ll wait right here for you.

The episode was recorded on December 7, 2023 at Hunters Creek County Park in East Aurora, NY.

Episode Notes

When the guys discussed the different types of snake teeth, Steve wondered if the word solenoglyphous, which refers to snakes with two large, hinged fangs (like the Timber Rattlesnake), has any relation to nightshades, which are plants in the genus Solanum. Bill could have cleared it up right away if he had been sharp enough to notice the difference in spelling. Upon getting home and doing some research, he found that the root soleno is Greek, and it means a tube or pipe. This makes sense given that solenoglyphous snakes have large, hollow fangs. The second part of the word - glyphos – means to cut or carve, so solenoglyphous could be taken to mean “hollow fangs that cut or carve”.  Incidentally, Bill also tried to look up what Solanum means. He found many circular references – sites that said Solanum means nightshade, and that nightshade means Solanum. The most promising reference he found said that Solanum possibly stems from the Latin word sol, meaning "sun", referring to the nightshades love of sun, maybe?      

Steve asked if proteroglyphous fangs (the smaller, unhinged fangs in species like the Coral Snake) are hollow. Bill thought they might be, and he was right. A little internet digging led to this blog post that had a handy-dandy cross-section of the different types of snake teeth.

Can owls identify venomous snakes? While we couldn’t find any studies, or even any general articles, that covered this specific question, we did find an interesting study that looked at venom resistance in a variety of animals. The research “analyzed the molecular resistance against cobra venom and found considerable differences in resistance between animas groups.” It showed that several mammal species, such as the Honey Badger and the Asian Mongoose, independently evolved resistance to cobra venom, but the snake-eating bird species looked at showed no resistance. The study’s authors hypothesized that "…the resistance is redundant: There is no selection pressure for it. Birds have feathers, scaly legs, excellent vision, are very intelligent, and are very agile. The snakes don't stand a chance against all these adaptations, so birds just don't need to be resistant." So, while we don’t know if owls can ID venomous snakes, at least one team of researchers feels that snake-eating birds are such bad-ass hunters, with so many tools in their evolutionary toolbox, that they wouldn’t even need to tell the difference between venomous and nonvenomous snakes.

And that answers another question the guys asked: Do Honey Badgers eat venomous critters? They do! And the story of how is shared in this great article from Slate. Our favorite quote: “Evolving to withstand snake venom [and so be able to eat a venomous snake] is like being the only person at a party who can eat the extra-hot salsa: You get it all to yourself. Plus…this means the honey badger gets to hunt fairly slow-moving prey with only one pointy end, rather than fast prey with one pointy end plus four sets of claws.”

Steve was correct in calling our Bill for referring to the England as United Kingdom during the USA’s colonial period. The UK did not form until 1801, when the Kingdom of Ireland joined with Scotland, England, and Wales.

Please comment below if you notice any mistakes or unanswered questions in the episode.

Episode Links

As the guys mentioned in the episode, you should check out Snoop Dogg’s delightful series of nature videos: Plizzanet Earth

Here’s more info on The Rattlesnake Roundup in Sweetwater, Texas.

Wild Snake Education and Discussion Group’s article about Timber Rattlesnakes. And here’s a link to their Facebook group, too.

Visit the North American Snakebite Registry

The paper describing the wiener dog bitten by a rattlesnake. If you can look without your heart breaking, you can scroll down to see the pictures and videos.

Check out the National Park Service’s handy-dandy breakdown of snake dentition. And this blog post, mentioned above, presents some of the same info and more.

Timber Rattlesnakes are intertwined with US history. Look into the Timber Rattlesnake and it’s connections to Ben Franklin and the American Revolution

Sponsors and Ways to Support Us

Thank you to Always Wandering Art (Website and Etsy Shop) for providing the artwork for this episode.

Gumleaf Boots, USA (free shipping for patrons)

Support us on Patreon!

Check out the Field Guides merch at our Teespring store. It’s really a great deal: you get to pay us to turn your body into a billboard for the podcast!

References / Works Cited

Adamski, Jonathan (2020) Viperid Spotlight: Timber Rattlesnake (Crotalus horridus). Available at: https://wsed.org/viperid-spotlight-timber-rattlesnake-crotalus-horridus/ (Accessed: 10-20-23).

Clark, R.W., 2002. Diet of the timber rattlesnake, Crotalus horridus. Journal of Herpetology, 36(3), pp.494-499.

Glenn, J.L., Straight, R.C. and Wolt, T.B., 1994. Regional variation in the presence of canebrake toxin in Crotalus horridus venom. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part C: Pharmacology, Toxicology and Endocrinology, 107(3), pp.337-346.

New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (2013) Species Assessment for Timber rattlesnake. Available at: https://extapps.dec.ny.gov/docs/wildlife_pdf/sgcntimberrattlesnak.pdf. (Accessed 11-20-2023). 

Rokyta, D.R., Wray, K.P. and Margres, M.J., 2013. The genesis of an exceptionally lethal venom in the timber rattlesnake (Crotalus horridus) revealed through comparative venom-gland transcriptomics. BMC Genomics, 14, pp.1-21.     

Love ‘em or hate ‘em, we wager you’ll enjoy this dive into the shiny (not slimy) world of rattlesnakes. This episode, the guys take a close look (but not too close) at the Timber Rattlesnake (Crotalus horridus), trying to show how it’s not out to kill you and also finding out how it ended up on the “Don’t Tread On Me” flag. Plus, they introduce the newest field guide, Daniel!

The episode was recorded on December 7, 2023 at Hunters Creek County Park in East Aurora, NY.

Episode Notes

One intriguing question that came up was, “If rattlesnakes that rattle call attention to themselves and get killed by humans, does this mean we’re inadvertently selecting for rattlesnakes that don’t rattle and creating populations of silent rattlers?” It’s an idea that sounds logical, but, as the guys have discovered on many other occasions, that doesn’t mean it’s true. After some digging through a variety of sources, the guys could find zero research-based evidence supporting the idea of this phenomenon. There are news stories that promote it, but all the ones that do seem to base their info on anecdotal accounts. The most interesting source - and the one the guys found to be the most skeptical (in the best sense of the word) - was from Rattlesnake Solutions LLC, an Arizona-based rattlesnake removal and consulting service. This is ironic because Bill went out of his way during the episode to caution listeners to be wary of such sites, but this one seems to genuinely want to not only share solid info about rattlesnakes but also to combat misinformation. In a post called, “Are rattlesnakes evolving to rattle less, or losing their rattles?”, they explained:

Rattlesnakes don’t often rattle in the wild, even when there’s someone looking at them. This is a great example of confirmation bias. If you hear that rattlesnakes aren’t rattling any longer, and you then see a rattlesnake just sitting there and not rattling, this can serve as confirmation that the rumors are true. You then tell others this is the case, having first-hand experience on the matter, comment on Facebook, etc. Just like that, you’ve become the latest node in the spread of nonsense without realizing it.

This can be even more confusing for long-term hikers with a lot of experience, who report seeing this phenomenon over time (decades even), where rattlesnakes used to rattle but now most of the rattlesnakes they see don’t: therefore the myth is true. What these anecdotes really look like is something much more simple to explain. Over the years, these people have simply become better at seeing rattlesnakes, and peaceful sightings of rattlesnakes just sitting silent, as they usually do, become more frequent.

Check out their full post for more information.

Do any snake species have eyelids? As far as we could find, no. Instead, snakes have a brille; a transparent, disc-shaped, immobile scale that covers the eye.

Is Pennsylvania one of the “biggest hunting states”? During the episode, Steve asked if he was right thinking that Pennsylvania was one of the biggest hunting states, and Bill confirmed it, pretending that he had some knowledge of whether this was true or not. He looked into it after recording and found this listing of states, ranked according to the number of hunters. Turns out Pennsylvania is #23 (Wyoming is number 1), so Bill was just straight-up wrong.

At what point does inactivity cross the line and become brumation? This was a question to which we could not find a definitive answer. From reading several articles, the best explanation the guys could cobble together was that brumation is typically long-term, seasonal, and is something animals prepare for by eating more food, while inactivity is short-term and sporadic. But take that last sentence with a grain of salt; like with hibernation, brumation seems to occur on a spectrum that can vary with species and conditions. More info here.

Does the Timber Rattlesnake breeding season differ from north to south? The guys could find no definitive answer for this either, but by looking at descriptions of Timber Rattlesnake breeding seasons state-by-state, they did notice differences. For example, in their home state of NY, it was noted that Timbers breed from early summer (June/July) to early autumn (Sept/Oct), while the National Forest Service listed the Timber’s breeding season in Florida as August through October. So, there appears to be a later start to the breeding season further south, and the breeding season appears shorter there, as well.

Are sharks viviparous or ovoviviparous? Turns out that sharks are similar to snakes in that some lay eggs (oviparous), some give birth to live young (viviparous), and some have eggs that hatch in the body (ovoviviparous). And, just to make it more complicated, there are some records of sharks reproducing asexually.

Finally, Daniel wondered what happens to the eggs in ovoviviparous animals (the ones who have eggs hatching inside their bodies). Are the eggshells expelled, absorbed, or what? This was a question the guys could not find an answer to, so if any listeners out there can help them out, please get in touch!

Please comment below if you notice any mistakes or unanswered questions in the episode.

Episode Links

Wild Snake Education and Discussion Group’s article about Timber Rattlesnakes

And here’s a link to their Facebook group, too.

Mary Holland’s blog post on vivipary, ovipary, and ovovivipary, and a second site that provided more in-depth info: Everyone's Talking About....Ovoviviparity, Oviparity, and Viviparity

Check out the National Park Service’s handy-dandy breakdown of snake dentition

Timber Rattlesnakes are intertwined with US history. Look into the Timber Rattlesnake and it’s connections to Ben Franklin and the American Revolution

Sponsors and Ways to Support Us

Gumleaf Boots, USA (free shipping for patrons)

Thank you to Always Wandering Art (Website and Etsy Shop) for providing the artwork for many of our episodes (including for part 2 of this episode)!

Support us on Patreon!

Check out the Field Guides merch at our Teespring store. It’s really a great deal: you get to pay us to turn your body into a billboard for the podcast!

References / Works Cited

Adamski, Jonathan (2020) Viperid Spotlight: Timber Rattlesnake (Crotalus horridus). Available at: https://wsed.org/viperid-spotlight-timber-rattlesnake-crotalus-horridus/ (Accessed: 10-20-23).

Brown, W.S., 2016. Lifetime reproduction in a northern metapopulation of timber rattlesnakes (Crotalus horridus). Herpetologica, 72(4), pp.331-342.

Mancini, Mark (2021) The Highly Venomous Timber Rattlesnake Is an American Icon. Available at: https://animals.howstuffworks.com/snakes/timber-rattlesnake.htm (Accessed: 9-20-23)

Reinert, H.K. and Rupert Jr, R.R., 1999. Impacts of translocation on behavior and survival of timber rattlesnakes, Crotalus horridus. Journal of Herpetology, pp.45-61.

Wynns, Samantha (2018) Cabrillo Field Notes: Fang-tastic Friends. Available at: https://www.nps.gov/cabr/blogs/fang-tastic-friends.htm#:~:text=Solenoglyphous%20snakes%20are%20snakes%20with,much%20like%20a%20hypodermic%20needle (Accessed: 9-20-23).

This month, Bill and Steve visit Floating Fen, although some might call it a bog, or is it a swamp? Thankfully, they’re joined by Erik Danielson, Stewardship Coordinator of the Western NY Land Conservancy (WNYLC), who schools them on the difference between these wetlands. Erik and the WNYLC are trying to preserve Floating Fen, a property home to a unique wetland, extraordinary life, and a diverse forest. Erik guides Bill and Steve through the fen, discussing just what makes a bog a bog and a fen a fen, as well as what makes these peatlands such amazing habitats.

The episode was recorded on June 17, 2023 at the Floating Fen near Fredonia, NY.

Episode Notes

Please comment below if you notice any mistakes or unanswered questions in the episode.

Links to the Western NY Land Conservancy

Visit the website of the Western New York Land Conservancy to find out more about their vital conservation efforts.

Find out more about the Floating Fen, including the efforts to preserve it.

Explore the WNY Land Conservancy’s Western New York Wildway, their ambitious new initiative to create an extensive series of protected lands that connect the vast forests of northern Pennsylvania to the Great Lakes, central NY, the Adirondacks, and beyond.

Other Episode-related Links

A one-page primer on Conservation Easements

The book that Erik mentioned was A Focus on Peatlands and Peat Mosses by Howard (not Viktor) Crum.

The Wildlands Network - the group responsible for initially identifying the four “Continental Wildways” traversing the Pacific and Atlantic coastlines, the Canadian Boreal Forest region, and the “Spine of the Continent” between Alaska and Mexico.

Bill’s article about Mike Radomski, Outside Chronicles, and the WNY Hiking Challenge

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Thank you to Always Wandering Art (Website and Etsy Shop) for providing the artwork for many of our episodes!

Support us on Patreon!

Check out the Field Guides merch at our Teespring store. It’s really a great deal: you get to pay us to turn your body into a billboard for the podcast!

References / Works Cited

Benyus, Janine 1989, A Field Guide to Wildlife Habitats of the Eastern United States, Touchstone Books, Chicago.

The Conversation – Peatlands keep a lout of carbon out of Earth’s Atmosphere, but that could end with warming and development

Wetland types: https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2021-01/documents/types_of_wetlands.pdf

The Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) is a rare example of a species humans managed to pull back from the brink of extinction by getting off our collective asses and doing some stuff.

Already decimated by hunting and habitat loss, the post WWII enthusiasm for spraying the chemical DDT on just about everything sent Bald Eagle populations into freefall. That is, until Rachel Carson published Silent Spring in 1962 and sensibly said, “Hey, maybe we shouldn’t go through pesticides like beer at a frat party. Maybe let’s use as little as needed?” We’re paraphrasing, of course, but, eventually, DDT was banned in the US, the Bald Eagle was placed on the Endangered Species list, and our national bird was on the road to recovery.

This is the story told about Bald Eagles and DDT. But a few out there question this narrative, claiming that DDT wasn’t a big problem for eagles and that banning it caused billions of unnecessary deaths because it prevented DDT’s continued use in the fight against malaria.

These claims are mostly nonsense, drudged up by folks who hate regulations, but looking into them makes for an interesting ride. Join the guys as they find out…DUN DUN DUN…what THEY don’t want you to know about Bald Eagles.

This episode was recorded on May 16, 2023 at the Hampton Brook Woods Wildlife Management Area in Hamburg, NY.

Visit http://www.thefieldguidespodcast.com/new-blog/2023/5/15/ep-60-bald-eagles-and-ddt-and-some-folks-that-hate-regulations for works cited and a full run down of our episode notes.

They’re hard-working, tail-slapping, tree-cutting machines, and they’re one of the greatest wildlife recovery stories in North America: Castor canadensis, the North American beaver. And, as if all that weren’t enough, apparently their rear ends produce an oil that’s vanilla-scented. Join the guys as they keep their puns and innuendos in check and dive into beavers!

This episode was recorded on January 28, 2023 at the Beaver Meadow Audubon Center in North Java, NY.  

Episode Notes

Beaver anal glands – which gland is used for which? There was some confusion over the beaver’s anal glands and the oils they produce. Some sources stated that beavers have two anal glands that produce oil for waterproofing - the oil that smells like motor oil in male beavers and rancid cheese in females) and two more glands that produce oil (castoreum) for marking their scent mounds. Some sources, however, said the waterproofing oil was also used for scent marking. So, what gives?

With a little more research, Bill discovered that he misspoke during the episode. Beavers have two anal glands that produce the waterproofing oil, and two castor sacs (not glands, although they’re often referred to as such) that produce castoreum, the oil used for scent-marking. All four structures are located near each other, between the pelvis and the base of the tail.

Here’s a paper that explains it all. Click the “pdf viewer” tab for a format that is easier to read.

Steve recalled hearing how parts of whales were used in perfume production. He was right! “Ambergris [is] a solid waxy substance originating in the intestine of the sperm whale (Physeter catodon). In Eastern cultures ambergris is used for medicines and potions and as a spice; in the West it was used to stabilize the scent of fine perfumes.” From Britannica.com

When discussing the study that looked at how beaver dams fare during floods, Bill cited that, in one study, 70% of beaver dams remained intact during a flood event. Steve then pointed out that 30% of the dams failing seemed to lend at least some credence to the anecdotal records of beaver dams being unreliable at mitigating flood impacts. If Bill was a quicker thinker, he would have realized that he had JUST SAID that even though 30% of the dams in the study did not remain completely intact, the researchers found that many of them still helped reduce flood impacts downstream.

Do wetlands have lower biomass? Steve mentioned he thought this was true, but, after the episode, Bill did a search of general and academic sources and could not find a definitive answer. He was, however, rushing a bit, trying to get this episode released. If you find a source with a concrete answer to this question and send it in ([email protected]), the guys would definitely give you a shout-out on a future episode!

Links

The Conversation: This is the website Bill mentioned that publishes science articles for the general public, written by academics and researchers.

The world’s largest beaver dam - 58.2722° N, 112.2521° W

A collection of Gerry Rising’s nature columns from the Buffalo News (1991-2015). More recently, he wrote for Buffalo Spree, and those articles can be found here.

Check out the Outside Chronicles website. You can also follow them on Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram.

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Always Wandering Art - Thank you to Always Wandering Art for this month’s episode artwork!

Works Cited

Aleksiuk, M., 1970. The function of the tail as a fat storage depot in the beaver (Castor canadensis). Journal of Mammalogy, 51(1), pp.145-148.

Lancia, R.A., Dodge, W.E. and Larson, J.S., 1982. Winter activity patterns of two radio-marked beaver colonies. Journal of Mammalogy, 63(4), pp.598-606.

Larsen, A., Larsen, J.R. and Lane, S.N., 2021. Dam builders and their works: Beaver influences on the structure and function of river corridor hydrology, geomorphology, biogeochemistry and ecosystems. Earth-Science Reviews, 218, p.103623.

Lazar, J.G., Addy, K., Gold, A.J., Groffman, P.M., McKinney, R.A. and Kellogg, D.Q., 2015. Beaver ponds: resurgent nitrogen sinks for rural watersheds in the northeastern United States. Journal of environmental quality, 44(5), pp.1684-1693.

Stephenson, A.B., 1969. Temperatures within a beaver lodge in winter. Journal of Mammalogy, 50(1), pp.134-136.

Tape, K.D., Clark, J.A., Jones, B.M., Kantner, S., Gaglioti, B.V., Grosse, G. and Nitze, I., 2022. Expanding beaver pond distribution in Arctic Alaska, 1949 to 2019. Scientific Reports, 12(1), pp.1-9.

Westbrook, C.J., Ronnquist, A. and Bedard‐Haughn, A., 2020. Hydrological functioning of a beaver dam sequence and regional dam persistence during an extreme rainstorm. Hydrological Processes, 34(18), pp.3726-3737.