The Wild Life
Episodes
Mass Extinctions, Dinosaurs, and Chasing Dreams with Juan-Pablo Piรฑa @paleoauthor
15 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The Earth has ended before.Five times in the last half-billion years, life on this planet has been nearly wiped cleanโreset by asteroid impacts, vol...
Field Guide of Wonder: The Aye-Aye
13 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Meet the aye-aye (Daubentonia madagascariensis), a creature so strange that early scientists couldnโt even decide if it was a rodent, a squirrel, or...
Field Guide of Wonder: The Capybara
12 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Meet the worldโs largest rodentโthe capybara (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris), a creature so wonderfully chill it makes a golden retriever look high-st...
Field Guide of Wonder: The Honduran White Bat
08 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Hey everyone! I have some news to share ๐Field Guide of Wonderโmy social media video seriesโ is getting a podcast companion!And here is the fir...
Go Green with Alexa Pavan
06 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Hey everyone!Iโm really excited to share with you all my conversation with the thoughtful and inspiring Alexa Pavan, aka @GoGreenWithAlexa.We dive i...
Shells, Sunrises, and Side Quests with Emily Hunter
11 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What happens when you follow curiosity wherever it leads?In this episode of The Wild Life, Iโm joined by Emily Hunterโa passionate environmental s...
Archive of Wonder with Jay Meredith
20 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What do a gaur, an aardvark, a flattened musk turtle, and a Matschieโs tree kangaroo have in common?Theyโve all been photographed beautifully, rev...
My Message for World Oceans Day
08 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today is #WorldOceansDay and Iโm feeling a whole lot of things. Wonder. Grief. Hope. Determination.The ocean isnโt just a place to visit...
Ancient Finds, Changing Times with Andrew Schwartz
02 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What if the key to understanding our future was hidden in the teeth of creatures that lived millions of years ago? In this episode, we dive into the w...
Giant River Otters and Other Adventures with Kat Foree
26 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Giant river otters are social, intelligent, and deeply connected to the health of their ecosystemsโbut what happens when their food supply starts to...
Harvest Mice, 3-Legged Beavers, and Elephant Conflicts with Dylan Beckham
12 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Joining The Wild Life today is Dylan Beckham! She spent two years as a zookeeper caring for all sorts of exotics, including reptiles, invertebrates, f...
Where There's Smoke, There's Fireโwith Ross Barreto
21 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Where there's smoke, there's fire. But when that fire tears through a landscape, what happens next? Today, we dive into the world of pyrophytic ecosys...
Wildlife Cinematography with Jake Davis
01 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Welcome to The Wild Life! On today's episode, we have a fascinating guest: wildlife cinematographer Jake Davis.Jakeโs career began by focusing on th...
Animal Ethics with Maggie Herskowitz
24 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode of The Wild Life, animal welfare scientist Maggie Herskowitz helps us navigate the tangled webs society has woven around the treatment...
SciComm, Squids, and Staying Hopeful with Dr Carly Anne York
26 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The world is full of science and, in turn, scientists, and not enough people who truly have that spark for communicating all of that discovery and won...
Carnivore Ecology with Aidan Branney
19 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Welcome to The Wild Life, the podcast where we explore the wonders of the natural world and the science that helps us understand it. In this episode, ...
Feathers, Fossils, and Old Friends with Dr Tiffany Slater
04 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
17 years ago, I was a 14 year old attending Connor Middle School in Hebron, Kentucky. Small little town, just across the Ohio River. In 2018, I moved ...
Secrets of the Octopus with Sy Montgomery and Warren Carlyle
30 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
From their three hearts to their ability to transform and communicate, discover the extraordinary world of octopuses with host Devon Bowker and specia...
The Joy of Working with Wildlife with Lauren Jackson, Queen of the Wild
06 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Devon (@devonthenatureguy) sits down with Lauren Jackson (@lauren.queenofthewild on Instagram and HERp_trap_queen on TikTok) to chat ...
Cephalopods and SciComm with Octopus Biologist Meg Mindlin
04 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Todayโs episode, social media SciComm, all things cephalopod, their super cool brains, their mind-blowing camouflage, RNA editing, peculiar romances...
A World of Wasps with Eric Eaton
13 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, I sit down with Eric Eaton, author of Insectpedia: a Brief Compendium of Insect Lore, Wasps: The Astonishing Diversity of a Misunders...
Revisited: Nature's Vampires with Dr Marie Lisandra Zepeda-Mendoza
11 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
This episode, which originally aired on March 24 2018, takes us all the way from Copenhagen to the rainforest of South America, from the belly of the ...
Shark Conservation with Dr Alexandra McInturf
27 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Sharks are in the water. But is the ocean shark-infested, or shark-depleted? I sat down to talk with Dr Alexandra McInturf to find out.Learn more abou...
Revisited: Busting Bat Myths and Mistruths with Liz Dengate
16 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Another stroll down memory lane as I revisit the second-ever guest episode of The Wild Life, Myth-Understood: Busting Bat Myths and Mistruths with Liz...
Revisited: The Mystery of Zebra Stripes with Dr Tim Caro
30 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
This was the first ever episode of The Wild Life back in 2017, and it was never supposed to happen. That's right, The Wild Life, as a podcast, was an ...
Reintroducing The Wild Life + The Path Forward
23 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
It's been awhile. I think it's time for some reintroductions.I've spent a lot of time over the past year, 6 years really, reflecting on the journey so...
SHORT | Do Ticks Fall From Trees?
28 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Ticks, for as small as they are, strike a disproportionate amount of fear and disgust into our hearts and minds (no matter what good they might do!). ...
SHORT | Can Porcupines Shoot Their Quills?
28 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
While it's true you should keep your distance, is there any truth to the tale of a tenacious porcupine shooting their quills?Have a question you want ...
SHORT | Why Do Worms Come Out When It Rains?
26 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Unfortunately, we canโt ask the worms directly, but it turns out that plenty of scientists have been asking this very question for, well, a very lon...
SHORT | How a Puffin Problem Led to the Creation of a Star Wars Icon
25 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Star Wars is as much a product of human ingenuity as it is a space odyssey. Just look at how they solved the Puffin Problem.Have a question you'd like...
Wide-Eyed | Why Goats & Cuttlefish Have Weird Shaped Pupils
05 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Who doesnโt love goats? Especially baby ones. Their gait, their bleat, their tiny horns. But there comes a time in any goat interaction Iโve had w...
Polar Bears and the Illusion of Color
31 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Most would agree that Polar Bears are white, but there's more to the story than things may appear.TranscriptSupport The Wild Life at https://www.patre...
NEWS: New Study Suggests the Dugong is 'Functionally Extinct' in China
26 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
According to a paper published on August 24th, 2022 in the journal Royal Society Open Science, the Dugong is now โfunctionally extinctโ in Ch...
SHORT: Can Other Animals Get Sunburns?
20 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Ask yourself, when was the last time you saw a roseate rhinoceros, a bronzed bunting, or a peeling porcupine? Can other animals get sunburns?Transcrip...
SHORT: Crocodiles Would Bankrupt the Tooth Fairy
19 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Crocodiles are known to be notoriously cantankerous creatures, but whatโs less known is this crazy fact about Crocodile teethโthey can go through ...
SHORT: Why do Hedgehogs have Spikes?
18 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Hedgehogs are easily one of the most unmistakable little critters out there, but how much do you know about them? Sonic is (somehow) a hedgehog, but t...
SHORT: Sea Otters Have Secret Skin Pockets in Their Armpits
17 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Yes, you read that right. Move over marsupials, youโre not the only mammals with skin pockets.โTranscript and memesSupport
Class: The Demo Model (DEMOSPONGIAE)
16 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The basic idea behind the theory of evolution behind natural selection is this: if you get eaten or otherwise die before youโve had the chance to re...
Class: The Art of Glass (Hexactinellida)
07 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In October 2020, Ocean Exploration Trustโs E/V Nautilus crew discovered something extraordinaryโvast clusters of glass spongesGlass sponges in gen...
Class: The Sponge Plunge
17 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This season on Class, a deep dive into the amazing life history of sponges. starting with getting to the bottom of what exactly a sponge is!Transcript...
New Series Preview: Class
13 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The first episode is coming this week!
On Birding and Time
31 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This, like many things lately, is a different type of content from The Wild Life. Who knew you could learn so much about authentic expression and find...
How to Build an Animal: Body Cavities
23 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
So far in the How to Build an Animal series, weโve been taking a look at the very things that make an animal, well, an animal. In Par...
Change, Time, & Lessons from a Caterpillar
23 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Time marches on, change is never ceasing, and yet in spite of it all, there are lessons to be learned from even the smallest of creatures, like the ca...
The Law of Conservation of Energy, and You
16 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The Law of Conservation of Energy states that energy cannot be created or destroyed, just transferred and transformed.This means many things, not the ...
How to Build An Animal: Development
11 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
There really is no shortage of ways to build an animal, but there are rules to be followed. To truly understand, we have to go to the very beginning. ...
How to Build an Animal: Symmetry
29 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
There really is no shortage of ways to build an animal, but there are rules to be followedโrules with deep roots. Check out Part 2 of my pre-kick-of...
What are Animals?
26 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
From the biggest elephant to the littlest fly. From every fish in the sea, to all the birds in the sky. Animals are all around us.Dolphins are an...
The Wild Life of the Largemouth Bass
04 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The Largemouth Bass is a freshwater fish of the Black Bass genus named forโyou guessed itโits large mouth. The Largemouth Bass is different than t...
The Wild Life of the Gulf-Coast Pygmy Sunfish
03 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The Gulf Coast Pygmy Sunfish is found in the coastal river drainages of the Sunshine State, Florida, over to southern Georgia. They can be found ...
What's the Fastest Fish?
27 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
How fast can fish really be? Faster than youโd probably expect.Transcript
Biohacking Starfish
20 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The Crown-Of-Thorns Starfish may not look like much, but their impact is inarguable. They feed heavily on corals essential for building reefs, the mar...
The Wild Life of the Splendid Toadfish
14 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
If youโve ever been down to Cozumel, Mexico, youโve been to one of two places (the other being Gloverโs Reef in Belize) on earth where this spec...
Shooting a Lion
13 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This episode was originally written in October 2015 as a reflection essayI acknowledge there is nuance to these issues which are not fully expressed i...
Birding by Smartphone
12 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In 1917, the American poet Wallace Stevens published a poem called 13 Ways of Looking at a Blackbird. In truth, 13 is a major understatement...
More than a Long Neck: 16 Giraffe Facts You Probably Didn't Know
05 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Who doesnโt love Giraffes? Yet, despite their international love and viral webcam footage with thousands tuning in to watch their birth, there is mu...
Confronting Climate Change with Jeff Corwin
25 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Jeff Corwin, American biologist and wildlife conservationist, joins Devon on The Wild Life today to talk about his new show on ABC, Wildlife Nation wi...
The Wild Life of the Deep-Sea Dragonfish
23 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The Deep-Sea Dragonfish, a scaleless eel-like fish about 6 inches in length that lives (you guessed it) in the deep sea, specifically the bathyal...
The Life and Impact of Barry Commoner
18 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
As one of Americaโs most influential environmentalists, Barry Commoner devoted his life and career to ecology, awareness, education, and enacting po...
The Wild Life of Muskellunge
16 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The Muskellunge, or Muskie, is the largest member of the pike family, and just a large fish all around. Their common name comes from the&nbs...
The Wild Life of Butterflyfish
13 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Butterflyfish are a group of around 120 species in the Family Chaetodontidae. They can be found in reefs around the world in the tropical an...
Hiking with a Toddler
12 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Your hikes that used to take an hour have just turned into three hours. At first, this is super stressful. Like, I just want to finish my hike. But, d...
The Wild Life of the Little Brown Skink
07 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Skinks are often overlooked, even unknown, (even as I write this, spell-check doesnโt even recognize โSkinkโ as a word) but there are over 1,500...
The Wild Life of the Northern Crested Caracara
01 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This is the answer to a question asked by a listener who submitted a photo saying โIt landed on the road right in front of me and then was flying ar...
Baby-Blue Bloods
30 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
See, horseshoe crabs are a biological oddity, a valuable one at that, especially to drug companies who look to them to ensure medicines and vacc...
Horseshoe Crabs with Dr Daniel Sasson
28 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
They look like some sort of illustration in a mid-90โs kids book about prehistoric animals, which, if youโre familiar, is a really specific aesthe...
News: Glowing COVID Ostrich Masks!
24 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Yasuhiro Tsukamoto and his team of researchers at Kyoto Prefectural University in Japan have developed a mask that helps detect COVID-19 under blackli...
The Wild Life of the Mola mola
20 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The species is perhaps most well known for their impossible appearance and a hilarious (though not entirely correct) viral internet rant abo...
The Wild Life of Whale Sharks
18 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Whale Sharks. Are they whale, or are they shark? What do they eat? Where do they live? Just how big are they. All of that and more in todayโs short!...
SHORT: Asian Lady Beetle Mania!
15 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
They came in droves but no one knows where from. You find them in your homes and cars, scuttling across your windows. They line the sidewalks and entr...
SHORT: This Rare, Sapphire Tarantula is A Beauty From Gooty
12 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
MOVE OVER โSPIDER PAWSโ! THE GOOTY SAPPHIRE TARANTULAโS GALACTIC COLORS ARE STUNNING.This unexpected beauty from Gooty, a town in Central S...
A New Series, Now in 8D
11 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The Wild Life has a new series, and it's unlike anything you've heard from us before. 8D, immersive, soundscapes of nature and wildlife, coming to you...
SHORT: 3 Ways to Get to Mailbox Zero
10 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
A lot of people want to be an โinbox zeroโ kind of person, but what about โmailbox zeroโ? Ask yourself, how often do you check the mail and ho...
Oh, Deer! with Rhiannon Kirton
29 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Deer. Theyโre everywhere. And our relationship with them is, well, complicated.Some of us love to look at them, take pictures of them, have them aro...
Turns Out Thereโs a Reason for Rudolphโs Red Nose
24 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Not every reindeer has a red nose. After all, thatโs part of what makes Rudolph so specialโand heโs not alone.Episode TranscriptSupport the Show
Why do Elephants have Big Ears?
24 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
When you get hot, you sweat.When Elephants get hot, well, they donโt sweat. So whatโs a 13 foot tall and 13,000-pound animal to do? I mean, not on...
Giraffes Need Friends, Too
16 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
What do Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Gilmore Girls, and Giraffes have in common? The women are the stars of the show. Despite being one of the most...
Protecting Wolves with Dr John A. Vucetich
05 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
An effort to end protections for gray wolves that began with the Florida Man administration has come to fruition under the Biden administration. The s...
2019 Revisit| A Tell Tale Beetle Romance Halloween Special
31 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Happy Halloween! In this super special, unexpected, and therefore super last minute holiday treat (and trick), Devon reads a retelling of Edgar Allen ...
Electric Fish with Kassandra Ford
03 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, we sit down with the one and only Dr Kassandra Ford, aka @kassthefish, to dive into the shocking world of electric fishes. We cover t...
Behind the SCiENcES with Dr Kassandra Ford
31 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Now DR Kassandra Ford, aka @kassthefish on social media, is front and center on this weeks Behind the SCiENcES! Kassandra did her undergraduate resear...
Inside the Brilliant Minds of Elephants
29 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Memory, complex social lives, communication, expression, grief, and revenge.In this episode, we pull from our interview with Lynn Von Hagen to explore...
African Elephants with Lynn Von Hagen
27 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, we talk about everything elephants with expert, Lynn Von Hagen! Intelligence, communication, trophy hunting, general biology, stagger...
Behind the SCiENcES with Lynn Von Hagen
23 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Get to know Lynn before our full episode on elephants later this weekShe is a Conservation Biologist and Presidential Research Fellow at Auburn Univer...
When an Elephant Dies
18 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
A year or so ago, we did an episode with Dr Diva Amon about the deep sea. One of the topics we covered were Whale Falls--what happens when a whale die...
Platypuses with Dr Gilad Bino
13 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, we sit down to talk with Dr Gilad Bino all about platypuses!We talk about their name (and some alternates), conservation efforts, abs...
Behind the SCiENcES with Dr Gilad Bino
08 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Before you sit down with us to learn all about platypuses, join us for a glimpse Behind the SCiENcES with Dr Gilad Bino.Dr Bino is passionate about co...
Dispatches from Somewhere #5| the American Alligator
05 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
This is one of my favorite shots Iโve ever managed to capture. I snapped this in 2015 at one of my all-time favorite parks, @brazosbendstatepar...
Dispatch from Somewhere #4| Antheraea polyphemus
04 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Read the post and see the picture here: https://thewildlife.blog/2021/08/04/dispatches-from-somewhere-4-antheraea-polyphemus/Support The Wild Life at ...
Bears with Brogan Holcombe
23 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Devon and Richard sit down with Brogan Holcombe to talk all about bears!Outline:Bear encounter storiesAre all black bears black?Black...
Behind the SCiENcES with Brogan Holcombe
21 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Brogan is a Masterโs Student working in the Wildlife Habitat & Population Analysis Lab at Virginia TechSheโs also the one behind #SundayScient...
Carnivore Ecology with Dr Mariela Gantchoff
16 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Devon sits down with Carnivore Ecologist Dr Mariela Gantchoff to talk aboutWhat defines carnivoresHow their population sizes compare ...
Behind the ๐ฆ๐i๐๐กc๐๐ฆ with Dr Mariela Gantchoff
14 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Meet this weekโs guest before the episode airs!She is an ecologist at the intersection of theoretical and applied ecology, currently working on land...
Birds of Paradise with Dr Bruce Beehler
25 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Make a donation to our 501(c)3 organizationSign up for our Newsletter!Become a Member-SupporterFollow us on all of our platformsIf you've ever seen a ...
Behind the ๐ฆ๐i๐๐กc๐๐ฆ with Dr Bruce Beehler
23 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Meet this weekโs guest before the episode airs! Dr Bruce M. Beehler (born October 11, 1951 in Baltimore) is an ornithologist and research associate ...
Dragonflies and Damselflies with Dr Jessica L Ware
14 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Dragonflies and Damselflies have been on our planet for millions of years. They're embedded in our art, culture, stories, and even our skin as a popul...
Behind the ๐ฆ๐i๐๐กc๐๐ฆ with Dr Jessica L Ware
12 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Meet this week's guest before the episode airs, Dr Jessica L Ware, assistant curator in invertebrate zoology at the American Museum of Natural History...
Nature's Pooper Scooper (Dung Beetles!) with Professor Marcus Byrne
03 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Before you read what this episode is about, we have an ask. Whoever you are, wherever you are, whichever platform you are using to listen, please cons...
Behind the ๐ฆ๐i๐๐กc๐๐ฆ with Professor Marcus Byrne
28 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Get to know this week's guest before the episode drops!Donate to the Binoculars for Young Birders Program hereSupport The Wild Life at https://www.pat...
Us: Can the Market Save the World?
23 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Welcome to part two in an ongoing series examining our connections and impact on the environment, sustainability, and our changing climate.Part 1 thro...