Category: The Wild Life Blog
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Raccoon Problems
Raccoons and humans don’t always get along. There’s a reason for that, and a solution. Truth is, we’re more similar than you might think.
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Where the Earth Opened Up
Where the Water Reflects the Sky | Part One The depth of our history— humanity’s, life’s, earths, and that of the universe itself— is unfathomable. Yet that is where our series begins—deep time. Before you and I. Before everyone you’ve ever known, loved, or learned about. Before the pyramids, before the mammoths, before the extinction […]
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Wide-Eyed | Why Goats & Cuttlefish Have Weird Shaped Pupils
Who doesn’t love goats? Especially baby ones. Their gait, their bleat, their tiny horns. But there comes a time in any goat interaction I’ve had where we lock eyes and I’m struck with a mixture of curiosity and unease.
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Polar Bears & the Illusion of Color
Most would agree that Polar Bears are white, but there’s more to the story than things may appear.
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How Much Does the Sky Weigh?
It’s a question you may have never asked, or wondered about, but now I bet you’re wondering. As it turns out, it’s an unexpectedly loaded question, too!
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New Study Suggests the Dugong is ‘Functionally Extinct in China
According to a paper published on August 24th, 2022 in the journal Royal Society Open Science, the Dugong is now “functionally extinct” in China.
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Can Other Animals Get Sunburns?
When was the last time you saw a roseate rhinoceros, a bronzed bunting, or a peeling porcupine? Can other animals get sunburns?
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Sea Otters Have Secret Skin Pockets in Their Armpits
Yes, you read that right. Move over marsupials, you’re not the only mammals with skin pockets.
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Class S1E3 | The Demo Model (DEMOSPONGIAE)
Sometimes, things just work. In the case of sponges, there’s the Demo Model.
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Crocodiles Would Bankrupt the Tooth Fairy
Crocodiles go through an extraordinary amount of teeth in their lives, and the how and why are just as spectacular.
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This Pinocchio-Like Trait Means No Lyin’ Lions
As it turns out, Pinocchio’s nose isn’t the only one capable of revealing the truth. Want to know how old a lion is? The nose knows.
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What Animal has the Highest Blood Pressure?
Typically when we think of high blood pressure, we think of the negatives like high stress and a variety of high-risk health conditions. Yet for some in the animal kingdom, high blood pressure is a mere fact of life. So, what animal has the highest blood pressure?
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Why Do Hedgehogs Have Spikes?
Hedgehogs are easily one of the most unmistakable little critters out there, but how much do you know about them
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Wild Speeds | Earth’s Top 20 Fastest Animals
The average human can run 7 mph. How do we measure up against our cousins across the animal kingdom? Let’s explore the Earth’s top 20 fastest animals.
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How to be a Naturalist
What exactly is a naturalist? Who is a naturalist? What do they look like? You might have a certain type of person in mind. Maybe an old British guy in a stuffy room full of bugs in glass cases and preserved birds in drawers. Maybe your old British guy is on safari in Africa, donning […]
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Join The Wild Life. Get Exclusive Gifts for a Year!
BRAND NEW! Support The Wild Life via patreon at either $10 or $20 per month and receive exclusive gifts every 3 months for a year as a part of our new Loyalty Program! www.patreon.com/thewildlife
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Class S1E2: The Art of Glass (Hexactinellids)
Aside from the obviously fascinating fact that these creatures have skeletons made of glass, what exactly are glass sponges?
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Bull Kelp
A couple of weeks back, I saw my first ever Bull Kelp at Huntington Beach! Technically, Bull Kelp is a broad name for a genus, Nereocystis, meaning mermaid’s-bladder in Greek. The thing about the genus is, it’s monotypic meaning it contains just one species: Nereocystis luetkeana. Depending on where you’re from, you might call it […]
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Class S1E1: The Sponge Plunge
Life hasn’t always been here. In the brief time that it has on the cosmic timescale, it has definitely made its mark. For two billion years, life was stuck in an energetic canyon unable to get big and diversify, until two cells combined in a second genesis. In the two billion years since life has […]
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On Birding and Time
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 finding yourself from producing a podcast? In this episode, I go out for a birding excursion with a major time constraint and ponder on my relationship with time itself. […]
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Change, Time, Truth and Lessons from a Caterpillar
I recently turned 30, which, of course, is the start of a new decade in life. It’s something I have had a lot of mixed feelings about. Some good, some not so. Of course, time marches on regardless of anyone’s feelings on the matter. Besides, what is age but a mindset? That and an irrefutable […]
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The Efficacy of Podcasts as A SciComm Strategy
The impact of multimedia such as audio podcasts on the dissemination, accessibility, perception, and understanding of science has been researched at an increasing rate in recent years.
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Review | Sharks, Lies, and Videotape
“Sharks, Lies, and Videotape: A content analysis of 32 years of Shark Week documentaries” is a stunningly comprehensive report on the ways in which Shark Week, arguably the largest source of shark information consumed by the masses, mixes real science with spectacle and salacious stories.
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How to Build An Animal | Part Three
Life is full of branching points on the tree of animal life. The coelom is the next stop on our journey of how to build an animal..
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How to Build an Animal | Part Two
There really is no shortage of ways to build an animal, but there are rules to be followed. What better place to start than the beginning?
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How to Build an Animal | Part One
There really is no shortage of ways to build an animal, but there are rules to be followed—rules with deep roots.
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What Are Animals?
There are 1 to 2 M species of animals described today in every form imaginable. Here are some key traits they all share.
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Podcast| Confronting Climate Change with Jeff Corwin
Jeff Corwin, American biologist and wildlife conservationist, joins Devon on The Wild Life today to talk about his new show on ABC, Wildlife Nation with Jeff Corwin, in partnership with Defenders of Wildlife, his career’s core-wins, lessons learned, finding the right tone, focusing on what matters, finding hope, and confronting climate change. Jeff is known […]
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Baby-Blue Bloods
Horseshoe crabs are a biological oddity, a valuable one at that, especially to drug companies who look to them to ensure medicines and vaccines are safe for all of us. And the key is in their blood.
