After the Hike| Hike @ Night with HIKEhoppers at Warner Lake Park

#TWLHikingClub Tuesday| This past Saturday, I joined a local non-profit called HIKEhoppers on a glow-stick laden, s'mores filled night hike at Warner Lake County Park in Clearwater, MN. Here's how it went!

TWL Hiking Club| Hike @ Night with HIKEhoppers and The Wild Life + a Big Announcement!

The Wild Life is joining forces with HIKEhoppers, a central MN non-profit organization, whose vision we share to connect people to nature through hiking events and educational learning experiences. At 8:30 pm this Saturday, 6/15, join us for a night hike at Warner Lake Park in Clearwater, MN!

The Trouble with Trilobites

It's #FossilFriday, and you know what that means---fossils. Big surprise, right? This week, with an unoriginal but begging to be used titular parody on the classic Star Trek episode 'The Trouble with Tribbles"---we're talking trilobites. Here is my trilobite.  It was a gift from my brother (podcast co-host) he picked up at a rock convention. … Continue reading The Trouble with Trilobites

Sunday Fish Sketch| The Common Sea Dragon

This #SundayFishSketch comes from Ichthyologist, Rene Martin. Visit her shop on InPrint to see more of her artwork or to order prints! Meet the Common Sea Dragon Phyllopteryx taeniolatus While it may be a dragon by name, the Common Sea Dragon is no more a dragon than a sea horse is a horse. One, it would be … Continue reading Sunday Fish Sketch| The Common Sea Dragon

Fossil Friday| Introducing Evolution with the Archaeopteryx

In celebration of #FossilFriday, I wanted to share an educational resource: a lesson I used during student teaching to introduce a unit on evolution. This lesson can be modified for middle school level and was written in accordance to MN state standards which very closely mirror NGSS, however, I structured this lesson for the high … Continue reading Fossil Friday| Introducing Evolution with the Archaeopteryx

Women in Science| Meet Mary Anning, Fossil Hunter, and the 11-year Old Fighting for Her Recognition

220 years after Mary Annings birth, a young girl from the very town where Mary lived her entire life is fighting to rectify a historical injustice in recognizing Anning in bronze---a fitting honor for a woman who spent her life uncovering creatures lost to time.

Mid-Season Finale| S2E5: No Brainer

In the mid-season finale, Devon and Richard talk to Lucas Brotz, research associate at the Marine Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries at the University of British Columbia and a Cnidaria Scientist for Quantitative Aquatics, to discuss how a creature without a brain dominates the worlds oceans, and the many ways they impact our lives.

TWL Hiking Club|The Always Adorable, Sometimes Vicious, Shrew

It's #TWLHikingClub Tuesday! To continue our series on often less appreciated critters, this week we are talking about the always adorable, and sometimes vicious, shrew.

TWL Hiking Club| Mallards are Actually Really Awesome

It's #TWLHikingClub Tuesday| Today, we're kicking off a new series on appreciating the little things---from urban wildlife to the oh so common Mallard.

S2E3| Animal Magnetism

In this episode, Devon and Richard explore the animal magnetism. No, not the kind you might be thinking. Instead, we're talking about the surprisingly common animal superpower which allows creatures all around the world, from the skies to the oceans, to sense the magnetic field of our planet.

S2E2: Ant Farm

In this episode, we discover that we may not be as unique, or advanced, as we thought as we learn about amazing subterranean fungi farmers, cowboy insects, and a 55 million year old relationship that puts our use (or misuse) of antibiotics to shame.

Video: The Wild Life

Ahead of our Season 2 releases, we wanted to put together a video to tell you who we are, what we do, where we are going, and to say #ThankYouPatrons to our supporters on Patreon.com. The Wild Life is viewer, reader, and listener supported. If you believe in what we are doing, you can become … Continue reading Video: The Wild Life

#SundayFishSketch Banded Scuplin

The banded sculpin (Cottus carolinae) is a mottled brown freshwater fish with dark vertical bands native to swift moving streams of the eastern United States where they dine on insects, various larvae, and occasionally, though sparingly, on other smaller fish or crustaceans.

19 Creepy Critters and Monster Themed Animals That Will Get You In The Halloween Spirit

Halloween may already be near its end, but if you're having trouble getting in the ghoulish spirit ahead of trick or treating or the witching hour, check out these 19 creepy critters and monster themed animals to help you be more David S Pumpkins and less David S No-Fun-kins. Instead of the normal explanatory captions, I'm opting for as little detail as possible. After all, the unknown is most terrifying of all!

#SundayFishSketch Goliath Tigerfish

If there is any fish that lives up to its name it's the Goliath Tigerfish---a truly gigantic African predator with razor sharp teeth. The largest on record weighed over 150 pounds at nearly five feet in length. For perspective, that's two German Shepard's stacked on top of each other, or a welterweight fighter---and a fighter they certainly are.

#SundayFishSketch Redeye Piranha

Piranhas need no introduction being that their teeth and diet have earned them quite the reputation, especially around Hollywood as a super villains aquarium species of choice or as the center of several B-movies.

Birding by Smartphone

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, with just as much variation in "why" as their is in "how". Whether you're a life "lister", a casual admirer, or anywhere in between, at some point each and every one of has had a moment where we saw a bird and thought to ourselves, "what is that?"

Podcast Season 2 Updates, Topics

Season Two of The Wild Life is well in the works, with at least two interviews being done this week (for both the premier and the finale, coincidentally). With that being said, Richard and I wanted to take the opportunity to share with yall the episode topics (and working titles) for the upcoming season. Here it goes: