Speaker 1: Welcome to Creature feature production of iHeartRadio. I'm your host
Speaker 1: of Many Parasites, Katie Golden. I studied psychology and evolutionary biology,
Speaker 1: and today on the show, we are talking about some
Speaker 1: listener questions, and by we I mean me. Hello, it's
Speaker 1: me Katie. You send me your questions about evolutionary biology,
Speaker 1: about animals, about your pets, about things you want to
Speaker 1: be your pets, and I try to do my best
Speaker 1: and answer them. So let's get right into these listener
Speaker 1: questions all about animals and evolutionary biology. Hey, Katie saw
Speaker 1: this on TikTok and thought, if there's an answer, you'd
Speaker 1: be the one to know. Well, thank you Bush. Some
Speaker 1: people were saying turtles go in the red circle, and okay, guys,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna explain this. There's a visual that goes along
Speaker 1: with it. But let me read the email first and
Speaker 1: then you'll understand Once I explained the visual. Some people
Speaker 1: were saying turtles go in the red circle and tortoise
Speaker 1: goes on the end. But I think turtles are only
Speaker 1: wet because they're in water. Then I wondered if that's
Speaker 1: true for frogs too. I'm thinking there's no definitive answer
Speaker 1: that has all three criteria. But I thought you'd think
Speaker 1: it's fun. This is from Robert. So this is a
Speaker 1: grid with the axes of legs, house, and slime. So
Speaker 1: basically you can have from zero to one house. I
Speaker 1: guess you can have a half house. I don't know
Speaker 1: how that works, maybe a half halfway house, I don't know.
Speaker 1: For slime, it goes from no, probably not, maybe probably yes,
Speaker 1: and legs from zero to four in units of one leg.
Speaker 1: So yeah, it's a grid. And so the person who
Speaker 1: made this grid put snake with zero legs, no slime
Speaker 1: and no house. Slug has slime, no house, zero legs.
Speaker 1: Snail has one house, slime and no legs. Frogs have
Speaker 1: four legs, slime and no Lizards have four legs, no
Speaker 1: slime and no house. Turtles have four legs, a house
Speaker 1: and no slime. I hope you get the idea. So
Speaker 1: the question is essentially, what has four legs, a house
Speaker 1: and is slimy? So let me give some possible answers. So, yeah,
Speaker 1: let's talk about this idea that turtles are they slimy?
Speaker 1: And I agree with you that in general I would
Speaker 1: not say turtles are slimy just because they're wet like
Speaker 1: in the water. But let us talk about actual slime
Speaker 1: found on turtles. Some turtles can be slimy, such as
Speaker 1: fresh water turtles, who often accumulate large amounts of algae
Speaker 1: that grows on their skin and shell. So any species
Speaker 1: who lives in fresh water, particularly more stagnant water like ponds,
Speaker 1: can get algae growth on their bodies. It's often harmless,
Speaker 1: but too much algae can get into crevices in their
Speaker 1: shells and risk infections or block them from receiving sunlight
Speaker 1: that they need to synthesize vitamins. So this algae is
Speaker 1: very interesting looking on these turtles, but it also makes
Speaker 1: for a very slimy turtle. If you've ever felt algae,
Speaker 1: you know what I'm talking about. It's slippery, it's slimy.
Speaker 1: Let's also discuss the idea of frogs. Are they slimy
Speaker 1: just because they're white? Well? No, Actually, frogs do produce mucus.
Speaker 1: Toads also produce some mucus, but they are tend to
Speaker 1: be a little more dry, be able to tolerate dry
Speaker 1: terrestrial life a bit better. But yeah, frogs do produce
Speaker 1: mucus on their skin. In fact, sometimes there are frogs
Speaker 1: or even toads who will burrow down and when it
Speaker 1: gets really dry, they will excrete mucus to cover themselves
Speaker 1: in order to help in their hibernation. And so you
Speaker 1: could say that's something that has a home because it's
Speaker 1: made a burrow is slimy because it's basically created a
Speaker 1: protective coating of mucus and has four legs, so that
Speaker 1: I would think would fit in that circle. But even
Speaker 1: if it's not in this burrow situation, there's lots of
Speaker 1: frogs that have homes. So there are tropical frogs that
Speaker 1: live in bromeliad plants. These are plants that actually are
Speaker 1: like kind of parasites to trees. They don't usually hurt
Speaker 1: the trees too much, but they grow attached to the
Speaker 1: tree and they form these little cups, these little basins
Speaker 1: that water can collect in, kind of like a wall
Speaker 1: sconce but it's a plant and rainwater collects in these
Speaker 1: and little frogs make their homes in them, and it's
Speaker 1: very very cute. So yeah, I do suspect though that
Speaker 1: the creator of this grid would have it seems like
Speaker 1: they are counting a home as something that is like
Speaker 1: attached to the animal, because all the examples of it
Speaker 1: are like turtle, snail. So let's try to be even
Speaker 1: more strict and talk about a slimy animal that has
Speaker 1: a home that it actually is actually like attached to
Speaker 1: its body like the turtle. So I would propose, and
Speaker 1: this is going to sound a little strange, but hanging
Speaker 1: with me, Stay with me, the pangolin. So this is
Speaker 1: a mammal that lives in Africa and Asia with those
Speaker 1: really lovely scales that look like a dragon. These are
Speaker 1: keratin enforced armored scales that it can roll itself up in.
Speaker 1: So I definitely think that counts as a house. And
Speaker 1: you might be saying, like, Katie, what are you talking about.
Speaker 1: Penguins are mammals, they aren't slimy. So actually they produce
Speaker 1: an extremely slimy and sticky saliva which coats this really
Speaker 1: long tongue that they have. Their tongues can sometimes be
Speaker 1: over a foot long, which they stick in ant hills
Speaker 1: or termite mounds, and it essentially works like this really slimy,
Speaker 1: sticky piece of fly paper and all the ants will
Speaker 1: stick to the panglung tongue, so it can just kind
Speaker 1: of slurp it back in like a nerds rope. Unfortunately,
Speaker 1: I do have another candidate, but I don't think it
Speaker 1: fits on the grid, but I'm gonna tell you about it. Anyways.
Speaker 1: The grid only goes up to four legs. If you
Speaker 1: extend it to six legs, I could introduce the cattisfly larva.
Speaker 1: So these are the juvenile forms of cattisflies and they
Speaker 1: live in freshwater aquatic environments. They build themselves these really
Speaker 1: interesting little homes. They build a case around themselves, attaching
Speaker 1: it to this kind of sticky, gooey silk, and the
Speaker 1: cases are made from whatever they found in their environment,
Speaker 1: like bits of gravel or aquatic plants, as a form
Speaker 1: of camouflage to avoid predation. And in species of carnivorous
Speaker 1: cattisfly larva such as Polycinchopodidae, they actually use their cases
Speaker 1: to sneak up on prey. And it's really really cool.
Speaker 1: And I would argue they either they probably belong somewhere
Speaker 1: in the quadrant of like they have six legs, they
Speaker 1: have a home, and they're maybe slimy. They're not absolutely
Speaker 1: always slimy. And if we just want to keep adding
Speaker 1: in legs because who doesn't, we could introduce the nautilus.
Speaker 1: This is a family of mollusks with many, many, many
Speaker 1: legs and a shell. They are cephalopods. They're related to
Speaker 1: squid and octopuses, though they are far more ancient. So
Speaker 1: they have all sorts of tentacles, and the number of
Speaker 1: tentacles varies depending on the species, the age, the sex.
Speaker 1: They can have up to like a hundred of these tentacles.
Speaker 1: Many are small, they're not really visible outside the shell,
Speaker 1: though they do tend to have around forty visible tentacles
Speaker 1: that they use for movement and capturing prey. And this
Speaker 1: is acephalopod that has a sh shell, so I would
Speaker 1: count that as it's home, and I would say that
Speaker 1: they're relatively slimy. In fact, the ancestors of squid and
Speaker 1: octopuses used to have shells before ditching them in favor
Speaker 1: of greater maneuverability. But whatever added protection the cell the
Speaker 1: shells had was not enough to make up for the
Speaker 1: hindrance of prey hiding in little nooks or the power
Speaker 1: of other predators. So a squishy, but more maneuverable body
Speaker 1: that we see in squid and in octopuses turned out
Speaker 1: to be more beneficial to them than having this giant shell,
Speaker 1: even though it was really cool. But the nautilus still
Speaker 1: has that shell and it still finds it beneficial. So
Speaker 1: just different strokes for different folks. Except the folks are
Speaker 1: cephalopods and I love them. I love octopuses. I love
Speaker 1: all cephalopods, but especially octopuses. They're so cute and squishy.
Speaker 1: All right, on to the next listener question. Hi, Katie.
Speaker 1: My black cat was raised as a single kitten, and
Speaker 1: I believe because of that, he never really learned how
Speaker 1: to properly mew. Instead, he squeaks or chirps, just like
Speaker 1: a bird. But recently I've seen many posts online about
Speaker 1: how other people's black cats don't yell either. Is this
Speaker 1: actually a more common occurrence with black cats or just
Speaker 1: a coincidence. I thought, with Halloween just around the corner,
Speaker 1: it would be fun to do an episode all about
Speaker 1: black kitties. You could talk about how they came to
Speaker 1: be unlucky, and maybe even bring up how black panthers
Speaker 1: are really leopards and jack or jaguars I can't recall which,
Speaker 1: And please mention how wonderful black kitties really are attached
Speaker 1: is a picture of my boy Ajax. Thanks so much
Speaker 1: for all the work you do on the wonderful podcast.
Speaker 1: Thank you. And this is from Melissa. And also she
Speaker 1: included this wonderful photo of her kitty Ajax in a
Speaker 1: plush coffin that says lazy bones on it. That's incredible
Speaker 1: the best cat bet I think think I've ever seen.
Speaker 1: So this is a fascinating question, Melissa. I also love
Speaker 1: the photo of your little kiddie resting in his very
Speaker 1: spooky coffin. So it is not at all a bad theory.
Speaker 1: Coat color can be tied to genetic variances and cats.
Speaker 1: So for an example, probably a famous one is that
Speaker 1: white cats with blue eyes are much more prone to
Speaker 1: deafness than the general cat population. Not blindness, I know,
Speaker 1: it's like an eye color thing with the blue eyes,
Speaker 1: but really actually deafness. So this is due to a
Speaker 1: deficiency that causes an organ within the cochlea to degenerate.
Speaker 1: It is actually incredible how strong this association is. Around
Speaker 1: eighty percent of blue eyed white cats heard deaf. It
Speaker 1: just made me think of you, blue eyed I play
Speaker 1: my blue eyed white cat. Sorry, okay, moving on, So
Speaker 1: about eighty percent of blue eyed white cats are deaf.
Speaker 1: If only one eye is blue, there's a better chance
Speaker 1: that the ear corresponding to the non blue eye will
Speaker 1: be functional, and the ear corresponding to the blue eye
Speaker 1: is the one that will have that deficiency. Very very weird,
Speaker 1: you know. This is probably due to the fact that
Speaker 1: the genetic mutation that gives these cats their blue eyes
Speaker 1: and their white fur somehow also helps control for the
Speaker 1: development of this organ in the cochlea and that kind
Speaker 1: of tissue, and maybe it makes it more weak and
Speaker 1: so it degenerates over time. So that being said, I
Speaker 1: don't actually know of any research to indicate that black
Speaker 1: cats are less vocal. In general, cats vary in how
Speaker 1: much they meow pretty much based on their personality, the
Speaker 1: environment they grew up in, male, female, a lot of factors.
Speaker 1: So they can maiw very little, they can mow a lot.
Speaker 1: I am currently babysitting three cats, and they are all
Speaker 1: very different in terms of how vocal they are. One
Speaker 1: barely meals, one meals like all the time, one only
Speaker 1: meals like in weird hours of the night. Anyways, they're
Speaker 1: all unique, and there are a few factors though that
Speaker 1: can kind of push your cat in certain directions in
Speaker 1: terms of how vocal it is. So, for example, if
Speaker 1: your cat is neutered, male neutered cats will make less
Speaker 1: noise than non neutered cats and they will have higher
Speaker 1: pitched meals, So basically he'll be less annoying if he's neutered.
Speaker 1: So get your cats neutered. It is possible. I'm not
Speaker 1: saying that there's no way that there's an association between
Speaker 1: vocality and for color and black cats, but I don't
Speaker 1: know that it's well documented. But here's maybe some speculation
Speaker 1: of why this could occur if it really is a pattern.
Speaker 1: So it's possible that more black cats get passed through
Speaker 1: the shelter system because they're seen as less desirable. Sadly, So,
Speaker 1: say you have a litter of kittens and someone's giving
Speaker 1: it out to people in the neighborhood or putting them
Speaker 1: on sale on Craigslist, and there's a black kitten there. Unfortunately,
Speaker 1: that black kitten is less likely to be selected, either
Speaker 1: because of superstition or esthetic reasons, which is really sad.
Speaker 1: Black cats are just normal cats, sweet little kitties. But
Speaker 1: if they do go through the shelter system more, it's
Speaker 1: more likely that they would get neutered, and so maybe
Speaker 1: that makes them a little more quiet. I don't have
Speaker 1: any evidence for this. This is just a theory in
Speaker 1: terms of how this could potentially happen. There's also a
Speaker 1: possibility that your cat was separated from his mother early,
Speaker 1: meaning that he didn't have time to learn how to
Speaker 1: do cat stuff like nowing. Like you said in your email,
Speaker 1: you suspect that the lack of other cats around made
Speaker 1: it harder for him to learn, and I think that's
Speaker 1: absolutely probably the main reason that your cat is more quiet. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean I think that if there is a pattern
Speaker 1: of black cats mewing, I really don't know of any
Speaker 1: sort of genetic reasons that would be. It seems much
Speaker 1: more likely that this would be a cultural thing, like
Speaker 1: our own sort of human preferences or these superstitions we
Speaker 1: have about black cats affecting how we treat them or
Speaker 1: where they end up right in the shelter system, and
Speaker 1: not having some effect on their pattern of behavior. So,
Speaker 1: but regardless, it sounds like Ajax has a fantastic life.
Speaker 1: I don't want you to worry that because he's more quiet,
Speaker 1: that somehow he's less happy or he wasn't raised. Well, no, Like,
Speaker 1: I think that a quiet cat there's nothing wrong with that,
Speaker 1: unless it's like a sudden shift in behavior. Like if
Speaker 1: this is just how he is. He likes to be
Speaker 1: kind of quiet to do his cute little chirps, that's
Speaker 1: totally fine. He sounds and looks like a very very
Speaker 1: happy cat. I'm sure he has a fantastic life. And
Speaker 1: he's also very spooky and scary and has a scary coffin,
Speaker 1: and I love that. I do think it's a great
Speaker 1: idea to talk about our superstitions about black cats. There
Speaker 1: is an episode if you want to check it out.
Speaker 1: It's called Superstition. I published that back in October twenty nineteen.
Speaker 1: Maybe I'll drag that back up and do like a
Speaker 1: rebroadcast of it, but it's been a while, so yeah,
Speaker 1: maybe I will in the future talk more about our
Speaker 1: weird human beliefs when it comes to black cats. And also, yeah,
Speaker 1: you're your note is absolutely right. So black panthers are
Speaker 1: melanistic variations of both leopards who are found in Africa
Speaker 1: or jaguars found in South America, So two different species
Speaker 1: leopards and jaguars, but black panthers are not their own
Speaker 1: distinct species. Black panthers are just either a melanistic leopard
Speaker 1: or a melanistic jaguar. You can even spot the rosette
Speaker 1: pattern through their fur, so they're not entirely black. These
Speaker 1: are cats who are genuinely bad luck. Not because they're
Speaker 1: black cats, not because they're cats, but because they are
Speaker 1: large wildcats and they can use their incredible jaw strength
Speaker 1: to crush your skull, particularly jaguars, although honestly, I don't
Speaker 1: think jaguars or leopards tend to bother humans much. But
Speaker 1: if you're like a a deer or a gazelle, you're
Speaker 1: in trouble if you spot one of these cats. Next
Speaker 1: listener question, Hi, Katie, I want to feed the crows
Speaker 1: and any other corvids who want to join them. I've
Speaker 1: been putting out peanuts, but is there something like a
Speaker 1: complete feed for them? Or should I add more variety
Speaker 1: to the peanuts or should I just leave it at peanuts.
Speaker 1: I've seen cracked corn recommended. Is that better than whole corn?
Speaker 1: What about poultry feeds? I can get whatever is best,
Speaker 1: although I also want them to like it. I enjoy
Speaker 1: them for their own sake. But since they also helped
Speaker 1: deter hawks from stalking my chickens and ducks. I'm willing
Speaker 1: to invest in them. I just don't want to be
Speaker 1: the Corvid equivalent to the well meaning folks inadvertently giving
Speaker 1: waterfowl angel wing from malnutrition. Let me say that sentence again,
Speaker 1: because it's a mouthful. I don't want to be the
Speaker 1: Corvid equivalent to the well meaning folks inadvertently giving waterfowl
Speaker 1: angel wing from malnutrition. Also, you're in my head. When
Speaker 1: I listen to the groom Pod and Susie say I'm
Speaker 1: your host, my brain adds of many parasites. I'm so
Speaker 1: happy that my words have become a parasite in your brain.
Speaker 1: And then Kelly says, give Cookie a treat from me.
Speaker 1: Thanks Kelly, Hey, Kelly, thank you so much for your question.
Speaker 1: Cookie has received a treat in your honor. She's not
Speaker 1: in the room right now, but I can guarantee it
Speaker 1: she's received a treat. And I said, hey, Cookie, you
Speaker 1: better give your things to Kelly for this one. Otherwise
Speaker 1: you wouldn't be getting this tree. All right, let's talk
Speaker 1: about it. So the angel wings syndrome Kelly is referring
Speaker 1: to is the deformation of wings and ducts, and in
Speaker 1: geese where the wing joint bends upwards, making some of
Speaker 1: the feathers permanently stuck in an airplane position. Basically, it
Speaker 1: looks like there's just a couple of feathers that are
Speaker 1: sticking up like this, but they are main feathers, so
Speaker 1: they're quite large, so it looks kind of like their
Speaker 1: little airplanes. It would be cute if it wasn't so sad.
Speaker 1: It is a possible complication of malnutrition and vitamin deficiency.
Speaker 1: So there is a theory that people feeding them excessive
Speaker 1: amounts of bread could cause it. I don't think it
Speaker 1: is proven that that's the case, but I think that's
Speaker 1: a pretty good explanation for it. It may at the
Speaker 1: very least be a contributing factor to this disease. So
Speaker 1: Susie or Kelly is concerned that this may be the
Speaker 1: case when feeding crows, But let's talk about it, because
Speaker 1: I don't think it's quite as dangerous or as a
Speaker 1: sort of perilous situation as you think. So feeding crows
Speaker 1: is really okay. Obviously you don't want to feed them bread,
Speaker 1: which it doesn't sound like you're doing. Kelly and my
Speaker 1: main advice for feeding crows is just to do it
Speaker 1: in moderation. You should be essentially offering them treats supplements,
Speaker 1: not making up the main part of their diets, so
Speaker 1: that they can continue to keep up their normal hunting
Speaker 1: and scavenging practices so they don't become too dependent on you.
Speaker 1: But with that caveat, although out of the way, there
Speaker 1: are certainly treats you can feed them and that they
Speaker 1: would love and that are nutritious. It sounds like you're
Speaker 1: really already doing that. Peanuts and corn are great treats
Speaker 1: for crows. The difference between cracked corn and whole corn,
Speaker 1: I don't think there's anything in terms of what would
Speaker 1: be better for the crow. Cracked corn is easier to digest,
Speaker 1: but that doesn't mean it's better than whole corn, because
Speaker 1: if something takes a bit longer to digest, that might
Speaker 1: be good for their metabolism. So I don't know. I
Speaker 1: don't think there's any nutritional really difference between the two.
Speaker 1: The only advantage that whole corn has is that it
Speaker 1: might last longer outside right like, it might spoil less
Speaker 1: quickly because it's not cut in half and sort of
Speaker 1: mashed up into little pieces, like if it's sort of
Speaker 1: moist out or something, it will spoil less quickly. So
Speaker 1: maybe the whole corn would be better, but I really
Speaker 1: can't say. You could also put out different types of
Speaker 1: nuts and see what they like best. I have read
Speaker 1: that they really love pet food and eggs, but then
Speaker 1: you might be encouraging other scavengers to come to your yard,
Speaker 1: ones that would be less beneficial to your ducks and
Speaker 1: your chickens. So maybe stay away from the more meat
Speaker 1: based things or the like. Don't put out cat food,
Speaker 1: don't put out eggs, because you're gonna get a lot
Speaker 1: of different scavengers and omnivores. Yeah, you're You're really unlikely
Speaker 1: to hurt the crows with whatever food you give them,
Speaker 1: as long as it's not in too great of a quantity,
Speaker 1: and like I said, just you don't want them to
Speaker 1: grow too dependent on you. You also, like, uh, giving
Speaker 1: them treats. There's really no harm in that. You're feeding
Speaker 1: them a lot of food, and you kind of cause
Speaker 1: shifts in their population, like make them more successful. That's
Speaker 1: you know, not necessarily great because you there's other birds
Speaker 1: that live there, and you don't want to like kind
Speaker 1: of tip the scales too much in the crow's favor.
Speaker 1: As much as I love crows, right, it's always good
Speaker 1: to have a balance there. But it really, I really
Speaker 1: don't think that you have to worry about that. If
Speaker 1: you're just putting out some treats for them, that's totally fine.
Speaker 1: And you know, honestly, like you may develop some friendship
Speaker 1: with these crows, like they may start giving you little
Speaker 1: presents like little sticks or bottle caps. Who knows so
Speaker 1: they I'm sure they appreciate your efforts in their own
Speaker 1: little crow ways. All right, Hey, I loved the recent
Speaker 1: Crocodilian episode. I myself am from Florida and still live there,
Speaker 1: and unlike Bridget she was my guest on the episode,
Speaker 1: I grew up right by a huge stretch of river
Speaker 1: and swamp, unlike the really industrial city of Miami. I'm
Speaker 1: sure you can still spot gaters there, and it's a
Speaker 1: quick cop to the Everglades. But I think it's a
Speaker 1: little funny comparatively how ubiquitous gaters are in my little
Speaker 1: part of Florida. I can even see a gat on
Speaker 1: the daily if I want to, as there's a juvenile
Speaker 1: that lives in my neighborhood's little pond. I only ever
Speaker 1: get to see his snout and the eyes above the water,
Speaker 1: and there's way too much duckweed to actually see into
Speaker 1: the pond and judge his But based on how big
Speaker 1: his head is, he's probably three to four feet. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's not bad. They are seriously everywhere in this state,
Speaker 1: to the point where the Little Florida Welcome Centers have
Speaker 1: live baby gators. We've got so many dang gators. Well,
Speaker 1: I hope those baby gators are being paid to be there. Anyways,
Speaker 1: back to the listener question, I don't think questions are
Speaker 1: super necessary because I just want to let you know
Speaker 1: how ridiculously gator filled Florida can be, and not having
Speaker 1: gator safety on the school curriculum does kind of make sense.
Speaker 1: But all this gator talk does have me wondering whether
Speaker 1: there's any other big predators in America that are not
Speaker 1: only so ubiquitous but also easy to spot. I feel
Speaker 1: like bears and cougars are fairly elusive, After all, we
Speaker 1: have those here in Florida as well. I've only seen
Speaker 1: them in captivity or as roadkill, while gators will just
Speaker 1: be chilling out at any old place. I imagine part
Speaker 1: of The difference might also be that getter simply need
Speaker 1: to conserve their energy so much more as reptiles, so
Speaker 1: they're much less flighty and less a potential risk gets
Speaker 1: really close or messes with their babies. Anyway, if you
Speaker 1: ever do visit Florida for any reason in the future,
Speaker 1: the whole Tampa Bay area is great for spotting cute
Speaker 1: aquatic creatures, be it gators in the rivers or dolphins
Speaker 1: and sharks in the ocean. The clear Water Aquarium in
Speaker 1: Florida Aquarium are both lovely for similar experiences, but with
Speaker 1: added AC. Thanks for all you do, Tommy. Thank you
Speaker 1: so much for your email. Tommy, Yeah, I AC is
Speaker 1: always welcome. I'm sure in Florida, living near so many
Speaker 1: gators must be so amazing and so cool, a little menacing.
Speaker 1: Maybe you are usually safe as long as you keep
Speaker 1: your distance and you don't go wading into their waters,
Speaker 1: and also keep your tiny edible little dogs on a leash.
Speaker 1: I'm speaking in general, not directly to Tommy, but yeah,
Speaker 1: it must be really thrilling to see them in the
Speaker 1: FLEs and outside of an enclosure, just chilling and thinking
Speaker 1: gator thoughts. I can't say I ever have seen a
Speaker 1: gator that is just living its life outside of an enclosure.
Speaker 1: So about there being other big predators that just hang out,
Speaker 1: I mean, one reason obviously that gators are so ubiquitous
Speaker 1: in this area is that human settlements, cities, towns, neighborhoods
Speaker 1: are basically right where the gator's natural habitat is. And
Speaker 1: the gators, Yeah, like you said, probably them being reptiles
Speaker 1: is part of it, right, Like they a lot of
Speaker 1: their lifestyle is not moving around. It is sitting, basking,
Speaker 1: waiting quietly in sort of covertly for prey to come by.
Speaker 1: So they're a lot less mobile, they don't roam around
Speaker 1: as much, and so yeah, if they are relatively unbothered
Speaker 1: by people, it's going to be a lot easier to
Speaker 1: spot them. So in terms of other large predators, as
Speaker 1: you've guessed correctly, yeah, we don't have too many large
Speaker 1: predators who are willing to rub elbows with humans. Some
Speaker 1: of our largest predator species in the US are bears,
Speaker 1: mountain lions, wolves, bobcats, and coyotes, all of whom are
Speaker 1: pretty shy. I mean, coyotes are pretty bold, but they're
Speaker 1: smaller and they are more elusive. They move around a lot, right,
Speaker 1: They're so different from gators because they move around, they
Speaker 1: hunt in packs. They're very like active hunters. But they
Speaker 1: are bold in the sense that they will come into
Speaker 1: human neighborhoods, which again, like the human neighborhoods are in
Speaker 1: their habitats, it's not really their fault, and they come
Speaker 1: in and sometimes they steal people's chickens or pets. But
Speaker 1: there is I think an interesting story that it could
Speaker 1: be something of an answer to your question and is
Speaker 1: also a really important story, which is that one of
Speaker 1: the largest predators in North America, polar bears, in fact,
Speaker 1: the largest predator or in North America, are becoming less shy.
Speaker 1: They are coming into towns more often due to climate
Speaker 1: change and less available prey because they really don't necessarily
Speaker 1: want to come into these human towns, but they are.
Speaker 1: As ice flows are more brittle, there's less of this region,
Speaker 1: they will be able to find less of their natural prey,
Speaker 1: like seals, so they come into town. They particularly like
Speaker 1: this town called Kaktovic because of a spot where whale
Speaker 1: carcasses are left after being hunted by the locals. So
Speaker 1: this is a special case in which the people of
Speaker 1: the area are allowed to hunt whales because it is
Speaker 1: how they have traditionally survived for many, many many years.
Speaker 1: So this is not the type of whaling that is
Speaker 1: like commercial whaling. This is just an ancient practice that
Speaker 1: is legal in this area. So the locals are not
Speaker 1: doing anything wrong. So the area where the remains of
Speaker 1: the carcasses are left has become a hot spot for
Speaker 1: polar bears. It makes sense, right, people will hunt the whales,
Speaker 1: they'll leave what is left of the carcass in this area,
Speaker 1: and so the polar bears will come and scavenge from
Speaker 1: these carcasses, and that would pretty much be fine, right,
Speaker 1: because the locals are pretty well versed in how to
Speaker 1: avoid the polar bears, they definitely give them their space.
Speaker 1: But it is new, right, the locals said that this
Speaker 1: has not been the case, you know, in the past historically,
Speaker 1: like polar bears were not so numerous at these carcass
Speaker 1: sites because the polar bears probably had a preference to
Speaker 1: still stay away from this human area and hunt in
Speaker 1: their own territory. But now the climate change has driven
Speaker 1: them further into this town, and so now these dump
Speaker 1: sites have so many of these polar bears, And a
Speaker 1: problem that's happening is tourists are really interested in seeing
Speaker 1: the bears, and that's not a great thing because, first
Speaker 1: of all, it's better to just leave these polar bears alone, right,
Speaker 1: They have it tough enough. But also, polar bears are massive,
Speaker 1: gosh darn bears. They're so like polar bears genuinely frighten
Speaker 1: me in a way that almost no other predator does.
Speaker 1: They are so they're such a determination, right, they live
Speaker 1: in such a harsh environment, and they have such a
Speaker 1: determination to eat food because they need to, and to them,
Speaker 1: we look like food unless they learn to avoid us
Speaker 1: because they've had bad encounters with people. But like, look,
Speaker 1: these are bears that usually have not seen like a
Speaker 1: great meal in a while. If you're a tourist and
Speaker 1: you're going into this area, which is basically bear buffet,
Speaker 1: that doesn't seem like a good idea. I don't know,
Speaker 1: it doesn't sound like anyone's been killed yet, but guys,
Speaker 1: stay away from the bear buffet. That's my advice as
Speaker 1: a professional person who likes to stay alive and not
Speaker 1: be eaten in one of the most horrific ways possible. Anyways,
Speaker 1: So that would be my answer. I would say that
Speaker 1: polar bears are becoming more bold seen more about town
Speaker 1: in these areas, but it's not necessarily a good thing.
Speaker 1: I think that, like in Florida, correct me if I'm wrong,
Speaker 1: that there's a bit of a piece maybe between the
Speaker 1: gators and the people. Maybe not peace, but you know,
Speaker 1: just there's a bit of an equilibrium. The fact that
Speaker 1: the bears are coming into town's is not good. This
Speaker 1: is a sign that their habitat is not healthy. So
Speaker 1: it's unfortunate. But hopefully, you know, we can figure out
Speaker 1: a way to stop stop the the ice from completely melting,
Speaker 1: because otherwise we're gonna have to just I think give
Speaker 1: Alaska to the bears. Guys. It's only fair, all right. Well, guys,
Speaker 1: thank you so much for writing to me with your questions.
Speaker 1: If you were listening to this and you're like, I
Speaker 1: have a burning question about animals, you should write to
Speaker 1: me at Creature Featurepod at gmail dot com any of
Speaker 1: your burning evolutionary biology questions. If you have a burning
Speaker 1: somewhere like a rash, just go to a doctor. That's
Speaker 1: I can't help you with that. Thanks to the Space
Speaker 1: Classics for their super awesome song Exolumina Creature features a
Speaker 1: production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts like the one you
Speaker 1: just heard, visit they are heart Radio app Apple Podcasts
Speaker 1: or thank us. What why of you listen to your
Speaker 1: favorite shows. I'm not your mother. I can't tell you
Speaker 1: what to do, but I do care enough about you
Speaker 1: to say, stay away from the bear buffet. See you
Speaker 1: next Wednesday.