Ep. 72 - Grass Carp: A Reel Problem The Field Guides podcast

51:45

Bill and Steve look into the Dawn Chrous, that early morning explosion of bird song that refuses to let you sleep in. And, for all you Daniel-haters out there, this episode is 100% Daniel-free (but Bill and Steve are both crying on the inside. We miss Daniel buckets, and we're betting you do, too). This episode was recorded on April 10, 2025 at the California Road Rereation Area in Orchard Park, NY. Episode Notes and Links Are there orioles in China? Bill shared the classic Chinese poem from the Tang Dynasty (~600–900 CE) - the one called "Feelings on Awakening from Drunkenness on a Spring Day" by Li Bai, and Steve wondered: Are there Orioles in China. Turns out that, yes, there are, and they’re more oriole-y (?) than ours! That’s because our New World orioles, like the one we’re betting you’re thinking of right now (the well-known orange and black Baltimore Oriole) belong to the family Icteridae and are not closely related to Old World orioles. Instead, they’re closely related to blackbirds and meadowlarks, fellow family members in the Icteridae. Old world orioles in Europe and Asia, on the other hand, belong to the family Oriolidae . Our orioles were named after them because of the similarities to the old world orioles in behavior, diet, and appearance, but, despite the similarities – these families are not closely related. The similarities evolved independently due to convergent evolution (when species develop similar traits in response to similar environmental pressures). So, yes, Steve, there are orioles in China, but it’s tough to say for sure which oriole Li Bai heard in his drunken stupor because Birds of China reports seven species found throughout the country, and, as we pointed out, given Li Bai’s state, maybe the bird was only in his head. Is there a Thorpe’s Law? When Bill mentioned William Thorpe, a British biologist and ornithologist, Steve thought he recalled there was an ecological law or concept credited to Thorpe. Bill scoured the Internet, but the closest thing he could find was Taylor's power law, an empirical law in ecology that relates the variance of the number of individuals of a species per unit area of habitat to the corresponding mean by a power law relationship. If that made sense to you, Bill asks if you could kindly explain it to him. bird Can someone look at a sound spectrograph and identify the bird? The guys wondered if a sound researcher looking at sound spectrographs (visual representations of bird song) could get good enough to know what bird they’re looking at just by the visual? An internet search was inconclusive- a lot of sites talk about using the spectrographs as an aid to get better at understanding and ID’ing bird song, but we couldn’t find any that specifically addressed this question. We’ve emailed some bird biologists and we’ll update these notes when we hear back! Social Monogamy vs. Sexual Monogamy: Steve talked about how he’d heard that even in species that bond for life, members of the pair will still seek out other mates. True? First, let’s make a distinction that Steve alluded to in the episode: that is, social vs. sexual monogamy. In birds, "monogamy" often refers to a social bond, where a pair stays together and raises offspring together. However, this doesn't necessarily mean they are sexually faithful to each other. So, socially monogamous doesn’t equal sexual monogamy. Looking in to this, we landed on a passage in The Sibley Guide to Bird Life and Behavior – a birder’s bible if there is one – it reports: “90 percent of all bird species are socially monogamous, but some level of cheating is common. Cheating, or “extra-pair copulation” also occurs, but rarely, among birds of sexually monogamous, mated-for-life species, “but is not yet known how many species engage in extra-pair copulations, since many species remain to be studied. However, it appears that genetic monogamy may be the exception rather than the rule among birds.” 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 Gil, D. and Llusia, D., 2020. The bird dawn chorus revisited. Coding strategies in vertebrate acoustic communication , pp.45-90. Greives, T.J., Kingma, S.A., Kranstauber, B., Mortega, K., Wikelski, M., van Oers, K., Mateman, A.C., Ferguson, G.A., Beltrami, G. and Hau, M., 2015. Costs of sleeping in. Functional Ecology , 29 (10), pp.1300-1307. Staicer, C.A., Spector, D.A. and Horn, A.G., 1996. The dawn chorus and other diel patterns in acoustic signaling. Ecology and evolution of acoustic communication in birds , pp.426-453. Dawn Chorus sounds used in the beginning of the episode: “Dawn Chorus in Tompkins County, New York” posted by the Cayuga Bird Club https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zZtjYQUgaQ Photo Credit The deeply disturbing image that graces this episode was generated by AI in Canva.…

The Field Guides

1
Ep. 72 - Grass Carp: A Reel Problem 56:07

4 weeks ago56:07

56:07

In this episode, Steve leads a discussion on the invasive Grass Carp. The guys go over the evolutionary history of grass carp and its relatives, its biology, its introduction to The Great Lakes region, why people are concerned, and anything interesting Steve found out about it. There are a lot more interesting fish topics that we can explore in the future, at least while Steve is researching fish. Enojy the episode! This episode was recorded on February 24, 2025 at JP Nicely Memorial Park in West Falls, NY. Episode Notes and Links Seagulls are fish. Common Carp are invasive and cause environmental damage. The guys didn’t get this right. For shame! 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 Chapman, D.C., Davis, J.J., Jenkins, J.A., Kocovsky, P.M., Miner, J.G., Farver, J. and Jackson, P.R., 2013. First evidence of grass carp recruitment in the Great Lakes Basin. Journal of Great Lakes Research , 39 (4), pp.547-554. Mitchell, A.J. and Kelly, A.M., 2006. The public sector role in the establishment of grass carp in the United States. Fisheries , 31 (3), pp.113-121. Wang, Y., Lu, Y., Zhang, Y., Ning, Z., Li, Y., Zhao, Q., Lu, H., Huang, R., Xia, X., Feng, Q.I. and Liang, X., 2015. The draft genome of the grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idellus) provides insights into its evolution and vegetarian adaptation. Nature genetics , 47 (6), pp.625-631. Wu, C.S., Ma, Z.Y., Zheng, G.D., Zou, S.M., Zhang, X.J. and Zhang, Y.A., 2022. Chromosome-level genome assembly of grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella) provides insights into its genome evolution. BMC genomics , 23 (1), p.271. Photo Credit Peter Halasz (User:Pengo), Melbourne, CC BY-SA 3.0 Grass carp ( Ctenopharyngodon idella ) at Tropicarium Budapest . No changes made to photo…

The Field Guides

1
Ep. 71 - The Field Guides Go Crikey! 1:13:28

13 weeks ago1:13:28

1:13:28

The guys return to Everglades National Park, again looking for a predator that Daniel wants to get too close to: the American Crocodile (Crocodylus acutus) . Listen in as Daniel shares some research, busts croc-related myths, and Steve probably gets a little too excited about how crocs deal with salt water. Bill doesn’t have much to say, but he’s there, too. Enjoy! This episode was recorded on January 7, 2025 on the Bear Lake Trail in Everglades National Park. The last bit where the guys find the croc was also recorded in the Park, at the Flamingo Marina. Episode Notes and Links As promised during the episode, Steve is looking into how crocs process and excrete excess salt. As soon as he gets to the bottom of it, we’ll share it here. In the meantime, here’s what Bill found when he asked DeepSeek: Crocodiles, like many other marine and estuarine reptiles, have specialized salt glands to help them excrete excess salt from their bodies. These glands, known as salt glands or lingual glands (located on their tongues), actively transport salt ions (primarily sodium and chloride) from their bloodstream into the gland ducts. The salt is then excreted as a concentrated saline solution, which is expelled from the body. Crocodiles do not chemically change the salt (sodium chloride) into something else. Instead, they filter and concentrate it, allowing them to maintain proper electrolyte balance in their bodies, especially when living in saltwater environments. This process is crucial for osmoregulation, as it prevents dehydration and helps them survive in both freshwater and saltwater habitats. In summary, crocodiles excrete salt in its original form (sodium chloride) but in a highly concentrated solution, rather than transforming it into a different substance. 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 Admin, CrocAttack. “Database.” CrocAttack , CrocAttack, 17 July 2023, crocattack.org/database/ . Balaguera-Reina, S. A., M. Venegas-Anaya, V. Beltrán-López, A. Cristancho, and L. D. Densmore III 2018. Food habits and ontogenetic dietary partitioning of American crocodiles in a tropical Pacific Island in Central America. Ecosphere 9(9):e02393. 10.1002/ecs2.2393 Briggs-Gonzalez VS, Basille M, Cherkiss MS, Mazzotti FJ. American crocodiles (Crocodylus acutus) as restoration bioindicators in the Florida Everglades. PLoS One. 2021 May 19;16(5):e0250510. doi: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34010342/ Grigg, Gordon C., et al. Biology and Evolution of Crocodylians . Comstock Publishing Associates, a Division of Cornell University Press ; CSIRO Publishing, 2015. Mazzotti Frank J. , Balaguera-Reina Sergio A. , Brandt Laura A. , Briggs-González Venetia , Cherkiss Mike , Farris Seth , Godahewa Avishka 2022. Natural and Anthropogenic Factors Influencing Nesting Ecology of the American Crocodile in Florida, United States. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution Vol. 10. https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/ecology-and-evolution/articles/10.3389/fevo.2022.904576 ISSN=2296-701X Mazzotti, F.J. The American Crocodile in Florida Bay. Estuaries 22 , 552–561 (1999). https://doi.org/10.2307/1353217 Mazzoti, Frank. “American Crocodiles (Crocodylus Acutus) in Florida.” Myfwc.Com , University of Florida IFAS Extension, myfwc.com/media/1847/americancrocodilesinfl.pdf . Accessed Dec. 2024. Villegas, Alejandro, & Schmitter-Soto, Juan Jacobo. (2008). Feeding habits of the American crocodile, Crocodylus acutus (Cuvier, 1807) (Reptilia: Crocodylidae) in the southern coast of Quintana Roo, Mexico. Acta zoológica mexicana , 24 (3), 117-124. Recuperado en 30 de enero de 2025, de http://www.scielo.org.mx/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0065-17372008000300008&lng=es&tlng=en .…

The Field Guides

1
Ep. 70 - Saving the Blue Iguana 1:07:43

17 weeks ago1:07:43

1:07:43

This month, we head to the tropics and meet the Blue Iguana of the Cayman Islands! This endangered lizard is found nowhere else on the globe save for the island of Grand Cayman in the Caribbean, and just two decades ago, it’s likely there were fewer than 25 animals remaining in the wild. This was a species that was functionally extinct, but thanks to the herculean efforts of a dedicated group of people, the Blue Iguana (Cyclura lewisi) has been brought back from the brink, with over 1000 iguanas now roaming the dry, rocky forests of Grand Cayman. In July of 2024 Bill traveled there to interview Fred Burton, the man many people credit as the main driver behind the effort to save this endemic species. This episode was recorded on July 25, 2024 at the Queen Elizabeth II Botanic Park, North Side, Grand Cayman Episode Notes and Links Find ourt more about conservation of the Blue Iguana by visiting the National Trust for the Cayman Islands . If you want to support efforts to help the Blue Iguana, you can donate here. Check out Fred’s book, The Little Blue Book: A Short History of the Grand Cayman Blue Iguana If you ever find yourself in Grand Cayman, we can’t recommend enough that you visit the Queen Elizabeth II Botanic Park , home to the Blue Iguana captive breeding program. 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 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! Works Cited Burton, F.J., 2004. Battling extinction: A view forward for the Grand Cayman Blue Iguana (Cyclura lewisi). Iguana , 11 (4), pp.232-237. Burton, F.J., 2005. Restoring a new wild population of Blue Iguanas (Cyclura lewisi) in the Salina Reserve, Grand Cayman. Iguana , 12 (3), pp.166-174. Burton, F.J., 2011. Population restoration for a critically endangered reptile—the Grand Cayman blue iguana (Cyclura lewisi). Reptiles Australasia , 1 , pp.35-44. Chan, N., Shen, Z., Mannion, A., Kurnick, S., Popescu, I.S., Burton, F.J., Calle, P.P. and Fox, J.G., 2021. Helicobacter cyclurae sp. nov., isolated from endangered blue iguanas (Cyclura lewisi). Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution , 9 , p.676682.…

The Field Guides

1
Ep. 69 - Rewilding Floreana (with Fundación Jocotoco) 1:00:01

22 weeks ago1:00:01

1:00:01

How hard is it to reintroduce species to a tropical island? Turns out, pretty hard! But it’s so worth it. The rewilding of the Galapagos island of Floreana will make it the largest tropical island ever to be rewilded. Researchers have spent over a decade meticulously planning for the reintroduction of the iconic Floreana Giant Tortoise (Chelonoidis niger niger) . Once thought to be extinct, this species, along with eleven other locally extinct endemic animal species, are part of a reintroduction project that has involved the massive task of eradication of introduced predators, as well as the purposeful inclusion of the local population throughout the planning process. This month, Bill and Steve are completely out of their depth, discussing the project with three staff members from Fundación Jocotoco, one of the organizations leading the charge to Rewild Floreana . This episode’s special guests are Paola Sangolquí, Jocotoco’s Galapagos Program Marine Coordinator, Julieta Muñoz, Conservation Strategy Manager, and Jajean Rose-Burney, the Director of Jocotoco US. The episode was recorded in New York, NY on September 23, 2024. Episode Notes and Links Visit Fundación Jocotoco’s Rewilding Floreana website . Here’s where you can donate to support the project. Please contact Jajean at 1 (716) 247-1255 or jajean.rose@jocotoco.org if you have any questions about how to donate. Steve, Daniel, and Bill would like to shout out extra special thanks to our patrons for making this episode a reality! 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! Thank you to Always Wandering Art ( Website and Etsy Shop ) for providing the artwork for many of our episodes. Photo Credit Floreana giant tortoise photo © Agustín Molina - https://galapagosconservation.org.uk/floreana-giant-tortoise-reintroduction/ Visit thefieldguidespodcast.com for full episode notes, links, and works cited.…

The Field Guides

1
Ep. 68 - All Hail the King (Salmon) 1:18:27

26 weeks ago1:18:27

1:18:27

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 i s 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.…

The Field Guides

1
Ep. 67 - Fishers in the Field: A Hike with Fisher Researcher Dr. Scott LaPoint 1:17:11

35 weeks ago1:17:11

1:17:11

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.…

The Field Guides

1
Ep. 66 - Pinesap (The Plant, Not the Sap) 1:04:09

39 weeks ago1:04:09

1:04:09

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.…

The Field Guides

1
Ep. 65 - Fishers: Eatin’ More Toes Than Turkeys 1:09:10

1 year ago1:09:10

1:09:10

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…

The Field Guides

1
Ep. 64 - Let's Look at the Eclipse! (Not Literally) 1:00:28

1 year ago1:00:28

1:00:28

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.…

The Field Guides

1
Ep. 63 - Field Trip!: On the Trail of the Florida Panther 1:12:08

1 year ago1:12:08

1:12:08

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…

The Field Guides

1
Ep. 62 - Timber Rattlesnakes: Still Endangered, Still Danger Noodle-y (Part 2) 1:00:24

1 year ago1:00:24

1:00:24

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.…

The Field Guides

1
Ep. 62 - Timber Rattlesnakes: Endangered Danger Noodles(Part 1) 54:00

1 year ago54:00

54:00

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).…

The Field Guides

1
Ep. 61 - Bill and Steve’s Floating Fen Foray (featuring the WNY Land Conservancy) 1:04:51

2 years ago1:04:51

1:04:51

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 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! 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 Field Guides

1
Ep. 60 - The True(?) Story of the Bald Eagle 1:17:00

2 years ago1:17:00