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.

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.

Our six-legged celebration continues! In this second part, the guys wrap up their behind-the-scenes tour of the Cornell University Insect Collection with Jason Dombroskie, collection manager and director of the insect diagnostic lab, and THEN, Jason provides the guys with some eye protection and takes them out into the woods for some nighttime mothing!

This episode was recorded on July 2-3, 2022 at the Cornell University Insect Collection in Comstock Hall at Cornell University and at Steege Hill Nature Preserve in Corning, NY.

Links

Check out Jason’s website to find out about his lab, research, publications, and more.

The Cornell University Insect Collection

Follow their social media feeds: Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, and Facebook

And their annual October event Insectapalooza

The Museum of the Earth’s Six-Legged Science exhibit

Visit The Finger Lakes Land Trust to find out about their vital work conserving the Steege Hill Preserve and other wildlands in central NY State.

Check out Walden Heights Nursery and Orchard, a certified organic farm specializing in cold-hardy, fruiting plants.

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Always Wandering Art

This month, Bill and Steve geek out over insects! And it’s because they were lucky enough to have an even bigger insect geek invite them on a field trip. Jason Dombroskie is the collection manager and director of the insect diagnostic lab at Cornell University. His invite to take the guys mothing in July of 2022 turned into a marvelous, day-long adventure:

In part one, you’ll hear the guys meet up with Jason for a tour of his property and an interview delving into Jason’s background and what it’s like to be a professional entomologist (it involves studying lots of insect genitalia, among other things). We follow that up with a behind-the-scenes tour of the Cornell University Insect Collection - an assemblage spanning over 7 million insect specimens representing about 200,000 species, or roughly 20% of the world’s described insect fauna.

So, strap in and prepare yourself for…Insectapalooza!

This episode was recorded on July 2, 2022 at Jason’s property near Ithaca, NY and at the Cornell University Insect Collection in Comstock Hall at Cornell University.

Links

The Cornell University Insect Collection

Also, check out their great Instagram feed

And their annual October event Insectapalooza

Support

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Make a onetime Paypal donation.

The Field Guides Merch Shop

Our Sponsors

Gumleaf Boots, USA

Always Wandering Art

Have you ever heard a mockingbird imitate a blue jay? How about a seal imitating a Maine fisherman? This month, the guys explore what happens when animals make sounds they’re not supposed to: the wild world of vocal mimicry. Birds imitate chainsaws and car alarms, elephants speak Korean; what’s going on? With a special focus on one of the bird world’s best known mimics - the northern mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos) - the guys delve into the research trying to explain why animals - especially birds - feel the need to engage in the wildlife equivalent of, “I know you are, but what am I?”  

Episode Notes

Steve wondered about the similarity between the scientific names of the northern mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos) and monkeyflowers (in the genus Mimulus). Turns out that both refer to mimicking; the mockingbird (whose scientific name means ““many-tongued mimic”) imitates the sounds of other species, and the monkeyflowers have flowers that, at least to some, seem to have grinning faces resembling those of monkeys.

Bill mentioned that the viceroy butterfly (Limenitis archippus) is often mistakenly cited as an example of Batesian mimicry. What’s up with that? Here’s what the University of Wisconsin has to say about it: “Ecologists have long preached that Viceroys have enjoyed a Batesian “Get-out-of-Jail-Free” card due to their resemblance to the toxic Monarch butterfly (Batesian mimicry—the harmless imitating the harmful). Monarchs are poisonous because their caterpillar host plant, milkweed, contains harmful cardiac glycosides. Recent research suggests that because willow leaves are very bitter, the Viceroy may be almost as distasteful as Monarchs. In that case, Monarchs and Viceroys are mimicking each other, each cashing in on the other’s bad reputation (Mullerian mimicry).”

Check out episode 34: The Downy-Hairy Game for more info on Batesian and Mullerian mimicry

The guys wondered, “Are there any large passerines (songbirds/perching birds)?” The largest seem to be in the raven family; “The heaviest and altogether largest passerines are the thick-billed raven and the larger races of common raven, each exceeding 1.5 kg (3.3 lb) and 70 cm (28 in). The superb lyrebird and some birds-of-paradise, due to very long tails or tail coverts, are longer overall.” (Source: Wikipedia)

The guys briefly discussed mobbing behavior in birds, and Bill mentioned a couple of suspected reasons behind the behavior. He regretted not mentioning what is accepted as the most likely reason: to drive away predators!

Steve wondered, “Did mimicry evolve independently?” According to a 2018 study, “Vocal mimicry evolved independently at least 237 times and was lost at least 52 times.”

Since brown headed cowbirds are nest parasites and don’t raise their own young, how do their young learn the brown headed cowbird song? Turns out that the good people at BirdNote did an episode on this very topic in 2021! Here’s the takeaway from the episode transcript” “Scientists think that when a young cowbird hears the “chatter call” of an adult cowbird, something is triggered in its brain, and it begins to learn the song of its own species. Like a kind of “password,” the chatter call guides the young bird in recognizing what species to identify with. Then, when the young cowbird is ready — probably when it’s two years old — and hears an adult male Brown-headed Cowbird sing, it will imprint on that song.  It’s a remarkable adaptation, even more so when you consider that cowbirds are fostered by as many as 220 different species. And they still wind up learning their own song.”

Links

Find out more about Hoover, the talking seal.

A clip of the superb lyrebird from the incomparable David Attenborough and his series Lives of Birds

Head down a fascinating rabbithole and explore the world of mimicry

Meet Koshik, the elephant that speaks Korean

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Photo Credit

(c) bluewing – some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

Works Cited

Ancillotto, L., Pafundi, D., Cappa, F., Chaverri, G., Gamba, M., Cervo, R. and Russo, D., 2022. Bats mimic hymenopteran insect sounds to deter predators. Current Biology, 32(9), pp.R408-R409.

Gammon, D.E. and Altizer, C.E., 2011. Northern mockingbirds produce syntactical patterns of vocal mimicry that reflect taxonomy of imitated species. Journal of Field Ornithology, 82(2), pp.158-164.

Howard, R.D., 1974. The influence of sexual selection and interspecific competition on mockingbird song (Mimus polyglottos). Evolution, pp.428-438.

Owen-Ashley, N.T., Schoech, S.J. and Mumme, R.L., 2002. Context-specific response of Florida scrub-jay pairs to northern mockingbird vocal mimicry. The Condor, 104(4), pp.858-865.

Black Walnut (Juglans nigra) is a tree well-known for its ability to negatively affect other plants growing nearby, a phenomenon known as allelopathy. But is Black Walnut really as allelopathic as the Internet would have you believe? In this episode, the guys go nuts: delving into this question and many other facets of the fascinating (and tasty?) Black Walnut, including an on-air tasting of Black Walnut syrup. Enjoy!

This episode was recorded on May 11, 2022 at the Beaver Meadow Audubon Center in North Java, NY.

Episode Notes

Thank you to listener Mark Carroll for giving us the idea for this episode and providing the paper on which much of it was based.

Is Black Walnut wind pollinated? Bill mentioned during the episode that he thought the flowers were insect pollinated. He was WRONG! According to Floral Biology And Pollination Of Eastern Black Walnut, a publication by the National Forest Service, “Walnut trees are wind-pollinated and classified as monoecious; male and female flowers are on the same tree, but separated from each other.” Bill stands by his assessment, however, that the distinctive, seldom-seen flowers are worth checking out. This page provides some nice pictures; scroll down to see both the male and female blossoms. The female flowers look like milkweed pods with a sea anemone stuck on top!

What is the correct measurement of diameter at breast height (DBH)? Diameter at breast height, or DBH, is a standard method of expressing the diameter of the trunk or bole of a standing tree. Tree trunks are measured at the height of an adult's breast; in many countries, DBH is measured at approximately 1.3 m (4.3 ft) above ground, but in the US, DBH is typically measured at 4.5 ft (1.37 m) above ground. Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diameter_at_breast_height

Does Steve know about honeysuckles? Steve claimed that honeysuckles (Lonicera sp.) with a hollow pith are not native to eastern North America and that the ones without a hollow pith are native. According to Iowa State University, “Twigs of all species can be hollow. However, the twigs of native species tend to be less hollow with a white pith whereas the exotic species are more obviously hollow with a brown pith.”

Are there other plants with a chambered pith? Yes! Black Tupelo (Nyssa sylvatica) is another species, unrelated to walnuts, that has a chambered pith.

What does microcarpa mean? During their discussion of other walnut species, Bill mentioned the Little Walnut (Juglans microcarpa) , and Steve wondered what “microcarpa” means. The answer? Small fruit.

Links

The Get Crackin' Nut Cracker

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Picture Credit

Thank you to Always Wandering Art (Website and Etsy Shop) for providing this episode’s artwork, as well as the art for many of our previous episodes!

Works Cited

Chalker-Scott, L., 2019. Do Black Walnut Trees Have Allelopathic Effects on Other Plants?. Washington State University Extension.

Marking, L.L., 1970. Juglone (5-hydroxy-1, 4-naphthoquinone) as a fish toxicant. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society, 99(3), pp.510-514.

Willis, R.J., 2000. Juglans spp., juglone and allelopathy. Allelopathy J, 7(1), pp.1-55.

Page, Teri. Homestead Honey, https://homestead-honey.com/beyond-maple-syrup-tapping-black-walnut-trees/. Accessed 5 Apr. 2009.

What’s dark and slimy and over two feet long? It’s an Eastern Hellbender! This aquatic giant salamander, endemic to the eastern and central US, is the largest amphibian in North America, often weighing in at over 4 lbs.! The hellbender (Cryptobranchus alleganiensis) is, not unlike Steve, secretive and slimy but also fascinating. Join the guys for one hell of an episode learning about this rare and disappearing denizen of fast-moving streams.

This episode was recorded on January 22, 2022 at Chestnut Ridge County Park in Orchard Park, NY.

Episode Notes

Bill said that the Kinzua Bridge was about 300 feet long, but he was mistaken. The bridge was about 300 feet high. The length was 2,053 feet.

When Bill was talking about the white tips on hellbender toes, he mistakenly said that hellbenders have “fingers”. D’oh! Bill understand that salamanders don’t have toes, but he wants everyone to know he was using the term in a cutesy way.

Steve mentioned his friend Zachary Cava and Zack’s research into hellbenders. Bill was able to track down Zack’s study! Full citation below under “Works Cited”.

Around the 20:50 mark, Steve wonders if there is an ecological concept or law stating that larger species tend to go extinct more quickly than small species. After recording, Bill did some searching but could not find any specific law. Anyone out there that knows of one? Please get in touch with us!

Bill gave a quick and somewhat vague definition of siltation. Here’s a more complete definition: Siltation refers both to the increased concentration of suspended sediments and to the increased accumulation of fine sediments on [waterway] bottoms where they are undesirable. Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siltation

Useful Links

Check out Life Among the Milkweed, the new book from friend-of-the-podcast Melissa Borowicz Betrus

Visit Kinzua Bridge State Park and Sky Walk in Pennsylvania

Ellen Paquette’s WeeBeasties Etsy Shop (Paquette is the artist who created the plush hellbender Bill mentioned in this episode)

Stuff You Should Know’s excellent episode on zoos: Are Zoos Good or Bad For Animals?

Sponsors

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 previous episodes!

Support Us

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

Bodinof, C.M., Briggler, J.T., Junge, R.E., Beringer, J., Wanner, M.D., Schuette, C.D., Ettling, J., Gitzen, R.A. and Millspaugh, J.J., 2012. Postrelease movements of captive-reared Ozark hellbenders (Cryptobranchus alleganiensis bishopi). Herpetologica, 68(2), pp.160-173.

Cava, Z.A., McMillan, A.M., Pennuto, C.M. and Warren, R.J., 2018. Hellbender prey preference is superseded by native and nonnative prey behavior. Journal of Herpetology, 52(2), pp.162-170.

Crowhurst, R.S., Faries, K.M., Collantes, J. et al. Genetic relationships of hellbenders in the Ozark highlands of Missouri and conservation implications for the Ozark subspecies (Cryptobranchus alleganiensis bishopi). Conserv Genet 12, 637–646 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10592-010-0170-0

Foster, R.L., 2018. Lessons From the Past: A Historical Approach to Conservation of the Eastern Hellbender Salamander (Cryptobranchus alleganiensis) (Doctoral dissertation, State University of New York at Buffalo).

Photo Credit

"Hellbender" by John Garret is licensed under CC BY NC

Jewelweed. Spotted touch-me-not. Orange Balsam. It’s a plant known by many names, and, even if you don’t recognize any of them, you’ve probably popped one of its exploding seed pods. A favorite of hummingbirds and nature-lovers young and old, it’s a species with many stories to share. Listen in as the guys dive deep into the jewelweed patch, eating some seeds, trying to find the source of the “jewel” in jewelweed’s name, and getting to the bottom of the age-old claim that jewelweed is a cure for poison ivy.

 This episode was recorded on September 26, 2021 at Birdsong Park in Orchard Park, NY

 Episode Notes:

Which species is more common in North America: yellow (aka pale) jewelweed or orange jewelweed? While it may vary from place to place, orange jewelweed seems to be the more common species. Nearly every site we visited referred to it as “common” or “more common” and to the yellow jewelweed as “less common”. Orange jewelweed’s North American range is also broader than yellow jewelweed’s (yellow is absent from most of the Gulf states and most Canadian provinces).

When do the Witch hazel seeds explode out of their capsules? Steve and Bill were both confused on the timing. Witch hazel (Hamamelis virginiana) is a forest understory tree that blooms in the fall. The seeds take a year to develop and are forcibly expelled (because of dehiscence) from the seed capsules the following fall or winter. Check out our episode on witch hazel!

Are there any plants that produce only cleistogamous (closed, self-pollinating) flowers? Not that we could find. Most sources make reference to the fact that cleistogamous flowering is a behavior that appears to have evolved to ensure reproduction under unfavorable conditions. These conditions usually limit or prevent cross pollination of the typical, chasmogamous (open) flowers.  

How many species of jewelweed do we have in North America? The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center lists 4 species of Impatiens native to North America. I. capensis and I. pallida are the ones found in the east (although, as mentioned in this episode, some sources list I. capensis as native in the Pacific northwest, as well). Five nonnative Impatiens species have also been introduced to the continent.

Steve wondered what the Latin term ecalcarata means. This came up when Bill was discussing the western species of jewelweed, specifically, Impatiens ecalcarata. Turns out that ecalcarata means spurless, and the common name of this species is, appropriately enough, spurless touch-me-not or spurless jewelweed (AKA western jewelweed). FYI: The Latin name has been updated recently, and this species is now Impatiens ecornuta.

Schizomyla impatientis is the Latin name of the midge that makes a gall on jewelweed. Steve recognized the genus, Schizomyla, and wondered if this insect was related to any of the gall-making insects we mentioned way back in our goldenrod episode (episode 1!). Bill checked, and the answer is no. 

Books Mentioned During This Episode

100 Flowers and How They Got Their Names – Diana Wells

How Plants Get Their Names by LH Bailey

The Book of Swamp & Bog: Trees, Shrubs, and Wildflowers of Eastern Freshwater Wetlands by John Eastman

National Audubon Society Birds of North America

National Audubon Society: Trees of North America

Useful Links

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 previous 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

Cipollini, K. A. & Hurley, S. L. (2008) Variation in Resistance of Experienced and Naive Seedlings of Jewelweed (Impatiens capensis) to Invasive Garlic Mustard (Alliaria petiolata). The Ohio journal of science. 108 (3), 47–49.

Guin, Jere D., and Ruth Reynolds. "Jewelweed treatment of poison ivy dermatitis." Contact dermatitis 6.4 (1980): 287-288.

Lipton, R. A. "The use of impatiens biflora (jewelweed) in the treatment of rhus dermatitis." Annals of allergy 16.5 (1958): 526.

Long, David, Noel H. Ballentine, and James G. Marks Jr. "Treatment of poison ivy/oak allergic contact dermatitis with an extract of jewelweed." Dermatitis 8.3 (1997): 150-153.

Martin, L.J., Agrawal, A.A. and Kraft, C.E., 2015. Historically browsed jewelweed populations exhibit greater tolerance to deer herbivory than historically protected populations. Journal of Ecology, 103(1), pp.243-249.

Motz, Vicki A., et al. "Efficacy of the saponin component of Impatiens capensis Meerb. in preventing urushiol-induced contact dermatitis." Journal of ethnopharmacology 162 (2015): 163-167.

Motz, Vicki Abrams, et al. "The effectiveness of jewelweed, Impatiens capensis, the related cultivar I. balsamina and the component, lawsone in preventing post poison ivy exposure contact dermatitis." Journal of ethnopharmacology 143.1 (2012): 314-318.

Schmitt, J., Ehrhardt, D. and Swartz, D., 1985. Differential dispersal of self-fertilized and outcrossed progeny in jewelweed (Impatiens capensis). The American naturalist, 126(4), pp.570-575.

Travers, S.E., Temeles, E.J. and Pan, I., 2003. The relationship between nectar spur curvature in jewelweed (Impatiens capensis) and pollen removal by hummingbird pollinators. Canadian journal of botany, 81(2), pp.164-170.

This month, Bill and Steve look into the fall and (potential) rise of the American chestnut (Castanea dentata), and they’re joined by Erik Danielson, Stewardship Coordinator of the Western NY Land Conservancy. The Conservancy recently embarked on an effort to acquire the Allegany Wildlands, a unique piece of property that harbors, among its many abundant ecological treasures, remnant American chestnuts. Erik guides Bill and Steve through the property, and, in part 1 of this episode, they discuss the history of the chestnut and the blight that caused its downfall. In part 2, they share how past and present research come together to create a realistic plan for bringing the American chestnut back. Throughout both parts, Erik shares how the Allegany Wildlands fit into the Conservancy’s ambitious effort to create the Western NY Wildway, a network of connected protected lands stretching from Pennsylvania to the Great Lakes and beyond.

This month, Bill and Steve look into the fall and (potential) rise of the American chestnut (Castanea dentata), and they’re joined by Erik Danielson, Stewardship Coordinator of the Western NY Land Conservancy. The Conservancy recently embarked on an effort to acquire the Allegany Wildlands, a unique piece of property that harbors, among its many abundant ecological treasures, remnant American chestnuts. Erik guides Bill and Steve through the property, and, in part 1 of this episode, they discuss the history of the chestnut and the blight that caused its downfall. In part 2, they share how past and present research come together to create a realistic plan for bringing the American chestnut back. Throughout both parts, Erik shares how the Allegany Wildlands fit into the Conservancy’s ambitious effort to create the Western NY Wildway, a network of connected protected lands stretching from Pennsylvania to the Great Lakes and beyond.

This month, the guys set out to discover if daddy longlegs really are the most poisonous spider in the world, but, along the way, they uncover a fascinating array of arachnids and adaptations in the group known collectively as harvestmen. Join them for some mythbusting and a deep dive into the little-known order of arachnids called Opiliones.

Episode Notes

Steve referred to the American toad as Bufo americanus, and Bill agreed. But they were both wrong because its Latin name has been changed to Anaxyrus americanus.

At one point, Bill made a comment where he seemed to be saying that all reptiles have teeth. They do not. He wants to clarify that he was speaking specifically about snakes. What he should have said is “Most snakes have teeth, but not all snakes have fangs.”

Steve mentioned that he didn’t know much about Dick Walton, so we looked him up! Turns out Dick Walton is a naturalist and teacher living in Concord, MA. He considers himself a generalist but has focused on birds, butterflies, dragonflies, solitary wasps, and jumping spiders. He coauthored Peterson’s seminal Birding By Ear audio field guides, the go-to guide for budding birders in the pre-app era. Check out his work at http://www.rkwalton.com/ The guys have great respect for his work and hope that Mr. Walton was not offended by their joking around in this episode..

What is the origin of the name “daddy longlegs”? No one seems to know for sure, but some sources point to the book, Daddy-Long-Legs, a 1912 novel by the American writer Jean Webster. But the book, as far as we can tell, has nothing to do with arachnids. So, we’re still scratching our heads on that one.

Steve wondered if crane flies are dipterans – they are!

Also, during this episode, Steve had a couple questions about the mouth parts of dipterans (flies) and hemipterans (true bugs):

Do all dipterans have sucking mouth parts? Yes! “Flies have a mobile head, with a pair of large compound eyes, and mouthparts designed for piercing and sucking (mosquitoes, black flies and robber flies), or for lapping and sucking in the other groups. “ from Wikipedia

How are wheel bugs killing? The wheel bugs is a species of assassin bug and is a True Bug (Order Hemiptera). “Most hemipterans feed on plants, using their sucking and piercing mouthparts to extract plant sap…but some hemipterans such as assassin bugs are blood-suckers, and a few are predators” from Wikipedia

Steve wondered if mites were the largest group of invertebrates, but it turns out that arthropods. Ok, then, are mites the largest order of arthropods. Nope, that honor belongs to insects. Alright, maybe Steve meant to say that mites are the largest group of arachnids, but, still no, spiders are.

Do spider legs have chemical receptors? Spiders, in fact, do taste, and also smell, through special sensory organs on their legs, as well as on their pedipalps.

Steve was correct when he said that our five local species of ashes (black, white, green, blue, and pumpkin) are critically endangered.

Steve mentioned seeing a kissing bug covered in dust in his house, but a search did not turn up any records of this behavior in kissing bugs. Maybe Steve was referring to an insect commonly called the masked hunter (Reduvius personatus). Masked hunters are given this name because the immature masked hunter carries dust and debris on its body to camouflage itself.

What are the hairs in pitcher plants called? Trichomes 

Useful Links

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 previous 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

Pinto-da-Rocha, Ricardo, Glauco Machado and Gonzalo Giribet. 2007. Harvestmen: The Biology of Opiliones. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Shear, W.A. (2009) 'Harvestmen: Opiliones--which include daddy-long-legs--are as exotic as they are familiar', American Scientist, 97(6), 468+, available: https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A229835627/AONE?u=nysl_oweb&sid=googleScholar&xid=680b9445 [accessed 25 Jun 2021].

Zobel-Thropp, P.A., Mullins, J., Kristensen, C., Kronmiller, B.A., David, C.L., Breci, L.A. and Binford, G.J., 2019. Not so dangerous after all? Venom composition and potency of the Pholcid (Daddy Long-Leg) spider Physocyclus mexicanus. Frontiers in ecology and evolution, 7, p.256.

The northern flicker (Colaptes auratus) is a common bird that has some exceptionally uncommon behaviors. Unlike most bird species, male flickers take an equal share of egg incubation and feeding, and, in up to five percent of females, a lady flicker will take up with two mates - an older male and a younger male - raising young in two different nests at the same time. In addition, flickers will sometimes lay their eggs in the nests of other flickers, a behavior called intraspecific brood parasitism, another habit rarely seen in birds. Join the guys as they delve into studies exploring the wild and swinging world of northern flicker reproduction.

This episode was recorded on May 11th, 2021 at Chestnut Ridge Park in Orchard Park, NY.

Episode Notes:

Bill fully realizes that he mispronounced monogamous as monogyoumous. He doesn’t know why he did this, but he is appropriately embarrassed about it.

Bill and Steve were both amazed to learn that belted kingfishers nest in burrows. Find out more here.

At one point in this episode, Bill wondered about all cavity nesting birds having pure white eggs. They do not, and this article provides a nice overview of egg coloration in cavity-nesting species.

Around the 32:40 mark – Bill said that of the bird species that have biparental care, 90% have extra pair paternity (EPP), and, in describing it, he said that it occurs when a female mates with another male outside her pair bond, but, to be clear, both sexes can engage in EPP.

Steve asked about their longevity. Some info from one of Dr. Wiebe’s studies: Flickers have a relatively fast life history with an annual apparent mortality rates of 60%. The rate doesn’t vary with age. A 2006 study looked at mortality rates of male and female flickers over a 6-yr period and observed only 1-2 birds out of every 300 adults were 7 or more years old. There was no significant differences between male and female survival rates for the general population. The oldest known flicker was 9 years, 2 months old.

The New World blackbird family is Icteridae.

Why are these birds called flickers? As best as we can tell from a quick google search, the name is another effort to mimic their call - flicka flicka flicka.

Useful Links

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 previous episodes!

Support us on Patreon!

Works Cited

Wiebe, K.L., 2002. First reported case of classical polyandry in a North American woodpecker, the northern flicker. The Wilson Journal of Ornithology, 114(3), pp.401-403.

Wiebe, K.L., 2018. Age-related improvements in fecundity are driven by the male in a bird with partially reversed sex roles in parental care. Oecologia, 188(4), pp.1095-1104.

Wiebe, K.L. and Kempenaers, B., 2009. The social and genetic mating system in flickers linked to partially reversed sex roles. Behavioral Ecology, 20(2), pp.453-458.

Image credit

Yellow-shafted northern flicker (female) (Colaptes auratus), Cabin Lake viewing blinds, Deschutes National Forest, near Fort Rock, Oregon

Permission details: Nature's Pic's (www.naturespicsonline.com) explicitly releases for copying under Attribution-ShareALike 3.0 (see copyright release webpage: http://www.naturespicsonline.com/intro.html).

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

Episode Notes

Spring is here! So, what better time to talk about winter-active insects?

Steve recorded this one in February with entomologist and all-around-great-guy Dr. Wayne Gall, and there was no way we could wait until next winter to share it!

Join Steve and Wayne as they head into the winter woods, peeling back the snowy curtain that conceals the ecology of these fascinating invertebrates.

This episode was recorded in February 2021 at the Deer Lick Conservation Area, a Nature Conservancy property, located in Gowanda, NY.

Timestamp of sightings in the episode

2:34 – Small Winter Stone Fly – Genus: Allocapnia

12:20 – Snowfleas in the Order Collembola

12:33 – Snow Scorpion Fly in the Genus Boreus. Possibly Boreus Brumalis

45:16 – Winged Winter Crane Fly in the Genus Trichocera

51:59 – Snow Fly in the Genus Chionea

55:06 - Chironomid Midge

Two other species - an unidentified spider and a second, unidentified Allocapnia species - were encountered

 Corrections

Polystichoides is not the correct name for Christmas Fern. It’s Polystichum acrostichoides.

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This winter (2021) marked the first time a Snowy Owl (Bubo scandiacus) was spotted in New York City’s Central Park in 130 years. Why was it there? Where did it come from? Since 99.9% of the population immediately just thinks of Harry Potter when Snowy Owls are mentioned, the guys wanted to cast the proverbial “Lumos!” and shed some light on the subject.

Join them and guest Daniel Mlodozeniec (photographer and naturalist) as they delve into the Snowy Owl’s ecology in part 1. Then, in part 2, come along as they look into the research behind what drives Snowy Owl irruptions, those irregular migrations that cause Snowies to end up in Central Park and even in places like Bermuda and Hawaii!

This episode was recorded on February 1, 2021 in Buffalo, NY at the Erie Basin Marina (part 1) and Tifft Nature Preserve (part 2).

This winter (2021) marked the first time a Snowy Owl (Bubo scandiacus) was spotted in New York City’s Central Park in 130 years. Why was it there? Where did it come from? Since 99.9% of the population immediately just thinks of Harry Potter when Snowy Owls are mentioned, the guys wanted to cast the proverbial “Lumos!” and shed some light on the subject.

Join them and guest Daniel Mlodozeniec (photographer and naturalist) as they delve into the Snowy Owl’s ecology in part 1. Then, in part 2, come along as they look into the research behind what drives Snowy Owl irruptions, those irregular migrations that cause Snowies to end up in Central Park and even in places like Bermuda and Hawaii!

This episode was recorded on February 1, 2021 in Buffalo, NY at the Erie Basin Marina (part 1) and Tifft Nature Preserve (part 2).

Now that Bill’s done droning on about animals, we can finally talk about PLANTS! and CARNIVOROUS plants at that. Steve reviews carnivorous plants in general and then breaks into examples of carnivorous plants that have evolved to eat poop: Roridula spp. in South Africa, Sarracenia purpurea in North America, & Nepenthes spp. in Southeast Asia.

00:00 - Intro
02:00 - Carnivorous plant review
14:20 - Roridula spp. & Pameridea spp.
23:10 - Sarracenia purpurea & its inquilines
26:00 - Gumleaf USA ad
28:35 - Nepenthes lowii, N. macrophylla, N. raja & mountain tree shrews
36:45 - Nepenthes hemsleyana & Hardwicke’s Woolly Bat
40:10 - Nepenthes bicalcarata & diving/swimming ants
45:05 - Concluding remarks
46:20 - Outro

Image credit:
"Nepenthes raja, eine freischfressende Kannenpflanze. Gesehen im Botanischen Garten beim Gunung Kinabalu Headquater, Sabah, Borneo" by anschieber

Useful Links:
True Facts: Carnivorous Plants

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Support us on Patreon!

Work Cited:
Byng, J.W., Smets, E.F., van Vugt, R., Bidault, E., Davidson, C., Kenicer, G., Chase, M.W. and Christenhusz, M.J., 2018. The phylogeny of angiosperms poster: a visual summary of APG IV family relationships and floral diversity. The Global Flora, 1, pp.1-35.

Ellison, A.M. and Adamec, L. eds., 2018. Carnivorous Plants: physiology, ecology, and evolution. Oxford University Press, Ch. 1, 3, 13, 24, 26.

Groover, A.T., 2005. What genes make a tree a tree?. Trends in plant science, 10(5), pp.210-214.

McGhee, G.R., 2011. Convergent evolution: limited forms most beautiful. MIT Press.

With the high-end guests we’ve recently had on, we’re concerned that the podcast is getting a bit too classy. So, this month, we’re getting down and dirty, delving into the delightful topic of defecation. Specifically, animals that eat poop. We know, it seems gross. We thought so, too. But once we started exploring this surprisingly common behavior (called coprophagy), we were amazed at what we uncovered!

Links

Fecal sac video

More info about World War 2, the Germans, and Camel Poop

Check out The Stuff You Should Know episode about fecal transplants

Find out more about Michel Lotito, the man who could eat anything

More on Dung Beetles:

American Kennel Club article about dogs eating poop

Two excellent (and damn funny) videos from True Facts:

Dung beetles

Tree Shrews

Sponsorship of this episode provided by Gumleaf Boots, USA

Support The Field Guides through Patreon!

As always, check out Always Wandering Art (Website and Etsy Shop), who usually provides the artwork for our episodes!

Visit the Roger Tory Peterson Institute’s website to find out more about the site, events/exhibitions, and the good work they are doing.

Steve and Arthur discussed the hellbender head-start program, and the question came up about whether it was connected with the Buffalo Zoo. Here’s what we found:

“The “hellbender head-start program” is a collaboration between the Bronx Zoo, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, and the Buffalo Zoo. The snot otters were hatched at the Buffalo Zoo in October 2009 and raised at the Bronx Zoo’s Amphibian Propagation Center.” You can find more info here.

Arthur mentioned the recent renaming of a bird. He was referring to the McCown’s Longspur (Rhynchophanes mccownii). It’s common name was recently changed to the Thick-billed Longspur.

Links:
Sandy Beach Island State Park (Pulaski, New York)
Piping Plover running (video)
Piping Plover chick running (video)
Piping Plover chick hiding under their mom (video)
Rockaway Beach (Queens, New York)
An article about Claire and her team (Article)
New York State Parks Blog about the Piping Plovers (Article)
Report Banded Piping Plovers (or email plover@umn.edu)
Great Lakes Piping Plovers of New York (Facebook page)

Notes:
Coordinators on the project include US Fish and Wildlife, SUNY ESF, Onondaga Audubon, and the staff at NYS Parks

The project and Claire’s position are funded annually by the USFWS Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) grant funding from the Federal Government, DOI, with Regional efforts led by Robyn Niver.

Errata:
Claire mentioned that the Piping Plover weighs the same as a stick of butter. She informed us that she misspoke and meant to say that they weigh about the same as a half of a stick of butter. They’re also about the height of a stick of butter stood up on its end.

Picture credit:

"Piping Plovers" by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service - Midwest Region

Works Cited:

Robinson, S., Fraser, J., Catlin, D., Karpanty, S., Altman, J., Boettcher, R., Holcomb, K., Huber, C., Hunt, K. and Wilke, A., 2019. Irruptions: evidence for breeding season habitat limitation in Piping Plover (Charadrius melodus).

During the editing process for this episode, Bill shared some posts about this species via social media. Several listeners commented that, in an effort to acknowledge problematic botanical names, many sources now refer to this plant as Ghost Pipe. So, although it was too late to re-record the episode, Bill altered these notes to reflect the name change.

Several times in the episode, Steve and Bill wondered if a stand of Monotropa uniflora was composed of separate plants growing closely together or if it was a single plant with multiple stalks rising from a common rootstalk. In doing follow-up research, Bill could not find a conclusive statement, but in going through pictures of herbarium specimens, drawings of harvested plants, and numerous descriptions, every instance showed each Ghost Pipe stalk having its own, single bundle of roots at its base. So, for now, Bill is going out on the proverbial limb and saying that each stalk is an individual plant.

The guys questioned whether Beechdrops (Epifagus virginiana) was in the Ericaceae family, along with Ghost Pipe, and Steve went on to say that he thought it might be in the Broomrape family – Orobanchaceae. He was correct!

Bill mentioned that Steve is now a published researcher. He was one of the authors on a paper looking into how plants evolve certain chemicals. Check out an article about the paper here, and here’s a link to the paper, itself.

Bill mentioned that, although Monotropa uniflora seems extraordinary because it lacks chlorophyll, “there are some 3000 species of non-photosynthetic vascular plants in the plant kingdom (about 1/2% of all vascular plants). Steve wondered aloud if this number was greater than all the gymnosperms out there (non-flowering plants, like pines). Steve was correct again! There are roughly 1000 extant species of gymnosperms.

Steve questioned what you call an animal that feeds on sap. According to Wikipedia, it’s a gummivore. Gummivores are a hybrid class of omnivores that defines a group of animals whose diet consists primarily of the gums and saps of trees (about 90%) and bugs for protein.

Steve mentioned that there are trees in the Gentian family, and then he went on to joke about whether or not there are any woody orchids. Well, Bill checked. There aren’t any.

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.

Have you ever dreamed of ditching your day job and pursuing a career in the woods? Maybe working with wolves in the desert southwest or conducting plant surveys in the wilds of Alaska? Well, Matt Gaffney did it! Leaving behind a job in digital marketing, he went back to school to get his degree in environmental studies and went on to work a series of seasonal positions with the National Forest Service. Bill caught up with him in August of 2019 in the Monongahela National Forest in West Virginia. Join them on a hike on Spruce Knob (the highest point in WV) as Matt shares his adventures and advice on pursuing a career in the wild!

This month, Steve and Bill present part 2 of their episode on coyotes, focusing on the questions, “How big of a threat to livestock are coyotes?” and, “Is the coyote in the east a new species?”

Awooooo! This month, Bill and Steve talk all about coyotes.

During this episode, Bill breaks down the topic of reproductive delays, with a special focus on the American black bear (Ursus americanus). Come join the guys as they “peek inside the den”, and uncover this seldom-discussed aspect of the sex lives of some of our fascinating (and randy) mammals.

…And we’re back! After a lengthy hiatus, Bill and Steve return with an episode focused on the fall. Specifically, they look into why fall is the neglected season when it comes to climate change research. Is it a conspiracy? Is it a plot by the ‘deep state’ to play favorites with the seasons? Probably not, but the guys have some fun uncovering the possible reasons why the natural events that occur in the fall are more difficult for researchers to pin down and quantify.

Welcome to part 2 of our episode on bird banding! In this part, we look at what the research has to say about how birds fare during and after the banding process. All research that involves capturing and handling wildlife poses some level of risk for the target species. So, what about bird banding? Are injures rare? Do injured birds fare worse than birds that are banded without injury?

Join Steve and Bill for a deep dive into a question that many bird banders have wondered about over the years: how safe is bird banding?

A bird alights on a nearby branch, and, for a brief moment, a flash of silver on the bird’s leg catches your eye. If you’re fortunate enough to get a closer look, you might notice that the reflection comes from a tiny, silver bracelet wrapped around the bird’s leg – a bird band.

Bird banding (or bird ringing, for our European listeners) has been used for over a century to better understand the life histories of our avian neighbors. But that’s just one of many reasons why bird banding has been so valuable to researchers. In this episode, Bill and Steve delve into the details of what banding is all about. Part one covers the history and basics of how bird banding works, and part two provides an overview of research that looks into how harmful bird banding might be to the birds involved.

This episode was recorded on July 14, 2019 at the Reinstein Woods Nature Preserve in Cheektowaga, New York. Reinstein Woods is operated by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.

Carnivorous plants are the renegades of the plant world. About 800 known species have gone from primary producers to immobile predators. In this episode, Steve goes on and on and on about everything you want to know about carnivorous plants (and a few things you don’t want to know). You’ll learn what it means to be a carnivorous plant, what it means to be a pitcher plant, and a few interesting things about the Purple Pitcher Plant, Sarracenia purpurea. Enjoy!

Have you ever heard of myrmecochory? It may not pop up much in casual conversation, but this strange word is your doorway to a tiny, fascinating world of ant-plant interactions. Myrmecochory is seed dispersal by ants (don’t worry, we cover how to pronounce it in the episode), and while it may seem simple on the surface, it’s a beautifully complex spectrum of behaviors and benefits, , including some questionable ones.

Myrmecochory has long been considered a classic example of mutualism, in which two species benefit from a shared interaction, but recent research has called this idea into question. Are the ants really benefiting? Is it possible that plants are parasitizing the ants? Are the ants inadvertently ‘cleaning’ the seeds, inoculating them against harmful soil microbes? There is so much more to myrmecochory than Bill and Steve ever imagined! Join the guys as they hit the trail, exploring the seldom-seen world of ants and plants.

This episode was recorded at Nature View Park in Amherst, NY on April 24, 2019. Nature View is owned by the Western New York Land Conservancy.

In spring, a naturalist’s fancy turns to thoughts of Timberdoodlin’, and that means heading out into the spring twilight, finding a brushy meadow, and listening for the buzzy “Peent!” of the American Woodcock (Scolopax minor) . AKA the Timberdoodle, this odd bird (it’s a shorebird that doesn’t live near the shore) performs a strange and stunning sky dance that is a must-see for any wildlife lover.

Join the guys as they focus on the fascinating natural history of this bird and head out on a cold March evening to see if they can witness the Woodcock in action.

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

Spring is here, and the guys hit the trail to discuss spring-related science, including how climate change is impacting global plant growth and how it’s changing bird migration. Plus, Bill gives a (sort of) rebuttal to Steve’s unprovoked and vicious attack on Charles Darwin from last episode. Happy Spring!

It’s Snow-and-Tell time! We’re deep into winter right now, and spring seems snow far away. So, we decided to embrace the season and look into recent research around a topic that would be sure to provide plenty of puns for this write-up: SNOW! We delve into recent studies about how much snow actually falls on North America, if the indigenous peoples of the north really have 100 words for snow, how climate change is affecting snowfall levels, and how those changes impact Snowshoe Hare populations (Lepus americanus) . Plus, in honor of Darwin Day, Steve insults the father of natural selection. All this, plus, we follow up on last episode’s cliffhanger, filling you in on the results of Bill’s Lyme disease test. Enjoy!

Did you ever wonder why Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers look so much alike? No? Neither did we, but it was because we always assumed they were just closely related species. Maybe you did, too, but thanks to the wonders of DNA analysis, we now know that these two look-alikes are not even in the same genus. So, what gives?

Researchers recently looked into this stumper-of-a-problem, and, in this episode, Bill and Steve break down what might be the cause.

Oh, and Bill talks about how he might have Lyme disease.

Enjoy!

“Richer than millionaires! Happier than Kings! Envied by multitudes! May be said of hobnobbers with Hart’s-tongues.”

So said one enthusiast of the Hart’s-tongue fern (Asplenium scolopendrium var. americanum) long ago, and we think you’ll agree. This species is exceptional in many ways; its appearance (it doesn’t look like your typical fern), its uncommon habitat, and it’s rarity all add to the Hart’s-tongue fern’s mystique.

This month, the guys hit the road, traveling to central NY and hitting the trail with Mike Serviss, a conservation biologist working with New York State Parks. Among his many duties, Mike is researching the most successful ways to restore this picky plant to its habitat, and he’s also a fantastic science communicator.

Join us as Mike helps us peel back the mystery of what’s involved in restoring an endangered species.

Enjoy!

Have you ever heard of a burrowing crayfish? We hadn’t, until our much-smarter-than-us friend, Dr. Wayne Gall, shared the story of how he discovered one particular species living in western NY 30 years ago - Cambarus diogenes - the Devil Crayfish.

Wayne invited us to join him on a hunt for this species, to see if it was still present at Tifft Nature Preserve, three decades later.

Now, we invite you to come along with us, braving deep mud, crayfish pincers, and audio challenges (Tifft is lousy with the sound of trains, barges, and jets overhead). Along the way, Wayne proves himself a consummate storyteller, spinning the yarn of amazing coincidences that led to his connection with this species and publishing research about its presence in New York. We also give some visitors to the preserve a good scare.

A big thank you to Wayne for his time, expertise, and persistence. This episode may be shorter than usual, but we want you to know that Wayne spent hours with us at Tifft, his arms buried in the mud up to his shoulder, searching for our target species.

This episode was recorded at Tifft Nature Preserve in Buffalo, NT on August 30, 2018.

Imagine a gathering of nature-lovers where, for three days, you could attend hikes, talks, and other programs on dozens of natural history topics. Such a gathering takes place each year in Allegany State Park in southwestern NY. For over sixty years, The Allegany Nature Pilgrimage has taken place the weekend after Memorial Day, bringing like-minded individuals from across the country to share their knowledge of and passion for all things nature-related. The guys were invited to lead a hike at this year's Pilgrimage, and, in this special bonus episode, you can listen in on what it sounds like when a big group of people join Steve and Bill for a hike in the woods.

Nearly every year, somewhere in the eastern US, a brood of periodical cicadas (Magicicada spp.) emerges for the first time in 13 or 17 years. Each brood contains millions of individuals and it's probably one of the most spectacular displays that you would be lucky enough to experience. Before the episode, Steve and Bill traveled to Syracuse to see the tail end of Brood VII at a property owned by the Griffin Hill Farm Brewery. They recount that experience, explore the biology of cicadas, discuss why periodical cicadas live underground for so many years, and talk about the history and current status of brood VII. Enjoy!

During this bonus episode, Bill interviews Gordon Maupin, former director of the Wilderness Center in northeastern Ohio and, along with Joann Ballbach and Gary Popotnik, the former host of "Wild Ideas...The Podcast".

"Wild Ideas" was (and is) an excellent resource for information on natural history and it was a strong influence on our decision to start our own podcast after it ended in November 2014- less than a year before we released the first episode of The Field Guides.

Enjoy the episode and "...as always, all you moms and dads, make sure your children get outside. Always great to let them go out there and roll over a log, turn over a rock. Make sure they get wet, muddy, and dirty, Just make sure they get outside and play."

Have you seen the light? This month, the guys take their first foray into the world of fungi, specifically bioluminescent fungi! Although fireflies and other glowing critters have been well researched, fungi that glow are not nearly as well understood. Often referred to as "foxfire" or "fairy fire", their glow was first documented way back in ancient times, but researchers are still figuring out what it's all about. Join Bill and Steve as they shed some light on the latest research into these fascinating fungi.

This episode was recorded in the Eternal Flame Falls section of Chestnut Ridge Park in Orchard Park, NY on July 4th, 2018.

This is the story of two guys who enter the woods looking for Arisaema triphyllum, the graceful woodland wildflower known to many as Jack-in-the-pulpit. Not only is it beautiful to behold, but this member of the Arum family has a fascinating natural history; it can switch its sex, fool midge flies, and cause botanists to have heated debates about subspecies. During the episode, Steve makes a contribution to botanical history by coming up with the best alternative common name Bill has ever heard (see title), and we wrap things up with Bill eating some of this toxic plant. Listen to the end to see if Bill dies. Enjoy! 

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 great salamander migration has begun! ...and ended... Every spring there is a small window of time when adult spotted salamanders emerge from their subterranean homes and mate in nearby seasonal wetlands. Bill, Steve, Rich, and Donna venture out to find these elusive critters.

It's not a skunk... and it's not a cabbage... This month, Steve and Bill discuss Skunk Cabbage. The guys go over the spathe, spadix, contractile roots, and thermogenesis, among other things. We also pose maybe too many questions to our audience:

1. Is Skunk Cabbage a clonal species?
2. Can Skunk Cabbage have multiple inflorescences? 
3. Do warblers nest in Skunk Cabbage spathes? 
4. Does Skunk Cabbage heat up to to promote cross pollination? 

Enjoy (and help us answer these questions)!

Today we begin the first of many future episodes about spring ephemeral wildflowers. During this episode, Steve and Bill talk about Coltsfoot's adaptations, life cycle, use as a cooking spice, and toxicity. Unfortunately, the guys never figure out what the species name, farfara, means... if you know, share the love. Enjoy!

Can one specimen of a native plant be more "native" than another?  Plant populations that have adapted to local environmental conditions are called "local ecotypes". They can be genetically different from populations of the same plant growing under different conditions, and for those ecologists who are working to restore damaged ecosystems, whether or not they should use local ecotypes is an important question to consider.