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BewilderBeasts!

PodFix Network

BewilderBeasts!

Host Melissa McCue-McGrath dives deep into the weirdest, funniest, sciency-est ways in which animals intersect at humanity. How is a horse responsible for the FDA? How did fish farts nearly cause bombs to fly between Russia and Sweden? Which pigeon saved 194 soldiers in WW1? Why are honey bees trained to find unexploded landmines in Croatia? Let's go!

Parent info: BewilderBeasts! is recommended for ages 6-10 and 11 plus. It's an Episodic show that can be listened to in any order. Made in the USA, it's about Nature and Science for kids. Launched in 2020, it has 7 seasons.

There are 138 episodes

Episodes
The most recent appears first.

  • Bonus: Butt Science and Twitter Bird Bans

    27 min Season 7 Episode 119 14 July 2024

    First aired February 2023…

  • Bonus: Ursa Majors

    15 min Season 7 Episode 118 7 July 2024

    First aired October 2021…

  • Bonus: Great Escapes

    21 min Season 7 Episode 117 30 June 2024

    First Aired: Feb 10, 2022…

  • Bonus: Mail Cats?

    12 min Season 7 Episode 116 24 June 2024

    First aired: August, 2022…

  • Bonus:Dengue Chicks and the Grocery Store Walk of Shame

    30 min Season 7 Episode 115 17 June 2024

    First Aired: January 20, 2023…

  • Bonus: BOTY goes Batty

    21 min Season 7 Episode 114 10 June 2024

    First Aired: Nov 5, 2021…

  • Bonus: A Monkey Could Work Here

    13 min Season 7 Episode 114 3 June 2024

    First aired April 19, 2022…

  • Bonus: Monique

    29 min Season 7 Episode 113 28 May 2024

    First aired: Nov 26, 2023…

  • Bonus: A Troubling of Goldfish

    14 min Season 7 Episode 112 27 May 2024

    First aired Nov. 2022…

  • Bonus: Methed Snails

    25 min Season 7 Episode 111 19 May 2024

    First Aired August, 2023:…

  • Bonus: Monarchy Charlies

    13 min Season 7 Episode 110 12 May 2024

    First aired: Sept 13, 2022…

  • Bonus: Jail Birds

    23 min Season 7 Episode 109 6 May 2024

    First aired July 28, 2022…

  • Bonus: Oh, Canada

    22 min Season 7 Episode 108 29 April 2024

    First Aired on Dec 25, 2022…

  • Bonus: Longshot

    25 min Season 7 Episode 107 22 April 2024

    First Aired June 8, 2022…

  • Bonus: Gettysburg

    22 min Season 7 Episode 106 15 April 2024

    First aired June 22, 2023:…

  • Bonus: The Dogs Who Mapped Australia

    28 min Season 7 Episode 105 8 April 2024

    First aired July 2023:…

  • Bonus: Pika Who?

    15 min Season 7 Episode 104 31 March 2024

    This Patreon Exclusive episode (#2)  first aired on August 4, 2021.…

  • Bonus: Oh, Evolution

    7 min Season 7 Episode 103 31 March 2024

    The very first Patreon Exclusive episode was ....super short. It first aired on July 22, 2021. I wasn't sure if it would play or work at all. But, this test led directly to another 28+ episodes, so thank you, evolution ;)…

  • Bonus: Ukraine's Little Bullet

    24 min Season 7 Episode 102 17 March 2024

    This Patreon Exclusive Episode first aired May 16, 2022…

  • BONUS: Luck o' the Irish Setter

    19 min Season 7 Episode 101 10 March 2024

    Patreon exclusive number 9: Originally aired March 16, 2022…

  • Bonus: Daddy Shortlegs

    18 min Season 7 Episode 1 24 March 2024

    Patreon exclusive #6: First aired Dec 7 2021…

  • Ep 100: The Center

    40 min Season 6 Episode 100 4 March 2024

    We close out the series by discussing the humans who dedicate their lives as the bridge between wildlife and education, and a left-hand turn into the vultures who perform sky burials.…

  • Ep 99: Rises and Falls

    25 min Season 6 Episode 99 26 February 2024

    'We can never have luck without a cat on board' he said. If this were true, the crew would have been better off with a different cat. "…

  • Ep 98: Buzzzzzzz

    19 min Season 6 Episode 99 19 February 2024

    Bees make one last appearance on the show, this time getting hammered on college campuses to help scientists understand the neural pathways of human addiction.…

  • Ep 97: Shockoe

    42 min Season 6 Episode 97 5 February 2024

    Some dogs work to close decades-old cold cases. Others are tasked with finding long-lost burial grounds, shining a light on America's racist foundation while uncovering the truth that some today wish would stay buried.…

  • Ep 96: The Maine 6

    36 min Season 6 Episode 96 29 January 2024

    This week we look at Maine's 6 dogs who might just end up on the front lines to save nearly every industry that gives Maine the name, "Vacationland. "…

  • Ep 95: Zombieland

    32 min Season 6 Episode 95 22 January 2024

    Starting season 6 off with mind control parasites often found in kitty litter boxes around the world - so how is this parasite endangering monk seals in the Pacific Ocean?…

  • Ep 94: Rock Baby and Baby Jail

    30 min Season 5 Episode 94 24 April 2023

    In this season finale, we'll catch up with the world's best dad - a 31-year-old bald eagle who wanted to be a dad.…

  • Ep 93: Tiger Things

    42 min Season 5 Episode 93 17 April 2023

    The history of Mike the LSU tiger, the dark reality of meeting tiger cubs, and a new law puts dumb criminals and America's worst behind bars.…

  • Ep 90: Key Largo Zombie Possums

    29 min Season 5 Episode 90 27 March 2023

    An unusual team of bounty hunters, biologists, possums, mosquitos, and trash pandas are finally making a dent in the Florida Everglades Python Problem. But, can they save the  Everglades before the snakes find refuge in Key Largo?…

  • Ep 89: Cat Turned Brew

    28 min Season 5 Episode 89 20 March 2023

    What does the Black Death, scotch whiskey, cats, the worst laws in Tennesee, and bad taxidermy have to do with each other? Oh, buckle in - we're going for a ride!…

  • Ep 88: Goodbye, Earl!

    23 min Season 5 Episode 88 13 March 2023

    This week, an unusual employee shows up to work at the R & R Garage and ended up changing their logo. Meanwhile, Melissa has the early 2000s country/pop hit, "Goodbye, Earl" stuck in her head FOR NO REASON!…

  • Ep 87: Polly Wanna Murder?

    33 min Season 5 Episode 87 6 March 2023

    New season & BIG news, plus a quartet of parrots at criminality! Let's DO this thing!…

  • Ep 86: Unicorns, Rainbows and Funeral Turkey Feathers

    33 min Season 4 Episode 86 19 December 2022

    Episode updates; turkey feathers were a huge part of your childhood; unicorns are real in LA; a revisit of the nightMARE before Christmas.…

  • Ep 85: Because, Alaska.

    21 min Season 4 Episode 85 13 December 2022

    In 75 miles of winding roads in Alaska, Trooper Shanigan's GPS froze up, leaving him lost en route to a fire in his own neighborhood. He'd have to settle for GS to get him there - a German Shepherd named Buddy, who was looking for help and found it.…

  • Ep 84: SQUAWK! We'll Do It LIVE!

    38 min Season 4 Episode 84 6 December 2022

    This week's episode is a dry run of the live show that will take place at the Kennebunk Free Library on Dec. 6th at 6:30 pm.  As this is an audio format, wild gesticulations,  slides, and bad haircuts are all absent from this media - you need to come in person…

  • Ep 83: Five Deer (DeerDucken remix)

    39 min Season 4 Episode 83 28 November 2022

    A relisten to everything we got wrong about the first Thanksgiving celebration, including the animals on the table. Deerducken, anyone?…

  • Ep 82: Going To The Dogs

    51 min Season 4 Episode 82 22 November 2022

    The National Dog Show is a staple in many homes for the pre-Thanksgiving event - so Melissa (and special guest Paul Csomo from Avast) discuss all the terrible things we've done to purebred dogs in the name of beauty.…

  • Ep 81: Avast!

    24 min Season 4 Episode 81 14 November 2022

    Let's meet the "Little Boatman," the "Black Devil," the "Horse Inspirerer" -----the Schipperke, with Paul Csomo of Avast!.…

  • Ep 80: Camel Cam and Sheep View

    16 min Season 4 Episode 80 8 November 2022

    A look at all the animals who make Google maps Google-possible, including a camel named Raffia and a whole lot of sheep in the Faroe Islands.…

  • Ep 78: Eau d'Poo

    19 min Season 4 Episode 78 24 October 2022

    This week, we look at how scatological scientists use fake poop to save owls and commune with rhinos. Let's GO!…

  • Ep 77: The Horses Who Find The Missing

    24 min Season 4 Episode 77 17 October 2022

    This week, we meet a 1600 pound animal who is also using their noses to find missing people, narcotics, and more. Giddyup.…

  • Ep 76: Leavin' on a Jet Plane

    25 min Season 4 Episode 76 10 October 2022

    As promised, another series of animal escapes - this time, airport edition, plus why cats love boxes so dang much, the most dangerous job at the Singapore airport, and the zoo escapees who found refuge at a Miami area airport.…

  • Ep 75: Sharkboy

    29 min Season 4 Episode 75 3 October 2022

    After a pod of dolphins saved Todd Endris from a Great White Shark, Todd went on to advocate for the sharks who nearly killed him.…

  • Ep 73: The Unkindness

    32 min Season 4 Episode 73 13 September 2022

    The many kinds of unkindnesses at the Tower of London, including murders, treason, and some rambunctious ravens who have a big prophecy on their winged shoulders.…

  • Ep 72: Whoa, Uglies!

    25 min Season 4 Episode 72 5 September 2022

    The Ugly Animal Preservation Society,  the world's funniest biologist Simon Watt, and a Blobfish walk into a bar; Melissa is grossed out by sound effects. We're back, baby! Season 4!…

  • BONUS (Patreon Exclusive!): Hungry, Hungry Hippos

    17 min Season 3 Episode 72 26 July 2022

    A bonus episode pulled from Patreon to keep you company this summer. Learn all about how Pablo Escobar's bad choices led to the largest invasive species on the planet.…

  • Ep 71: It's Witch-ah-Tah

    26 min Season 3 Episode 71 30 May 2022

    Season 3 Finale:…

  • Ep 69: Shave and a Haircut

    24 min Season 3 Episode 69 9 May 2022

    One sheep in Australia goes on the "lamb" and comes back from his "ram"springa needing a haircut of epic proportions.…

  • Ep 68: Who Watches The Watchmen?

    32 min Season 3 Episode 68 2 May 2022

    When violent militarized police attack school children protesting for the right to education in Chile, hundreds of homeless street dogs stand in the way.  This story focuses on two of the hundreds of Chilean protesting dogs:  the infamous Negro Matapacos (Bebe…

  • Ep 67: Doom Bloom

    25 min Season 3 Episode 67 25 April 2022

    An invasive little bugger is murdering trees & plants in mid-Atlantic states by sucking them dry, then uses poisonous poop to finish the job. One hero rises above to turn poisonous poop lemons into delicious vomit lemonade.…

  • Ep 66: Knights in Shining Flannel

    24 min Season 3 Episode 66 17 April 2022

    The time LL Bean teamed up with a taxidermist and a woman from New Sweden, Maine, to make an unbelievably rare event come back to life for the masses. Plus, moose are hunted by an unusual predator, and one inebriated moose gets stuck in a tree.…

  • Ep 65:The Queen's Cat and The Pig War

    17 min Season 3 Episode 65 11 April 2022

    Three shorter stories that couldn't quite make an entire episode on their own: A cat on the Queen's payroll in the UK and a pig who started a nearly 13 year war over land in the Pacific Northwest between the US and Canada.…

  • Ep 64: Ciga-crows

    37 min Season 3 Episode 64 4 April 2022

    Starting Season 3 : Swedish crows trained to pick up cigarettes in exchange for actual peanuts- it's proposed to save towns over 75% of the monetary cost of humans picking up trash, but what does that mean for the crows?…

  • Time Traveler (Ep 24)- Go Ask Alice

    29 min Season 3 Episode 24 16 May 2022

    A personal note from Melissa re: Roe v. Wade and a throwback episode about feminism by way of First Daughter, Alice Roosevelt's pet garder snake, Emily Spinach.  Also, panda cologne is eau d'number 2, and our favorite bad taxidermy, "Sad Otter".…

  • Ep 92: A Wink to the Sky

    25 min Season 1 Episode 92 10 April 2023

    A farewell to a good friend, and a revisit to the Dolphin who gave up pod life for the people of a small Irish fishing village in Ireland.…

  • Ep 79: The Kitten in the Book Drop

    22 min Season 1 Episode 79 31 October 2022

    In 1988, a librarian opened a book drop and was surprised by what she found. Let's hear the story of Dewey Readmore Books.…

  • Ep 74: Dartmoor

    42 min Season 1 Episode 74 27 September 2022

    A matriarch looking for enough room for the entire family to call home buys a dilapidated zoo in England. It took 4 days before the Jaguar escaped. Then the wolves. Then the lynx. Welcome to Dartmoor.…

  • Sick Bay: What The Pluck?

    21 min 18 September 2022

    Melissa is sick, so let's go back in the way back machine to when this show was a recording in a closet under the stairs. Throwback to Episode 42, What the Pluck, all about the Hollywood Highway Chickens.…

  • BONUS: Slaughterhouse Punk Rock Goat (Patreon Exclusive)

    15 min 16 August 2022

    Let's dive into this episode pulled from the Patreon feed about a grindcore goat named Biquette. Rock on!…

  • Ep 70: Betting on the Ponies

    41 min Season 3 Episode 70 23 May 2022

    This week a look at the less-greats in horse racing, including a horse named after a fruit, a horse named after a tuber, and an announcer has to call a race with a horse evidently named by a 17th century pirate.…

  • April Fools-A-Roo! (The Yankee Vs Ostrich with Nick Charlie Key)

    16 min Season 2 Episode 64 1 April 2022

    April Fool's Day is in full swing on this episode of not-exactly BewilderBeasts! Let's learn about a bit about by way of a New York Yankee's baseball player and an ostrich.…

  • Ep 63: Puckish Poultry and Cursing Corvids

    24 min Season 2 Episode 63 21 February 2022

    McNugget, the coffee shop rooster; Cosmo, the rowdy raven who befriended an elementary school; an update on Magawa, the land-mind detection rat from episode 10; and scheduling updates!…

  • Ep 62: Winter (Prosthetics, Part 2)

    22 min Season 2 Episode 62 14 February 2022

    This week is part two of the prosthetics arc where we look exclusively at one dolphin who lost her tail but not her spirit - how that dolphin's journey saved the wildlife rehabilitation center she lived in, helped humans with advancements in prosthetic tech, a…

  • Ep 91: The Well Diggers of Death Valley

    20 min Season 1 Episode 91 3 April 2023

    When we discuss an invasive species on this show, the discussion turns to the distruction by that species on the environment. But, here is an animal that has become part of the food web,is saving other species from a warming climate by digging 5' water wells, …

  • Time traveler (ep 33): Napoleon's WHAT was stolen?!?

    28 min Season 1 Episode 33 20 March 2022

    Missing historical appendages? Fierce women who get it done? Big goofy hero dogs? Quirky facts and serious history? It's all here.  If there is one episode that encompasses Bewilderbeasts, it's this one.…

  • Time traveler (ep 26): "Oh, He's The Dead Guy"

    24 min Season 1 Episode 26 13 March 2022

    When Melissa's asked which story sticks with her the most, it's the one of the Border Collie who unmasked the terrible racists in Tennessee.…

  • Time traveler (episode 18): Don't Do Toads, Kids!

    21 min Season 1 Episode 18 28 March 2022

    In this fan favorite, we revisit Melissa's failed foray into pharmaceutical advertising.…

  • Time traveler (episode 8): POLL!

    14 min Season 1 Episode 8 6 March 2022

    In this fan favorite, we meet Poll - President Andrew Jackson's swearing parrot,-who makes frequent cameos through the episodes of Bewilderbeasts.…

  • Patron Saint, Olga of Kiev

    29 min 28 February 2022

    Replay of Episode 50: Olga of Kiev.…

  • Ep 61: Avengers, Assemble! (Prosthetics)

    21 min Season 2 Episode 61 7 February 2022

    This week's show is all about the real life Animal Avengers,  animal prosthetics, osseointegration, and the magic of 3D printing to save animals from euthanasia while advancing prosthetic technologies to help humans.…

  • Throwback: Groundhog Day

    24 min 2 February 2022

    Hi everyone! Episode 21, Fishfart Diplomacy, had a segment dedicated to all things Groundhog Day and let's bring back the term Bear Rat for our favorite meteorological rodents!…

  • Ep 60: "Chix In Space"

    25 min Season 2 Episode 60 31 January 2022

    The time  Kentucky Fried Chicken teamed up with NASA, some space ready chickens, and an 8th Grader FOR SCIENCE.…

  • Ep 59: JFK and the Pupniks

    30 min Season 2 Episode 59 24 January 2022

    This week, the Soviet dogs who went to space, their descendants, and one named Pushinka who had a minor role in stopping nuclear Armageddon during the Cuban Missile Crisis.…

  • Ep 58: FATS G (Frog Rescue Service)

    31 min Season 2 Episode 58 17 January 2022

    In Australia there is a rescue service for frogs who get trapped in produce that saves upwards of 1500 frogs every single year. We also meet Tony the Frog from Twitter who was saved from a head of lettuce in America, and why voting in America is important in o…

  • Ep 57: All About That Bass (Robofish)

    22 min Season 2 Episode 57 10 January 2022

    This week we talk about the effects of invasive species and how robotic fish employing scare tactics as invasive species birth control, another robot fish explores the deep sea floor, and a dead chipmunk on a stick may solve the mystery of an extinct bird whil…

  • Ep 56: Put the Rap Battling Horse Skull Back In Christmas, Where It Belongs

    23 min Season 2 Episode 56 20 December 2021

    Let's go to Wales, a country where they are trying to put the call-and-response singing horse skull back in Christmas, where it belongs.  This is going to be fun. Let's go!…

  • BONUS: A Very Merry DIY Bird Hoarding Kit

    15 min Season 2 Episode 56 15 December 2021

    How much would the 12 days of Christmas cost someone today? How many birds is the True Love gifting? And where is the recipient going to put 224 birds? Let's take a peak at the ill-gifted birds in the mathiest holiday song on holiday playlists everywhere!…

  • Ep 55: Julia Child, The CIA, and Shark Repellent Cakes

    16 min Season 2 Episode 55 13 December 2021

    Julia Child was rejected from the army in WW2, so she got in on the ground-floor of the CIA, whipping up her first ever recipe: Shark Repellent Cakes.…

  • Ep 54: Ho, Ho, Reindoes!

    21 min Season 2 Episode 54 6 December 2021

    This week, Melissa explains how we know Santa's sleigh is pulled by 8 reinDOEs who can see predators urine (that's not in the movie!), how shaman made reindeer fly, and the story of Rudolph uncovered.…

  • Bonus: Drunk Flies and Stoned Dolphins (With Dr. Oné R. Pagán)

    1 hr 9 min Season 2 Episode 54 1 December 2021

    This is a recording of Oné R. Pagán's book launch for "Drunk Flies and Stoned Dolphins" where a tipsy Melissa asks him about cocaine addiction in flatworms, "bouncer bees" who decapitate drunk bees coming back to the hive, a few side tracks into pjs and tattoo…

  • Ep 53: Who's Your Daddy?

    37 min Season 2 Episode 54 29 November 2021

    Melissa addresses  sex changing animals who can do it all, condors who have had enough of their male cage mates, lesbian lizards, proposes a Finding Nemo #3, and the myth of the sexual binary.…

  • Ep 52: Five Deer

    41 min Season 2 Episode 52 22 November 2021

    Trigger warning: Today's episode discusses genocide, the dark truth behind America's most gluttonous holiday.  Why you should be eating eel and deer instead of turkey and potatoes on Thursday,  and how writers of the 1800's completely SQUAWKED up how we learn …

  • Ep 51: Africanimals

    29 min Season 2 Episode 51 15 November 2021

    This week, Melissa has a special announcement and revisit of three African animal stories for the History Class of RSU 40 in Waldoboro, Maine. #GoPanthers…

  • Ep 50: Arson Pigeon Revenge (Olga of Kiev)

    29 min Season 2 Episode 50 8 November 2021

    In this 50th episode, we  meet Olga of Kiev, a PATRON SAINT who murdered a lot of people using earth, wind, fire, ale and homing pigeons. She inspired the character of Cersei Lannister,  a death metal band's concept album, a ballet and the US Military in WW2. …

  • Ep 49: Revenge of the Shaggy Pants

    23 min Season 2 Episode 49 1 November 2021

    Today Melissa takes a series of shallow dives into more royalty who were killed by hubris which changed the world forever, and has some fun with the worst nicknames in royal history. Let's go!…

  • Ep 46: Housetraining Heiffers

    18 min Season 2 Episode 46 11 October 2021

    Why scientists are looking to potty train 1 billion cows to combat a growing acid rain crisis.…

  • Ep 45: Bone-y and Clyde

    21 min Season 2 Episode 45 4 October 2021

    A Smithsonian Museum exhibit depicting the skeletal remains of Dr. Grover Krantz and his beloved Irish wolfhound, Clyde. But, who was Dr. Krantz, and why is he - and his dogs - at the Smithsonian? And, why is this photo of their posthumous posed parts circulat…

  • Ep 44: LSDscapades and Debleated Goats

    40 min Season 2 Episode 44 27 September 2021

    As there is talk of suicide and class one narcotics, listener discretion is advised.…

  • Ep 42: What the Pluck?

    22 min Season 2 Episode 2 13 September 2021

    A truck of hens heading to a slaughterhouse turns over on a California Highway, leading to the funniest trilogy in chicken-cinema.…

  • Ep 41: Diamond Smuggling Pigeons

    30 min Season 2 Episode 1 6 September 2021

    There is a place called the Diamond Coast where humanity clings to a thread, and pigeons are angels and lifelines. Let's go.…

  • Ep 48: The Story Of Room 8

    27 min Season 1 Episode 48 24 October 2021

    Today, there is a sign that says no pets allowed on the fence surrounding Elysian Heights Elementary - but the very foundation of this school's culture is built on the spirit of a cat named Room 8 who went to school every single day for 16 years. Let's learn a…

  • Ep 47: The Sheep in The Clouds

    28 min Season 1 Episode 47 18 October 2021

    In 1783 a duck, a rooster and a sheep named Montauciel were heading straight for the sky.  How does their unlikely story change lead to three Billionaires ending up in space over 200 years later?…

  • Ep 43: Mouthful of Mike

    18 min Season 1 Episode 43 20 September 2021

    This week is all about Michael Packard, a man who went out to catch lobster but instead got an inside view of a humpback whale.…

  • Episode 40: Update & Curses

    15 min Season 1 Episode 40 28 July 2021

    Today, a quick update and a revisit of episode 8: the naughty bird who got evicted from a President's funeral for swearing, some birds who were separated for turning the zoo into an R rated experience for school kids, and some birds who use fire to catch prey,…

  • Bonus: Edgar Allan, Oh NO!

    19 min Season 1 Episode 40 4 July 2021

    Updates on the wanderlust walrus who is now sinking boats in Spain, a bomb sniffing rat retires, and a revisit of the raven who inspired two old-timey authors, Charles Dickens & Edgar Allan Poe.…

  • Ep 39: Intersections of Animals at Humanity

    50 min Season 1 Episode 39 31 May 2021

    A father's devotion to his daughter is saving the monarch butterfly; condors go all Spinal Tap on a woman's home; Melissa gets real with how local and state government officials in Massachusetts can get inspiration from wildlife overpasses before another Somer…

  • Ep 38: Sniffin' With What His Mama Gave Him

    22 min Season 1 Episode 38 24 May 2021

    Melissa presents three happy stories about animals and humans - Yoriko the fish makes an unusual friend at an underwater shrine; a service dog flunk out becomes the first arson detection dog in Saginaw, TX; how scientists are using googley eyes to save birds.…

  • Ep 37: Little In the Middle

    45 min Season 1 Episode 37 17 May 2021

    This week all about dogs and sight! We have a greyhound who gets corrective lenses, the first seeing eye dogs, and a guardian livestock dog gets an unusual flock to tend.…

  • BONUS: Got Vaccines?

    12 min Season 1 Episode 36 13 May 2021

    On this shortie, Melissa got vaccinated and wanted to revisit the horseshoe crabs who made our vaccines --- and nearly every medical instrument and medication --- possible.  Thanks, horseshoe crabs!…

  • Ep 36: Banning The Toxic Lipstick Aisle

    27 min Season 1 Episode 36 10 May 2021

    Melissa talks about some animals who could easily end up in a police lineup, a horse to thank every time Romaine lettuce is recalled, and cat butt science.…

  • Ep 35: The Army That Lost To Emus

    37 min Season 1 Episode 35 3 May 2021

    An animal control investigator gets a delicious surprise; emus beat the Australian Army, and we finally have a spi...spi….a story about my phobia that we had to include, so if you hear a thud, it’s just me passing out from fear.…

  • Ep 34: Bring Out Your Dead!

    33 min Season 1 Episode 34 26 April 2021

    Today's episode covers three stories of how animals intersect with human death or death prevention, including forensic entomology (the use of bugs to solve crime), a dog who stayed at his owners final resting space for 14 years, and how tree frogs can inspire …

  • Ep 33: Ann Harvey, Hairy Man, and the Island Of The Dead

    29 min Season 1 Episode 33 19 April 2021

    Today we have an all NEWFOUNDLAND DOG special! A lifeguard Newfie named Reef jumps out of helicopters for the Italian Coast Guard; a Newf named Hairy Man pulled 180 Irish Immigrants off of Wreck Rock to safety on the Isle aux Morts (literally the Island of the…

  • Ep 32: The Dolphin of Dingle Bay

    24 min Season 1 Episode 32 12 April 2021

    The a cow who escaped a slaughterhouse and went on the lam, the dolphin of Dingle Bay, the town who went dark to save a nest of baby birds.…

  • BONUS: The Cow Who Gave Us Libraries

    12 min Season 1 Episode 32 8 April 2021

    The story of the cow who didn't start the fire- no, she didn't light it, but she tried to fight it.…

  • Ep 31: Bears, Bees, Battlestar Galactica

    37 min Season 1 Episode 31 5 April 2021

    Bears in bear jail are in the quality assurance department; crossbow conservation, and a sleepy walrus gets a rude awakening…

  • Ep 30: A Crow Left of the Attempted Murder

    31 min Season 1 Episode 30 29 March 2021

    A crow tampers with a crime scene - TWICE; Nikola Tesla’s obsession with pigeons, and are you liable if your murder of crows commits murder?…

  • Ep 29: The Harbormaster

    26 min Season 1 Episode 29 22 March 2021

    Today,  Melissa covers the legendary Andre the Seal from Rockport, Maine.  Additional topics include slugs who decapitate their own heads and regrow bodies for survival, and alligators turn into popsicles to survive freezing water.…

  • Ep 28: The Flying Turtle Who Killed A Guy

    29 min Season 1 Episode 28 15 March 2021

    Naked mole rats can save humans, horses killed a lot of kings named Loius, and eagle killed a playwright with a turtle.…

  • BONUS: Balto, Togo and the Great Race For Mercy

    24 min Season 1 Episode 28 10 March 2021

    The story of the 150 dogs and 20 men who raced against odds, weather, frostbite, fake news, and the worst storm in decades to save the kids and Indigenous people of Nome, Alaska, from a deadly diphtheria outbreak 5 years after the flu of 1919.…

  • Ep 27: Living His Best Afterlife

    30 min Season 1 Episode 27 8 March 2021

    Sea cucumbers magic superpower, a bear found and ate 76 pounds of cocaine he found in the woods, and  a flock of holy geese saved Rome.…

  • Ep 26: The Rebellious Runaway Reenacting Rooster

    25 min Season 1 Episode 26 1 March 2021

    Today's topics: Civil War reenacting rooster flew the coop, a dark walk through history thanks to a Border collie who inherited $5 million from her dead owner, and pigs can play video games for science!…

  • Ep 25: The CIA's Failed Spy Cats

    32 min Season 1 Episode 25 22 February 2021

    The one time the CIA tried - and failed - to use a cat as a spy (code name Acoustic Kitty), some cats need hypoallergenic humans, and what happens when cats bail on sea shanties.  #AcousticKitty…

  • Ep 24: Emily Spinach

    24 min Season 1 Episode 24 14 February 2021

    We meet Emily Spinach - the pet garter snake of wild-child first daughter, Alice Roosevelt.  Also,  the hilariously creepy, Wild Taxidermy Room in Melbourne, Australia, says goodbye and pandas throw the weirdest parties.…

  • Ep 23: Dwarf Giraffes and Two Danny DeVitos

    26 min Season 1 Episode 22 8 February 2021

    Melissa talks about the cutest little toilet plunger thief, the tallest dwarfs in the animal kingdom, and how honey bees twerk murder the murder hornets while using the grossest tool to protect their hives.…

  • Ep 22: The Skydiving Beavers of 1948

    24 min Season 1 Episode 22 1 February 2021

    Melissa talks about a monkey who killed the King of Greece, skydiving beavers, and one lizard earns the number one slot for the largest number 2. Let’s go!…

  • Ep 21: Fish Fart Diplomacy

    24 min Season 1 Episode 21 27 January 2021

    How fish farts nearly caused a war between Russia and Sweden, how severed octopus arms continue to try to feed the octopus, and why we use a rodent to predict the future.…

  • Ep 20: Quoth the Raven, "Baltimore!"

    20 min Season 1 Episode 20 20 January 2021

    Today on BewilderBeasts, we’re going to meet a pig who wants to be a therapy dog, a headless chicken lives for 18 months & and the raven who haunted the grandaddy of creep, Edgar Allen Poe. Let’s go!…

  • Ep 19: Armadillo Justice!

    19 min Season 1 Episode 19 13 January 2021

    Melissa dives deep on how horseshoe  crabs are saving us from COVID19 (this was recorded before the vaccines started rolling out),  platypuses are WAY weirder than imagined, and a case of armadillo justice!…

  • Ep 18: Side Effects Of Toad Licking

    19 min Season 1 Episode 18 6 January 2021

    Today on Bewilderbeasts Melissa explores Australia's hallucinogenic toads, New Zealand calls "fowl" in voter fraud, and a Salem, Massachusetts, landmark has its roots in animal history.…

  • Ep 17: 'Twas the Night Before Christmas: BewilderBeasts REMIX

    12 min Season 1 Episode 17 22 December 2020

    For the last episode of the year,  Melissa reviews all the creatures we talked about in a not-so-classic retelling of Clement Clarke Moore's, "'Twas the Night Before Christmas", but with more dogs, swearing parrots and an exploding whale.…

  • Ep 16: OK, Boomer

    27 min Season 1 Episode 16 16 December 2020

    Today, Melissa explores other customs, like the "Boomers" who pull Santa's sled in Australia, how a video game about animals has given a place for practicing Muslims to find community in a pandemic, and what a confused Rooster has to do with Christmas in the P…

  • Ep 15: Christmas Carol Creatures

    32 min Season 1 Episode 15 9 December 2020

    Today on Bewilderbeasts, Melissa explores two popular Christmas Songs: Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and the 12 Days of Christmas.  Why are the reindeer named “Donder and Blitzen?”; when DID Santa decide to go with reindeer instead of a nice mustang? And, we’…

  • Ep 14: The Little Snot House That Could

    23 min Season 1 Episode 14 2 December 2020

    Today Melissa discusses the rats of the Black Plague who got a bad rap ; the tiniest, but mightiest, snot house of the sea, and a common house pet who is banned from Queensland, Australia.…

  • Ep 13: Sergeant Stubby

    26 min Season 1 Episode 13 25 November 2020

    We’re going to talk about a frisky feline who left her prints ALL over history, a mutt who was promoted to sergeant in WW1 and a snake who sent a man to a hospital hours after the snake was beheaded.…

  • Ep 12: The Parachuting Yorkie Saves The Day!

    20 min Season 1 Episode 12 18 November 2020

    Smoky the 4# dog hero of WW2, a boy who solved the puzzle of the missing Lemur, and a national weather service announcement about falling frozen iguanas!…

  • Ep 11: Why Goats Want To Drink Your Pee

    21 min Season 1 Episode 11 11 November 2020

    Welcome to Bewilderbeasts! Today, we’re going to talk about the sloooooooooooowest two minutes in sports,  why goats got banned from a national park, and how lobsters pee out of their faces.…

  • Ep 10: The Dogs Who Saved A Town At The End Of The World

    30 min Season 1 Episode 10 4 November 2020

    Welcome to Bewilderbeasts! Today, we’re going to talk about Balto and Togo who saved a town from a diphtheria outbreak, a hero rat saving people from unexploded bombs, and some bizarre animal laws around the United States that are still - somehow - on the book…

  • Ep 9: Political Animals Special

    22 min Season 1 Episode 9 28 October 2020

    With 6 days before the 2020 national election in America, Melissa talks about animals in politics, including a berserker bunny who nearly sunk President Jimmy Carter's boat), why the two parties use a donkey and an elephant for representation, and animals who …

  • Ep 8: The Profane Presidential Parrot

    14 min Season 1 Episode 8 21 October 2020

    Today on Bewilderbeasts, Melissa talks about some foul-mouthed parrots who got evicted from a zoo (they won’t be the last) and another parrot whose F Bombs got him kicked out of a President’s Funeral. Let’s go!…

  • Ep 7: The Pigeon Who Saved 194 Men

    11 min Season 1 Episode 7 14 October 2020

    Today on Bewilderbeasts, host Melissa McCue-McGrath introduces a pigeon who saved 194 people in WWI and goats who are fighting wildfires in an unusual way.…

  • Ep 6: The Exploding Whale Fail

    17 min Season 1 Episode 6 7 October 2020

    Today we'll discuss a whale fail that lives in infamy & the first cat to solve a murder (not the last).…

  • Ep 5: A Mathematically Inclined Equine

    22 min Season 1 Episode 5 30 September 2020

    Today on Bewilderbeasts we’re going to talk about an animal who has cubed poop (OW! And, EW!) and we talk about a mathematically inclined equine, and his owner - a former slave turned veterinarian in the 1800s who vowed never to teach animals with a whip.…

  • Ep 4: Getting Loopy On Penguin Poop

    15 min Season 1 Episode 4 23 September 2020

    Today on Bewilderbeasts we’re going to talk about some amazing dogs who are detecting COVID19 & there’s something silly in penguin poop. Let’s go!…

  • Ep 3: Mrs O'Leary's Cow

    14 min Season 1 Episode 3 16 September 2020

    Today on Bewilderbeasts we’re going to talk about Mrs. O'Leary's cow and the Great Chicago Fire. OMG CROCODILES ARE FASTER THAN YOU EVER IMAGINED. Let’s go.…

  • Ep 2: Get Naked for Polar Bears

    10 min Season 1 Episode 2 14 September 2020

    On today's episode of Bewilderbeasts we’re going to explore dogs who find whale poop FOR SCIENCE & why you might want need to strip off your clothes for polar bears.…

  • Ep 1: These Bees are the Bomb!

    15 min Season 1 Episode 1 13 September 2020

    On this first episode of BewilderBeasts we explore why farmers are painting eyeballs on cow butts, and we do a deep dive on honeybees who are trained to find buried land mines in Croatia. Let’s go!…

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