A show about relationships with the land
There are many ways to listen to the show: Listen live on CFRU 93.3 fm broadcasting from the University of Guelph Mondays at 6pm EST or listen to the podcast via Spotify, Apple, or just follow the rss feed.
Ep. 256 : Apple Scat of Coyotes and Red Fox
In the later part of the Summer, I was walking with my friend and colleague Tamara when we came across some scat with Apples in it. I can’t remember what brought it up but she mentioned that she has seen more scats composed mostly of Apple left by Coyotes rather than by Red Fox. This got me wondering.. who eats more Apples, Coyotes or Red Foxes? This question began a weird hook in my mind, and everytime I noticed Apples, Apple based scat, Coyote scat or Red Fox scat, the question would come to mind.
I decided I would go for a walk and try and measure a ton of scats, look for evidence one way or another and see if I could get any closer to an answer. Ended up making the show about this question.
Ep. 252 : Mussel Midden Mystery
While teaching up at the Lodge at Pine Cove this past weekend we came across lots of tracks and sign. But there was one bit of sign that was really annoying me… something I wasn’t sure about. There were mussel shells laying about all along the rivers edge. Along the beach, the rocky cove, and all across the depths of the French River. They had all been opened, most split at the hinge, some cracked, many fragile and crumbling apart when put a bit of pressure on them. Someone had been feeding on these mussels for quite a few years it seemed, and I wanted to, maybe even needed to, figure this mussel mystery out.
Ep. 248 : Fate of a three-legged Coyote with Joey Hinton
While looking into possible Red Wolf genetics found in a Coastal Louisiana Coyote populations, biologist Dr. Joseph Hinton set a trap. Sadly, when a Coyote, later named LA25M was caught in this trap, his leg was irreversibly damaged. Joe decided to bring this Coyote to a vet and get the leg amputated, an unusual procedure when working with study animals, but possibly better than euthanizing the canid. Shortly after the surgery, the LA25M was released with a radio collar and monitored to determine his use of territories. Turns out this Coyote did quite well, regardless of the amputation.
Ep. 234 : Courting Behaviours of the Eastern Coyote
It’s that time of year again, when the animals are getting out and getting down. While driving home the other day I drove past a forest where I had once trailed a part of courting Coyotes and realized that now is the time we will be seeing these courting behaviours. I had written about them before, but it was worth revisiting as it will likely be coming up on the land, and in my classes.
Ep. 233 : On the Fisher Trail
Once again I have been inspired by the Fisher to dig a little deeper into their ecologies, behaviours and the signs they leave behind. There is always so much to know that another show about them, relating another story of following the Fisher trail seemed worthwhile.
Ep. 211 : Fisher Researcher Dr. Scott LaPoint
Recently while tracking a Fisher in Algonquin Park we encountered a large galloping trail that had a long stride length of 106 cm (41¾ in). This was about 28 cm (10 in) longer than what is recorded in Mark Elbroch's “Mammal Tracks and Sign” (Stackpole, 2019). When I finished measuring, I was discussing this extraordinarily long stride with some colleagues. They told me about a National Geographic article, based on a paper about increasing body sizes and range expansion of Fishers in the Northeast. I was immediately interested. When I got home from Algonquin, I looked the paper up. I read the abstract but I had to find out more so I wrote to the author, Dr. Scott LaPoint, to see if he could help answer my questions and be game for an interview. He was in.
Ep. 196 : Hair Scale Identification Guide to Terrestrial Mammalian Carnivores of Canada with Justin Kestler
Justin Kestler and I got to talk about his new book The Hair Scale Identification Guide to Terrestrial Mammalian Carnivores of Canada. This concise book is a quick guide to interpreting the origin of hairs based on the morphology of scales along the cuticle (outer side) of the hair. It’s not like a fingerprint per se, which attempts to identify an individual human, but instead may help to identify a species. This is because the scale structure is different across species but not so much individuals of that species. Make sense?
We talked about the process of documenting the hair scales, acquiring the hairs, and a bit about ecological traits which might be indicated through the characteristics of the hairs. It was really fun to nerd out about the finer details of hairs. The book, and the interview have really pushed me to keep a hair journal and begin looking for a microscope. Maybe in the future…
Ep. 186 : Squirrel Life Project with Elizabeth Porter
Birdwatching is obviously a thing as birds are everywhere, loud, demonstrate interesting behaviours, and they are often brightly coloured. Squirrels too are everywhere, loud, and demonstrate interesting behaviours. They aren’t brightly coloured, but their brindled, black, red, brown, grey, or even white in the case of some albino individuals at Trinity Bellwoods downtown Toronto, are still a joy to observe. So why not take up Squirrelwatching?
Elizabeth Porter is the project coordinator for the Squirrel Life project which is developing an app to collect community sourced observations of Squirrels and their varied, interesting and often comical behaviour and then enables future researchers to access the shared collected data for their research. It’s a project with many aims including getting folks outside to observe wild life close to home while encouraging a closer look at varied Squirrel behviours which are happening all around, all the time. Along the way, Elizabeth is looking at how to communicate scientific research and findings with broad diverse communities. A great goal.
Ep. 183 : Follow The Food
Knowing the plants who are in relationship with the animals we track can help us find the animals we want to learn about. They can point in the direction of where the animals are going or where they will be going. They can show us if we are in the right environment or if we need to keep looking.
This episode is pretty much a story of a recent afternoon spent tracking in the Lake of Bays region, just South West of Algonquin Park, where we spent a few hours following the food and then finding the animal.
Ep. 182 : Deer Mouse and Song Sparrow
I have been tracking Deer Mice a lot lately, and trying to learn a little bit more about them through their tracks and all the questions that come up. What are they eating right now? How can I tell them apart from Voles and Shrews? How many live together in the Winter? Who ate this one’s brains? You know, the usual. I have also been looking at bird tracks a bunch, especially in this past week, when I noticed a Song Sparrow feeding on the withered stalk of an uncertain forb on the side of a new gravel road near where I work. It was fun to go and see the work the Song Sparrow had done, and wonder at all the debris that remained. Who knew there’d be so much to look at and wonder about?
Ep. 179 : Northern River Otter
A friend told me that someone in their small village had spotted a Northern River Otter (Lontra canadensis) in the same river the passes through the city where I live. This is the closest sighting of a River Otter to my neck of the woods I have ever heard of. I was so excited that I ran to my desk where I had all of my mammal books out anyways, and flipped to the River Otter entries and started learning.
Ep. 164 : Cultural histories of Raccoons with Daniel Heath Justice
Who would have thought that a small woodland creature would have made such an impact on the land, hearts, minds, and cultures of those who have encountered them.
Author, professor and animal nerd Daniel Heath Justice helps us navigate the wild cultural impacts and impressions of Raccoons. Raccoons are imprinted on the imaginary as “category-defying, rule-breaking and boundary-breaching beings”. They are models for both lean, resilient, images of the noble wild as well as pestilent dumpster dwelling “trash pandas”. Queer creatures indeed.
Ep. 155 : Lisa Walsh and Contemporary Range Expansion of the Virginia Opossum
The Virginia Opossum is of the most amazing mammals on the continent. These marsupials are slowly but surely expanding their range northwards, despite winters which can be so hard on the Opossum that they can freeze, or starve to death. Why are they expanding their range? Are they adapting beyond their traditional climate niche?
For this show we talk to Dr. Lisa Walsh, a mammalogist and biology educator about the wonderful natural history of the Virginia Opossum, how anthropogenic changes to the landscape are influencing their behaviours, and of her research about the processes of their ongoing range expansion.
Ep. 147 : Fox and Rabbit predator-prey interactions with wildlife behavioral ecologists Jeremy Pustilnik and Paul Curtis
For this interview I get to talk with Jeremy Pustilnik and Paul Curtis about a recently published paper from the journal “Urban Ecosystems” on the interactions of Eastern Cottontail Rabbits (Syvilagus floridanus) and Red Foxes (Vulpes vulpes) around the use of Groundhog (Marmota monax) burrows and if the scent of Red Fox urine would dissuade the Cottontails from using the burrows.
It was a lot of fun to get to dig in with these two biologists on their research, their experience and their passion for the work.
Ep. 146 : Sophie Mazowita of Tracking Connections
The first show of 2021 is a great one. My guest is Sophie Mazowita, naturalist, educator, wildlife guide, tracker, storyteller and much more. We talk about her journey as a naturalist and a tracker, how she gets off the trail and gets into the wilder world around her.
When I talk to folks about creating cultures of connection with the land, putting in the time, effort and passion into the work of learning ourselves and teaching others, Sophie is right on that. She has been working hard, as evidenced all over the internet with her videos, her career as a naturalist and educator, and her ongoing work getting folks on board with paying attention to the wilder world around them.
SpaceRogue and CyberSquirrel1 (from the archives)
This is an older interview with cybersquirrel1.com creator SpaceRogue on why we need not worry about the threats of nationalistic warlike cyber attacks on the power grid on the continent, but instead we must be more concerned about THE SQUIRRELS!!! (sort of..)
Squirrels, Birds, Snakes, Raccoons have caused 2,123 power outages around the world since 1987, and possibly more. SpaceRogue has been collecting, documenting, and sharing details of these mischievous animal attacks against the power grids. Tune in to hear about how the power infrastructure works in North America and how the wilderfauna are fighting back against “the grid”!
Originally aired April 17, 2017.
Ep. 143 : Lesley Sampson and Lauren Van Patter on Co-existing With Urban Coyotes
Highly adaptive, intelligent, “wily”, and resilient, Coyote is not going to stop just because our human made landscapes get in the way. In fact, Coyotes make the way for themselves within our constructed spaces, finding edges and cracks and turning them into home.
But how do we co-exist with an animal that so many have feared, hunted and sought to destroy for so long? How can we share the urban environment with a predator? When animals re-occupy the urban in novel ways, or ways that humans didn’t intend, how do we make space for that?
Lesley Sampson of Coyote Watch Canada, and animal geographer Lauren Van Patter share some of their experiences with Coyotes in urban environments, and how they are looking to help communities learn how to coexist with these wonderful animals.
Other platforms where you can listen to the show :
As well as : Breaker : Overcast : Pocket casts : RadioPublic