On this episode, we go way back in time to learn about the velociraptor! If your knowledge about the velociraptor comes from the movie Jurassic Park (like Jaguar) then you’ll be surprised to know that most of what you think is true is false! The velociraptor was only about the size of the turkey, and its hunting game was way different than portrayed. In this episode, you’ll learn more about its dangerous claws, a prehistoric battle, and lots more. We mentioned two videos in the episode. They are...
Dec 01, 2019•18 min
You can’t get much spookier than this spider, the largest of all spiders. It’s legs alone get be up to a foot long, and it’s so hairy and creepy and…. I need to stop. On this episode, you’ll learn about this tarantula’s defense mechanisms—including its ability to spew barbed hairs at its enemies, the creepy thing female spiders do to their would-be mates, and lots more. We always love to hear from you! You can reach us at [email protected] or tweet us at @coolanimalspod. If you’re ...
Oct 31, 2019•16 min
In this episode, we talk about new discoveries about orcas (aka killer whales), learn more about how smart they are (learning words!), and Jaguar gets a little jealous. We’ve got lots of links in this one: Here’s the link to Orca v. Great White Shark: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/orca-versus-great-white-shark/id1334467437?i=1000423748015 Here’s the link to the salmon episode: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/salmon/id1334467437?i=1000417338721 Here’s a link to the granola bar recip...
Oct 19, 2019•24 min
The Cool Facts About Animals crew got the opportunity to head to Oregon’s science museum (OMSI) to check out the new exhibit, Exquisite Creatures, and interview the artist behind the exhibit, Christopher Marley. Marley is an Oregon artist who uses animals and insects to create amazing pieces of art. In this episode you’ll learn why it’s so important to go out and see nature in real life, what kinds of looks you get when you take your pet monitor lizard for a walk, and how you can help to protect...
Oct 05, 2019•13 min
It's a whale! It's a shark! It's not a whale at all, it's the biggest fish in the sea! It's a whale shark! On this episode we get way too silly talking about filter feeding, the differences between whales and sharks, and just how big these sharks are. (Hint: super big.) Thanks to Miles for the suggestion, along with previous suggesters Theo and Nadia. And many thanks to Lilli and Hazel, two of our newest Patreon sponsors! If you would like to help support us take a road trip to visit in person w...
Sep 16, 2019•17 min
Just for fun this long weekend, we're doing filling in the blank word games with Jaguar and Corduroy! We'll be back with more cool animal facts in a week or so - stay tuned! Thanks so much to Miles and Toby, our Patreon supporters! If you're interested in supporting us financially, you can check out our Patreon page here: https://www.patreon.com/coolfactsaboutanimals
Sep 01, 2019•11 min
Another special summer episode, this time featuring Tristan and Quinn. Besides being Sea Pig experts, they are also cousins to Grady, Clara, and Teddy. We learn lots of cool facts about this very strange looking sea creature. If you want to guess what they might look like (no peeking!) send us a picture at [email protected], or tweet us at coolanimalspod. If you already know what they look like, send us another picture instead. We will send you a bookmark! We will be getting back t...
Aug 27, 2019•13 min
A long, long time ago we got a request from James—who was 5 at the time—to do an episode about tarantula hawk wasps. When we started researching the insect, we kept coming across the name Dr. Justin Schmidt. Grady had already heard of him—you may have too. He invented what’s called the Schmidt Sting Pain Index. The index measures just what it sounds like it would—how painful different insects’ stings are to humans. Dr. Schmidt is also the author of a book called The Sting of the Wild, which we r...
Aug 04, 2019•27 min
In honor of the 50th anniversary of the landing on the moon, we are celebrating a moon-themed animal--the Luna Moth! Learn about its fierce defense tactics as a caterpillar, the one important thing its missing as an adult, and a lot of corny moth jokes. Want to support Jaguar's mantis shrimp habit? Er, rather, our trip to Eastern Oregon to learn about some other cool animals from the experts? You can support us on our Patreon page! https://www.patreon.com/coolfactsaboutanimals To answer our Crea...
Jul 18, 2019•12 min
On this episode, we travel all the way to… Grady’s elementary school to do a “versus” episode. This past school year, Grady’s third-grade class did a unit on Oregon bird, where each kid in the class chose a different Oregon bird to study. We spoke to nine of these kids to bring you this versus episode! Which type of bird would win in a fashion contest? Which type of bird would win a hotdog eating contest? And which bird reigns superior! Listen to the episode to find out. Many thanks to the kids ...
Jul 04, 2019•12 min
This episode was originally part of the Kids Listen sampler, which you can also find on our feed. But to celebrate the 4th, we are bringing you 5 minutes packed with facts about the United States' national bird. Enjoy!
Jul 04, 2019•6 min
Happy Summer! On this episode, we are talking about a sunny-colored frog, which happens to be one of the most toxic animals in the world – the golden poison dart frog. We discuss the difference between venomous and toxic, how many humans one of these tiny frogs can kill with one touch, and their surprisingly social nature. Plus: can you guess which sound comes from a poison dart frog? (Jaguar does a pretty good imitation!) If you’re interested in getting a pound of trash out of the ocean, and ge...
Jun 23, 2019•20 min
It’s our first ever listener episode! We learn from you listeners lots of cool facts about animals, including king cobras, goats, sand cats, and more—plus answer some questions about frogs and how we decide which animal we choose to talk about. Thanks to our listeners who submitted their audio clips: Nadia, Demaris, Quinn, Grace, Lexi, Ginny, Oliver, Cece, Trace, Aryn, Lilli and Xia. We loved getting to hear and share your voices! We hope we didn’t miss anyone who submitted their fact/question. ...
May 31, 2019•18 min
Cool Facts About Animals has teamed up with a bunch of other kids’ podcasts to bring you an hour of high-quality kids audio programming – just in time for the long weekend, or to listen to throughout the summer. All of the shows involved are part of the grassroots kids’ audio advocacy group Kids Listen, and all the shows are available on the Kids Listen App . You’ll hear 5 minutes from 10 different podcasts, including ours, but also some of our personal other go-to listens like Circle Round, Noo...
May 22, 2019•56 min
The bomber worm was only discovered about 10 years ago, but it’s not rare. This deep, deep underwater creature has one of the coolest defense mechanisms we've seen yet: releasing bioluminescent bombs to deter predators. We also talk about two other newly-discovered underwater creature: the ruby sea dragon and hoodwinker sunfish. If you’re interested in becoming a Patreon sponsor, and help to fund us to meet with scientists in person to bring you even more cool facts, head on over to our Patreon ...
May 12, 2019•19 min
Happy Earth Day, listeners! On this special episode we talk about four cool animals that have been impacted by humans and climate change: the dodo bird, Tasmanian tiger, white lemuroid possum, and Fernandina giant tortoise. Through hunting, climate change, introduction of non-native species, and more, these animals have been brought to the brink of extinction, and sometimes even have gone extinct. We end this episode with practical ways that you can make a difference for animals and for our envi...
Apr 21, 2019•19 min
It’s Teddy’s favorite animal, the Thorny Devil! Join us as we learn all about this six-inch mountain dragon. It’s got more defense mechanisms than any other animal we’ve studied (including a fake head – cool!) and has a very interesting way of drinking (foot water anyone?). You can also check out our first ever Cool Facts About Animals video, explaining how capillary action works. And yes it has to do with Thorny Devils. It's on our newly-minted YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/VcmaiQt6zC4 Than...
Apr 17, 2019•24 min
We looked high and low for the information we needed to research our episode on unicorns. But try as we might, we could not find even basic facts like what unicorns eat, what the horn is for, and what their favorite jokes are. Luckily, Professor Abacus P. Grumbler, resident What If World unicorn expert, was able to answer all our questions. Special thanks to Prof. Abacus and Mr. Eric for this episode! And special thanks to Xia for the request. And of course, as always, thanks to Andrew of Ear Sn...
Apr 01, 2019•27 min
Clara’s class has spoken! This week’s episode is all about the Little Blue Penguin (aka Fairy Penguin). This adorable little dude weighs in at just about two pounds, and stands only about a foot, but it packs a lot of cool stuff into that small size. In this episode, we talk about molting, fledging, diving, vocalization, and lots more. To hear the backstory on how we chose this episode, check out the prior episode: “And the Winner Is,” available here: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/and-the-...
Mar 28, 2019•21 min
Last week, CFAA went on the road to Clara's 1st grade classroom. Her class has been studying penguins for the past month -- and wow, did they know a lot about them! We asked the students to break into groups for each of the five penguins they studied: rockhopper, little blue, king, chinstrap, and gentoo, and tell us the coolest things about each kind of penguin they could find. Then we all voted on the penguin they most wanted to learn about. Here are the results, which will be featured as our n...
Mar 15, 2019•10 min
Ever wonder what makes Jaguar... well Jaguar? We dive deep into the mind behind the feline in this interview. We cover favorite foods, vacation spots, Thanksgiving carols (what?) and more in this bonus episode. This is a bonus episode put out for our Patreon subscribers. We are sharing it on our regular feed with all our listeners so you can get a taste of some of the bonus footage you can get at the $5 level of support. Thanks to our existing Patreon supporters, and thanks to those considering ...
Mar 02, 2019•5 min
In this episode, we speak to squirrel expert Amanda Robin, a PhD student at UCLA. She taught us about the fascinating world of squirrels, including how they decide to store or eat their nuts, what chunking is, and other cool facts about squirrels. THEN we have a "who would win" battle: squirrel v. rattlesnake. Think it's hands-down rattlesnake? Think again. Thanks as always to Ear Snacks for our theme music. Send your creature quiz answers to us at [email protected] or tweet us at ...
Feb 27, 2019•26 min
It's our most requested episode ever AND our most-answered riddle ever! You guessed it - it's the platypus. This is one seriously cool animals you guys. I mean, how many venomous, egg-laying mammals do you know? Not many, right? We dive into what makes platypuses so usual, discuss their super strange chromosomes, and talk about a recent discovery of a stegosaurs-platypus. Yup, no typos. Special thanks to Samson and Dorothy, long-time listeners with an impressive amount of platypus knowledge! Als...
Feb 09, 2019•20 min
On this episode we are exploring the deadly but adorable blue-ringed octopus. This little guy is only the size of a golf ball, but has enough venom to kill 26 grown men in its saliva. We talk about symbiotic relationships, what its venom does, and, oh, zombie powder. So many thanks to David, our newest Patreon sponsor! He’s using his own pocket money to help support our show. You can support our show too! For more details, visit https://www.patreon.com/coolfactsaboutanimals We love to hear from ...
Jan 27, 2019•19 min
It's our one-year anniversary! We are celebrating with an episode about... porcupines! Okay, it has nothing to do with our anniversary, but still... porcupines! For this episode, we had a chance to go to the Oregon Zoo and meet with Bree Winchell, program animal staff and overall porcupine expert. Check out our pics of the animal encounter on our Twitter page ( www.twitter.com/coolanimalspod ) If you'd like to hear more interviews with experts, please consider supporting us on our Patreon page (...
Jan 12, 2019•22 min
Ahoy, CFA listeners! We took a road trip to the Oregon Coast to meet with Luke Parsons, an interpretive ranger with Oregon State Parks and see the great gray whale migration. Over 20,000 of these school-bus sized whales pass by the Oregon coast around this time of year. We even got to see one! And we learned lots of cool stuff about them. Want to hear more cool interviews? Support us on Patreon! We have lots of cool perks for supporting us, including shout-outs, outtakes access, and more. Not ab...
Jan 01, 2019•14 min
How cool would it be to get a chance to bring a species back from the brink of extinction? Travis Koons of the Oregon Zoo tells us all about it in this bonus interview episode. We were honored to have been asked to join the crew of the upcoming Oregon Wild podcast for this episode. We will let you know when their first episode launches. We cannot wait. Thanks again to Oregon Wild, the Oregon Zoo, and Andrew of Ear Snacks for our theme music!
Dec 16, 2018•18 min
This bird isn't cool just because its wingspan rivals the length of a grizzly bar on its hind paws. Nope, this bird battled its way back from the brink of extinction - just 22 in the wild to now close to 500 in the wild and in captivity. We talk about what makes this bird so awesome, and the rescue efforts behind it, in this episode. Be sure to also check out our episode right next to this in your feed where we interview Travis Koons of the Oregon Zoo. THANK YOU to Oregon Wild for bringing us al...
Dec 16, 2018•24 min
We were so honored to get a chance to Skype with Dr. Bruce Mate of Oregon State University's Marine Mammal Institute. He is the expert on marine mammals, including blue whales. We learned so much from him, and had such a good time talking about all things whales - from his ground-breaking research to touching whale poop. (Yes, we go there.) Be sure to listen to this episode along with our stand-alone episode on blue whales. Thanks to Andrew or Ear Snacks for our theme music!...
Dec 04, 2018•17 min
This episode is part of a double episode. Be sure to check out our interview with Dr. Bruce Mate of Oregon State University's Marine Mammal Institute too! In this episode, we dive into the big world of blue whales. Not only are they the biggest animal to have ever lived - like EVER - there are so many other cool things about them. We discuss their migration, sounds, diet, and even ear wax. We also add some of our conversation with Dr. Mate into this episode. It's one of our favorites so far - gi...
Dec 04, 2018•17 min
