Cool Animal News to Start 2022!

fan favorite, our producer and podcast extraordinary Joe Well Monique. Welcome, Hi Katie, thanks for having me back. I'm so excited to hear what stories you have for me today. Yeah. Yeah, I thought I would just, you know, start off two by doing some fun, fun news stories that are good and good news. And also I think makes me feel like two is a fresh start to hopefully maybe hoping.

I feel like maybe I have reached the stage of pandemic where I'm just very contented to still be here, and um, you know, I think good news is perfect. Yeah I really need it. We really just need some positive news and we'll see what happens. I no longer can hold expectations. Three years in a row. I've been like it's almost over. Nope, right back into the pot I went. I make I make no, I make no guarantees that is going to be the year. But it's a year. So you know, well, I think the most

of it. We've still gotta live. I feel it, that's right. Uh. And so I feel like the energy that I want to bring to is giant bugs. Um joel, Okay, that's an interesting good newsplace. Yeah. Well, giant extinct bugs, which maybe, okay leave to some people, may be disappointing to others. But the fossil of a giant millipede called Arthur Pleura was discovered and it was confirmed it was the largest terrestrial invertebrate known in history, so the biggest bug, the

biggest bug. So they lived in both North America and Europe about three hundred million years ago. And the new fossil was found on a beach encased in sandstone in Northumberland, England. So, uh, the fossil, it's all was actually discovered back in ten but the results of the geological study was just recently published, which, uh, you know, because science actually takes a little bit of time, I guess, you know, you got to actually do the research and the work and find out that you can't

just be saying stuff. Yeah. I mean, I just imagine someone with like a little dust dust pan going up to this fossil, dusting it off, getting out a little measuring tape, and then going m m m m. Yeah, checks out, big bug. It's a big bug. It's a big bug, and we're done. Science completed. It's probably a little more complicated than that, but so so let's talk about this big bug. You know what a millipede looks like, right, Joel.

It's got a million lets not really, but yeah, kind of, but that's what the Latin I think, uh kind of thing is the millipede million feet kind of thing? But yeah, not or a thousand feet but it's not. It is not a thousand feet, um, but it is a lot and they're segmented and sort of they look like sort of the insect version of a train with a lot of little train cars, I guess is how I imagined I see it. So, yeah, a millipede like a centipede,

but friendlier, I think. But imagine one of those millipedes but the size of a car. H no, thank you? Uh yeah, no, no, just like you know, think about it. I think about you know, your car, But it's it's a big old bug with a bunch of a bunch of different little segments. Maybe each one of them horror movies are made. What if each one has a little saddle on it, right, and you and your entire crew can like get on this millipede. Um, I would make

it like the busy world of Richard scary. So it's just an apple and then the millipede, I guess, and then it's just transportation. And okay, maybe what can I do to get you on one of these bad boys today? Throw in throwing a bunch of little little socks for it, a little little running shoes so it goes super fast. I want to say less feet, but then I feel like that would not um be good for it. I feel it would be upset that they didn't have as

many feet. Yeah, I think it needs those feet, right, because it's got this kind of undulating motion where it's almost like it moves in kind of these waves of feet stomping. Oh so cruised, but you know, um so Uh.

The fossil found was actually just a fragment of a larger creature but because they know how many segments that arthur Plura had, paleobiologists were able to put together an approximate total size of the specimen, which was eight point five ft or two point six meters long, about two ft or fifty five wide, and wade a hundred and ten pounds or fifty ms, so you know respectable, wow, hundreds or no fifty and a hundred and ten pounds okay, okay, okay, okay.

The hundred and ten pounds things means I could take it in a fight and that's a little more helpful, or pick it up. And if that's an option. At its size, it probably lacked predators, you know. I don't blame the predators for not wanting anything to do with that thing. Uh. Their diet is unknown, but based on its size, it was estimated it probably ate a variety of vegetation seeds and fruit to get enough nutritions. So

probably I like that it wasn't hunting animals. You know, sometimes creatures when we go back into its prehistoric age and they're larger, you know, maybe they're more carnivorous. Uh, And I don't like that. I don't I don't need bugs to eat You don't need a giant the world's biggest bug to have the world's biggest appetite for human flesh. No. No, It's like when I found out about the largest bird that ever lived and how it could just scoop up

a fully grown man and disappear into the night. Uncomfortable. Uncomfortable with those statistics. The terror bird or the terror bird was the terrestrial one, and then there was the argent Avis magnificence, which was the real big flying bird. Uh. Yeah, we're actually going to talk about birds in relation to this thing just a little bit in terms of like why it went extinct if it had no predators. It was this real big bug seemed like it had a good plan. And one reason is the change in oxygen

levels uh in the Earth's history. So uh, during the Carboniferous period, which was about three million years ago, when these giant bugs roamed the Earth, the oxygen levels were way higher. There was a higher concentration of oxygen in the atmosphere. Uh. And the reason this was important for large bugs is based on how insects breathe, So humans and mammals and birds and reptiles breathe through like a single trachea, and we have lungs and we suck in

oxygen that way. But adult terrestrial insects actually taken oxygen through many holes, which are called sphericles. So these are what, Yeah, these are small holes and tubes all over their bodies that distribute oxygen to their tissues. I had no clue. Yeah, they're kind of kind of like Swiss cheese when you

think about it, but little tiny, tiny holes. And the holes can't actually be too big because if they're too big, then you just got like a doughnut and not an insect, and that's not structurally stable, uh, which actually creates a problem the bigger the insect is because if you want to get oxygen to all the tissue in the big insect, you need a longer holes, uh and wider holes. So if they're too wide, then the insect is no longer

structurally stable. Too many holes. So what you need is a higher concentration of oxygen so that the tubes and spiricles can remain narrow, taking in less air but still getting enough oxygen distributed to its tissues. So that is why there used to be giant dragonflies and giant millipedes and now no longer. But there's actually a couple other factors that make it a little bit of a more

complete picture. In one is that it may have actually been necessary for the bugs to be this big because the oxygen was so high, including in the water that aquatic larva, like some insects like dragonflies, they actually start out in the water as these like aquatic uh little babies, and then they metamorphosized into adults that leave the water.

And so adult insects can actually close their spiricles in order to regulate how much oxygen they're taking in, but the larva cannot, so they can actually get too much oxygen oxygen toxicity. There's too high of a concentration in the water and they're too small. So more oxygen in the water favored larger larva so they could survive live, and larger larva means larger adults. And then there you go,

got big bugs. Wow. I didn't know, like I realized that, you know, the amount of oxygen in the air had like fluctuated over time, but it didn't click like how large the impact would have been on the features alive. Then that is fascinating. Are we essentially saying like they choked out, like when we were talking about, um, the fact that they have well, I mean, like listen, there was a lot. Now there's less. If there's less oxygen, for me, I'm essentially suffocating and dying. Is that what's

happening to them? I mean very slowly, I think, and they're they're right right, not immediately, not immediately, So it would actually and so you'd see really more these selective pressures to get smaller. So instead of these big bugs suddenly collapsing, you know, they would the bigger ones would not fare as well as the slightly smaller ones, and so on and so forth. Um. Also birds, Uh you

mentioned birds earlier. The presence of birds may have and other tetrapods are not other tetrapods, but tetrapods in general may have had a big impact on these big bugs because the birds, first of all, could potentially catch bugs that were like medium sized but not super maneuverable. And then for the larger ones, birds may have outcompeted the

carnivorous bugs. And uh yeah, just generally birds were great and did a lot better than these big bugs, and the big the bugs had to kind of both with the combination of the presence of birds, tetrapods and the lower oxygen were just like, fine, we'll get tiny whatever. Man, I'm trying to imagine an ultra universe where the birds didn't win and now we just have like giant cockroaches. Now, yeah,

I think you birds really appreciate you winning. You're much easier to look at, even though sometimes you still terrify me. This is definitely take bird supremacy. This is part of my long term plan of indoctrinating Joel to actually like birds because I don't. It's working for those of you who don't remember Joel doesn't like birds, which, uh, I cannot. I simply can't accept that. You know, I generally, I generally try to keep an open mind about people who

don't love the animals that I love. You know. It's like, oh, you don't like naked mole routes. Yeah, they kind of look a little, you know, a little bit wrinkly and strange. But you know, birds, you gotta love them, and I won't accept that. I simply won't. I'm coming around, slowly but surely starting to see because listen, if they stopped giant bugs from existing, then really we could probably be friends now at least I have a mutual respect for them.

I'm really happy to hear that, because I actually have sent um a bunch of a bunch of ostriches to your house for you to, you know, have fun with. Oh no, uh, you know what lions the dog she can play with the ostriches. Do you have a really good time? She likes chasing other animals. Um. But also she's a big soft pie. You know, she's uh pushing sixty pounds. I saw a ten pound dog knocker on her behind. Uh. It was ridiculous and hilarious. I will say inside, I don't need birds taller than me coming

at That seems unplused. Fair enough. So we've talked about giant bugs that I personally want to befriend. Joel is maybe um more okay with just remaining distant acquaintances acquaintances with these giant bugs. But I have some news stories about animal friendships that I think you will love. And they are truly adorable and wonderful. And no, and this isn't a trick. It's not a trick. They are adorable and adorable by normal people standards, not by Katie standards. Uh.

Because I'm like velvet worm. I love you, be my friend. Um. But yeah, so I found these stories actually from the Smithsonian Channels Amazing Animal Friends show, which, uh it's it sounds it sounds like what it is, it's about friends. But the Twala Trust Animal Sanctuary in Zimbabwe hosts a number of animal rescues, including cats, dogs, owls, monkeys and more. Uh yes, every animal, especially these ones. And one such monkey is named Horace, and he is an orphaned vervet

monkey with one arm and a determination to make friends. All. So, a little bit about vervet monkeys. These are adorable little dudes with short black fur on their faces, long fluffy, gray, white and tan fur on their bodies. Uh. They are highly social. They live in troops and often maintain long relationships with siblings, and they like to groom each other to establish social bonds, to establish like a friendship. Yeah, so they're very social. And poor Horace found himself at

this rescue without a troop of vervet monkeys. Um right, exactly so, even though these sanctuary did save him, he's all alone here, but that did not stop him from being determined to create new family. So uh, the dogs at the sanctuary are not your typical dogs because they were x there ex guard dogs, so they're not as well socialized with humans or other animals. Typically very aggressive, so when little Horace came up to their enclosure, they

reacted with aggression, barking at him. Uh, you know, not not having any of it. But he was undeterred, and being very smart, he looked at the situation and started to strategize. He saw that there was this one old dog kind of lying by herself. She seemed calmer. Her name is Isabelle, and he went up to her and she let him start to touch her and to groom her. So he would pick off the fleas and ticks on her coat, and she actually found she quite enjoyed it.

So ah, he started doing that. Isabelle let him do that. She was when you see the video of this, she's very pleased with the situation. And so these other dogs were watching and started to notice that, hey, that actually looks pretty good. So then this dogs getting spa treatments. I would like one, yeah, yeah, exactly. So Horace was then able to move on to other dogs. One of the dogs is just named Computer, which I do like.

So Computer lit Horace groom him next and then uh that that sold the rest of the dogs on Horace, and they started to line up for Horace's magical gentle grooming fingers uh and uh, which Horace was just so pleased with because now he had his own little troop of dogs who would cuddle with him and play with him. And yeah, they've just completely accepted Horace as a member of their pack. And it's the most wonderful and most

adorable thing I've ever seen in my entire life. I love that Horace, basically as Edward scissorhands uh came in, looked a little different than the dogs. They were unsure about this interesting creature. But then he's making them feel fabulous and loved and like valued, and they were like getting self love because they were feeling better. And now

they're all besties. That's so sweet. It's truly amazing, And I think it's both a testament to the intelligence of this vervet monkey Horace, because he used his observational skills to sense like who who could I kind of make a good opening with, like who would be the most receptive And apparently, according to some of the caretakers at this sanctuary, he pays a lot of attention to the dog's body language and will be very gentle with some

dogs that are more afraid of being touched. And I find that really interesting because obviously humans and dogs have this really long history and to see a vervet monkey whom we're not that closely related to, they're they're much further back on the evolutionary tree than humans. Be able to develop this strategy to basically get along with these dogs is really interesting to me. It's wild. Wild dogs

can be friends with everybody. They're really that girl. Um, they're like here, tiger play with this dog and then they do and their buddy and you can also be friends with Like that is incredible, and it's so it's always interesting watching uh monkeys like work with tools and stuff.

You're like, wow, I'm really seeing the thinking process. Like I don't know if you saw that video of the orangutan driving his golf cart around or her golf cart around the soop and she's like lane switching, yeah, with the casual arm tossed back behind the head. Yes, yeah, yes, it's like it really like not even humanizes, but really asked you to consider like the personalities of each individual animal and their style and how they learn and yeah,

it's wild. Yeah. And there's also the orangutans who will steal soap and then scrub up, scrub up with the soap, rub it all over their arms, and then they lick it off, which I think they like the flavor of it. I'm not exactly sure what's going on. They probably like the sensation, the fun soapy sensation, and then they like the flavor of the soap. So real freaks, but very cool. Doesn't love cilantro and a clean body? Okay, I get it. Our a does soap tastes like cilantro to you? It does.

I actually like the taste of cilantro. But I feel like if it's tasting like soap to so many people, perhaps that's what the orangutans are looking for. Yeah, you know, look, maybe just try next time shave a little bit soap on your pasta dish. Don't do that. It's not a recommendation for my heart. No, really speaking, don't do that. But if you have done that in the past, let me know what it was like. Probably bad, Probably tasted bad. Don't eat soap. It's not good for you unless you're

an orangutan. And then I can't tell you what to do, and also you can't sue me, so you know, here we are oh so funny. So, speaking of dogs being friends with everyone, as you said, Joel, another Zimbabwe animal rehab center has a friendship between a couple of rescued puppy mill Dalmatians and an orphan zebra. Wait what Yeah, two Dalmatians and a baby zebra together, uh, in total

total joy. It's one of those things that seems like not even a Disney movie, like a DreamWorks movie, not even a DreamWorks movie, like one of those movies that are designed to trick like old people into getting their grandchildren something that like is similar to a New Pixar movie. But like, yeah, hey, dalmatians make a friend with a zebra because they're both black and white. But yeah, I feel like, nobody tell Cruella she's gonna be like stripes

and dots. Here we come. They come packaged together, wonderful, very very efficient. Yeah. Uh so at this rescue there are these two Dalmatians now adults, but they were rescued as puppies from a puppy mill, which is a real bad situation. Uh. Selective breeding of Dalmatians for that iconic spotted coat has resulted in a number of genetic conditions, such as hearing loss and also painful urinary stones. Yeah.

This seems to happen pretty frequently with breeding, where you'll have a dog breed that is trendy or people are trying to select for certain traits based on aesthetics or something really superficial, and then you get these, you know, often painful or unhealthy characteristics that you know just like, what's what's the point, what's the purpose of doing that? They're they're sweet dogs, like yeah, like I my dog

is um, she's a pit bully mix. Um. But like we've seen a lot because we're looking at adopting another one maybe and yeah, seeing what people have done to like the bulldogs with their their hip display asia and their snouts are so compressed and they can't breathe, and it's like this is not living, this is not pleasant. Their jaws and teeth are all askew. It's like, why we didn't need to do this. There's such a fun, lovable,

they've always been adorable breed, Like yeah, it's really devastating. Yeah, yeah, I feel like my feelings on dogs is like there They've been our best buds for like nearly a hundred thousand years. I don't understand why we need to make them look a certain way. I think dogs are just

inherently cute. It's just like, yes, just just let them just, you know, let's not be so so weird and anal about having them look a certain way until like they sneeze in their eyeballs fall out like with uh, you know, let's style that in, you know, just the absolutely so uh. But you know something, you know, once these dogs are out there, you know someone's got to take care of him. And so Indigo and Bindy are two Dalmatian sisters. And meanwhile, Zebra named city Boy, which is I don't know the

story behind that name, but I do like it. City Boy the zebra. Uh. He was found wandering without his mother, who had been eaten by lions, which, you know, sad, but at least I feel like in that situation, at least his mother was killed in sort of you know, the circle of life style situation rather than a Bamby

sort of situation, whereas he him and human intervention. But he was rescued with the hopes of releasing him into a large Wild Reserve, but without other zebras at the rescue, it was hard to make sure that city Boy would be able to acclimate to the reserve if he grows too dependent on the presence of humans. And this is where Indigo and Bindie come in. They have befriended city Boy the zebra, and they accompany him on walks throughout

the rehab center. Uh. And since there are no wild dogs in the wild reserve area that will be um city boys future home. It's actually okay that he's lost his natural fear of dogs. These Dalmatians will take him on these longer walks around the reserve and give him sort of a bit of independence where he uh, you know is is gets to kind of live a life. And I have no idea if there's any if this has anything to do with the fact they're both black and white. That seems unlikely to me. It seems kind

of like a coincidence. But I do I do like the idea of like, hey, kid, I like your style. Let's hang out right, your stripes really hitting it off today, It's great. I just really like the fact that this zebra gets a second chance a little baby. Zebras are so cute and now the Little Doggy Friends. Um children's book authors, you can have this one for free. Uh. The story is just out there ready for you to explore, Like, hey, when tragedy strikes, get a dog is really an I

will love you and guide you through your recovery. Yeah. Yeah, so it's so cute. I love the fashion of it too, because people are like, don't mix prints. I think you should mix prints. I think it's great. It's Minnieling taught us how and we're not looking back. So more good news actually ties in a little bit with last subject, and it is that the former Tiger King zoo owners

have been banned for life from exhibiting animals. Yeah so I remember Tiger King that Yeah, that whole thing that was at the beginning of the Panino right the beginning of the pandemic um. Yeah, where everyone was fascinated by this documentary because it was just real. It was just real trashy, yeah real. Uh yeah, it's it's awful. Not proper housing, like, not properly making sure they're interacting not with just other creatures of their species, but with humans.

And then a whole bunch of reckless personal decisions surrounding all of that hot mess. Yeah, and for people who either haven't seen the show or need a refresher because it was like a billion years ago in pandemic time.

Um this it was like basically, there's this guy, Joe Exotic, who ran the Greater Winnewood Exotic Animal Park, which like had a bunch of tigers who had been captively bred for the purpose of exhibition, but in the worst way possible, so little cubs would be put into petting zoos and just sort of bread solely for the purpose of these petting zoos, mistreated a lot of malnutrition. And uh, there was also like a murder mystery thrown into this series,

because yeah, just to make it the full human experience. Yeah. Yeah, because Joe Exotic was accused of plotting a murder against his rival, Carol Baskin, who owned a big cat rescue and was highly critical of his zoo, and he accused Carol Baskin of murdering her ex husband. And the documentary itself, I'm always skeptical of these kinds of documentaries because I think they want to sell you an intriguing story. So

I don't really know. I'm not a detective you know, I'm not a tiger, nor am I a detective, and I'm certainly not a tiger detective, so I don't really have any Fortunately, I know I wish though, right, detective Tiger, that would be you know, it would be incredible. You have the most amazing hat. Yeah. Yeah, and be like his tagline, to be earning his stripes one murder at a time. Ah, we did it. That's perfect. They're dead, um,

so so yeah. The But what I I think it's pretty clear from the documentary was that the Joe Exotic Zoo was terrible for tigers and other animals there. There was also that poor worker at the zoo who had her arm torn off and everyone acted like that was fine and normal. But you know, that's not good to have happened, I don't think. But yeah, she she had her arm torn off by a tiger, and which I think is just sort of a you know, a symptom of the larger issue of how this zoo was very,

very irresponsibly run. Their enclosures were bad, like you were mentioning earlier. Their diet and nutrition was just like they bought like bargain meat from the grocery store, which is not you think what you do. I don't own tigers, but I feel like I know not to do that. It's probably good to like, actually, you know, get the food that can sustain them and not the same meat Taco Bell uses, uh problems. Yeah, I don't. I've never seen a tiger stroll up to Taco Bell in order

like case Diilla Deluxe Supreme. Uh you know what I mean. So I don't think. I don't think that it would be pretty impressive if he didn't, I know, I know, just you know, it's probably if it did happen, it probably happened at like three am. Tiger would be just you know, real out of its tired. He went out to hunt, but he couldn't find anything good. He's like, you know what if it I'm just going to Taco Bell. I'm tired, and I deserve a boja blast. He does

deserve a baja blast. You're right, totally. Yeah, So, you know, and like, honestly, zoos in general, I have mixed feelings about even when they're really really good zoos, right, because in good zoos, they do their best to really give the animals a good life. They give them really good nutrition and veterinary care and they raise money for conservation. But even then, uh, it's not ideal for the animals.

And I don't even think the zoos themselves kid themselves in that respect, like m M. You know, for example, how would you ever have a zoo that's like a great ideal place for an elephant because they need so much space. It's just it's kind of in a way, I think impossible to have a zoo that's like ideal. Uh. That's not to say that I think all zoos are bad. I think that a lot of them do a lot in terms of both education and conservation that I think

it is worth it. But it's still not an ideal situation. And so you have that whole moral quandary. And then on the other end of the spectrum you have this Joe Exotic zoo, which was just you know, an atrocity, like horrible. These lions would have twisted bones because they had calcium deficiency is just awful. So the fact that the previous so of course Joe Exotic is in jail,

uh for apparently plotting to murder Carol Baskin. Again, I'm not a tiger attorney, so you know, I can't can't speak to uh any kind of legal, you know, discussion. But he certainly did not deserve to have a zoo because he was bad at that and abusive. Definitely. Yeah. And then like the people he left the zoo to take care of, like his former partner, they have also been banned for life from exhibiting animals. What a victory for tigers everywhere. Tiger Lawyer really showed up and did

what they needed to do. They're lucky she was in our cornery, Tiger Lawyer attorney at law. Uh, is that anything? Is that anything? It maybe last? I don't know. Well, if you enjoyed it, it's worth it, definitely worth it. But I think, in a weird twist, the Exotic Animal Park is now in the position of none other than

Carol Baskin. Who are you? Yeah? Uh? The saga continue, Taka continues, and she is the owner of I think Big Paw Rescue, And of course she has been accused of murdering her former husband and feeding him to her tigers. But I don't think there's any hard evidence of this being true. No, that's entirely hearsay at this point. Yeah, And like I feel kind of I feel weird watching

this documentary because it's like it's a compelling story. But given that there's that this is just complete wild speculation, there's an extremely good chance that Carol Basket is just a nice lady who likes to rescue tigers and then people are like called out an injustice. When she saw it, I was like, hey, this guy is not taking care of these potentially dangerous and like these wildlife animals who

deserve proper care. Uh. And then he got salty about it and tried to run for mayor when he wasn't wasn't mayor governor something he was not equipped to do. It's a it's a hot mess. It really maybe should have been been more profile on Joe exclusively. UM. But either way, I'm exceedingly glad that these people can no longer be involved in taking care of tigers. Yeah. Yeah, no, that's that's a big victory for tigers. And I'm sorry Carol Baskin. Her rescue is big cat rescue, not big

paw rescue. That's there's probably a rescue called big paw Rescue. UM. Probably not associated with a murder mystery, although I don't know. It seems like any time you get into the sort of exotic animal trade. Uh, there's a lot of weird stuff because you know people who I mean not not in terms of the rescue organizations, they're they're trying to undo something bad that has happened. But yeah, just like these people that own tigers as like pets or entertainment, weird, weird,

like almost cult like stuff going on. Yeah, we definitely should not be allowing that. I don't think. I really feel like wild animals really have to be regulated better. Yeah, I know there's a lot of illegal practices happening around it. Um, and I give the desire behind it, Like how cool in theory, again, not in actual practice, but in theory, it's way cool to own a tiger, Like, wow, what a status symbol. How did you do it? Is it

really truly domesticated? But then when you think about the actual life of the animal and they're not meant to be in homes or collared really or any that like live and live better? Idea better idea tiger onesie for your dog? Perfect? Perfect, Now I need to do that for my dog. I just realized I said it out loud and the words made it necessary to have it become a fantastic get spayed, and so I want to buy her a um you know, like the cones dog wears after they have surgery. But there's one in the

shape of a lion's mane. Do her, little lion, the things we do to our dogs. Loves the humiliation, they do. Love it. It's love it. They have no shame, right exactly. It's like putting a newborn in a pumpkin. Okay, it's just a stage of life. My first Halloween costume was a big pumpkin. Fine too, you know, oh you too, that's just yeah, that's a teddy bear. That's Those are the good standards for baby costumes. Just like make make

them a pumpkin. Yeah. The Joe Exotics reign of terror I think is over maybe and then now hopefully Carol Baskin does a better job of, you know, rescuing these tigers. I hope, So, I hope we don't have to hear about any more tigers being mistreated or not being taken care of. She seems to really, really, really care. I mean, all of her outfits are like tiger and cheetah themed, which is which is fun? Uh? Yeah, I don't know.

I dig in. As we say it at the top of the podcast, I am not in the highly optimistic headspace right now. We're just gonna have to see what happens, but I will hope for the best. You just got to hope that this will be the year that tigers maybe get a win truly, and they need it they do. So before we go onto are mry animal sound game, Guess Who's squawking? Every week I play a mystery animal

sound and you guess who is a squawking? And so last week, actually probably the week before last week, because I think I took a little break and did an oldie but goodie episode. But before then I had left you guys with a mystery animal sound and the hint was a trio of big babies who really wish you understood their point. And here is the sound. Were you able to hear that? Yeah? That's wild. What do you think is making that sound? Joel? Okay, So when I

close my eyes, I get two separate images. The first one is small and furry and it's and it's just like the other one is sort of like a bird is squawking. It's a little terrifying. I'm trying to think if there's an animal in between those two things, and what I'm coming up with is a baby platypus. Wow, I love that, guess, and I love the way that you arrived at it, and now that I'm trying to imagine a baby platypus making that sound, and I do

love it. Um, you are you are wrong, but in a really fun way, so I feel like you still deserve points for that. But congratulations to the fastest guesser's Shana s dielle B and yet again Anti B, who uh Anti B is officially I think the fastest in most days accurate animal guesser. I think she might actually be a real life barn owl who can hear a

field mouse miles away. Um, but congratulations, you guys. You all guessed baby rhinos, And yes, these are a baby rhino, a trio of baby rhinos, and they are squeaking and squawking because they're hungry and they want to be fed milk someone them, please, they're starling. Good But I love a little baby rhino. They have big old ears and the little blunt noses and they kind of, oh my god, so cute. Yeah, I did not know what noise they made, But I feel much better as a person, as a

human being. You know what, It's restored some hope and faith in the world. T two won't be so bad. The the energy that we're gonna bring into is giant bugs in squeaking rhinos. I think you know, ah, bless us, but yeah, there there it's that. That squeak, squeak squawk sound they're making is similar to when your cat meals at you because she wants food. Uh, And that's exactly

what they're doing to this caretaker. Is they are demanding that you feed them and letting her know that they are gonna die if she doesn't feed them in like two seconds. So that is uh, it's adorable, It's wonderful. And onto this week's mystery animal sound. Uh. Here is the hint. If you think this is a bird or a dog, you're barking up the wrong tree. In fact, you shouldn't be looking in trees at all, but in burrows.

I'm going chipmunk because I'm pretty sure it brows. It sounds somewhat like the gnashing of teeth, but less scary. The little squeak at the end of it, squeaky, little squeaks from rhino squeaks to some mystery squeaks. That's a great guess, but I will reveal the answer next week, uh, in the next episode of Creature Feature. Thank you so much for joining me today, Joel. It's so good to have you back. Where can the people find you? Yeah, thank you so much for having me. This was another

great episode. I'm so glad I got to be here this morning. UM. You guys can find me all over the internet at Joel Monique. It's j O E L E E M O n I q u E and thank you guys so much for listening. You can find the show on the internet at Creature Feature Pod on Instagram, at Creature feet Pod on Twitter. That's f E T that's something very different. Uh. And you can email me at Creature Feature Pod at gmail dot com. And if you think you know what this week's animal mystery sound is,

please do email me. You can also tweet at me on Instagram, but the most certain way that I'm going to see what you write to me is through the emails, So Creature Feature Product gmail dot com. Uh, thank you guys so much for listening. And UH, if you are enjoying the show and you leave a rating or review, I will be eternally grateful. I will squeak like those baby baby rhinos, squeak just out of pure joy um And I read all the reviews and they really mean so much to me to see what you guys think

of the show. And thank you so much to the Space Costs for their super awesome song Exo Lumina Creature features a production of I Heart Radio. For more podcasts like the one you just heard, visit the I Heart Radio app Apple podcast or review here your favorite shows and check out the podcast that Joel produces. They're amazing. See you next Wednesday.