Welcome to Creature feature production of iHeartRadio. I'm your host of Many Parasites, Katie Golden. I studied psychology and evolutionary biology, and today on the show we're talking about animals with missing body parts. Don't worry. These critters haven't been mutilated, but rather through evolution, they've ditched certain appendages. Legs don't need them, wings forget about it. Tails lose them. Sometimes efficiency requires sacrifice and body parts have got to go.
Discover this and more as we answer the age old question how many eggs is too many eggs? Joining me today's front of the show producer at iHeartRadio, Joe el Monique.
Welcome, Hi, Katie, thanks for having me back.
I am so excited. We are actually in the studio together, which has not happened in over.
Two years since the beforetime. Times.
We're making direct eye contact. Basically, it's super weird.
We're really trying to hold it together. Oh my gosh. It's nice though, to be back here with you. You know, I imagine there will be one there's always one bird. I think in all of our conversations.
You're so lucky. This time there's no birds. There's no birds.
I feel very lucky.
You're you're super lucky. Today it was between this and the All Birds All Swarms episode, and uh, you know this one, this one just by a very thin margin one out. So yeah, Instead we were talking about animals who are missing like a key body part that you think they should probably have.
Okay, that's kind of exciting. Yeah, they got me thinking about what body part humans would lose.
First, Yeah, what do we use the least of our major body parts?
What's the one organ that don't know? What is there for the tendex appendix appendix. I'm surprised if that hasn't started, like just missing it.
Just falling out, feeling it was not.
Necessary for anything that we can decipher, so you chuck it out of their body.
There might be something too, like I keep hearing things about like, well maybe it has some immune function. We're not sure.
Okay, all right. I keep hearing our thumbs are going to get longer because of how we use our phone.
Ah, thumb longer. Yeah, I could use longer thumb.
The longer thumb would be helpful, It would be really helpful. Yeah, but losing a part seems like I feel like I need all the things I want both eyes at least, you know, the ten finger seems essential. I mean there's obviously people have been able to adapt and make changes and adjust two missing body parts. But like, as a species, if we were like we.
Just don't need that anymore, I feel like maybe one toe could.
Go, which I I would like all the middle ones, the middle ones, yeah, for balance.
Right, like yeah, but you know, yeah, no, I can't think of a body part that I would just want to part with voluntarily. But yeah, I mean it is interesting when you look at animals who are missing parts that you think they should have. I mean a good example is like a snubnose monkey. That is a primate who's a relative of ours, and their nose is just gone.
I mean they have their nasal cavities, but the nose itself is gone because they live in cold, high altitudes and so the sort of frostbite that they'd get from the nose is not really worth having the nose, so instead they just have like a you know, just these little holes in their face. They're still cute. I like them still. But our first interesting animal that we are going to talk about is a moth actually, and what is like the main defining feature of a butterfly or
a moth. That's right. Yeah, it's the thing that differentiates them from a caterpillar in sort of a simplistic way. But yeah, they're wings, but some moths are wingless. Specifically, the females of a few families of moths have almost no wings. They they actually technically do have wings, but they are teeny tiny and they don't.
Work their little baby wings, little baby wings.
It's sort of like remember a bug story, the classic pixar ants who have sort of a worker's revolution, and then there's the caterpillar who metamorphosizes into a beautiful butterfly, and then it's funny because he's got these tiny wings.
That chunky caterpillar baby wings.
It's this, it's the same thing because this moth has is very chunky and it has tiny wings that they don't even look like wings. They look like little rabbit ears, which is cute.
They do look like little rabbit ears. It sort of reminded me on Halloween when girls dress up as very but they have like little baby wings. Yeah, these wings would not propel you up into the air. They are clearly just ornamental. Are these ornamental? In some are they designed in the attraction process.
No, that's what's interesting. Also, when I was a kid and there was like the little tiny fairy wings, I would get frustrated because I really wanted to see big wings, because like that is not going to support a human.
No. No, And we can see what a proper proportion of wing to body looks like in nature. It's why dragons have those big giant wings. Exactly. Think all of that mass is gonna need a lot of air support. Exactly.
Give me some big pterosaur wings please.
Yeah, they're like million little dt ones that come just out of your back. It's only two and not four, which doesn't make sense directionally, you're gonna have a lot more issues with two as opposed to if you have that second layer down low like a butterfly. Uh yeah, wings should be proportionate, which is making this more confusing. Why what happened to their wings?
Well, what's interesting is that the males of this species, these wingless moths, actually do have wings.
Sexism.
Oh man, patriarchy is everywhere. We need moth feminists. So they look like typical normal moths. They just you know, just kind of plain months. These are winter moths. And the ones that are pictured there are these just kind of grayish brown moths. They look normal except for the females that have these adorable little fluffy baby wings and
then a huge, chunky body. So this actually occurs in a few species in the family geometrod uh And so there are some species in which the females do have wings, but a few, which are the ones that we're talking about, where the females don't have these wings or have these little stubby wings. One cute fact, this is a little bit of a tangent, but it's too cute not to
talk about. There's a species of geometric moth where the females have typical wings, but the caterpillars in this species will cover themselves in little pieces of plants or flowers, plant matter to camouflage themselves. So I've sent you a photo. There's like this thing that looks like kind of a weird I guess like las or Bouquet, whoa withered flower petals there's a caterpillar under there.
I fashion that was like, what is this flower here? I was trying to figure out what this flower was doing, and then oh, my god, that's so weird. I never think there's a bug in there. It does live like locator.
So yeah, I love this one. Anyways, back onto the topic of the wingless moths. Species of geometric moths who do have wingless females include the winter moths, bruce spanworm, and the fall cankerworm moths. So again, the males of these species look pretty typical, pretty normal, they're pretty small, they have a wingspan of a couple of centimeters. But yeah, it is really interesting that this has evolved in these species.
The winter moth is found in Europe and mate in winter and in cold temperature, and the bruce span worm in faulknkerworm does the same in North America. So this is actually a key detail that all these moths prefer to mate in cold temperatures, and so this is the first clue into like why these females don't have these wings.
Most insects actually avoid the winter. The male moths of these species have adapted stronger flight muscles in the males to be able to flutter around in cold temperatures, and so by adapting to this difficult time, they avoid some amount of predation from birds. And you know there are bird species who are migratory they go in winter in
warmer climates. And so while there may be some winter birds who remain their avoiding predation from this whole segment of birds who are like, this is too cold, we're leaving. The females, meanwhile, have gone sort of in this opposite direction of the males in terms of like the males have these like very strong wings, females ditch the wings. Females ditch the wings and they will just sit on trees and excrete male attracting pheromones, basically making the males
come to them. And the females are absolutely crammed with eggs. They have almost one hundred and fifty eggs in their tiny little bodies. So she has sacrificed both the size of her internal organs and her wings and ability to fly for sheer volume of eggs. So these males will just flutter around, congregate around females mate with them, and it's great. The female doesn't have to do anyth thing other than sit there basically store these eggs, and then lay the eggs once they're fertilized.
Amazing. Here's why I like her plan. Okay, first, she was like, men not only do you have to come to me, but like, please leave when you're done. This is my house and it's cool here. It's clearly too cold for you. I don't want to inconvenience you, just get on. I love that she's like, I'm just gonna do this by myself. One hundred and fifty eggs a lot, like at one time, seems like a lot. But if you think about it, does she only have to do this once? Can? She is a one and done situation.
Get it done, just get it all done.
Wonderful, an efficient clean. We love her.
I really like how you see this thing where the females have taken on all the storage costs in mating, where the males have taken on all the travel costs. Look at they're working together. I love to find a solution, right, yes, yes.
And apple goals for real.
Right, And probably the system couldn't work well if they lived in warmer climates because the female is sitting pretty prone on this tree and she can't fly away, say like a bird or something is trying to eat her, Whereas in a much colder climate she is less likely to encounter a predator like a bird, and so she can really invest totally in becoming like a storage barge for eggs, whereas these males can invest in being like, well, we're basically sperm taxis and going around, and so they
have this wonderful system.
Sperm taxis and egg barges. It's a children's book waiting to happen. I yes, every time we're here, we think of a new animal.
Children about I you know, I think it is important for kids to learn about this stuff. And I you know, I think there was like a recent news story about there being this controversy because some children and show or some schools teaching about how certain species of fish change their sex, like clownfish. There's actually several species of fish that do this. It's not not that novel, uh, And yet it was this big controversy like, oh, you can't
teach kids. It's like, well, you know, it's just reality. Sorry the fish don't la la la.
We don't want to hear about your transfishes. Woke mob, get out of here.
Yeah if so, I guess the transgender agenda is so powerful it can actually make fish change their sex.
The idea, the the power they have given to trans books that they definitely do not have. Yeah, it's it's creepy and weird.
Yeah.
Leave trans kids alone. Y. Yeah, they're just, like you're, trying to live their lives. They did nothing to those fishes. Leave those fishes alone. They're just doing what they're supposed to be. Yeah, survive. This is good for their species. They don't need us to tell them. They're Yeah, yes, bizarre, bizarre.
Uh, cancel the ocean.
I guess oh god, I mean we're doing a great job of that.
We are we are our own. Oh no, So what is the difference between a snake and a lizard?
Joel?
This isn't a setup to a joke. I'm not trying to trick you. It's it's the feet, okayo the I mean, I'm doing it in very simplistic terms, right, Like, again, this is not like a trick. Yes, So, like, snakes don't have legs generally, and lizards do have legs. Of course, there are other differences, sure, you know, anatomical differences, but this is the main distinguishing difference between snakes and lizards. However, have you ever heard of a legless lizard?
No, because that's a snake. We just went over.
I know it sounds like a legless lizard would just be a snake. But surprisingly, no, this is not the case. So there are lizards who, over many years of evolution, have lost their legs or they've been greatly reduced to tiny little nubblets. And this has been done independently of snakes. So over eight families of lizards containing multiple species have independently lost their legs. So this is an evolutionary trend
that has happened over and over again independently. It's a popular thing in the lizard world to just lose your legs.
It's this appropriation. Were they looking at the snakes and they're like, this slice seems better. Uh, and now I'm going to call myself a snake. Everyone's like, technically you're a legless lizard. They're like, well, lah lah, I can't hear you.
I mean, is it okay to do appropriation? Once you've gone so far so deep in, you're willing to give up your.
They've become part of the culture. They too, slither on the ground, Okay, they know that snake white. Okay, really blaring some wines here.
So snakes and lizards evolved from a common ancestor a reptile squawmate. So the fossil record of the oldest known common ancestor to snakes and lizards was found in northern Italy in the Alps, and it is a species from around two hundred and forty million years ago called mega caryrella wac tillari. Gosh, that is so many consonants jammed into one word.
Give it to me again, Katie, How does it go?
Mega, kyrilla, waktillary.
Wow, okay, big word which means oh, gosh.
Well Mega means big okay, and kyrilla that means something for sure.
It sounds like it's you have a Latin tex right right, There's some consonants, some vowels, so probably a word that has a meaning. Yes, I never agreed.
I never got to the Latin what all the Latin words mean in my skewling. But what makes legless lizards different from snakes? Well, they are technically examples of how snakes evolved from a lizard like ancestor. But they are distinct from snakes because legless lizards evolved from a different lineage and in a different evolutionary path from snakes, As in, legless lizards and snakes don't share a recent common ancestor.
Oh and they also have different anatomical characteristics. So legless lizards have eyelids and ear holes, which snakes do not have, and legless lizards aren't able to swallow prey larger than their heads like a snake can. So basically, in every way, legless lizards are lizards that don't have legs, whereas snakes are evolutionary and physically distinct from lizards, not just in the fact that they lack their legs.
I gotta tell you, guys, this is so trippy. So first of all, when you're looking at a legless lizard, uh and you're seeing the eyelids, for some reason, it feels more anthropomorphized or like human. It's like, what do you call those things? Not a transffer? No, no, no, not a transformer, but uh ah, where they it's like they're transmorphing. Is that the book cover where they show like, yeah, yeah,
turn into a different animal. Yes, it looks like an anamorph and it's right in between a lizard turned into a snake and or a human. Boy, it's a very weird but kind of cool.
Look.
Yes, their bodies also seem like thicker as compared to their heads. Like, I feel like a snake's head is typically like a little more tapered than than this is it is it is it like bonier than a snake.
It looks I mean, if you count the like la like, there's probably more sort of vestigial leg architecture going on, so like a pelvic girdle they will probably have, whereas a snake doesn't necessarily have the pelvic girdle. But in terms of like, snakes do actually have a rib cage all the way down, but it's much I feel like
they're much more expandable than the lightless lizards. So legless lizard is a little more structured, whereas a snake is a little more like the its skeleton really allows for a lot of expansion because of the whole like eating food larger than its head and can really widen its jaws. It's a it's kind of a misnomber to say they dislocate their jaws because their jaws are just naturally not a yeah, they're not not a fused like our jaws are, and so they can open their mouths really really wide,
and also their rib cages can are more flexible. They can expand to a lot of these big, big meals, So that's why they can eat stuff that's like way bigger than their bodies.
Yeah, Like, looking at it, I becuess I would see like a snake. Sometimes some snakes have more of like an s curve when they slither, whereas this feels like it would be much more like wavy and less of a defined curve like it wouldn't maybe I guess more like this like kind of turn reading ass Is that what I'm looking for?
I mean, it's they probably do move a little differently, although they do. They do slither essentially like a snake does. And you know they are they come in all sorts of different sizes. So this first photo that I've shared with you, All of these pictures will be in the show notes. This is a glass lizard and it is one of the bigger species of legless lizards. It's this It's I think it's quite beautiful. It's sort of this pale tan color. It's got these like weird it's not injured.
I know, it kind of looks like someone slashed It's that's a natural part of this species. It's just sort of a skin fold. So yeah, it's called the shell top who sick. It is one of the largest species of legless lizards in the world, found in southern Europe and Central Asia. It is it grows to be a little under four and a half feet or one hundred and thirty five centimeters. And yeah, that that groove is sort of folded skin, so it's it's normal.
It looks badass.
Looks wise. It looks like a white like, you know, sort of the There are various dragons. I think some of them are called like worms or something like, aren't there dragons where it's they don't have wings and they just kind of like slither through the air.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah they fly, But there's definitely they sort of resemble like a komodo dragon, but like in fantasy terms, So they're yeah large, and they're like clod you know, and typically instead of the almost dinosaur like head, it's more lizard like. Typically. Yeah, you definitely have those types of dragons, which are cool, Like Kmodo dragons are cool.
They are very cool.
These lizards are cool. I think what makes so like, what's terrifying about a snake and cute about these legless lizards is a snake can like prop itself up and you know what I mean, and like really confront you. You're like, you're should not be facing me like this. Okay, you can just go on the ground and then up in the air and look me in my eye while you kill me. Horrifying. Little guy's killed. He is not going to get it. Doesn't look like he can prop himself up.
I don't think. Yeah, I don't think they coil in this defensive manner that snakes.
Yeah, okay, that's much cuter that plus eyelids equals to snake. I could rock. Can't blink at you, Yeah, yeah, it could wink at you. It could flirt.
It's cute, it could flirt. What you need for flirting is eyelids. And if you don't go them, you can't flir.
The ability is gone. These little guys are also kind of like the one with the tiny fettle legs.
They are so cute. Yes, so there's the small one of the smaller species of legless lizards, or the southern California legless lizards who are small enough to be mistaken for earthworms. They are just a little tiny guys. Uh so cute. And then some species of lizards have not fully lost their legs. These are actually my favorites. But they are going in that direction though, so like they have legs with their teeny teeny teeny teeny days.
If you saw Deadpool and these little tiny baby feet, it's exactly what you're thinking of. They're so little. Do these like help them propel or is this just a slow form of evolution, like we're getting rid of them, it just takes time.
It's they probably have some positive use otherwise it's I mean, they could be vestigial, but I believe for these like it helps them a little bit. The rear legs probably helps with mating. Four legs probably helps a little bit in terms of burrowing or something. But I don't think that they're super super functional or helpful. But yeah, I mean, I mean they might. They just have a sort of
different evolutionary path. They may never like if you gave them another you know, million years, they may never lose their legs, or they may lose them. But yeah, this is called the Italian skink, which sounds like an anti Italian slur, but it's not. Apparently that's a great name.
What a bad love it? Oh man? The Italian skink wonderful.
So I think one of the most interesting things about this is like the way in which these legs have been lost in lizards and snakes over and over again. So why do both snakes in some species of lizards lose their legs because legs seem pretty useful. The most likely reason is that burrowing or hunting in burrows made legs less efficient, So sliding into burrows is easy when you don't have any legs in the way, so they can just slide in, grab a baby, go for eat it,
and slide out. Early snakes slowly lost their legs, they still had hind legs in some species for a while, and in modern BoA's they still actually have little tiny you can't even barely see them. What, Yeah, you really can't see them very well. It's just like they almost look like little tiny like clothing and that is it's like called a clasper and they can clasp in during mating and it helps them kind of like attach on to the female.
Bowls just got two more terrifying. I didn't know. I really didn't know they were using hooks for sex. The very advanced creature.
Fish like don't kink shame the bowl community so Joel, I can I make the assumption that you might be, you know, a little bit wary of scorpions.
Definitely wary of scorpions. Definitely if I saw one, I would move in the other direction. I don't want to harm them, but you know, if we never cross back. It's how I feel about birds, people all over there. And it's really good that you have that space, and I don't want to take any from you. In fact, I think we should preserve your space. But I would not like to be in that space with you. What I wouldn't want you in my space.
Scorpions are the birds of the ground. According to Joel, Yes, you're afraid of birds as well. Yes, for I mean you've been on the show multiple times, so I hope people would know that about you by now. But yes, afraid of birds, afraid of scorpions makes sense. You know, the scorpion is quite scary. What is the scariest part of the scorpions stingy part?
Yes, ya overted at you. It's got like a big needle at the bottom that can stab you. And then it's poisonous snow. Yes, yeah, yeah that seems bad.
Yeah, No, I I like scorpions. But I so, I grew up sort of next to a canyon, and for whatever reason, my room would get infiltrated by critters all the time, which was fun. It felt like it happened to my room the most. Maybe they they sensed my creature feature vibes. And yet I accepted some of them. But the scorpions, no, I couldn't. I could not accept living in my midst It was. It was very It was they were tiny. They were like these little, tiny
tan scorpions. But like, even if it was scorpions small, that doesn't necessarily mean it's harmless because it could have venom. But yeah, it was. I I was quite afraid of them. And yeah, it's all because of that fierce, sort of syringe like tail that they would chode you. As you point out, Uh, so, it is kind of funny to me that there is an animal called the tailless whip scorpion.
Which minute yes, which looks like.
A kind of horrifying crab scorpion, but it's got no tail.
Okay here, already, I'm so confused because if I think of a scorpion and anything whippy, it's that tail. Yeah, this one is whippy without the tail, Yeah, Diva, is this.
So the whip part of it I think comes from the fact that it has these like really long antenna like structures that good large. Then yeah, it is a horrifying looking arthropod. It does not have that tail though that scorpions often have.
Scorpions can be terrifying in an entirely different way. People. I just want to let you know if you were scared at the tail, you didn't know, Uh, it could have crab like claws. Oh my god, I just know some like alien creature designer has been looking at these being like my time is coming, Like I'm going to implement this into a horror film. Yes, and terrified pe This is so weird and scary and big. I would scream so loud if I saw this in nature. Oh
my god, Katie, where are they? So I never go near that.
Well, they are found kind of throughout the world because they are actually multiple species with an order called ambly page.
Uh.
And it is actually not a true scorpion, so it's in the eracted class, which includes scorpions and spiders.
I can see that.
But the tail is whip scorpion while being a relative of both scorpions and spiders. Is neither a scorpion nor a spider.
Now, animals, I really need you to get into. How are you both related to both of these but also classified as neither. That's interesting.
I mean, it's just its distinct order. So scorpions have its order of species, spiders have its own order, and so this one has its distinct order. They're just all kind of cousins, you know.
Wow, Okay, those guys in class of his own, and to be fair looking at it deserves to be, has earned its own space title and recognition.
So what Joel is reacting to is that this thing looks like you crossed a crab, a spider, and a scorpion and it created kind of a horrible alien. So the this has these long legs, very long and skinny, kind of like a spider. It has an antenna very long and sort of skinny, like I don't know, just really long antenna, kind of like a lobster. And then it has these two long, skinny legs that end in these little pincer claws.
Uh.
And it is yeah, it's it's I think it's cool, but I acknowledge that it's unpleasant looking and They also scuttle, kind of like a crab. Oh, scuttling is something that turn some people off, and so yeah it is. They are basically a spooky, slender version of a crab spider or spider crab or whatever. They can get to be quite big, usually spanning larger than an adult's palm. So, for instance, the damon.
I think, not Katie what.
So for instance, the daemon Diadema tailless whip scorpion of Central Africa has a body that's only a little over an inch long or twenty eight millimeters, but its leg span gets to be up around eight inches or twenty centimeters.
I don't I don't want to be near his body is so creepy. It's really like the legs are so spread out, and I feel like, as a human, my eyes are like which one do I need to focus on?
You know?
With a scorpion, they have the courtesy of being like here's one tail, don't lose sight of it. Okay, these guys, they're like danger could come from anywhere at any time. And also I scuttle, I can move in any direction at any time. I don't think so.
It's three hundred and sixty degrees of no. So they may look horrifying, and yes they do, but they actually have no venom. They're very shy, and they generally don't bite. The most you have to fear from them is getting pinched by their pair of long, pinchy pincers if you scare them or antagonize them.
Poor phone crawls over you while you're sleeping, and you just scream yourself.
But you know, it's like a crab where it can pinch you, it can kind of hurt. These can, you know, make little tiny puncture wounds, sort of like if you get pricked by a thorn or something. But there's no venom, so it's not dangerous. It's not dangerous at all. They just look like they could kill you and latch onto your face, rip your eyeballs out, but they can't.
Millions of years of human evolution has told you you should not touch or be near this thing. Okay, your body knows, even though even though your brain may know better. Be like, listen, you could survive a pinch and be fine. Your body said, we will not be putting in candy this way.
So it's interesting because these legs are very they are arachnids, and they have eight legs, but it looks like they only have six, but that is because one pair of their legs have been modified into the antenna, so those really long antenna that get them. The name of whip scorpion is the modified front legs that have grown extra sensory neurons and actually is now used as antenna. The pincers, the little what looks like little legs with pincers, are
actually modified pettipalps. Pelps are when you look at a spider. Sometimes they have what look like tiny little arms near their mouth that kind of go like ye, yeah, which I think are cute, but yeah, those have become really elongated and have the cool addition of pincers and they use those like a crab wood where they grab food, grab prey. Sometimes they even stab the prey with them and then bring it up to their mouth and then they eat it with their chillicera.
May I ask what their diet consists.
Of small invertebrates. Usually they will occasionally eat a small vertebrate if the opportunity arises, but generally they only mess around with other arthropods.
I like when they start eating the vertebrates that it's really terrifying to me. I will say this is my love hate relationship with the whole spider and spider esque community. Okay, y'all eat the little bugs that bite me that I hate, and you keep my house clear of them, and that's good, that's good for all of us. But then you are also terrifying. I have to deal with that. I've been getting pretty good about not killing the spiders in my house for those of you who are really about like
you just said it free. I can't touch them because it weirds me out, but I will go get someone else in my household be like, will you just gently transfer this thing far outside of our door so it can come back in, but also it can just continue to do what it needs to do. This one. I'm sorry, buddy, if you come in my house, you have to die. It's not I can't cohabitate even for a second. It's so creepy.
Yeah, I mean some people keep them as pets.
Interesting. Yeah, this thing can't show you affection. That's not a pet.
Pinch your cheek with it's a little cloth.
No no, no no.
So they actually, despite I guess being nightmare fuel, they are very much introverts. Mating consists of the male depositing his sperm packets on the grid and gently guiding the female over with the hopes that she'll pick up the sperm packets, in seminate herself, and bear offspring.
So yeah, Wins could learn a lesson, is all I'm saying. Sorry, Katie said, please explain. I'm just saying I think this is a much cleaner way of doing things, just to be like, if you want to, it's here, but don't eat, no stress. I disagree, and the lady's like you. I think I will pick it up and then just like he.
Leaves his sperm on the ground in like little packets like here you.
Go, guide you back to you can.
Take a sperm, leave a sperm in that louck.
You'll learn about whether this is the kind of person whose children you want to care or not. You know.
Yeah, I strong disagree. I don't want to trip over random sperm packets.
Are you saying? Dating and LA has warped me? This is the earlier problem.
That's one of those little robots that delivers food now, but for sperm packets. Yeah sounds great.
Perfect.
After the eggs hatch, the tiny baby tailless whip scorpions will actually climb onto their mother's back until they are old enough to be on their own, and their mother and the babies communicate using their weird antenna legs, which is a rare social behavior from arachnids.
That is kind of cuge. Communicate through touch me to you guys.
Behaviorally, they're actually really sweet. They're just very kind of shy. They are not aggressive at all because they don't really have that much to defend themselves with. Like, yeah, they can pinch you, and they will if they feel threatened, but you know, it's not much. So they generally are very very shy, very reserved. They're clearly very shy in
the dating pool. They just they want to hold hands, like basically take a walk and hold hands is like the equivalent of sex for them, and then they like are communicate with their babies. It's very cute.
Okay, So as long as one of these doesn't sneak up on me in my own house, maybe I can get somebody else to come take care of them and escort them outside.
Yeah, because I can't. You're like, pinch me. I must be having a nightmare. It's like okay, we'll do well. Before we go, we've got to play a little game, and that game is called.
Guess Who's squawking?
The Mystery Animal Sound Game.
I love this game.
Every week I play a mystery animal sound and you, the listener, and you the guest, try to guess who is squawking. So first, last week's mystery animal sound, the hint was this, this patriotic bird often doesn't get credit for its work. Oh yeah, that came through.
I almost spit water all over this sec. I didn't engineer. I was so good. I did not, but I was very close. Oh my god. Uh because patriot you said, as patriotic h eagle and he said it was hard.
It often doesn't get credit for its work.
Is it a it's a government government eagle? Now I love that.
I really wish there was a species of rapper called the government eagle. So this is it's not a government eagle. You're doing in the right zone. Now, this is actually the red tailed hawk. So congratulations to the three fastest guessers, Auntie Bee, Joey P, and Emily M who all wrote in and guessed correctly.
Smart.
Yes, so red tailed hawks are raptors found throughout North America. They're a medium sized brown hawk with a white underbelly and rusty red tail. Their majestic call is often stolen and used as the call for bald eagles in movies or TV shows, which is their larger, more famous raptor.
Yes, okay, because when I heard it, I was like, this definitely sounds like an eagle. Yeah, and what I know of eagles, the call is very uh, unique and specific. When you hear it, you're like, okay, attention. So I can see why they were like, I don't know what sounds the bald eagle is making, but it's not this. It's not this.
You want to hear what sounds the bald Yeah.
Well that is adorable. Yes, that is listen here in America if you're not from here and have not seen the way we use a bald eagle. Uh, they're majestic sharpshooters, Yeah, in the sky who cut the sky with their wings and then dive on their prey. They're very manly. We put them on a lot of our war vehicles. That adorable chirping does not match the mental image we have as Americans of our country's bird, the bald eagle. So
we did we as we typically do. We had to steal it from something much cooler and not acknowledged that species.
I know, but the red tailed hawk is also found in North America. It's an American species. We're just like, you're not big enough. We really need an It's like this manufactured symbol, right like you eat an eagle that looks big and fierce. And the bald eagle is pretty big eyes, he's got those sharp eyes, got those big claws. And the red tailed hawk is not nothing. It's a you know, fierce predator, but it's smaller. It's you know, not as striking looking, I guess, but it's called it's
much more majestic then the bald eagles. A link.
It's cute though. I love the bagles sounding. I'm not gonna.
It's just like they makes them sound like a little like you know, it's like a little kitty laugh or you.
Want to get out of te set and not go to war though, so uh.
You know how Americans feel about tea.
Yeah, yeah, put that in the bay. Okay, So now what does the he says, the red tailed hawk? Yeah, what do these things look like? They look like a typical hawk.
They just kind of they're not you know, you know what a hawk looks like.
I do.
It's it's they're kind of brown. They they're sometimes called chicken hawks. They don't actually prey on chickens, so that's not that's a misnomer. But yeah, they they're just very hawk looking hawk.
Okay, here's why I'm upset for the red tailed hawk right now. They've got the same eyes as the eagles, which we've just described as one of the key elements of what makes the eagle look badass. We need to put this on war vehicles, you know. I'm just saying, like, it's got all of the same energy. It's a little smaller, you know. Yeah, but it's got that burly chick. You can pay metals to this bird. Check it's so burly. Okay.
I have mixed feelings because I do want the red tailed hawk to be more recognized, but also I'm a pacifist, so using it, Like, Look, the problem is we have the wrong symbol on our on our drones.
Right exactly. Yeah, put the red tail hawk on here.
It's the wrong species of birds America.
Listen, I vibe with it. This bird is actually kind of cute. And you guys aren't know how I feel about birds With this one. It looks together with it. Oh, not like the craziness of a turkey, yeah, or the absolute chaotic nature of an owl. Why are you turning your head around to look at me? So you turn your whole body with some respect. Okay, No, that's right.
I lied to you. I said there would be no birds in this.
We are right in the end. She's snuck it in there. Wow, I learned something today.
Well onto this week's mystery animal. Sound the hint. This hairy animal doesn't want his picnic on a rainy day.
That is a big baby.
Whoa.
It sounds like me that I get woken up from a nap. I'm very upset. Why is it raining here? Okay, it's some kind of bear. I feel confident in that lane. It's harry and it doesn't want to get what afro bear hit it? I did?
Is he friends with government eagles?
Their best They own all the war vehicles.
Add that one to the list of animals I wish existed. Afro bear meats, can you imagine?
I can't?
And he's fabulous, wonderful, wonderful. Well, that is an incredible guess and we will find out next time on Creature Feature who is making that sound? If you out there think you know who the mystery animal is this week, write me an email at Creature Featurepod at gmail dot com. You can also write questions to me and sometimes I have listener questions episodes, or respond to your emails or you know, send me pictures of your pets. Always love those. Yep.
I get a lot of cute animals in my inbox and I love it, so Thank you guys so much for listening. Joe, Well, thank you so much for coming on the show. It's so lovely to see you in person in three D.
Thank you so much for having me. It was good to see you too. And now I know when you see a crab like spider, it's probably just an introvert and it doesn't want to be near you as much as you don't want to be near it. So I've really I guess you take that inform home ever, text additional spiders, which is an insane thing I never thought I would do. Well.
Where can people find you?
Yeah? Will you guys known me? You can find me all over the internet at du Monique. It's Joe l E m O N I Q you well.
Thank you so much, and thanks to Graham for doing the audio on this episode. I'm usually flying solo abroad, but I am so happy to pop into the studio and thank you guys so much for listening. If you are enjoying the show, you can leave a rating or review and I read every single review and all the ratings really do help the show. Or tell a friend you know, just like say like, hey, you want to learn about weird crab spiders that can pinch you like,
tell them, let them know, spread the word. And thanks to the Space Cossics for their super awesome song.
XO.
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