Part one why it's the way it is.
Today, we're going to talk about fish, and we're going to talk about two different ways in which fish can use their habitats, like the ways they can use the places they live and how to utilize their landscape or let's say, their waterscape in order to have their babies. So what we're going to talk about are these these terms that seem complicated and hard to say and hard to spell. The two terms of this. The first one is anadromous. Okay, I'm going to spell it for you, so you know A N A d r O m
o u S. An adremist. An anadremus has a has an opposite. The opposite of anagamus is catadroumous catasromus, So that one is C A T A d r O m o u S. We're going to start by talking about the first one, the one that starts with an A, which is anadromous. An anagamous fish is a fish that lives its life out in the ocean and then goes up a river in order to reproduce. I think the most classic example of an anadromous fish is a salmon. Okay, in our country, in the United States of America, we
have six kinds of salmon. There are five salmon in the Pacific Ocean, and there's just one kind of salmon, the Atlantic salmon, that lives in the Atlantic Ocean. If you're curious about the five in the Pacific, I'll tell you what they are. They all have two names, two common names. You have king salmon, which are called chinook. You have silver salmon, which people also call coho. You
have pink salmon, which people call humpies. You have sake salmon, which people will call reds, and you have chum salmon, which people will call dog salmon. So those are the five salmon in the Pacific Ocean that go up the rivers in our country. And there's that one salmon, the Atlantic salmon the Atlantic Ocean. All these fish are a nagamus fish. And here's what that means. They are born in rivers. Okay, they're born in freshwater. So as an egg,
they're a fertilized egg. And these fertilized eggs will lay down in the gravel on the bottom of a river, and eventually that fertilized egg will hatch into a little baby fish that you know it surprisingly within a few days of hatching, you'd kind of recognize it as a little fish. Different species of salmon, so different kinds of salmon will spend different amounts of time in the rivers where they hatched or were born. Pink salmon and chum
salmon will go out right away pretty quickly. They go back out to the ocean where they're going to live their lives. A saki salmon, which is a Pacific salmon, a sackey salmon, will find its way to a lake, so they're dependent on lake systems being along the rivers where they reproduce, and they'll spend one to two years in a lake freshwater lake before going out to the ocean.
A chinook or king salmon might spend about five months in a freshwater river before going out to live its life in the ocean, and a coho salmon will stand its freshwater river for over a year. Overund the Atlantic Ocean, the Atlantic salmon will day up and it's freshwater river for two or three years. All of these different salmon, all these different anadromous fish will then grow up out in the ocean. They grow big out in the ocean. Chinook salmon might get up to fifty pounds, sixty pounds,
seventy pounds. Coho salmon can grow up to twenty pounds out in the ocean. Sake salmon, you know, they might be eight to twelve pounds out in the ocean. Pinks are a little bit smaller, but they'll go out in the ocean until there's several pounds. Eventually the fish out in the ocean will reach maturity. Okay, it'll get about as big as it's going to get. And then it's time for that fish to complete the life cycle. And it's time for that fish to go up the river.
And they usually go up the same river to the same place where they were born, and they travel from the ocean back into the fresh water, and they go up the river and they lay their eggs. The females lay the eggs, and the males fertilize the eggs. So they have grown big and live their lives out in the ocean, and then they go up to complete their
life cycle and reproduce. In the case of these Pacific salmon, when they go up to reproduce, these anagamous fish, when they go up the river, it's the final journey they will make. They die up that river, and Atlantic salmon is able to go up the river and reproduce and it will survive. It can live and go back out into the ocean. And those are all anagamous fish. And that's just some of the anagamous fish. Other anagamous fish
that you might have heard of. Striped bass will live their lives out in the ocean, but they'll go up into rivers and estuaries in order to reproduce. The American shad is an anagamous fish. Lives its life out in the ocean, and it'll go up into a river to reproduce, and that's where it's born before moving back out into the ocean. There's a thing called a sea run cutthroat trout, So this is a cutthroat trout that lives its life out in the ocean and goes upper river to spawn.
There are some anagamous fish that are kind of surprising or maybe things you haven't heard of. There is a fish, it's an eel like fish called a lamprey, and it's what's called a jawless fish. They have little suckers on their mouth. Lampreys will live their lives out in the ocean when they're out in the ocean. How they survive is they latch onto other fish and suck the juices and bloods out of other fish, and that's what they
feed on. But when it's time for them to lay their eggs, they're an agamus.
Right.
When it's time for them to lay their eggs, they go up the rivers and reproduce. But now let's talk about that opposite. If you remember, anadamous has an opposite. The opposite of anadremus is catadromous fish is a fish that lives its life up in the rivers Okay, lives its life in fresh water and goes out to the ocean to reproduce. We only have on our continent, on our continent of North America, we only have one catadromous fish.
The catatumous fish we have is called the American eel, and American eels live in the Atlantic Ocean, so they live on the eastern side of our country. On the eastern coast of our country. Eels will live in the rivers all the way up into what's called the maritime provinces of Canada. So if you go to Maine and go north to Maine, those parts of Canada and north of Maine, they'll be called the maritime provinces. Those areas have American eels. And then American eels live all down
the Eastern coast. So you go from Maine down into New York, and you keep going down to Virginia, North Carolina, Florida. Okay, all that is American eel territory. The Caribbean Islands, so Cuba, Puerto Rico, and on and on, they all have American eels. There's that little part of South America, what would be the north east portion of South America that forms kind of the bottom of the Caribbean Ocean or the southwest part of the Caribbean Ocean. They have American eels there.
So it's a huge area that these eels all exist in, but we call them American eels. They are again a catagumous fish. So these eels are born out in the Atlantic Ocean. There's an area called the Sargasso Sea, and it seems like all the eels from all those places I described, it seems that they all go to the Sargasso Sea to reproduce and when their babies hatch, their babies just little larva and these larva are just first by the ocean's currents. They're not at first, they're not
able to move themselves. They can't swim. They're just dispersed all over the place by ocean currents, by just waves and wind and currents pushing them around. And they get dispersed and they start to grow a little bit bigger, and they'll turn into a thing called an elver or a thing called a glass eel. And these eels will start picking their way up rivers, so the same way that salmon babies will start making their way down rivers, because they're going to go live their lives in the ocean.
They're going to mature and become adults in the ocean. These eels start making their way up rivers where they travel up, up, up. They can stay in the big parts of the rivers, they can stand in estuaries near the ocean. They can go way up rivers and enter little creeks and ditches and marshes. They can go anywhere, and they'll live their whole lives up in the fresh water up in these rivers, creeks and marshes. And then later when they reach sexual maturity, they will do their
migration and their migration is down river. So in a lot of parts of their range, a lot of places where they live, they will wait till late summer and they will migrate down river. They will travel across the ocean to the place where they all meet up to reproduce, and those eels will reproduce and they will die and their babies will repeat that journey. So again, the American eel as a catasumous fish. And there are lots of anagamous fish, but the most obvious examples that all of
us have heard about are salmon. Salmon are anagamous. The American eel is catatromous.
Part two, Guess that critter.
It's time for Guess that critter. Where we play animal sounds, and you've got to guess what animal is making those sounds. You'll learn some neat facts about these animals and develop your ear to better identify their sounds in the wild or in this case, maybe in your attic too. And don't worry, we'll throw in some clues along the way. Now, listen closely, because these predatory birds are highly active during twilight, meaning they're crepuscular. They're more likely to be seen and
heard making their signature call at dusk and dawn. Both males and females make this call, although the male's call is slightly lower in pitch. The call has different meanings from marking territory to announcing the presence of a predator. If you're out in thick woods or swampy areas, you might observe them in mature trees using hollow cavities at least sixteen feet off the ground, usually cavities that were
abandoned by other creatures such as squirrels or raccoons. Or you might spot them swooping up prey anything from rodents like mice to rabbits and opossums, as well as other birds, frogs, lizards, snakes, fish, crabs, and even some insects. These birds are monogamous, meaning a pair mates for life, but they don't necessarily stay together
when not raising young. This is the sound of a male and female together in courtship, which you're likely to hear during the breeding season that runs from December through March. Now here's some rocous duetting. A Meat Eater podcast listener sent us this audio from Connecticut. It's likely two separate pairs facing off at the boundary of their territories. These critters are very territory, especially when they're taking care of their babies. Here are some babies calling to their parents.
Sh Okay, it's time for the reveal. It's a barred owl, otherwise known as a hoot owl. The barred owl's signature hood of eight or nine notes sounds like who cooks for you? Who cooks for you all. Historically, their range spanned across forested country in eastern North America, but the owls have been steadily expanding their range westward. One interesting thing about bard owls is that they don't seem to mind humans, and at times even appear to demonstrate an
interest in humans and human structures. Their tolerance for people could help explain why they're turning up in more and more places as increased human development displaces other species of owls that are more shy. Oh, and here's one last thing. There's a tradition of turkey hunters using the barred owls call to get a shock gobble from a turkey to determine its location. Why don't you give it a try?
Part three trivia And now it's time for meat eater kids trivia.
The other only game show where conservation always wins. This is a quiz show for kids who love the outdoors. Take it away, Spencer.
Today, I'm joined by Jimmy, Rosie, matthew ain, A, Mabel, Hayden, Conley, Reid, and Bay. Each player will earn ten dollars for conservation with every question they get right today. There's a potential for this room to earn up to two hundred and seventy dollars this week. That donation is going to the Land and Access Initiative, which provides more access to public lands for hunting, fishing, hiking, camping, swimming, and whatever else you like to do outdoors. Let's see how much money
our players can raise. Question one, Which of these animals would not be found in Lake Erie? Is it alligator, Canada, goose or largemouth bass? Which of these animals would not be found in Lake Erie? Alligator, Canada, goose or largemouth bass? Pretty quick answers? Jimmy, you got this one right, Yes, sir? How about Mabel? You got this one right?
I think so?
Okay?
Alligator, Canada, goose, largemouth bass? Is everybody ready?
Yeah?
Yeah?
Quick to answer? Go ahead and reveal your answers.
Aina alligator, Rosie alligator, Bye largemouth.
Bass, Mabel alligator.
Jimmy alligator, read alligator, Matthew alligator.
Conley Hayden alligator. The correct answer is alligator. A few folks got it right. The closest alligator habitat to Lake Erie is about four hundred and fifty miles to the south in North Carolina. Gators can survive and water down to about forty degrees fahrenheit, so they wouldn't like Lake Erie anyway. Have you ever seen a gator?
Yes?
Where'd you see a gator at Louisiana? Okay? I heard that the Putellis family is going to North Carolina. Are there gators in North Carolina? I don't know.
You just said they were, did I?
Yeah?
Yeah, I literally just said that there are gators in North Carolina. Good point, Mabel, the student has become the teacher. I was just testing you guys, actually, and you passed.
Sure you were.
I was making sure everyone's listening. Question two, how often is there a full moon? Is it every ten days, every twenty days, or every thirty days? We got speed answers in the room. I think they know this one. How often is there a full moon? Every ten days, every twenty days, every thirty days, Jimmy and Mabel giving each other a thumbs up. You guys like each other's answer.
No, I wasn't doing about that.
I was just saying for correcting, you know, I thought that was funny.
Oh okay. Your dad has a similar attitude.
I think.
I think it's it brings him more joy than like watching you kids grow up. If your dad can get one over on me, he's just giddy. Does everybody have an answer? Yes, go ahead and reveal your answers. Aina thirty, Rosie uh twenty, Bay twenty, Mabel thirty, Jimmy thirty, Read thirty, Matthew twenty, Conley thirty, Hayden thirty. The correct answer is every thirty days. Some of you got it right. I think we had every answer reper ended.
Though.
Full moons come around every twenty nine point five days, so about once a month. A blue moon is the second full moon in a month where there's two full moons. Because February is only twenty eight or twenty nine days, it never has a blue moon. Sometimes it actually has a black moon, which is when there's no full moon in the whole month. Have any guys ever heard the saying about once in a blue moon? Yes, do you know what that means?
No?
No, please take a gift? Yeah, yeah, exactly, be like uh, Steve Vernella wins trivia once in a blue moon. That'd be an example of something very rare that happens. Scoreboard Buddy, question that's right, question three? Thank you Matthew. This next great question comes via Joe Walcott. If you have a question you think is right for Meat Eater Kids Trivia, send it to Kids Trivia at the meadeater dot com. What kind of animal is a puma? Is it a shark, a cougar, or a turkey? What kind of animal is
a puma, shark, cougar, turkey? This is maybe the most confident I've seen the room. We may have a perfect score among us. Conley, you got this one right, Yeah, you know this one for sure.
I know this one for sure.
Okay, counting on you bet you got this one right. I got this seem to like your answer. How about Reid, you got this one right?
Yeah?
Okay.
Our players think that they are going to have ninety dollars for sure on this answer. It's everybody ready, yes, go ahead and reveal your answers.
We have any saying cougar, Rosie Bee cougar, Mabel cougar, Jimmy cougar, Reid cougar, Matthew cougar, Conley cougar, Hayden cougar.
They got it. The correct answer is cougar. That's the first time we've ever had all of our players get the right answer. Cougar's actually hold the Guinness World Record for most nicknames for an animal. They say it has over forty nicknames, including mountain lion, panther, catamount painter, and deer tiger. What do you guys like to call mountain line? No idea mountain line. Mountain line seems to be the consensus. A few of you like Puma.
I think there's a company named Puma.
You're exactly right, Phil. That's it for today's round of trivia. How much money did we raise?
They raised two hundred twenty dollars.
For of the max.
Well done, kids, Join us next time for more meat Eater Kids Trivia the only other game show where conservation always wins.
Thank you so much for listening. We really hope you enjoyed the episode. If you want to bone up on your outdoor knowledge, before the next episode drops, pick up a copy of the book Catch a Crayfish, Count the Stars. It's available wherever books are sold, and it's chalk full of activities that will turn you into a true outdoor expert. Now get outside. Be sure to tune in next week for another episode of Me Here.
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