Just the Zoo of Us

In this week's re-broadcast of an episode from April of 2023, Christian cheers for pom-pom crabs & Ellen explains what makes mourning doves so coo-l. We discuss how crabs clone their own pets, what type of milk pigeons order in their lattes, and a suspicious pattern of criminal activity. Links: For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website ! Follow Just the Zoo of Us on BlueSky , Facebook , Instagram & Discord! Follow Ellen on Instagram or BlueSky ! Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinjustthezoo

It's fall yall - time for Ellen and Christian to embark on a multi-generational odyssey with monarch butterflies. We discuss why butterflies are total heartstoppers and their style twins, real-life shinies, what's going on inside a chrysalis, an annual journey that takes multiple generations to finish, how to best support wild monarch butterflies, and so much more. Works Cited: " Danaus plexippus " - U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service “ Predator induced colour polymorphism in Danaus plexippus L. (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae) in Hawaii ” - John Stimson and Mark Berman, Heredity , March 1990 “ Comparative unpalatability of mimetic Viceroy butterflies (Limenitis archippus) from 4 South-Eastern United-States populations ” - David B. Ritland, Oecologia , Jan 1995 “ What was learned? ” - Monarch Watch, University of Kansas " The phenomenal monarch migration " - Mara Koenig, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service “ An experimental displacement and over 50 years of tag-recoveries show that monarch butterflies are not true navigators ” - Henrik Mouritsen et al., PNAS, April 2013 " Joint Statement Regarding Captive Breeding and Releasing of Monarchs " “ Is Captive Rearing Hurting Monarchs? ” - Elizabeth Anne brown, National Wildlife Federation, March 2026 Links: For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website ! Follow Just the Zoo of Us on BlueSky , Facebook , Instagram & Discord! Follow Ellen on Instagram or BlueSky ! Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinjustthezoo

Join Ellen & very special guest zookeeper and conservationist Alice Vassallo for the inside scoop on one of the world’s most mysterious not-so-big cats. We discuss differences between zookeeping practices in Europe and the US, swiping right if you have rotatable ankles, marshmallows as a last resort, have an eclipse interlude, and so much more. Links: Check out Alice's podcast (profanity warning) ! Follow Alice on Instagram ! Check out the Clouded Leopard Working Group ! For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website ! Follow Just the Zoo of Us on BlueSky , Facebook , Instagram & Discord! Follow Ellen on Instagram or BlueSky ! Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinjustthezoo

Ellen weaves her magic on sociable weavers. We discuss the three pillars of science communication, trick entrances, plane cabin pressurization, bullying for the greater good, lizard gossip, and more. Works Cited: " The Sociable Weavers of the Kalahari " - Ultimate Safari, YouTube " Kapokvoel, Cape Penduline-Tit.(Anthoscopus-minutus) " - Coerie Ferreira, YouTube “ Largest bird’s nest ” - Guinness Book of World Records “ Sociable Weavers Increase Cooperative Nest Construction after Suffering Aggression ” - Gavin M. Leighton, Laura Vander Meiden, PLOS One, March 2016 “ At home with the birds: Kalahari tree skinks associate with sociable weaver nests despite African pygmy falcon presence ” - Tasmin L. Rymer et al., Austral Ecology , May 2014 “ Kalahari skinks eavesdrop on sociable weavers to manage predation by pygmy falcons and expand their realized niche ” - Anthony M. Lowney et al., Behavioral Ecology , June 2020 “ Pygmy Falcon predation of nestlings of their obligate host, the Sociable Weaver ” - Rita Covas et al., Ostrich - Journal of African Ornithology , Nov 2009 Links: Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinjustthezoo

Join Ellen & special guest marine biologist Kristyn Plancarte for a review of the world’s wettest weasels. We discuss beluga whales’ fake six packs, the unique challenges of caring for animals who so desperately crave chaos and destruction, dolphin MLMs, how adorable animals could save the world, and so much more. Links: Follow Kristyn on Instagram , YouTube , TikTok , and Twitch ! Learn more about Kristyn on her website ! Check out the Elakha Alliance to learn more about sea otter conservation! For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website ! Follow Just the Zoo of Us on BlueSky , Facebook , Instagram & Discord! Follow Ellen on Instagram or BlueSky ! Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinjustthezoo

Ellen is blowing up about pufferfish. We discuss what pufferfish have in common with chameleons, seafloor crop circles, culinary applications of deadly neurotoxin, and so much more. Works Cited: “ All puffed out: Do pufferfish hold their breath while inflated? ” - Georgia Evelyn McGee & Timothy Darren Clark, Biology Letters , Dec 2014 “ Treatment of Tetrodotoxin Poisoning ” - Sophie Yushuo Li, Theoretical and Natural Science , April 2023 Dolphins purposely 'getting high' on pufferfish - Dolphins - Spy in the Pod: Episode 2 - BBC " Pufferfish Builds Sand Sculpture for Mating " - Nature on PBS “ Seeking a Deadly Delicacy: Pufferfish, Regional Gastronomy, and Pharmacology in Middle Period China ” - Zihan Guo, Journal of Chinese History, July 2026 “ Chefs Train for Years to Serve This Rare Poisonous Fish ” - Bon Appetit, June 2024 “ Pufferfish in China: diners lured by delicacy now country has bred them poison-free ” - Elaine Yau, South China Morning Post, February 2019 Links: For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website ! Follow Just the Zoo of Us on BlueSky , Facebook , Instagram & Discord! Follow Ellen on Instagram or BlueSky ! Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinjustthezoo

Join Ellen & special guest, journalist and writer Sharon Guynup, for stories from the world of conservation. Our guest’s career has taken her all over the world, from the forests of India to the highways of rural America, where she has experienced both ends of the spectrum of human relationships to nature. She’s been part of busting wildlife trafficking rings and abuse and she’s seen communities join forces to protect and preserve their native species. Her stories include a population of lions brought back from near extinction, a crime campus, a tiger attack, e-mails from Joe Exotic, gas station pizza, influencing entire new laws, a Hollywood celebrity cougar, and so much more. Links: Pre-order Sharon and Steve's book Big Cats , available October 6! Read more from Mongabay at mongabay.org ! For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website ! Follow Just the Zoo of Us on BlueSky , Facebook , Instagram & Discord! Follow Ellen on Instagram or BlueSky ! Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinjustthezoo

Ellen & special guest Isaac answer questions from young listeners! We discuss bug guts, milking squids, the blobfish's secret Final Form, getting upped, ancient sharks with table saws for faces, and so much more. Links: For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website ! Follow Just the Zoo of Us on BlueSky , Facebook , Instagram & Discord! Follow Ellen on Instagram or BlueSky ! Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinjustthezoo

Join Ellen & special guest, writer and scientist Dan Werb, for a look at the animal neighbors that have made themselves at home in our own backyards: synanthropes. The word means a wild, undomesticated animal that lives closely alongside humans, whether that means scurrying through subway tunnels or curling up in an old refrigerator at the bottom of the sea or quietly roosting right over your head, all of which we discuss in this episode. We also talk about a university campus turf war between dogs and baboons, the genetically enhanced Super Soldiers of New York City, villainous plants, the ancient prehistoric roots of our spiritual relationship with ravens, and other fascinating stories featured in Dan’s book, Our Wild Familiars , which has just released this week. Links: Pick up Our Wild Familiars where books are sold! Follow Dan on Instagram ! For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website ! Follow Just the Zoo of Us on BlueSky , Facebook , Instagram & Discord! Follow Ellen on Instagram or BlueSky ! Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinjustthezoo

Ellen and Christian return from their travels to review the good, the bad, and the ugly of the mongooses. We discuss the Shedd Aquarium and the Field Museum, historical plurals, neurotoxin Darth Vader, checking in with Pliny the Elder, the most "mean girls" scientific study ever, mysteriously weird pupils, the global issue of mongoose-induced ecological destruction, and so much more. Works Cited: " Mongoose " - Etymonline “ How the mongoose can fight the snake: The binding site of the mongoose acetylcholine receptor ” - Dora Barchan et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, August 1992 “ Why the honey badger don't care: Convergent evolution of venom-targeted nicotinic acetylcholine receptors in mammals that survive venomous snake bites ” - Danielle Drabeck et al., Toxicon , March 2015 Book 8, chapter 36 of Natural History - Pliny the Elder, 77 CE “ Experimental evidence for delayed postconflict management behaviour in wild dwarf mongooses ” - Amy Morris-Drake et al, eLife , September 2021 Hawaii Invasive Species Council - Mongoose ( Urva auropunctata ) “ Negative Impact of an Invasive Small Indian Mongoose Herpestes javanicus on Native Wildlife Species and Evaluation of a Control Project in Amami-Ohshima and Okinawa Islands, Japan ” - Fumio Yamada & Ken Sugimura, Global Environmental Research , December 2004 Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act 1996, Schedule 2 - New Zealand government Links: For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website ! Follow Just the Zoo of Us on BlueSky , Facebook , Instagram & Discord! Follow Ellen on Instagram or BlueSky ! Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinjustthezoo

Ellen & special guest, science journalist and host of Radiolab and Terrestrials Lulu Miller, discuss the lifelong impact of science communication, review bald eagles, and share a very special podcast treat. Terrestrials: The Trio originally aired on July 26, 2024: https://radiolab.org/podcast/terrestrials-the-trio240726 From the original episode description: "High above the banks of the Mississippi River, a nest holds the secret life of one of America’s most patriotic creatures. Their story puzzles scientists, reinforces Indigenous wisdom, and wows audiences—all thanks to a park ranger named Ed and a well-placed webcam. If you want to spoil the mystery, here ya go: it’s a bald eagle. Actually, it’s three bald eagles. A mama bird and daddies make a home together for over a decade and give new meaning to our national symbol." Links: Learn more about Terrestrials : https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/radiolab-kids For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website ! Follow Just the Zoo of Us on BlueSky , Facebook , Instagram & Discord! Follow Ellen on Instagram or BlueSky ! Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinjustthezoo

Join Ellen & special guest science communicator, infectious disease researcher, and the Khaleesi of Mosquitos for a review of some of the animal kingdom’s most controversial creatures. We discuss whether our guest would rather fight 10,000 mosquitos or a gorilla, evil squiggles and how malaria works, larval cannibalism and mosquito-on-mosquito crime, what the insectary is doing with all those soup cups and dental dams, and so much more. Links: Follow Cassandra on Instagram or YouTube! Learn more about the the Kaushansky Lab at Seattle Children's Hospital's Center for Global Infectious Disease Research! For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website ! Follow Just the Zoo of Us on BlueSky , Facebook , Instagram & Discord! Follow Ellen on Instagram or BlueSky ! Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinjustthezoo

We add another string to our bow by learning about the fiddler crab. We discuss the arc of history bending towards crab, the MogBot 2000, bad dating advice, non-orientable wormholes, and so much more. Works Cited: “ The Design of a Beautiful Weapon ” - John Christy, Smithsonian Museum of Natural History “ On the Other Hand: The Myth of Fiddler Crab Claw Reversal ” - Judith S. Weis, BioScience , April 2019 “ Sexual selection for structure building by courting male fiddler crabs: an experimental study of behavioral mechanisms ” - John H. Christy et al., Behavioral Ecology , May 2002 “ Synchronous waving in fiddler crabs: a review ” - Patricia Ruth Yvonne Backwell, Current Zoology , July 2018 “ Robotic crabs reveal that female fiddler crabs are sensitive to changes in male display rate ” - Sophie L. Mowles et al., Biology Letters , January 2018 “ Not what it looks like: mate-searching behaviour, mate preferences and clutch production in wandering and territory-holding female fiddler crabs ” - M. Peso et al., R. Soc Open Sci.. August 2016 “ Dishonest signalling of fighting ability and multiple performance traits in the fiddler crab Uca mjoebergi ” - Simon P. Lailvaux et al., Functional Ecology , March 2009 “ The effects of neighbor familiarity and size on cooperative defense of fiddler crab territories ” - Isobel Booksmythe et al., Behavioral ecology , November 2011 “ Beyond Abiotic Decay: Fiddler Crabs Accelerate Plastic Fragmentation in Pollution Hotspots ” - Jose M. Riascos et al., Global Change Biology , December 2025 Links: For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website ! Follow Just the Zoo of Us on BlueSky , Facebook , Instagram & Discord! Follow Ellen on Instagram or BlueSky ! Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinjustthezoo

Join Ellen & special guest science communicator and ambassador for wildlife Rick Schwartz for a review of the wise old wizards of Asian forests: binturongs. We discuss career paths for yappers, monkey software on weasel hardware, the chemical coincidence that makes binturongs smell like snacks, the fulfilling experience of finally being considered one of the girls, and so much more. Links: Learn more about Rick's work on his website: www.zoologyrick.com Follow Animals, Nature and You: https://animalsnatureandyou.buzzsprout.com/ Follow Rick on social media: https://linktr.ee/ZoologyRick For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website ! Follow Just the Zoo of Us on BlueSky , Facebook , Instagram & Discord! Follow Ellen on Instagram or BlueSky ! Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinjustthezoo

Ellen gets her claws out for seriemas. We discuss terror birds, reverse mullets, sickle claws, weird scenes from Jurassic Park , golf ball physics, and so much more. Works Cited: “ Observation of Claw Use and Feeding Behavior of the Red-Legged Seriema and Its Implication for Claw Use in Deinonychosaurs ” - Oswald et al., Journal of the Arizona-Nevada Academy of Science, January 2023 " Seriema - modern day Velociraptor? " - Dr. Brian Curtice, fossilcrates.com November 2022 “ Bird bounces golf ball on the cart path! ” - Alex Baggett, YouTube Audio: Guilherme de Barros Brandão, XC417496. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/417496 “ Commentary: Defining Raptors and Birds of Prey ” - McClure et al., Journal of Raptor Research , November 2019 Links: For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website ! Follow Just the Zoo of Us on BlueSky , Facebook , Instagram & Discord! Follow Ellen on Instagram or BlueSky ! Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinjustthezoo

Join Ellen & special guest, senior conservation scientist at Woodland Park Zoo and founder of the Tree Kangaroo Conservation Program Lisa Dabek, as we celebrate World Tree Kangaroo Day by putting these charming ghosts of the forest in the well-deserved spotlight. We discuss the diversity of Papua New Guinea’s cloud forests where dinosaurs still have the run of the place, life as a joey in the towering treetops, a look at what went into designing a tree kangaroo habitat in Woodland Park Zoo’s new Forest Trailhead exhibit, and so much more. Links: Learn more about the Tree Kangaroo Conservation Program at their website: https://treekangaroo.org/ Learn more about the SAFE Program: https://www.aza.org/safe-species Check out the Woodland Park Zoo's new Forest Trailhead exhibit: https://zoo.org/foresttrailhead/ For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website ! Follow Just the Zoo of Us on BlueSky , Facebook , Instagram & Discord! Follow Ellen on Instagram or BlueSky ! Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinjustthezoo Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinjustthezoo

Join Ellen & special guest, technobiologist and professor Jack Koch, for a review of the iconic crustacean known and loved by many names: the crawfish. We discuss sea hare ink, a genetically modified super-soldier kaiju battle, the taxonomic classifications of rocks, bugs and squishy bags, the perils of growing up under the tail of a cannibal mom, and so much more. Links: Learn more about Jack's work at the Aquatic Germplasm and Genetic Resources Center Follow LSU Research on Instagram ! For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website ! Follow Just the Zoo of Us on BlueSky , Facebook , Instagram & Discord! Follow Ellen on Instagram or BlueSky ! Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinjustthezoo

Ellen lets the sand cat out of the bag. We discuss dangerously approaching Hey Arnold, refusal to poop on unfamiliar toilets, blood gushers, a myth of dirty underwear, Cat Premium, and so much more. Works Cited: “ The Carnivores of West Africa ” - Donovan Reginald Rosevear, 1974. Page 396 “ Mammalian ear specializations in arid habitats: structural and functional evidence from sand cat (Felis margarita) ” - G. T. Huang et al, Journal of Comparative Physiology A , June 2002 “ Sand cat in Iran - present status, distribution and conservation challenges ” - Taher Ghadirian et al., CATnews (newsletter of the IUCN’s Cat Specialist Group), 2016 " Sand Cat " - International Society of Endangered Cats (ISEC) Canada “ Home ranges of African sand cats (Felis margarita margarita) ” - Alexander Sliwa et al., Journal of Arid Environments , March 2023 “ Isabelline ” - Paul Anthony Jones, HaggardHawks.com IUCN Red List: Sand Cat (Felis margarita) " DOMESTIC X SAND CAT AND PALLAS'S CAT HYBRIDS " - Sarah Hartwell, messybeast.com Links: For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website ! Follow Just the Zoo of Us on BlueSky , Facebook , Instagram & Discord! Follow Ellen on Instagram or BlueSky ! Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinjustthezoo

Curious about the exclusive bonus content for Maximum Fun members? Enjoy some free samples from special episodes: "All Fun and Games with Isaac," "Just the Two of Us," and Let's Learn Everything's "Frogs! II A Royal Rescue" If you like what you hear, head over to https://maximumfun.org/join and sign up to get access to the entire bonus content library and SO much more! Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinjustthezoo

Ellen & special guests, Ella Hubber and Tom Lum of Let’s Learn Everything, turn our gazes to the skies and talk animals in space. We discuss the fruit fly fan club, the great big farm on the moon, which earthlings were ACTUALLY the first to make the trip around the moon and back, a spider escape where you least want it, why dentistry researchers had a snake room, shooting tardigrades out of a gun, and so much more. This one is truly out of this world. Works Cited & Further Reading: "Bioastronautics Research" video "This New Ocean: A History of Project Mercury" - Loyd S. Swenson, Jr., James M. Grimwood, Charles C. Alexander, NASA SP-4201 "Judith's Web - Student Experiment Aboard Skylab 3" - NASA.gov “ URODELEAN AMPHIBIANS IN STUDIES ON MICROGRAVITY: EFFECTS UPON ORGAN AND TISSUE REGENERATION ” - E.N. Grigoryan et al., Adv. Space Res, 2002 " From Undersea to Outer Space: The STS-40 Jellyfish Experiment " - NASA STI Program " For water bears, the glass is all full " - Tina Hesman Saey, Science News , December 2015 " Tardigrades survive exposure to space in low Earth orbit " - K. Ingemar Jonsson et al., Current Biology , September 2008 " What happened to those tardigrades sent to the Moon? " - Laurent Palka, The Conversation , February 2024 " Tardigrade Survival Limits in High-Speed Impacts—Implications for Panspermia and Collection of Samples from Plumes Emitted by Ice Worlds " - Alejandra Traspas & Mark J. Burchell, Astrobiology , July 2021 Links: Support our shows with your membership during the MaxFunDrive ! Check out Let's Learn Everything ! For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website ! Follow Just the Zoo of Us on BlueSky , Facebook , Instagram & Discord! Follow Ellen on Instagram or BlueSky ! Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinjustthezoo