The Wandering Naturalist Podcast

12/25/2024

Our last guest this month is Lao Thao, an Outreach Naturalist at Fort Snelling State Park, who talks with us about the importance of squirrel hunting in Hmong culture. Before we dive into squirrel hunting, we wanted to give a quick history of the Hmong people, especially in Minnesota! See the link below for the Minnesota Historical Society's background on this distinct ethnic group.

https://www.mnhs.org/hmong

Getting Squirrely

Discover materials associated with a particular person or name. Includes birth, death, census, veterans graves, and Gold Star Roll records.

12/24/2024

"No matter what your interest is, there's someone out there studying it... If you're interested, go for it." - Charlotte Devitz's advice for young scientists.

12/23/2024

Squirrels are one of a few animals that often thrive in urban environments, sometimes more than in rural environments! Squirrels probably didn't evolve to thrive in cities, Charlotte suggests that squirrels ancestors already had many behaviors that helped them to thrive when the modern urban environment became more prevalent. Just another reminder that cities are not separate from nature!

https://mndaily.com/290560/city/the-wild-world-of-urban-squirrels/

Getting Squirrely

October is Squirrel Awareness Month, an opportunity to shed light on all the mammal offers the local ecosystem. University of Minnesota student Charlotte Devitz, who is pursuing a doctorate in...

12/22/2024

Our first guest this month is Charlotte Devitz, or "resident squirrel lady" with the U of M. In our second episode she shares some of her passion for urban squirrels! Check out the article below for some more background on this awesome scientist!

https://www.bellmuseum.umn.edu/grad-awards/2021-graduate-award-and-fellowship-recipients/charlotte-devitz/

Getting Squirrely

I am studying urban squirrels because they are a phenomenal example of adaptation to anthropogenic change; squirrels in cities seem to be just as successful there as in rural environments,…

12/21/2024

📣SPLOOT! Yes that's right. Sploot is our nature word of the podcast. It may be getting cooler outside, but we can remember those hot summer days watching the squirrels and other animals try to cool off in our warmer and warmer weather.

https://www.npr.org/2023/06/29/1185092056/squirrels-splooting-heat-wave-climate-change

Getting Squirrely

As climate change is making extreme heat events more common, these bright-eyed and bushy-tailed critters are "splooting" to cope.

12/20/2024

Fox squirrels are slightly larger than gray squirrels, though less commonly seen. These squirrels have some of the coloring of the red squirrels with the size of a gray squirrel! They are the largest species of tree squirrel in North America!

https://www.carleton.edu/arboretum/about/species/fauna/mammals/fox-squirrel/

Getting Squirrely

fox squirrel profile

12/19/2024

If you've ever come across a whole bunch of seeds stashed somewhere during the winter, that is probably the work of a red squirrel. This hoarding technique is different than the gray squirrels scattered burying technique and can lead to a pile of leftover food called a midden!

https://northernwoodlands.org/articles/article/squirrel-stashes

Getting Squirrely

The Latin name for the red squirrel, Tamiasciurus hudsonicus, gives us more than a hint about the summer and fall foraging behaviors of this bold… This conten

12/18/2024

While red squirrels prefer some of the more northern coniferous forest, they are absolutely present in the Twin Cities. There is lots of debate among scientists about the behavior and interactions of red and gray squirrels.

https://www.nwf.org/Educational-Resources/Wildlife-Guide/Mammals/Red-Squirrel

Getting Squirrely

Learn facts about the red squirrel’s habitat, diet, life history, and more.

12/17/2024

Take a moment to appreciate squirrels for their tree planting initiative. By burying so many acorns, they are inevitably planting a few trees as they store up for winter. Hug an oak, thank a squirrel.

https://plantgrowsave.org/appreciating-squirrels/

Getting Squirrely

Miss Bonnie McSquirrely comes from a state known for its love of squirrels. Not only the Eastern Gray Squirrel is North Carolina's official State Mammal, but the biggest squirrel "holiday" celebrated on January 21 also originated in Miss Bonnie's home state. Yes, it's SAD... Squirrel Appreciation Da...

12/16/2024

Not all white squirrels are the same. While some do have albanism, most white fur on squirrels is caused by leucism. You can tell the difference by looking at the color or their eyes - an albino squirrel will have reddish eyes due to the lack of melanin. Either way, consider yourself lucky, white fur color disrupts their camouflage and makes them more susceptible to predation.

https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/garden-how-to/beneficial/white-squirrels.htm

Getting Squirrely

If you’ve ever noticed white squirrels in your garden, you've witnessed an interesting natural phenomenon. Read on to learn why.

12/15/2024

Gray squirrels are our most commonly seen species here in the twin cities. This may change as you get farther north. The gray squirrel is typically gray in color and is larger than some of the other tree squirrels you may see.

https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/mammals/graysquirrel.html

Getting Squirrely

12/14/2024

Check out the amazing squirrel acrobatics on this obstacle course. Be careful though, you can get stuck watching these videos for a while - there are so many creative obstacle courses out there!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTvS9lvRxZ8

Getting Squirrely

NEW Phat Gus Merch here!! https://markrober.store/I started a company called CrunchLabs where we build a toy together and then I teach you all the juicy phys...

12/13/2024

Squirrels can communicate with each other and maybe even other species of birds! Check out this article for an in depth explanation of what these different calls may mean.

https://northernwoodlands.org/outside_story/article/squirrel-talk

Getting Squirrely

12/12/2024

Part of what makes squirrels so good at acrobatics is their hyper flexible ankle joints. Their ankles can turn 180 degrees which helps them climb and hang upside-down!

https://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/2023-1-spring/critter/why-squirrels-are-nuts-acrobatics

Getting Squirrely

Squirrels’ antics take a mixture of morphology, motor skills, and moxie

12/11/2024

Hypothetically, squirrels can fall from any height and be okay. Scientists think this is due to their fluff and light weight. Check out the article below for a more scientific explanation.

https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/did-you-know/squirrels-can-survive-fall-any-height-least-hypothetically

Getting Squirrely

Squirrels, in theory, can survive a fall from an object of any height due to two factors: their size and their mass. A force (such as the force of gravity) is calculated by multiplying mass and acceleration. The acceleration due to gravity on Earth is always roughly 9.81 m/s2, regardless of what obj...

12/10/2024

Squirrel tails are useful for many things! From keeping them warm on a cold winter night to helping keep their balance and maybe even slowing their decent if they are to fall.

https://www.scienceworld.ca/stories/how-does-squirrel-use-its-tail/

Getting Squirrely

12/09/2024

Squirrel nests can be fun (and easy) to spot in trees! They are nicely insulated to keep the squirrels nice and warm. These nests are called dreys! Though they often find their homes in holes in trees as well.

https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/blog/2020/06/squirrel-nests/

Getting Squirrely

Find out what squirrel nests looks like, where you can spot them and how you can help our native red squirrel.

12/08/2024

Squirrels certainly have a unique dental situation. Their incisors have an open root, which means their teeth will continually grow. This can cause problems if they aren't properly taken care of and filed down.

https://www.squirrelrefuge.org/teeth-issues-in-squirrels

Getting Squirrely

Infant tree squirrels have three pairs of milk teeth that are replaced by adult teeth when the squirrel is four to five months old.  Once the adult teeth come in, they do not re-grow if lost or removed. The baby’s lower incisors come in at between three and four weeks with the upper incisors foll...