The final episode of 2025. Here's what we have for you: Kirk kicks off the show by looking into the very strange world of insect hearing. Turns out some flies use a rotating nose to hear. Rachel is then up and she talks about the arms race between Bats and Moths. This conflict has lead to some amazing defenses on the part of the moths. Victoria is up third and she brings us the smallest animals on earth, Myxozoans. These little creatures are technically an animal (related to jellyfish) but they are missing most of the genes for the things we usually associate with animals. A HUGE thank-you to our Patrons that made this show possible in 2025!

Look, we get it. This is a busy week with family for a lot of people. If you are one of those people, we sincerely hope this episode helps you hide from family and obligations and take a moment for your weird selves. We're all in this together. On this week's show, Victoria kicks things off with a deep dive on Bats. We often think of them as predators but they are prey animals as well. She talks about some of the animals that hunt bats and then stare some bizarre new research showing that even rats have started to hunt bats and unbelievably are catching them while they are flying. Kirk then brings us the Top 7 birds that actively work to keep predators away from their nests. He covers amazing talents that range from distraction displays to essentially group mass defication on predators until they die. It gets wild. Rachel rounds out this week by loading fish into a cannon and blasting them off. It sounds cruel but the fish cannon is actually a bizarre device to help migrating fish safely fly over tall dams on rivers. Join us weekly for more strange nature. Our supporters on Patreon get every episode ad-free!  Support us: patreon.com/strangebynature Email us: contact@strangebynaturepodcast.com Visit us at: strangebynaturepodcast.com  where you can sign up for our episode emails.

Rachel keeps things light as we start off the show with a discussion of Botulism toxin just in time for the holidays. Watch out for those bulging cans. Victoria is up next and she talks about how rare blue is in nature. She shares the very few examples of true blue pigments found in nature. Finally, Kirk talks about birds decorating their nests with predator scat to keep away predators. Join us weekly for more strange nature. Our supporters on Patreon get every episode ad-free!  Support us: patreon.com/strangebynature Email us: contact@strangebynaturepodcast.com Visit us at: strangebynaturepodcast.com  where you can sign up for our episode emails.

This week, Kirk starts us off with a strange story about mushrooms being used as computer parts. he sincerely hopes he never has to pronounce the word memristor again.  Rachel brings us the tale of a group of 100,000 cannibal ants living in a nuclear bunker.  Victoria rounds things out this week with research proving that at least one species of bat can catch and eat birds all while both are flying.  Join us weekly for more strange nature. Our supporters on Patreon get every episode ad-free!  Support us: patreon.com/strangebynature Email us: contact@strangebynaturepodcast.com Visit us at: strangebynaturepodcast.com  where you can sign up for our episode emails.

Victoria starts us off this week with a bizarre story about how some animals can see without having eyes. Kirk is up next and he tells us about Fugu, a.k.a. the pufferfish and we learn about these highly toxic fish people like to eat. Their poison seems to come from a strange source. Rachel is up last this week and she tells us all why we should not stick our head into an active particle accelerator. Just in case, you know, you were thinking of doing that. Join us weekly for more strange nature. Our supporters on Patreon get every episode ad-free!  Support us: patreon.com/strangebynature Email us: contact@strangebynaturepodcast.com Visit us at: strangebynaturepodcast.com  where you can sign up for our episode emails.

Welcome to our 250th episode! Rachel kicks things off with a discussion of Carrion Beetles. Victoria then tells us about fish that can climb cliffs. Say what? Kirk finishes up with the story of how one predator uses static electricity to attract themselves to their prey like a homing missile.  Join us weekly for more strange nature. Our supporters on Patreon get every episode ad-free!  Support us: patreon.com/strangebynature Email us: contact@strangebynaturepodcast.com Visit us at: strangebynaturepodcast.com  where you can sign up for our episode emails.

What a wild show this week. Well, it finally happened. After approximately 700 topics, we finally had two hosts come with the same secret topic. Kirk and Victoria both brought the same story. Kirk kicks things off talking about researchers finding the largest spider web in the world in a sulfur cave. Victoria adds in some fun extra facts from her research on the topic. Rachel is up next and she discusses some of the weird things we all should know about the Pronghorn. Turns out they are so fast because they evolved with fast predators that no longer exist. Join us weekly for more strange nature. Our supporters on Patreon get every episode ad-free!  Support us: patreon.com/strangebynature Email us: contact@strangebynaturepodcast.com Visit us at: strangebynaturepodcast.com  where you can sign up for our episode emails.

Victoria starts the show this week with a look at the cyclops (cyclopses?). From Greek legend to modern reality, Victoria traces a few of the possible origins of this legendary creature. As promised last week, Kirk brings us the mighty Cave Lion. It seems strange but humans of the past living in Europe lived alongside cave lions longer than they have lived without them. Rachel rounds out this week's show with a snake that is both venomous AND poisonous. Great, now we get to worry about that. Join us weekly for more strange nature. Our supporters on Patreon get every episode ad-free!  Support us: patreon.com/strangebynature Email us: contact@strangebynaturepodcast.com Visit us at: strangebynaturepodcast.com  where you can sign up for our episode emails.

Rachel starts the show this week with a topic that almost made the Halloween show last week. She brings us the Vampire Squid from Hell. That's literally what the scientific name of this bizarre deep-sea creature means.  Victoria brings us the story of the most deadly body of water in the world. She's talking about none other than The Strid in England. It looks like an idyllic stretch of water but this river is deadly.  Kirk wraps up this week's show by talking about some of the amazing megafauna that lived with humans here in North America. Lions, Mammoths and Bears oh my! Join us weekly for more strange nature. Our supporters on Patreon get every episode ad-free!  Support us: patreon.com/strangebynature Email us: contact@strangebynaturepodcast.com Visit us at: strangebynaturepodcast.com  where you can sign up for our episode emails.

We've been building to it all month, it is time for Halloween and we have some great topics. Kirk kicks off the show with a topic that may have you think twice about the candy you pop in your mouth this year. He talks about all of the ways that insects end up in your candy. Red food coloring from ground up beetles, excretions from the Lac beetles in your hard candy coating and maybe some bee vomit, insects are an important part of the candy business. Are your potatoes trying to kill you? Time to unlock a new fear. Rachel gives us all a new reason to be afraid of the basement. This week she teaches us about solanine, the very deadly chemical in potatoes that can kill. What could be more Halloween than bats? Victoria tells us all about Bat Flies. These strange Halloween-colored parasitic flies look like spiders, suck blood, give live birth, and live their whole lives on bats. They are truly bizarre. Join us weekly for more strange nature. Our supporters on Patreon get every episode ad-free!  Support us: patreon.com/strangebynature Email us: contact@strangebynaturepodcast.com Visit us at: strangebynaturepodcast.com  where you can sign up for our episode emails.

Victoria kicks things off this week with the terrifying topic of Prion diseases. These bizarre infections can take years to manifest, are incurable, and can turn your brain into a sponge. Charming. Kirk is up next with a ghost story for this spooky season. Science wins out over superstition and in the end it ends up being a tale of how infrasound can affect human physiology and may be to blame for many ghost reports. Rachel rounds out the show with a creature feature on the most venomous and possibly most painful animal in the world, the Stonefish. Join us weekly for more strange nature. Our supporters on Patreon get every episode ad-free!  Support us: patreon.com/strangebynature Email us: contact@strangebynaturepodcast.com Visit us at: strangebynaturepodcast.com  where you can sign up for our episode emails.

This week's show starts of with Rachel telling us about the Door to Hell. Seems like a fitting topic as we approach Halloween. But what is it? The Door to Hell is also known as the Darvaza Gas Crater in Turkmenistan. It is a pit of fire that has burned for perhaps 50 years. It is the result of a drilling project gone horribly wrong. It reminds us a bit of the Burning Mountain in Australia from Episode 68 called "Dead Man's Fingers."  Victoria is up next with the strange fish the Arctic Char. We're likely watching speciation take place as this one fish species has an amazing range of sizes and behaviors. Due to the amazing number of "morphs" present, the Arctic Char has been called the "most variable vertebrate on Earth." Kirk wraps up this week's show with a bizarre creature feature, the Sea Squirt. This strange creature lives a double life and not even Rachel and Victoria suspect that it is actually not an invertebrate.    Join us weekly for more strange nature. Our supporters on Patreon get every episode ad-free!  Support us: patreon.com/strangebynature Email us: contact@strangebynaturepodcast.com Visit us at: strangebynaturepodcast.com  where you can sign up for our episode emails.

Kirk keeps the Halloween month theme going by talking a bit about Black Cats big and small. What makes them strange? Why do they exist? Why were they the preferred color of cat to have on ships? All questions are answered. Rachel is up next and she brings us to...the ocean. I know, we're all shocked. This week it is to talk about Sea Urchins. They are truly some of the strangest creatures in the ocean. Victoria takes us underground into a termite colony to find a strange new Rove Beetle just described by science. It physically mimics the look of a termite by having an entire fake termite puppet on its back. Support us: patreon.com/strangebynature Email us: contact@strangebynaturepodcast.com Visit us at: strangebynaturepodcast.com  where you can sign up for our episode emails.

Happy October!  We've got quite a show for you this week. Victoria kicks Spooky Month off with the Worm Pearlfish. At first they don't sound too bad but it turns out that they sneak though the anus of sea cucumbers and eat their gonads. Yikes. No thanks. Kirk keeps the ick going with an absolutely wild story about doctors restoring blind people's vision by putting their tooth in their eye. Say what? It is as weird as it sounds. Warning, this segment contains graphic descriptions of eye surgery and isn't for the squeamish. Rachel rounds out the show this week by talking about the Club-winged Manakin. This cloud-forest dwelling bird has an amazing call but weirdly they make the sounds with their wings and not their voices. Join us weekly for more strange nature. Our supporters on Patreon get every episode ad-free!  Support us: patreon.com/strangebynature Email us: contact@strangebynaturepodcast.com Visit us at: strangebynaturepodcast.com  where you can sign up for our episode emails.

This week Rachel kicks things off with a discussion of Cloud Forests. This rare habitat is found only in specific parts of the world and many unique plants and animals live there. Okay, so really Rachel is just setting the scene for where next week's strange topic lives. Victoria is up second and brings us fascinating research. Can plants hear? We've talked about this on the show when Kirk talked about plants hearing running water. This new research suggests that some plants can not only hear insect buzzing but differentiate between species of insects in an attempt to thwart nectar robbers. Kirk rounds out the show with a wild story about Ghost Sharks. It turns out males have an appendage on their forehead covered in teeth that they use to grip onto females during reproduction. We've long known this but new research reveals that they actually are true teeth that are growing somewhere other than the mouth. It gives us a unique insight into evolution and how structures are repurposed over time. Join us weekly for more strange nature. Our supporters on Patreon get every episode ad-free!  Support us: patreon.com/strangebynature Email us: contact@strangebynaturepodcast.com Visit us at: strangebynaturepodcast.com  where you can sign up for our episode emails.

Kirk kicks off this week with predatory fungus that hunts for animals. Say what? Rachel tells us about the massive northern elephant seal. Victoria lets us know about the beautiful but incredibly powerfully poisonous rosary pea that is still used for jewelry to this day.  Join us weekly for more strange nature. Our supporters on Patreon get every episode ad-free!  Support us: patreon.com/strangebynature Email us: contact@strangebynaturepodcast.com Visit us at: strangebynaturepodcast.com  where you can sign up for our episode emails.

This week, Victoria takes us to the ocean to learn about a truly bizarre creature, Sea spiders! Kirk then shares a story about the scientists giving robotic bodies to mushrooms so they can move around. Finally, Rachel takes us back to the ocean once again to share what makes Bonnethead sharks strange. Join us weekly for more strange nature. Our supporters on Patreon get every episode ad-free!  Support us: patreon.com/strangebynature Email us: contact@strangebynaturepodcast.com Visit us at: strangebynaturepodcast.com  where you can sign up for our episode emails.

This week, Rachel starts us off with an interesting question. Can bees play? A team of researchers thinks they can. Find out what happens when they gave them balls of wood. Kirk then makes us all thirsty with a dive into the roots of Root Beer. From medicinal medicine to soft drink, Kirk traces the history of this drink and the many natural ingredients that make it up. Join us weekly for more strange nature. Our supporters on Patreon get every episode ad-free!  Support us: patreon.com/strangebynature Email us: contact@strangebynaturepodcast.com Visit us at: strangebynaturepodcast.com  where you can sign up for our episode emails.

What a wild show this week. Kirk starts things off with a listener submitted story about how researchers created fake fiddler crabs to better understand sexual signaling. CRAB VIDEO: https://youtu.be/UOFtsJkiRmE?si=eWpbJzBPtIGCpb8I Our special guest Brett Sieberer then brings us the amazing story of a wasp that can consume enormous amounts of alcohol with seemingly no effects. Rachel then wraps up the show with a wild mystery in a German aquarium. Something lives there that has never been seen. Join us weekly for more strange nature. Our supporters on Patreon get every episode ad-free!  Support us: patreon.com/strangebynature Email us: contact@strangebynaturepodcast.com Visit us at: strangebynaturepodcast.com  where you can sign up for our episode emails.

What a wild ride this week! Victoria is up first with a bizarre story about how researchers looked into frog glue. Kirk then builds off last week by talking about the origins of gold in the universe. Finally, Rachel tells us about the weird history of blood transfusions and how they were initially used to cure syphilis! They are older than you think! Join us weekly for more strange nature. Our supporters on Patreon get every episode ad-free!  Support us: patreon.com/strangebynature Email us: contact@strangebynaturepodcast.com Visit us at: strangebynaturepodcast.com  where you can sign up for our episode emails.