Critter Chat

Glow worms are a female larval form of some species of beetles and in this episode we address the Western Banded Glow Worm, a California native in the family Phengodidae. We talk with biologist and commercial beekeeper Randy Oliver about his encounters with this luminous critter, their likely habitat and some of their mysterious behaviors around the Giant millipede. And, in thinking about the conditions that lead to Randy finding Glow worms in the Sierra Nevada foothills, we talk with biologist Dave Herbst of Sierra Streams Institute about the weather and climate patterns and the future. Photo: Western Banded Glow Worm © Steve Kerr

Over centuries, humans followed mammals like bear and caribou from Siberia into North America and back again to Asia and Europe several times. Our ancient myths cast bears as our teachers in understanding survival and spirituality. Ursa Major and Ursa Minor are the great bears in the sky serving as magnificent pointers, celestial guides and symbolizing renewal of the seasons.

With an expressive face, curious nature and flexible habitat, American Black Bears (Ursus americanus) are adaptable, intelligent and share some uncanny characteristics with humans. Is it any wonder we include the bear so deeply in our ancient myths and childhood fairytales?

In this episode of Critter Chat, hosts Marney Blair and Susan Brandt bear witness to the omnipresence of the bear in our culture with a chat about the American Black Bear, and specifically the population living in the Sierra Nevada, with Arjun Dheer, the Statewide Black Bear Coordinator for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. To delve into a sliver of our ancient history together, we’ll hear some astronomical wisdom from Al Stahler, the host of KVMR’s award-winning series Soundings, about the big bear constellations in the sky that have served as our navigational tools and forecasters for centuries.

Schoolteachers are encouraged to use Critter Chat in their classes with vocabulary words that include hyperphagia and rut.

Critter Chat tells stories of Sierra Nevada wildlife featuring interviews with experts in the field. Critter Chat is locally produced in Grass Valley and is a project of Rational Animal, https://rational-animal.org/

Image: American Black Bear © Photo California Department of Fish and Wildlife.

For more information, see http://critterchat.org/ or Instagram: critterchat1

As one of the first North American birds to be described in our history books, the Cliff Swallow has something to teach us about adaptability and resilience. Migrating to and from South America every year, their long journey back to California in the springtime is celebrated by many. In the Sierra Nevada foothills, they seek horizontal cliff-like structures —man-made bridges and some buildings work just fine for many — as long as mud and water are nearby. A Cliff Swallow must take approximately 900-1200 trips with beak-fulls of mud to form one little nest. Raising their young together in colonies, these quick flying birds have wide mouths to gather as many insects as possible to feed their nestlings.

In this episode of Critter Chat, we ponder the Cliff Swallow nests at Walgreens with biologist Emma Cox with The Institute for Bird Populations and take a field trip to Lake Wildwood spillway with Rudy Darling, president of the Sierra Foothills Audubon Society. Our special guest, Paule Castro of KVMR’s ZenTech weighs in with his observations as a part of the newly formed Critter Corps.

School teachers are encouraged to use Critter Chat in their classes with vocabulary words that include colonial, adaptability and migration.

Critter Chat tells stories of Sierra Nevada wildlife featuring interviews with experts in the field. Critter Chat is locally produced in Grass Valley and is a project of Rational Animal, rational-animal.org

Image: Cliff Swallow © Photo by Rudy Darling

Humans have evolved alongside snakes since our earliest existence. From then to Eve’s story and countless myths, snakes have created mystery, fear and folklore within our minds. Now in this modern age equipped with the latest scientific data about rattlesnakes, our awareness is changing towards a more peaceful co-existence.

Rattlesnakes bite primarily to capture their main meals, small animals like rodents, rabbits and frogs. It is believed that millions of years ago, the ground-dwelling rattlesnake evolved their natural rattle to avoid being stepped on by heavy hooved animals. Could we consider their warning “Don’t tread on me!” - a courtesy?

In this episode of Critter Chat, we talk with Roy Arthur Blodgett, program manager of the Venomous Snake Training courses at Save the Snakes. Roy is also the Poet Laureate of Lake County, and in our interview he eloquently shares facts and poetry about the rattlesnake found in the Sierra Nevada, the Northern Pacific Rattlesnake, and in general, the nine species of rattlesnakes found in California.

Hear some life-saving tips on how to detect rattlesnakes, and what to do in the unusual case of being bitten and perspectives on aversion training and vaccines for our canine friends.

Schoolteachers are encouraged to use Critter Chat in their classes with vocabulary words that include pit viper, venom and anti-venom.

Image: Northern Pacific Rattlesnakes, San Luis Obispo County © Photo by Roy Arthur Blodgett @roy_arthur

Why is the Caddisfly a favorite of some nature lovers? Is it their clever engineering of silk? Their essential role as stream garbage cleaners? Maybe it’s the artistic houses they create using stream artifacts, or their role as a favorite fish snack? So many reasons to appreciate this incredible millions-of-years-old native.

Critter Chat hosts Susan Brandt and Marney Blair take a field trip to Little Deer Creek, Nevada City, California with biologist Dr. Dave Herbst of Sierra Streams Institute to discuss these profound critters of our streams.

With Spring comes wildlife emergencies anew. Unfortunately, it's us humans who are often the cause of these emergencies. In this episode, we are pleased to welcome two guests to Critter Chat to help us think carefully about living around wildlife as they have their offspring. Wildlife rescue expert Christy Berger of Gold Country Wildlife Rescue tells us about the challenges this critical non-profit organization faces during this busy season, the animals in their care and what people can do to help. Then we speak with Nora Kirk, manager of Wild Birds Unlimited in Grass Valley, who outlines three important elements around our living spaces that we can address in order to best help Spring babies in the wild.
Photo: Black bear cubs by Maya Khosla

What is it about Jumping spiders that have people intrigued? Is it their big beguiling eyes that look back at you, or their furry bodies? The entertaining way they stand on garden hoses waving their arms to attract a mate?

If you haven’t experienced any of these qualities of a Jumping spider, then here is one of life’s enchantments that may await you on this wonderful spinning globe.

Jumping spiders are the most distinctive spiders living in North America and there are approximately 130 species of Jumping spiders known in the state of California, somewhere between 50 or 60 of these are found in the Sierra.

In this episode of Critter Chat, hosts Susan Brandt and Marney Blair talk about Jumping spiders with naturalist, biologist, artist Dr. Tim Manolis, illustrator of the Field Guide to the Spiders of California and the Pacific Coast States.

Photo: Paramarpissa griswoldi, jumping spider found in oak woodlands, by Ken Schneider.

Rocky Raccoon stars in Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy, a scrappy, genius, tinkering with tools to solve problems of the universe. It’s not surprising that our raccoon neighbors inspired this character as these adorably masked nocturnal critters solve the trickiest problems to access food and shelter.

In this episode, Critter Chat talks with cognitive ecologist Dr. Lauren Stanton, UC Berkeley and The Schell Lab, where she studies raccoon behavior and what makes them so adaptable to living among humans and thriving as their wild habitats have become increasingly more inhabited by humans.

For more information, see http://critterchat.org/ or Instagram: critterchat1

Critter Chat tells stories of Sierra Nevada wildlife featuring interviews with experts in the field. Critter Chat is locally produced and hosted by Susan Brandt and Marney Blair. Critter Chat is a project of Rational Animal.

Image credit: Raccoon, Lemongrass, works the puzzle box © Dr. Lauren Stanton

Our guest is acclaimed poet Una Kobrin, author of Words Between Darkness & Light, who will share some of her poems about stags, crickets, cows and hummingbirds to give us a new perspective on sharing the earth with these wonderful beings.

With the rainy season upon us in the Sierra Nevada foothills, a critter emerges to look for his mate. The Rain Beetle, a species related to the Scarab, a beetle symbolizing restoration, rebirth and good luck in ancient Egyptian culture, makes its first appearance with the early rains. Possessing a chunky body that can tolerate colder weather and “eyelashes” to sense its surroundings, this beetle lives only a few days to make a purposeful flight.

Critter Chat interviews UC Davis PhD student Kaitai Liu as he begins his journey to better understand this charismatic and harmless native critter and the various species of the Rain Beetle, Pleocoma, living in the Sierra Nevada foothills and Pacific states of North America. Inspired by his grandparents to get outside and “off the computer” to look at bugs, he is now following his dream and researching the natural world.

Teachers are encouraged to use Critter Chat in their classrooms. Vocabulary words like “lamellae” and “pheromones” are discussed to better understand the life of a beetle.

Critter Chat tells stories of Sierra Nevada wildlife featuring interviews with experts in the field. Critter Chat is locally produced and hosted by Susan Brandt and Marney Blair with support from KVMR, Rational Animal, Chan Family Optometry and Wild Birds Unlimited.

The sleek and secretive fisher, doesn’t fish or even like to swim. This beautiful mammal is a cousin of the weasel, otter and badger, living in old growth forests, having their kits in cavities of trees under lush forest canopies, moving quickly on forest floors and traveling miles via creek corridors. Though endangered in the Sierra Nevada mountains, experts use hidden cameras and tracking collars to understand their lives in order to help their populations.

In this episode of Critter Chat, hosts Marney Blair and Susan Brandt speak with experts about the fisher, a rare mammal of the Sierras, about their behavior, threats and efforts to save them. Guests on the show are: Andria Townsend, wildlife biologist and carnivore specialist, Yosemite National Park; Professor Emeritus Roger Powell, author of The Fisher, Life history, ecology, and behavior, the definitive book about the fisher; and biologist and Poet Laureate of Sonoma County, Maya Khosla, who will share her observations and references, and read her poetryabout a female fisher, who is about the size of a house cat.

Teachers are encouraged to use Critter Chat in their classrooms. Concepts like “misnomer” and “fitness landscape” are discussed as well as an explanation of National Park vs National Forest are included in this episode featuring the fisher.

For show notes and all episodes, see http://critterchat.org/
Inst: critterchat1

Critter Chat tells stories of Sierra Nevada wildlife featuring interviews with experts in the field. Critter Chat is produced in Grass Valley, California and is hosted by Susan Brandt and Marney Blair with support from KVMR, Rational Animal and Wild Birds Unlimited.

Image credit: © Fisher kit, Fresno Chaffee Zoo, courtesy Andria Townsend, Yosemite National Park.

What’s your first thought when you think of a Turkey Vulture? Without putting any more negative thoughts out there about these important birds, Critter Chat challenges you to get on the Turkey Vulture bandwagon and consider joining the Turkey Vulture fan club.

How about embracing the facts that Turkey Vultures clean up animal carcasses while cleansing the environment of disease all while possessing a sweet disposition towards humans. Consider re-thinking the unfortunate name of Turkey Vulture to be more appropriately our own Golden Condor.

In this episode of Critter Chat, hosts Marney Blair and Susan Brandt debunk myths and shine light on the truth about Turkey Vultures. Guests on the show are: naturalist Deren Ross who leads the Auburn Turkey Vulture Migration Watch; and Katie Fallon, executive director of the Avian Conservation Center of Appalachia, a certified professional bird trainer and author of the book Vultures: The Private Life of an Unloved Bird, Brandeis University Press.

For more information, see http://critterchat.org/ or Instagram: critterchat1

Critter Chat tells stories of Sierra Nevada wildlife featuring interviews with experts in the field. Critter Chat is locally produced and hosted by Susan Brandt and Marney Blair with support from KVMR, Rational Animaland Wild Birds Unlimited.

Image credit: © Katie Fallon, Avian Conservation Center of Appalachia

Critter Chat hosts Susan Brandt and Marney Blair talk with Christy Berger of Gold Country Wildlife Rescue, an important non-profit organization founded in 1991 and which continues to expand its work to help the wild animals living amongst a growing population of people in Placer and Nevada counties in California and beyond.

Berger wears many hats at this non-profit as a volunteer, treasurer and education team member. With so much abundant and diverse wildlife in our counties, she is keenly aware of the needs of wild animals as well as the need to inform the public about how to safely protect them.

In this interview we hear about the work of Gold Country Wildlife Rescue, the services they provide to the public, as well as all the critical emergency rescue work they do to help a wide variety of animals 365 days a year.

Follow us on Instagram: critterchat1

Or listen to all our podcasts at http://critterchat.org/

Image credit: © Gold Country Wildlife Rescue www.GoldCountryWildlifeRescue.Org

When the California Dogface butterfly was officially made the California state insect by then governor Ronald Reagan in 1972, the children who pushed to make that happen were delighted. At the time, the Dogface butterfly was a common sight in Southern California. Today, this beautiful butterfly can be hard to find, but thanks to Placer Land Trust, they have been found in Auburn, California.

In this episode of Critter Chat hosts and producers Susan Brandt and Marney Blair take a tour with Christy Claes of Placer Land Trust (PLT) to see these stunning beauties and learn all about them with Dogface butterfly expert Greg Kareofelas, an associate of the Bohart Museum of Entomology. They also talk with Deren Ross, volunteer and naturalist with PLT who helped discover the Dogface butterfly in this area.

Upon entering this protected land in Auburn near the Bear River, Susan and Marney share with listeners the experience of seeing many Dogface butterflies emerge in the late morning sun around a rare patch of Amorpha Californica Californica the Dogface butterfly’s host plant, a shrub in the legume plant family and essential to its existence.

School teachers are encouraged to use Critter Chat for their students with teaching notes that include vocabulary words and concepts like a “host plant” and “hilltopping.”

Critter Chat is written and produced by Marney Blair and Susan Brandt with support from KVMR, Wild Birds Unlimited and Rational Animal. Each episode features one species of the many critters that live in the Sierra Nevada foothills and mountains. Critter Chat was awarded the 2024 Jody Fenimore Excellence in Public Affairs and Community Service Programming by KVMR.

Image credit: male Dogface butterfly © Greg Kareofelas, Bohart Museum of Entomology

See http://critterchat.org/ for more information.

How much do we know about the native Foothill Yellow-legged Frog? Living in open, sunny and shady areas of the Sierra Nevada rivers and streams, they are cleverly camouflaged as they sit on river rocks sometimes broadcasting low pitched calls in the air and underwater.

On this show podcast listeners will hear from Kevin Wiseman, an expert who has studied this particular frog for over 20 years. As a biologist and scientific illustrator with the Department of Herpetology at the California Academy of Sciences, Kevin leads the popular workshop Reptiles and Amphibians of the Sierra Nevada.

In this episode, Critter Chat hosts and producers Susan Brandt and Marney Blair join Kevin on a field trip to the North Fork of the Yuba River to look for the Foothill Yellow-legged Frogs, their egg masses, and to learn about their behavior and migration patterns. Kevin’s current research is focused on several long-term ecological studies which includes the Foothill Yellow-legged Frogs, collecting and looking at data to understand the patterns these frogs go through year to year and to understand the cause of their population growth or decline.

School teachers are encouraged to use Critter Chat for their students with teaching notes that include vocabulary words and concepts like a “lek” and “bi-phasic lifestyle.”

Critter Chat is written and produced by Marney Blair and Susan Brandt and edited with KVMR news director Claudio Mendonca. Each episode features one species of the many critters that live in the Sierra Nevada foothills and mountains. Critter Chat was awarded the 2024 Jody Fenimore Excellence in Public Affairs and Community Service Programming by KVMR.

Thanks to Courtney Silver-Peavey, PhD. Naturalist Supervisor Hocking Hills and Lake Logan State Parks for her recordings of the Foothill Yellow-legged Frog audio recordings.

Image credit: Foothill Yellow-legged Frog © Kevin Wiseman

Critter Chat hosts Marney Blair and Susan Brandt interview the program director and biologist of Wolf Creek Community Alliance, Kristen Hein Strohm. Listeners will hear about the Wolf Creek watershed and some of the critters that call Wolf Creek their home.

With its diverse assemblage of plants and animals, Wolf Creek begins above Grass Valley, California, flows through the city, turns roughly south, and eventually joins the Bear River at Nevada County’s southern border. The Nisenan have several names for each part of the creek for which they’ve enjoyed for thousands of years. The Gold Rush and urban development has brought challenges to the creek.

Wolf Creek has inspired many artists and in this episode of Critter Chat will feature local composer Alexis Alrich and her The Wolf Creek Anthem. Sections of Alrich’s beautiful orchestration aurally describe this very special body of water for listeners.

Critter Chat is written and produced by Marney Blair and Susan Brandt and edited with KVMR news director Claudio Mendonca. Critter Chat was awarded the 2024 Jody Fenimore Excellence in Public Affairs and Community Service Programming by KVMR. See http://critterchat.org/ for more information.

Photo: Wolf Creek near North Star Mine, by Susan Brandt

Image credit: Bobcat © Henry Colletto, courtesy Rachel Roberts, CDFW

Bobcats are our native felines living around us in the Sierra Nevada and across the country. They are as beautiful as they are elusive — and considering how much we love our domestic cats — why not get to appreciate our native wildcats?

On this show, KVMR and podcast listeners will hear from the experts who have studied and logged more sightings of bobcats than most:

Rachel Roberts, senior environmental scientist and bobcat specialist with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, and

T. Will Richardson, co-founder and executive director of the Tahoe Institute for Natural Sciences.

School teachers are encouraged to use Critter Chat for their students with teaching notes that include vocabulary words like “crepuscular” and “pellage ID.”

Critter Chat is written and produced by Marney Blair and Susan Brandt and edited with KVMR news director Claudio Mendonca. Each episode features one species of the many critters that live in the Sierra Nevada foothills and mountains. Critter Chat was awarded the 2024 Jody Fenimore Excellence in Public Affairs and Community Service Programming by KVMR.

See critterchat.org for our show notes.
Email: critterchat@kvmr.org
@critterchat1 on Instagram & Bluesky

Celebrate World Aquatic Animal Day

Get to Know Your Local Riffle Sculpins

Raise your hand if you’ve heard of the Riffle Sculpin! This local bottom-dwelling fish is a mystery to many, but these fish can be found all over the rivers and streams of the Sierra. This prehistoric-looking fish fascinates those who study them - why are they important? Get to know this local aquatic animal - a great way to celebrate World Aquatic Animal Day which is recognized worldwide on April 3.

Scientists featured in this episode of Critter Chat help explain the many variations of this fish, how they co-exist with rainbow trout and what they have to tell us about the diverse waters of the Sierra and beyond. On this show, listeners have a special treat in hearing current research about these fish from Rob Leidy, Board President, Friends of Sausal Creek, Oakland, CA; Ecologist, Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management, University of California, Berkeley; and Gregory A. Giusti, Forests & Wildland Ecology Advisor- Emeritus, UC Cooperative Extension, University of California Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources

School teachers are encouraged to use Critter Chat for their students with teaching notes that include vocabulary words like “riffle” and “salmonids.”

Critter Chat is locally written and produced by Marney Blair and Susan Brandt. Each episode features one species of the many critters that live in the Sierra Nevada foothills and mountains. Critter Chat was recently awarded the 2024 Jody Fenimore Excellence in Public Affairs and Community Service Programming by KVMR. See http://critterchat.org/ for more information.

Image credit: Riffle Sculpin, American River, California, 2010 © Lisa C. Thompson

Critter Chat - Episode 12 - The Steller’s Jay

The Steller’s Jay, the gregarious azure-feathered bird, is the focus on this episode of Critter Chat. Steller’s Jays are hard to miss - their “shek shek shek" call and perky personalities. They are our neighbors in the Sierra Nevada, but how well do we really know them?

Steller’s Jays have long been regarded as a sentinel bird in the world of wildlife and native American culture. They “read the environment” like we might “read a room” and alert the wider world to dangers sometimes imitating hawks to communicate to other birds.

This episode features biologist, scientific illustrator and artist, Linda Tuttle Adams, who is highly regarded in the wildlife rescue world, her recent tome Baby Bird Identification, is the go-to manual for baby bird rescue. With bird nesting starting in March, she tells us about how Steller’s Jays make nests, how fledglings survive and other fascinating facts.

School teachers are encouraged to use Critter Chat for their students with teaching notes that include vocabulary words like “sentinel” and “altricial.”

See http://critterchat.org/ for more information.

Critter Chat is written and produced by Marney Blair and Susan Brandt and edited with news director Claudio Mendonca at KVMR. Each episode features one species of the many critters that live in the Sierra Nevada foothills and mountains. Critter Chat was recently awarded the 2024 Jody Fenimore Excellence in Public Affairs and Community Service Programming by KVMR.

Photo: Steller's Jay, © Nigel Voaden, California, 2015, Macaulay Library

Critter Chat Celebrates the Year of the Snake with the California Mountain Kingsnake

Starting the 2025 season having recently won KVMR’s prestigious Award for Excellence in Public Affairs and Community Service Programming, Critter Chat hosts and producers Marney Blair and Susan Brandt celebrate the Year of the Snake with the king of snakes, the California Mountain Kingsnake. Found in the mountains of the Sierra Nevada, these snakes are as beautiful as they are important to the ecology of a thriving wildlife environment.

Guests on the show include:

Emily Taylor, professor of Biological Sciences, California Polytechnic State University; director of Physiological Ecology of Reptiles Laboratory; and author of California Snakes and How to Find Them;

Kevin Wiseman, biologist and scientific illustrator with the Department of Herpetology at the California Academy of Sciences, where he leads the workshop Reptiles and Amphibians of the Sierra Nevada.

Jeannie Wood, executive director of the Community Asian Theatre of the Sierra (CATS) and host of the Chinese Lunar New Year Celebration “Year of the Snake" in Nevada City, California.

As storytellers of Sierra Nevada wildlife, Blair and Brandt offer school teachers and community groups Critter Chat for their students and constituents with podcasts freely available. Also available are teaching notes with vocabulary words and concepts for each show, such as “talus” and “skull morphology” to learn about snakes.

See http://critterchat.org/ for more links to California Mountain Kingsnake resources.

Critter Chat is written and produced by Marney Blair and Susan Brandt and edited with Claudio Mendonca at KVMR. Each episode features one species of the many species that live in the Sierra Nevada foothills and mountains.

Attached image credit:

California Mountain Kingsnake photo © Gary Nafis