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PODCAST

Quirky Creepy and Freaky

Come along with Olivia Streit as we journey through the animal kingdom and investigate different animal traits that are quirky, creepy, or just plain freaky!

science nature

All Episodes

20:11

Episode 70: Super Scary Toxic Worms

Quirky Creepy and Freaky ·

2025/11/03

Happy Halloween! We have another invasive species today, and one that catches the headlines every so often: Hammerhead worms. These are pretty distinctive worms, but turns out they might not be as bad as the headlines make them seem? Tune in to learn more about these snazzy flatworms, the truth behind the headlines, and what to do if you see one. Case study on hammerhead worm misinformation: https://www.scielo.br/j/rsbmt/a/GyhLXXmcJcbrqk7C3tzD49p/?lang=en

en

22:47

Episode 69: Beware the Anti-Beaver

Quirky Creepy and Freaky ·

2025/10/12

And we're back! October is here, and it's spooky scary invasive species month on the podcast, and this episode we're kicking it off with the nutria. This semi-aquatic rodent is an introduced species in the United States, and wreaks havoc on the wetlands it lives in. Tune in to learn about where it came from, the surprising impacts a rodent can have on the ecosystem, and what we can do to help. And mild correction, the Invasive Species Centre is in Canada, not California, though I'm sure

en

20:25

Episode 68: Chemicals turn the frogs gay...or trans?

Quirky Creepy and Freaky ·

2025/06/14

If you've spent time on the internet in the last 10 years, you've probably heard about the "adding chemicals to the water to turn the frogs gay" rant that became a meme. Today, we're talking about the paper that started it all, and turns out the truth is quite a bit different, and triggered a rabbit hole of how do frogs develop male or female and the fact that we don't entirely know!

en

24:58

Episode 67: Blue Crabs: Into the Unknown

Quirky Creepy and Freaky ·

2025/05/18

After a month's delay after an injury, and now three takes, the blue crab episode didn't want to happen, but it's finally here! In this episode, I babble about the blue crab's expanding range both in the Northeast, and its expansion in its non-native range in the Mediterranean Sea! Action alert: The Trump administration wants to change the Endangered Species Act to remove the harm definition and take away the bit where habitat modification counts as harm. The comment period is open for 2 more

en

21:34

Episode 66: History of the National Parks

Quirky Creepy and Freaky ·

2025/03/28

Despite angry sinuses and a glitching microphone, I bring you the history of the National Park Service! Have you ever wondered how the national park system got started, and when the national parks started being created? Or why park rangers wear such cool hats? All of your questions are answered in this week's episode!

en

32:31

Stand up for Science

Quirky Creepy and Freaky ·

2025/03/07

On March 7, the group Stand up for Science has organized protests around the country to rally for science. In the last month, federal funding has been frozen, grants aren't being reviewed, and most recently grants are starting to be pulled. This is funding that covers people's salaries, supports local fishermen, helps fund hospitals, and universities, gives funding for graduate student positions, funds cancer research, and more. This episode is my stream of consciousness about what all has been

en

25:07

Episode 65: To be a crab or not to be a crab

Quirky Creepy and Freaky ·

2025/02/15

Do you ever think about how crabs evolved 5 times? Do you need more crab facts in your life? Then this episode is for you! In this episode, we talk about carcinization and the phenomenon behind crabs evolution. Paper mentioned in the episode about what it means to be a crab: Evolution of crabs - History and deconstruction of a prime example of convergence. Scholtz, 2014

en

14:54

Episode 64: Christmas Worms

Quirky Creepy and Freaky ·

2024/12/22

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! 'Tis the season for some festive animals, and of course we all think about worms when we're looking to get into the holiday spirit. For this holiday special, we're talking all about the Christmas Tree Worm, a fun little polychaete worm in the coral reefs. How do they get their name? How old do they get? Are they festive? Tune in to find out!

en

22:09

Episode 63: Spiders in disguise

Quirky Creepy and Freaky ·

2024/10/13

Camouflage is common in the animal world, but what about mimicry? Ant mimicry is surprisingly common, so in this episode, we talk about a few of the many animals that pretend to be ants! I highlight a few species of jumping spider that pretend to be ants, but also a snail that figured out how to join army ant colonies!

en

33:12

Episode 62: Octopuses Dream of Punching Fish

Quirky Creepy and Freaky ·

2024/06/29

Today we're finally talking about dreams! We dream, but do other critters dream? Does your cat dream? Do platypuses dream? What about octopuses? Perhaps spiders? We'll talk about all of these questions! Learn a little bit more about dreams, which other animals dream, and what animals don't dream!

en

25:30

Episode 61: You've Got a Friend In Me

Quirky Creepy and Freaky ·

2024/02/13

We're back! Did you know about sea cucumbers? Did you know sea cucumbers sometimes have some fishy friends? Now you do! Tune on in to hear about sea cucumbers, some ramblings about their cousins, and the fishy friend that lives with them in one of the stranger of the symbiotic relationships in the ocean.

en

17:56

Episode 60:The Science Behind the Purr

Quirky Creepy and Freaky ·

2023/12/14

We know why cats purr, but do we really know HOW cats purr? After a new paper was released in early November, now we do! Or at least we have some new insight into it. Tune in to learn more about cats, the aerodynamics behind your cat's purr, some new cat discoveries, and find out the nitty gritty behind how cats make their purring sounds.Sources: Herbst, C.T, Prigge, T., Garcia, M., Hampala, V., Hofer, R., Weissengruber G.E., Svec, J.G., Fitch W.T. 2023. Domestic cat larynges can produce purring

en

21:01

Episode 59: Butterflies That Have Parasites That Have...

Quirky Creepy and Freaky ·

2023/10/17

What happens when you introduce a species of butterfly to a new island, and not one, but two new wasps also show up? A parasitic wasp version of nesting dolls! For our Halloween episode, we're talking about some butterfly body snatchers who also have body snatchers; a butterfly's parasitic wasp also has a parasitic wasp! Tune in to learn how one caterpillar can have two hidden parasitoids at once, just how tiny a wasp can be, and who the Glanville Fritillary Butterfly was named after!

en

20:15

Episode 58:The Jellyfish are Learning!

Quirky Creepy and Freaky ·

2023/10/01

Can jellyfish learn despite not having a brain? This week we're talking about a recently published paper providing evidence that box jellyfish are capable of types of learning previously thought to require, well, a brain! Tune in to learn more about box jellyfish, their nervous systems, and what sorts of things a jellyfish can learn! The paper: Bielecki, J., Nielsen, S.K.D., Nachman, G., and Garm, A. 2023. Associative learning in the box jellyfish Tripedalia cystophora. Current Biology 33,

en

20:45

Episode 57: Send Newts

Quirky Creepy and Freaky ·

2023/09/16

It's a good time of year for newt finding! This week we're talking all about our little Eastern Newt and other salamander friends. Have you ever wondered what makes a newt different from a salamander? Tune in to find out!

en

30:26

Episode 56: Science of Sleep

Quirky Creepy and Freaky ·

2023/09/05

Have you ever wondered what triggers the feeling of sleepiness at night? Or what about what happens while you're sleeping? This episode is all about the cycles of sleep: what the different stages of sleep there are, and how we cycle through them, and the circadian rhythms we have that cycle us through these sleep-wake patterns every day.

en

22:49

Episode 55: Masters of Disguise: Spider Edition

Quirky Creepy and Freaky ·

2023/08/21

Cuttlefish can change colors to instantly blend in, a lot of animals have color patterns to disappear into their typical surroundings, but did you know that some spiders can change color too? This week we talk about the goldenrod crab spider, whose camouflage abilities help them to disappear on meadow flowers so they can nab their prey and hide from predators. Tune in to hear about the color-changing abilities of the goldenrod crab spider and the surprising ways they use prey pigments along with

en

26:27

Episode 54: Coral Bleaching in a Hot Tub Ocean

Quirky Creepy and Freaky ·

2023/08/07

In July, Florida experienced record high water temperatures, causing mass coral bleaching and mass mortality events. But what happens when coral bleaches? Is a bleached coral a dead coral? What causes coral bleaching? We're going to cover all of it! Tune in to learn about corals, and how current events sure are stressing them out enough that they just bleach and turn white. To see footage of the bleaching event around the Florida Keys:

en

22:21

Episode 53: Sea Anemones: A Hermit Crab’s Best Friend

Quirky Creepy and Freaky ·

2023/07/24

This week, we have hermit crabs and the special relationship they have with sea anemones! Or, at least some sea anemone species. Tune in this week to learn about hermit crabs and the sea anemones that some of them like to carry on their shells, and why they carry around sea anemones in the first place! You'll also learn about sea anemones that can help the shell grow with the hermit crab. So many hermit crab and anemone fun facts!

en

18:47

Episode 52: The Cookiecutter of the Sea

Quirky Creepy and Freaky ·

2023/07/10

Welcome to shark month! This episode, we talk about the shark at the base of mysteries for centuries, the cookiecutter shark! We talk about how this shark is not only responsible for many bites on marine animals, but is also responsible for damaging nuclear submarines!

en

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