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PODCAST

Strange by Nature Podcast

Strange by Nature

Life is strange, naturally you want to hear about it. Strange by Nature is your guide to the strange, weird and unbelievable side of nature. Professional naturalists present weekly curated stories about just how strange nature can get.

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All Episodes

42:01

Flipping the Earth's Poles

Strange by Nature Podcast ·

2026/02/04

Kirk kicks things off this week with a wild story about how the magnetic field of the Earth has completely flipped in the past. The European Space Agency recently used data sonification to help people better understand this bizarre event. Rachel heads to South America to let us know about a new species of scorpion recently discovered that can actually shoot their venom at foes. This is the first time this behavior has been seen in scorpions. Join us weekly for more strange nature. Our supporters

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45:58

I Yam What I Yam

Strange by Nature Podcast ·

2026/01/28

Rachel starts us off this week with the strange Box Jellyfish. This is an animal you don't want to get mixed up with. Kirk never wants to go in the ocean again.Speaking of Kirk, and speaking of strange, this week he's talking about Yams. Not any old yam, this one particular species does something never before seen in a plant anywhere else on Earth. It tricks birds into helping it reproduce asexually. Join us weekly for more strange nature. Our supporters on Patreon get every episode

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39:08

Vampire Bats and Cinnamon Blood

Strange by Nature Podcast ·

2026/01/21

Hello Everyone and thanks for listening this week.Kirk kicks things off with a story about Vampire bats that just won't learn their lesson. In fact, they aren't able to. New research shows vampire bats may be the only mammal that doesn't develop food aversions after eating bad food. Rachel is up next and she tells us about the tricky Harlequin bug. It comes in so many colors and varieties, scientists keep falling for the trap of calling it a new species over and over and over again. Victoria tells

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42:51

A Six Legged Whoopin!

Strange by Nature Podcast ·

2026/01/14

Victoria starts us off this week with barnacles! I know, they may not sound that interesting but it turns out they are being used by researchers to help narrow the search for the missing Malaysian Airlines flight 370.Kirk bring us the unbelievable tale of a wasp that uses pheromones to purposefully start massive ant brawls just so it can locate a butterfly. Yes, it is very weird. Rachel rounds out this week with a look at the amazing creature, the Polar Bear. It has a few tricks up it's sleeve for

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41:26

A Zombie Cockroach Baby Snack

Strange by Nature Podcast ·

2026/01/07

Welcome to 2026! Rachel starts off the year with horrifying wasps that sting cockroaches, turn them into zombies and then lay their eggs in them so their young can devour them from the inside. You're welcome.Victoria takes on the fascinating topic of all the animals that beat us to the idea of farming by millions of years. They even do weeding and apply fungicides. It gets wild. Kirk heads to the ocean and discovers that some brittle stars are actually covered in millions of eyes. These eyes are

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46:56

The Smallest Animals on Earth

Strange by Nature Podcast ·

2025/12/31

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

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47:17

Load the Fish Cannon!

Strange by Nature Podcast ·

2025/12/24

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

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44:49

The Only True Blue in Nature

Strange by Nature Podcast ·

2025/12/17

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:

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46:47

A Nuclear Bunker of Cannibal Ants

Strange by Nature Podcast ·

2025/12/10

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

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44:01

Don't Stick Your Head in the Particle Accelerator

Strange by Nature Podcast ·

2025/12/03

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

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44:58

When Fish Climb Cliffs

Strange by Nature Podcast ·

2025/11/26

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:

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42:46

Visit the Spider Megacity

Strange by Nature Podcast ·

2025/11/19

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

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44:10

Can a Snake be Venomous AND Poisonous?

Strange by Nature Podcast ·

2025/11/12

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

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44:54

Vampire Squid from Hell

Strange by Nature Podcast ·

2025/11/05

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

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42:08

Death by Potatoes

Strange by Nature Podcast ·

2025/10/29

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

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51:19

Ghosts in the Lab

Strange by Nature Podcast ·

2025/10/22

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

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39:29

The Door to Hell

Strange by Nature Podcast ·

2025/10/17

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

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49:11

The Beetle with a Fake Termite on its Back

Strange by Nature Podcast ·

2025/10/08

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

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51:31

Fixing Blindness with a Tooth in the Eye

Strange by Nature Podcast ·

2025/10/01

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

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38:59

Can Plants Hear Insects?

Strange by Nature Podcast ·

2025/09/24

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

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