Critter Chat - Our New Radio Broadcast/Podcast

Critter Chat

In our new radio broadcast/podcast, hosts Susan Brandt & Marney Blair talk with experts about the amazing wild critters that live in the Sierra Nevada mountains and foothills.

Listen to the show on the first Wednesdays of every month on KVMR or enjoy podcasts now! 

Episode 9 - Great Gray Owl
Broadcast Dec. 4, 6:30pm, 2024
on KVMR and streaming on kvmr.org 
PODCAST AVAILABLE DAY OF SHOW

PODCASTS:

Episode 1 - Acorn Woodpeckers
LISTEN TO PODCAST NOW

Episode 2 - Sierra Newts
LISTEN TO PODCAST NOW

Episode 3 - Western Bumble Bee
LISTEN TO PODCAST NOW

Episode 4 - Coyotes
LISTEN TO PODCAST NOW

Episode 5 - Sierra Nevada Bighorn Sheep 
LISTEN TO PODCAST NOW

Episode 6 - LIVE Broadcast

Episode 7 - Pallid Bats
LISTEN TO PODCAST NOW

Episode 8 - Grappletail Dragonfly  LISTEN TO PODCAST NOW

KVMR broadcasts in Northern California and online at KVMR.org

See below for more resources relevant to each show...

closeup photography of leopard lacewing butterfly perched on fern plant

Critter Chat Hosts

Marney Blair & Susan Brandt

Marney and Susan are life-long friends having met in kindergarten and now living as neighbors in Grass Valley, California. Together their friendly banter and infectious enthusiasm for the critters among us merges facts and fun to engage the community to learn more about the wildlife in our area.

Marney Blair is a biologist and farmer. She is a leader in biodynamic composting and blind farming. She is a member of various writing and poetry groups. Marney has a degree in Biology and a Masters in Psychology from UC San Diego.

Susan Brandt is a communication specialist, grassroots organizer and founder of Rational Animal. She is a producer and host of multimedia projects and special events. Susan did her undergraduate work at UC Santa Cruz and received her Masters degree in International Communication and Development from Ohio University.

Special thanks to Cláudio Mendonca of KVMR, Lisa Bjorn and Peter Blachley. Also a big thanks to Karen Handelman for our Critter Chat theme music and Laura Brandt for our show logo design.

white fox sitting on snow during daytime

Episode 9: Great Gray Owl

The Great Gray Owl is the largest owl in California and North America, an elusive species that brings wonder to all those who have the rare chance to see this amazing creature.

A subspecies is recognized living in the Sierra and is listed on the endangered species list. Hear from the experts about this bird and what special habitat it looks for to make its nests and survive. 

Image: Great Gray Owl as featured on the cover of the latest book, The Laws Field Guide to Sierra Birds as painted by John Muir Laws

Guests on the show include:

John Muir Laws, Naturalist, Author, Painter 

Ramiro Aragon, Biologist, The Institute for Bird Populations

white fox sitting on snow during daytime

Episode 8: Grappletail Dragonfly

This prehistoric and cryptic dragonfly is as interesting living as a nymph hidden in stream sediment as s/he is as an adult high-flying aerial acrobat.

Join us as we meet an aquatic research scientist and entomologists  to talk about the aquatic and airborne life of the elusive Grappletail dragonfly.

Photo: Greg Kareofelas, Bohart Museum of Entomology

Guests on the show include:

Dr. David Herbst, Sierra Streams Institute 

Christofer Brothers, PhD Candidate, Animal Behavior, UC Davis

Greg Kareofelas, Naturalist, Bohart Museum of Entomology

Episode 7: Pallid Bats

"Pallid bats are as diverse as Californians – living in various ecosystems from California’s deserts, oak woodlands, coastal redwood forests, and high up into the pine forests of the Sierra Nevada mountains." - Naomi d'Alessio

Join Marney and Susan as the get to know California's new official state bat - the Pallid bat. Check out our youtube video to see our visit with the Pallid Bat.  

Photo: Pallid bat SOURCE: USFWS

Guests on the show include:

Naomi d'Alessio - 9th grader and bat advocate who helped make the Pallid bat the California state bat. 

Corky Quirk, NorCal Bats, dedicated to the rescue, rehabilitation and release of bats throughout Northern California.  

Dave Johnston, Adjunct Associate Wildlife Ecologist and Bat Biologist at H. T. Harvey & Associates. More about bats with Dr. Dave Johnston here: Bats & Vinyard Ecology and Uncovering the Secrets of Bats with Wildlife Ecologist Dr. Dave Johnston

Important Research Article 
Science: Bat Loss Linked to Human Infant Deaths

Episode 6: Sierra Nevada Bighorn Sheep

A survivor of six ice ages, the Sierra Nevada Bighorn Sheep, with populations documented living 300,000 years ago, is now on the endangered species list. These majestic animals struggle on in small numbers, braving the highest peaks and harshest winters in the eastern Sierra Nevada mountains. What do we know about these herds of hidden mountaineers? What are the experts saying as to their populations and health?  

Photo: Steve Yeager

Thanks to our guests on the show:

Dr. John Wehausen, founder, Sierra Nevada Bighorn Sheep Foundation

Opinion: Can the Sierra Nevada bighorn dodge extinction? It may mean reining in another wild animal

Tom Stephenson, a wildlife biologist and the leader of the Sierra Nevada Bighorn Sheep Recovery Program with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. 

Jane Kim is a visual artist, science illustrator, and the founder of
Ink Dwell. She created The Migrating Mural series that memorializes the Sierra Nevada Bighorn Sheep with a network of six public artworks that can be seen along a 120-mile stretch of California highway 395.

Additional Resources:
10 Easy Things You Can Do to Save Endangered Species

Episode 5: Live Broadcast 

As the first LIVE Critter Chat broadcast, Marney and Susan will chat about their lifelong friendship and their love of animals, as well as their creative process in making Critter Chat with snippets of some of their favorite bits from the first four episodes of the series.

Episode 4: Coyotes 

Have you had a magical moment in spotting one of these beauties living around you? Or have you heard their symphonies of yip howls? What are they doing? What might they be thinking? Marney and Susan speak with the world-renowned expert about coyotes and hear the Nisensan creator story that demonstrates just how closely people and coyotes have learned from each other by living around each other for thousands of years. 

Photo: Coyote, Marin County, California. © Karen Handelman

Thanks to our guests on the show:

Marc Bekoff, author of The Emotional Lives of Animals, is professor emeritus of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Colorado, Boulder, and a former Guggenheim fellow. His latest book with Jane Goodall is entitled Kids and Animals and is freely available at this link. 
 
Shelly Covert is the Spokesperson for the Nevada City Rancheria Nisenan Tribe. She is also the Executive Director of the Tribally guided, non-profit, CHIRP (the California Heritage: Indigenous Research Project), whose mission is to preserve, protect and perpetuate Nisenan Culture.

Yellowstone National Park, Sound Library

References and Resources

Social Ecology of Coyotes, Marc Bekoff and Michael C. Wells, journal article, Scientific American, 1980.

Wild Justice, The Moral Lives of Animals, Marc Bekoff & Jessica Pierce, University of Chicago Press, 2009.

Project Coyote

Coyote America, Dan Flores, Hachette Book Group, 2016.


Episode 3: Western Bumble Bees 

Marney walked outside to find her tree filled with bumble bees! She asked Susan if they can talk about them on the next show...so here we are learning so much about these important little pollinators and specifically about the plight of the Western Bumble Bee. 

Photo: Western Bumble Bee, Jeremy Gatten, US Fish & Wildlife

Thanks to our guests on the show:

Helen Loffland, a Meadow Bird Specialist, she received her B.S. in Wildlife Biology from the University of California Davis, and her M.S. in Biology from California State University Sacramento. 
 
Kristen Hein Strohm, programs director, Wolf Creek Community Alliance, is a wildlife biologist.

Steve Reynolds, a bee lover since childhood

Special Thanks to Peter Blachley for the use of his song and recording, "Soho Sunday Morning" from the album Nevada Sky, featuring David Mansfield, mandolin.

References and Resources

The Great Sunflower Project 

The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation

California Bumble Bee Atlas

California Native Plant Society - Redbud Chapter

Field Guide to the Common Bees of California Including Bees of the Western United States, Gretchen LeBuhn (Author), Noel Badges Pugh (Illustrator), September 2013, First Edition.

Humblebee Bumblebee, Brian L. Griffin, Knox Cellars Publishing, 2012.

Episode 2: Sierra Newt

When it's rainy and warm we start to see these critters come out on the roads - where are they going? What are they doing? So many questions about the little charismatic Sierra Newt. Join Marney and Susan as they talk to experts who are very aware, and very charmed by these long-living amphibians. 

Photo: Adult Sierra Newts, photo by Anton Sorokin.

Thanks to journalist Emily Sohn for writing this article The Newt Normal that features some of our guests on the show.

Thanks to our guests on the show:

Lee Kats, is a professor of biology and the Frank R. Seaver Chair in Natural Science at Pepperdine. To learn more about Kats' current research with Pepperdine students, visit the Behavioral Ecology Research Laboratory website.

Sally Gale runs Chileno Valley Ranch located in the rolling hills of Coastal Marin, where she founded the Chileno Valley Newt Brigade. Inaturalist is the app they recommend using to upload photos and track newt activity. See the New York Times article about them here.

Anton Sorokin is a wildlife biologist and photographer based in California. Here are some articles and research he gave us with some important newt news:

References and Resources

Newt Snake Evolutionary Arms Race in Bay Nature 

Report on newt road mortality along Lexington Reservoir in Santa Clara county

Secrets of the Oak Woodlands Plants & Animals Among California's Oaks, Kate Marianchild, Heyday Books, 2014.

The Laws Field Guide to the Sierra Nevada, John Muir Laws, California Academy of Sciences, Heyday Books, 2007.

Episode 1: Acorn Woodpecker

What's that Woody Woodpecker call I'm hearing in the forests of Grass Valley? It's our woodland neighbor, the Acorn Woodpecker! They live all around us, but what do we really know about them? Join Marney and Susan as they talk with experts and explore the world of the Acorn Woodpecker. 

Photo: Acorn woodpecker (Melanerpes formicivorus bairdi) holding a nut in its beak on the campus of California State University, Chico.  © Frank Schulenburg

Thanks to our guests on the show:

Nancy Barbachano, a 25 year veteran of bird rehabilitation,  Nancy has rehabilitated hundreds of birds as well as teaching and advising the wider rehabilitation community. She has worked with the Cornell Lab of Ornithology on an important study about the release of rehabilitated Acorn Woodpeckers and contributed to Hand-Rearing Birds edited by Rebecca S. Duerr, Laurie J. Gage.

Nathan Pieplow, teaches first-year writing and rhetoric, an upper-division writing course for engineers and science majors, and an upper-division writing course on the rhetoric of humor. Nathan has been fascinated by birds since his childhood in South Dakota, and has intensively studied bird sounds since 2003. He authored the Peterson Field Guide to Bird Sounds Western North America

Linda Tuttle-Adams, is a biologist and wildlife artist. She works as a wildlife rehabilitator and as an advocate for conservation of wildlife through public education. Linda is also a talented artist, creating over four hundred original watercolor paintings and an illustrated glossary for her seminal book: Baby Bird Identification, an invaluable resource for wildlife rehabilitators, those who find baby birds in their yards or recreational places, and anyone who enjoys watching or studying birds in the wild.

Our thanks to  the Audubon Society and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology for Acorn Woodpecker sound recordings.

References & Resources:

eBird, a project of Cornell Lab of Ornithology

Why Do Woodpeckers Like To Hammer On Houses? And What Can I Do About It? , The Cornell Lab of Ornithology

Story of Woody Woodpecker inspiration and more. Birdnote, October 14, 2020.

Walter Koenig, University of California, Berkeley | UCB · Museum of Vertebrate Zoology Ph.D. Fungal communities associated with acorn woodpeckers and their excavations
Article Apr 2022 Michelle A. Jusino Natasha D.G. Hagemeyer Mark T Banik[...] Eric L Walters.  "Wood-decay fungi soften wood, putatively providing opportunities for woodpeckers to excavate an otherwise hard substrate..."