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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.
Episodes
May 28, 2025
May 28, 2025
46 min
This week, Victoria starts us off with a discussion probably not suitable for all ages by talking about the massive penis of the Serotine Bat. It's a lot to take in.
Kirk then shares the remarkable story of a palm tree that both flowers and fruits completely underground.
Rachel rounds out this week's show talking about the fastest moving predatory appendage in the animal kingdom. The jaws of the Trap Jaw ant closes at 143 mph.
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May 21, 2025
May 21, 2025
40 min
Rachel kicks off this week show with the strange colonial creatures of the sea known as "By the Wind Sailors."
Victoria makes us all a bit uncomfortable talking about giant bird-eating spiders.
Kirk encourages us to smack rocks with hammers as he explains the mysterious Ringing Rocks of Pennsylvania.
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.
May 14, 2025
May 14, 2025
38 min
Kirk tells us about how scientists finally discovered the identity of a frog that had puzzled the scientific community for 80 years.
Rachel tells us all about the Binturong, the bizarre bearcat that smells like buttered popcorn.
In a salute to Mother's Day, Victoria tells us about the truly strange Sea Hares and her mom's research connection to them.
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.
May 7, 2025
May 7, 2025
39 min
Anyone fancy a yawn? Victoria did some investigation into the strange phenomenon of social yawning. Are yawns really contagious?
Kirk then brings us the story of the Bone Collector Moth. When it is a caterpillar, it creates a disguise by gluing dead bodies to itself. Yikes.
Rachel rounds out the show with brand new research showing that sharks can make sounds!
Join us weekly for more strange nature. Our supporters on Patreon get every episode ad free!
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Email us: contact@strangebynaturepodcast.com
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Apr 30, 2025
Apr 30, 2025
30 min
Victoria talks about the amazing tropical super-canopy tree the Almendro that actually seem to attract lightening in order to kill off the trees around them. Talk about a bad neighbor!
Kirk then brings us the strange story of the Ruff, a shorebird with three distinct versions of males. They each have their own distinct plumage and role in the mating dance. One of them even disguises itself as a female!
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
Apr 23, 2025
Apr 23, 2025
30 min
Kirk blows our minds with the age of Bristlecone Pines. Did you know there are living trees that predate the invention of written language?
Victoria then has a doozy of a story about White-throated sparrows developing a new secondary sex chromosome. This bizarre occurrence means there are technically four different sexes of this bird instead of the regular two.
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Email us: contact@strangebynaturepodcast.com
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Apr 16, 2025
Apr 16, 2025
42 min
Victoria starts us off this week with the surprising reason that blue-eyed white cats are often deaf. The reason is truly bizarre.
Kirk brings us the story of an amazing adaption recently discovered in Hummingbirds. Researchers just discovered that the White-necked Jacobin have babies who's feathers perfectly mimic dangerous caterpillars in order to scare away predators.
Rachel rounds out this week with a discussion of the tallest trees in the world, the coastal redwoods.
Join us weekly for more strange nature. Our supporters on Patreon get every episode ad free!
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Email us: contact@strangebynaturepodcast.com
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Apr 9, 2025
Apr 9, 2025
38 min
Rachel is up first this week with a lighthearted study that investigated why banana peels are so slippery when stepped on.
Victoria then swerves into Rachel's lane and takes us to Australia to investigate the origin of the Dingo.
Kirk is up last and brings us the story of a newly discovered wasp from millions of years ago that had an amazing adaptation for trapping insects like a venus flytrap.
Join us weekly for more strange nature. Our supporters on Patreon get every episode ad free!
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Apr 2, 2025
Apr 2, 2025
34 min
Are you ready for another wild episode? This week we have three wonderful stories for you.
Kirk goes first with the astounding story of archerfish that not only have an amazing hunting adaptation but researchers just showed they can remember and pick out a human face when presented with over 40 options. Simply stunning. Who said fish have a bad memory?
Rachel is up new with an update on one of the most dangerous spiders in the world, the Sydney Funnel Web Spider. The venom can kill a human in as little as 15 minutes. No thanks.
Victoria wraps up the show this week with an amazing story of inter-species hunting cooperation all orchestrated by the Big Blue Octopus.
Join us weekly for more strange nature. Our supporters on Patreon get every episode ad free!
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Email us: contact@strangebynaturepodcast.com
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Mar 27, 2025
Mar 27, 2025
36 min
Here's your weekly dose of weird.
Up first, Victoria revisits slime molds so she can tell us about a truly massive single cell organism.
Kirk is up next answers the question, snakes can be venomous but can they be poisonous? We get to the bottom of this sneaky snake question.
Rachel rounds out this week's show with a truly strange bird, the horned screamer. Find out all about it and hear the funky sounds it can make.
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