The Reticulated Python: not only the longest snake in the world, but also the only one you could reasonably call a man-eater. A snake that kills by constriction - but how does constriction actually work? You can support the show - keep it going, keep it growing - and get additional content by subscribing at The Wild Episode Substack. Become a paid subscriber to get access to occasional bonus episodes. Even a free sign-up there will get you regular content celebrating the wonders and curiosities of the Animal Kingdom. Show notes, with photos, video and links to lots more information, are available at thewildepisode.com Subscribe to the show to make sure you don't miss any future Wild Episodes, and e-mail your comments, corrections, suggestions or feedback to help make those future episodes better! Please share the show on social media, rate and review in your podcast app. That helps a lot. Or best of all, become a paid subscriber at  The Wild Episode Substack. Thank you.  Music Opening & Closing Themes: Running Waters and Acoustic Meditation by Audionautix (Jason Shaw), from audionautix.com. CC BY 3.0. Modified versions of: Everywhere and The Past by Lee Rosevere, CC BY 4.0; Echo by Philipp Weigl, CC BY 4.0; The Companionship of Isolation and Shrouded Supermoon by Brylie Christopher Oxley, CC BY 4.0 

The Barrel Amphipod is a tiny terror for certain animals that share its open ocean habitat ... You can support the show - keep it going, keep it growing - and get additional content by subscribing at The Wild Episode Substack. Become a paid subscriber to get access to occasional bonus episodes. Even a free sign-up there will get you regular content celebrating the wonders and curiosities of the Animal Kingdom. Show notes, with photos, video and links to lots more information, are available at thewildepisode.com Subscribe to the show to make sure you don't miss any future Wild Episodes, and e-mail your comments, corrections, suggestions or feedback to help make those future episodes better! Please share the show on social media, rate and review in your podcast app. That helps a lot. Or best of all, become a paid subscriber at  The Wild Episode Substack. Thank you.  Music Opening & Closing Themes: Running Waters and Acoustic Meditation by Audionautix (Jason Shaw), from audionautix.com. CC BY 3.0. Eclipsed by Fear by Aldous Ichnite, CC BY 4.0, The Big Drop, Find a Peaceful Place and The Ganzfeld Expriement by ROZKOL, CC BY 4.0

Salps are the strangest, most extraordinary of your reasonably close relatives in the Animal Kingdom ... some of the most extraordinary animals on Earth, in fact ... fellow chordates, yet so very, very different ... You can support the show - keep it going, keep it growing - and get additional content by subscribing at The Wild Episode Substack. Become a paid subscriber to get access to occasional bonus episodes. Even a free sign-up there will get you regular content celebrating the wonders and curiosities of the Animal Kingdom. Show notes, with photos, video and links to lots more information, are available at thewildepisode.com Subscribe to the show to make sure you don't miss any future Wild Episodes, and e-mail your comments, corrections, suggestions or feedback to help make those future episodes better! Please share the show on social media, rate and review in your podcast app. That helps a lot. Or best of all, become a paid subscriber at  The Wild Episode Substack. Thank you.  Music Opening & Closing Themes: Running Waters and Acoustic Meditation by Audionautix (Jason Shaw), from audionautix.com. CC BY 3.0. Astral Longing, Tea, World is Yourz and Elevate by 1000 Handz, CC BY 4.0

The Grey Seal is a very big predator - but also the victim of a strange killer that was, for a long time, a bit of a mystery ...  You can support the show - keep it going, keep it growing - and get additional content by subscribing at The Wild Episode Substack. Become a paid subscriber to get access to occasional bonus episodes. Even a free sign-up there will get you regular content celebrating the wonders and curiosities of the Animal Kingdom. Show notes, with photos, video and links to lots more information, are available at thewildepisode.com Subscribe to the show to make sure you don't miss any future Wild Episodes, and e-mail your comments, corrections, suggestions or feedback to help make those future episodes better! Please share the show on social media, rate and review in your podcast app. That helps a lot. Or best of all, become a paid subscriber at  The Wild Episode Substack. Thank you.  Music Opening & Closing Themes: Running Waters and Acoustic Meditation by Audionautix (Jason Shaw), from audionautix.com. CC BY 3.0. Perhaps It Was Not Properly Manufactured, Cut to Rip Torn and Last Night I Dreamt I Saw True Love In Your Eyes by Chris Zabriskie, CC BY 4.0

Moniliformis moniliformis is an example of one of the strangest groups of animals in the world: the parasitic Acanthocephalans, or the Thorny-Headed Worms ... You can support the show - keep it going, keep it growing - and get additional content by subscribing at The Wild Episode Substack. Become a paid subscriber to get access to occasional bonus episodes. Even a free sign-up there will get you regular content celebrating the wonders and curiosities of the Animal Kingdom. Show notes, with photos, video and links to lots more information, are available at thewildepisode.com Subscribe to the show to make sure you don't miss any future Wild Episodes, and e-mail your comments, corrections, suggestions or feedback to help make those future episodes better! Please share the show on social media, rate and review in your podcast app. That helps a lot. Or best of all, become a paid subscriber at  The Wild Episode Substack. Thank you.  Music Opening & Closing Themes: Running Waters and Acoustic Meditation by Audionautix (Jason Shaw), from audionautix.com. CC BY 3.0. Soundwork LXVII, Soundwork LXX and Soundwork LXXVII by Jon Shuemaker, CC BY 4.0

The Kākāpō is the world's most extraordinary parrot - remarkable in even more ways than most people realise ... You can support the show - keep it going, keep it growing - and get additional content by subscribing at The Wild Episode Substack. Become a paid subscriber to get access to occasional bonus episodes. Even a free sign-up there will get you regular content celebrating the wonders and curiosities of the Animal Kingdom. Show notes, with photos, video and links to lots more information, are available at thewildepisode.com Subscribe to the show to make sure you don't miss any future Wild Episodes, and e-mail your comments, corrections, suggestions or feedback to help make those future episodes better! Please share the show on social media, rate and review in your podcast app. That helps a lot. Or best of all, become a paid subscriber at  The Wild Episode Substack. Thank you.  Music Opening & Closing Themes: Running Waters and Acoustic Meditation by Audionautix (Jason Shaw), from audionautix.com. CC BY 3.0. Fath Mo Bhuartha, De Bharr na gCnoc (Over the Hills), The Silent Grove and Reservoir Sunset (Remastered) by Axletree, CC BY 4.0 Kākāpō recordings are from the Department of Conservation (NZ) here. CC BY 4.0

The Paradise Flying Snake is one of the most surprising 'fliers' in the Animal Kingdom. How does it do it? And why is the answer to that question different than for all other gliding animals?  You can support the show - keep it going, keep it growing - and get additional content by subscribing at The Wild Episode Substack. Become a paid subscriber to get access to occasional bonus episodes. Even a free sign-up there will get you regular content celebrating the wonders and curiosities of the Animal Kingdom. Show notes, with photos, video and links to lots more information, are available at thewildepisode.com Subscribe to the show to make sure you don't miss any future Wild Episodes, and e-mail your comments, corrections, suggestions or feedback to help make those future episodes better! Please share the show on social media, rate and review in your podcast app. That helps a lot. Or best of all, become a paid subscriber at  The Wild Episode Substack. Thank you.  Music Opening & Closing Themes: Running Waters and Acoustic Meditation by Audionautix (Jason Shaw), from audionautix.com. CC BY 3.0. Find a Peaceful Place and Ganzfeld Experiment by ROZKOL. CC BY 4.0.

The Glanville Fritillary is an elegant European butterfly, the stufy of which reveals some of the hidden forces shaping animal populations. And it was discovered by a woman - Eleanor Glanville - whose own life is  strange story all of its own ... You can support the show - keep it going, keep it growing - and get additional content by subscribing at The Wild Episode Substack. Become a paid subscriber to get access to occasional bonus episodes. Even a free sign-up there will get you regular content celebrating the wonders and curiosities of the Animal Kingdom. Show notes, with photos, video and links to lots more information, are available at thewildepisode.com Subscribe to the show to make sure you don't miss any future Wild Episodes, and e-mail your comments, corrections, suggestions or feedback to help make those future episodes better! Please share the show on social media, rate and review in your podcast app. That helps a lot. Or best of all, become a paid subscriber at  The Wild Episode Substack. Thank you.  Music Opening & Closing Themes: Running Waters and Acoustic Meditation by Audionautix (Jason Shaw), from audionautix.com. CC BY 3.0. Computations in a Snowstorm by Scott Buckley, CC BY 4.0 Torn, Run, Chasing Ghosts and No Way Out by Philipp Weigl, CC BY 4.0  

The four species of Tree Hyrax are the survivors of an ancient and diverse group of animals that once dominated Africa. They now live secretive - but very noisy - lives high in the trees. You can support the show - keep it going, keep it growing - and get additional content by subscribing at The Wild Episode Substack. Become a paid subscriber to get access to occasional bonus episodes. Even a free sign-up there will get you regular content celebrating the wonders and curiosities of the Animal Kingdom. Show notes, with photos, video and links to lots more information, are available at thewildepisode.com Subscribe to the show to make sure you don't miss any future Wild Episodes, and e-mail your comments, corrections, suggestions or feedback to help make those future episodes better! Please share the show on social media, rate and review in your podcast app. That helps a lot. Or best of all, become a paid subscriber at  The Wild Episode Substack. Thank you.  Music Opening & Closing Themes: Running Waters and Acoustic Meditation by Audionautix (Jason Shaw), from audionautix.com. CC BY 3.0. Clusticus The Mistaken, That Guy's Sky Is Way Too High, Please, Not The Mind Fizz and Are You There, Invisible Woman by Doctor Turtle, CC BY 4.0 Animal Recordings from: Rosti, H., Pihlström, H., Rottcher, N., Bearder, S., Mwangala, L., Maghenda, M., & Rikkinen, J. (2023). Species identity and behavior of cave-dwelling tree hyraxes of the Kenyan coast. Ecology and Evolution, 13, e9693. CC BY 4.0 Rosti, H.; Pihlström, H.; Bearder, S.; Pellikka, P.; Rikkinen, J. Vocalization Analyses of Nocturnal Arboreal Mammals of the Taita Hills, Kenya. Diversity 2020, 12, 473. CC BY 4.0 Rosti, H., Heiskanen, J., Bearder, S. et al. Distribution, Population Density, and Behavior of Dwarf Galagos (Paragalago sp.) in Taita Hills, Kenya. Int J Primatol 45, 1426–1447 (2024). CC BY 4.0

The Longnose Lancetfish is a big, strange, predatory fish of the open ocean, whose unusual feeding habits and physiology make it of particular interest to scientists ... You can support the show - keep it going, keep it growing - and get additional content by subscribing at The Wild Episode Substack. Become a paid subscriber to get access to occasional bonus episodes. Even a free sign-up there will get you regular content celebrating the wonders and curiosities of the Animal Kingdom. Show notes, with photos, video and links to lots more information, are available at thewildepisode.com Subscribe to the show to make sure you don't miss any future Wild Episodes, and e-mail your comments, corrections, suggestions or feedback to help make those future episodes better! Please share the show on social media, rate and review in your podcast app. That helps a lot. Or best of all, become a paid subscriber at  The Wild Episode Substack. Thank you.  Music Opening & Closing Themes: Running Waters and Acoustic Meditation by Audionautix (Jason Shaw), from audionautix.com. CC BY 3.0. Ancient and The Scholar by AvapXia, CC BY 4.0