Cool Facts About Animals

Learn more about sea stars (aka starfish) while playing along with the Cool Facts About Animals and At Your Level podcasts. During this activity-filled video, you'll learn how to draw the crown of thorns sea star, make an origami sea star, and hear a story about a sea star going to the library. You'll also get to see Jaguar interviewed as a sea star - aka Ulysses S. Grant. Plus, dad jokes and some holiday trombone music. Watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUZ_HnSlUZI 

Grady, Clara, Teddy and mom Ali sit down to talk about the starfish (or is it a sea star?).  You'll learn that this festive-shaped star can come with many, many more arms than you'd imagine, what important things it's lacking, the strange place its eyes are located, and about its amazing superpower. Here’s a picture of that heron and eel: https://www.livescience.com/snake-eel-bursts-out-of-heron.html Here’s a picture of a crown of thorns sea star: https://oceana.org/marine-life/corals-and-other-invertebrates/crown-thorns-starfish Here's some pictures of a sea star growing its body from an arm - https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo/starfish-regenerating.html  Here’s a link to our YouTube channel – stay tuned for our activity video in collaboration with At Your Level! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCt89IP0pdPUfvETol8qHKjg If you can answer our Creature Quiz, Riddle or want to take our Kid Power challenge, send us a message at coolfactsaboutanimals@gmail.com or tweet us at @coolanimalspod Thanks again to Miles a

In this episode, the crew shares a whole bunch of really, really gross animal facts. If you do not like being grossed out, DO NOT listen to this episode! Animals include a toad that gives birth by baby toads breaking through the skin on its back, a lizard that shoots blood from its eyes, an animal that feasts on human skin, and a sea cucumber that shoots out its internal organs. We have a lot of show notes today. Here are the promised links, plus a picture of the Surinam toad (beware this picture is gross!). Jaguar’s Twitter handle: https://twitter.com/TheRealJaguar2 Corduroy’s Twitter handle: https://twitter.com/Corduro96602363 Tongue-eating isopod post:  https://twitter.com/JimmyBernot/status/1337129154484056066 Birds decorating their nest: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1zmfTr2d4c Picture of the Surinam toad: https://www.naturepl.com/stock-photo-surinam-toad-pipa-pipa-young-emerging-from-under-skin-of-mother-image01563459.html Frogs with hair: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2300424/The

In this episode, we get pretty confused talking about opossums v. possums - because they sound the same! We sort it out with the help of Jaguar's helpful poem. We also learn about why they play dead and why it's so confusing, other gross defense mechanisms, and lots of other cool facts.  Our friends at Nature Nerds are going to be putting out an episode on opossums too! Be sure to check it out.  Thanks to Cristian for being our Patreon sponsor! If you'd like to financially support us, check out our page here: https://www.patreon.com/coolfactsaboutanimals You can find a picture of the adorable cross-eyed opossum here: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/heidi-the-cross-eyed-opossum-becomes-a-star-in-germany/ Don't forget to answer our creature quiz or do our kid challenge! Send us a message at @coolanimalspod on Twitter or email us at coolfactsaboutanimals@gmail.com  

Hi Listeners! We are trying out something new this episode, and swapping an episode with our friend Laine at Nature Nerds, a podcast in the Kids Listen family. We’ve never done this before, but we thought we would try it this time because we really think if you like our show, you’ll also like Nature Nerds. (Our family listened to the whole first season in one day.) In each episode, Laine and her nature assistant learn about a new animal through a mix of exploration and speaking with experts.  There’s a lot of humor and even a little magic at play too! In this episode, you’ll learn more about bats. We think you’ll enjoy it. If you do, head over to wherever you listen to podcasts and look for “Nature Nerds” for more episodes on animals like nutria and honeybees.  And we’ll be back soon with our mystery animal. We can’t wait to share it with you. Thanks for listening!

Do you think crows are scary? In this episode, we learn that crows are scary – scary smart! Did you know that crows can solve 8-step puzzles, make and use tools, recognize faces, hold a grudge and even obey traffic lights? In this episode, we learn all about these spooky smart creatures. This episode is part of the Kids Listen Halloween collaboration. I’ll be updating the show notes with a link to all the episodes once it’s published, or head to the Kids Listen app and search for the Halloween Playlist. https://app.kidslisten.org We mentioned a bunch of videos today: Video of the 8-step tool puzzle: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gui3IswQ0DI Hook-building: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDg0AKfM8EY Crows having fun in the snow: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_ta33bMB70 Jaguar’s music video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikzSylqEkRQ&feature=youtu.be If you think you know the Creature Quiz or riddle, or if you do the Kid Challenge, send us an email (coolfactsaboutanimals@gmail.com) or tweet us (@coola

On this episode, we talk all about peafowl! New fact for me, only the male peafowl is called a peacock. Who knew! We also give lots of info on the peacock's beautiful tail (or train), its flying ability, and some cool facts about their eggs.  For our kid challenge, we are challenging you to make a bird feeder out of apples, nut or seed butter, and birdseed. Find an example of how to do this here: https://busylittleizzy.com/2019/09/25/homemade-apple-bird-feeder/ We also mention the Kids Listen Activity Podcast - find more about that here. https://www.kidslisten.org/season-2 If you know the answer to our creature quiz or riddle, or if you did the kid challenge, send us an email at coolfactsaboutanimals@gmail.com or tweet us at @coolanimalspod.

In this episode, we talk to dragonfly and damselfly expert Dr. Jessica Ware about what makes these insects so cool. And there's a lot! Like their eyes, the way they can do math even with their tiny insect brains, how big they used to be (and sometimes still are), how long they've been around for, and even how you can try to find your own new species of dragonflies.  Thanks so much to Dr. Ware for taking the time to speak with us and share her knowledge with everyone! We love hearing from you! You can tweet us at @coolanimalspod or email us at coolfactsaboutanimals@gmail.com

Big news, listeners! Jaguar and Corduroy have made their first music video. Now, I'm not sure about the message, but you know Jaguar. Check it out on YouTube, https://youtu.be/ikzSylqEkRQ, and listen to the preview here. 

We're back! With an episode about the pink river dolphin/aka Amazon River Dolphin/ aka Boto. In this episode we learn about why they might be their unusual color, how they look different from marine dolphins, interesting myths surrounding them, and lots more.  If you think you know the answer to our creature quiz or our riddle, or if you took part in our Kid Power challenge, send us an email at coolfactsaboutanimals@gmail.com or tweet us at @coolanimalspod and we will send you a bookmark! If you're interested in being a Patreon sponsor, you can do so here: https://www.patreon.com/coolfactsaboutanimals  And don't forget to visit www.amazoninnhubandgrub.com for all your Amazon eating needs.  And be sure to check out the Curious Kid podcast! We think you'll really like it. 

On this second part to our spider monkey episodes, we have the opportunity to speak with Dr. Michelle Rodrigues, who has Jaguar's dream job - getting up close and personal with spider monkeys. (Although her motivations differ from Jaguar's.) Dr. Rodrigues talks to us about spider monkey sociality, the effect of climate change on spider monkeys, whether they laugh, and - of course - answer Jaguar's question about why they are so delicious.  We always love to hear from you! You can email us at coolfactsaboutanimals@gmail.com or tweet us at @coolanimalspod.   Thanks to Andrew of Ear Snacks for our theme song! 

It's Corduroy turn to share his origin story! Learn about how he found his corduroys and how he got his name. It involves a very famous person - maybe you can figure out who!  You also hear more about the Amazon Inn Hub & Grub. Be sure to head to www.amazoninnhubandgrub.com to get your gift certificates!

Did you ever wonder how Jaguar became Jaguar? In this bonus episode, Jaguar explains how he became the cat he is today.  Don't forget to check out his enterprise, Amazon Inn Hub & Grub at www.amazoninnhubandgrub.com 

The day has finally come, listeners. Jaguar learns all about spider monkeys. Now, the question is - will he learn to love them so much that he won't eat them again? Listen to find out, as well as finding out about their amazing tails, their calls, and some pretty gross ways they have of deterring intruders.   Thank you to Emily, our latest Patreon sponsor. If you would like to be a Patreon sponsor, head to our Patreon page here. https://www.patreon.com/coolfactsaboutanimals We have a bunch of outtakes up there as well.  If you know the answer to the creature quiz or riddle, or just want to say hi, send us an email at coolfactsaboutanimals@gmail.com or tweet us at @coolanimalspod. Thanks for listening!

What animal is so big it takes to podcast episodes to cover it? The elephant! In this follow-up to our first elephant podcast, we interview Dr. Josh Plotnik, an elephant expert who studies sociality and empathy. We talk about the smartest thing Dr. Plotnik has ever seen an elephant do, whether elephants can recognize themselves in a mirror, how they show empathy, and more.  Thank you to our Patreon sponsor Georgia! If you'd like to be a Patreon sponsor, head to our website here: https://www.patreon.com/coolfactsaboutanimals We always love to hear from you. Email us at coolfactsaboutanimals@gmail.com or tweet us at @coolanimalspod.  Thanks to Andrew Barkan of Ear Snacks for the theme music!  

We have been wanting to do elephants for SO long. Just recently, we got a slide show presentation from listener Emily that really inspired us to get moving on it! In this episode, we chat about elephants with Grady's friend Finn. We talk about how smart they are, the ways they communicate, how they show empathy, how big they are, how much they poop, and lots more.  Later this week, we will be speaking with Dr. Josh Plotnik, who studies elephants and how they socialize. Stay tuned!  Do you want to get in touch with us? Send us an email at coolfactsaboutanimals@gmail.com or tweet us @coolanimalspod. Thanks to Andrew Barkan of Ear Snacks for the music! 

Back at what seems like the dawn of time (i.e., two months ago when the kids were still at school),  Clara was working on a pollinator project for her second grade class.  Clara chose the blue-tailed day gecko. But when she started researching it, she found that there was almost no information out there about them! Luckily, we discovered the Skype a Scientist program, where we were connected to Travis Hagey. Dr. Hagey is an expert on day geckos (though he has not yet studied the blue tailed day gecko) and he taught us a lot about these amazing animals – like that they can drop and regrow their tails, that they probable traveled on the side of ... something (a log?) to get to the island they live on now, and why that commercial Gecko isn’t really super accurate. We learned a lot from Dr. Hagey, and had a super good time too.  We hope you will as well! As always, we love to hear from you! Email as coolfactsaboutanimals@gmail.com or tweet us @coolanimalspod. Thanks to Andrew of Ear Snacks for our theme music! 

This one is just for fun, definitely no learning here. Join in Jaguar's adventures as he travels from Transylvania to Washington to the moon to try to track down that rascally Corduroy. 

In this special Earth Day episode, the CFAA gangs bring you lots of cool facts about a whole bunch of different animals, including the brown pelican, purple loosestrife beetle, honey badger, dung beetle, sand cat, a headless frog, and more! Do you want to make a difference this Earth Day? Learn about a new animal and tell someone about it! Including us! Send us an email with an audio recording or a paragraph about your animal to coolfactsaboutanimals@gmail.com  Thanks for listening, and happy Earth Day! 

Hey Listeners! Happy Earth Day Week! We are hoping to get out an Earth Episode this week, but in the meantime, we wanted to direct you to the Kids Listen Activity Podcast, where we are rebroadcasting our episode on extinct animals. You can find the Kids Listen Activity Podcast here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/kids-listen-activity-podcast/id1502915722 After the episode, head to kidslisten.org/activity-podcast to find a whole bunch of activities we put together associated with this podcast episode (and over 20 others). We have ideas like building a maze out of straws, painting rocks, measuring your yawn gape and more.  Enjoy!