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BewilderBeasts!
BewilderBeasts!

BewilderBeasts!

Host Melissa McCue-McGrath dives deep into the weirdest, funniest, sciency-est ways in which animals intersect at humanity. How is a horse responsible for the FDA? How did fish farts nearly cause bombs to fly between Russia and Sweden? Which pigeon saved 194 soldiers in WW1? Why are honey bees trained to find unexploded landmines in Croatia? Let's go!

Available Episodes 10

First aired: Sept 13, 2022

As promised - this week there was just TOO MUCH to put in a main feed episode. The Unkindness episode was really, really long. This 10-minute tangent was added after the Queen of England died last week and her son, Charles, ascended to the throne, assuming the name "King Charles III", but then promptly had to cut because of time. Also, it didn't fit as well as I had hoped, and I wanted to get to the buffet menu for the ravens.

So, we look at what legacy he's looking to satisfy by taking the name Charles III (eeek, it's not great), and a little more tie-in to Charles' tie-in to environmental issues.

All resources at episode 73, The Unkindness

Support the Show.

Intro/Outtro music: Tiptoe Out The Back - Dan Liebowicz
Interstitial Music: MK2
Additional music: Freesound.com, Pixabay.org

Instagram: @EggAndNugget (chicken stan account) or @MelissaMcCueMcGrath
Website: BewilderBeastsPod.com
Support the Show and get stuff! Patreon.com/BewilderbeastsPod
Your host, Melissa McCue-McGrath is an author, dog trainer, and behavior consultant in Southern Maine. She'll talk about dogs all day if you let her. You've been warned :)


First aired July 28, 2022

A bunch of stitchin' women in a Washington Women's Correctional Facility who have put their knitting needles to good use - helping the chickens who helped them in jail, plus some other unusual animals who find themselves behind bars. 

Support the Show.

Intro/Outtro music: Tiptoe Out The Back - Dan Liebowicz
Interstitial Music: MK2
Additional music: Freesound.com, Pixabay.org

Instagram: @EggAndNugget (chicken stan account) or @MelissaMcCueMcGrath
Website: BewilderBeastsPod.com
Support the Show and get stuff! Patreon.com/BewilderbeastsPod
Your host, Melissa McCue-McGrath is an author, dog trainer, and behavior consultant in Southern Maine. She'll talk about dogs all day if you let her. You've been warned :)


First Aired on Dec 25, 2022

When a farmer in small-town St. Severe, Quebec, noticed 20 head of cattle broke through a fence during a thunderstorm, he thought, "Easy. I'll just get them back."

Listener. He did not "just get them back." It's been 5 months and these uncatchable ungulates are now terrorizing the neighboring town of St. Barnabee.


Resources for today's episode:
https://thecanadaguide.com/basics/money/

https://www.saint-severe.ca/

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/12/1/herd-of-fugitive-cows-frustrates-tiny-village-in-canada

https://globalnews.ca/news/9357994/four-cows-have-been-captured-in-a-small-quebec-town-after-months-on-the-loose/

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/cows-captured-after-months-on-the-loose-1.6690530

https://www.wsj.com/articles/fugitive-cows-in-quebec-elude-captors-and-inspire-a-following-11671464755

https://www.tiktok.com/@matnessmtl Mathieu Murphy-Perron's TikTok where you can also follow #TeamCow hashtag and updates as they happen : )  Also, buy a shirt!

https://www.redbubble.com/people/MatnessMtl/shop (buy the Wild, Dirty, Free shirt and others!)

Support the Show.

Intro/Outtro music: Tiptoe Out The Back - Dan Liebowicz
Interstitial Music: MK2
Additional music: Freesound.com, Pixabay.org

Instagram: @EggAndNugget (chicken stan account) or @MelissaMcCueMcGrath
Website: BewilderBeastsPod.com
Support the Show and get stuff! Patreon.com/BewilderbeastsPod
Your host, Melissa McCue-McGrath is an author, dog trainer, and behavior consultant in Southern Maine. She'll talk about dogs all day if you let her. You've been warned :)


First Aired June 8, 2022

Rich Strike won the Kentucky Derby with 80-1 odds - meaning out of every 81 races, he's thought to win ONE. Well, he won the Kentucky Derby. If you're going to win a horse race, that's the one to win! Today, we dive deeper into Rich Strike's inspiring underdog win, and investigate a few other longshot winners in horse racing who made a few people some pretty pennies. Let's GO!

*************************

I got today’s information from:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rich_Strike

https://edge.twinspires.com/racing/top-10-fastest-kentucky-derby-times-in-history/

https://theathletic.com/3299361/2022/05/07/long-shot-rich-strike-wins-kentucky-derby/ 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donerail

https://www.espn.com/horse-racing/story/_/id/14454980/rb-wild-promise-one-longest-shots-horse-racing-history-206-1-wins-mahoning-valley-race-track

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWDGFQDa_As

Support the Show.

Intro/Outtro music: Tiptoe Out The Back - Dan Liebowicz
Interstitial Music: MK2
Additional music: Freesound.com, Pixabay.org

Instagram: @EggAndNugget (chicken stan account) or @MelissaMcCueMcGrath
Website: BewilderBeastsPod.com
Support the Show and get stuff! Patreon.com/BewilderbeastsPod
Your host, Melissa McCue-McGrath is an author, dog trainer, and behavior consultant in Southern Maine. She'll talk about dogs all day if you let her. You've been warned :)


First aired June 22, 2023: 

Two sisters combined their love of historically accurate dioramas, the Civil War, and clay-making to pen an ode to the US in one of the most historically significant cities in the United States. They even purchased a building with deep roots in the aftermath of the Battle of Gettysburg to bring the stories of the dead to life. But, the clay characters aren't human - they are a different species entirely telling the accurate tale of the bloodiest battle of the civil war. 

A diorama of the Civil War Cat Museum: https://youtu.be/N1yc1UFnVYY

I got today’s information from my friend Lydia who sent a Tik Tok about the Civil War Cat’s museum, which is actually called Civil War Tails 


https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/gettysburg-address/

https://civilwartails.com/the-homestead/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1yc1UFnVYY

https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/museums/theres-a-museum-for-everything-even-civil-war-battles--depicted-by-cats/2016/05/26/1f8c4674-1d30-11e6-8c7b-6931e66333e7_story.html

https://civilwartails.com/

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/civil-war-tails-at-the-homestead-diorama-museum

https://www.achs-pa.org/news-events/achsblog.html/article/2020/07/08/national-soldiers-orphans-homestead

https://www.nps.gov/gett/index.htm

The full text of the Gettysburg Address, took up less space on a page than my 5th grader’s 5 paragraph essay, is at: 

https://www.loc.gov/resource/rbpe.24404500/?st=text





Support the Show.

Intro/Outtro music: Tiptoe Out The Back - Dan Liebowicz
Interstitial Music: MK2
Additional music: Freesound.com, Pixabay.org

Instagram: @EggAndNugget (chicken stan account) or @MelissaMcCueMcGrath
Website: BewilderBeastsPod.com
Support the Show and get stuff! Patreon.com/BewilderbeastsPod
Your host, Melissa McCue-McGrath is an author, dog trainer, and behavior consultant in Southern Maine. She'll talk about dogs all day if you let her. You've been warned :)


First aired July 2023: 
In 1912 when the "adventurer" was a job description & also an alibi, two brothers took their dogs on a road trip - before roads existed.

These brothers loved their dogs and hated shirts but that didn't stop them from circumnavigating Australia several times by bike and car - often digging their own roads IN THE OUTBACK!



Resources (Hey, look, I remembered!)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Birtles  which includes THE photo I keep referencing

https://www.whichcar.com.au/explore/francis-birtles-australias-greatest-overlander (the awesome WhichCar.com article by the Moons that I heavily quoted)

https://www.cartalk.com/blogs/fido-blog/wowser-and-dinkums-australian-road-trip (the article from CarTalk that Sip and I wrote)

Photos of Wowser (which is a name that has been on a journey), Francis and Clive are attached.


Francis digging out a car without a shirt.jpg


Clive and Wowser.jpg


The Shirtless Francis Birtles.png

Support the Show.

Intro/Outtro music: Tiptoe Out The Back - Dan Liebowicz
Interstitial Music: MK2
Additional music: Freesound.com, Pixabay.org

Instagram: @EggAndNugget (chicken stan account) or @MelissaMcCueMcGrath
Website: BewilderBeastsPod.com
Support the Show and get stuff! Patreon.com/BewilderbeastsPod
Your host, Melissa McCue-McGrath is an author, dog trainer, and behavior consultant in Southern Maine. She'll talk about dogs all day if you let her. You've been warned :)


This Patreon Exclusive episode (#2)  first aired on August 4, 2021. 

This is a fun turn I never saw coming, that Pikachu is based on a squirrel and there are new species of real animals named after fictional Pokethings. My favorite? An animal called a Pika who survives on ...yak poop. Why didn't they show THAT in the kid's show? 

Regular episodes will resume in September, but for now, enjoy your Patreon exclusive content!

Support the Show.

Intro/Outtro music: Tiptoe Out The Back - Dan Liebowicz
Interstitial Music: MK2
Additional music: Freesound.com, Pixabay.org

Instagram: @EggAndNugget (chicken stan account) or @MelissaMcCueMcGrath
Website: BewilderBeastsPod.com
Support the Show and get stuff! Patreon.com/BewilderbeastsPod
Your host, Melissa McCue-McGrath is an author, dog trainer, and behavior consultant in Southern Maine. She'll talk about dogs all day if you let her. You've been warned :)


The very first Patreon Exclusive episode was ....super short. It first aired on July 22, 2021. I wasn't sure if it would play or work at all. But, this test led directly to another 28+ episodes, so thank you, evolution ;) 

Here's a shortie for you to enjoy about a #1 moth who looks like #2. 

Stay Curious - 

 Xx
M3

Support the Show.

Intro/Outtro music: Tiptoe Out The Back - Dan Liebowicz
Interstitial Music: MK2
Additional music: Freesound.com, Pixabay.org

Instagram: @EggAndNugget (chicken stan account) or @MelissaMcCueMcGrath
Website: BewilderBeastsPod.com
Support the Show and get stuff! Patreon.com/BewilderbeastsPod
Your host, Melissa McCue-McGrath is an author, dog trainer, and behavior consultant in Southern Maine. She'll talk about dogs all day if you let her. You've been warned :)


Patreon exclusive #6: First aired Dec 7 2021

Geneticists made Daddy Shortlegs. (WHY GOD, WHY?) 

We imagine the Jane Fonda workout with 50' human legs (WHY GOD, WHY?!?) 

And we learn about some very sneaky males who look like females in a devious plot to slide into her DMs.

Let's get right into it :) 

Support the Show.

Intro/Outtro music: Tiptoe Out The Back - Dan Liebowicz
Interstitial Music: MK2
Additional music: Freesound.com, Pixabay.org

Instagram: @EggAndNugget (chicken stan account) or @MelissaMcCueMcGrath
Website: BewilderBeastsPod.com
Support the Show and get stuff! Patreon.com/BewilderbeastsPod
Your host, Melissa McCue-McGrath is an author, dog trainer, and behavior consultant in Southern Maine. She'll talk about dogs all day if you let her. You've been warned :)


This Patreon Exclusive Episode first aired May 16, 2022

Patron started his life in entertainment by illustrating how dogs can be trained for search work. And now, he's employed by the government. He found over 200 bombs in the town of Chimigov since February. Let's meet Patron, the hero dog who has a similar entertainer-turned-hero storyline as Ukrainian President Zelensky himself. 

(Thank you, Christy, for the suggestion!) 
 https://www.insider.com/patron-dog-sniffing-for-bombs-in-ukraine-2022-4

https://mymodernmet.com/patron-bomb-sniffing-dog-hero/

https://www.reddit.com/r/ukraine/comments/tene3h/the_pups_name_is_patron_cartridge/

https://english.nv.ua/life/social-media-craze-about-ukrainian-sapper-dog-patron-50235197.html

https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-europe-61099213

https://www.nbcnews.com/nightly-news/video/the-jack-russell-terrier-detecting-bombs-in-ukraine-138688069962

@Patron_dns/instagram  https://www.yahoo.com/now/meet-patron-dog-loves-cheese-173647625.html

https://www.usip.org/public-education-new/dogs-detecting-landmines-building-peacehttps://www.theverge.com/2022/5/2/23053944/russian-troops-steal-millions-farm-equipment-ukraine-disabled-remotely-john-deere

https://www.theverge.com/2022/2/27/22953398/go-read-this-researchers-google-maps-russian-troops-ukraine-invasion

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-60506682 - the intentionally targeted misinformation attacks and straight-up lies in Russian state media - a common war tactic to get people on your side for terrible things, we see it here, too, will continue to persuade those who consume Russian media to believe this isn’t real. The attacks by Putin, using Russian tanks, bombs, and guns on the Ukrainian people is real. And a powerful interview, mandatory reading, I think, from Time Magazine with Volodymyr Zelenski: https://time.com/6171277/volodymyr-zelensky-interview-ukraine-war/

Support the Show.

Intro/Outtro music: Tiptoe Out The Back - Dan Liebowicz
Interstitial Music: MK2
Additional music: Freesound.com, Pixabay.org

Instagram: @EggAndNugget (chicken stan account) or @MelissaMcCueMcGrath
Website: BewilderBeastsPod.com
Support the Show and get stuff! Patreon.com/BewilderbeastsPod
Your host, Melissa McCue-McGrath is an author, dog trainer, and behavior consultant in Southern Maine. She'll talk about dogs all day if you let her. You've been warned :)