Nocturnal Wildlife—An Adventure at the San Diego Zoo’s Nighttime Zoo

00:00:04
Speaker 1: Hi, I'm Rick Schwartz.

00:00:06
Speaker 2: When does the guest the world Marco went.

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Speaker 3: Welcome to Amazing Wildlife, where we explore unique stories of wildlife from around the world and uncover fascinating animal facts. This podcast is a production of iHeartRadio and San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance in international nonprofit conservation organization which oversees the San Diego Zoo and Safari Park.

00:00:25
Speaker 4: All right, everyone, before we get things going, you might hear some really fun animal sounds, right right, and.

00:00:31
Speaker 1: Maybe a guided tour bus or cards.

00:00:33
Speaker 4: That could be two that could be true Because we are at the San Diego Zoo today recording, right.

00:00:38
Speaker 1: It's true, you know.

00:00:39
Speaker 3: And if you're listening to this episode, it means the Nighttime Zoo at the San Diego Zoo has officially kicked off. Now this is for the summer of twenty twenty three. We're excited it's been extended. But we thought Mark and I are, like, you know, we're always recording in the studio or office area, so why not come to the zoo to talk about nighttime zoo and nocturnal species?

00:00:58
Speaker 2: Right. I love the idea.

00:00:59
Speaker 4: I wanted to bring all the listeners into all this as well, because you and I were just talking about it before. When the sun comes down here in San Diego, the zoo just completely transforms, right.

00:01:08
Speaker 1: It really does, it really does.

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Speaker 4: You know.

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Speaker 3: In my twenty plus years of working here, I've worked a lot of nighttime events, and you know, you work here every single day, but when you walk through at night, it just has a very different vibe, you know. And I think part of that is because the species. Of course, the animals. Some are more active in the twilight hours, some are more active to nighttime hours, some are less active. So it changes also. I think what you experience, not just a feel of it, but what you experience.

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Speaker 2: Oh, no doubt.

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Speaker 4: And that's why I love the celebration so much. So our guests can just get a completely different world and experiences when they come to the San Diego Zoo, and to learn about some of these unique adaptations, right, and behaviors that we see with these nocturnal animals. So we thought today, why don't we talk about some of these.

00:01:53
Speaker 2: Internal animals, right?

00:01:54
Speaker 1: I think we should. I think we should. It's a fun way to celebrate nighttime zoo.

00:01:57
Speaker 3: And of course I think some of the ternal species, I know, I want to talk about with you, Marco, and I want to ask you some questions ones you want to talk about.

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Speaker 1: They may or may not be species you'll find here with the zoo.

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Speaker 3: But they might be species that live in your backyard when you're sleeping.

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Speaker 2: Oh, one hundred percent.

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Speaker 4: And I also just love the aspect that maybe animals that are up maybe the most popular out there, that we get a chance to really highlight. I'm a big fan of the underdogs, so when we were talking about nighttime Zoo, oh, I had a list of really cool species that I wanted to highlight.

00:02:24
Speaker 2: So that's why I'm super stoked that all of you are going to.

00:02:26
Speaker 4: Be joining us in this episode the Sun Coming Down and experience some of those nocturnal animal zoo sounds that you're gonna be hearing.

00:02:33
Speaker 3: All right, well, Marcos, since you have a long list you want to get you but I know we've.

00:02:36
Speaker 2: Agreed to three eats, right, Yeah, exactly.

00:02:38
Speaker 1: But why don't you kick us off.

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Speaker 3: What was one of your top number one nocturnal species you want to want to discuss?

00:02:43
Speaker 2: Yeah, thanks, Rick, Yeah, I'd love to.

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Speaker 4: You know, there's so many out there, but everyone knows I'm a bird guy, so I thought, well, I gotta talk about a bird, and when we think about nocturnal animals, you know that particular nighttime world.

00:02:55
Speaker 2: Instantly, I'm sure a lot.

00:02:56
Speaker 4: Of you are thinking about owls and I was thinking the same thing, right, So why don't we start things off with an iconic species that many people around the world have some sort of connection, whether it be positive or negative.

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Speaker 1: Right now?

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Speaker 3: Are you thinking of specific species of owl or are you going to go with general owl?

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Speaker 4: I think for this particular episode, it be nice to talk about these owl superpowers that they have. So yes, all over the world, really, Rightcaus you and I know there's so many different owls from some of the smallest like the elf owl found in the southwestern United States or the eagle owl, which you can experience here at the San Diego Zoo, and for our listeners, eagle owls they're found in Asia, Africa and they are remarkable and they vary in different shapes and sizes in Europe as well, I'm at at and again they change in color, like the Europeans are that brown color. The African milky eagle owl is a more of a gray black color. But they have really unique adaptations regardless of where we are on the continent.

00:03:49
Speaker 1: All right, so hit us up, hit us up.

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Speaker 3: We I think in general, the population knows owls or nighttime. You know, they're associated with all the nighttime stuff we hear. There are different calls depending upon where you live.

00:03:58
Speaker 1: What is your number one superpower adaptation for the owl?

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Speaker 4: Oh, you know, it's an odd one, but it's really the face for the owl.

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Speaker 2: It's all about the face. Faces.

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Speaker 4: I think they're cute and honest, Rich, it was really hard for me to pinpoint one of the superpower. So I thought the face of an owl is super iconic. And let me let me just highlight a little bit the aspect of it, because you know, a lot of people know raptors. Raptors are eagles and hawks and falcons and owls, and they're grouped together because of these tools that they used to hunt, right, the talons that most people are familiar with to grab their prey. Owls have a really unique face compared to like an eagle or a falcon.

00:04:34
Speaker 1: It's true, and I think maybe we don't always think about that.

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Speaker 3: You look at the eagle or a falcon, like you just said, and they got that very sleek, sort of very aerodynamic.

00:04:42
Speaker 1: You know, their power totally diving down a super high Schman.

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Speaker 3: But you look at the owl, it's kind of this sort of flat, almost dishlike face.

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Speaker 1: Obviously not the aesthetics. Why do you consider that as superpower?

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Speaker 4: Well, I love it because, you know, being mainly a nocturnal species, and let me preface you, there are some owls that are a diurnal, like the western burrowing owl here in Sandy.

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Speaker 1: Diurnal means daytime activity.

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Speaker 2: Thank you, sir.

00:05:03
Speaker 3: And some are crepuscular, meaning active in the twilight hours, both morning twilight and evening TWI.

00:05:08
Speaker 4: Yes, some ego, but we're really having those nocturnal species. So when you think of those strictly nocturnal owls, think about the bar now as an example, which a lot of people familiar with. It's the most common owl found all over the world. So I'm gonna use this one as any I'm.

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Speaker 3: Gonna throw your curveball real quick. What were they called before humans made barns?

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Speaker 2: Oh?

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Speaker 4: Oh, that's a good point. I don't know, but now I want to find out right. See, you and I will have an interesting conversation right on Google. But when you guys can look up on your phones. Look at this beautiful owl species, a heart shaped face, but it's around concave disc of feathers. Now, they have this wide face for a very specific reason. Now again, they want to surprise their prey. They're a sit in weight predator. So these owls are blending into their environment and this facial disc. They're sitting there in that perch, and what happens is is concave disc of feathers.

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Speaker 2: It's kind of like a satellite face. Ricky, That's that's what they describe, right, Yeah, exactly.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, you see those round concave disc of feathers around the eye. So what's going on?

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Speaker 2: Everyone?

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Speaker 4: Picture an owl on a brand, let's say a great horn owl as an example, sitting there waiting to spot their prey. Maybe a little mouse is scurring underneath the leaflet or maybe seventy five feet away.

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Speaker 2: Now that sound is traveling towards the owl.

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Speaker 4: But what makes it super unique, this superpower und of a highlight, is that round facial disc of feathers is focusing the sound towards the owl's face and helping it the funnel into the ear canals of the owls, which I think is amazing, right.

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Speaker 1: It really is.

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Speaker 3: You think about a satellite dish, and it is for gathering information, gathering those waves of radio information or whatever they they're gathering. In the case of the owl, like you pointed out, though, it's gathering the sound waves, and.

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Speaker 1: It's kind of weird.

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Speaker 3: We don't always think that something that's on the front of the face can help funnel sound to the ears. But to the point you brought up earlier, they're a raptor. Their skull structure is not too terribly different from hawks and eagles. It's just a feathers around their head that make it look different, which then create.

00:06:59
Speaker 4: That exactly right your reference the eagle and the falcon earlier, that narrow face.

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Speaker 2: You know, they're remarkably quick hunters.

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Speaker 4: The owls again, with those feathers that they have, it's a little bit different of a style.

00:07:10
Speaker 2: So they're that sit and weight predator.

00:07:12
Speaker 4: So I know I mentioned the face of the owl, of the concave, the focusing the sound towards the ear canal, but those feathers are also going to add into silent flight. And there's many more o the powers I wanted to highlight, but I know I got to stop talking about the owl. But with that silent flight alone to surprise their prey when they hear from seventy five feet away. I mean that is I think the most iconic nocturnal hunter out there.

00:07:31
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's that's impressive, especially when we think having good hearing.

00:07:34
Speaker 3: Me you have to have big years oh total, right, but joa Dowie like, I don't see any right, They're just holes in the side of the skull for the owl. But the big facial disc of feathers acts like that funnel of sound or that the ear would create to bring that sound in.

00:07:47
Speaker 1: Yeah, that is awesome.

00:07:47
Speaker 4: Yeah, and little later on there's another species that really uses sound in a different way that I can highlight.

00:07:52
Speaker 2: All right, that little.

00:07:53
Speaker 3: Teaser, Well, you know, I got to be honest with ya, I thought that bringing up owls. Yeah, them in the cartoons we have this classic big eyeballs. I thought you were going to go with eyesight honestly, as the main superpower. I get why you went with hearing, but I'm going to use the fact that you didn't talk about their eyesight as.

00:08:12
Speaker 1: The sort of the segway into the species.

00:08:14
Speaker 3: I want to talk about a species found throughout North America, from Mexico to Canada.

00:08:18
Speaker 1: From coast to coast.

00:08:20
Speaker 3: They have been so well adapted that they as human population grew in North America, their population grew too. They're very resourceful, very smart, usually considered a bandit.

00:08:32
Speaker 2: Or a problem.

00:08:33
Speaker 4: Okay, so you maybe know what I'm going to get modern culture.

00:08:38
Speaker 3: I'm not I'm not promoting this term, but I'm just going to say what I have seen on the internet.

00:08:43
Speaker 1: Sometimes are referred to as a trash panda.

00:08:46
Speaker 2: Oh the internet.

00:08:47
Speaker 3: But yeah, I've heard they are neither a panda or just associated only with trash.

00:08:52
Speaker 1: It's the raccoon.

00:08:53
Speaker 3: The raccoon is this great nocturnal animal. And because you didn't bring up eyesight, I want to talk about why we perceive the eyes of raccoons and many many other nocturnal species as glowing at nighttime.

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Speaker 2: Oh that's a good point.

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Speaker 3: I remember as a kid, you'd watch cartoons, and so we gets lost in the forests and all of a sudden, these eyes light up in the forest. The reality is they don't create light. Cartoons tend to take things a little bit beyond reality. That's why they're cartoons and not reality.

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Speaker 1: So what we actually see.

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Speaker 3: So you're driving along and you turn onto a street, your headlights get a flash of eyes, or if you have a pet cat or.

00:09:32
Speaker 1: Dog at home, you've taken a picture of the flash. All of a sudden, you know, the picture comes back like, oh my gosh, their eyes are glowing.

00:09:36
Speaker 3: There is a film of cells called tapedem lucidum, and I might be saying it wrong, but I believe it's to ped them lucidum, and this reflective cells behind the retina that allow the eye of a lot of these species to increase the amount of light from available light, whether it's moonlight or street lights, or whatever the ambient light may be at nighttime, sometimes even just starlight. This is one more adaptation. These nocturnal species have to increase available light for the receptor cells in the back of the eye then to make sense of what they're seeing.

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Speaker 2: Wow, that's a superpower.

00:10:08
Speaker 3: It is kind of a superpower, and humans do not have that, although sometimes in some pictures our eyes might appear red. That's the red blood cells picking up the light and being reflected back. But for a lot of nocturnal species, they have this membrane in the back of the eye.

00:10:19
Speaker 1: So not only can the pupils perhaps.

00:10:22
Speaker 3: Dilate larger than ours do as humans, but then they have the reflector cells as well. And here's the other fun thing. We're talking about cells in the receptor part of the eye. There are cells called rods and cones, and the more cones you have usually the more colors you can see, or more definition of colors that you can see.

00:10:38
Speaker 1: Where the more rods.

00:10:39
Speaker 3: You have, it's black and white, but it's increased nighttime vision. So here's a fun test for our listeners, especially the kids, if you've never done this before. Go into a very dimly lit room and have someone maybe beforehand, put out a blue shirt and a red shirt, or two different colored shirts without telling you which ones which, So you don't know for sure what colors you're looking at very dimly lit, almost completely dark room. Let your eyes adjust and then see if you can tell the colors. Odds are you cannot, because when we switch into nighttime vision, it goes with more black and white. Now, if we know beforehand what the colors are, we're walking through a familiar area, it's quite often our brain will trick us because we already know that wall is blue, and you know that over there is purple. Our brain can trick us into thinking we are seeing those colors at nighttime when really we're not. So for a lot of nocturnal species, they lack the color acuteness or the ability to see as defined colors as you and I can, but they have excellent nighttime vision because they have more of the rods and fewer of the cones.

00:11:32
Speaker 2: I love that.

00:11:33
Speaker 4: That's an interesting point to you know, al's actually have that same similar adaptation as well. So it's just amazing how many of those predators at nighttime just have that ability, and probably not just a predators alone, right right.

00:11:43
Speaker 1: Right, Many deer different even deer, yeah, dear, have that too.

00:11:45
Speaker 3: So deer can be nocturnal depending upon where they live and what other species are awake when they're awake. They are very good at walking through the forest very quietly at nighttime using the same adaptations that the other species have in their eyes for being able to see well at nighttime.

00:11:58
Speaker 4: Oh that's amazing, Rick, I love just how animals are so well adapted to their environments into whatever kind of I'm going to use the word reality, because they feel there's different realities as realities. You know, we see the world as we see with all this vivid color versus what the huntingbird may see with a flower blooming in front of them, right, versus as nighttime animals. And you know we we're talking about eyesight with the raccoon.

00:12:18
Speaker 2: Awesome choice, by the way.

00:12:19
Speaker 1: You love my raccoon, right, Can I say I want to have one more thing?

00:12:22
Speaker 2: Right? Oh? Yeah?

00:12:22
Speaker 3: People like to ask you, why do raccoons of all nighttime creatures have the bandit.

00:12:27
Speaker 1: Sort of mask.

00:12:28
Speaker 3: No one knows for sure why they alone seem to have such a prominent mask. But what we do know is that the black around eyes in general will absorb light instead of reflecting it back into the eye, allowing for better clarity of sights. So you can see that in mirror. CAATs and some other species have black around their eyes. But why raccoons versus opossum versus the skunk's other nighttime species, right, why they have that black band We don't know why for sure the raccoons have that or not versus other species, but they do, and that's why we assume that it's there.

00:12:58
Speaker 2: That's so cool, Oric, thank you for that. That's all awesome. I'm learning something on this podcast as well, which not a great.

00:13:03
Speaker 1: Teach me something.

00:13:03
Speaker 2: What's species?

00:13:05
Speaker 4: Well, I thought, you know, so we reference the raccoon and the owl, and you know, I'm really big on like the underdogs. You know that the misunderstood animals as well, the myths.

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Speaker 2: There's a handful, there's a lot, there's a lot.

00:13:16
Speaker 4: You know, one in particular because a little bit ago, we actually celebrated International that Awareness Day. So I thought, you know, with that fresh in my mind and just working with that amazing crew at the Safari Park, with those Rodriguez fruit bats that have out there, why don't we talk about bats. I mean, they're amazing folks. They're nearly one thousand bad species. And I got to point out only three feet on blood. So I just wanted to throw that out there because then a lot of you are thinking about the vampire bat.

00:13:42
Speaker 2: That's a bit very small.

00:13:44
Speaker 1: Isn't that funny?

00:13:45
Speaker 3: Isn't funny how our culture like there's there's literally just three.

00:13:49
Speaker 1: Species, only three out of all of.

00:13:51
Speaker 3: Them that feed on blood there in my number. That's all we focused on.

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Speaker 4: We've all heard the thuk your blood regular, the whole thing, and there's a lot of stories about it, a lot of different perceptions about these animals, folks. And I know maybe you're getting the hebgb's right now, but trust me, these are amazing species.

00:14:11
Speaker 2: They're so crucial for ecosystems all over the world. I mean here in the United States alone.

00:14:16
Speaker 4: I liand this the other day. So I'm gonna drop some facts on you guys. So there are forty seven bat species found in the US and twenty one of the twenty three in San Diego County. Wow, yeah, right, And they're insectivores and they're nectar eaters as well. So just wanted to point out the variability of bats and what they do for ecosystems. Some are consuming large amounts of insects out there, like mosquitoes, which you know, I'm not too mad at thank you for the bats for that, right, even though I know mosquitoes have their part in ecosystems as well. Now, all others are also pollinators, so they're feeding off of nectar. For instance, there's interesting bat species in meical that are actually helping to pollinate the agaba plant. I'm sure a lot of you are familiar with a gobba, right, you know, some very yummy cocktails are made from those, you know, misca and tequila for all my friends out there. But also there's one in particular, those insectivores. They have a really unique part in our ecosystems. These are these microbats. They do something called echo location, which I'm sure a lot of people are familiar with. For all your kids out there too. There's a popular superhero, one of my favorites, called Daredevil.

00:15:18
Speaker 2: I want to throw that out there.

00:15:20
Speaker 4: Daredevil, you remember he had He has sort of like a sonar ability echolocation of his ziona to really see the world, and it's kind of similar to bats. But we're going to go back to more of the biological reasons why bats are doing this.

00:15:31
Speaker 2: You know, these are a very unique animal.

00:15:33
Speaker 4: They're flying at remarkable speeds through the sky in the nighttime hours, and they need to find insects floating in mid air, for instance, a moth as an example, and those are pretty hard animals a catch, especially if they're flying about. So these bats are utilizing what's called echo location to find their food. So they're able to see their world and detect their prey by emitting these like short bursts of high pitch sounds that bounce off of objects and then return to the bats as echoes.

00:16:00
Speaker 3: So they're actually getting sort of a like like sonar from a yeah exactly right, Yeah, yeah, they're bouncing that sound back and then they're listening for how those sound waves sound different to locate their food.

00:16:09
Speaker 2: Right, interpreting the sound, It's not it's just wild to me the way they're.

00:16:12
Speaker 3: You mentioned those the hearing of owls, but they're hearing a noise the animal creates to find this. The bat creates a sound and listens for the bounce back to find their way exactly.

00:16:21
Speaker 4: And it's such an amazing ability, you know. They also have learned that they delay emitting a second signal until they'll receive the echo from the first, so they can really pinpoint on the prey as well, which I think is a remarkable feature.

00:16:34
Speaker 2: And I also wanted to point out too.

00:16:35
Speaker 4: When they're emitting this really unique sound to find and detect prey, they're also have this sort of temporary momentary blindness because the bat can't speak with a mouthful.

00:16:45
Speaker 2: You know what I'm saying.

00:16:46
Speaker 4: So to avoid this problem, a number of bats will squeak through their nose and have evolved a variety of these elaborate nasal outgrowth.

00:16:57
Speaker 2: That direct this squeak.

00:16:58
Speaker 4: I know, I was actually surprised by that, because when you look at some of these really adorable bat species out there, you'll notice some variations in this sinout into the face. And true, I've never really understood why that was until now from this really remarkable echolocation technique.

00:17:12
Speaker 2: And you know, these bats, they are.

00:17:13
Speaker 4: Insectivores, I wanted to point out, and I mentioned some are eating nectar, some are pollinating interesting plant species as well, but especially with insects, folks, because some of these bats. Seventy percent of all bats eat insects, and I'm talking about flies, mosquitoes, beetles, even cockroachs.

00:17:28
Speaker 1: Mosquitoes especially are important right for all of them.

00:17:30
Speaker 3: I mean, do you think about just the diseases mosquitos can can spread and everything.

00:17:34
Speaker 2: Thank you, that's an excellent point.

00:17:36
Speaker 4: Bats are actually helping to mitigate that pliferation of diseases around the world as well.

00:17:40
Speaker 2: And actually I found out a really.

00:17:41
Speaker 4: Interesting fact about some bat colony found in Texas. They eat about five hundred thousand pounds of mosquitoes nightly.

00:17:50
Speaker 3: Wow, rightly, I think I know, let me say that again.

00:17:53
Speaker 4: There is a colony of bats guys in Texas that eats five hundred thousand pounds of mosquitos.

00:17:59
Speaker 2: So thank you to those bats.

00:18:01
Speaker 1: Right, seriously.

00:18:03
Speaker 4: Yeah, So it's just incredible, all the nuances, all the benefits of having bats healthy and populated all over the world. You know, these are super misinistered animals on the planet, and again many myths and misconceptions about them, but we really need them to help out with ecosystems all over the planet. I mentioned them pollinating plant species around the world, helping maintain insect populations around the world as well.

00:18:27
Speaker 2: So it just homage to those bats.

00:18:29
Speaker 3: Right, I mean kind of like we said with the snake episode of The Bushmaster. We were talking about, Hey, you don't have to like them, but you know, just accept them, you know, and appreciate the work they do for us.

00:18:37
Speaker 2: Acceptance. I love it. The guys perfect. Thank you, buddy.

00:18:40
Speaker 3: Well, hey, you're talking about insectivorgers eating all those bugs. You're talking about hearing I want to drop us down to the ground.

00:18:45
Speaker 2: Oh okay, species you can actually.

00:18:47
Speaker 3: See right here at the San Diego Zoo. Perhaps one of our animal ambassadors. You can see out at Wildlife Explorers base camp sometimes with their wildlife care specialists. The three banded armadillo oh oh, and sometimes we colk they're interesting. We can see them out with the wildlife care specialist during the day. But the reality is they are nocturnal and often I talked about with the raccoon, and although you didn't talk about the site with the owl, they have crace it a lot of times.

00:19:12
Speaker 1: With nocturnal species, we think excellent nighttime.

00:19:15
Speaker 2: Vision makes sense.

00:19:17
Speaker 1: It makes sense, right, you gotta have that great nighttime vision.

00:19:20
Speaker 3: But the bats kind of go that same route that I'm going here with the armadillo in the sense that they do have eyesight. They do have the capacity to see, but their eyes for the most part are fairly undeveloped, and the lenses are small enough and undeveloped enough that they don't have the acuity of sight that other species have.

00:19:36
Speaker 2: No echo location, no echo location, no.

00:19:38
Speaker 3: But it start to look at what the armadillo does, and they're rooting around in the ground looking for bugs and grubs to eat, so eyesight they can't see through the dirt, right, but they have really good hearing.

00:19:50
Speaker 1: Like the bat.

00:19:51
Speaker 3: They have these almost similar to the owl satellite dish shaped ears that they can focus down to listen for bugs under ground. But sometimes they also have to use those ears to listen for predators that might be walking around sneaking up on.

00:20:03
Speaker 2: Them like an owl.

00:20:04
Speaker 1: Right there you go, like a right.

00:20:07
Speaker 3: So if your ears are busy, sometimes for listening for food, sometimes listening for predators, you might miss out on your food.

00:20:13
Speaker 2: Oh, that's right.

00:20:14
Speaker 3: So another adaptation they have is an incredibly good sense of smell. We don't always think how a sense of smell would be important for nocturnal species, but for the armadillo. Although the three band of armadillo's nose is not a whole lot bigger than a pencil eraser, it's very powerful because what's inside the snout all the receptor cells inside the snow, and they can push that little nose of theirs into the dirt, and although there's some dirt that gets in their nose, they can smell bugs and grubs several inches below the soil. Stop put their ears up to listen for a predator and start digging really fast to grab themselves a snack.

00:20:46
Speaker 2: Oh that's interesting.

00:20:46
Speaker 4: Not only like a physical adaptation but a behavior they modify themselves right to watch out for a predator, exactly, exactly.

00:20:52
Speaker 3: So it's one of those things where we go to nighttime zoo, we think about nighttime animals, we'll think of owls. We'll think there's a really great vision, but don't forget sometimes a scent. The smell is an adaptation for life at night time as well, along with hearing and along with the eyes sight.

00:21:06
Speaker 2: Right.

00:21:06
Speaker 4: Oh, that's remarkable, Rick, Yeah, it's really interesting too, how just how adepth they are and these animals North America, Central America, South America.

00:21:14
Speaker 3: Yeah, and similar to what you're saying about the awl, there's a wide variety of different species of armadillos, from the tiny little pink faerry armadillo you're right, exactly, all the way up to the giant armadilla we have here in the United States, which referred to as a nine band in armadillo found throughout Texas, Louisiana. Yeah, they've actually gotten quite a bit further north as well. We have the three band of armadilla. Here's our ambassadors at the San Diego Zoo. They're about the size of a coconut, so they're pretty cool to watch and totally see the move around and you don't even see when they're out with their wildlife care specials.

00:21:38
Speaker 1: You know, they're poking their nose into the ground, so you know, is there snacks?

00:21:40
Speaker 2: And I love it.

00:21:41
Speaker 4: And they did a great job to showing those natural behaviors as well. So that's a great species. And you know, so you're mentioning an animal that you're mentioning is eating a bunch of grubs out there, a lot of insects right there.

00:21:51
Speaker 1: Gums and bugs.

00:21:52
Speaker 2: That's your favorite, right, just like those bats.

00:21:53
Speaker 4: They're loving those bugs out there, and that is my segue.

00:21:57
Speaker 2: Actually, they want to talk a little bit about the creepy crawl.

00:22:00
Speaker 1: Yeah, okay, what you got? Yeah, aren't they?

00:22:03
Speaker 2: Yeah they are, Yeah, totally.

00:22:04
Speaker 4: You know, I hesitate to say creepy crawligies, but I think people know where I'm getting at here.

00:22:08
Speaker 2: But I think insects sometimes get a really bad rap.

00:22:10
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, right.

00:22:11
Speaker 4: And there's such a crucial type of wildlife for all the corners of our planet. And by the way, an amazing area called Spineless Marbles wild Left Explorers base Camp, which now our guests can experience during the night time s I had, and one of those animals I was thinking about, thinking about nocturnal you know, interesting bugs out there, and I thought, cockerroaches.

00:22:33
Speaker 2: What a cool animals.

00:22:34
Speaker 1: A little disclaimer for our audience.

00:22:37
Speaker 3: There's a lot of really cool different species of Cockroas I think, can we hear cockroach, we think something creeping in our cupboards or total you know, in our.

00:22:44
Speaker 1: Case, which we don't like.

00:22:45
Speaker 3: But I want our audience to definitely know there are so many unique species of cockroach that play a really important role.

00:22:51
Speaker 1: But I just want to disclaimer that so people don't turn it off absolutely.

00:22:54
Speaker 4: Right wreck you know, I had a little conversation the cockroach ester the letter, like I wanted to talk about you guys. So this is my mom into highlight. He's really missing this sort of animals. So I'm going to drop some facts on you guys again. Cockroaches, these animals, they've been around for millions of years, millions of years, some of the most adaptable creatures on our planet. As Rick was mentioning, there are approximately four thousand living species of cockroaches four thousand.

00:23:19
Speaker 2: Can you believe that?

00:23:20
Speaker 4: And seventy of them are found here in the United States now some interesting facts about roaches.

00:23:24
Speaker 2: Now.

00:23:24
Speaker 4: They have so many superpowers, so I'm gonna drop some here for you guys. Cockroaches have been around since a time of dinosaurs, which I think is super impressive in its own right. They can live almost a month without food. They can live two weeks without water. Some female cockroaches, one say mate, can stay pregnant for life, which I thought was a really unique adaptation.

00:23:44
Speaker 2: Also, they can live up to one week without having a head. Wow.

00:23:48
Speaker 4: Crazy is that talk about adaptability? And cockroaches can also hold their breath for up to forty minutes and run three miles an hour.

00:23:57
Speaker 2: So they are just the ultimate suit here, thank you. They really really are so many superpowers.

00:24:05
Speaker 4: I mentioned all the variety species, but I wanted to reference soon In particular, one is called a cave cocker roach, which you can find at base camp honestly when you go down to a spineless marbles area. And these are a really unique species that are mainly in a cave kind of environment. But there's an interesting word that I learned the other day. It's detritivor.

00:24:24
Speaker 2: Have you heard of this word before? Yeah, detritivor. It's really unique, guys.

00:24:28
Speaker 4: So this is an animal which feeds on dead and organic material, so they eat a variety of like dead insects, animals, decaying fruit, and guano which can be interpreted as bat or bird droppings.

00:24:40
Speaker 2: And you know, being a bird guy, I'm such a fan of vultures.

00:24:43
Speaker 4: By the way, when I think of those recyclers, I think roaches are just right up in there. So when we think about those giant cave roaches breaking down all that organic material and when they go to the bathroom, they're actually replacing and reintroducing these nutrients back into the soil.

00:24:57
Speaker 3: So they're basically helping things dec composed exactly, allowing things to go from what they once were to now nutrients to grow into something else exactly right.

00:25:06
Speaker 4: So just an amazing misunderstood species. It really helps with ecosystems around the world. And you were mentioning about scent, you know, being one of those trademarks some species. This animal has a really interesting pheromone that they admit, so during breeding season, they have two chemicals that are released during the mating season. This sex pheromone is being released by a female to help attract.

00:25:25
Speaker 2: Mates from long distances away, which I think is a pretty unique adaptation.

00:25:29
Speaker 4: But not only that, the male will then produce this sort of like aphrodisiac sex hormone, which will then, I know, kind of get the females a little more receptive. So I just love the concept of using scent to communicate in many aspects of wildlife, right right.

00:25:45
Speaker 3: And I think you know we're next to our flamingos and crested screamers.

00:25:48
Speaker 1: You can hear the crested streamer.

00:25:51
Speaker 3: So it's funny because a lot of times we think about mating dances and attracting a mate from visuals or through audio, like what the burger are calling out right now, But here's the cockroaches.

00:26:01
Speaker 1: They're not doing any of those.

00:26:02
Speaker 3: It's just a little chemical that only they can smell amongst each other to help communicate.

00:26:06
Speaker 1: Hey, you want to go out on a date later exactly? That's awesome.

00:26:09
Speaker 2: That's anesome point too, because you a visual display at night? Really not anyway? Right, yeah, right, hardly hardly.

00:26:14
Speaker 1: That's so cool. That's so cool.

00:26:15
Speaker 3: Well, I want to wrap it up with my third one here before we wrap up the entire episode with another species you can find right here at the San Diego Zoo and might even get a chance to see being active during nighttime.

00:26:26
Speaker 1: Zoo, that's the Tasmanian devil.

00:26:28
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, that's a great one.

00:26:29
Speaker 3: So we've talked a lot about hearing and sense of smell and all that, well, the tas me the devil kind of wraps it all into one. They've got great nighttime hearing, they've got a great sense of smell, they've got good nighttime vision. Also the complete package of a nocturnal species. But here's the thing I want to cover real quick.

00:26:44
Speaker 1: How they hunt at nighttime.

00:26:47
Speaker 3: And it's interesting although they aren't considered a social species, so don't think of them like a pack of wolves or a pride of lions. But when they find food, they do get very vocal and and that's where the name Tasmanian devil came from. When settlers first came to that area, they would hear in the middle of the night these horrific screams, and so the devils out there is where that kind of came right.

00:27:10
Speaker 1: So it's interesting where the name comes.

00:27:12
Speaker 3: From that way, but the concept and of all the screaming and yelling, it attracts other Tasmanian devils and within that moment of feeding there is a type of hierarchy that does.

00:27:23
Speaker 1: Exist, but there's no official social structure.

00:27:25
Speaker 3: A very interesting animal altogether, but a great representation of all of the nocturnal attributes that we covered here where we're talking about great hearing, a sense of smell, and nighttime vision and all of that. And again, they tend to be prepuscular. Like you mentioned a tournaments earlier in the show. That means they're gonna be mostly active in the twilight hours. So if you're here at the San Diego Zoo for our nighttime zoo, all the fun activities that happen for humans, So we have different acrobats, we have different shows going on.

00:27:52
Speaker 1: You never know what you're gonna see. That usually kicks off.

00:27:54
Speaker 2: Around four o'clock exactly.

00:27:56
Speaker 1: Yeah, So definitely enjoy all those things.

00:27:57
Speaker 3: But I also want you to start looking at the activity behaviors of some of the animals.

00:28:01
Speaker 1: Are they more active? Are they less active?

00:28:03
Speaker 3: Are there calls you didn't hear during the day that they're making as the sun goes down? I think one of my favorites always gives me goosebumps.

00:28:09
Speaker 1: No matter what.

00:28:09
Speaker 3: I've been working with animals for three decades, hear the zoo for over two decades.

00:28:13
Speaker 1: No matter what. As the sun's going down, you hear the lion do their long call.

00:28:16
Speaker 3: Oh you know it just it travels, it rolls through the valleys here of the San Diego Zoo and it's just such a wonderful thing.

00:28:23
Speaker 1: So listen for things like that as well when you're here during our summer hours and nighttime zoo.

00:28:28
Speaker 3: And if you are interested in coming to the nighttime zoo at the San Diego Zoo, go to our website san Diego Zoo dot org.

00:28:33
Speaker 1: All the informations there you can plan your entire trip.

00:28:35
Speaker 3: You can check out a map, all the things you might need, plan your whole day to come and literally stay till the sun goes down.

00:28:41
Speaker 4: Oh and don't forget guys, we have these amazing apps you utilize during your adventures here at the San Diego Zoo or the Safari Park.

00:28:47
Speaker 1: A good point.

00:28:47
Speaker 3: Thank you, Marco, And as you know, I want you to subscribe and tune into our next episode in which Marco and I talk about the Mammo with the Longest neck, which we celebrate on the longest day of the year here in the Northern Hemisphere.

00:28:59
Speaker 2: Ooh, exciting.

00:29:03
Speaker 1: Marco Went and I'm Rick Schwartz. Thanks for listening.

00:29:07
Speaker 3: For more information about the San Diego Zoo and San Diego Zoo Safari Park, go.

00:29:12
Speaker 1: To SDZWA dot org.

00:29:14
Speaker 3: Amazing Wildlife is a production of iHeartRadio. Our supervising producer is Nikkia Swinton and our sound designer and editor is Sierra Spreen. For more shows from iHeartRadio, check out the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.