1 00:00:20,160 --> 00:00:23,460 Jane: This is But Why, A Podcast for Curious Kids from Vermont 2 00:00:23,460 --> 00:00:27,285 Public. I'm Jane Lindholm. On this show, kids around the world 3 00:00:27,285 --> 00:00:30,705 send us questions, and we find interesting people to offer 4 00:00:30,705 --> 00:00:35,085 answers. Today we have a little bonus episode inspired by a 5 00:00:35,085 --> 00:00:38,805 curious adult who sent us a question about doing something 6 00:00:38,865 --> 00:00:39,405 together. 7 00:00:39,720 --> 00:00:43,200 Dougie Pickles: Hey, Howdy, I'm Dougie Pickles, your curious 8 00:00:43,260 --> 00:00:47,580 animal-loving guide from the Cozy Critters podcast. I'm a 9 00:00:47,580 --> 00:00:51,660 grownup who never stopped finding amazement in the small, 10 00:00:51,660 --> 00:00:55,560 wonderful things, like the sound a caterpillar makes when it 11 00:00:55,560 --> 00:00:59,700 chews, or the determined little shuffle of a penguin on a 12 00:00:59,700 --> 00:01:04,845 mission. On Cozy Critters, I help kids wind down at night by 13 00:01:04,845 --> 00:01:08,265 visiting incredible animals all over the world. 14 00:01:08,505 --> 00:01:11,985 Jane: As he mentioned, Doug hosts a podcast called Cozy 15 00:01:11,985 --> 00:01:12,645 Critters. 16 00:01:13,080 --> 00:01:16,440 Dougie Pickles: Cozy Critters is a sleepy adventure podcast for 17 00:01:16,440 --> 00:01:22,200 kids who love animals and want a little magic at bedtime. Each 18 00:01:22,200 --> 00:01:26,340 episode, my sidekick Miss Meow Meow and I climb into our 19 00:01:26,340 --> 00:01:31,140 magical hot air balloon and float off to visit real animals 20 00:01:31,200 --> 00:01:35,505 somewhere on Earth. We learn about their lives, the sounds 21 00:01:35,505 --> 00:01:40,305 they make, and dive into tons of amazing animal facts that you'll 22 00:01:40,305 --> 00:01:41,625 want to share with your friends. 23 00:01:41,625 --> 00:01:45,105 Jane: The reason it's called Cozy Critters is not necessarily 24 00:01:45,105 --> 00:01:48,645 because all the animals they talk about are cozy, but because 25 00:01:48,645 --> 00:01:52,605 the podcast itself is designed to be cozy. It's supposed to 26 00:01:52,605 --> 00:01:57,945 help you wind down and get ready to drift off to sleep. If you 27 00:01:58,050 --> 00:02:01,350 already listen to Cozy Critters, you might notice that Doug's 28 00:02:01,350 --> 00:02:04,350 voice sounds pretty different right now than what you're used 29 00:02:04,350 --> 00:02:04,650 to. 30 00:02:04,830 --> 00:02:08,610 Dougie Pickles: You're right. On Cozy Critters, my voice is extra 31 00:02:08,610 --> 00:02:13,050 soft and cozy because I'm trying to help kids drift off to sleep. 32 00:02:13,470 --> 00:02:18,150 But here on But Why, I get to bring out my daytime Dougie 33 00:02:18,150 --> 00:02:22,530 Pickles voice, the one that's curious, excited and ready to 34 00:02:22,575 --> 00:02:26,535 talk about weird animal facts without putting everyone 35 00:02:26,535 --> 00:02:27,795 immediately to bed. 36 00:02:27,795 --> 00:02:31,155 Jane: Doug thought it would be really fun to have But Why and 37 00:02:31,155 --> 00:02:35,175 Cozy Critters collaborate do something together. So I got to 38 00:02:35,175 --> 00:02:38,955 be a guest on a really fun episode of that podcast, and 39 00:02:38,955 --> 00:02:42,615 Doug is going to be a guest on this episode. And he came to us 40 00:02:42,615 --> 00:02:45,840 with something he specifically wanted to tell you about. 41 00:02:46,020 --> 00:02:49,440 Dougie Pickles: I wanted to talk about a wild fact that surprises 42 00:02:49,440 --> 00:02:54,540 a lot of people. Some animals can sound just like humans. They 43 00:02:54,540 --> 00:02:59,760 growl, they giggle, scream or shout in ways that our ears can 44 00:02:59,760 --> 00:03:04,740 recognize. Their voices can be loud, dramatic, and honestly, 45 00:03:04,740 --> 00:03:09,585 pretty spooky sometimes, but behind the sound is a whole lot 46 00:03:09,585 --> 00:03:14,265 of biology, evolution, problem solving, things like that. It's 47 00:03:14,265 --> 00:03:18,105 like nature is running on its own orchestra, and every 48 00:03:18,105 --> 00:03:22,065 creature has an instrument it learned to play long before 49 00:03:22,065 --> 00:03:24,165 humans ever even existed. 50 00:03:25,140 --> 00:03:28,200 Jane: So other animals sometimes make sounds that are really 51 00:03:28,200 --> 00:03:31,800 similar to human sounds, but that doesn't mean they're making 52 00:03:31,800 --> 00:03:36,060 those sounds for the same reasons we do take, for example, 53 00:03:36,120 --> 00:03:41,640 a scream. Why do you scream? Sometimes we humans scream on 54 00:03:41,640 --> 00:03:44,400 the playground or when we're being tickled because we're 55 00:03:44,400 --> 00:03:49,425 having fun, but often humans scream if we're scared or 56 00:03:49,425 --> 00:03:53,505 surprised or alarmed. Doug says, sometimes animals that make 57 00:03:53,505 --> 00:03:55,485 screaming sounds are experiencing the same 58 00:03:55,485 --> 00:03:59,865 thing--well, maybe not usually being tickled--but not always. 59 00:04:00,105 --> 00:04:03,225 Dougie Pickles: Foxes make screams that can sound exactly 60 00:04:03,225 --> 00:04:07,125 like humans, maybe shouting across a playground, but they're 61 00:04:07,125 --> 00:04:11,265 usually saying, "This is my space." Or "Hello, I'm over 62 00:04:11,265 --> 00:04:15,690 here." Mountain lions produce screams that sound kind of like 63 00:04:15,690 --> 00:04:19,350 a person yelling for help, but they're actually calling to find 64 00:04:19,350 --> 00:04:23,670 a mate. Goats and sheep can bleat in ways that sound 65 00:04:23,850 --> 00:04:27,870 superhuman, because their vocal cords are shaped a lot like 66 00:04:27,870 --> 00:04:32,370 ours. And there's even koalas, which make a deep bellowing 67 00:04:32,370 --> 00:04:36,375 growl that sounds like someone is trying to start a broken 68 00:04:36,375 --> 00:04:40,035 motorcycle, and they're basically saying "I'm big and 69 00:04:40,035 --> 00:04:44,175 tough," even though, you know, they're not that big. So 70 00:04:44,235 --> 00:04:48,015 sometimes nature actually has a pretty funny sense of humor. 71 00:04:48,015 --> 00:04:52,935 Jane: So why do other animals often sound so human like well, 72 00:04:52,995 --> 00:04:55,935 a lot of it comes down to how the parts of our bodies that 73 00:04:55,935 --> 00:04:57,675 make sounds are built 74 00:04:57,960 --> 00:05:01,560 Dougie Pickles: Humans and many animals both have vocal cords, a 75 00:05:01,620 --> 00:05:06,180 throat, lungs and a mouth, or maybe a beak that helps shape 76 00:05:06,180 --> 00:05:11,160 the sound. So when air pushes through those parts, the noises 77 00:05:11,160 --> 00:05:15,900 end up sounding kind of similar, but again, the purpose is very 78 00:05:15,900 --> 00:05:20,580 different. Animals use sound the way we use long distance phone 79 00:05:20,580 --> 00:05:24,825 calls or text messages or alarms: they allow us to 80 00:05:24,825 --> 00:05:29,865 communicate emotions, identity, danger, even location, and they 81 00:05:29,865 --> 00:05:33,945 do this with whatever sounds their bodies make. Sometimes 82 00:05:33,945 --> 00:05:38,265 that ends up sounding like a human scream, even if the animal 83 00:05:38,265 --> 00:05:42,825 isn't scared at all. So let's talk about vocal cords for just 84 00:05:42,825 --> 00:05:48,030 a second. In humans and many mammals, there are folds of soft 85 00:05:48,030 --> 00:05:52,290 tissue in the throat called vocal cords, or you may hear 86 00:05:52,290 --> 00:05:57,390 them called vocal folds. When we breathe out from our lungs, the 87 00:05:57,390 --> 00:06:01,650 air passes through a small gap between the vocal cords. If the 88 00:06:01,650 --> 00:06:05,910 cords are close together, the air flow makes them vibrate, 89 00:06:05,910 --> 00:06:10,275 kind of like two ribbons trembling in the breeze. Those 90 00:06:10,275 --> 00:06:15,435 vibrations produce sound waves, which is our voice. And the 91 00:06:15,435 --> 00:06:20,655 pitch, that's how high or how low the sound is, depends on how 92 00:06:20,655 --> 00:06:25,215 long and tight those folds are. So if the folds are long and 93 00:06:25,215 --> 00:06:29,595 loose, you get a deeper, lower voice. If they're short and 94 00:06:29,595 --> 00:06:33,840 tight, you get a higher voice. And some animals may have a 95 00:06:33,840 --> 00:06:38,940 slightly different vocal system. For example, some marine mammals 96 00:06:38,940 --> 00:06:42,960 don't have typical vocal cords. For example, dolphins have 97 00:06:43,080 --> 00:06:47,400 phonic lips in their nasal passage instead of vocal cords 98 00:06:47,400 --> 00:06:48,180 in their throat. 99 00:06:48,180 --> 00:06:52,920 So basically, lungs push air into the vocal cords, which 100 00:06:52,920 --> 00:06:57,345 vibrate and sound is produced. The animal then shapes that 101 00:06:57,345 --> 00:07:00,825 sound with their cheeks, their throat, their mouth, their 102 00:07:00,825 --> 00:07:05,985 tongue, maybe even a trunk or a beak, and all that helps make 103 00:07:05,985 --> 00:07:07,305 their final noise. 104 00:07:07,305 --> 00:07:10,425 Jane: That's pretty cool, and it's neat that Doug could help 105 00:07:10,425 --> 00:07:13,725 us think about this interesting feature of the natural world and 106 00:07:13,725 --> 00:07:17,310 how we fit into it, alongside all the other animals that call 107 00:07:17,370 --> 00:07:21,510 Earth home. Thanks to Doug Fraser-- Dougie Pickles, as he 108 00:07:21,510 --> 00:07:25,650 calls himself--for bringing all these neat animal facts to us. 109 00:07:25,890 --> 00:07:29,370 You can check out the podcast he makes, Cozy Critters, wherever 110 00:07:29,370 --> 00:07:33,030 you listen to this podcast. The episode I got to make with Cozy 111 00:07:33,030 --> 00:07:36,690 Critters is out now, and you can find all the other calming 112 00:07:36,750 --> 00:07:40,815 get-ready-for-relaxing episodes too. Now, if this sparked any 113 00:07:40,815 --> 00:07:44,775 questions for you, you know you can always send questions on any 114 00:07:44,775 --> 00:07:48,735 subject to us. Have an adult help you record yourself asking 115 00:07:48,735 --> 00:07:51,915 your question. Tell us your first name, where you live, and 116 00:07:51,915 --> 00:07:55,755 how old you are, and then have your adult send the audio file 117 00:07:56,775 --> 00:08:00,315 to questions@butwhykids.org. We wish we could answer all the 118 00:08:00,315 --> 00:08:03,000 questions you send us, but we listen to them all, and we love 119 00:08:03,000 --> 00:08:06,960 hearing your voices. But Why is produced at Vermont Public and 120 00:08:06,960 --> 00:08:11,040 distributed by PRX. The show is made by Melody Bodette, Sarah 121 00:08:11,040 --> 00:08:15,360 Baik and me, Jane Lindholm. Joey Palumbo is our video editor, and 122 00:08:15,360 --> 00:08:19,320 Luke Reynolds wrote our theme music. We'll be back in one week 123 00:08:19,320 --> 00:08:23,940 with an all new episode until then, stay curious.