1 00:00:01,440 --> 00:00:05,100 Jane: Hi everyone! It's me, Jane. But Why is celebrating a 2 00:00:05,100 --> 00:00:10,800 huge milestone this week, we are turning 10. Our first episode 3 00:00:10,800 --> 00:00:16,140 was published on April 1, 2016 so much has happened since then, 4 00:00:16,500 --> 00:00:19,500 we've followed your curiosity through the world and met with 5 00:00:19,500 --> 00:00:23,565 so many wonderful guests and learned so much about well, 6 00:00:23,925 --> 00:00:28,425 everything. Some of the kids who sent us questions 10 years ago 7 00:00:28,425 --> 00:00:32,265 are in college now, and some of you listening today probably 8 00:00:32,265 --> 00:00:35,745 weren't even born yet. To celebrate this special 9 00:00:35,745 --> 00:00:38,745 milestone, we thought it would be fun to bring back our very 10 00:00:38,745 --> 00:00:41,925 first episode. So that's what we're going to listen to today. 11 00:00:42,285 --> 00:00:45,345 See if you can hear any changes in how we made the show back 12 00:00:45,345 --> 00:00:46,950 then and how we make it now. 13 00:00:46,950 --> 00:01:08,010 This is But Why, a podcast for curious kids from Vermont Public 14 00:01:08,010 --> 00:01:12,015 Radio. I'm Jane Lindholm, your host. Today on the show, we've 15 00:01:12,015 --> 00:01:16,995 got owls and turtles and bears. Oh my! It's all about animals. 16 00:01:17,535 --> 00:01:20,895 This is our very first episode. So I want to tell you what, but 17 00:01:20,895 --> 00:01:26,295 why is all about. It's a show led by you. You ask questions, 18 00:01:26,295 --> 00:01:30,375 and we find someone who can give you an answer, and that way all 19 00:01:30,375 --> 00:01:33,960 the rest of us listening get to learn something cool. It's a 20 00:01:33,960 --> 00:01:36,840 big, interesting world out there, and there is a lot to 21 00:01:36,840 --> 00:01:40,080 learn. There's plenty to scratch your head about, like, why is 22 00:01:40,080 --> 00:01:44,340 the sky blue? Or how do they get the graphite inside the wood in 23 00:01:44,340 --> 00:01:48,180 a pencil? So if you have a question that you want some help 24 00:01:48,180 --> 00:01:52,320 answering, let us know. To send us a question ask an adult, 25 00:01:52,380 --> 00:01:56,205 maybe a parent to help you record it. Your adult can record 26 00:01:56,205 --> 00:01:59,685 you asking your question on a smart phone using the memo app, 27 00:02:00,045 --> 00:02:05,145 and then send it to questions@butwhykids.org we have 28 00:02:05,145 --> 00:02:09,225 all the instructions at butwhykids.org. We want your 29 00:02:09,225 --> 00:02:12,825 first name and where you live and what your question is. 30 00:02:18,225 --> 00:02:21,750 Our question this week comes from a friend of mine. His name 31 00:02:21,750 --> 00:02:25,530 is Finn. He lives in Hinesburg, Vermont, and he's four years 32 00:02:25,530 --> 00:02:25,950 old. 33 00:02:26,130 --> 00:02:28,770 Finn: How do bears sleep all winter? 34 00:02:28,830 --> 00:02:32,970 Jane: Did you hear that? Finn wants to know how bears sleep 35 00:02:33,030 --> 00:02:36,570 all winter. Now there are actually eight different species 36 00:02:36,570 --> 00:02:39,630 of bears, and not all of them do sleep during the winter. The 37 00:02:39,630 --> 00:02:42,435 polar bear, for example, is very active in the wintertime, 38 00:02:42,435 --> 00:02:45,375 although females do build a little den and spend a few 39 00:02:45,375 --> 00:02:49,155 months in it when they have babies or cubs. But in Vermont, 40 00:02:49,155 --> 00:02:52,095 where Finn lives, there's only one type of bear, the North 41 00:02:52,095 --> 00:02:56,355 American black bear, and it usually does hibernate or sleep 42 00:02:56,355 --> 00:03:00,375 all winter long. So I turned Finn's question over to someone 43 00:03:00,375 --> 00:03:03,315 who knows a lot about animals and nature in Vermont. 44 00:03:03,480 --> 00:03:06,240 Mary Holland: I'm Mary Holland. I write natural history books, 45 00:03:06,300 --> 00:03:10,860 and I spend much of my time outdoors looking for things to 46 00:03:10,860 --> 00:03:15,300 write about and photograph. Black bears do sleep all winter, 47 00:03:15,720 --> 00:03:21,480 and they do so because they can sort of shut their bodies down 48 00:03:21,600 --> 00:03:28,485 before they go to sleep. In late summer, they go on an eating 49 00:03:28,485 --> 00:03:33,045 binge, and they eat and eat and eat lots and lots of plants and 50 00:03:33,045 --> 00:03:37,785 fruits and insects, and they get fatter and fatter and fatter. 51 00:03:38,085 --> 00:03:42,705 Sometimes they even double their weight. So a bear weighing 200 52 00:03:42,705 --> 00:03:46,545 pounds would weigh 400 pounds, possibly, and then when they get 53 00:03:46,545 --> 00:03:52,050 all big and fat, they find a den to sleep in. And sometimes the 54 00:03:52,050 --> 00:03:57,090 den is under a root, or sometimes it's in the snow, 55 00:03:57,090 --> 00:04:01,350 under a broken branch, or sometimes they even sleep right 56 00:04:01,350 --> 00:04:06,210 out in the open under some evergreen trees. But what they 57 00:04:06,210 --> 00:04:11,190 do is, they slow down their body and their hearts beat much, much 58 00:04:11,190 --> 00:04:16,095 slower than when they were active. And then they also 59 00:04:16,095 --> 00:04:19,995 breathe much less frequently. They take a breath every 45 60 00:04:19,995 --> 00:04:23,655 seconds, or almost every minute, which is much slower than they 61 00:04:23,655 --> 00:04:28,455 normally breathe in the summer, and they go into hibernation. 62 00:04:28,939 --> 00:04:32,179 Jane: So what Mary's saying is, the bears get really fat, so 63 00:04:32,179 --> 00:04:34,879 their bodies have enough energy to allow them to sleep all 64 00:04:34,879 --> 00:04:38,539 winter, and they slow their breathing down. It's a way to 65 00:04:38,539 --> 00:04:41,859 survive through several months of cold, harsh weather when 66 00:04:41,859 --> 00:04:45,759 there's not enough food outside to eat, sleeping all winter is 67 00:04:45,759 --> 00:04:47,379 what is meant by hibernation. 68 00:04:47,559 --> 00:04:50,559 Mary Holland: People didn't used to consider bears hibernators, 69 00:04:50,559 --> 00:04:54,999 because their temperature only drops about 10 degrees. It's 70 00:04:54,999 --> 00:04:59,679 roughly from about 100 degrees Fahrenheit to down to about 88 71 00:04:59,999 --> 00:05:04,079 Degrees Fahrenheit, about 12 degrees, actually. And 72 00:05:04,139 --> 00:05:08,819 scientists, biologists, used to think that your temperature had 73 00:05:08,819 --> 00:05:12,119 to drop way, way down in order to be called a hibernator, but 74 00:05:12,119 --> 00:05:15,899 they've since decided that bears are hibernators, and you can be 75 00:05:15,959 --> 00:05:18,839 a hibernator even if your temperature doesn't drop very, 76 00:05:18,839 --> 00:05:23,299 very low. So once they go into hibernation, they don't eat, 77 00:05:23,599 --> 00:05:27,739 they don't drink, they don't pee, and they don't poop, and 78 00:05:27,739 --> 00:05:31,939 they're in hibernation for four to five months, sometimes even 79 00:05:31,939 --> 00:05:37,219 longer. And what they have is they have a plug, actually, in 80 00:05:37,219 --> 00:05:40,659 their butt that keeps them from going to the bathroom. And when 81 00:05:40,659 --> 00:05:45,039 they wake up in the spring, in April and come out of their den, 82 00:05:45,399 --> 00:05:48,759 the plug comes out naturally, and they start eating again. 83 00:05:48,960 --> 00:05:53,040 Jane: So does anything happen to bears in winter, or do they just 84 00:05:53,040 --> 00:05:53,700 sleep? 85 00:05:54,160 --> 00:05:57,640 Mary Holland: While they're sleeping, they are using up 86 00:05:57,700 --> 00:06:02,400 their fat, and those cells break down and provide them with water 87 00:06:02,640 --> 00:06:08,040 and calories, and they also break down some of their muscle 88 00:06:08,160 --> 00:06:12,600 and organ tissues, and those turn into proteins to keep the 89 00:06:12,600 --> 00:06:19,560 bear alive. Female black bears actually give birth in January 90 00:06:20,340 --> 00:06:24,440 to tiny, little cubs, anywhere from two to five of them, 91 00:06:24,440 --> 00:06:29,540 usually, and they are actually not completely asleep. Their 92 00:06:29,540 --> 00:06:33,440 sleep is quite shallow, so that when the baby cubs need to 93 00:06:33,440 --> 00:06:38,720 nurse, then the mother wakes up and arranges herself so that 94 00:06:38,720 --> 00:06:42,400 they can get her milk. And then when the baby cubs nap, the 95 00:06:42,400 --> 00:06:44,560 mother naps. It's very much like people. 96 00:06:45,080 --> 00:06:48,620 Jane: And so the babies, how big are they when they're born? 97 00:06:49,340 --> 00:06:52,280 Mary Holland: They weigh about half a pound, and they're 98 00:06:52,280 --> 00:06:54,200 roughly seven inches long. 99 00:06:54,200 --> 00:06:55,340 Jane: They're tiny! 100 00:06:55,340 --> 00:06:57,440 Mary Holland: Very tiny, very tiny. 101 00:06:57,680 --> 00:07:00,260 Jane: So when they come out of hibernation in April, though, 102 00:07:00,260 --> 00:07:03,500 the cubs are much bigger, are they able to feed themselves, 103 00:07:03,500 --> 00:07:06,680 and they have the bear fur that everybody thinks of a bear as 104 00:07:06,680 --> 00:07:07,340 looking like? 105 00:07:07,520 --> 00:07:09,245 Mary Holland: They're not completely weaned. 106 00:07:09,245 --> 00:07:12,065 Jane: I'm going to stop Mary right there for just a second. 107 00:07:12,425 --> 00:07:16,445 Weaned means a baby has stopped getting milk from its mother. So 108 00:07:16,445 --> 00:07:19,265 when the bears come out of their dens and Mary says they're not 109 00:07:19,265 --> 00:07:22,565 fully weaned, it means they're still getting some of their food 110 00:07:22,565 --> 00:07:23,765 from their mother's milk. 111 00:07:24,200 --> 00:07:28,820 Mary Holland: They look like a miniature adult. They can walk 112 00:07:28,880 --> 00:07:33,005 and climb. They're very agile, and they are starting to eat 113 00:07:33,005 --> 00:07:37,625 solid food. Usually it's some of the green vegetation that comes 114 00:07:37,625 --> 00:07:40,025 up earliest in the spring, often by ponds. 115 00:07:39,919 --> 00:07:42,159 Jane: Mary, do you think the bears dream while they're 116 00:07:42,159 --> 00:07:45,039 hibernating? I mean, I would dream if I was asleep for that 117 00:07:45,039 --> 00:07:45,399 long. 118 00:07:45,460 --> 00:07:49,060 Mary Holland: I would too. I think I would be, yes, I would 119 00:07:49,060 --> 00:07:53,320 be dreaming about the coming summer and turning over logs and 120 00:07:53,320 --> 00:07:57,760 finding all kinds of ants to eat. That's what I'd be dreaming 121 00:07:57,760 --> 00:07:58,120 about. 122 00:07:58,480 --> 00:08:01,540 Jane: Black bears usually sleep for four or five months, in 123 00:08:01,540 --> 00:08:05,080 places like Vermont, where the winters are cold and dark, in 124 00:08:05,080 --> 00:08:08,020 Alaska and northern Canada, they'll sometimes hibernate for 125 00:08:08,020 --> 00:08:11,620 six months or even more. But in some places where it's warmer 126 00:08:11,620 --> 00:08:14,860 and there's food throughout the winter, like Mexico, black bears 127 00:08:14,860 --> 00:08:18,100 will barely hibernate at all. When the bears wake up, they 128 00:08:18,100 --> 00:08:21,880 have one mission, to gain weight, so they spend most of 129 00:08:21,925 --> 00:08:25,525 their time eating, eating, eating. At the beginning of the 130 00:08:25,525 --> 00:08:29,065 spring, they look for green plants to eat, but over time, as 131 00:08:29,065 --> 00:08:32,245 trees and plants start to blossom, they find nuts and 132 00:08:32,245 --> 00:08:36,805 berries, and if they're lucky, things like honey or fish. They 133 00:08:36,805 --> 00:08:40,105 can also get a taste, though, for human garbage and bird seed. 134 00:08:40,405 --> 00:08:43,945 So if you share your habitat with bears, you should try to 135 00:08:43,945 --> 00:08:46,990 keep your trash cans away from them, and you might want to 136 00:08:46,990 --> 00:08:49,570 think about putting away your bird feeder during the spring, 137 00:08:49,570 --> 00:08:53,590 summer and fall months, so the bears can't get at them. By the 138 00:08:53,590 --> 00:08:56,350 way, I mentioned there were eight types of bears. Some of 139 00:08:56,350 --> 00:08:59,110 them hibernate, like the black bear we've been talking about. 140 00:08:59,470 --> 00:09:02,590 Brown bears also hibernate. And if you've ever heard of a 141 00:09:02,590 --> 00:09:06,670 grizzly bear, a grizzly bear is a subspecies of brown bear, so 142 00:09:06,670 --> 00:09:11,215 it's a type of brown bear. The other species are polar bears, 143 00:09:11,215 --> 00:09:16,975 panda bears, sun bears, sloth bears, Andean bears, which are 144 00:09:16,975 --> 00:09:20,875 sometimes called spectacled bears, and the Asiatic black 145 00:09:20,875 --> 00:09:24,955 bear, which is also called a moon bear. And just so we're 146 00:09:24,955 --> 00:09:29,875 clear, the koala bear is not a bear, it's what is called a 147 00:09:29,875 --> 00:09:30,715 marsupial. 148 00:09:37,375 --> 00:09:41,380 Mary, bears aren't the only animals that hibernate for the 149 00:09:41,380 --> 00:09:44,200 winter. Can you talk about a few other kinds of animals? 150 00:09:44,200 --> 00:09:47,020 Mary Holland: There are other animals, such as bats and 151 00:09:47,020 --> 00:09:51,280 woodchucks that hibernate with the woodchuck, it has a very 152 00:09:51,280 --> 00:09:55,225 similar response as black bears. They stuff themselves at the end 153 00:09:55,225 --> 00:09:57,685 of the summer. If you have a vegetable garden, you're well 154 00:09:57,685 --> 00:10:00,805 aware that woodchucks visit it frequently at the end of the 155 00:10:00,805 --> 00:10:06,325 summer. And they put on lots of lots of weight, about a third of 156 00:10:06,325 --> 00:10:10,705 their body weight they put on. And then they leave their summer 157 00:10:10,705 --> 00:10:13,525 burrow and head to the woods for their winter burrow. And then 158 00:10:13,525 --> 00:10:17,245 they curl up and they go to sleep and enter a very deep 159 00:10:17,290 --> 00:10:22,210 hibernation. Their body temperature dropped much lower 160 00:10:22,210 --> 00:10:26,650 than black bears, so they're in a much deeper sleep. Black bears 161 00:10:27,430 --> 00:10:31,570 can waken up quite readily when they're sleeping. Whereas a 162 00:10:31,570 --> 00:10:34,750 woodchuck, if you were to dig into a woodchuck burrow where it 163 00:10:34,750 --> 00:10:38,470 was hibernating and lift it up, it wouldn't move. It would look 164 00:10:38,470 --> 00:10:43,075 as though it was dead. Its temperature drops from about 97 165 00:10:43,075 --> 00:10:47,215 degrees, which is roughly what a black bear's is. But whereas a 166 00:10:47,215 --> 00:10:52,195 black bear only drops down to 88 degrees Fahrenheit, woodchucks 167 00:10:52,195 --> 00:10:56,395 are about 47, 46, 47 degrees Fahrenheit, so they're just 168 00:10:56,395 --> 00:10:57,895 hovering above freezing. 169 00:10:57,895 --> 00:11:00,055 Jane: So that would be like what it feels like inside your 170 00:11:00,055 --> 00:11:00,895 refrigerator. 171 00:11:00,895 --> 00:11:06,340 Mary Holland: Exactly, exactly, and they stay in that state. 172 00:11:06,760 --> 00:11:10,780 Well, we have February is the month of Groundhog Day, but in 173 00:11:10,780 --> 00:11:16,480 Vermont, at least woodchucks are fast asleep on February 2, and 174 00:11:16,600 --> 00:11:19,480 it's probably another month or month and a half before the 175 00:11:19,480 --> 00:11:23,800 males wake up, and then they come out of their burrows, and 176 00:11:23,800 --> 00:11:28,225 they look for a female burrow and a female to mate with. And 177 00:11:28,225 --> 00:11:32,665 then after they mate, the female goes back to sleep, and the male 178 00:11:32,665 --> 00:11:35,725 trots back to his burrow, and he goes back to sleep for a few 179 00:11:35,725 --> 00:11:36,205 weeks. 180 00:11:37,220 --> 00:11:39,800 Jane: What about some amphibians? They have 181 00:11:39,800 --> 00:11:41,380 interesting ways of hibernation. 182 00:11:41,000 --> 00:11:43,700 Mary Holland: I'm sorry. I was thinking of just mammals, frogs 183 00:11:43,760 --> 00:11:48,620 and turtles, reptiles and amphibians both hibernate. The 184 00:11:48,620 --> 00:11:52,040 reason for hibernation is because there's a lack of food. 185 00:11:52,280 --> 00:11:55,580 Frogs, basically, a lot of people think they bury 186 00:11:55,580 --> 00:11:59,060 themselves in the mud. They don't. Aquatic frogs, frogs that 187 00:11:59,060 --> 00:12:02,660 live in a pond or go down to the bottom of a pond and just sort 188 00:12:03,020 --> 00:12:06,005 of lay on top of the mud, because they breathe through 189 00:12:06,005 --> 00:12:10,745 their skin, and they need to be exposed to the water to get the 190 00:12:10,745 --> 00:12:14,705 oxygen in the water into their skin. But they are not for the 191 00:12:14,705 --> 00:12:19,205 most part, they're not active. Turtles, on the other hand, do 192 00:12:19,205 --> 00:12:22,325 bury themselves in mud, like a snapping turtle, an aquatic 193 00:12:22,325 --> 00:12:26,705 turtle or a painted turtle, will bury themselves in mud and shut 194 00:12:26,705 --> 00:12:29,870 down their body even further so that they need very little 195 00:12:29,870 --> 00:12:33,830 oxygen, and they remain there until spring as well. 196 00:12:34,800 --> 00:12:37,080 Jane: One of the other really interesting animals that I 197 00:12:37,080 --> 00:12:41,340 learned about hibernating just recently is what a lot of us 198 00:12:41,340 --> 00:12:43,980 know as the wooly bear caterpillar. So it's that 199 00:12:43,980 --> 00:12:47,760 caterpillar that's pretty fuzzy, and it's black and orange, and 200 00:12:47,760 --> 00:12:50,700 usually it's black on both ends and orange in the middle, or 201 00:12:50,700 --> 00:12:54,240 orange, sort of rusty red. And people often say you can tell 202 00:12:54,240 --> 00:12:59,505 how harsh the winter is going to be, because the more orange, the 203 00:12:59,505 --> 00:13:02,265 milder the winter it's going to be. So if you see a wooly bear 204 00:13:02,265 --> 00:13:05,025 that's very orange, in theory, we're going to have a warm 205 00:13:05,025 --> 00:13:07,905 winter, and it's not going to have too much snow or cold. 206 00:13:08,565 --> 00:13:10,305 Mary Holland: Do you want to know the real truth? 207 00:13:10,365 --> 00:13:11,205 Jane: Yes. 208 00:13:11,985 --> 00:13:15,465 Mary Holland: The amount of orange is simply a reflection of 209 00:13:15,465 --> 00:13:19,005 how many times the caterpillar has molted. 210 00:13:19,050 --> 00:13:23,010 Jane: Molting means shedding the skin. It's how some animals grow 211 00:13:23,010 --> 00:13:26,430 bigger. They shed their outer skin, and they grow into a new 212 00:13:26,430 --> 00:13:29,550 skin or a new shell, depending on what kind of animal it is, 213 00:13:29,790 --> 00:13:31,530 one that's a little bit roomier. 214 00:13:31,530 --> 00:13:35,550 Mary Holland: Each time it molds. There's an additional 215 00:13:35,670 --> 00:13:38,250 section of orange, so. 216 00:13:38,250 --> 00:13:41,310 Jane: So the orange ones are the older they're the elder wooly 217 00:13:41,310 --> 00:13:41,610 bears. 218 00:13:41,610 --> 00:13:44,595 Mary Holland: Yes, the more orange, the older, the longer 219 00:13:44,595 --> 00:13:48,435 the growing period has been. So if we have an early spring or a 220 00:13:48,435 --> 00:13:54,015 late fall, it's able to feed longer, and therefore probably 221 00:13:54,015 --> 00:13:55,515 have more orange. 222 00:13:55,515 --> 00:13:58,275 Jane: Mary, I also read that these caterpillars have an 223 00:13:58,335 --> 00:14:01,455 interesting thing that goes into their bloodstream that's kind of 224 00:14:01,455 --> 00:14:05,595 like anti freeze that you put in your car so they can hibernate 225 00:14:05,595 --> 00:14:07,140 and they just freeze solid. 226 00:14:07,720 --> 00:14:12,100 Mary Holland: Yes, a lot of insects have sort of glucose 227 00:14:12,100 --> 00:14:16,060 substance. It's just like anti freeze, and that's how they can 228 00:14:16,060 --> 00:14:18,580 survive. They're not warm blooded, so they don't try to 229 00:14:18,580 --> 00:14:23,920 stay warm, and they can't but they have this, you named it 230 00:14:23,980 --> 00:14:27,220 antifreeze in them, that keeps their cells from freezing, 231 00:14:27,280 --> 00:14:29,320 Jane: And it's called a cryoprotectant. 232 00:14:29,300 --> 00:14:32,480 Mary Holland: Yes, exactly. It's interesting. You mentioned the 233 00:14:32,480 --> 00:14:37,580 wooly bear, because wooly bears are one of the few moths that 234 00:14:37,760 --> 00:14:43,640 overwinter as a larva, not in a cocoon as a pupa, and not as an 235 00:14:43,640 --> 00:14:49,100 egg, but as a caterpillar or larva, and they don't turn into 236 00:14:49,100 --> 00:14:53,480 a moth until the spring. So in the spring, you'll be seeing 237 00:14:53,825 --> 00:14:57,785 really ragged looking, wooly bears crawling around before 238 00:14:57,965 --> 00:15:01,685 they form their cocoon and emerge as moths. 239 00:15:01,685 --> 00:15:04,925 Jane: And the type of moth they turn into is called an Isabella 240 00:15:04,925 --> 00:15:06,845 Tiger Moth. Do you know what that looks like? 241 00:15:07,085 --> 00:15:11,345 Mary Holland: It's, I'm afraid it's quite dull. It's a tannish 242 00:15:11,345 --> 00:15:15,710 brown, nondescript little moth, maybe an inch wing spread. 243 00:15:16,860 --> 00:15:20,100 Jane: That was naturalist Mary Holland telling us why bears 244 00:15:20,100 --> 00:15:23,100 sleep all winter and about some of the other animals that 245 00:15:23,100 --> 00:15:26,640 hibernate. If you want to learn more about animals in nature, 246 00:15:26,640 --> 00:15:30,240 check out Mary's book. It's called Naturally Curious, and it 247 00:15:30,240 --> 00:15:32,700 tells about what's happening in nature in the New England 248 00:15:32,700 --> 00:15:34,620 region, in every month of the year. 249 00:15:52,840 --> 00:15:58,285 Do you recognize that call that's a barred owl. Sometimes 250 00:15:58,285 --> 00:16:02,065 people say their call sounds like "Who cooks for you, who 251 00:16:02,065 --> 00:16:03,505 cooks for you all?" 252 00:16:22,680 --> 00:16:25,920 If you live in the eastern half of the United States or Canada, 253 00:16:26,280 --> 00:16:29,925 or in the Pacific Northwest and parts of western Canada, you may 254 00:16:29,925 --> 00:16:33,525 have been able to hear one of these elusive creatures. But 255 00:16:33,525 --> 00:16:37,725 have you ever seen a barred owl up close? They're pretty cool to 256 00:16:37,725 --> 00:16:41,445 see in the wild, flying almost silently through the woods at 257 00:16:41,445 --> 00:16:46,245 dawn or dusk. Some lucky kids recently got to meet a barred 258 00:16:46,245 --> 00:16:51,030 owl named Chapin, and we paid a visit too. Chapin was seriously 259 00:16:51,030 --> 00:16:54,150 injured several years ago and can't live in the wild anymore, 260 00:16:54,450 --> 00:16:56,970 but she was rescued, and she's now taken care of by an 261 00:16:56,970 --> 00:17:01,290 organization called outreach for Earth Stewardship. She lives in 262 00:17:01,290 --> 00:17:05,910 an aviary that's like a really big bird cage. Chapin is pretty 263 00:17:05,910 --> 00:17:08,970 quiet when she's visiting with human friends. When we got to 264 00:17:08,970 --> 00:17:12,870 meet her, she was sitting calmly on a leather glove worn by Craig 265 00:17:12,870 --> 00:17:16,335 Newman, and Craig told us a little bit about Chapin and what 266 00:17:16,335 --> 00:17:18,975 it's like to take care of a wild animal like this. 267 00:17:20,040 --> 00:17:24,000 Craig Newman: She was injured when she was hit by a car in 268 00:17:24,420 --> 00:17:30,900 2006 and she's been with us since then. She is very 269 00:17:30,900 --> 00:17:35,040 distinctive in that she has dark colored eyes. They're dark 270 00:17:35,040 --> 00:17:39,240 brown, the only owl that we have here in Vermont that does have 271 00:17:39,240 --> 00:17:44,565 dark eyes. The rest have light green, greenish yellow, or some 272 00:17:45,285 --> 00:17:50,505 light color like that. So. And she also has vertical dark bars 273 00:17:50,505 --> 00:17:55,665 on her chest that the name is derived from, the barred owl. 274 00:17:57,405 --> 00:18:06,690 And she has a sort of a nice, round earless head. She has no 275 00:18:06,690 --> 00:18:14,730 ear tufts, feather tufts. They live outside in a large aviary, 276 00:18:15,510 --> 00:18:19,590 and she actually has two roommates. They're all barred 277 00:18:19,590 --> 00:18:24,630 owls. Yes, we don't mix species, because somebody might be 278 00:18:25,290 --> 00:18:29,295 breakfast for another bird, if we were to put them together. 279 00:18:30,795 --> 00:18:33,915 Well, for me, it's a lot of fun. Of course, it's a lot of work, a 280 00:18:33,915 --> 00:18:38,115 lot of cleaning, a lot of feeding, maintaining their 281 00:18:38,355 --> 00:18:44,595 habitat. She mostly eats mice and small rats. Wild living 282 00:18:44,595 --> 00:18:48,075 barred owls eat a variety of different food, especially 283 00:18:48,075 --> 00:18:53,700 summertime. They eat lots of amphibians and songbirds, mice. 284 00:18:54,060 --> 00:19:00,000 But in captivity, she mainly gets mammals. We've had some 285 00:19:00,000 --> 00:19:04,500 other owls that we've had for over 20 years. This time of 286 00:19:04,500 --> 00:19:08,640 year, there, once the sun goes down, there's quite a barred owl 287 00:19:08,640 --> 00:19:12,840 party, because we have wild living barred owls that live 288 00:19:12,840 --> 00:19:18,825 nearby, and there's lots of conversations going on, so it's 289 00:19:18,825 --> 00:19:19,605 pretty noisy. 290 00:19:21,345 --> 00:19:24,585 Jane: Can you imagine what an owl party would be like? It 291 00:19:24,585 --> 00:19:54,750 might sound something like this. 292 00:19:42,799 --> 00:20:09,807 That's a pair of barred owls calling with their nestling, 293 00:20:10,280 --> 00:20:37,762 their little baby owl, and here's what it sounds like when 294 00:20:38,236 --> 00:20:59,559 two pairs of owls are calling back and forth. 295 00:20:59,250 --> 00:21:01,950 What they're communicating to each other is something along 296 00:21:01,950 --> 00:21:05,835 the lines of, this is my space or my tree. Buzz off. You can't 297 00:21:05,835 --> 00:21:06,615 live here too. 298 00:21:11,715 --> 00:21:14,475 The sounds you've been hearing of the barred owls calling were 299 00:21:14,475 --> 00:21:17,655 given to us to use by the Macaulay L:ibrary at the Cornell 300 00:21:17,655 --> 00:21:18,975 Lab of Ornithology. 301 00:21:18,000 --> 00:21:27,360 They have a pretty cool website if you're interested in hearing 302 00:21:27,360 --> 00:21:31,200 more bird calls of all kinds, and the website will tell you a 303 00:21:31,200 --> 00:21:34,560 lot about where birds live and what their behavior is, what 304 00:21:34,560 --> 00:21:37,920 things they eat and what they look like. We have a link up at 305 00:21:37,920 --> 00:21:43,245 but why kids.org .Thank you so much for listening back to our 306 00:21:43,245 --> 00:21:47,205 first ever episode of But Why. Thanks to all of you for 307 00:21:47,205 --> 00:21:50,325 listening for 10 years and to our wonderful guests who have 308 00:21:50,325 --> 00:21:54,945 shared your curiosity and their expertise with us. But Why is 309 00:21:54,945 --> 00:21:58,365 produced by Sarah Baik, Melody Bodette, and me, Jane Lindholm 310 00:21:58,425 --> 00:22:02,385 at Vermont Public and distributed by PRX. Our video 311 00:22:02,385 --> 00:22:05,550 producer is Joey Palumbo, and our theme music is by Luke 312 00:22:05,550 --> 00:22:09,150 Reynolds. If you like our show, please have your adults help you 313 00:22:09,150 --> 00:22:12,690 give us a thumbs up or a review on whatever podcast platform you 314 00:22:12,690 --> 00:22:17,190 use, it helps other kids and families find us. We'll be back 315 00:22:17,190 --> 00:22:22,050 in two weeks with really an all new episode. Until then, stay 316 00:22:22,050 --> 00:22:22,830 curious.