Just the Zoo of Us

Ellen and Christian get a feel for the garden eel. We discuss fortified butts, science's greatest unsolved mysteries, flirting techniques for the ultimate homebodies, video chatting with eels, and so much more.
Works Cited:
“Morphological specializations in heterocongrinae (Anguilliformes: Congridae) related to burrowing and feeding” - N. De Schepper et al., Journal of Morphology, March 2007
“Spotted Garden Eel” - California Academy of Sciences
“Peek-A-Boo with Hawaiian Garden Eels” - Nature on PBS, YouTube
“Life in the flow: unique adaptations for feeding on drifting zooplankton in garden eels” - Alexandra Khrizman et al., Journal of Experimental Biology, August 2018
“Spawning behavior of garden eels, Gorgasia preclara and Heteroconger hassi (Heterocongrinae), observed in captivity” - Tomohiro Kakizaki et al., Marine and Freshwater Behavior and Physiology, August 2015
“This Japanese aquarium wants you to FaceTime its shy eels” - Emiko Jozuka, CNN Travel, May 2020
"First direct evidence of adult European eels migrating to their breeding place in the Sargasso Sea" - Rosalind M. Wright et al., Scientific Reports, October 2022
Links:
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Joined Ellen & special guest, conservationist and herpetologist Harpreet Singh Sethi, for a look at the snake appropriately named the Giant Lord of the Water. While the false water cobra is the main topic of the episode - and is even a silent but very much present guest for recording - we discuss a lot, like multifaceted approaches to conservation, taking a snake in a box on the bus, convergent evolution of hooded snakes all over the world, the care and keeping of reptiles, stories from the field, and so much more.
Links:
Follow Harpreet's Wildlife on YouTube and Instagram!
Check out Harpreet's documentary: What NO ONE Tells You About Snakes in India | Beyond the Fear | Snakebite | Documentary
Audio source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYFD4BsEruI
For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website!
Follow Just the Zoo of Us on BlueSky, Facebook, Instagram & Discord!
Follow Ellen on Instagram or BlueSky!

Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinjustthezoo

In this week's re-broadcast of an episode from April of 2023, Christian cheers for pom-pom crabs & Ellen explains what makes mourning doves so coo-l. We discuss how crabs clone their own pets, what type of milk pigeons order in their lattes, and a suspicious pattern of criminal activity.
Links:
For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website!
Follow Just the Zoo of Us on BlueSky, Facebook, Instagram & Discord!
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Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinjustthezoo

It's fall yall - time for Ellen and Christian to embark on a multi-generational odyssey with monarch butterflies. We discuss why butterflies are total heartstoppers and their style twins, real-life shinies, what's going on inside a chrysalis, an annual journey that takes multiple generations to finish, how to best support wild monarch butterflies, and so much more.

Works Cited:

"Danaus plexippus" - U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

“Predator induced colour polymorphism in Danaus plexippus L. (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae) in Hawaii” - John Stimson and Mark Berman, Heredity, March 1990

“Comparative unpalatability of mimetic Viceroy butterflies (Limenitis archippus) from 4 South-Eastern United-States populations” - David B. Ritland, Oecologia, Jan 1995

“What was learned?” - Monarch Watch, University of Kansas

"The phenomenal monarch migration" - Mara Koenig, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

“An experimental displacement and over 50 years of tag-recoveries show that monarch butterflies are not true navigators” - Henrik Mouritsen et al., PNAS, April 2013

"Joint Statement Regarding Captive Breeding and Releasing of Monarchs"

“Is Captive Rearing Hurting Monarchs?” - Elizabeth Anne brown, National Wildlife Federation, March 2026

Links:

For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website!

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Join Ellen & very special guest zookeeper and conservationist Alice Vassallo for the inside scoop on one of the world’s most mysterious not-so-big cats. We discuss differences between zookeeping practices in Europe and the US, swiping right if you have rotatable ankles, marshmallows as a last resort, have an eclipse interlude, and so much more.

Links:

Check out Alice's podcast (profanity warning)!

Follow Alice on Instagram!

Check out the Clouded Leopard Working Group!

For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website!

Follow Just the Zoo of Us on BlueSky, Facebook, Instagram & Discord!

Follow Ellen on Instagram or BlueSky!

Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/joinjustthezoo