1 00:00:03,503 --> 00:00:05,972 And now for an animal joke. 2 00:00:05,972 --> 00:00:08,942 What does a panda bear say on Halloween? 3 00:00:09,309 --> 00:00:12,846 What does a panda bear say on Halloween? 4 00:00:13,646 --> 00:00:16,649 The answer is. 5 00:00:17,117 --> 00:00:20,820 Going to be revealed at the end of the episode. 6 00:00:20,987 --> 00:00:25,191 But first, get your ears ready because it's the Happiest Animal 7 00:00:25,191 --> 00:00:29,929 Show on Planet Earth, the Happiest Animal Show on Planet Earth. 8 00:00:30,096 --> 00:00:30,930 Do you want to be sad? 9 00:00:30,930 --> 00:00:34,034 No. Do you want to be glad? No. Wait! Yes. 10 00:00:34,300 --> 00:00:37,303 Well, it's the happiest animal show on Planet Earth. 11 00:00:43,410 --> 00:00:46,112 Hello and welcome to the Happiest Animal 12 00:00:46,112 --> 00:00:50,550 show on Planet Earth, the podcast that asks the very important question. 13 00:00:50,850 --> 00:00:53,787 What animal is making you happy today? 14 00:00:53,787 --> 00:00:58,124 Not last month, not last week, but today. 15 00:00:58,725 --> 00:01:02,295 I'm Rob and I'm Laura, and we are a sister brother 16 00:01:02,295 --> 00:01:05,965 pair of zoologists, filmmakers and songwriters. 17 00:01:06,132 --> 00:01:09,903 We are here to explore the wonderful world of wildlife and discover 18 00:01:09,903 --> 00:01:11,604 why animals make us happy. 19 00:01:11,604 --> 00:01:14,307 Today we have a song about pandas 20 00:01:14,307 --> 00:01:17,310 and we'll also be speaking with Roche Patel, 21 00:01:17,377 --> 00:01:21,481 a filmmaker and photographer who works at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C.. 22 00:01:22,348 --> 00:01:23,783 Here we go. 23 00:01:23,783 --> 00:01:28,488 What animal is making you happy today? 24 00:01:28,755 --> 00:01:30,190 I want to know. 25 00:01:30,190 --> 00:01:33,259 The theme we have given ourselves for this 26 00:01:33,259 --> 00:01:37,230 episode is Epic Animals in Honor of Earth Day. 27 00:01:37,497 --> 00:01:39,032 And what do we mean by epic? 28 00:01:39,032 --> 00:01:45,405 We mean it's an animal that you would want to project onto the moon for Earth Day. 29 00:01:45,405 --> 00:01:49,042 So everybody could look at that animal like an icon. 30 00:01:49,109 --> 00:01:53,113 Every human on earth looking up into the sky would see that 31 00:01:53,113 --> 00:01:55,081 animal staring back at them. 32 00:01:55,081 --> 00:01:58,051 Every alien zooming by in a spaceship 33 00:01:58,551 --> 00:02:01,154 would look over and see that and think, 34 00:02:01,154 --> 00:02:04,824 Holy Z, barf, that planet looks fine. 35 00:02:06,092 --> 00:02:06,993 Okay, Rob, 36 00:02:06,993 --> 00:02:09,996 what epic animal is making you happy today? 37 00:02:10,063 --> 00:02:16,035 Okay, this is an animal that can weigh up to 100 pounds. 38 00:02:16,569 --> 00:02:18,238 Is it an ocean animal? 39 00:02:18,238 --> 00:02:19,906 Yeah, it is an ocean animal. 40 00:02:19,906 --> 00:02:21,674 Is it a fish? 41 00:02:21,674 --> 00:02:22,742 It is not a fish. 42 00:02:22,742 --> 00:02:26,112 No. It's also an animal that you have seen. 43 00:02:26,746 --> 00:02:28,014 In the wild. Really? 44 00:02:28,014 --> 00:02:30,583 Yeah. Did I almost sit on it? 45 00:02:30,583 --> 00:02:31,918 No. Okay. 46 00:02:31,918 --> 00:02:34,587 It's not a manatee. 47 00:02:34,587 --> 00:02:36,556 I almost sat on a manatee once. 48 00:02:36,556 --> 00:02:39,325 Accidentally. It was right behind me, and I didn't know it. 49 00:02:39,325 --> 00:02:42,228 This is an animal that uses tools. 50 00:02:42,228 --> 00:02:45,231 Ooh, there aren't many animals you can say about that. 51 00:02:45,798 --> 00:02:48,902 Does it have really dense fur? 52 00:02:49,269 --> 00:02:52,839 Yes. Does it have the most dense fur of any mammal? 53 00:02:53,873 --> 00:02:58,144 Yes. Is it, sea otter? 54 00:02:58,645 --> 00:02:59,179 It is 55 00:03:00,914 --> 00:03:03,650 sea otter. 56 00:03:03,650 --> 00:03:05,818 I imagined looking up at the moon 57 00:03:05,818 --> 00:03:08,821 and seeing an adorable 58 00:03:08,821 --> 00:03:11,791 sea otter face staring back at all of humanity. 59 00:03:11,858 --> 00:03:12,358 Yeah, yeah. 60 00:03:12,358 --> 00:03:16,563 I wanted on Earth Day for people to look up into the sky at the moon 61 00:03:16,930 --> 00:03:19,766 and have something that just makes them happy. 62 00:03:19,766 --> 00:03:23,069 I can definitely see everyone in the world holding hands, 63 00:03:23,069 --> 00:03:26,539 looking up at the face of a sea otter on the moon and just looking. 64 00:03:26,539 --> 00:03:28,975 Yeah, we're all neighbors. 65 00:03:28,975 --> 00:03:29,542 Yeah. 66 00:03:29,542 --> 00:03:32,612 And everyone's singing the exact same otter song together. 67 00:03:32,946 --> 00:03:38,051 Yeah, we otter be kind to each other every day. 68 00:03:38,818 --> 00:03:42,789 Earth day is every day. 69 00:03:43,556 --> 00:03:46,559 Not just one day a year. 70 00:03:47,193 --> 00:03:48,695 It's the new Earth Day song. 71 00:03:48,695 --> 00:03:51,364 I think the official Earth Day song. Yeah. 72 00:03:51,364 --> 00:03:55,068 When you are an I, we're up in Alaska when we were in our early 20s. 73 00:03:55,134 --> 00:03:57,103 That was the first time I ever saw a sea otter, 74 00:03:57,103 --> 00:04:02,041 and we were out on a small boat going through kind of a glacial flow. 75 00:04:02,041 --> 00:04:05,278 There's like icebergs floating around, and there were 76 00:04:05,278 --> 00:04:08,514 rafts of sea otters, just like, I don't know, 40, 77 00:04:08,715 --> 00:04:12,652 50 sea otters all just huddle together floating in a big group. How? 78 00:04:12,652 --> 00:04:15,255 It was just a raft of adorableness. 79 00:04:15,255 --> 00:04:15,555 Yeah. 80 00:04:15,555 --> 00:04:19,025 I mean, and when we say raft, we don't mean that 81 00:04:19,025 --> 00:04:22,795 the otters are sitting on top of some sort of raft that somebody made. 82 00:04:23,096 --> 00:04:26,666 What we mean is there's a bunch of sea otters gathered together, holding 83 00:04:26,666 --> 00:04:30,870 on to each other, floating together, and they call that a raft. 84 00:04:31,504 --> 00:04:33,773 So what tools do a sea otter use? 85 00:04:33,773 --> 00:04:35,408 They'll use like a rock 86 00:04:35,408 --> 00:04:39,078 to actually crack open the shells of the food that they eat. 87 00:04:39,078 --> 00:04:43,249 Most of the food that sea otters eat are like shelled animals, 88 00:04:43,516 --> 00:04:46,519 and so they have to crack that open until actually lay on their back. 89 00:04:46,919 --> 00:04:48,855 And I've watched this. It's really neat. 90 00:04:48,855 --> 00:04:49,889 They're there. 91 00:04:49,889 --> 00:04:52,859 I'll take a rock like a hammer and they'll just whack, whack, whack, whack. 92 00:04:52,859 --> 00:04:56,462 They'll crack open the shell of, you know, it could be an urchin 93 00:04:56,462 --> 00:04:58,531 or a crab or a clam. Wow. 94 00:04:58,531 --> 00:05:02,902 One of my most exciting moments ever when I've been scuba diving was 95 00:05:03,069 --> 00:05:07,640 when I was in a kelp forest in Monterey Bay and a sea otter dove down. 96 00:05:07,874 --> 00:05:08,608 No way. 97 00:05:08,608 --> 00:05:08,975 Right? 98 00:05:08,975 --> 00:05:13,012 Right near me to go catch, like a crab off the bottom. 99 00:05:13,079 --> 00:05:14,614 I didn't know that. 100 00:05:14,614 --> 00:05:15,014 Whoa. 101 00:05:15,014 --> 00:05:16,049 Yeah, 102 00:05:16,049 --> 00:05:17,950 I just caught it out of the corner of my eye 103 00:05:17,950 --> 00:05:21,020 as it was heading back to the surface, and it 104 00:05:21,220 --> 00:05:25,224 it just went back up and laid on its back and floated on the surface. So? 105 00:05:26,192 --> 00:05:27,794 So Rob has picked sea otters. 106 00:05:27,794 --> 00:05:30,797 Find out what I picked right after this. 107 00:05:32,332 --> 00:05:35,501 And now we are taking you to outer space, 108 00:05:35,702 --> 00:05:40,940 where space aliens are seeing a picture of a sea otter projected onto the moon. 109 00:05:41,207 --> 00:05:44,210 The following is translated from their native alien language 110 00:05:44,544 --> 00:05:47,480 Skarpaxian. 111 00:05:47,480 --> 00:05:50,183 We are approaching planet Earth. 112 00:05:50,183 --> 00:05:55,221 Wait, and what is that picture on the side of planet Earth's moon? 113 00:05:55,221 --> 00:05:57,724 What? 114 00:05:57,724 --> 00:06:01,127 Oh, it looks just like a Snorblax. 115 00:06:01,394 --> 00:06:05,798 Yes, it looks like a Snorblax from Gramulus Prime. 116 00:06:05,798 --> 00:06:07,700 It's terrifying. 117 00:06:07,700 --> 00:06:12,205 Yeah, I'm accessing this planet's information now. 118 00:06:12,305 --> 00:06:15,608 They call this creature a sea otter. 119 00:06:15,942 --> 00:06:18,211 Look at its little plorb. 120 00:06:18,211 --> 00:06:21,814 And it's two beady little beebles, 121 00:06:21,814 --> 00:06:26,085 It makes the flern rise on the back of my splingle, 122 00:06:26,452 --> 00:06:31,224 and the computer says, look, baby, sea otters make this sound. 123 00:06:35,161 --> 00:06:37,163 Terrifying. 124 00:06:37,163 --> 00:06:42,335 If there are sea otters, do you think there are space otters? 125 00:06:42,769 --> 00:06:44,604 Let's get out of here. 126 00:06:44,604 --> 00:06:50,109 Back to planet Scarpaxian before we find out. Oh. 127 00:06:52,178 --> 00:06:53,813 All right. And we're back. 128 00:06:53,813 --> 00:06:58,451 Laura, what epic animal is making you happy today? 129 00:06:58,451 --> 00:07:01,454 What would you want to see projected on to the moon? 130 00:07:02,221 --> 00:07:04,457 I'm going to give you some hints. 131 00:07:04,457 --> 00:07:07,460 This animal is big. 132 00:07:07,827 --> 00:07:12,932 Yeah, it is the world's largest land animal. 133 00:07:13,366 --> 00:07:14,801 Okay. 134 00:07:14,801 --> 00:07:17,804 This animal likes to throw mud 135 00:07:17,837 --> 00:07:21,774 and sand on itself to use, like, sunscreen. 136 00:07:22,708 --> 00:07:24,977 I knew what it was on the fur. 137 00:07:24,977 --> 00:07:25,645 I know you did. 138 00:07:25,645 --> 00:07:28,181 I gave such a good hint at the beginning, but. 139 00:07:28,181 --> 00:07:30,650 But I'm just gonna make sure people listening. 140 00:07:30,650 --> 00:07:34,120 It lives in Africa and it lives in Asia, 141 00:07:35,455 --> 00:07:37,590 and it communicates through vibrations. 142 00:07:37,590 --> 00:07:40,827 Sometimes we can't even hear as people, but they can hear them. 143 00:07:41,561 --> 00:07:42,495 What is it, Rob? 144 00:07:44,297 --> 00:07:47,300 It's an elephant. 145 00:07:47,700 --> 00:07:48,167 Elephant. 146 00:07:48,167 --> 00:07:50,236 Great choice. 147 00:07:50,236 --> 00:07:51,771 Tell me why you chose the elephants 148 00:07:51,771 --> 00:07:55,208 to be your Earth Day animal projected onto the moon. 149 00:07:55,641 --> 00:07:57,810 Elephants are awesome. 150 00:07:57,810 --> 00:08:01,180 The shape of them is so distinct with a trunk. 151 00:08:01,547 --> 00:08:04,250 Elephant like animals have been around for a while. 152 00:08:04,250 --> 00:08:06,452 There were mastodons. There were mammoths. 153 00:08:06,452 --> 00:08:09,956 I just think elephants are just this animal 154 00:08:09,956 --> 00:08:13,993 that if you had never seen it before, makes your brain 155 00:08:14,293 --> 00:08:18,364 like explode in this sort of what is this thing kind of a way? 156 00:08:18,498 --> 00:08:22,502 It's almost like the excitement you'd get seeing a dinosaur. 157 00:08:23,402 --> 00:08:27,540 Because in our minds we think of dinosaurs as being huge and and just bonkers. 158 00:08:27,540 --> 00:08:32,211 To look at an elephant is that it's huge and it's bonkers to look at. 159 00:08:32,612 --> 00:08:34,213 I get the idea that, 160 00:08:35,348 --> 00:08:37,783 something evolved into that shape. 161 00:08:37,783 --> 00:08:39,485 Yeah, it is amazing. 162 00:08:39,485 --> 00:08:42,388 Yeah. It's teeth grow and become tusks. 163 00:08:42,388 --> 00:08:42,555 Yeah. 164 00:08:42,555 --> 00:08:46,592 The trunk it can snorkel with, they can snorkel with their trunks 165 00:08:46,759 --> 00:08:48,194 while they're swimming. 166 00:08:48,194 --> 00:08:49,862 And they're like crazy strong. 167 00:08:49,862 --> 00:08:51,330 They can, like, knock down a tree. 168 00:08:51,330 --> 00:08:51,631 Yeah. 169 00:08:51,631 --> 00:08:55,434 No, but they're also pick things up with their trunks very delicately. 170 00:08:55,535 --> 00:09:02,408 When I was living in Africa, when I was in college and I was studying 171 00:09:02,408 --> 00:09:06,379 hyenas, I lived in this little tent with a group of researchers. 172 00:09:06,412 --> 00:09:11,183 I had my own tent, and at night, once it got dark, I went in 173 00:09:11,183 --> 00:09:14,820 my tent, went to bed, because that's when a lot of the animals came out like lions. 174 00:09:15,254 --> 00:09:15,521 Right. 175 00:09:15,521 --> 00:09:17,223 So I would time to go to bed. 176 00:09:17,223 --> 00:09:19,058 Yes. Good reason to go to bed. 177 00:09:19,058 --> 00:09:23,095 Well, one night I was laying in my tent on my little bed 178 00:09:23,529 --> 00:09:26,232 and I heard this growling sound 179 00:09:26,232 --> 00:09:29,869 right outside the wall of my canvas tent. 180 00:09:29,869 --> 00:09:33,406 I mean, the was right there and I woke up from a deep sleep 181 00:09:33,406 --> 00:09:37,209 hearing this growl, and I froze 182 00:09:37,376 --> 00:09:40,980 because I did not recognize the sound, but it sounded like a predator. 183 00:09:40,980 --> 00:09:43,182 And I thought, is this a leopard? 184 00:09:43,182 --> 00:09:46,752 Is there a leopard standing three inches from me? 185 00:09:46,752 --> 00:09:48,988 If I could take down the wall of my tent. 186 00:09:48,988 --> 00:09:50,790 Yeah. It's terrifying. Scary. 187 00:09:50,790 --> 00:09:51,991 So I just laid there 188 00:09:51,991 --> 00:09:55,628 and the sound slowly kept going, and I got farther and farther away. 189 00:09:55,962 --> 00:09:59,599 And then the morning I got up and I kind of hustled 190 00:09:59,599 --> 00:10:03,035 my way down this little path to the kitchen tent where we all gathered. 191 00:10:03,035 --> 00:10:06,872 And when I got there, one of my researcher friends was like, did you hear it? 192 00:10:06,872 --> 00:10:08,841 And I was like, hear what? Just like elephants. 193 00:10:08,841 --> 00:10:11,110 They came through our camp last night and I was like, 194 00:10:12,078 --> 00:10:13,980 that was an elephant. 195 00:10:13,980 --> 00:10:18,284 And apparently I was hearing the sound of an elephant stomach 196 00:10:18,751 --> 00:10:21,721 growling, processing its food. 197 00:10:21,887 --> 00:10:24,090 They apparently have four chambers in their stomachs. 198 00:10:24,090 --> 00:10:27,093 They're eating a lot, a lot of material 199 00:10:27,093 --> 00:10:30,096 every day, like grass and brush and things. 200 00:10:30,096 --> 00:10:34,600 And I was hearing the sound of an elephant's stomach processing its food. 201 00:10:35,401 --> 00:10:36,469 Yeah. That's hilarious. 202 00:10:36,469 --> 00:10:40,673 You know, hearing an elephant stomach grumble and you thought 203 00:10:41,140 --> 00:10:45,978 you were in mortal danger from a hungry leopard or lion outside your tent. 204 00:10:46,445 --> 00:10:47,546 Gives an elephant. 205 00:10:47,546 --> 00:10:50,549 An elephant is my pick for today. 206 00:10:50,816 --> 00:10:51,651 It's a great pick. 207 00:10:51,651 --> 00:10:54,720 Now, a popular animal, you often see on Earth Day 208 00:10:54,720 --> 00:10:58,290 is, of course, a panda, a giant panda bear. 209 00:10:58,457 --> 00:11:02,094 And I was thinking about how pandas are so cute that they're like 210 00:11:02,094 --> 00:11:04,330 a cute explosion in your brain. 211 00:11:04,330 --> 00:11:05,898 So I wrote a song about it. 212 00:11:07,800 --> 00:11:09,168 I know I 213 00:11:09,168 --> 00:11:13,239 need to make my bed, but I'm watching panda videos on the web. 214 00:11:13,406 --> 00:11:18,911 I know I need to brush my hair, but I'm watching a panda sitting in a chair. 215 00:11:19,111 --> 00:11:24,450 I know I need to brush my teeth, but I just gotta watch these pandas eat 216 00:11:24,717 --> 00:11:27,720 because pandas make me feel like 217 00:11:28,854 --> 00:11:30,222 so cute. 218 00:11:30,222 --> 00:11:31,624 I can't take it! 219 00:11:31,624 --> 00:11:35,227 Panda panda panda panda, rainbows, glitter 220 00:11:35,227 --> 00:11:39,532 stars, Panda panda panda panda, fireworsks, sparkle hearts, panda, 221 00:11:39,532 --> 00:11:43,836 panda, panda, panda giant panda bear You are a cute explosion. 222 00:11:50,843 --> 00:11:51,110 Panda panda panda panda, gumdrops, cookie jars, Panda 223 00:11:51,110 --> 00:11:51,510 panda panda panda, life is good, never hard, panda panda panda panda 224 00:11:51,510 --> 00:11:54,747 giant panda bear you are a cute explosion 225 00:11:54,747 --> 00:11:57,750 in my brain. 226 00:11:58,651 --> 00:12:00,619 I need to go mow 227 00:12:00,619 --> 00:12:04,256 the lawn, but pandas are so cute when they yawn. 228 00:12:04,256 --> 00:12:09,695 I need to pay my taxes but I want to watch pandas relaxing. 229 00:12:09,929 --> 00:12:12,765 I need to wash my dirty clothes. 230 00:12:12,765 --> 00:12:15,935 But I love watching panda videos cause 231 00:12:15,935 --> 00:12:19,238 pandas make me feel like are you kidding me? 232 00:12:21,040 --> 00:12:22,641 Panda panda panda 233 00:12:22,641 --> 00:12:27,980 panda, rainbows, glitter stars, Panda panda panda panda, fireworks, sparkle 234 00:12:27,980 --> 00:12:31,050 hearts, panda, panda, panda, panda giant 235 00:12:31,050 --> 00:12:35,654 panda bear You are a cute explosion. 236 00:12:35,654 --> 00:12:38,791 Panda panda panda panda, gumdrops, cookie jars, Panda panda 237 00:12:38,791 --> 00:12:42,962 panda panda, life is good, never hard, panda panda panda panda giant panda bear 238 00:12:42,962 --> 00:12:47,399 you are a cute explosion in my brain. 239 00:12:49,235 --> 00:12:52,071 I'm gonna take a break and do my chores. 240 00:12:52,071 --> 00:12:54,206 But there's a baby panda, show me more! 241 00:12:54,206 --> 00:12:57,209 Panda panda panda panda rainbows, glitter stars, panda panda 242 00:12:57,510 --> 00:13:01,013 panda panda, fireworks, sparkle hearts, panda panda panda panda 243 00:13:01,714 --> 00:13:05,785 giant panda bear, you are a cute explosion 244 00:13:06,452 --> 00:13:18,697 in my brain. 245 00:13:22,802 --> 00:13:24,370 Before we get on with the show, 246 00:13:24,370 --> 00:13:27,373 here's a quick message for the grownups 247 00:13:27,540 --> 00:13:30,142 and we are back. 248 00:13:30,142 --> 00:13:33,813 It's that time in the show for the Happiest Fanimal, 249 00:13:33,946 --> 00:13:37,683 where a fan like you gives us clues for what? 250 00:13:37,716 --> 00:13:39,485 Animals making them happy. 251 00:13:39,485 --> 00:13:43,189 Today's submission is from nine year old Quinn 252 00:13:43,189 --> 00:13:47,092 from Boca Raton, Florida, and here are Quinn's clues. 253 00:13:47,226 --> 00:13:50,763 Clue number one. This animal is a mammal. 254 00:13:52,031 --> 00:13:53,332 Clue number two. 255 00:13:53,332 --> 00:13:56,802 This animal swims in water. 256 00:13:57,937 --> 00:13:59,338 Clue number three. 257 00:13:59,338 --> 00:14:02,041 This animal lays eggs. 258 00:14:02,041 --> 00:14:03,843 Ooh, that's a good clue. 259 00:14:03,843 --> 00:14:05,010 Clue number four. 260 00:14:05,010 --> 00:14:07,980 This animal is rare. 261 00:14:08,547 --> 00:14:12,284 And the answer is the platypus. 262 00:14:12,651 --> 00:14:16,622 The platypus makes Quinn happy because it's such a cool creature. 263 00:14:16,755 --> 00:14:17,590 And you're right, Quinn. 264 00:14:17,590 --> 00:14:20,593 I mean, where else do you get a duck and a beaver squashed into one animal? 265 00:14:20,693 --> 00:14:23,062 Thank you for your submission, Quinn and Grown-Ups, 266 00:14:23,062 --> 00:14:26,265 if you or your family would like to submit a happiest animal, visit 267 00:14:26,265 --> 00:14:29,268 our website at HappiestAnimalShow. com. 268 00:14:30,536 --> 00:14:32,438 Our guest today is Rosh 269 00:14:32,438 --> 00:14:35,641 Patel, who is the media producer at the National Zoo, 270 00:14:35,875 --> 00:14:39,812 where he gets to film and photograph all kinds of animals at the zoo. 271 00:14:40,379 --> 00:14:44,250 Rosh, thank you so much for joining us on our podcast. 272 00:14:44,250 --> 00:14:46,018 We are so excited you're here with us. 273 00:14:46,018 --> 00:14:48,821 Thanks for having me. I'm super excited to be here. 274 00:14:48,821 --> 00:14:51,724 So what new animals are at the National Zoo? 275 00:14:51,724 --> 00:14:56,462 Yeah, we just, got two new pandas at the zoo, Bao L i and Qing Bao. 276 00:14:56,495 --> 00:14:59,431 They're rock stars and super fun. 277 00:14:59,431 --> 00:15:02,134 And so I spent a lot of time filming them. 278 00:15:02,134 --> 00:15:04,937 You know, keepers getting to know the bears that care, 279 00:15:04,937 --> 00:15:05,971 getting to know the bears. 280 00:15:05,971 --> 00:15:09,808 So it was really fun just because they have such strong personalities. 281 00:15:09,842 --> 00:15:14,880 I don't often find myself saying I'm a panda person by any means. 282 00:15:14,880 --> 00:15:17,850 There are diehard fanatics that come 283 00:15:17,850 --> 00:15:21,420 and see them every single day, and wonderful time. 284 00:15:21,420 --> 00:15:24,456 And they have like, yeah, these, these deep relationships 285 00:15:24,456 --> 00:15:27,693 with these bears that I just have never connected to them on that level. 286 00:15:27,960 --> 00:15:31,030 I like them as bears, but as like pandas. 287 00:15:31,030 --> 00:15:35,301 I don't know that I have something beyond them being bears that I like. 288 00:15:35,567 --> 00:15:39,672 And then these two come along and they're just really incredible. 289 00:15:39,672 --> 00:15:42,374 And so they've just been a lot of fun to work with. 290 00:15:42,374 --> 00:15:44,109 And as I've gotten to spend more time, I was like, oh, 291 00:15:44,109 --> 00:15:46,712 I think I like pandas more than I wanted to admit. 292 00:15:48,180 --> 00:15:50,082 They just are for now. 293 00:15:50,082 --> 00:15:52,785 It's like a teenage bear. Yeah, exactly. 294 00:15:52,785 --> 00:15:56,021 So they have a lot of, like, energy at various times. 295 00:15:56,322 --> 00:15:59,458 One of them is very much he's he's very vocal. 296 00:15:59,458 --> 00:16:03,495 So, like, if he wants something, he just starts, they start bleating like sheeps. 297 00:16:03,495 --> 00:16:06,398 They kind of like make this like, weird. 298 00:16:06,398 --> 00:16:08,267 It's almost the only sound like a goat. 299 00:16:08,267 --> 00:16:13,272 And so but basically they like he just communicates with his keepers. 300 00:16:13,272 --> 00:16:16,041 So when he wants something, he's just like super pumped about it. 301 00:16:16,041 --> 00:16:20,546 He'll go over for like back scratches and he's just like, oh, so he's 302 00:16:20,546 --> 00:16:24,183 he's very like touch oriented, which I've just never seen in a bear. 303 00:16:24,450 --> 00:16:25,284 And then the other one, 304 00:16:25,284 --> 00:16:31,056 Qingi Bao, she's also for she, it's just like much more reserved. 305 00:16:31,056 --> 00:16:34,927 So she will, like, look at a tree and think about how to climb it 306 00:16:35,461 --> 00:16:38,731 as opposed to Bao Li, just like climb it and maybe fall off. 307 00:16:38,731 --> 00:16:39,031 Right. 308 00:16:39,031 --> 00:16:43,302 So she's just very aware of her surroundings. 309 00:16:43,302 --> 00:16:45,804 So you just see two very different bears. 310 00:16:45,804 --> 00:16:49,375 And getting to cover this, I got to go to China to see some of like 311 00:16:49,441 --> 00:16:55,381 the panda habitat and where like wild pandas, it was hard to sort of process 312 00:16:55,381 --> 00:16:58,384 that they're a real animal that is in the woods. 313 00:16:58,384 --> 00:17:00,619 Right? Yeah. Yeah. 314 00:17:00,619 --> 00:17:01,587 That's that's great. 315 00:17:01,587 --> 00:17:05,524 Because yeah, people think of pandas and you think of the zoo panda. 316 00:17:05,557 --> 00:17:07,860 Yeah. You think of the captive panda. Yeah. 317 00:17:07,860 --> 00:17:10,863 And it's totally different to have that experience, to go 318 00:17:10,863 --> 00:17:14,400 see them in the wild and see what it's really like for a panda. 319 00:17:14,933 --> 00:17:15,768 That's that's. 320 00:17:15,768 --> 00:17:17,469 You're so lucky that you got to do that. 321 00:17:17,469 --> 00:17:18,404 That's true. 322 00:17:18,404 --> 00:17:19,004 Yeah. 323 00:17:19,004 --> 00:17:22,608 Well, beyond pandas, but animals making you happy today. 324 00:17:22,975 --> 00:17:25,711 You know, this is a shockingly difficult question, 325 00:17:25,711 --> 00:17:28,614 but I will go with the red backed salamander. 326 00:17:28,614 --> 00:17:30,516 Whoa. Yeah, 327 00:17:32,017 --> 00:17:33,919 the red backed salamander. 328 00:17:33,919 --> 00:17:35,154 What a pick. 329 00:17:35,154 --> 00:17:37,556 Yeah, I did not see that coming. 330 00:17:37,556 --> 00:17:40,225 Yeah, out of left field. Yeah. 331 00:17:40,225 --> 00:17:41,326 All right, 332 00:17:41,326 --> 00:17:45,230 I have found red back salamanders in the forest flipping over logs. 333 00:17:45,397 --> 00:17:45,631 Yeah. 334 00:17:45,631 --> 00:17:46,799 And I. 335 00:17:46,799 --> 00:17:49,068 Yeah, it's like finding a jewel in the forest. 336 00:17:49,068 --> 00:17:51,870 But why is this one making you happy? 337 00:17:51,870 --> 00:17:53,372 So I feel like. 338 00:17:53,372 --> 00:17:55,974 So there's a couple answers to that question. 339 00:17:55,974 --> 00:18:00,512 The first is that I've been working on portraits with them as part of my, like, 340 00:18:01,080 --> 00:18:06,151 day job hat, and so that's been really fun because they're, 341 00:18:06,218 --> 00:18:09,288 you know, maybe a few inches long and they kind of just look like, 342 00:18:09,288 --> 00:18:12,024 oh, there's a little slimy thing that's sitting around. 343 00:18:12,024 --> 00:18:13,292 And when you really like 344 00:18:13,292 --> 00:18:17,162 take a second and look at them, they have these derpy smiles. 345 00:18:17,162 --> 00:18:22,067 They're like, have all this personality and they're just like, they seem so chill. 346 00:18:22,067 --> 00:18:23,969 And it's just really nice to see them. 347 00:18:23,969 --> 00:18:27,773 But then the other part of it is that they are all over the place. 348 00:18:27,773 --> 00:18:29,708 And so I've always been attracted to animals 349 00:18:29,708 --> 00:18:34,113 that are like accessible for people to find, build relationships to. 350 00:18:34,646 --> 00:18:34,980 Yeah. 351 00:18:34,980 --> 00:18:37,983 And these, these guys are like, 352 00:18:38,217 --> 00:18:40,819 there's billions like literally billions of them. 353 00:18:40,819 --> 00:18:44,723 And they are if you have a healthy ecosystem, 354 00:18:45,357 --> 00:18:51,096 the amount of biomass that they have in wherever their territory of that region 355 00:18:51,096 --> 00:18:55,100 is, is usually more than every other animal combined. 356 00:18:55,100 --> 00:19:00,038 So like bears, insects, deer, add all of that biomass up there. 357 00:19:00,038 --> 00:19:01,306 So more 358 00:19:01,306 --> 00:19:05,911 actual quantity and weight of salamanders than all those other animals combined. 359 00:19:06,044 --> 00:19:09,515 We're just so many of them is bonkers. 360 00:19:09,515 --> 00:19:11,917 Yeah. It's wild. 361 00:19:11,917 --> 00:19:14,620 We're gonna we're going to take all of the 362 00:19:14,620 --> 00:19:18,524 the giant animals of the forest and we're going to weigh them. 363 00:19:18,690 --> 00:19:19,658 Yeah. 364 00:19:19,658 --> 00:19:23,362 And then we're going to compare that to the salamanders. 365 00:19:23,362 --> 00:19:25,164 And the salamanders win. 366 00:19:25,164 --> 00:19:25,364 Yeah. 367 00:19:25,364 --> 00:19:26,932 That's amazing. Yeah. 368 00:19:26,932 --> 00:19:29,635 And just and just one of the species of salamanders. 369 00:19:29,635 --> 00:19:31,737 So it's not even all salamanders. 370 00:19:31,737 --> 00:19:33,872 That's just the red back salamander. 371 00:19:33,872 --> 00:19:35,641 Yeah. And. 372 00:19:35,641 --> 00:19:37,109 Oh, that's so cool. 373 00:19:37,109 --> 00:19:39,745 What a fun fact that is. 374 00:19:39,745 --> 00:19:40,913 It's pretty amazing. 375 00:19:40,913 --> 00:19:46,385 I feel like, if you like scavenger hunts, you should like salamanders 376 00:19:46,618 --> 00:19:50,822 because it's like one of nature's scavenger hunt finds. 377 00:19:51,056 --> 00:19:54,393 And something I had to learn early on is like when you 378 00:19:54,393 --> 00:19:57,529 when you flip over a log and you find critter like that, 379 00:19:57,963 --> 00:20:01,333 you want to take it out and then flip the log back over 380 00:20:01,733 --> 00:20:04,903 and then just put, put the salamander back next to the log. 381 00:20:05,103 --> 00:20:05,971 Don't ever set. 382 00:20:05,971 --> 00:20:07,372 Don't ever set the log back 383 00:20:07,372 --> 00:20:09,975 on top of the salamander because you could squash it. 384 00:20:09,975 --> 00:20:12,044 So yeah. Is that true? 385 00:20:12,044 --> 00:20:12,778 Yeah. Yeah. 386 00:20:12,778 --> 00:20:16,148 You want it to crawl back in under the under the log on its own. 387 00:20:16,215 --> 00:20:18,183 That's important. Yeah. 388 00:20:18,183 --> 00:20:22,020 I would say most people on the East Coast, the United States, if they wanted 389 00:20:22,120 --> 00:20:25,157 to see a red backed salamander, they can. 390 00:20:25,424 --> 00:20:27,459 Yeah. A very achievable goal. 391 00:20:27,459 --> 00:20:27,859 Yeah, yeah. 392 00:20:27,859 --> 00:20:33,865 I actually recently became the, they're the official amphibian of DC. 393 00:20:33,865 --> 00:20:35,801 So they're a bunch of kids, 394 00:20:35,801 --> 00:20:39,504 got excited about them and they, like, put together a proposal. 395 00:20:39,504 --> 00:20:41,306 And the mayor signed it in October. 396 00:20:41,306 --> 00:20:45,777 And so it's like really again, to that point, it's like they are everywhere. 397 00:20:45,777 --> 00:20:46,478 And so 398 00:20:46,478 --> 00:20:49,481 you could be in the middle of a city and still be able to find them in a park. 399 00:20:49,648 --> 00:20:50,349 That's awesome. 400 00:20:50,349 --> 00:20:52,384 Well, Rosh, thank you for joining us. 401 00:20:52,384 --> 00:20:55,320 The Red Backed Salamander was an incredible pick. 402 00:20:55,320 --> 00:20:56,855 I loved it. 403 00:20:56,855 --> 00:20:59,458 Yeah I love it too. Thanks, Rosh. 404 00:20:59,458 --> 00:21:00,359 Yeah no problem. 405 00:21:01,593 --> 00:21:03,095 It's that time we've all been 406 00:21:03,095 --> 00:21:06,932 waiting for to find out the answer to our animal joke of the day. 407 00:21:07,499 --> 00:21:10,502 What does a panda bear say on Halloween? 408 00:21:11,770 --> 00:21:14,773 Do you have a guess? 409 00:21:15,107 --> 00:21:18,110 The answer is. 410 00:21:21,079 --> 00:21:24,082 Bamboo. 411 00:21:25,884 --> 00:21:27,052 And before we go, 412 00:21:27,052 --> 00:21:30,055 remember, we live on a beautiful planet. 413 00:21:30,155 --> 00:21:33,158 So go out and find what makes you happy today. 414 00:21:34,459 --> 00:21:38,797 Oh, hey, grown ups, we know you're busy, but 415 00:21:38,797 --> 00:21:42,601 if you'd like our show, we'd love for you to tell your friends and family about it. 416 00:21:42,934 --> 00:21:46,405 It's the best way for our podcast to grow and grown ups. 417 00:21:46,505 --> 00:21:50,342 You can also follow us on social media at The Happiest Animal Show, 418 00:21:50,842 --> 00:21:53,111 or check out other fun things on our website, 419 00:21:53,111 --> 00:21:56,114 like how to submit an animal and how to get merch. 420 00:21:56,281 --> 00:21:58,717 Visit Happiest Animal show.com. 421 00:21:58,717 --> 00:22:01,720 The Happiest Animal Show is created by Laura Sams, Robert 422 00:22:01,720 --> 00:22:06,425 Sams, and Dave Cain, produced by Cicero Studios, hosted and directed 423 00:22:06,425 --> 00:22:10,562 by Laura Sams and Robert Sams, and written by Laura Sams. 424 00:22:10,562 --> 00:22:13,565 Robert Sams with story editor Dave Cain, 425 00:22:13,665 --> 00:22:16,935 and With Only a Little Help from Our Cat walking across the keyboard. 426 00:22:18,136 --> 00:22:20,038 Now let's talk music. 427 00:22:20,038 --> 00:22:24,242 Original music is written and performed by zero time Grammy Award winning 428 00:22:24,242 --> 00:22:27,312 songwriters Laura Sams and Robert Sams, except for the end 429 00:22:27,312 --> 00:22:30,482 credits music, which was written by Laura and Robert's Grandma Max 430 00:22:30,782 --> 00:22:34,119 and the joke answer suspense music written by David Schultz. 431 00:22:34,353 --> 00:22:36,088 The theme song was written and performed 432 00:22:36,088 --> 00:22:39,691 by Laura and Rob and mixed by Jason Wells of Audio Wells. 433 00:22:40,092 --> 00:22:42,160 Thanks for listening. You're the best.