And now for an animal joke.
How do you tell the difference between a walrus and an orange?
The answer is going to be revealed at the end of the episode.
But first, get your ears ready because It's The Happiest Animal
Show on Planet Earth, the Happiest Animal Show on Planet Earth.
Do yo uwant to be sad? No!
Do you want to be glad? NO! Wait. Yes.
Well, it's the Happiest Animal Show on Planet Earth.
Hello and welcome to the happiest animal
Show on Planet Earth, the podcast that asks the very important question.
What animal is making you happy today?
Not yesterday, not even last night, but today.
I'm Rob and I'm Laura, and we are a sister brother
pair of zoologists, filmmakers and songwriters.
We are here to explore the wonderful world of wildlife and discover
why animals make us happy.
Today we are celebrating cold weather critters.
We have a song sung by a squirrel
and we chat with eight year old Raven from Montana.
And apologies to international soccer superstar Lionel Messi,
who is going to be on the show.
But Raven was available after school, so we had to make that change.
Here we go.
What animal is making you happy today?
I want to know today we're chatting about cold weather
critters, animals who can totally be in cold weather and be fine with it.
Yeah, but before we talk about that, Rob is on vacation
this week in Michigan at our parents cottage.
I was there last week and just got home.
Rob, what animals have you seen? Just today.
Ooh, today I've seen a pair of loons
in the middle of the lake out doing this
elaborate choreographed dance.
Oh, almost like a synchronized swimming routine.
That's really cool.
Yeah.
Our parents have a cottage on a lake in Michigan.
Not a huge lake, but a decent sized lake.
And there's a pair of loons that lives on it, and they.
They have a nest every year.
That's pretty cool. Yeah.
It is not cold here.
No, it was like 90, 92 degrees here.
It's almost 100 degrees here today, which is why I want to think about
cold weather things, including cold weather critters. Yes.
Well, Laura, why don't you go first?
What cold weather critter is making you happy today?
The animal I'm thinking of that's making me happy has fur.
The fur can be.
Well, there's a lot of different kinds of this animal.
It could be gray or red or brown.
A lot of them have white as well. Fur.
It has a very, very bushy tail,
a fluffy, bushy tail.
Okay.
And it's an animal that is often seen in people's backyards.
I saw one today in my own backyard.
I know that they are around the cottage where you are at, Rob okay.
And they eat nuts and seeds and flowers
and this might give it away.
They can bury up to 3000 nuts before the winter season, do you?
Holy cow! No. Right.
Do you have a guess?
Could it be.
What could it be?
Yeah.
It sounds like you're talking about a squirrel.
I am a squirrel.
Squirrel.
All right, so is there, like, a specific kind of squirrel you're talking about?
Specifically, I am thinking about the eastern gray squirrel, but okay,
there are over 200 kinds of squirrels, and I think squirrels are great.
But what I'm talking today, it's really about the eastern gray squirrel,
kind of gray one with white tummy that you often see
in the mid and eastern part of the United States, at least.
Okay.
Yeah, because I've seen squirrels in like Southeast Asia
and I've seen squirrels like down even as far as Costa Rica.
So squirrels are all over the place.
I'm no squirrel expert, I just yeah, I like squirrels.
I am not a squirrel expert either, but that's incredible.
Your fact about 3000 nuts they bury all season.
I was reading an article about some scientists who studied them,
and they can bury up to 3000 nuts a year.
And they are good at finding a lot
of the same nuts or seeds or whatever that they buried.
I think of them burying acorns.
Acorns?
Yeah, like walnuts or acorns or big things like that.
So why are eastern gray squirrels making you happy today?
Well, the very first movie Rob and I ever made together professionally
was based on a children's book
called stranger in the woods, and it was about animals in the winter.
And so we spent a couple of winters filming animals in the Snow in Michigan.
And I had such a happy time watching the squirrels in the snow.
And they're even fluffier in the wintertime.
You know, a lot of animals kind of fluff up to stay warm,
and so they get even cuter, and then they get snow
stuck on their noses and a little bit on their whiskers,
and then it gets stuck on their tail and they just look so cute.
Yeah, it's easy to take squirrels for granted.
And I know a lot of people see them in their backyards,
and a lot of people get annoyed by squirrels
because they're so good at stealing food out of the bird feeders.
Yeah.
But they are an incredible animal.
They're incredible acrobats.
They're incredible survivors.
Rob I don't know if you remember this,
but one time we were at a school doing a school presentation.
And for those of you listening we wrote a song that shows
it was the very first song we ever wrote for an animal movie.
Yeah.
About squirrels looking for nuts that they buried beneath the snow.
And Rob did the voice of the squirrel. Yeah.
Where are those nuts buried beneath the snow.
It's my squirrel voice.
And yeah, yeah, I remember that.
I was singing the song in the library with the window
to the courtyard behind me, and then all the kids stopped
paying attention to me and were using their minds
and pointing at something out the window behind me.
And so while Rob was singing the song to all these elementary school kids
playing the guitar, saying in a squirrel voice
a squirrel had climbed up a tree behind him
and was staring at him like he was listening to the song.
It was so funny.
It's like I heard you singing came bounding in, was like, oh well, what?
And then it was, boy, it was funny.
Yeah, I was like, I was the Pied Piper of squirrels.
So that's why I picked squirrels. It's a great pick.
Thank you.
So Laura picks squirrels and we'll find out what I picked right after this.
It's time for
everybody's favorite game show.
That sound.
What is making this sound like?
An. Eye.
Is it a a red headed woodpecker?
Be an eastern gray squirrel.
Or see your uncle desperately
trying to suck out the last drops of his energy drink.
And the answer is B,
it's an eastern gray squirrel chattering in the treetops.
Thanks for playing everybody's favorite game show.
Great.
That sound.
And we are back.
What cold weather critter is making
you happy today, Rob yeah, this is one that,
this is actually an animal that I've never seen.
Okay. And I want to see.
So this animal, there are well over a thousand different kinds of this animal.
Oh, and they are really hard
to find, even though they live all over the world.
Anywhere there's liquid water. What if
you can find them way up at
the top of the Himalayan mountains, the top tallest mountains in the world.
You can find them way deep, thousands of feet.
Deep down in the ocean.
You can find them in your backyard,
on the moss, in the lichen growing, on the rocks, in the trees.
Okay, it's got to be something small.
Is it small?
It is very, very small. It's so small.
It's probably only about the size of a period
on a page.
Now that's a tiny animal.
Makes me think of something like a dust mite or,
But it's not that because I don't think they're at the bottom of the ocean, so.
But this animal, I guess you're not far off this animal.
It eats plants and algae Mane, like most of them eat plants and algae.
Some other ones eat other things as well.
But wait, is this the animal that if you zoom in, look at it really close?
It actually kind of looks cute?
Yeah, it kind of looks, like
a teeny tiny, plump little caterpillar with eight legs.
Are you thinking about a tardigrade?
Yes. The tardigrade.
Tardigrade?
That sounds like you got a grade for being tardy at school.
Yeah.
Tardigrades are also called water bears because they do kind of
look like a microscopic little bear.
And they live in the water anywhere there's liquid water.
Cute little water.
Bear.
Yeah, as big as a period on a page.
You do need a microscope to to really fully take in this teeny
tiny little animal.
So why are tardigrades making you happy today?
Well, I love the idea that there are animals out there
that are so small they live almost in
a completely different universe than we do.
I mean, when you're when you're that teeny tiny,
I mean, the world is a completely different place, and it's fun to think
that there are animals out there that that live on Earth with us.
But their version of Earth looks completely different
than our version of Earth because they're so small, right?
Because if you're the size of a tardigrade, a blade of grass
would be like taller than a skyscraper, but even bigger than that to us.
Yeah, right.
And what's so cool about
tardigrades is they are probably the toughest animal on the planet.
They can live in scalding hot conditions and survive,
and they can live in crazy cold conditions and survive.
They are found in Antarctica, you know.
Well, they can live there and be totally happy.
They there were scientists in 2007,
in Europe, who wanted to know
if tardigrades could survive in outer space and they sent a whole bunch
of tardigrades up into outer space to see if they would survive.
And they did.
They lived in outer space was, it was probably like
-250°F, you know,
in the cold vacuum of space where nothing is supposed to be able to survive.
And these little tardigrades, after ten days, they were still alive.
That's amazing. Yeah.
How crazy is that?
That's just acting like a science fiction animal.
Yeah. I can't even wrap my head around that.
Yeah, tardigrades don't live very long.
You know, their life span.
When everything's normal and happy for them.
It can be just a few months or maybe up to a few years.
But when the conditions are wrong and like, if everything dries out
and they don't have that water they need to survive,
they will just kind of dry up into this little ball
and they can stay like that for like 100 years.
Tardigrades are making me happy because I think it's amazing
that we have an animal that lives on earth with us.
They can survive in the cold depths of outer space.
So cool. Yeah. Great pick, Rob.
And now for a song.
This is the very first song about animals that Laura and I
wrote and sang together way back in 2000, when I was still in college.
It's called Mixed Nuts
from the movie stranger in the woods, based on a children's picture book.
We spent an entire winter filming animals in the Michigan Woods
and wrote this song, featuring a duet between a squirrel and a deer.
This moment in the movie was introduced by Pierre,
a snowdrift with a very bad French accent, as you'll find out.
Enjoy.
Wait, do you hear something?
Look over there.
It is a square.
Where are those nuts?
Buried beneath the snow.
Where are those nuts that are buried so long ago?
I need those nuts now that winter.
Easy.
Cause I buried walnuts.
And I buried peanuts too.
I buried sunflower seeds by the dozen.
And maybe an acorn or two.
I should have warned you.
These animals are a very musical bunch.
They are forever singing.
I have no idea what.
When. Look over there.
I believe it is the young doe.
Winter is here..
And the snow flakes are falling down.
I know that winter is here,
because the snow is fall over the ground.
And my nose is frozen
from sniffin around and my ears is frozen from
what’s blowin around and by toes is frozen from diggin around in the snow.
And look over there.
The muskrat.
How are you doing today?
Well, my home is nearly frozen,
so please don’t consider me rude.
But when I finish grooming,
I really must continue searching for my food.
(Duet)
Before we get on with the show,
here's a quick message for the grown ups.
And now we're back to the show.
It's that time in the show for the happiest fan of all.
We're a fan like you.
Gives us clues to an animal that is making them happy.
Today's submission comes from ten year old Daisy from Portland, Oregon.
Here are Daisy's clues.
Clue number one this animal can live up to 15 years.
Clue number two this animal eats clams and snails.
Crunchy. Clue number three.
This animal's tongue acts like a drill for eating its prey.
And an extra clue from me.
This animal has a distinctive rounded shell.
Do you have a guess?
The answer is a moon snail.
Moon snails make Daisy happy because they are some of the biggest marine snails.
And who doesn't love a big snail?
Thanks for your submission Daisy. Grown ups.
If you know someone who would like to submit
a happiest animal, visit our website at Happiest Animal Show. Com
today's special guest
is eight year old Raven from Missoula, Montana.
Raven takes dance classes, swim classes,
and she does horseback riding twice a week.
She told us that she chooses from three different horses when she rides.
The horses are named time, Ace, and Valentino.
Let's find out what animal is making Raven happy today,
and you'll also hear a little from her mom in this interview.
Raven, thanks so much for joining us for so excited that you're here.
I have been really excited for this call.
Yeah. Raven,
we have an important question for you.
And that question is what animal is making
you happy today and do you have clues for us?
Any hints?
I do have colors for you.
Okay.
The first clue is
my mom's a biologist and she's studied them.
And that's how she met my dad. Oh,
okay.
That's a good call, I like it.
Yeah, your mom's a biologist.
She studied this animal.
And this is how she met your dad.
Okay, okay. It's an important animal.
If you know Raven, you're going to know the animal.
But I don't know Raven's mom very well yet, so give me more clues.
The fur is kind of hollow, so
they can be warm when they swim.
Oh, the last clue
is that when my mom had tranquilized them.
Oh, they got too hot easily,
so they had the bucket of water on them.
Okay,
so your mom, when she started this animal, would sometimes tranquilize them.
They sometimes would get too hot
and she would pour buckets of water on them to cool them down.
Yeah. Wow.
These are good clues. These are very specific clues.
And I love it. Rob, do you have any follow up questions?
Because I do.
You go first.
Yeah, I do have some follow up questions.
Can this animal grow bigger than a person?
I think so okay. All right.
Does this animal live in cold places.
Yes okay.
Yeah.
And does this animal have big claws. Yes.
And does this animal look like
it's got a white fur.
Yes. Oh I have a guess.
Is it a polar bear.
Correct.
Yeah. Ding ding ding.
Oh polar bear.
Such a good animal.
Your mom.
Where bears. That's awesome. Yeah.
And also we have a dog named after polar bears.
What's the dog? The polar bear.
Oh, your your dog's name is polar bear.
Polar bears. Great polar bear. What are you doing?
I used to have a book with the Inuit name of a polar bear.
And I'm trying to remember what it is.
Then. Yeah.
What name of a polar bear is Nanook?
Not Nanook?
That's right. That was the name of the book.
Now, Raven.
Well, we met you before.
I think you told us that you are Inuit. Is that right?
Correct. Awesome.
Have you seen a polar bear yourself?
Well, like a videos.
Yeah, I've only ever seen them in the zoo.
I've never actually gotten to see a wild polar bear.
Yeah, well, they came to my dad's village. One.
He used to live in the Arctic. That's cool.
So your dad got to see them up close?
Yeah. Wow. That's amazing.
He was born in the Arctic.
Oh, that's so cool.
So you have, like, a cool family connection to polar bears?
Yeah, I guess.
Raven, do
you know any cool facts about polar bears?
That the fur is kind of hollow inside.
If you look through a telescope, it's hollow.
If you look through the microscope, it's really hollow.
That's so cool.
And then it sounds like it's hollow.
Because it helps act like insulation.
And it helps keep them.
Yeah, helps keep them warm.
And it also helps them when they're swimming, too.
It sounds like it might, might help them
stay afloat a little bit easier if there's air trapped in the fur.
Yeah, almost like a life jacket.
Yeah, yeah, it's kind of like a life jacket.
One of my favorite polar bear facts is the color of their skin.
Do you know the color of their skin, Raven?
Is it like, pink? That's a good guess.
Do you know what color are polar bears noses?
Black.
It is black. Yeah.
And their skin is black.
And that also helps them stay warm because it can help
absorb the the energy from the sun and keep them warm.
Yeah.
I did not know that when I was in the fifth grade,
I did a school project about polar bears, and I wrote a song about polar bears.
And I think that's probably the very first song about animals I ever wrote.
It was about polar bears on the piano.
Oh, you know, how do piano?
I do play the piano.
And I thought polar bears would kind of have a heavy walk.
So I had the notes go bom bom bom bom bom bom bom about the polar bear.
Someday I hope that I get a chance to go up to the Arctic and see them.
In the
meantime, maybe I'll just have to settle for meeting your dog.
Polar bear.
Yeah.
Hey, I forget, have you seen a polar bear in person?
Raven?
No, no, but were you in the Arctic?
Did I say a polar bear? Well,
there might have been one that.
Yeah, it was extending by the shed and only chased away with snowmobiles.
Oh, yeah.
I had seen a polar bear when I was like, 2 or 3.
Okay. They come right in the town.
What was the polar bear doing standing by the shed in the Arctic?
Just a casual shed. Polar bear. Wow.
And and then.
And then they drove it away with snowmobiles.
They wanted to get it out of the out of the village
and get it away from people.
The camp where they keep the sled dogs out.
Then the end of the village, they keep sled dogs
at the end of the village to scare away the polar bears, I think so.
Do you know the name of the village that you visited, or that your dad was from?
Igloo like igloo like a glue. Like. Yeah.
You definitely been more north than I've ever been, Raven, I bet.
Yeah.
You're really lucky that your mom is a biologist.
And you get to learn about and get really close to animals.
Yeah.
Would tell me some of the other animals that your mom has studied.
Well, polar bears.
Was it black bears or it was a grizzly bears, mate.
Yeah. Both.
Both, black bears and polar bears.
Receivers and elephants.
How? And elephants.
I forgot about elephants.
So. Yeah.
So stupid elephants. Yeah.
I'm sure you've never seen a bear in your life like a grizzly bear.
We've seen.
We have seen brown bears.
And we have seen black bears as well.
Yeah, we went to Alaska once with our cameras to film them.
Have you ever studied any animals?
Good question.
I studied hyenas.
Oh. When I was in college.
I love hyenas, they are really good hunters.
Even better than lions.
And they're pretty cute, especially when they're little.
Yeah.
So yeah, I studied zoology in college,
but I never actually studied an individual type of animal.
Do you think you'd like to learn how to study animals as you grow up?
Yeah.
I was planning to, like, maybe study
a buffalo or a muskox.
Yeah. Muskox.
Muskox? Yeah.
Those are.
Yeah. I really want to study those.
So you want to be a biologist and you want to study Arctic animals?
Up where the polar bear lives.
That's amazing. Yeah.
So it.
And I also want a pet raven.
And do you want a pet raven?
What is your. Yeah. Name is Raven.
Another one of myself.
You want another one of yourself?
Yeah.
Not many people are named after an animal.
And I think that's really cool that your name is Raven.
Yeah. Raven.
Thank you so much for being here with us on the Happiest Animal Show.
Thanks for having me.
The polar bear is such a good animal, and I'm so glad you picked it, Raven.
It's just been so much fun to have you on the show.
Thanks.
And now the time.
We've all been waiting for the answer to the joke of the day.
How do you tell the difference between a walrus and an orange?
Do you have a guess?
And the answer is
put your arms around it and squeeze it.
If you don't get orange juice, it's a walrus.
And before we go,
remember, we live on a beautiful planet.
So go out and find what makes you happy today.
Hey, grown ups, we know you're busy, but if you like
our show, we'd love for you to tell your friends and family about it.
It's the best way for our podcast to grow and Grown-Ups.
You can also follow us on social media at Happiest Animal Show,
or check out other fun things on our website,
like how to submit an animal and how to get merch.
Visit Happiestanimalshow.com.
The Happiest Animal
Show is created by Laura Sams, Robert Sams, and Dave Cain.
Produced by Sisbro Studios, hosted and directed by Laura Sams and Robert
Sams, and written by Laura Sams, Robert Sams with story editor
Dave Cain, and with only a little help from our cat walking across the keyboard.
Now let's talk music.
Original music is written and performed by zero time
Grammy Award winning songwriters Laura Sams and Robert Sams.
Except for the end credits, music which was written by Laura and Robert's
Grandma Max and the joke answer suspense music written by David Schultz.
The theme song was written and performed
by Laura and Rob and mixed by Jason Wells of Audio Wells.
Thanks for listening. You're the best.