Hello world, welcome to WFHR's rapid support for this Thursday, October 30th, 2025, shows
proudly brought to you by Crocketcept to have your host James here. We're joined right
now by our great friend, and a Mitchell Regional Natural Resource Educator with UW-Madison
Extension Wood Kine. And I'm always good to see how you're doing. Oh, let me get this
right here. Sorry about that. There we go. Appreciate the time. And as always, appreciate
the topics you bring in. You always bringing interesting stuff. We learn every time you're
with us. And man, we got a fun one time. Oh, we do. Yes. We're going to dive into
spectacular facts about nature. Yeah. And I thought, you know, as Halloween gets closer,
why don't we dive into some spooky nature? They're not really spooky. But nature sometimes
has its own spine tingling stories. Yeah, from silent winged hunters gliding through
moonlit skies, right? Trying to set the scene here to fungi that was in glow in the dark.
Our wild places in Wisconsin are full of eerie wonders. So today we're going to dive
into some the spooky side of nature, where myths meet ecology and the creatures of the
night aren't just figment of folklore. First off, very well written, very well written.
Every creative bone in me is so proud and so excited. You know, a fun thing about this
too. And I think is some of these animals that we're going to talk about oftentimes kind
of get, you know, they're type kind of tight cast. They're kind of, well, this animal
is scary. I want to learn about that or something. Maybe it takes a little of the fear away
from some of these animals, the more you know about them. Yep. I agree. And that's a
perfect segue into some of our spooky wildlife, right? The first creature we're going to talk
about are bats. So some of our most fascinating creatures in wildlife, they roam the wilderness
at night. And I think that that's where they get that like eerie vibe to them, right?
We refer to these animals as nocturnal, meaning that they developed adaptations to living
in the dark, which makes them like really good experts in stealth hunting and survival,
right? These are the animals that kind of get that bad rap of like, oh, they're creepy,
right? You know? So the first of these creatures I'm going to talk about are bats. They're
great example of a nocturnal animal. They often get a bad rap, but they're fascinating animals
with adaptations that make them exceptional nighttime navigators. Any animal we talk about is
certainly integral to the food chain, but so many of our nocturnal animals are a gigantic part
of it. Yes. Yes. Bats, maybe the biggest of all of them. They are. They are. Yep. So bats,
they're over 1400 species of bats worldwide. We have eight of those species in Wisconsin.
I'm not sure if a lot of people know this, but bats are actually mammals, meaning that they
give birth to live young. And they are the only mammal that can achieve true flight. So some
might argue and say like, oh, well, we have flying squirrels actually flying squirrels do not
achieve true flight. They glide. They glide. Yes. Yep. So bats are really cool in that they're the
only mammal to achieve true flight. Many bat species are insectivorous, meaning that they only
eat insects, but several species eat nectar or fruit, and they're great pollinator species with
they go very overlooked as a beneficial pollinator species. And then there are actually three species
that drink blood and rarely from humans, right? So I think a lot of people, you know,
Halloween bats, oh, they drink blood. No, there are only three species out of 1400 that do that,
and very rarely is it humans. They're one of the more misunderstood animals in the animal kingdom.
And they're so integral to so many things. I do think or I should ask, do you think we've
gotten a little bit better about that our image of bats when we've we've the popularity of talking
about bees with pollinators? Yeah. And it feels like that's led into people understanding the bats
are big pollinators too. And it's come it's certainly there that image of them, but it's gotten
a little bit better, do you think? I think so. Yeah, I think so. I still think they're kind of
an underrepresented group for four pollinators, but then there's also other really beneficial
qualities that bats bring in. So a single bat can eat thousands of insects every night, which
make them like a very valuable natural pest control. So if you have bats around your house and
you see them flying around at night, they're helping decrease your bug population like mosquitoes
and all the pests that we think about, right? They're they're really good to actually like invite
on to your property. You could build a bat house really great to have locally. So insect eating bats
actually use echolocation to locate and capture their prey, which means that they emit an ultrasonic
click and buzzes above the range that we can hear that humans can hear. And so those ultrasonic
clicks and buzzes bounce off potential prey and then back to the bats sensitive ears. So they have
really poor eyesight, right? But phenomenal hearing. And that's how they locate their prey and
they're the bugs. It's they're incredible animals. I cannot think of the animal, but there is a
nocturnal animal that also hunts with sound. Yeah. And it has an extra long finger that it can tap
on wood to be able to do it specifically for. God, I wish I could think of it. But it's because I was
reading about bats in the way they hunt that I came across this animal. Yeah. It's one of the
more interesting things to me in the animal kingdom is those that hunt with sound. Yeah. It's
really interesting. And bats are at the top of that list. Yeah. It's really amazing. And without
bats, we wouldn't have batman. I mean, they're important. They're important. There. I get another one
do you want to talk about too? Yeah. So owls, they're another example of an octurnal species and they
are like the quintessential nighttime predator. And a lot of the times bats are associated with like
kind of like eerie sense, you know, when you're watching a scary movie or and you hear like
an owl hoot in the background. It's like, yeah, they kind of they make a lot of weird noises,
but they're very, very cool animal. So Wisconsin is home to 11 species of owls, including the great
horned owl and the bard owl. We have the migratory snowy owl. Those are very beautiful. Yes,
very cool. And we have some rare species like the boreal and the northern hawk owl. So our,
I mean, we have a lot of forested areas and Wisconsin is home to some very cool species of owls.
I think the animal we probably talked at least about as far as population wise in this state. We
really don't talk a lot about owls and there's a lot of them in this state. There are. Yeah, so
I'm going to go on a little side tangent here, but I have participated in a citizen science project
called the frog and toad survey where you go out and at night in like wetland areas and you
listen for different frog species. And if you want to like hear some of the most cool and unique
owl noises, if you're in central Wisconsin, you can go to the Nasida National Wildlife Refuge,
you know, right after sunset and when it gets dark, you can hear some of the most unique
owl sounds and it is so cool. And I, to be fair, like some of them are very eerie, you know,
but it's cool. Still cool. Yes. Yep. For sure. I got to do that. That's awesome. Thank you for
telling us. Yeah. Of course. Yep. And so owls actually have unique feathers that make them
actually almost impossible to hear when they're in flight. Yeah. So if you've ever been out in
the woods and you've seen an owl take off, like they, you cannot hear them. That's a while. It
is. And I mean, the sounds that they make when they fly cannot even be detected by mice ears.
That's amazing. I didn't know that. Yeah. So it's their, their phenomenal predators, especially
at night, you know, you've got no chances. No chance. Right. Right. I was also have asymmetrical
ears that are shaped like satellite dishes, which makes them experts at being able to locate the
exact spots of where sound is coming from when they attack their prey. So another cool adaptation
is their ears. Just the evolution of these animals in the way that they're able to do, you know,
adapt is always interesting too. And owls are just amazing creatures. Yeah. And I will say the
Cornell Lab of Ornithology has the Merlin Bird app. So if you do make your way out to the Nisita
Wildlife Refuge, I'd highly suggest downloading the Merlin Bird app. It's free. You just click play
and it constantly records noise in the background. And then we'll, as soon as it hears any kind of
bird, it will pop up what kind of bird that is and information about them. It's like one of the
coolest apps. There are some good ones out there. That's the go-to one to me. That's one my
mind might be my mom's favorite app. It might be. It's a really good one. And it really helps in
these situations. Yeah. There are some other creatures that venture out in the daytime,
but we're going to talk about. Yes, there are. So we don't really have them up here, but in the
southern parts of the US, there are alligator snapping turtles. These creatures have a unique
adaptation where they will actually use their tongue to lure and prey. There's like a thin,
worm-like piece on their tongue that they will use to like, you know, get their prey to come in,
and that's how they catch their prey. I've never heard that before. Yeah. Yep. So just a
cool unique adaptation that's sometimes creepy if you think about the swamps at night. Oh,
that's interesting. Yep. And then losing a limb, slicing off a toe and misplacing parts of a brain
is no problem for some animals. In fact, some amphibians like the Eastern Newt can actually regenerate
missing limbs, hearts, spinal cords, and even portions of their brains. The most sci-fi thing about
nature, maybe. Maybe think. Maybe the most, you know, Halloween thing about nature is amazing.
Yeah. And there are some other stats that you had for us about some other creepy crawlies.
Yep. So creepy crawlies and decomposers are the next kind of eerie nature facts we'll talk
about. So spiders might seem spooky to some people, especially my husband. I'm sorry, honey.
So spiders can be creepy, especially when you're walking through a web in the dark, but there's
some of the most fascinating and helpful critters in our ecosystems. And they get the short end of
the stick a lot of time, which is unfortunate. So spiders are nature's, some of nature's best
pest control agents. They eat common household pets, pets, pests like mosquitoes and flies.
And research has suggested that spiders consume an estimated 400 to 800 million tons of insects
annually worldwide. Makes them a little bit higher on the popularity list all of the sudden.
Right. And to put that into perspective, a single spider can eat about 2,000 insects a year.
That's amazing. Yep. So maybe think before you squash that next spider, right? Maybe just move
them outside. Move them outside. Just move them outside. Yep. And Wisconsin is home to some of the
best pest control agents, which are our orb weaver spiders. Like the black and yellow garden spider,
a marbled orb weaver and a cross orb weaver. These species are known for their colorful
appearances and they have large intricate webs that are really cool. And they're really great at
being able to catch those insects, right? And it's a really good note about them, but not maybe
squash them, but second you see them. Because chances are if you see a spider, they're already
taken care of a population of things that you really don't want to drown. Hey, and they're like low
maintenance roommates. They take care of your pests, you know? Well, you know, it's something that I
was going to say about bats earlier too, especially with some of the kind of like stereotype that
can go towards these things and stuff. I've actually had two interactions with a bat in a home
and trying to get it out. And that animal couldn't have been more scared. No. And did not have any
interest in getting in my hair and I had my big head back. And none of those things I had on
a pair of gloves. I got it surrounded. I got it outside. Took a couple of minutes. And it flew off.
It both incidences were pretty, you know, fine. It was pretty low key and everything, but it was
the animal I felt so bad for because it was afraid. I imagine that an insect isn't going to be
much different. And it doesn't have any interest in you really. It just wants to do its thing.
Yeah. The only insects that have an interest in you are like the pests, right? The mosquitoes,
which are the ones that like the bats and the spiders take care of. So, you know?
Hey, it's something to keep in mind with us. I want to dig a little deeper into some of this,
though, with you. Not just insects and animals, but there's more about this time of year
that is also beneficial. Yep. So, we have, underneath the fallen leaves and rotting logs,
a lot of nature has its own team of recyclers that are working the graveyard shift. And these are
what we call decomposers. So, decomposers are fungi, bacteria, and invertebrates that break down
the dead, like any dead material on the forest floor. They're really great. And what they
break down actually gives new life inside of our ecosystem. So, decomposers are like one of the
probably best contributors to our ecosystems. So, they're very vital to our forest ecosystems,
especially here in Wisconsin, because in Wisconsin, we actually have no native earthworms.
And they have not existed in our soil since the last glacier moved through the state.
That's amazing to me. Yeah. Just simply amazing to me. Yeah, I don't know why, even.
But it's just a fascinating step. I've heard this since I was a kid, and I first started fishing.
Yeah. And I remember the old guy telling me when I was getting the worms and stuff,
hey, these are imported or something like that, and my pop and him talking about them.
Yeah. And, you know, we think of composting, which composting, right? You're utilizing decomposition,
right, to boost your soil microbial activity. Anyways. But a lot of times when we think of decomposing,
we think of earthworms, right? But in Wisconsin, we have no native earthworms, which is really
cool to think about. Also makes these decomposers all the more important. Yeah. And I think one of our
states coolest decomposers are called slime molds. They are a member of a shapeshifting group of
organisms called the mixomyces. And slime molds often resemble fungi, but they're more
closely related to amoebas and certain seaweeds. So they're they're living organisms, right? But
not in the sense of like an animal. They're more like an amoeba. But they're super cool
decomposer. And some of the most common slime molds in Wisconsin can be found in like moist
shady places, like crevices and rotting logs and leaf litter and in bark mulch. And that's
where they feed on bacteria, fungal spores and decaying plant material. I learned this one today.
I did not know about this. I got to look into that. You should look up pictures of the slime molds.
They're really interesting. And so, you know, we were talking earlier about, you know, helping
with some of the information to this, maybe a little fear comes away within some. I didn't think
about it at the time, but a real appreciation also comes in with all of these creatures as well.
And stuff that we didn't even know about and everything because all of these are vitally
important to that food chain. And us living our lives. Yes, very, very important.
And certainly when it comes into the economic impact in this state, in the ag industry,
and so much of these animals helping that out and everything. Yeah. We really, it's another
reminder to us of how we don't we share this planet, you know, this isn't just ours. We share it
with Mother Nature and all of these great creatures. Yep. And that's why I thought, you know, it would be
fun to talk about some of those spooky facts, because it's right on theme for Halloween,
but also to bring awareness to them too, because like we have been saying, they get a bad rep,
but they're so important, right? Just positive interaction and benefit these species.
You would know if they weren't there. Right.
Yes. We would know in a very major way we would know. One last thing that we were going to get
into, I was really looking forward to this eerie ecosystems. Yeah. Yep. So some of nature's
areas landscapes are known as ghost forests. And I actually did not know that they were
had a term for this until I was doing some research yesterday. But ghost forests are places where
trees stand lifeless, gray, and skeletals. And so they're, they aren't just spooky, right?
They're signs of environmental change. So in Wisconsin, our ghost forests can be in the form
of a wetland or floodplain where rising levels of water and maybe some potential disease has killed
tree species, right? So if you think about like a wetland or a marshy area where you see those
trees that are dead but are still standing, that's what we would refer to as a ghost forest.
And so ghost forests are actually part of a natural cycle where they can also be warning signs
of ecological imbalance. So in fact, they can be actually indicators of climate change,
especially in our coastal areas. But inland, they're kind of, those versions exist too.
But they're more likely tied to hydrological changes and land use changes. So
and it's ghost forests. A lot of our aquatic species and a lot of our wildlife species have evolved
to use these ghost forests as really critical habitat for like birds and fibions and fish and
insects. So well, they might be signs of changing environmental factors. They've also become
really important habitat areas. Yeah. They, nothing adepts like nature. Right.
It's amazing to see. It's also something to keep in mind. So we don't make nature adept too much.
Right. You know, we got to work with nature not at it. And so much of the conversation today,
I think has helped us make a step in that direction. Yeah. You know, not only with the information,
but I think just some of the cool things to looking at. I cannot wait to dive down that slide
mold. So if I'm wrapping it up, I can get it down. It's really cool. Any decomposers are super
cool. They're unique and they're, they're very cool. We encourage you to learn more about all
of these great creatures and things. And of course, always reach out to our friends at extension.
If you have questions or anything, how can they do that? Yeah, you can stop by the Wood County
Extension Office or you can shoot me an email at anna.m.james at wiskwisc.edu.
And this was just the look behind the curtain for everybody. Anna was in schedule today.
This was a bit of a last minute thing. And yet you killed it. You nailed it.
Thank you so much. Thank you. A lot of fun. I appreciate you. Yeah.
Say hi to the team over at extension for us some more. Talk again real soon.
Thanks so much, James. And thank you everybody for joining us for another edition of WFHR's Rapids Report.
