Animals

Bear runs onto field during high school football team's practice in Tennessee

6:59am August 18, 2023

The Gatlinburg-Pittman Highlanders had just come out from the weight room when they saw the animal running around the stadium. It was there for several minutes.

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National

Visiting sea lion rehab in California

5:57pm August 17, 2023

by Chad Campbell

Sea lions are part of the landscape and soundscape on the California coast. And when one of them is found sick or injured, it often ends up at The Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito.

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World News

A trip to the newly-discovered undersea spa, where humpback whales go for skin care

4:51pm August 17, 2023

by Carrie Feibel

For our series Weekly Dose of Wonder, NPR's Carrie Feibel relays a new discovery involving humpback whales going to the undersea spa for some skin care.

It's the beginning of a summer of love around San Diego — at least for tarantulas

7:21am August 17, 2023

Two species are coming out of hiding — by the thousands — in search of a mate. The California Black Tarantula and the San Diego Bronze Tarantula will be looking for love into September.

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If you've seen any of the movies, you know Indiana Jones doesn't like snakes

7:21am August 17, 2023

A species of snake has been named after actor Harrison Ford, who has played Indiana Jones in multiple movies. Found in Peru, the snake grows to about 16 inches and is harmless to humans.

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The yellow-legged hornet is a prolific predator of honey bees and other pollinators. Now it's been spotted alive in the wild in the U.S. for the first time.

An invasive hornet that hunts honeybees is spotted in the U.S. for the first time

5:00am August 17, 2023

by Bill Chappell

The yellow-legged hornet, Vespa velutina, is a close cousin of the northern giant hornet, or "murder hornet." Both of them are very adept in the wholesale destruction of honey bees.

National

Hundreds of animals are treated each year at Marine Mammal Center in California

5:10am August 16, 2023

by Chad Campbell

Sea lions are part of the landscape and soundscape on the California coast. And when one of them is found sick or injured, it often ends up at The Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito.

A gray wolf is seen in the Sequoia National Forest.

A new gray wolf pack is found 200 miles south of California's nearest-known pack

2:29pm August 12, 2023

by Nathan Rott

Gray wolves used to roam most of North America before being hunted, trapped and driven out of most of the continental U.S. by the early 1900s. They are native to California.

A Chittenango ovate amber snail moves about its new waterfall habitat after being released into the wild.

National

The years-long journey to save a tiny snail you've never heard of

9:48am August 12, 2023

by Tarryn Mento

Researchers in upstate New York are working to rehome some tiny, rare snails. Understanding their decline could help mitigate broader climate changes.

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The fire department in Glendale, Calif., has been hiring Fire Grazers Inc. to help reduce the city's wildfire risk.

In California, wildfires are prevented by crews of unlikely firefighters: goats

4:27pm August 11, 2023

by Vanessa Romo

The four-legged creatures with digestive tracts of steel make easy work of consuming vegetation that typically fuels wildfires.