Advertise on podcast: NaturallyScott

Send us Fan Mail Imagine standing just a few feet from a 6,000-pound marine mammal—three tons of muscle, blubber, and attitude. Now imagine watching two of these giants battle for control of a California beach. Welcome to the world of Northern Elephant Seals. In this edition of Naturally Scott Adventures, Scott Harris travels to Piedras Blancas, just north of San Simeon along California’s spectacular Highway 1, to experience one of the most remarkable—and accessible—wildlife spectacles in North America. Northern Elephant Seals were once hunted nearly to extinction for their oil-rich blubber. Fewer than 100 survived around the beginning of the 20th century. Today, their extraordinary recovery has brought hundreds of thousands of these animals back to the Pacific coast, including a massive breeding colony at Piedras Blancas. In this episode: 🦭 Just how enormous a 6,000-pound bull elephant seal really is ❤️ The remarkable conservation success story that saved elephant seals from extinction 🏖️ Why Piedras Blancas is one of the best places in the world to see them 👑 How dominant males, known as beachmasters, establish and defend their harems 💥 What happens when two enormous bulls collide in a battle for breeding rights 📣 How their inflatable noses amplify powerful, unmistakable vocalizations 🐣 When to visit to see breeding, newborn pups, molting, or juvenile seals 🌊 How elephant seals spend months at sea, diving thousands of feet in search of food 🦈 Why killer whales and Great White Sharks are among their most dangerous predators 📸 How to experience these extraordinary animals safely from the Piedras Blancas boardwalk Scott also explores the remarkable endurance of breeding males, which can go roughly 100 days without eating and lose as much as a third of their body weight while defending their territories. And he shares other places to see elephant seals, including Point Reyes National Seashore and San Miguel Island in Channel Islands National Park. From their near-extinction to their spectacular return, elephant seals are one of America's great wildlife success stories. And at Piedras Blancas, you can experience them without hiking a mile—or even leaving sight of your car.

Send us Fan Mail Title E80 John Squires – Canada Lynx, Wolverines & a Lifetime in the Wild Buzzsprout Description Canada Lynx and wolverines are two of North America’s most elusive mammals. Most of us will never see either one in the wild. John Squires has spent decades following both. In this episode of Naturally Scott, Scott Harris sits down with John, a research wildlife biologist with the Forest Service’s Rocky Mountain Research Station, whose career has taken him deep into the snowy forests and mountains of the American West. John’s path actually began with birds of prey. As a seventh grader obsessed with raptors, he called the Colorado Falconry Club and soon found himself following a goshawk through the scrub oak outside Denver. That fascination with wildlife eventually led to a career studying some of the most secretive predators in North America.  john-scott (1) In this episode: 🐈 How John helped launch a decades-long study of Canada Lynx ❄️ Why enormous paws make lynx perfectly adapted for deep snow 🐇 The extraordinary relationship between lynx and Snowshoe Hares 🐾 Finding 23 sets of lynx tracks on the first day of a new research project 📡 What scientists have learned from tracking and collaring more than 250 lynx 😳 Coming face-to-face with an angry mother lynx while holding her kitten 🏔️ Why mountain lions sometimes kill lynx—but don’t eat them 🐾 How long wild lynx can live and how much territory they need 💪 Why wolverines require territories several times larger than lynx 🦴 How wolverines find carrion buried beneath deep snow—and crush bones other predators can’t 📈 Why John is now seeing encouraging signs for wolverines in the Northern Rockies John has spent nearly 30 years studying Canada Lynx, and what began with those first tracks has grown into a research program involving hundreds of animals and an extraordinary body of knowledge about how lynx survive at the southern edge of their range.  john-scott (1) It’s a conversation about science, fieldwork, predators, deep snow—and what we can learn by spending a lifetime following animals most people will never even glimpse.

Send us Fan Mail Every March, one of the greatest wildlife spectacles in North America takes place along a relatively short stretch of Nebraska’s Platte River. Roughly a million Sandhill Cranes migrate north each spring, and an estimated 80 percent of them funnel through the Platte—a remarkable migration bottleneck where enormous numbers of these ancient birds gather to rest and refuel before continuing toward their breeding grounds.  In this edition of Naturally Scott Adventures, Scott Harris takes us into the blinds and fields of Nebraska to experience the spectacle from darkness before dawn until the last cranes return to the river at night. In this episode: 🐦 Why hundreds of thousands of Sandhill Cranes converge on the Platte River 🌅 What it’s like to arrive before dawn and hear tens of thousands of cranes slowly awaken 📣 How a Sandhill Crane produces its extraordinary prehistoric-sounding call 🪽 Watching thousands of four-foot-tall birds begin jumping, calling, and finally taking flight 🌽 Where the cranes go—and what they eat—during the day 💃 Why Sandhill Cranes dance, leap, bow, and toss objects into the air ❤️ What “mate for life” really means for a Sandhill Crane 🦅 Bald eagles, coyotes, white-tailed deer, and the other wildlife sharing the Platte 🐔 Scott’s side trip to watch Greater Prairie-Chickens and Western Meadowlarks dance ❄️ How to combine the Platte River migration with another enormous migration spectacle: the Snow Geese of Loess Bluffs And then there’s sunset. Scott returns to the river as the first cranes circle overhead, small groups begin dropping into the shallow water, and eventually thousands seem to rain from the sky. The noise slowly builds—and then, after darkness falls, gradually disappears. On Scott’s final night, approximately 20,000 cranes settled into the river. The birds went silent, the blind went dark, and from somewhere nearby came the howl of a lone coyote.  It was a fitting ending to an experience that has been described as soul enriching—and one Scott believes every wildlife lover should experience at least once.

Send us Fan Mail Joshua Tree National Park sits at the meeting point of two deserts, welcomes roughly three million visitors a year, and protects a landscape filled with Joshua trees, desert bighorn sheep, mountain lions, tortoises, bats—and some of the darkest skies within reach of Southern California. In this episode of Naturally Scott, Scott Harris sits down with Jane Rodgers, superintendent of Joshua Tree National Park, to talk about what it takes to protect one of America’s most recognizable desert landscapes. Jane began her National Park Service career as a biologist working in restoration ecology and ecosystem stewardship. Today, she oversees a park confronting everything from rapidly growing visitation to invasive plants, changing fire regimes, hotter and drier conditions, and a dramatic decline in desert tortoises.  In this episode: 🌵 What makes a Joshua tree a Joshua tree—and its remarkable relationship with the yucca moth 🏜️ How the Mojave and Colorado deserts meet inside the park 🐏 Desert bighorn sheep, mountain lions, badgers, bats, and more than 250 species of birds 🐢 Why desert tortoise numbers have fallen so dramatically 🔥 How invasive grasses are changing the desert’s natural fire regime 🌡️ What hotter, drier conditions mean for the future of Joshua trees 🌱 How scientists are identifying potential refuges and preserving Joshua tree genetics 🥾 How the park has adapted as visitation climbed from roughly 1.5 million to 3 million ⛏️ The hundreds of abandoned mines scattered across the landscape 🦇 How old mine openings are being made safe for people while remaining accessible to bats 🌌 Why Joshua Tree’s night skies have become part of the park’s appeal Jane also gives Scott her itinerary for someone with just one day at Joshua Tree—from entering through the west side and exploring the Joshua tree forests and famous rock formations to Keys View and the drive toward Twentynine Palms. It’s a conversation about a spectacular desert, the wildlife that depends on it, and the scientists and park staff working to ensure it remains wild for generations to come.

Send us Fan Mail Along historic Route 66 in the Arizona desert sits the tiny town of Oatman—a former gold-mining community where the most famous residents have four legs. In this edition of Naturally Scott Adventures, Scott Harris visits the wild burros of Oatman, Arizona, descendants of the animals that once worked the region’s mines. When mining faded, the burros were left behind. They adapted to the brutal desert, survived, and generations later still roam the Black Mountains. But Oatman’s “town burros” have discovered an easier way to make a living. Each morning they wander into town, stroll down Main Street, climb onto sidewalks, poke their heads into shops, and happily accept treats from visitors. If a burro decides to lie down in the road, nobody moves it—locals simply put out traffic cones and everyone drives around. In this episode: 🫏 How Oatman’s mining burros became wild desert animals ⛏️ The gold-rush history behind this unusual Route 66 town 🏜️ How burros survive extreme heat, scarce food, and limited water 👑 Why Oatman’s town burros really do seem to run the place 💪 The surprising strength and toughness of wild burros 💧 How jacks protect their groups and defend precious water 🐴 The challenge of managing America’s wild burro populations 🍦 Scott’s childhood memories of Oatman and Thrifty Ice Cream Scott also heads outside town to see the more independent desert burros and shares other places to find them, including Lake Mead, Death Valley, and Custer State Park. It’s a wildlife adventure, a Route 66 road trip, and a visit to one of the wonderfully strange places that could only exist in the American West.

Send us Fan Mail Amy Tan is best known as the bestselling author of The Joy Luck Club. But in recent years, another passion has taken over much of her attention: the birds in her own backyard. In this episode of Naturally Scott, Scott Harris sits down with Amy to talk about The Backyard Bird Chronicles, a deeply personal collection of observations, sketches, questions, and encounters that grew out of her return to nature during a difficult period in her life. What began as a private journal eventually became a book filled with Amy’s own artwork and the intimate stories of the birds she came to know just outside her window.  In this episode: 🐦 How birding helped Amy rediscover beauty and curiosity 🎨 Returning to drawing and learning the art of nature journaling 🏡 Discovering more than 70 bird species in her own yard 🦉 Living alongside a mother Great Horned Owl and her young son 💧 The daily ritual of feeders, hummingbird nectar, mealworms, and fresh water 💔 The heartbreak of seeing sick birds—and why Amy sometimes takes her feeders down 🧠 What birds reveal about intelligence, behavior, play, and even emotion ✍️ Why nature journaling is less about making perfect art and more about asking better questions Amy also explains why she has little interest in chasing only rare birds. For her, the real joy comes from watching familiar birds closely enough to notice how their behavior changes from day to day.  It’s a conversation about birds, art, curiosity, attention—and the extraordinary things that can happen when we slow down and truly look at what’s right outside our door.

Send us Fan Mail With a wingspan approaching 10 feet, the California Condor is a bird you don't simply see—you experience. In this edition of Naturally Scott Adventures, Scott Harris travels to Navajo Bridge in Arizona, where the Colorado River cuts through Marble Canyon and one of the rarest birds in North America has found an extraordinary place to roost. Scott considers it the best place in the world to experience California Condors, with birds sometimes resting on the bridge girders almost directly beneath you.  Scott follows the condors through their day: waking slowly as the canyon warms, spreading enormous wings in the morning sun, riding the developing thermals into the sky, traveling tremendous distances in search of carrion, and eventually soaring back into Marble Canyon to roost for the night.  In this episode: 🦅 What it's like to stand just feet away from a California Condor 🌄 Seeing condors at Navajo Bridge and Marble Canyon 📏 Just how enormous a nearly 10-foot wingspan looks in the wild ☀️ How condors use thermals to travel incredible distances 🏷️ Why wild condors carry numbered wing tags—and how those tags let you learn the story of an individual bird 🥚 The extraordinary effort required to raise a young condor ⚠️ How California Condors came terrifyingly close to extinction ❤️ The captive-breeding program that brought them back 🎯 Why lead ammunition remains one of the greatest threats to their survival Scott also shares other places to search for California Condors, including Pinnacles National Park, Grand Canyon National Park, and Zion National Park, and explains why seeing one of these enormous birds soaring through a canyon is a wildlife experience that's difficult to forget.  This is the story of an ancient bird that fell to fewer than two dozen individuals—and the extraordinary effort to give these giants of the sky another chance.

Send us Fan Mail Squirrels raid our bird feeders, bury thousands of nuts, leap between trees, and somehow seem to outsmart nearly every obstacle we put in their way. But just how remarkable are they? In this episode of Naturally Scott, Scott Harris sits down with squirrel expert John Koprowski of the University of Wyoming to explore an animal nearly everyone knows—but few of us truly appreciate. John has spent much of his career studying squirrels, a family that includes more than 300 species spread across much of the world. Their extraordinary success comes from an impressive combination of intelligence, memory, athleticism, adaptability, and senses finely tuned to finding food and avoiding becoming somebody else's dinner.  In this episode: 🐿️ Why squirrels make such great gateways into the natural world 🥜 How squirrels remember where they've buried thousands of nuts 👃 The astonishing role smell plays in finding food—and other squirrels 🌳 How squirrels can leap 20 feet between branches and survive enormous falls 🦅 The constant battle to avoid hawks, foxes, coyotes, snakes, and other predators 👶 How mother squirrels carry their babies—and John's unforgettable encounter with one protective mom 🏡 Why squirrels have become so successful living alongside humans Scott also confesses something that may get him thrown out of the birding community: he actually enjoys watching squirrels raid his feeders. And John explains why those seemingly impossible squirrel-proofing challenges reveal just how perfectly adapted these little mammals really are.  Funny, fascinating, and filled with stories, this conversation might just convince you to stop fighting your backyard squirrels and start watching them.

Send us Fan Mail Owls are usually creatures of forests, trees, and darkness. Burrowing Owls break just about every one of those rules. In this edition of Naturally Scott Adventures, Scott Harris heads to Cape Coral, Florida, a city that calls itself the “Burrowing Owl Capital of the World”—and makes a pretty convincing case. Unlike most owls, these tiny raptors live underground, spend much of their day out in the open, and have become remarkably comfortable sharing their neighborhoods with people.  One of Scott’s favorite places to watch them is the Pelican Baseball Complex, where roughly 20 burrows sit just beyond the center-field fence. Around Cape Coral, their burrows are protected by simple PVC markers, allowing people to watch and photograph the owls while giving the birds space to go about their lives.  In this episode: 🦉 Why Burrowing Owls are unlike any other American owl ⚾ Watching owls from the outfield of a baseball game 🌴 Why Cape Coral may be the best place in America to see them 🪲 How they hunt everything from beetles and grasshoppers to reptiles and rodents ☀️ Why male Burrowing Owls can become bleached by the Florida sun 🐣 The irresistible experience of watching an owl family outside its burrow 🐍 How baby Burrowing Owls can produce a remarkably convincing rattlesnake-like sound Scott also shares other places to find Burrowing Owls around the country and explains why Cape Coral offers such an unusual opportunity to spend time at eye level with one of America’s most charismatic little raptors.

Send us Fan Mail Killer whales—or orcas—are among the most recognizable animals on Earth. But beneath those black-and-white markings are remarkably complex societies, with different diets, dialects, traditions, and even cultures passed from one generation to the next. This week on Naturally Scott, Scott Harris sits down with renowned killer whale researcher John Ford, who has spent more than four decades studying these extraordinary animals, primarily along the coast of British Columbia. His fascination began as a child watching killer whales pass his family's fishing boat and eventually led to work as a whale trainer before he devoted his career to understanding them in the wild.  John takes us inside the very different worlds of resident, Bigg's, and offshore killer whales. Some specialize in salmon, others hunt marine mammals, and still others target sharks—and those food preferences and hunting techniques are learned traditions that can persist across generations.  Along the way, Scott and John explore some of the strangest and most fascinating killer whale behaviors ever documented: attacking great white sharks for their livers, breaking the rudders of sailboats, wearing salmon on their heads, rubbing against pebble beaches, and intentionally stranding themselves along Patagonia to capture young sea lions.   In this episode: 🐋 The remarkable cultures of killer whales 🐟 Why some populations eat salmon while others won't touch fish 🦈 Orcas hunting sharks—and why great whites flee ⛵ What's really happening with orcas and sailboats 🐟 The wonderfully bizarre phenomenon of “salmon hats” 👵 Why killer whale societies are led by older matriarchs 🗣️ Dialects, family groups, and knowledge passed through generations 🌊 John's unforgettable honeymoon watching orcas hunt sea lions in Patagonia It's a fascinating look at intelligence, culture, family, specialization, and one of the ocean's most extraordinary predators.

Send us Fan Mail What could possibly draw someone to Texas in the middle of summer? Twenty million bats. In this edition of Naturally Scott Adventures, Scott Harris travels to Bracken Cave Preserve just outside San Antonio—home to the largest bat colony on Earth. Every summer evening, millions of Mexican free-tailed bats pour from a single cave in one of the greatest wildlife spectacles anywhere in the world.  Scott shares what it's like to witness the breathtaking "batnado," explains why these tiny mammals are so important to agriculture, and explores the incredible adaptations that allow them to survive among predators, navigate by echolocation, and consume hundreds of tons of insects every night. In this episode: 🦇 Witnessing the world's largest bat colony 🌪️ The spectacular "batnado" and river of bats 🐍 Snakes, owls, hawks, coyotes, and the predators waiting outside the cave 🚜 Why farmers love bats 🌎 Inside Bracken Cave Preserve near San Antonio 📸 Tips for planning your own visit ✨ One of the greatest wildlife spectacles in North America Whether you're a bat enthusiast or simply love unforgettable wildlife experiences, Bracken Cave is a destination unlike any other. 👉 Stay connected with Naturally Scott:  https://naturallyscott.kit.com/5fd12c6752

Send us Fan Mail What if everything you thought you knew about some of North America's most familiar animals was wrong? In this episode of Naturally Scott, Scott Harris welcomes science writer and author Jason Bittel, whose new book Grizzled shines a spotlight on 50 of North America's most misunderstood animals. From grizzly bears and white-tailed deer to porcupines, daddy longlegs, yellow jackets, and ringtails, Jason shares the fascinating stories hiding in plain sight.  Together, Scott and Jason explore the surprising biology, remarkable adaptations, and evolutionary history of creatures many of us see every day—but rarely truly understand. In this episode: 🐻 Why grizzly bears and black bears require completely different survival strategies 🦌 The incredible hidden biology of white-tailed deer 🦔 Why porcupine quills are even more remarkable than you think 🕷️ The truth about daddy longlegs 🐝 Why yellow jackets deserve a second look 📚 Behind the scenes of writing for National Geographic 🦝 Meet the adorable ringtail—an animal most Americans have never even heard of Whether you're a lifelong naturalist or simply curious about the wildlife around your own backyard, this conversation will leave you looking at familiar animals in an entirely new way.

Send us Fan Mail There may be no animal more closely tied to the spirit of the American West than the wild Mustang. In this edition of Naturally Scott Adventures, Scott Harris travels to Nevada in search of one of North America's most iconic animals—wild Mustangs. From the shores of Washoe Lake State Park to the open sagebrush country outside Reno, Scott explores the history, biology, and enduring romance of these remarkable horses. Along the way, he shares unforgettable encounters with bachelor bands racing across the desert, solitary stallions standing watch over their territory, playful colts discovering the world, and the ongoing conservation challenges surrounding America's free-roaming horse populations.  In this episode: 🐎 The remarkable history of America's wild Mustangs 🏜️ Why Nevada is home to nearly half of the nation's free-roaming horses 🌅 Exploring Washoe Lake State Park at sunrise ⚔️ Bachelor bands, dominant stallions, and family life 📸 The best places to photograph wild horses near Reno 🌎 The ongoing balance between conservation and land management ✨ Why few wildlife experiences capture the romance of the American West quite like wild horses Whether you've dreamed of seeing Mustangs your entire life or are planning your first trip to Nevada, this episode celebrates one of America's most enduring wildlife icons. 👉 Stay up to date and get bonus content:  https://naturallyscott.kit.com/5fd12c6752

Send us Fan Mail What if the most important life in the ocean is almost completely invisible? In this episode of Naturally Scott, Scott Harris sits down with marine microbiologist Dr. Ginny Edgcomb of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution for a fascinating journey into the hidden world beneath the waves. From hydrothermal vents and hypersaline lakes at the bottom of the Mediterranean to deep-sea drilling expeditions in the Indian Ocean, Ginny studies microscopic organisms that thrive where most life simply cannot. Along the way, she explains how these remarkable microbes recycle nutrients, fuel entire ocean ecosystems, and may even help scientists search for life beyond Earth.   The conversation explores: 🔬 Why microbes are the foundation of nearly every marine food web 🌋 Hydrothermal vents and the extraordinary life they support 🧂 Mysterious hypersaline “lakes” hidden on the Mediterranean seafloor 🌍 What Earth’s most extreme environments can teach us about alien life 🚢 Life aboard research vessels—from flying fish and whales to pirate drills 🌊 How climate change is reshaping the world’s oceans Equal parts adventure, exploration, and science, this episode reveals an unseen world that quietly supports nearly every living thing in the sea. 👉 Stay up to date and get bonus content: https://naturallyscott.kit.com/5fd12c6752

Send us Fan Mail Welcome to another edition of Naturally Scott Adventures, where Scott Harris takes you into the field to experience some of North America's most remarkable wildlife and wild places. In this episode, Scott visits Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge on Florida's Gulf Coast to meet one of the state's most beloved residents—the Florida manatee. These gentle marine mammals, often called "sea cows," can weigh well over 1,000 pounds, yet they're among the most peaceful animals you'll ever encounter.  Scott explores the biology, behavior, and conservation of Florida manatees, explaining why they gather each winter in Florida's warm springs, how boat strikes became their greatest threat, and why Crystal River has become one of the best places in the world to observe them responsibly.  The episode also celebrates one of America's great wildlife success stories, as Florida's manatee population has rebounded dramatically thanks to conservation efforts, public awareness, and protected habitat.  In this episode: 🐋 Why manatees are called "sea cows" 🌿 Exploring Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge 💙 Swimming and kayaking with manatees (responsibly) 👶 Mothers, calves, and manatee family life 🚤 The dangers of boat strikes 🌡️ Why warm springs are critical for survival 📈 The remarkable recovery of Florida's manatee population Whether you're planning a Florida adventure or simply love wildlife, this episode offers an unforgettable look at one of North America's gentlest giants. 👉 Subscribe for updates and bonus content:  https://naturallyscott.kit.com/5fd12c6752