MeatEater Kids X

Published Dec 23, 2024, 10:00 AM

MeatEater Kids

Educational, fun, and engaging podcast for kids. Segments include a science and history segment called "Why It's the Way It Is" with Steven Rinella, a 
11 clip(s)

We are back for Season 2 of MeatEater Kids! It's a fun, educational, and engaging podcast for all of you outdoor kids. Learn about science and history from Steve's "Why It's the Way It Is" segment and impress your friends with your newfound knowledge, develop your ear for animal vocalizations with our "Guess that Critter" segment, and play along during "Kids Trivia" with host Spencer Neuharth.

Connect with Steve, Spencer, MeatEater, and The MeatEater Podcast Network

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It's time for why It's the way it is. Today.

On why it's the way it is, we're going to talk about what exactly a rodent is.

Now.

I'm bringing this up right now because I had a conversation the other day with a friend. But he's talking about an area and he said the area has a lot of rodents like possums, and I had to point out to him possums are definitely not rodents. Possums are actually a marsupial. It's the only marsupial we have in North America. You know, marsupials like kangaroos which keep their babies in.

A little pouch.

The apossum is our only marsupial. It is not even kind of a rodent. I find that people use the word rodent when they're talking about little animals. Sometimes they mean little annoying animals. But I've also found that people will use the term rodent when they're talking about rabbits and hares. But rabbits and hares are not rodents. Rabbits and hares are actually something called legomorphs.

They are not a rodent.

So when someone tells your rabbit's a rodent, you don't have to say anything.

But you know they're wrong.

Someone tells you what possums a rodent, just laugh at them.

Now here's what makes a rodent a rodent. Let me tell you some rodents. First.

Rodents include rats, mice, squirrels, hamsters, get this, porcupines, okay, muskrats, beavers. In fact, beavers are the biggest rodent we have in North America, so the possums are only marsupial. The beaver is our biggest rodent, But the beaver's not the biggest rodent in the world because the biggest rodent in the world is called a kapy barra, and they live down in South America. They are one big rodent, seventy five pounds eighty pounds. Now, beaver can get big, but they don't get as big as.

A kapy barra.

Rodents have constantly growing incisors. Okay, that's one of the main things that they're distinguished by. When you think of a mouse, if you picture looking at a mouse's face, you're looking at a rat's face.

They have those chisel teeth.

Okay, they have those two big prominent upper teeth and those two big prominent lower teeth, and they kind of form together and they.

Rub together like chisels.

They always grow and they always collide with each other and it sharpens them. So his teeth keep growing, and they keep a braiding. The uppers and lowers keep a braiding, and that keeps removing it. Now and then a rodent can get a tooth that is a little cock eyed or a little crooked, and the other tooth doesn't rub into it right, And since that tooth is always growing and it relies on rubbing against its neighbor tooth to keep it from getting too long, if it gets crooked and doesn't rub anymore, that thing can keep growing and growing and growing until it kills the rodent. The other thing about a rodent's teeth. If you look, a rodent has no canine teeth, so when you look at him, he's got no eye teeth on us, it's called the eye tooth. Okay, if you count over, you know your two big main teeth on top. If you kind of go in the middle of those two big main teeth that are up front and count over, and I'm gonna do it right now. One four teeth over, you'll hit your can nine teeth. Your dog's got big ol' canine teeth. Cats have big canine teeth. Wolves and foxes, they all got big canine teeth. The rodent no can nine teeth. They just have those big incisors. And behind those big incisors they have their molars. Here's the crazy thing about rodents. To keep in mind, there's about four thousand, six hundred and sixty.

Different kinds of mammals.

Okay, different species of mammals. Now us human beings, Homo sapiens, we're one kind of mammals, all right.

Uh, the red fox, that's a type of mammal.

Okay, you add them all up, and you got four six hundred six species around the world. We'll check this out. Almost half of all of those.

Mammals are rodents.

Okay, So that means there are more than two thousand species of rodents. Every continent except Antarctica has rodents. They can live basically everywhere, from the desert to the tundra. I don't want to say probably have rodents living in your house or your garage or your attic, But there's a good chance you got rodents living in your house or your garage or you're attic, and you might be thinking yourself, well, if there's so many kinds of rodents, when I see a little animal, I'll just say it's a rodent. And maybe I'm right, and that's true, but maybe you're wrong, and you don't want to be wrong about this. So when you see something like a possum who's got tons of teeth, including canine teeth, don't say he's a rodent.

Take a look. Does that animal have those.

Big long upper two of them that match up with those kind of long but a little bit shorter lower teeth that rub together, and they got no canine teeth and they just got molers.

If that's the case, you're looking at a rodent.

But when you're looking at a rabbit, you're not looking at a rodent. So pay attention and don't be confused. And keep this in mind. If you catch yourself looking at a porcupine, that's a rodent.

What kind of bear has no teeth? A gummy bear?

It's time for guess that critter. Where we play animal sounds and critter calls, and you've got to guess what creature is making those sounds. Don't worry, it ain't too hard. We're gonna throw in some clues. No, open up your ears.

These live across most of the United States mainland and are found in diverse habitats ranging from fields to forests. They like to live near a water source and can hang out by streams, lakes, and rivers. There are strong swimmers and can reach fifteen miles per hour in the water thanks to their long legs. These animals mainly eat leafy plants, seeds, and grasses. They also eat some of the same things that you and I might eat, such as certain vegetables, fruits and berries. Chestnuts and acorns are also favorite foods. This sound is called a grunt. Males make this noise when seeking a mate or challenging another male to a fight. You might hear them make this noise in the fall. There are a number of different vocalizations that these critters make. Here's a snort wheeze, which is typically made by a male who's feeling a great These critters have very good eyesight and hearing. They appear brown and tan in the summer and grayish in the winter with white undersides. Males weigh between one hundred and fifty and three hundred pounds, while females weigh between ninety and two hundred pounds. Here's the sound a female makes when she's alarmed. At the same time, she'll also forcefully stomp her hoof on the ground to make a point. The snorting alerts other critters in the area to danger. These critters have large tails that can shoot straight up in the air when they feel threatened. They're like warning flags that'll raise when they sense or see predators and need to run away. Humans, wolves, bears, coyotes, mountain lions, foxes, eagles, and even alligators all count among their press. This bleeding sound can mean a few different things. It could be a female in heat seeking a mate, or a lost baby looking for its mother, or simply one of these critters trying to make contact with another. It's almost time for the reveal. Here's one more clue. You can tell males and females apart because the males grow antlers. Take your best guess. It's a white tail deer. Every year, male white tails shed their antlers and regrow a new pair. Isn't that cool? There are over thirty five million white tail deer in America, which is a lot. The state of Texas has the most white tail at around five million. The oldest white tail deer on record was a Louisiana doe at twenty two years of age.

What do you get when you cross a crocodile with a rooster?

A crocodile doo.

It's time for everyone's favorite game show, Trivia.

Let's all join in.

I'm joined by Bay Rosie, Hayden, Conley AA, and Mabel. Each player will learn ten dollars for conservation with every question they get right today. There's a potential for this room to earn up to one hundred and eighty dollars this week. That donation is going to Pheasants Forever, who is committed to passing on outdoor traditions through their youth Learn to Hunt program. Let's see how much money our players can raise. Question one? What place is known as the lungs of the Earth? Is it the Pacific Ocean, Amazon rainforest or Sahara Desert. What place is known as the lungs of the earth Pacific Ocean, Amazon rainforest or Sahara Desert. You have no got three choices?

I just guessed.

Bee is just coming.

Up with a guests, Oh, were the answers again?

You have the Pacific Ocean, Amazon rainforest, or Sahara Desert. One of those places is known as the lungs of the Earth. Conley, how do you feel about your answer?

Not confident?

How about you?

You got this one right? Okay?

Rose?

Are you ready? No?

You gotta pick one?

Well?

I did?

Okay?

Maile? Are you ready?

Yeah?

I think so.

Go ahead and reveal your answers.

Bae Amazon Rainforest, Rosie Pacific Ocean, Mabel, Sahara.

Desert, Hayden Amazon, Conley.

Sahara Desert.

Amazon. The correct answer is the Amazon rainforest. A few of you got that one right? The Amazon, That's right. The Amazon in South America has more than half of the planet's remaining rainforests. The plants and trees in this area produced twenty percent of the Earth's breathable air through photosynthesis. That means they take in what kind of gas air? Gas? They take in carbon, that's right, and what do they give out?

Oxygen?

Oxygen? You guys got it. Question two? Which of these world record fish is heaviest? Is it walleye flathead catfish or largemouth bass? Which of these world record fish is heaviest? You three choices are walleye, flathead catfish or largemouth bass. The room looks kind of stumped on this one, except for Hayden. Hayden, you look confident. Yeah, okay, Rosie, you're confident. You got this one right. What were the answer your choices? You need to tell me which one is heaviest. Wileye flathead catfish, largemouth bass. Maybe you got a good answer for this one. M I don't think so. How about you? I know I know nothing about fish. You know nothing about fish, but you knew that the Amazon Rainforest was the lungs of the Earth. It's everybody ready, yep, yeah, go ahead and reveal your answers. Bae flathead catfish, Rosie flathead, Mabel, largemouth bass, Hayden catfish, Conley catfish.

I know largemouth bass.

The correct answer is the flathead catfish. Most of the room got that one right. The world record largemouth bass was caught in Georgia and it weighed twenty two pounds. The world record whileye was caught in Tennessee and it weighed twenty five pounds. And the world record flathead catfish was caught in Kansas and it weighed one hundred and twenty three pounds. That means you could put the world record while eye and bass together and they wouldn't even weigh half as much as the world record flathead catfish. Who in here's caught a catfish before? I have Rosie and Hayden. Did you guys catch a flathead or did you catch a channel catfish or blue catfish? Do you know what kind you caught? Channel catfish?

I don't know.

You caught catfish, and I think you two got that one right.

Question three.

What's the name for the fungus that grows underground and resembles a potato? Is it truffle, caviar or tripe? What's the name for the fungus that grows underground and resembles a potato, truffle, caviar or tripe? Conley, you got this one right?

I don't know.

You don't know. I know how you feel about your answer. I think so, Okay, Bay, do you have this one right?

I don't think so.

You don't think so. Room looks kind of stumped again. Last game, you guys got every single question correct. This week, we're a little bit harder. What's the name for the fungus that grows underground and resembles a potato, truffle? Caviar or tripe? Is everybody ready? Yeah, go ahead and reveal your answers. Bae tripe, Rosie, truffle, Mabel tripe, Hayden truffle, Conley truffle, truffle. The correct answer, it is truffle. The rooms did very well. They have truffle. Fries know exactly right. That's immediately what I thought of. Caviar is fish eggs, Tripe is the stomach lining of cows, pigs and sheep, and truffles are the edible spores that grow on an underground fungus. They are found nearly everywhere in nature, but are very difficult to locate. That's why pigs and dogs have been trained to haunt truffles. So some of you had had truffles before Rosie you had truffle fries. Has anyone else ever had truffle fries or any.

Other fid Yeah, no, I've had it.

I just did not think of that. Well, there's a decent chance that those truffles that you were eating were found by a pig or a dog out in the forest. What kind of pig is that?

Like?

A p just so, really they have a really well trained pig. But the problem is when they use pigs, when the pig finds the truffle, he wants to eat them. That's why they started teaching dogs to do it, because the dogs aren't so greedy. Fail. That brings us to the end of today's episode. How much money did we raise?

They raised one hundred ten dollars.

One hundred ten dollars going to Pheasants Forever. Well done, kids, Join us next time for more Meat Eater Kids Trivia, the only other game show where conservation always wins.

Thank you so much for listening to Meat Eater Kids. We hope you enjoyed listening to the show as much as we enjoyed making It'd like to hear more. Have your parents leave the show a review, write us an email, and tell your friends about it. Until then, get outside and don't stop being me here days

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MeatEater Kids

Educational, fun, and engaging podcast for kids. Segments include a science and history segment call 
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