How Weather And Climate Affect Animals

By: Dr. Marshall Shepherd , 12:32PM,GMT on October 14,2015

First of all, let me say right up front that I concur with Indiana Jones:

"Snakes, why did it have to be snakes....." A classic line from my favorite movie of all time.

I mention this because one of our guests on Weather Geeks this week is a biologist that studies snakes. I was not feeling the prospect of him bringing one into the studio and luckily he didn't :).

However this is one of the most fascinating Weather Geeks episodes that we have done. And by the way, we are over 50 episodes now so thank you for the continued support.

This week we talk about the various ways that weather and climate affect animals and their behavior. We explore questions like what triggers hibernation, migration prompts, and other actions. We also learn about some very strange behavior that certain animals exhibit in specific types of weather. For example, you would be surprised to learn what the giraffes do when it rains. I also ask our experts about what floods and droughts mean for the snake activity and the likelihood of human encounters.

100% chance that you will learn something new watching this episode.

The guests are:

Dr. David Steen, who Slate referred to as the best biologist on Twitter to follow. He is a Research Scientist at Auburn University. Oh by the way, we will show footage of him giving Mouth-To-Mouth Resuscitation to a turtle. The turtle survived too. Rumor has it that Weather Geeks Producer Stephen Neslage is going to join David on a Python rescue excursion in the Everglades. Stay tuned for updates on that and a possible follow up visit.

Dr. Stephanie Braccini, Curator of Mammals at ZooAtlanta. We also find out about her special relationship to a previous Weather Geeks guest, the legendary Dr. Jane Goodall.

Be sure to watch Weather Geeks this Sunday at Noon ET (11 am CT, 10 am MT, 9 am PT) and tell a friend.

Be on the lookout for future shows on Paleoclimate with Dr. Kim Cobb of Georgia Tech and El Nino Revisited with former NWS Meteorologist Jan Null, CCM.

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