Nature

Child This episode is part of the Wild Critters USA series, a collaboration with Orbit, PBS Nature, and the National Wildlife Federation.

Rob - host All right, Orbiters, we're continuing our Wild Critters USA road trip today, and we just made it to the state of Florida.

Rob - host Hank and I are both missing our moms right now, so we decided that today we need to do something special.

*clears throat* Rob - host Welcome, welcome, welcome, orbiters, to our very first annual Wild Critter Mom of the Year Awards!

Rob - host I'm your host, Rob, and I'm joined by my co-host, judge, and snack table supervisor, Hank.

Rob - host Hank and I are both very excited to honor some of the most amazing moms in the entire animal kingdom.

Rob - host Let's meet three nominees for the grand prize of Wild Critter Mom of the Year.

Rob - host Our first nominee, she carries her baby inside her body for almost two whole years before it's born.\'a0 Rob - host That's right, Mama Elephant.

Rob - host Next up, Rob - host She braves a dangerous journey across the frozen Antarctic wilderness to help feed her chick.

Rob - host That's right, Mama Emperor Penguin.

Rob - host And our final nominee.

Rob - host Wait a second.

Rob - host Hank, does this say what I think it says?

Rob - host An alligator?

Rob - host When I think mom of the year, I usually don't picture an animal with 80 super sharp teeth.

Rob - host But maybe I've got alligator moms completely wrong.

Rob - host Today, we're traveling to the Florida Everglades, one of the most amazing wetlands in North America, to learn about these incredible reptiles.

Rob - host And we have an amazing expert to help us out.

Rob - host Her name is Yvette Cano, and she's the Director of Education at Everglades National Park.

Rob - host I'm ready to learn all about alligator moms, but first, let's go check in with our buddy Sam.

Rob - host Here we are with a familiar friend of ours.

Rob - host Sam, welcome back to Orbit.

Child Thank you for having me here.

Rob - host We are so excited, as always, to have you here with us, Mr.

Sam.

Rob - host Well, Mr.

Sam, we are excited to learn about American alligators.

Rob - host Do you know much about alligators?

Child Not really.

Rob - host Well, today, do you know what a swamp monster is, Mr.

Sam?

Child Yes.

Rob - host What's a swamp monster?

Child It's like, if you see a swamp, it's like a piece of water and a monster is something that goes like, *noise* It will jump out.

Rob - host That's exactly right.

Rob - host So it's a mysterious creature.

Rob - host And today we are going to, maybe not a swamp monster, we're going to create a wetland creature piece by piece based on real animals that live in the Florida Everglades.

Rob - host How does that sound?

Rob - host Yeah, right.

Rob - host Sam's giving me a thumbs up and making a silly face that I don't really know what to do with that.

Rob - host Families, you can do this along.

Rob - host So what we're going to do is we're going to choose a part of its body for our wetland creature, and then Sam will have Rob - host choose one of two different species that he wants to use for that part of the body.

Rob - host And you can do this with your orbiters as you listen along.

Rob - host All right, you ready to start, Sam?

Child Yes, I'm ready.

Rob - host All right, things are about to get really weird.

Rob - host So let's start with the body.

Rob - host Does your wetland creature have a coiled body, like a water snake, or a fluffy body, like a marsh rabbit?

Child Fluffy.

Rob - host Fluffy.

Rob - host Why did you?

Rob - host Why a fluffy body?

Rob - host I thought you were going to go with the snake.

Child Snake, then a snake, and then combined with a bunch of other things.

Child No.

Child Too weird.

Rob - host Too weird.

Rob - host Okay, so we gotta, we're starting out with a fluffy body.

Rob - host Then for the mouth, do you want it to have a long snout like the American alligator or a giant scoop beak like a brown pelican?

Child A long thing like a American crocodile.

Rob - host Okay, so it's got a long snout.

Rob - host I love it.

Rob - host I'm a huge fan of brown pelicans, but I like your choice.

Rob - host All right, let's go with the feet.

Rob - host Does it have webbed feet like a mottled duck or powerful paws like a Florida panther?

Child Paws like a Florida panther.

Rob - host Yeah, that one sounds like the right choice there.

Rob - host And let's talk about its skin.

Rob - host Does it have slimy skin like the American green tree frog or thick fur like a North American?

Rob - host American river otter.

Child River otter.

Rob - host Yes, Why are you celebrating, Mr.

Sam.

Child Because it's my favorite animal.

Rob - host Okay, that's a good choice.

Rob - host All right, how big is it?

Rob - host tiny, like a blue dasher dragonfly?

Rob - host Or huge, like a Florida manatee?

Rob - host Huge, like a Florida manatee.

Rob - host Okay, what color is it?

Rob - host pink, like a Roseate Spoonbill?

Rob - host Or is it silver, like a tarpon fish?

Child Silver, like a tarpon fish.

Rob - host That's a good choice and they kind of shine when the sun reflects on them.

Rob - host Does it eat fish like a great blue heron or crabs like a raccoon?

Child Fish.

Rob - host And it's defense mechanism.

Rob - host Does it have a protective shell like a Florida red-bellied turtle or stinky spray like a striped skunk?

Rob - host I'm looking at Sam grinning right now, so I think I know what you're going to say, Sam, but go ahead.

Child Red-bellied turtle.

Rob - host Oh, okay, you went with the turtle.

Rob - host I thought for sure you were going to go with the stinky spray.

Rob - host Great.

Rob - host And we, of course, have to give it a name.

Rob - host What are you going to call this one?

Rob - host Otter gator.

Rob - host An otter gator.

Rob - host I love it.

Rob - host I hope our families enjoy that, too, and they can play along and create their own and name their own wetland creature.

Rob - host Well, Mr.

Rob - host Sam, do you want to help me introduce today's guest?

Child Yes.

Rob - host Okay.

Rob - host Today's guest is Yvette from the National Park Service.

Child Hi, Yvette.

Child Welcome to Orbit.

Child What do you do for work?

Yvette Cano - U.S.

National Park Service Hi, Orbiters.

Yvette Cano - U.S.

National Park Service I am so excited to be here.

Yvette Cano - U.S.

National Park Service My name is Yvette Cano, and I'm the Director of Education at Everglades National Park.

Rob - host Hey, Sam, are you ready to learn about alligators in the Florida Everglades with Yvette?

Child Yes, I'm ready.

Rob - host All right, let's go.

Rob - host Hey parents, did you know that we feature real questions from kids in episodes?

Rob - host We let parents know via WhatsApp about upcoming episode topics so that they can send us their kids questions.

Rob - host It's super easy and totally free.

Rob - host Just visit www.cumbrekids.org slash questions to get started.

Rob - host I'll leave a link in the show notes.

Rob - host Okay, let's get back to the Everglades.

Rob - host Margaret sent a question that is perfect to get us started.

Child Hello, my name is Margaret.

Child I'm 8 years old.

Child I live in North Carolina and I'm moving to Georgia, but right now I'm in New York City.

Child And my question is, what are wetlands and the Everglades?

Child Thank you.

Rob - host All right, Margaret.

Rob - host A wetland is a place where land and water meet, kind of like the middle point between dry land and a lake.

Rob - host It's not quite a lake because there's usually muddy ground, grasses, and other plants growing there.

Rob - host But it's not quite dry land either because water covers the ground for at least part of the year.

Rob - host Wetlands are kind of like nature's sponge, soaking up and storing water when there's a lot of it and slowly releasing it later.

Rob - host All right, Miss Yvette, what exactly are these super special Everglades?

Yvette Cano - U.S.

National Park Service That is such a great question, Margaret.

Yvette Cano - U.S.

National Park Service The Everglades is a huge, wet, and wild place in the southern part of Florida.

Yvette Cano - U.S.

National Park Service It covers more than 1.5 million acres, making it the biggest wetland in the United States.

Rob - host Good question, Hank.

Rob - host 1.5 million acres is the size of 1.1 million football fields, about the size of the entire state of Delaware.

Rob - host Can you imagine trying to explore a place as big as the Everglades orbiters?

Rob - host You could spend your whole life discovering new parts of it.

Yvette Cano - U.S.

National Park Service The Everglades has many different habitats or homes for plants and animals, like swampy forest, grassy marshes, mangrove trees, and saltwater areas.

Yvette Cano - U.S.

National Park Service The water in the Everglades wetland moves very slowly, like a giant river.

Yvette Cano - U.S.

National Park Service Wetlands helps clean the water, it gives people in South Florida drinking water, and helps protect homes from floods.

Rob - host Isn't that cool, Orbiters?

Rob - host It's like the hugest super slow river in the whole United States.

Rob - host Hey, Miss Yvette, is this a good home for some cool animals?

Yvette Cano - U.S.

National Park Service Animals like the Florida panther, West Indian manatee, Florida black bear, American alligator, and the American crocodile all live in the Everglades.

Yvette Cano - U.S.

National Park Service The Everglades is a perfect home for them because it has lots of different habitats for them to live.

The animals can find plenty of food, water, safe shelter, and space.

Rob - host Bears, alligators, panthers, crocodiles.

Rob - host There's some really big predators in there, right?

Rob - host Speaking of predators, I'd like to learn more about these alligators.

Rob - host What exactly is an alligator, Miss Yvette?

Rob - host But orbiters, before Miss Yvette's answers, here's a trivia.

Rob - host How big do you think a baby alligator is?

Rob - host it as big as a penny, as long as a pencil, or as big as a cat?

Rob - host Shout out your guess.

Rob - host Okay, Miss Yvette, can you tell us about these American alligators?

Yvette Cano - U.S.

National Park Service The American alligator is a cold-blooded reptile.

Rob - host Remember that cold-blooded means that it can't make its own body heat, so they use the sun and their environment to warm up or cool down.

Yvette Cano - U.S.

National Park Service Its skin is dark green, almost black.

Yvette Cano - U.S.

National Park Service Baby alligators are only about 6 inches long when they first hatch from their eggs.

Yvette Cano - U.S.

National Park Service As they grow, male alligators can become as long as 13 feet.

Rob - host Wow.

Rob - host So even though they grow up to be about as long as two full-grown human adults stacked on top of each other, they start out just the size of a pencil.

Rob - host They also make really cute noises.

Rob - host We'll learn more about these noises in a little bit.

Rob - host But first, we got a question from our friend Milam that I think is really important.

Child Hi, I'm Milam.

Yvette Cano - U.S.

National Park Service I'm 8 years old and I live in Houston, Texas.

Child And my question is, how long have alligators been around?

Rob - host We brought this question to our friend David Mizejewski.

Rob - host Mr.

David is a science advisor for Ranger Rick Magazine for the National Wildlife Federation and is helping us out with this Wild Critter series.

Rob - host Hey, Mr.

Rob - host David, how long have alligators been around?

David Mizejewski - Ranger Rick Magazine What a good question, Milam.

David Mizejewski - Ranger Rick Magazine Alligators are reptiles that belong to the crocodile family, which has been around for about 95 million years.

David Mizejewski - Ranger Rick Magazine That's a really long time.

David Mizejewski - Ranger Rick Magazine There were different crocodilian species swimming in the waters and even running on land alongside the dinosaurs.

David Mizejewski - Ranger Rick Magazine And yes, there used to be crocodiles that could run around like a wolf or a lion.

David Mizejewski - Ranger Rick Magazine The American alligator that today lives in wetlands in many of our southern states evolved around 8 million years ago.

David Mizejewski - Ranger Rick Magazine And it hasn't changed much in all that time because it's perfectly adapted to survive in those wetland environments.

Rob - host Wow, I really love dinosaurs.

Rob - host So that's super cool.

Rob - host Hey parents, if you'd like to continue learning about wildlife like alligators, Ranger Rick Magazine has some great resources for families.

Rob - host I'll leave a link in the show notes.

Rob - host Okay, let's get back to learning with Ms.

Yvette.

Child Hi.

My question is, can alligators run fast?

Yvette Cano - U.S.

National Park Service Jane, I love that question.

Yvette Cano - U.S.

National Park Service Alligators can run fast, but only for very short distances.

Yvette Cano - U.S.

National Park Service They actually are much better swimmers.

Child Hi, I'm Juliana.

Child I'm from Guanajuato.

Child And my question is, what do these alligator seeds buy?

Rob - host With all those teeth, probably not broccoli and spinach.

Yvette Cano - U.S.

National Park Service Juliana, alligators have a great appetite.

Yvette Cano - U.S.

National Park Service They eat things like turtles, fish, birds, and even other smaller alligators.

Child Okay, hello, my name is Caleb.

Child I'm living in Illinois.

Child And my question is, how strong are alligators bites?

Yvette Cano - U.S.

National Park Service Caleb, that question gives me goosebumps.

Rob - host You and me both, Ms.

Yvette.

Yvette Cano - U.S.

National Park Service The pressure of a large alligator's bite can be as much as 3,000 pounds per square inch, compared to a human bite at only 162 pounds per square inch.

Rob - host Imagine biting down on something as hard as a turtle shell.

Rob - host You would need really strong jaws and teeth, right?

Rob - host That's why alligators need such powerful jaws, and they can bite 20 times harder than a human being.

Rob - host That's one reason why it's important to give alligators lots of space.

Child Hello, I'm Milam.

Child I'm 7 years old and I live in Houston, Texas.

Child And my question is, how can you tell the difference between alligators and crocodiles?

Child Hi, Orbit.

Child My name is Ygritte Mostajo.

Child I'm 10 years old.

Child I live in Santa Cruz, Bolivia.

And my question is, What differences have the alligators and the crocodiles?

Thank you, bye.

Rob - host Hey orbiters, which one do you think has a pointier snout?

Rob - host The alligator or the crocodile?

Rob - host Let's find out.

Yvette Cano - U.S.

National Park Service Milam and Ygritte, I get that question quite a bit.

Yvette Cano - U.S.

National Park Service The American alligator is dark.

Yvette Cano - U.S.

National Park Service greenish, black, and has a wide, rounded snout.

Yvette Cano - U.S.

National Park Service You can see some of its top teeth when its mouth is closed.

Yvette Cano - U.S.

National Park Service Alligators live in freshwater, like rivers, lakes, and swamp.

Yvette Cano - U.S.

National Park Service However, the American crocodile is gray and has a long, pointy snout.

Yvette Cano - U.S.

National Park Service You can see both its top and bottom teeth when its mouth is closed.

Yvette Cano - U.S.

National Park Service Crocodiles usually live in salty or mixed salty, freshwater ecosystems.

Rob - host That's so interesting, Ms.

Yvette.

Rob - host Hey, Orbiters, how about we pause for a mystery sound?

Rob - host You can move around and wiggle while you listen and think about what the sound is.

Rob - host I'll give you a hint.

Rob - host You can find this animal in a swampy place.

Rob - host Stick around to the end for the answer.

Rob - host Okay, let's get to the star of the show, alligator moms.

Yvette Cano - U.S.

National Park Service Hi, I am Martina.

Yvette Cano - U.S.

National Park Service I live in Bogota, Colombia, and my question is, how many eggs compute the American alligator?

Rob - host Hey Orbiters, let's practice forming a hypothesis.

Rob - host How many eggs do you think an alligator mom lays?

Rob - host And why do you think that?

Rob - host You can pause here if you'd like to talk as a family.

Rob - host All right, Miss Yvette, help us out.

Yvette Cano - U.S.

National Park Service Great question.

Yvette Cano - U.S.

National Park Service Mother American alligators lay about 35 eggs in a nest made of dry leaves and grass on the ground.

Yvette Cano - U.S.

National Park Service These leaves and grass get warm as they break down, and this helps keep the eggs warm while the babies grow inside.

Yvette Cano - U.S.

National Park Service Mother alligators stay close to the nest and help their babies get safely to the water after they hatch.

Rob - host I thought that was so cool, orbiters.

Rob - host Did you know that big piles of leaves or grass clippings can actually get warm?

Rob - host That's because it's not just a pile of dead plants sitting there.

Rob - host There's something magical happening inside.

Rob - host Tiny bacteria and fungi called microbes are breaking down the dead plant material.

Rob - host They are basically eating dead plants.

Rob - host And as they do that, the microbes release energy in the form of heat, which can make the whole pile warmer.

Rob - host So when alligator moms create nests from dead grasses and leaves, they are creating the perfect recipe for plant decay.

Rob - host And the heat from the decomposing plants helps keep their eggs warm while the baby alligators develop inside, something we call incubation.

Rob - host Pretty Rob - host Cool, right?

Child Hi, my name is Vivian.

Child I'm from New Jersey.

Child I'm five years old.

Child I have a question why are alligator moms special?

Child Hi, I'm Alisa.

I'm nine years old, and I live in Ecuador.

Child And my question is, why are mom alligators special?

Child Bye.

Yvette Cano - U.S.

National Park Service Vivian and Alisa, I love that you want to know about mom alligators.

Yvette Cano - U.S.

National Park Service The American alligator moms are very special because they take great care of their babies.

Yvette Cano - U.S.

National Park Service Sometimes, baby alligators of different ages stay with their mom all at the same time.

Yvette Cano - U.S.

National Park Service If the babies feel scared or unsafe, they make a sound, and their mom comes quickly to protect them.

Rob - host Do you remember the sound orbiters?

Rob - host Here it is.

Rob - host when you were a baby, you cried when you wanted your mom's attention, even before you could say words.

Rob - host It was how you told your mom, hey, something's wrong here.

Rob - host So those little chirps are how baby alligators get their mom's attention, just like you did.

Yvette Cano - U.S.

National Park Service Baby alligators are born with yellow stripes on their body to help them camouflage in the grasses.

Yvette Cano - U.S.

National Park Service But even with their stripes, bigger animals like birds, raccoons, snakes, and even larger alligators may still try and eat them.

Rob - host Wow, that's a scary world to be born into for a baby alligator.

Rob - host Good thing they have super moms there with them.

Rob - host Hey, let's go to this other super interesting question from our friend Luna.

Yvette Cano - U.S.

National Park Service Hi, my name is Luna.

Yvette Cano - U.S.

National Park Service I'm 6 years old and I live in New York.

Yvette Cano - U.S.

National Park Service And my question is, how do alligators engineer the Everglades?

Rob - host Engineer?

Rob - host Usually engineers build bridges or airplanes or buildings.

Rob - host How could an alligator be an engineer, Miss Yvette?

Yvette Cano - U.S.

National Park Service Luna, that is a brilliant question.

Yvette Cano - U.S.

National Park Service American alligators dig gator holes in the ground in the Everglades.

Yvette Cano - U.S.

National Park Service They are kind of like pools of water.

Yvette Cano - U.S.

National Park Service The Everglades has a wet season and a dry season.

Rob - host In Florida, the wet season is from May through November.

Rob - host That means there's lots and lots and lots of rain for about 7 months.

Rob - host But December through April, there's very little rain.

Yvette Cano - U.S.

National Park Service During the dry season, most of the water disappears.

Yvette Cano - U.S.

National Park Service But gator holes still hold water because they are deeper.

Yvette Cano - U.S.

National Park Service Many animals gather around these water pools because they need water to live.

Yvette Cano - U.S.

National Park Service When the rainy season comes back, the water spreads out again, and the animals move all over the Everglades.

Yvette Cano - U.S.

National Park Service Without gator holes, many animals would have a very hard time.

Yvette Cano - U.S.

National Park Service time, surviving the dry season.

Rob - host Wait a second.

Rob - host So an alligator digs a hole for itself, and then a whole bunch of other animals end up using it too?

Rob - host That's kind of like building a neighborhood swimming pool that everybody gets to enjoy.

Rob - host And we've seen this before.

Rob - host Desert tortoises build burrows that owls and snakes use.

Rob - host Bison help create healthy grasslands for birds.

Rob - host And now we see how alligators create water holes that everyone uses in the dry season.

Rob - host Isn't it incredible how all these different ecosystems, deserts, grasslands and wetlands all have important animals that make the habitat healthy for others?

Rob - host Hey, let's get to this question from Maya.

Child Hi, my name is Maya and I am 8 years old.

Child I live in Teaneck, New Jersey.

Child And my question is, why are the Everglades so special?

Child Thank you.

Child Bye.

Yvette Cano - U.S.

National Park Service Wow, Maya, that's a great question.

Yvette Cano - U.S.

National Park Service You see, a long time ago, people learned that the Everglades is a very special place, and they worked really hard to protect it.

Rob - host Orbiters, this sounds like a question for the orbit time machine.

Rob - host Let's travel back more than 100 years.

Rob - host Three, two, one.

Rob - host Here we go.

Rob - host Imagine you're standing in South Florida.

Rob - host There's no smartphones, no internet, no Orbit podcast, and the Everglades hasn't been protected yet.

Rob - host People are trying to decide what should happen to this giant wetland.

Yvette Cano - U.S.

National Park Service One important person was Marjory Stoneman Douglas.

Speaker 6 Hi, I'm Marjory.

Speaker 6 You know, the Everglades isn't just a swamp.

Speaker 6 It's home to lots of plants and animals.

Speaker 6 If we don't take care of it, what will happen to all of them?

Rob - host Okay, but why is Marjory important?

Yvette Cano - U.S.

National Park Service She saw all the Yvette Cano - U.S.

National Park Service water on the land and the ocean and noticed how many different plants and animals needed the Everglades to live.

Speaker 6 My favorite is definitely the alligator, or maybe the panther, or turtles.

Speaker 6 They're so cute.

Speaker 6 Or the slithery snakes.

Speaker 6 But I also like the birds and the dragonflies.

Yvette Cano - U.S.

National Park Service She told many people about it, wrote many letters, and took people to visit so they could see it too.

Speaker 6 Dear person who works in Congress, did you know the Everglades is a living river that plants, animals, and people depend on?

Speaker 6 If we don't protect it, what will happen to all the creatures that call it home?

Speaker 6 Can we work together to protect this special place?

Speaker 6 Sincerely, Marjorie Stoneman Douglas.

Rob - host Marjorie even wrote a book about the Everglades called The Everglades, River of Grass.

Rob - host Wow.

Rob - host So it's thanks to Marjorie Stoneman Douglas that families can visit Everglades National Park today and experience one of the most amazing wetlands in the world.

Rob - host And that's where Miss Yvette works.

Rob - host Hey, let's go check in with our friend Sam.

Rob - host All right, Mr.

Rob - host Sam, are you ready to take a short break and stretch and move around a little bit?

Child Yes.

Rob - host Yeah, me too.

Rob - host What is a movement that orbiters can do?

Child An alligator snap.

Rob - host How should they do an alligator snap?

Child You grab your two hands and then you do.

Rob - host And you're kind of clapping them.

Rob - host Should they clap them up and down or sideways?

Child Oh, up and down.

Child It can be both sides because maybe he's laying on the ground sideways.

Rob - host So they can they can decide?

Rob - host if they want to be a sideways alligator or an up and down alligator.

Rob - host And how should they change it up if it's their second or third time?

Child First they should do it slowly, then they should do it a little bit more slowly, and then at the light, same really fast.

Rob - host Okay, so if it's your third time, you better be chomping really, really fast.

Rob - host And while we're making gator chomps, let's recap what we've learned.

Rob - host Wetlands are places where land and water meet, and the Everglades is the largest wetland in the United States, providing homes for amazing animals and helping store, clean, and manage water.

Rob - host American alligators are cold-blooded reptiles that can grow from tiny hatchlings into powerful predators.

Rob - host We learned that alligator moms are super parents.

Rob - host Alligators are also ecosystem engineers because they dig gator holes that hold water during the dry season and help many other animals survive.

Rob - host Finally, we learned that Rob - host People can make a difference too.

Rob - host Marjorie Stoneman Douglas helped protect the Everglades, which became a national park so future generations could enjoy this incredible wetland and the animals that call it home.

Rob - host Hey Miss Yvette, let's say that a family is in Florida and they'd like to see alligators.

Rob - host Can they?

Yvette Cano - U.S.

National Park Service The best time to see American alligators in the park is during the dry season.

Yvette Cano - U.S.

National Park Service You can visit places like Shark Valley or walk on trails like the Anhinga Trail to see alligators and many other cool animals from a safe distance.

Yvette Cano - U.S.

National Park Service The more you explore, the more you learn.

Yvette Cano - U.S.

National Park Service Visit a national park.

Yvette Cano - U.S.

National Park Service It is like an outdoor classroom full of fun adventures for the whole family.

Rob - host Hey parents, I'll also add some super cool resources to continue learning about alligators and the Everglades in the show notes.

Rob - host Thanks so much, Miss Yvette, for answering our questions today.

Yvette Cano - U.S.

National Park Service Bye, Orbiters!

Yvette Cano - U.S.

National Park Service I can't wait to see you in a national park.

Rob - host Hey parents, our guest today was Yvette Cano, Director of Education for Everglades National Park.

Rob - host We'll leave information about Everglades National Park and the U.S.

Rob - host National Park Service in the show notes.

Rob - host And a special thanks to two more friends, Dave and Sarah from the U.S.

Rob - host Department of the Interior, for their help making this episode with the U.S.

Rob - host National Park Service possible.

Rob - host Hey, before we wrap up, I bet a few of you are curious about the mystery sound.

Rob - host Do you remember it?

Rob - host Last chance.

Rob - host Hurry, get your guess in.

Rob - host If you said it's a bullfrog, you got it.

Rob - host Way to go.

Rob - host Hey, Mr.

Rob - host Sam, what was the most interesting thing that you learned with Yvette?

Child They made holes in the ground and put water in for the dry season.

Rob - host Oh, interesting.

Rob - host Yeah.

Rob - host It's so interesting that animals can kind of construct their environments like that, right?

Child Yeah.

Rob - host And families, you can pause here and have a conversation.

Rob - host What was the most interesting thing to your orbiter?

Rob - host Hey, Mr.

Rob - host Sam, I think it would be super cool to leave families with a question that they can talk about or an activity that they can do together.

Child My challenge for families Child is like pick two animals and mix their names together and create a brand new animal.

Child So let's say that I did the otter and the gator, I put them together and put like otter gear.

Child For the penguin with an octopus, a penguactus.

Rob - host And do you choose features of each animal or is it mostly about the names?

Rob - host Choose the features.

Rob - host Both.

Rob - host All right, Mr.

Rob - host Sam, do you have a joke for us today?

Child Yes.

Child What do you call an alligator detective?

Rob - host An alligator detective.

Rob - host I wonder if the orbiters get these right because I think I'm 0 for 5 right now and I'm about to be 0 for 6 because I do not know what you call an alligator detective.

Rob - host What do you call it?

Child An investigator.

Rob - host I should have known that one.

Rob - host An investigator.

Rob - host That's a great joke, Mr.

Rob - host Sam.

Rob - host All right, any final messages before we say goodbye?

Child Yes.

Child Remember to stay curious.

Rob - host All right, stay curious, everybody.

Child Bye.

Rob - host This episode is part of the Wild Critter Series, a collaboration with our friends at PBS Nature and the National Wildlife Federation.

Rob - host We also produced this episode about American alligators in Spanish on our sister podcast, Cr\'e1neo: Ciencia para ni\'f1os curiosos.

Rob - host Orbit is produced by Cumbre Kids.

Rob - host This episode was written by me, Robert Carpenter.

Rob - host The producer is Gerwuin Riera.

Rob - host Art work for the episode by Moises Monsalve and Jorge Wake.

Rob - host We'll see you in the next episode.

Rob - host Ciao.

Child The important thing is not to stop questioning.