Art Shaul—founder-director of Safe Paws Rescue, a small but mighty rescue serving the Tampa Bay Area—recalls growing up watching his Dad bring home ill, injured, sometimes “bedraggled” animals, caring for these critters, then making them family members. Observing...
Rebecca Reid--Director of Education at Busch Wildlife Sanctuary, a multifaceted operation (wildlife refuge, veterinary hospital, rehabilitation facility, education center) in Jupiter Farms, Florida—discusses the readily observable love for her job, and its probable...
Journalist Joshua Hammer--author of a captivating piece in the current issue of Smithsonian Magazine, entitled “Pablo Escobar’s Abandoned Hippos are Wreaking Havoc in the Columbian Jungle”—recalls how, having been casually aware of the Escobar/hippo situation, he...
Tracey Callahan Molnar--handler and chief human of Beacon, the therapy dog who’s become increasingly beloved across the U.S.A. Gymnastics world and beyond, emerging as a media sensation along the way—recounts her own career as a gymnast and coach, specializing in...
Dr. Mikel Delgado--a certified cat behavior consultant and author, most recently, of “Play With Your Cat! The Essential Guide to Interactive Play for a Happier, Healthier Feline”—traces the path that preceded her status as a cat expert with a PhD, including...
Dara Eckart--CEO of Friends of Strays, St. Petersburg’s oldest no-kill animal shelter, currently undergoing a significant transformation, including opening a cats-only adoption center, The Cat Box on July 1—outlines the shelter’s history, citing key milestones of...
This was a truly distinctive edition of “Talking Animals”: For starters, the show was part of WMNF’s full day of special programming devoted to celebrating Juneteenth. Second, my two (in-studio!) guests were both stellar, veteran WMNF programmers: Harrison Nash,...
Dr. Eleanor Spicer Rice--an entomologist by training who’s appeared on the show multiple times, discussing ants, spiders, homing pigeons, and microbes (often tied to a book she’s written on the topic)—acknowledges that writing for young readers has officially...
Rhonda Eldridge--Executive Director of The Community Pet Project, which provides pet food and several other resources to homeless and at-risk communities throughout Hillsborough County—discusses the organization’s origin story, beginning in 2017 as an offshoot of a...
Melissa Hoppert--a horse-racing writer for The New York Times, and one of two reporter-producers (with Times colleague Joe Drape) featured onscreen in the new horse-racing documentary, “Broken Horses,” a New York Times/FX production streaming on Hulu—recalls...
