Wild About Utah - Utah Public Radio

Latest Episodes:

Wild About Utah: Autumn Colors Oct 02, 2026

Show notes

Autumn Colors: The brilliant colors of our trees are indicative of leafy plants frugality with their valuable nutrient stores.

Wild About Utah: Bees in the backyard Sep 28, 2026

Show notes

The queen becomes the mother of most of the bees in the hive. All the worker bees are female. Any drone lucky enough to mate with a virgin queen drops dead afterwards. It's a matriarchal society all the way.

Wild About Utah: Are We in the Rockies? Sep 26, 2026

Show notes

Are we in the Rockies: Is the Bear River Range really in the Rockies? Are the Wasatch Mountains in general? Some say no, the basin and range region...

Wild About Utah: Endemic Plants of Utah Sep 26, 2026

Show notes

Endemic plants of Utah: Utah ranks sixth in the nation for its number of endemic species. Only Hawaii, California, Texas, Florida and Georgia have more. Utah hosts 247 endemics out of 2602 unique plants in all, plus 393 subspecies or varieties.

Wild About Utah: A Close Encounter of the Cricket Kind Sep 21, 2026

Show notes

I stood perplexed. I was looking at an insect I had never seen before. The bug was the size of my thumb and shifted awkwardly in what little dirt could be found just below the bare ridge of the Wellsvilles.

Wild About Utah: Don’t Move a Mussel Sep 14, 2026

Show notes

The aquatic invasive species threat is real and I hope this segment will make you a believer in inspection and decontamination stations.

Wild About Utah: Dim the lights for birds at night Sep 07, 2026

Show notes

Did you know that World Migratory Bird Day is celebrated in May and October? Those are the peak months for spring and fall migrations, and the magnitudes of those flocks are considerable. Two thirds of songbirds migrate at night.

Wild About Utah: Mollusks in Utah, then and now Aug 31, 2026

Show notes

It turns out that Utah is home to numerous species of live snails, but the shells we see beside Bear Lake have been there for nearly 10,000 years! They’ve lasted this long because they’re preserved by the calcium chemistry of a lake.

Wild About Utah: A surprise visit with distant relatives of Cache Valley’s birds Aug 24, 2026

Show notes

Awhile back, I was riding my bicycle along country roads in Cache Valley, when suddenly six unusual looking chicks ran across the road in single file right in front of me. I slammed on the brakes just in time as the chicks disappeared down the farmhouse driveway on the other side of the road.

Wild About Utah: Winged Bullets of Beauty Aug 22, 2026

Show notes

Winged Bullets of Beauty: Their agility is beyond imagination, capturing their prey with a gaping maw while flying at maximum speed, winged bullets ripping through the air.