Poop is a part of life. Animals, plants, and even bacteria need to eliminate waste to survive. But what about the animals that eat poop to survive? Why would nature make them do something so gross? And, most importantly…

Do animals actually enjoy eating poo?

At Frick, we’ve been pondering this question for years. It’s a complicated topic, touching on not just the sense of taste, but also on the very nature of how animals see the world. In this episode, we finally get a chance to answer it with the help of a world-renowned expert.

We interviewed Dr. Paul Moore, the head of the Laboratory for Sensory Ecology at Bowling Green State University. Dr. Moore has spent decades studying the intricate relationships between taste, smell, and perception. Nobody knows more about what animals think and feel than Dr. Moore.

And he’s going to talk to us about eating poop.

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Ants build structures. Ants wage war. Ants even do agriculture. But ants also live in large, organized colonies that experience challenges, disagreements, and even natural disasters. This begs the question:

Do ants vote?

Seriously, are humans the only ones to figure this out (kinda)? Do ants have their own form of democracy? Do other animals? Is there an ant George Washington?

We interview Dr. Aaron Fairweather, an entomologist specializing in ants, to find out more about our 20 quadrillion closest friends (that's how many ants there are on earth. Crazy, right?).

Want more nature facts from Aaron? You can find them on Bluesky, X, or email them at fairweaa@uoguelph.ca

And you can follow Frick, I Love Nature on Instagram, YouTube & TikTok. You can follow our nature newsletter here.