Shows
Critter ChatBobcatsImage credit: Bobcat © Henry Colletto, courtesy Rachel Roberts, CDFWBobcats are our native felines living around us in the Sierra Nevada and across the country. They are as beautiful as they are elusive — and considering how much we love our domestic cats — why not get to appreciate our native wildcats?On this show, KVMR and podcast listeners will hear from the experts who have studied and logged more sightings of bobcats than most:Rachel Roberts, senior environmental scientist and bobcat specialist with the California Department of Fish and W...2025-05-0529 min
Critter ChatRiffle SculpinCelebrate World Aquatic Animal Day Get to Know Your Local Riffle Sculpins Next Episode of Critter ChatNevada City, April 2, 2025 — Raise your hand if you’ve heard of the Riffle Sculpin! This local bottom-dwelling fish is a mystery to many, but these fish can be found all over the rivers and streams of the Sierra. This prehistoric-looking fish fascinates those who study them - why are they important? Get to know this local aquatic animal - with the broadcast/podcast of Critter Chat on April 2 - a great way to celebr...2025-04-0329 min
Critter ChatSteller's JaysCritter Chat - Episode 12 - The Steller’s JayThe Steller’s Jay, the gregarious azure-feathered bird, is the focus on this episode of Critter Chat. Steller’s Jays are hard to miss - their “shek shek shek" call and perky personalities. They are our neighbors in the Sierra Nevada, but how well do we really know them? Steller’s Jays have long been regarded as a sentinel bird in the world of wildlife and native American culture. They “read the environment” like we might “read a room” and alert the wider wor...2025-03-0530 min
Critter ChatCalifornia Mountain KingsnakeCritter Chat Celebrates the Year of the Snake with the California Mountain KingsnakeStarting the 2025 season having recently won KVMR’s prestigious Award for Excellence in Public Affairs and Community Service Programming, Critter Chat hosts and producers Marney Blair and Susan Brandt celebrate the Year of the Snake with the king of snakes, the California Mountain Kingsnake. Found in the mountains of the Sierra Nevada, these snakes are as beautiful as they are important to the ecology of a thriving wildlife environment. Guests on the show include:...2025-02-0628 min
Critter ChatGreat Gray OwlNaturalist, Author, Artist John Muir Laws and Biologist Ramiro Aragon Describe the Magnificence of The Great Gray OwlCritter Chat hosts and producers Marney Blair and Susan Brandt are delighted to present this ninth episode featuring the Great Gray Owl - the largest owl in California and North America. But did you know a subspecies lives in the Sierra Nevada? In conjunction with the launch of John Muir Laws' new book, the second edition of Laws Guide to Sierra Birds featuring his painting of the Great Gray Owl on...2024-11-2929 min
Critter ChatGrappletail DragonflyIn Critter Chat episode 8, hosts Marney Blair and Susan Brandt chat with Dr. David Herbst of the Sierra Streams Institute at Little Deer Creek in Pioneer Park in Nevada City as he dredged up an aquatic critter living in the sediment of the stream, a little dragonfly nymph. While we spend many hours of our lives pondering the agile aerial flyer that is the dragonfly, we rarely get to see the early stages of the dragonfly nymph which spends years developing underwater, molting 5-10 times, and eventually emerging to become the enchanting creature we see in the air. Dr...2024-10-3027 min
Critter ChatThe California State Bat - The Pallid BatIn 2023 the California legislature voted to make the Pallid bat (antrozous pallidus), the only flying mammal, a symbol of California. Bat biologist Dr. Dave Johnston has studied the Pallid bat for over 40 years and was the first to make the suggestion that this unusually golden-furred bat be the one to represent the Golden State. Then with the help of ninth grader and bat enthusiast, Naomi d’Alessio and wildlife advocates, they made a convincing argument noting the Pallid bats critical, beneficial role in California agriculture helping farmers manage insects without pesticides. In Modoc County alone, bats saved farmers $50 million by...2024-10-0230 min
Critter ChatCoyotesPhoto: © Annica Kreuter/Project CoyoteJoin hosts Susan Brandt and Marney Blair as they chat about the incredibly beautiful, adaptable and clever coyotes that live amongst us in rural, suburban and urban areas. But how much do we really know about them? Guests on the show include:Marc Bekoff, professor emeritus of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Colorado, Boulder, and a former Guggenheim fellow. He has published more than a thousand scientific and popular essays and thirty books, including many books he co-authored with on...2024-07-0230 min
KVMR NewsThe Newest Members Of The KVMR News and Public Affairs Team Report On Victorian ChristmasSusan Brandt, Marney Blair, and Paul Cummings have joined the KVMR family! They covered Nevada City’s last Victorian Christmas of the year as part of their first assignment. 2023-12-1806 min
Garden ForumCosmic Composting with Richard MarksGarden Forum Host Richard Marks speaks with "Compost Queen" Marney Blair & Legendary biodynamic farmer Harald Hoven about the earthly cosmic qualities & benefits of composting.Marney Blair - Fulcrum Farm in Grass ValleyThe Essentials Of Farm Scale Composting Booklet By Marney Blair Available HereHarald Hoven is a German-trained farmer who developed a small, highly diversified biodynamic farm in California, where he raised crops, tended livestock, trained nearly 100 farm apprentices, and offered many workshops and courses to the students of Rudolf Steiner College and the general public for thirty years.Tune in...2023-12-1255 min