This episode is sponsored by CuriosityStream and you can go to curiositystream.com/animalwonders to learn more.  

(Intro)

Welcome back to Animal Wonders.  I'm Jessi, this Augusto, and this is Jade, our Savannah monitor.  Augusto isnt in our videos very often, but he's a big part of our animal care team.  He's also the co-founder of Animal Wonders and my husband, which also means that we might have a small human joining us, if she gets bored of looking at her book, because usually when I'm making the videos, Augusto is with our kids, so thank you so much for being here today.

A: Well, thank you for having me here.  It's always a pleasure to be here whenever I can be.  So I was thinking we could do some fun today.  I had a little game prepared.

J: Okay.

A: Kind of a quiz on animals but a little different spin on it.

J: You're not gonna ask me like, really hard questions, are you?

A: No, no, it's not about questions.  It's about using your senses.  

J: Oh.  Can you give me more?  Like, what are the rules?

A: I'm gonna have you close your eyes but to make sure your eyes are completely closed, you're not peeking, I'm going to put a blindfold on you and then I will bring an animal out, put it kind of in front of you, and you're gonna try to basically feel it, but you're gonna only do a one finger touch on the animal for one second.

J: Okay, okay.

A: Just a quick little touch and then hopefully, you'll have figured out what animal it was you were touching.

J: That sounds harder than, I don't know--I don't know.  Let's give it a try.  So Jade is a really good girl, but I don't think she'll appreciate another animal stealing her limelight, so I'm going to go ahead and put her back.  

A: Alright, how many fingers am I holding up?  

J: Four.

A: Okay.  That's good.  Alright, so I'm going to bring our first animal, okay, you ready?

J: Yeah.

A: Okay.  

J: I have an animal here already.  

Serenity: Hey, Mommy.  

J: Hi, sweetie.  

S: What are you doing?  

J: I'm wearing a blindfold.  I can't see you.  

A: It's in front of you.

J: I feel like I'm going to poke it in the eye.  

A: You go ahead and put your hand down a little bit.  

J: Okay.  

A: Okay.  And I'll bring it to your finger.  Ready?

J: Yeah.  Ahhh.  

A: There.

J: Oh, it's a rabbit.  It was a rabbit?

A: It's a cute one, right?  

J: I--oh, I think it's--I think it's Hazel the rabbit.

A: Hazel the rabbit.  

J: Is it Hazel?  Can I take this off?

A: Sure.  Let's see what you think.

J: Oh, it's a chinchilla!  Oh my goodness.  Hi, Cheerio.  I thought I'd touched like, right behind the rabbit's ears and I mean, it's really soft behind a rabbit's ears, but Chinchillas are the softest animal.  So do you have any cool facts about chinchillas?

A: Well, they live in the Andes mountain range in South America.  (?~2:48) from Peru.  (?~2:50) my country.  They eat grasses up there, those dry grasses and they definitely enjoy taking dustbaths.

S: She tickle me.  

A: And volcanic ash but here at Animal Wonders, we just give him special dust out there for them to just roll around in.  

J: Yeah.

A: Yeah.  

S: (?~3:05)

J: I'm glad I didn't, like, touch her in her face or anything, 'cause these guys are rodents and they have very long front incisors like all rodents do.

A: Now i'm gonna put her back.  I'm gonna say bye to her and I'm gonna have you put your blindfold on for our next animal, okay?

J: Okay.  

A: Okay, you ready?  

J: Uh, yeah.  

A: This one's an old timer.  Let'see, are you ready?  Here.  Bring it to you, there you go.  

S: A monkey!

J: Uh, that felt really weird.  

S: What?

J: I could barely even--is that pee?  

A: Yeah, a little bit.  

J: I can hear the pee dripping.  Oh gosh, I need a clue, I need a clue.  I mean, that's a clue.

A: How about smell?  

J: Okay.  It smells like.  Okay.  Okay.

S: Eww.

J: I got this.  I got this.  I think this is a sugar glider and our timer is Gizmo.  

A: That's right.  You are correct.  

J: The pee gave it away.  That didn't feel--here.  

Hi, buddy.  How's it going?  Hey, it's our boy.  Do you want a little treat?  Let's give him a little treat.   Hi buddy, do you want a little treat?  Oh yeah!  That was an enthusiastic yes.  Hi bud.  So that touch, that felt like skin.  It didn't feel like fur.  I mean, these guys are super soft, too.  Without the smell, I would not have guessed what animal that was.

A: Yeah.

J: That was cool.  

A: Very strong smell, yeah.  They usually like to mark everything by peeing and pooping on things.

J: The pee was a good clue.  Oh man.

S: Ew.

J: Alright, let's let him go back to sleep.  Got another one for me? 

A: Yes.  I do.  Alright, put that blindfold back on.

J: Okay.  I wonder what it's gonna be.  

S: Is it...a owl?  

J: Do you think it's an owl?  We don't have an owl.  Ready?  

A: Gonna bring it up to you.  Yeah.  

J: Ehh, it seems like you're being more cautious. 

A:Bring your finger down more.

J: Guys, why is this so--this makes me so nervous.

A: More, more, more.  Right there.  

J: This is really hard.  Okay, that was cold, so I think it's a reptile, but it wasn't hard enough, so it can't be a tortoise.  

S: I touch it?

A: Well, a lot of people mistake it for a reptile.  

S: I touch it?

J: Oh, is it a frog?

A: No, not a frog.  

S: What is that?

J: Okay, I mean, a salamander?

A: Yeah.  

S: I'm gonna take this off.

J: You tricked me, 'cause the salamander's right here.  You totally.

S: I take this.  

J: That's why that enclosure was over there this morning.

A: Yeah.

S: Mommy.

J: You tricked me.  Oh, hi, Slick.  Slick is a tiger salamander and, no, he's not really wet right now, though he is moist on the bottom.  

S: He can't blink.  

J: He can blink.  Can you blink?

A: There you go.  

J: Good job.  Alright, let's let him go back in his--

A: Yeah, in his little pond.

J: In his water there.  Oh, man, that was tricky.  Can you put it on me?  

S: Yeah.  Which animal?

J: Okay, go.  This is gonna work.  

A: Alright.  Gonna bring it down, do one finger touch.  Boom.

J: Aw, it's so fluffy.  Oh man!  I don't think it's soft enough to be our arctic fox but it's super fluffy.  I'm gonna guess--

S: It's too fluffy.  Wow.  

J: Lollipop the skunk.  

A: You are correct.  

J: I am?  Yes!  Holy cow!  Hi, Lollipop.

S: Hi, Lollipop.  Ew.

J: Aw, hi sleepyhead.  

S: Ew.

J: Does she smell bad?  

S: Ew.  

J: No, she doesn't smell bad.  Skunks don't  smell bad just on ,you know, of themselves.  They only stink when they spray.  See?  She doesn't smell that bad.  Aw, she's another sleepy girl.  She was definitely taking a nap.  These guys are nocturnal.  Hi, sweetheart, but she does like snuggling real close.  

S: She want--she wants snack.  

J: She want a snack?

S: Yeah.

J: You think she does?

S: Yes.

J: She always wants a snack.

A: Alright, so now we're gonna say goodbye to Lollipop and bring out--

S: Bye.

A: One more animal.  

J: Okay.  

A: Here it comes.  Right down there.  

J: Oh, that's a very distinct scales.  

A: You think so?  Okay.

J: I think so.  I mean, it's one of two things.  It's either uh, the tail of a sand boa or the back of a tegu, 'cause they're both very bumpy but I feel like it's--do you wanna come up here?

S: Yeah.  

J: Okay.

S: It's a  snake.  

J: Huh.  I wonder what it could be.

A: We have many, we have many, so what kind, what kind?  Let's see.

J: I think I'm gonna go with my first guess.  I'm gonna say sand boa.  Thanks, Serenity.  

A: Yes.  A little cheating, but it's alright, it's alright, it's alright.

J: Yaaaay!  Ohh, see how bumpy those scales are?  Sand boas have really bumpy tails.  

That's gonna help them protect themselves when they're hiding in the dirt in the sand.  If a predator goes after them, it's much harder to grab onto these hard scales.  Also, it kinda anchors them in the sand when they're going out to grab prey.  Aw, you're beautiful, Sandy.  But that's really hard, just like, literally just like that, one touch, especially the really soft animals, that one--that was the most challenging, I think.  I'm glad I didn't get any like, pokey animals.  

S: Look how shiny she blah blah.

A: No, I was trying to bring quiet animals, you know?  

J: I got a loud animal right here.  

S: She sticking her tongue out.  

J: She is sticking her tongue out.  You're right.  You wanna stick your tongue out back at her.  Thank you, that was really fun.  

A: I enjoyed it.

J:  Good.  And thank you for joining us.  Now, obviously, I love animals and I just can't get over how much there is to learn about them.  I recently watched this video called DeBugged, which is all about some amazing bugs and what makes them so interesting and incredible.  I really enjoyed how close up the camera got.  It felt like you could really get to know them and you can find it on CuriosityStream, who is the sponsor of today's video.  They're a subscription streaming service that offers over 2,000 documentaries and nonfiction titles from some of the world's best filmmakers, including exclusive originals.  Get unlimited access starting at just $2.99 a month and for our audience, the first 30 days are completely free if you sign up at curiositystream.com/animalwonders and use the promo code 'animalwonders' during the sign-up process.  Thank you so much and we'll see you next week.

J&A: Bye!  

S: Bye.  

(Endscreen/Credits)