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Creature Comforts

Creature Comforts | Bats

The bat may not one of the feature animals when thinking about Mississippi wildlife, such as the deer or catfish. But Mississippi is home to 15 types of bats that play a significant role in Mississippi’s ecosystem. Today we welcome Katelin Cross from the Museum of Natural Science to talk about the role of the bat, answer any questions you might have about these winged mammals, and share the details about the upcoming Park After Dark event.


As always, Dr. Troy Majure, DVM, with the Animal Medical Center, and Libby Hartfield, retired director of the Mississippi Museum of Natural Science, take your pet questions and talk about your latest brushes with nature! 


Join the conversation by email: animals@mpbonline.org.

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  • Creature Comforts - HALLOWEEN | Spooky Spiders

    43:58|
    On Creature Comforts, Kevin Farrell is joined by Dr. Troy Majure, veterinarian at the Animal Medical Center in Jackson and Libby Hartfield retired director of the Mississippi Museum of Natural Science.For this year’s Halloween, Creature Comforts is going to talk about the infamously spooky and ever-scary spider. Along with skeletons, pumpkins, and candy, the 8-legged arachnids have become entwined with All Hallow’s Eve, so our guest for the hour Dr. Wesley Shoop, will join to inform us of the life cycles of this Halloween mainstay.To submit your own question for the show, email us at animals@mpbonline.org or send us a message with the Talk To Us feature in the MPB Public Media App.
  • Creature Comforts | Sawfish

    43:33|
    On Creature Comforts, Kevin Farrell is joined by Dr. Troy Majure, veterinarian at the Animal Medical Center in Jackson and Libby Hartfield retired director of the Mississippi Museum of Natural Science.We have many remnants of the prehistoric world in bones and fossils around the globe, but there are a few animals still alive today that remind us of those creatures, like today’s subject, the sawfish. Our guest for the hour is Annmarie Fearing, who will join to school us about her work with these shockingly fascinating fish.To submit your own question for the show, email us at animals@mpbonline.org or send us a message with the Talk To Us feature in the MPB Public Media App.
  • Creature Comforts | Salamanders Across the Trace

    44:27|
    On Creature Comforts, Kevin Farrell is joined by Dr. Troy Majure, veterinarian at the Animal Medical Center in Jackson and Libby Hartfield retired director of the Mississippi Museum of Natural Science.Kevin is out this week, so Marissa Vaughn hops in for the hour to guest-host the show. Conservation biologist with the Mississippi Museum of Natural Science Tom Mann is joining us today. We have Tom on routinely to discuss the migration of salamanders that struggle to survive crossing the Natchez Trace, and it’s these salamanders’ time of year again. We welcome him on to discuss what he does to help these amphibians. To submit your own question for the show, email us at animals@mpbonline.org or send us a message with the Talk To Us feature in the MPB Public Media App.
  • Creature Comforts | Fossil Discovery

    45:02|
    On Creature Comforts, Kevin Farrell is joined by Dr. Troy Majure, veterinarian at the Animal Medical Center in Jackson and Libby Hartfield retired director of the Mississippi Museum of Natural Science.Before the lines of our state borders were drawn, many animals walked throughout the area that we now call Mississippi. Prehistoric birds, mammals, and reptiles charted their course throughout the state, and thanks to paleontologists like our guest today, we can peer back through time and guess what these animals might have been like. James Starnes from the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality is our guest for the hour.To submit your own question for the show, email us at animals@mpbonline.org or send us a message with the Talk To Us feature in the MPB Public Media App.
  • Creature Comforts - DRIVE | Best of 2024

    54:02|
    On Creature Comforts, Kevin Farrell is joined by Dr. Troy Majure, veterinarian at the Animal Medical Center in Jackson and Libby Hartfield retired director of the Mississippi Museum of Natural Science.We’re in the middle of our Fall Fundraising campaign which we call “Drive Time,” so instead of taking your new phone calls today, we’re re-airing some old calls we’ve gotten on our pet days so far in 2024. Dr. Majure, Libby Hartfield, and Kevin Farrell are all grateful to you for listening and supporting us on the show. If you enjoy this show and other local programs MPB Think Radio airs throughout the week, consider donating to MPB. If you call in regularly, we appreciate you contributing to the show, but today we ask you to contribute in a different type of way. It’s really easy and it only takes about 3 minutes of your time. Call or text the word give to the number 888-372-4483, or click the donate now button at mpbonline.org. Thanks for listening – and giving – to MPB Think Radio.To submit your own question for the show, email us at animals@mpbonline.org or send us a message with the Talk To Us feature in the MPB Public Media App.
  • Creature Comforts | Fall Migration

    43:18|
    On Creature Comforts, Kevin Farrell is joined by Dr. Troy Majure, veterinarian at the Animal Medical Center in Jackson and Libby Hartfield retired director of the Mississippi Museum of Natural Science.With Mississippi located in the center of the South, our state has many visitors stop to admire the scenery as they make their way to another destination. Our guest for the day has spent decades studying the visitors that pass through our state. Migratory bird expert, Dr. Frank Moore, joins to tell us about upcoming fall migrations and how our avian friends can complete these flights.To submit your own question for the show, email us at animals@mpbonline.org or send us a message with the Talk To Us feature in the MPB Public Media App.
  • Creature Comforts | Batty

    44:31|
    On Creature Comforts, Kevin Farrell is joined by Dr. Troy Majure, veterinarian at the Animal Medical Center in Jackson and Libby Hartfield retired director of the Mississippi Museum of Natural Science.When traveling, have you ever had to experience an overnight red-eye flight? Our subjects for today’s show are all too familiar with those moonlit flights – we’re talking about bats. Katelin Cross, a conservation biologist at the Mississippi Museum of Natural Science, joins us today to tell us all about Mississippi’s bats, how important they are to our ecosystem, and whether or not you should be concerned when you come in contact with one.To submit your own question for the show, email us at animals@mpbonline.org or send us a message with the Talk To Us feature in the MPB Public Media App.
  • Creature Comforts - CLASSIC | Snakes

    44:44|
    On Creature Comforts, Kevin Farrell is joined by Dr. Troy Majure, veterinarian at the Animal Medical Center in Jackson and Libby Hartfield retired director of the Mississippi Museum of Natural Science.Terry Vandeventer is a local herpetologist here in Mississippi, and today he joins us to discuss one of his favorite classifications of animals: snakes. Despite some people’s aversion to them, they’re quite beneficial to many local ecosystems and can even be adopted as pets!To submit your own question for the show, email us at animals@mpbonline.org or send us a message with the Talk To Us feature in the MPB Public Media App.
  • Creature Comforts | Pet Day - September 2024

    41:01|
    On Creature Comforts, Kevin Farrell is joined by Dr. Troy Majure, veterinarian at the Animal Medical Center in Jackson and Libby Hartfield retired director of the Mississippi Museum of Natural Science.Today is an all-pet day here on Creature Comforts. So, the doors to the pet hospital are wide open. We welcome all your pet questions from the big to the small. In between your calls, we’ll be discussing the different foods toxic to your pets that you should avoid letting them ingest.Email the show: animals@mpbonline.org.