Snakes, Frogs, and the Secrets Living Beneath Our Feet

Most people walk through a prairie and never realize an entire world is happening right under their feet. Smooth green snakes are one of the most overlooked species in North America, and the work being done to understand and protect them is wild.

In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Allison Sacerdote-Velat, Curator of Biology and Herpetology and VP of Conservation Research at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum. Her team studies everything from bizarre egg-laying strategies to snakes nesting inside ant mounds. Yes, that’s a real thing.

We also get into wood frogs, a species with one of the most extreme survival strategies in the animal kingdom. These frogs can literally freeze solid and come back—something that raises massive questions about climate resilience, physiology, and what adaptation really looks like.

If you care about wildlife, conservation, or discovering hidden stories in nature, this is the one you want to watch.

Watch the full episode below.