It's Maria's MutS and Stuff. What a great idea. On iHeartRadio, Welcome
to Maria's MutS and Stuff and with me is Jennifer Semanski, who is a
freelance science writer and editor, to talk about Deadliest Animals on the Planet from
not Geo Kids. Hi Jennifer, thanks for chatting with me today about the
book. Hi, thanks so much for having me on. Absolutely so,
I am fascinated by so many of the nat GIO books, but especially this
one, Deadliest Animals on the Planet. So, first of all, how
long did it take to put this whole book together? Well, this book
book, most of these types of books take around eight months, okay from
start to finish this one. The publication was delayed just a little bit,
okay, But it's such a team effort and so many people have their work
put into books like this, I mean, like the photo editors and you
know, the text editors. That it does take the better part of a
year, right, which is not which is a long time. But obviously
it's good that it takes a long time because the product is well worth it.
So I think. So, yeah, So, how do you decide
on like which insects and which animals make the deadliest animals in this edition.
So what we've got to do with this book, which I was really really
happy about, is we were able to expand the definition of deadliest. So
we made sure that there were a lot of high interest animals that kids would
really like, like tigers and bears and great white sharks, but we also
included a lot of animals that are a little more common. But all animals,
you know, need to protect themselves or protect their offspring, So we
were hoping to get kids interested in some other animals as well that maybe they
wouldn't think about as being deadly, like a house cat. Like a house
cat, Yes, I was actually kind of surprised, So tell me about
that. Why is a house cat a deadly animal? Well, they are
cats and they are predators, and they are good at both. So they
actually have a very high success rate when they are going to hunt. Among
all of the cats, lions, and tigers, they might have a ten
to fifteen percent success rate, and house cats come in at thirty or above
depending on where they are right, So they're not as high as like the
blackfoot cat, the one that's that's been making the internet rounds because it's you
know, the one that's in the desert, which has about a fifty percent
rate. But they are really really effective predators. And I mean, I
mean I know that from friends who have cats and say, oh, my
cat brought home a rabbit, Like wait what? So you know they bring
home all different types of animals that they leave on the back stoop or something.
So but that's very interesting, and I guess it's good because kids wouldn't
think of that, as I guess, because you know the cat. They
might have a cat and it's just, oh, it's my pet. But
there's that old joke that if a cat was bigger, it would eat you.
And I know it's a bad joke. I'm sorry to tell you that,
right, but I'm not sure that's not true. You know exactly exactly
which And now I'm going to hear from all the cat people who are like,
I knew it, you're a dog person. Okay, that's great,
because I saw that. I was. I was surprised, But now I
understand about a house cat. And I also saw like a koala bear and
they're so cute and so cuddly, and well, what tell us, why
would a koala be considered a deadly animal. They so I I had got
to work with a wildlife veterinarian for one of the books that I wrote,
and she said that they have some of the nastiest tempers really that you yes,
and they just don't look like it because they're cute, it's buy and
have the big nose and the cookie ears. But they have some really strong
claws that you know, usually they used to hold themselves up in the eucalyptus
trees carry their joeys. But they do not like to be disturbed, and
they will make that their displeasure known by using those claus right. So yeah,
and you know, regardless, it is a wild animal. And that's
and that's what's so educational and so perfect because even though an animal is very
cute and cuddly, it's still a wild animal that we need to respect and
you know, which is perfect for children. This is why this book is
so great. Absolutely, you know, so tell me. I was just
you know, because I was slipping through and reading was like, oh,
you know, of course the page with the tarantula. That completely freaks me
out, so I have to go fast past that. But then I came
across an assassin bug, which I had never ever heard of, right,
I actually had not heard of that prior to doing research for this book.
And that is that is quite the critter. Oh my god, so weird
looking. Yes. So they have a habit of taking some of the for
lack of a better word, the corpses of the other insects that they eat
and wear them sort of as backpacks, and that keeps some sort of camouflage
from birds and other predators that want to eat them because they recognized them as
you know, being empty shells basically, or if they hold still, they
just figure, oh it's, you know, a piece of debris. Right,
Wow, that's fascinating. Nature to me is just so fascinating, you
know, because who would have thunk of that? But this, right bug
did? Yeah, I mean, and I mean the photography and this book
is just exquisite. I mean it's close up and like that assassin bug and
you can see all the different things on top of it, and it's like
wow. So, you know, kudos to the photographer on that. Absolutely.
Do you have a favorite deadly animal? I have. I tend to
like the ones that we think are cute that turn out to be pretty pretty
vicious. I always liked penguins. It's just one of my favorite birds as
a kid. And then to read that they have like backward facing hooks inside
their bills so that when they grab a fish, there is a minimal chance
of that fish being able to you know, back out the mouth. Wow,
So definitely a one way system. I thought that that was pretty pretty
interesting. Yeah, that's pretty cool. Actually I didn't know that either.
That's that's kind of cool. Yeah, do you have another besides penguins?
So many of them? I know, I'm sorry. I don't need to
put you on the spot. No, no, no, that's okay,
that's what I mean. I could go on. I know I want you
to. Well, it's always fascinating to me for the person who is it's
their project and they put this together. But I'm always curious, you know,
well, who are your favorites or who who is? What's something that
you had no idea? Uh, that's a great question, one of So
I sort of grew up in with a family that did some bird watching,
okay, and I'm in I'm in Pennsylvania, so I mean, we don't
have anything particularly exotic. So I was reading about the shrike which is a
fairly small, handsome bird, and it is I actually think I had the
patron that it's on one hundred and one. Okay, I'm gonna look at
it always. Yeah, it's always hunting. And if it's not hungry and
it is successful at it's hunt, it will take those it's caught prey and
pail that on a born or a branch. Wow, and just yeah and
save it for later, which sounds like a horror movie. Right, that's
that's to me. Does you know it's like a cute little bird. It's
really cute. Yeah, it's very cute. It's a little gray head and
it has like a black stripe where its eye is. It's really very it
is very pretty. But yeah, well that's kind of vicious. You're right,
it is. It's almost like a silence of the lambs of bird.
Right. That's really funny. That's great. So what age is this book
is deadliest animals on the planet aimed at I mean, I'm fascinated by it
and I'm old, but I know it's obviously because it's not geo kids,
it's probably aimed at children. So what would be like the ideal age?
I would say seven to you know thirteen. Okay, maybe maybe you know
a little leeway on each end. Right again, mentioned the photos. The
photos are so brilliant. Oh, they're just beautiful, I think. I
mean, I know when I was a kid and wasn't a great reader,
yet I just love to look at the pictures. Right, No, me
too, me too. I wish we had books like this so we know
when we were kids, because this is really I mean, it's just it's
so perfect because it's fascinating and the way it's presented with the facts, it's
not difficult for a child to read, which which ultimately makes the child learn,
you know what I mean. Like, it's not too complicated, which
is what's so perfect about it. And I love the size. I love
the fact that it's a little square book that's really that's a not geo kids
thing, And I love that about these books because you don't see that that
often. I agree, I agree. So, did you have a lot
of extra of deadly animals that didn't make this edition that might make another one?
Or like, how was the process that made you decide on the ones
that are specifically in this book? So this is sort of a middle book
in a series of sort of related books. So we did one called The
World's Cutest Animals, where we focused on sort of, you know, the
physically cute aspects, and this is the Deadliest, and then there will be
another one eventually called The Weirdest The Weirdest. Yes, and you're going to
find some of the same animals in all three of those books, different photos,
different photos, because we're going to focus on different aspects of what makes
them fit that category. Right, So is that that was a lot of
fun for me? Oh, I'm sure. And is that your next project
of the Weirdest or so after Deadliest, we have the Weirdest has been written.
I haven't gotten anything back yet, so I'm not quite sure where that
is in the process, but but it's out there. So all right,
well that's great. Now, this is terrific. And for the listeners who
are in intrigued by what we're talking about, and rightfully so, where can
they pick up this book? It should be available everywhere if you you know,
have a local bookstore that you like, or any online retailer, and
of course you can get it at the National National Geographic Kids website. All
right, well, perfect, perfect, So Jennifer Semanski thank you, thank
you for your time, thank you for all your effort putting into this amazing
little book. And I look forward to well you're next on and we'll talk
then, I hope. So keep doing what you do. I love it.
Okay, thank you so much