Aug 29th, 2008 · Downtown St. Paul has been getting a facelift ahead of the Republican National Convention. This means filling vacant storefronts with high-end retailers on short term leases, recruiting street musicians though they're normally banned, bolting down trash bins and planters. There're even spray-painting the leaves green and feeding birth control to the pigeons.
May 26th, 2008 · For our series In Character, we've asked listeners to tell us about their own favorite characters by submitting essays to the In Character blog. An 11-year-old who's been in foster care for the past four years wrote about his affinity for the protagonist of A Dog's Life: Autobiography of a Stray.
Jan 5th, 2008 · Some squirrels have developed some uncanny defense mechanisms against rattlesnakes. Researchers have found that some squirrels use the skins shed by the reptiles to cover themselves with rattlesnake scent.
Oct 16th, 2007 · Even years after a neighbor passed away, there is ample evidence of his solitary life in the woods -- even in the behavior of the local squirrels.
Aug 3rd, 2007 · The manager of a food shop reports that a squirrel makes two trips each day to fetch a chocolate shelled egg called Kinder Surprise because there's a toy inside. The squirrel eats the chocolate, takes the toy, and with no parent there to enforce good manners, leaves the wrapper on the floor.
Jul 20th, 2007 · Iranian news agencies this week reported the capture of 14 squirrels equipped with espionage systems at the border. Experts discuss other attempts to use animals in intelligence gathering and whether squirrels can be counted on to retrieve useful information.
Mar 31st, 2007 · Ted Williams of Audubon Magazine speaks about the antelope squirrel's survival tactics, and the courting calls of muskrats.
Oct 16th, 2006 · Researchers studying how the brain cells of squirrels shut down almost completely during hibernation report they have figured out how this mechanism works. Understanding how to replicate squirrel hibernation may prevent brain damage in people who have had a stroke.