We are popping up on Christmas eve to share a sneak peek (sneak hear?) of our Christmas special which has just dropped over on the Goose Patreon!

The full episode covers everything from 14th century Sardinian Queens, to Octopi on Christmas cards and a recasting of some nativity guests with wildlife's wisest wonders! (IS this the one time we will accept a chimp??)

Sign up by the 10th of January and get 20% off your first month with coded "G00SE" - just head to www.patreon.com/howmanygeese

Have a very Merry Christmas and we will see you in the New Year

Join us before the year ends as we doff our caps and bend the knee in a chat with Peter Kaestner - ex American diplomat and man who has seen more bird species than anyone else in the world!

Peter takes us through the world of bird watching at the elite level, and how his love for birds led him to a career that saw him serve his country and travel the globe in search of birds. With a life thoroughly well lived, his story to see his 10,000th bird species is nothing short of Hollywood ready!

(This could also be the first podcast interview live interrupted by the appearance of a bird - and what more fitting guest for it to happen with!)

A massive thanks to Peter for all his time, and to the team at Birdfair for brining us together in the first place.

For more How many geese? head over to the Patreon at www.patreon.com/howmanygeese

Cundinamarca antipitta (Grallaria kaestneri) recording courtesy of Ross Gallardy, XC354319. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/354319

Much like the sun setting on a seaside town, season 8 draws to a close with the raucous cries of seagulls as we take on a newspaper article that set out to find Britain's hardest gulls. It wouldn't be How many geese? though if we didn't meander to Melbourne or detour to Darwin, and true to form our friends down under have their own tales to tell of tackling seaside seagull shenanigans in trying to keep snacks on the shoreline safe*.

That's not all, as Roddy fights a bird so obscure that not only was Jack unaware of it....but it might not even exist at all!

We learn about a photographer who truly went above and beyond the call of duty with MPB, and BOS UK keep us up to date on orangutan shenanigans as we check in on the show's swinging son Bumi.

Lastly, a magnificently crafted listener question sees us assemble a team of earth's finest to defend the world from planetary attack - with none other than a certain pygmy superstar being called upon to unite the team.

Need more geese? Our Patreon is up and running - come join the flock for extra episodes and your chance to appear on the show! https://www.patreon.com/howmanygeese

In need of camera gear? You can check out our show sponsors MPB Here http://www.mpb.com/

To learn more about the work BOS UK do to save orangutans, and adopt your very own, head over to https://bos-uk.org/bumi-geese/

(*DMs are open on the Instagram page for whoever can get more alliteration in a show description for us)

I can guarantee to you listeners that the start of this week's episode is going to leave you completely baffled as to where it's going, as Roddy embarks on an exploration of what on earth dry cleaners are and the sorcery that goes along with their dark arts. But, stick with us, and we promise it eventually finds its way back to the nature vibe as we explore the world of cleaning behaviour in the animal kingdom. (see what he did there?)

If that wasn't enough then there's also photography tales from the deep from a man who spent 24 hours underwater to take a picture of some mating fish whilst trying to avoid getting eaten by sharks, there's casting an animal Napoleon for which species would be the best at conquering Europe and we have one of our Patreon friends along for today's fight segment - as Roddy is joined by Ann to throwdown with the super serpent that is: the Anaconda.

In need of camera gear? You can check out our show sponsors MPB here http://www.mpb.com/

To learn more about the work BOS UK do to save orangutans, and adopt your very own, head over to https://bos-uk.org/bumi-geese/

Need more geese? Our Patreon is up and running - come join the flock for extra episode and your chance to appear on the show! https://www.patreon.com/howmanygeese

How many geese? has seen its fair share of drugged up animals - from the Hollywood sensation that is cocaine bear, through to Pablo Escobar's cocaine hippos - but in this episode we're here to see the effects of things slightly more "over the counter" as Jack takes us through the impact of excess anti-depressants on the environment. If you've ever wondered about the internet claiming "they're turning the frigging frogs gay", this ones for you!

Also in this episode, Roddy fights a the red triangle slug, Jack recaps a drunken moose and the pair discuss which animal would make the best hitman...

In need of camera gear? You can check out our show sponsors MPB here http://www.mpb.com/

To learn more about the work BOS UK do to save orangutans, and adopt your very own, head over to https://bos-uk.org/bumi-geese/

Need more geese? Our Patreon is up and running - come join the flock for extra episode and your chance to appear on the show! https://www.patreon.com/howmanygeese

Cast your minds back Goose fans and you may well remember an episode entitled "Hot bear summer", where our own Roddy Shaw went on a mission to prove that Antelope were animals worth our attention and shouldn't just be consigned to being eaten by a big cat on a David Attenborough show. The conclusion of his mission was that they were indeed incredibly dull, and so proclaimed them one of the most boring animals on the planet.

Well, fast forward to today's episode and Jack has brought him to the Watatunga Wildlife Reserve to meet someone who will show him the error of his ways. We sit down with operations manager Molly Ruder who tells us all about one of the most fascinating zoos/safari parks/reserves/we-don't-really-know-what-it-is in the country...

Massive thanks to Molly and the team at Watatunga, you can check them out here: www.watatunga.co.uk

In need of camera gear? You can check out our show sponsors MPB here http://www.mpb.com/

To learn more about the work BOS UK do to save orangutans, and adopt your very own, head over to https://bos-uk.org/bumi-geese/

Need more geese? Our Patreon is up and running - come join the flock for extra episode and your chance to appear on the show! https://www.patreon.com/howmanygeese

We've accidentally curated an episode laden with slime as we talk all things deep sea and mucus!

Following last week's chat that went to the roof of the world in search of how yak's can live so high, we've done a full 180 and are going deep, deep DEEP down in the sea to understand why life there is just so difficult and hear about some of the crazily named fish that call the ocean depths home.

Sticking with the (genuinely accidental) theme, Roddy fights a lungfish, Jack recaps what it takes to photograph a coelacanth in the MPB segment and we possibly bite off more than we can chew in trying to work out which animal has the snottiest nose...

It's not all slime and sea though - as we stick firmly to dry land in checking in on our adoptive son Bumi the orangutan courtesy of BOS UK

In need of camera gear? You can check out our show sponsors MPB here http://www.mpb.com/

To learn more about the work BOS UK do to save orangutans, and adopt your very own, head over to https://bos-uk.org/bumi-geese/

Need more geese? Our Patreon is up and running - come join the flock for extra episode and your chance to appear on the show! https://www.patreon.com/howmanygeese

HMG gets high as this episode sees us heading into the mountains to meet one of the maddest animals you've all heard of but never given a thought to - Yaks.

Today's episode also sees us invite our first listener on the show! Patreon member Beth joins Roddy in battle against the world's wildlife as she steps into the ring in a tag team bout against the Greater Hedgehog Tenrec.

And if all that wasn't enough, then we've got drunken Mountain Gorillas, a misbehaving Orangutan and a debate to decide which bear is best...

In need of camera gear? You can check out our show sponsors MPB here https://www.mpb.com/

To learn about the work BOS UK do to save Orangutans, and adopt your very own, head over to https://bos-uk.org/bumi-geese/

Need more geese? Our Patreon is up and running - come join the flock for extra episodes and your chance to appear on the show! https://www.patreon.com/howmanygeese