Welcome back to Walkin' on the Wild Side. Happy Holidays from Gabrielle and I, and we are in the Holiday spirit! This episode, we talk about one of the most recognizable songs and nut (actually more like a fruit), the chestnut. Chestnuts and Christmas just seem to go together, but sadly, because of a blight, the once dominant and massive tree that produced delicious nuts for wildlife, people, and generations of Christmas around the world was eliminated from the forests of eastern US in the blink of an eye (40 years). We'll talk about how chestnuts went from a holiday staple to just a verse in a song. What happened and can you still get chestnuts? Join us as we sit around the fire pit on the back porch and reminisce about what used to be and the possibility that one day, the chestnut will once again, return to it's former glory.

You can learn more about chestnuts from these websites:

Chestnut blight: https://tacf.org/history-american-chestnut/

Chestnut research: https://www.esf.edu/chestnut/index.php

https://www.finedininglovers.com/explore/articles/chestnuts-z-26-things-about-chestnuts

How chestnuts are used in Italian cooking: https://www.lacucinaitaliana.com/italian-food/how-to-cook/roasting-chestnuts-a-guide-to-the-cherished-italian-holiday-tradition

The Italian Chestnut Growers Consortium: https://www.consorziocastanicoltori.it/ (in italian, so please get google to translate)

Interested in having Marvin and Gabrielle speak at your event? Email us below for more information!

Email us at www.walkingonthewildside21@gmail.com
Follow us on our two webpages to see photos and blogs about our podcasts and nature in general. We will be posting our Yellowstone pics here:
Nature Nook Photography
Walkin' on the Wild Side

You can listen directly from our website at: https://walkinonthewildside.buzzsprout.com, or from any of the major podcast platforms, such as Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Audible, Spotify, iHeart Radio, TuneIn, Stitcher, and more!
Subscribe to our podcasts on any of these platforms and leave us a review!
We hope you enjoy listening to our podcast and welcome your emails, comments, and feedback. Hopefully, we will inspire you to get out there and start "Walkin' on the Wild Side"!

We'd love to hear from you with your questions and comments!

It's that time again and for this episode, we are chatting about one of the most deceptively beautiful birds that come to our area in the Fall, the cedar waxwing. These social birds are mostly seen invading fruit trees and flying from tree to tree in large flocks. Upon a closer look, these brown blobs suddenly reveal an amazingly beautiful bird. With beautiful coloration, a crest on its head, and a bold black mask, these birds reveal a ravenous appetite for fruit! Join us and learn more about this bold, beautiful, and quite interesting fall migrant.

Learn more about the cedar waxwing here:

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Cedar_Waxwing/overview

https://www.aba.org/2020-bird-of-the-year-cedar-waxwing/

https://www.inaturalist.org/posts/108090-fun-facts-about-the-cedar-waxwing

Interested in having Marvin and Gabrielle speak at your event? Email us below for more information!

Email us at www.walkingonthewildside21@gmail.com
Follow us on our two webpages to see photos and blogs about our podcasts and nature in general. We will be posting our Yellowstone pics here:
Nature Nook Photography
Walkin' on the Wild Side

You can listen directly from our website at: https://walkinonthewildside.buzzsprout.com, or from any of the major podcast platforms, such as Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Audible, Spotify, iHeart Radio, TuneIn, Stitcher, and more!
Subscribe to our podcasts on any of these platforms and leave us a review!
We hope you enjoy listening to our podcast and welcome your emails, comments, and feedback. Hopefully, we will inspire you to get out there and start "Walkin' on the Wild Side"!

We'd love to hear from you with your questions and comments!

After a little hiatus and celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary, we're back! We had a great time celebrating with friends and family, but are happy to be back in the podcast studio! This episode is about some strange plants that you may have seen, but maybe didn't know what they were. We're talking about parasitic plants, but these plants aren't your run of the mill parasites, they are funky, spooky, and fascinating! Join Gabrielle and I on the back porch as we talk about these "sapsuckers" and "nutrient vampires" right after Halloween!

Here's some great websites to learn more:

https://www.fs.usda.gov/wildflowers/plant-of-the-week/conopholis_americana.shtml

https://www.psu.edu/news/research/story/traditional-forest-medicinal-plant-ghost-pipe-used-differently-today

https://www.illinoiswildflowers.info/woodland/plants/pinesap.html

https://www.scottarboretum.org/epifagus-virginiana/

https://www.fws.gov/media/dodder-invasive-species

Photos on Facebook are found at the following websites:

Pinesap: https://www.illinoiswildflowers.info/woodland/plants/pinesap.html

Dodder: https://homegarden.cahnr.uconn.edu/2025/09/01/dodder/

Ghost Pipes: https://www.fs.usda.gov/wildflowers/plant-of-the-week/monotropa_uniflora.shtml

American Cancer-root/Bear corn: https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/59980-Conopholis-americana

Interested in having Marvin and Gabrielle speak at your event? Email us below for more information!

Email us at www.walkingonthewildside21@gmail.com
Follow us on our two webpages to see photos and blogs about our podcasts and nature in general. We will be posting our Yellowstone pics here:
Nature Nook Photography
Walkin' on the Wild Side

You can listen directly from our website at: https://walkinonthewildside.buzzsprout.com, or from any of the major podcast platforms, such as Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Audible, Spotify, iHeart Radio, TuneIn, Stitcher, and more!
Subscribe to our podcasts on any of these platforms and leave us a review!
We hope you enjoy listening to our podcast and welcome your emails, comments, and feedback. Hopefully, we will inspire you to get out there and start "Walkin' on the Wild Side"!

We'd love to hear from you with your questions and comments!

Here's a bonus episode! Since we were talking about local legends, we decided to podcast from the 2025 Bigfoot Festival in Marion, NC. Join us as we walk around the festival, talk to a few vendors and bigfoot investigators, and even listen in on a Bigfoot calling contest! We had a great time, met some great folks, and enjoyed a great festival. Check out the links below for more info on the festival, our "interviewees", and more!

SASQUATCH ODYSSEY: https://paranormalworldproductions.com/sasquatch-odyssey-blog

MY BIGFOOT LIFE: https://www.mandmfilmproductions.co.uk/projects/mythicallegendsmybigfootlife

CRYPTID CREW YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6j16gfiJHTwB2ksnS1tL-g

CRYPTID CREW PODCAST WITH MARK CHILDERS: https://thecryptidcrewpodcast.podbean.com/

YOU BIG APE HANDMADE BIGFOOT MERCH: https://www.ubigape.com/

BIGFOOT FESTIVAL IN MARION, NC: https://marionbigfootfestival.wordpress.com/

Interested in having Marvin and Gabrielle speak at your event? Email us below for more information!

Email us at www.walkingonthewildside21@gmail.com
Follow us on our two webpages to see photos and blogs about our podcasts and nature in general. We will be posting our Yellowstone pics here:
Nature Nook Photography
Walkin' on the Wild Side

You can listen directly from our website at: https://walkinonthewildside.buzzsprout.com, or from any of the major podcast platforms, such as Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Audible, Spotify, iHeart Radio, TuneIn, Stitcher, and more!
Subscribe to our podcasts on any of these platforms and leave us a review!
We hope you enjoy listening to our podcast and welcome your emails, comments, and feedback. Hopefully, we will inspire you to get out there and start "Walkin' on the Wild Side"!

We'd love to hear from you with your questions and comments!

Hey everyone and welcome back to Walkin' on the Wild Side! We finish up our three part series on the local legends of South Carolina with one of Gabrielle's favorite legends of the Lowcountry, the Gray Man. This legend is a prognosticator of hurricanes and landfall, often protecting the person and property he reveals himself to. The legend started in the 1800's in Pawley's Island, SC and has persisted to this day. There are different versions, but all have a similar outcome. A person sees a gray man in an overcoat and hat, he warns them to flee the impending storm, and their homes are spared, even when everything around them is devastated. Join Gabrielle and I in Pawley's Island, close to where the legend was born, and then join us for dinner as we talk to a local young man, Chandler, who happened to be our waiter at the amazing Rustic Table restaurant. We hope you enjoy this episode and here's a few websites to learn more about this legend of the Lowcountry:

https://wkml.com/2024/08/21/the-mysterious-legend-of-the-gray-man-ghost-in-south-carolina/

https://pawleysvacationrentals.com/the-grey-man/

https://southcarolinaparks.com/huntington-beach

https://hammockshops.com/

Awesome restaurant featuring our waiter, Chandler!

https://www.rustictable.com/

Interested in having Marvin and Gabrielle speak at your event? Email us below for more information!

Email us at www.walkingonthewildside21@gmail.com
Follow us on our two webpages to see photos and blogs about our podcasts and nature in general. We will be posting our Yellowstone pics here:
Nature Nook Photography
Walkin' on the Wild Side

You can listen directly from our website at: https://walkinonthewildside.buzzsprout.com, or from any of the major podcast platforms, such as Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Audible, Spotify, iHeart Radio, TuneIn, Stitcher, and more!
Subscribe to our podcasts on any of these platforms and leave us a review!
We hope you enjoy listening to our podcast and welcome your emails, comments, and feedback. Hopefully, we will inspire you to get out there and start "Walkin' on the Wild Side"!

We'd love to hear from you with your questions and comments!

It's time for another episode of Walkin' on the Wild Side and we are road trippin' for part 2 of our "Local Legends of South Carolina" series! This time, we're up in Union County, where a local legend is well known by folks in the area, but maybe not known outside of this area of South Carolina. Goshen Hill Plantation was the site of a settlement where a man was wrongfully hanged for a murder he didn't commit, and both he and his faithful dog were executed in a wrongful rush to judgment. Scary stories of a white dog with a hideous grin that haunts this area of Union county have been told for years and a simple drive along Old Buncombe Road can really get your imagination going! Join Gabrielle and I along this stretch and a few more places as we search for the Hound of Goshen Hill, secretly praying that we DON'T see him!

Check out the web pages below for more information and check out our Facebook pages for videos, pictures, and more!

Dinner at the delicious Heart's Family Diner: https://www.facebook.com/Heartsfamilyrestaurantunionsc/

Don't forget the ice cream at a great old fashioned drive in/dine in called the Dairio: https://www.facebook.com/DairioOfUnionSC/

Some websites about the Hound of Goshen Hill: https://www.scetv.org/stories/2018/south-carolina-legend-ghost-hound-goshen; https://www.postandcourier.com/free-times/news/hound-of-goshen-newberry-sc-ghost-dog/article_ed32a360-9df2-11ef-8dae-3315f814f635.html; https://www.onlyinyourstate.com/experiences/south-carolina/ghost-hound-of-goshen-hill-legendary-ghost-dog-sc

SPECIAL THANK YOU TO FREESOUND.ORG (https://freesound.org/) website for the catalog of sound effects, music, etc.

For this episode, special thank you to Audio_Dread (whose work can be found on freesound.org) for the scary music! Check out his YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbwdq_g8lpCSdX1TwAQwN7w

Interested in having Marvin and Gabrielle speak at your event? Email us below for more information!

Email us at www.walkingonthewildside21@gmail.com
Follow us on our two webpages to see photos and blogs about our podcasts and nature in general. We will be posting our Yellowstone pics here:
Nature Nook Photography
Walkin' on the Wild Side

You can listen directly from our website at: https://walkinonthewildside.buzzsprout.com, or from any of the major podcast platforms, such as Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Audible, Spotify, iHeart Radio, TuneIn, Stitcher, and more!
Subscribe to our podcasts on any of these platforms and leave us a review!
We hope you enjoy listening to our podcast and welcome your emails, comments, and feedback. Hopefully, we will inspire you to get out there and start "Walkin' on the Wild Side"!

We'd love to hear from you with your questions and comments!

It's time for another episode of Walkin' on the Wild Side and while we were out on a road trip, Gabrielle had a wonderful idea to do a three part series of "Local Legends of South Carolina"!

Our first part takes us east of Columbia near Camden. While out on a road trip that included Buc-ee's and Swan Lake in Sumter, I wanted to share the location of our first local legend in the Scape Ore Swamp of Bishopville. Join us to learn of the phenomenon that took place in the late 80's, where the Lizardman took the city, state, nation, and even the world by storm! Learn about the first sighting started the craze and what remains of this local legend today. Check out the web pages below for more information and check out our Facebook pages for videos, pictures, and more!

https://www.swampapereview.com/the-legend-of-lizard-man-horror-in-rural-carolina

https://cityofbishopvillesc.com/the-lizard-man/

https://www.wyff4.com/article/legend-south-carolinas-lizard-man-restaurant/42745582

https://lizardman-lounge-store.creator-spring.com/

https://www.smithsconcrete.com/products/

Interested in having Marvin and Gabrielle speak at your event? Email us below for more information!

Email us at www.walkingonthewildside21@gmail.com
Follow us on our two webpages to see photos and blogs about our podcasts and nature in general. We will be posting our Yellowstone pics here:
Nature Nook Photography
Walkin' on the Wild Side

You can listen directly from our website at: https://walkinonthewildside.buzzsprout.com, or from any of the major podcast platforms, such as Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Audible, Spotify, iHeart Radio, TuneIn, Stitcher, and more!
Subscribe to our podcasts on any of these platforms and leave us a review!
We hope you enjoy listening to our podcast and welcome your emails, comments, and feedback. Hopefully, we will inspire you to get out there and start "Walkin' on the Wild Side"!

We'd love to hear from you with your questions and comments!

It's time for another episode and this time, we're talking about a bird that is so often heard but not seen. Often called rain crows, due to being heard calling before approaching storms, these birds get a bad rap as nest parasites, but our yellow billed cuckoos don't that that too often. Join us on the backporch, along with the lightning bugs, chucks, whippoorwills, and even a screech owl stops by, all to listen and learn about the cuckoos. I guess you can say they are also cuckoo for cuckoos!

Here's a few websites for more info:

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Yellow-billed_Cuckoo/overview

https://www.birdful.org/where-can-i-see-yellow-billed-cuckoos/

https://cuckooforest.com/a-brief-history-of-the-cuckoo-clock/

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/the-past-present-and-future-of-the-cuckoo-clock-65073025/

Interested in having Marvin and Gabrielle speak at your event? Email us below for more information!

Email us at www.walkingonthewildside21@gmail.com
Follow us on our two webpages to see photos and blogs about our podcasts and nature in general. We will be posting our Yellowstone pics here:
Nature Nook Photography
Walkin' on the Wild Side

You can listen directly from our website at: https://walkinonthewildside.buzzsprout.com, or from any of the major podcast platforms, such as Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Audible, Spotify, iHeart Radio, TuneIn, Stitcher, and more!
Subscribe to our podcasts on any of these platforms and leave us a review!
We hope you enjoy listening to our podcast and welcome your emails, comments, and feedback. Hopefully, we will inspire you to get out there and start "Walkin' on the Wild Side"!

We'd love to hear from you with your questions and comments!