Bryan Pfeiffer is a writer and field naturalist in Montpelier, Vermont, and I love talking with him about what he finds in the woods. It’s like being with a 7-year-old who caught something and put it in a jar with a bunch of leaves—if this 7-year-old was an expert in birds and butterflies and dragonflies and plants and a lot of other things we wonder about in nature. Bryan has retained his exuberance. He is one of those rare grownups who can still sit at the kids table.
Recently, Bryan published an article about his encounter with the Green-banded Broodsac, or "zombie snail," whose eye stalks have been taken over by long, wet, pulsing technicolor appendages. In this interview we talk about the zombie snail, and why Bryan finds refuge in nature.
Links:
- Bryan Pfeiffer's Substack, Chasing Nature
- Bryan's “zombie" snail essay and video of the snails
Rumble Strip is a podcast produced by Erica Heilman and distributed on the radio by Vermont Public. Learn more about the show here.
