Alien earthworms and urban squirrels

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    Guests: Anne Bower, Etienne Benson

    Invasive earthworms are wrecking havoc right under our feet.  In the United States, the lowly worm has become a troublesome invader.  North American native worms died out in the last ice age and today we’re living with that European and Asian relatives that are damaging forest ecosystems.  This hour, Marty talks about alien earthworms with ANNE BOWER, Assistant Professor of biology at Philadelphia University.  Then, squirrels — a common critter (and sometimes pest) in our urban parks and backyards, weren’t always so ubiquitous.  ETIENNE BENSON, Assistant Professor in the Department of History and Sociology of Science at the University of Pennsylvania, discusses the urbanization of the gray squirrel, which started right here in Philadelphia’s Franklin Square in 1847.

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