Almost every week, over half a million people download Tooth and Claw, a podcast about animal attacks from three guys who seem to be having a great time. Horrific though some of the tales are, the trio has learned to strike the right tone — curious, informative, a little irreverent, with sympathy for both the victims and the animal attackers.
The three-person banter works particularly well for them. A single podcaster gives a lecture or tells a structured story; two podcasters allow you to eavesdrop on a conversation; but with three, you’re hanging out with friends. And a lot of us would like to spend time with these entertaining guys.
There’s Wes Larson, 42, the chief narrator and straight man, the one who “keeps the train on track,” as Larson told ExplorersWeb. A Montana wildlife biologist, Larson specializes in bears, but even as a kid, he had a knack for storytelling. “My mom has a video of me as a three-year-old, telling stories to the family,” said Larson.
Jeff Larson hams it up. Photo: Toothandclawpodcast.com
Backing up Wes is his younger brother, Jeff Larson, 37. In a stoner voice that at first hides his sharp wit, Jeff delivers many of the jokes that make the podcast a laugh-out-loud treat.
The third man, Mike Smith, also 37, is an old university friend of Jeff’s. “He serves as a layman who knows nothing about wildlife,” explains Wes Larson. But since they’ve been doing the podcast since 2020, Mike is hardly a novice anymore. Both Jeff and Mike live in Utah.
Everyman Mike Smith. Photo: Screenshot/YouTube
How many bullet ants does it take…?
All three make a full-time living off Tooth and Claw — largely from their Patreon supporters but also from the four or five ads per episode. Recently, they’ve also taken to leading wildlife tours around the world, typically in the company of audience members who want to spend face time with them, after years of feeling as if they know them.
While a wildlife attack — or occasionally, a wildlife-adjacent story — is the meat of every episode, it is only part of the podcast, which typically runs 60 to 90 minutes. Sometimes they’ll spend 10 minutes debating their Ouchies — how painful was the victim’s experience, on a scale of one to 10. If the episode covered a crocodile attack, they’ll discuss their favorite crocodiles in pop culture. Or Jeff will wonder how many bullet ants it would take to overpower a grizzly, or which is the real king of the jungle, lions or tigers, and insist they debate the matter seriously.
Photo: Toothandclawpodcast.com
A conservation message
Typically, the attack story also includes Wes’s riff on the animal’s biology. In the hands of a storyteller, the biology never lags, and the details are all interesting. Here too, Jeff and Mike stand by, ready to inject their two cents.
The final element in the formula is a conservation message, reminding us how these are just animals being animals — defending themselves or their young, seeking food, responding to cues we’ve accidentally given them. They’re not monsters.
The near-weekly podcast combines a cleanly told narrative of something we’re all interested in — animal attacks, fights for survival — with spontaneous asides from three guys goofing around, referencing Star Wars movies, or their favorite foods, or high school bullies. It sounds chaotic; it seems impossible that it works consistently. But with this likeable trio, somehow it does.
Wes, Mike, and Jeff tell the tale. Photo: Screenshot/YouTube
