So while I was up there, I was, like, you know, doing my kind of poking around thing and spoke to the director of the lab, who said, sorry, honey, you cannot tag along with investigators on an open case legally. GARCIA-NAVARRO: We know who to come - we will come to you for that. ROACH: I can now tell the difference, can tell you if it's real or fake. GARCIA-NAVARRO: That sounds like a very useful skill to be able to uncover.

She's also the author of a paper on how to tell real versus counterfeit tiger penis, which is sold illegally. I was up at this lab in Ashland, Ore., where this woman has a hair library - you know, like, five different types of hair from each species, so she can identify, you know, contraband that comes across the border.

So got interested in the forensics of wildlife crime, not when the animals are the perpetrators, but when the animals are, you know, endangered species that are being sold. There's only so many pieces of it and - that are kind of Roach-able. I often write about the human body, but I've kind of used that up. ROACH: Well, I was flailing around in my usual way, looking for a new book idea. GARCIA-NAVARRO: I mean, your books delve into the science of subjects people haven't really thought too deeply about - cadavers, ghosts, the digestive tract. There are foul-tempered elephants, undeterred seagulls and bears who just won't stop eating out of restaurant dumpsters no matter what the city's health code says. But what happens when wildlife breaks the law? That's what author Mary Roach explores in her new book, 'Fuzz.' It deals with the often bemusing, sometimes grisly world of animal, plant and human encounters. We all know that nature can be unpredictable, fascinating, sometimes just plain strange.

Fuzz by Mary Roach