1 00:00:01,920 --> 00:00:07,160 Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff production of iHeart Radio. Hey brain Stuff, 2 00:00:07,200 --> 00:00:11,400 Speaker 1: Lauren vocal bomb here. Let's say something has gone horribly 3 00:00:11,400 --> 00:00:14,400 Speaker 1: wrong and you're in a physical fight with another human person. 4 00:00:14,960 --> 00:00:17,200 Speaker 1: If that person punched you in the face, would it 5 00:00:17,320 --> 00:00:20,360 Speaker 1: make you back off? Some might say that getting punched 6 00:00:20,360 --> 00:00:23,360 Speaker 1: in the nose hurts like unreasonably so, and that they 7 00:00:23,400 --> 00:00:26,960 Speaker 1: would disengage. Others might argue that it would merely incite 8 00:00:27,000 --> 00:00:29,600 Speaker 1: their ire. After the initial shock, adrenaline would kick in 9 00:00:29,760 --> 00:00:33,280 Speaker 1: and then make even quicker work of their opponent. When 10 00:00:33,280 --> 00:00:35,879 Speaker 1: it comes to animal attacks, the answer to whether a 11 00:00:35,960 --> 00:00:38,240 Speaker 1: punch to the nose would stop an attack pretty much 12 00:00:38,280 --> 00:00:41,400 Speaker 1: lies with what kind of animal you're considering punching. And 13 00:00:41,520 --> 00:00:43,400 Speaker 1: let's just make it clear right now that you should 14 00:00:43,440 --> 00:00:46,200 Speaker 1: do all you can to avoid provoking an animal attack, 15 00:00:46,360 --> 00:00:48,879 Speaker 1: and that if you're not being attacked, punching any kind 16 00:00:48,880 --> 00:00:52,320 Speaker 1: of animals means for admittance into the special hell. But 17 00:00:53,000 --> 00:00:55,640 Speaker 1: that aside, let's talk about a few different animals that 18 00:00:55,680 --> 00:00:57,920 Speaker 1: have a reputation for needing a good stick in the 19 00:00:57,960 --> 00:01:00,960 Speaker 1: nose and whether that would actually help save your skin. 20 00:01:02,600 --> 00:01:05,759 Speaker 1: The shark is the animal perhaps most commonly singled out 21 00:01:05,800 --> 00:01:08,800 Speaker 1: for a defensive sucker punch. The rumor is that a good, 22 00:01:08,800 --> 00:01:10,560 Speaker 1: hard punch to the snout is going to send a 23 00:01:10,600 --> 00:01:13,880 Speaker 1: shark reeling. There are a couple of problems with this, though. 24 00:01:14,480 --> 00:01:17,560 Speaker 1: One is that it's super hard to punch anything underwater, 25 00:01:17,959 --> 00:01:21,560 Speaker 1: making a good dump on the nose pretty unrealistic. Another issue, 26 00:01:21,800 --> 00:01:24,720 Speaker 1: while shark noses are sensitive, their gills and eyes are 27 00:01:24,760 --> 00:01:27,720 Speaker 1: much more vulnerable. Punching one in the nose probably wouldn't 28 00:01:27,720 --> 00:01:29,920 Speaker 1: do enough damage to stun it, and you've got the 29 00:01:29,920 --> 00:01:32,240 Speaker 1: added problem of needing to get a little too close 30 00:01:32,280 --> 00:01:36,040 Speaker 1: for comfort to its enormous gaping jaws. So perhaps a 31 00:01:36,200 --> 00:01:39,480 Speaker 1: no on punching sharks. Unless it's actively and aggressively up 32 00:01:39,480 --> 00:01:42,319 Speaker 1: in your face. Your best bet would generally be to 33 00:01:42,440 --> 00:01:45,880 Speaker 1: swim away as quickly and quietly as possible, and keep 34 00:01:45,880 --> 00:01:49,279 Speaker 1: in mind that we're not sharks preferred snacks. They usually 35 00:01:49,280 --> 00:01:54,240 Speaker 1: approach humans out of curiosity rather than predation. Another suggested 36 00:01:54,240 --> 00:01:57,360 Speaker 1: attacker for which a punch in the nose might work bears. 37 00:01:58,120 --> 00:02:01,200 Speaker 1: In many cases, it's best to play dead around a bear. 38 00:02:01,440 --> 00:02:03,680 Speaker 1: If they're just curious, or if a mother is defending 39 00:02:03,680 --> 00:02:06,600 Speaker 1: her cubs. Playing dead means they'll likely lose interest in 40 00:02:06,640 --> 00:02:10,600 Speaker 1: you and amble on. But it's also certainly appropriate to 41 00:02:10,639 --> 00:02:13,520 Speaker 1: try to fight off an aggressive bear. And while it's 42 00:02:13,560 --> 00:02:16,120 Speaker 1: not a sure thing, punching or hitting a bear is 43 00:02:16,160 --> 00:02:18,480 Speaker 1: certainly going to help you fight it off, So go 44 00:02:18,520 --> 00:02:22,120 Speaker 1: ahead and clock it in the nose if it's absolutely necessary. 45 00:02:22,639 --> 00:02:25,520 Speaker 1: Of course, the animal that's really going to be useful 46 00:02:25,560 --> 00:02:28,120 Speaker 1: to punch is one that has a wildly sensitive snout. 47 00:02:28,720 --> 00:02:31,120 Speaker 1: So we present to you the animal that it would 48 00:02:31,160 --> 00:02:33,080 Speaker 1: be most useful to wallop in the nose if it 49 00:02:33,120 --> 00:02:38,239 Speaker 1: were attacking you, the star nosed mole. With one thousand 50 00:02:38,320 --> 00:02:42,320 Speaker 1: sensory neurons and its snout it's extremely sensitive to touch. However, 51 00:02:42,520 --> 00:02:45,040 Speaker 1: you'll almost certainly never need to defend yourself from one. 52 00:02:45,440 --> 00:02:47,840 Speaker 1: Although they look like creatures out of a Giermuo del 53 00:02:47,880 --> 00:02:50,239 Speaker 1: Toro film, the star nosed mole is the size of 54 00:02:50,280 --> 00:02:52,840 Speaker 1: a mouse and way more interested in eating worms than 55 00:02:52,880 --> 00:03:01,040 Speaker 1: in bothering you. Today's episode written by Kate Kirshner and 56 00:03:01,080 --> 00:03:03,680 Speaker 1: produced by Tyler. Playing brain Stuff is a production of 57 00:03:03,680 --> 00:03:05,760 Speaker 1: I Heart Radio's How Stuff Works. For more in this 58 00:03:05,840 --> 00:03:08,120 Speaker 1: and lots of other sensitive topics, visit our home planet 59 00:03:08,160 --> 00:03:10,640 Speaker 1: how stuff Works dot com and for more podcast from 60 00:03:10,639 --> 00:03:13,480 Speaker 1: my heart Radio, visit the I heart Radio app, Apple podcasts, 61 00:03:13,520 --> 00:03:15,160 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.