WEBVTT - 9 Chomp-worthy facts about Alligators 0:00:03.279 --> 0:00:07.120 Welcome to Part Time Genius, the production of iHeartRadio. 0:00:11.840 --> 0:00:12.480 Guess What Will? 0:00:12.720 --> 0:00:13.399 What's that Mango? 0:00:13.960 --> 0:00:16.680 So I was thinking about how sometimes we forget that 0:00:16.720 --> 0:00:18.239 all these simple things around us. 0:00:18.200 --> 0:00:20.159 Are really music, and what do you mean by that? 0:00:20.680 --> 0:00:23.119 Like I was in traffic coming from the airport this 0:00:23.160 --> 0:00:26.120 weekend and everyone was honking, and I remembered how most 0:00:26.160 --> 0:00:29.520 cars actually honk in the key of F or. 0:00:29.760 --> 0:00:30.400 This is another thing. 0:00:30.400 --> 0:00:32.120 When I was in high school, this kid Sean, and 0:00:32.159 --> 0:00:34.600 my jazz band realized that our high school's bell rang 0:00:34.680 --> 0:00:36.880 at I think a G. So when the class was 0:00:36.920 --> 0:00:39.720 over and the first bell rang, everyone would harmonize and 0:00:39.720 --> 0:00:43.360 play a G seven chord on their instruments. It's so nerdy, 0:00:44.000 --> 0:00:47.120 so stupid, but of course I loved it. But this 0:00:47.280 --> 0:00:48.960 week I learned that if you want to get an 0:00:48.960 --> 0:00:52.120 alligator's attention, all you have to do is grab your 0:00:52.200 --> 0:00:54.400 tuba and play a B flat. 0:00:54.560 --> 0:00:56.840 Okay, I like that for this experiment, all you have 0:00:56.880 --> 0:00:58.600 to have You got to have an alligator and a 0:00:58.640 --> 0:01:02.840 tube nearby. But so at what exactly happens when you 0:01:02.920 --> 0:01:04.320 play a B flat? 0:01:04.680 --> 0:01:09.759 It is magical because for some reason, that note arouses 0:01:09.840 --> 0:01:14.039 male gators, and when an alligator hears it, it'll bellow. 0:01:13.760 --> 0:01:14.640 Or call back to you. 0:01:14.920 --> 0:01:15.759 Is this a real thing? 0:01:16.080 --> 0:01:19.240 Yeah, it's actually got this great origin story. So apparently 0:01:19.240 --> 0:01:22.039 in the nineteen forties, the New York Philharmonic took a 0:01:22.080 --> 0:01:25.440 field trip to the Natural History Museum and while they 0:01:25.440 --> 0:01:28.520 were warming up there, this alligator named Oscar, who I 0:01:28.560 --> 0:01:30.600 guess was a part of the natural history exhibit at 0:01:30.600 --> 0:01:32.400 the time, he just started moaning. 0:01:32.840 --> 0:01:34.279 And you know, they're all these. 0:01:34.120 --> 0:01:37.240 Scientists there and they were watching, and you know, he'd 0:01:37.280 --> 0:01:40.440 start moaning, and then the instruments would play, and then 0:01:40.480 --> 0:01:42.920 he'd moan, and then he'd stop and it would start again. 0:01:43.000 --> 0:01:45.760 And so you know, the scientists stopped. 0:01:45.440 --> 0:01:48.120 The musicians and got them to start playing different notes 0:01:48.160 --> 0:01:52.240 to see what was specifically causing it. And for whatever reason, 0:01:52.440 --> 0:01:54.720 it turns out B flat was the key to the 0:01:54.760 --> 0:01:58.520 alligator call. Thanks to this great science done by Oscar 0:01:58.680 --> 0:02:01.080 and the New York Philharmonic, plenty of folks have actually 0:02:01.120 --> 0:02:04.240 repeated the experiment and gotten alligators to duet with them. 0:02:04.880 --> 0:02:07.480 But you actually have to remember, not any B flat works. 0:02:07.480 --> 0:02:09.480 You actually have to play the B flat that's one 0:02:09.560 --> 0:02:12.600 octave below middle seed to really get them going. Okay, 0:02:12.840 --> 0:02:15.440 that's just the first of nine wonderful facts we've got 0:02:15.480 --> 0:02:16.639 about alligators today. 0:02:16.800 --> 0:02:17.880 So let's dig in. 0:02:36.760 --> 0:02:41.960 Hey, their podcast listeners, welcome to part Time Genius. I'm 0:02:42.000 --> 0:02:44.120 Will Pearson and as always I'm joined by my good 0:02:44.120 --> 0:02:46.600 friend mangesh hot Ticketter and on the other side of 0:02:46.600 --> 0:02:50.520 that soundproof glass are good Buddy Ramsey. He's giving us 0:02:50.520 --> 0:02:51.959 his best toothy grin. 0:02:52.480 --> 0:02:53.080 All right, mego. 0:02:53.240 --> 0:02:55.360 So it's been a while since we've done one of 0:02:55.360 --> 0:02:58.400 these shows. I know I've actually missed it so much. 0:02:58.560 --> 0:03:00.560 And two things before we can this off. 0:03:00.880 --> 0:03:03.680 One, I promised that if and when we finally started 0:03:03.720 --> 0:03:05.680 doing the show again, we'd give a shout out to 0:03:05.760 --> 0:03:09.360 our listener's son, Apollo, who is a fan of the 0:03:09.400 --> 0:03:13.000 show or was a fan of the show. But Apollo, 0:03:13.080 --> 0:03:15.919 if you're listening, tag us on Instagram. We want to 0:03:15.960 --> 0:03:16.720 see what you're up to. 0:03:17.080 --> 0:03:20.200 What's up, Apollo, This weird. 0:03:19.919 --> 0:03:24.440 Show about alligators is for you. And two, Will, I 0:03:24.480 --> 0:03:26.840 know you've gone to Saint Pete's in Florida so many times, 0:03:26.880 --> 0:03:28.440 but I don't know why you didn't tell me that 0:03:28.480 --> 0:03:31.399 they keep baby alligators in their mini golf places there. 0:03:31.639 --> 0:03:34.440 The only downside to doing this episode is that I 0:03:34.520 --> 0:03:36.640 was hoping to save this for when we both, I know, 0:03:36.720 --> 0:03:38.960 both of us really want to retire to Florida, and 0:03:38.960 --> 0:03:42.000 since we're really bad at most sports instead of golf, 0:03:42.040 --> 0:03:44.120 we were going to retire there to play mini golf. 0:03:44.160 --> 0:03:45.920 And that's when I was going to tell you, Yeah, 0:03:46.440 --> 0:03:47.400 the big reveal. 0:03:48.480 --> 0:03:50.840 So my in laws rented a place there for winter 0:03:50.920 --> 0:03:53.800 break and we took my kids mini golfing. And the 0:03:53.800 --> 0:03:56.200 fact that there were tiny gators that you could feed 0:03:56.240 --> 0:03:59.680 these pellets so crazy. You put alligator food onto little 0:03:59.680 --> 0:04:03.640 fishing and send it down. Honestly, it was the greatest thing. 0:04:03.800 --> 0:04:07.240 And the mini golf was so unremarkable, but the fact 0:04:07.280 --> 0:04:11.480 that my tiny monsters were feeding these tiny monsters was 0:04:11.600 --> 0:04:15.760 just great. So I thought, you know, I wanted to 0:04:15.800 --> 0:04:16.839 learn more about gators. 0:04:17.240 --> 0:04:20.080 That's awesome. And actually you have one more reason, right. 0:04:20.320 --> 0:04:23.080 Yeah, And this one's a little more personal. My dad 0:04:23.120 --> 0:04:25.680 has been pretty ill recently. I know I told you this, 0:04:25.880 --> 0:04:28.680 but he can't really watch things. But he loves you, 0:04:28.880 --> 0:04:31.160 and he has stacks of mental floss in his garage 0:04:31.200 --> 0:04:33.760 and he's a huge, huge, part time genius fan. So 0:04:34.279 --> 0:04:36.880 he and Apollo might be the only ones left off there. 0:04:37.200 --> 0:04:40.839 But I thought hearing us laugh and be goofy and 0:04:40.880 --> 0:04:43.600 sharing facts would make him smile. So thank you for 0:04:43.600 --> 0:04:45.520 making the time to do some more episodes with me. 0:04:45.720 --> 0:04:46.680 Oh, I love your dad. 0:04:46.800 --> 0:04:48.400 This was a no brainer to do this, And it 0:04:48.440 --> 0:04:50.680 makes sense for this topic because when I think of 0:04:50.720 --> 0:04:54.080 your dad, I always think of his love for these big, 0:04:54.120 --> 0:04:58.080 aggressive reptiles. It's kind of like his thing. So it 0:04:58.120 --> 0:05:00.599 makes sense you pick this theme a special for him. 0:05:00.600 --> 0:05:03.120 But we've actually got eight facts to go. So what 0:05:03.160 --> 0:05:04.279 do you say I do the next one? 0:05:04.360 --> 0:05:05.320 Yeah, go for it, all right. 0:05:05.360 --> 0:05:08.320 So I actually wanted to build on your b flat 0:05:08.440 --> 0:05:11.520 fact because bellowing is one of those things crocodiles do 0:05:11.760 --> 0:05:14.479 as a mating ritual. And so the bellow does this 0:05:14.640 --> 0:05:17.320 amazing thing to the water. It's where the alligator just 0:05:17.760 --> 0:05:20.600 raises his head and tail out of the water, so 0:05:20.640 --> 0:05:23.720 his back and belly are still submerged. You know, it's 0:05:23.760 --> 0:05:26.400 almost like if you imagine like a banana curved up 0:05:26.440 --> 0:05:28.559 and so you lower it into the water so both 0:05:28.640 --> 0:05:31.800 ends are sticking out and you know you can picture this, right, 0:05:31.800 --> 0:05:34.320 except instead of a banana, it's a just go with me, 0:05:34.480 --> 0:05:37.039 just just think about it. And so when the gator 0:05:37.160 --> 0:05:40.680 bellows or does its deep grow. These vibrations make the 0:05:40.720 --> 0:05:43.800 water around its body kind of kind of like ripple out. 0:05:43.839 --> 0:05:46.440 It's actually pretty spectacular if you look at this in 0:05:46.800 --> 0:05:51.440 slow motion, and it's very very appealing to female alligators 0:05:51.480 --> 0:05:52.560 of course, And. 0:05:52.720 --> 0:05:55.400 Is that the main way that male alligators like court 0:05:55.440 --> 0:05:57.920 females like They don't dim lights and play smooth. 0:05:57.720 --> 0:06:02.040 Jazz, neither of those things. But this is one part 0:06:02.080 --> 0:06:04.320 of it. So sometimes you'll hear one gator bellow and 0:06:04.320 --> 0:06:07.320 then another male gator we'll try to out below it 0:06:07.440 --> 0:06:10.600 by making its own giant ripples. But gators have some 0:06:10.640 --> 0:06:14.440 of the most amazing and really romantic courting rituals too. 0:06:14.520 --> 0:06:16.840 There was this piece in Wired I was looking at 0:06:17.000 --> 0:06:19.760 and they like quote head slapping on the water's surface, 0:06:20.120 --> 0:06:23.760 snout and back rubbing, and blowing bubbles, you know, the usual. 0:06:23.800 --> 0:06:24.600 It's pretty awesome. 0:06:25.120 --> 0:06:29.360 That's pretty romantic. So here's one I hadn't realized. I know, 0:06:29.560 --> 0:06:32.560 Cape Canaveral is in Florida, and it's where NASA launches 0:06:32.600 --> 0:06:35.640 and land shuttles, but I didn't realize the land around 0:06:35.720 --> 0:06:38.840 it is actually a wildlife sanctuary. And this is all 0:06:38.839 --> 0:06:42.359 stuff I learned in modern farmer. But in the nineteen sixties, 0:06:42.560 --> 0:06:45.320 NASA bought about one hundred and forty five thousand acres 0:06:45.360 --> 0:06:48.120 of coastal property there, but since they only needed about 0:06:48.120 --> 0:06:50.400 six thousand acres, they turned the rest into this Merritt 0:06:50.440 --> 0:06:54.159 Island National Wildlife Refuge. But according to modern farmer, that 0:06:54.279 --> 0:06:58.520 proximity to wildlife has definitely caused some issues. And I'm 0:06:58.560 --> 0:07:02.520 reading here quote morning commuters have to wait as bobcats 0:07:02.600 --> 0:07:07.280 cross the roadway. Shuttle launches are stalled by armadillo's woodpeckers, 0:07:07.320 --> 0:07:10.560 poke holes, and fuel tanks. But according to the guy 0:07:10.600 --> 0:07:13.600 who manages the island call center, the biggest issue at 0:07:13.680 --> 0:07:16.840 NASA is with, of course gators. And here's how we 0:07:16.880 --> 0:07:21.000 put it. Quote we've got gators blocking doorways, climbing fences. 0:07:21.040 --> 0:07:24.080 We've got little bitty ones to shore big enough gators. 0:07:24.200 --> 0:07:27.000 NASA employees are encouraged to keep alert indoors and out. 0:07:27.120 --> 0:07:29.440 You're never supposed to feed the gators, and always check 0:07:29.480 --> 0:07:32.680 on your cars before hopping in. And since I can't 0:07:32.720 --> 0:07:35.680 get off this b flat thing, sometimes when the shuttles land, 0:07:35.680 --> 0:07:39.080 the gators start bellowing because they're trying to outdo the shuttles. 0:07:39.120 --> 0:07:39.600 Mating call. 0:07:40.040 --> 0:07:40.440 Wow. 0:07:40.640 --> 0:07:42.760 Actually, I think this episode could have just been about 0:07:42.800 --> 0:07:45.200 B flat. We should do a separate one just on 0:07:45.280 --> 0:07:47.440 B flat. But I need you to back up for 0:07:47.480 --> 0:07:50.440 a second. So what are you supposed to do if 0:07:50.480 --> 0:07:51.680 you see a gator? 0:07:52.000 --> 0:07:55.239 I mean, go back inside. I guess that's good advice. 0:07:56.320 --> 0:07:58.840 There's really only one account I read about an employee 0:07:58.840 --> 0:08:01.040 trying to deal with a gator on his own. He 0:08:01.080 --> 0:08:04.960 apparently made karate chopping motions and kept yelling hi yah, 0:08:05.120 --> 0:08:10.360 and the gator hissed and spit, but apparently eventually went away. 0:08:10.440 --> 0:08:13.160 So I guess if you know you have to deal 0:08:13.200 --> 0:08:14.720 with a gator, learn karate. 0:08:15.040 --> 0:08:17.600 Okay, all right, I'll think about that. And I actually 0:08:17.640 --> 0:08:20.000 I realized this is off topic. But did you read 0:08:20.040 --> 0:08:22.040 about the guy with the alligator at the drive through 0:08:22.080 --> 0:08:23.440 while you were researching. 0:08:23.040 --> 0:08:23.760 For this episode? 0:08:24.480 --> 0:08:24.600 No? 0:08:24.680 --> 0:08:25.720 What was this recently? 0:08:25.760 --> 0:08:26.080 All right? 0:08:26.120 --> 0:08:28.920 So this was again talking about Florida kind of reminded 0:08:28.960 --> 0:08:30.880 me about this. This is back from I think it 0:08:30.920 --> 0:08:34.160 was twenty sixteen. So there was this kid that apparently 0:08:34.240 --> 0:08:36.880 drove up to a Windy's. He made an order, he 0:08:36.960 --> 0:08:39.520 got his drink, and then of course he tossed a 0:08:39.559 --> 0:08:43.200 three foot gator through the window of the drive through. Yeah, 0:08:43.640 --> 0:08:46.920 thankfully nobody was heard, and he didn't really have a motive. 0:08:46.960 --> 0:08:49.520 Apparently his mom's defense to the local news was that, 0:08:49.720 --> 0:08:51.960 you know, he's just a big prankster and can't help himself. 0:08:52.160 --> 0:08:54.760 Yeah, pranksters, what happened to him? 0:08:54.800 --> 0:08:57.880 So he got charged with quote assault with a deadly weapon, 0:08:57.920 --> 0:08:59.880 which I guess is, you know, not far off. And 0:09:00.080 --> 0:09:03.080 the judge had some pretty strict terms for him. So 0:09:03.320 --> 0:09:06.679 one of the punishments he's banned from Wendy's for life. So, 0:09:06.760 --> 0:09:08.880 I mean, you gotta really think twice before you throw 0:09:08.880 --> 0:09:10.840 a game through a drive through because you cannot go 0:09:10.960 --> 0:09:13.480 back for that spicy chicken sandwich. And he was told 0:09:13.480 --> 0:09:17.600 that he couldn't frattenize with any animals except his mother's dog, 0:09:17.679 --> 0:09:18.840 which of course makes sense. 0:09:20.960 --> 0:09:25.240 So my son Henry does the worst pranks like he 0:09:25.440 --> 0:09:28.440 is under the mistaken impression that just saying April Fools 0:09:28.480 --> 0:09:31.880 absolves you of anything you do. And two years ago 0:09:31.920 --> 0:09:33.960 he decided to pour some water in our bed as 0:09:33.960 --> 0:09:37.960 a prank, and right before bed he took three giant 0:09:38.040 --> 0:09:40.080 pine glasses of water and poured. 0:09:39.800 --> 0:09:41.120 Them on our mattress. 0:09:41.760 --> 0:09:46.800 Gotcha, I got so mad we had to sleep on 0:09:46.840 --> 0:09:48.800 the guest bed in the living room for two days 0:09:48.800 --> 0:09:50.040 before the thing cried out. 0:09:50.120 --> 0:09:52.240 Wow. Yeah, that's quite the frank. 0:09:52.320 --> 0:09:56.840 But I'm really hoping that he never gets access to alligators. 0:09:57.640 --> 0:09:59.880 So your fact kind of sounds like the most Florida 0:10:00.400 --> 0:10:02.520 headline I've not heard in a while. But but do 0:10:02.520 --> 0:10:03.640 you want to do another fact to make. 0:10:03.559 --> 0:10:03.880 Up for it? 0:10:04.160 --> 0:10:04.360 Yeah? 0:10:04.440 --> 0:10:05.920 Yeah, let me see which one I want to want 0:10:05.920 --> 0:10:07.520 to do next. All right, Well, this is something I 0:10:07.559 --> 0:10:11.520 think is super cool. So alligators obviously seem tough because 0:10:11.520 --> 0:10:14.000 they've got that bony armor on their skin and they 0:10:14.000 --> 0:10:17.320 can climb fences like you mentioned and do these death 0:10:17.440 --> 0:10:20.400 rolls and things like that. But even their blood is 0:10:20.440 --> 0:10:21.800 actually tougher than ours. 0:10:22.200 --> 0:10:22.839 So part of the. 0:10:22.800 --> 0:10:25.880 Reason you never see an alligator with colds and flus, Like, 0:10:25.920 --> 0:10:27.559 have you ever seen an alligator. 0:10:27.200 --> 0:10:27.600 With a cold? 0:10:27.640 --> 0:10:27.880 Ango? 0:10:28.000 --> 0:10:28.640 You know, I haven't. 0:10:28.679 --> 0:10:31.640 It's weird you haven't, And that's because it's not them. 0:10:31.800 --> 0:10:33.959 No, it really doesn't doesn't work at all because they 0:10:33.960 --> 0:10:38.080 have this incredible immune system. These scientists in Louisiana have 0:10:38.120 --> 0:10:41.440 actually discovered that the serum and alligator blood can fight 0:10:41.520 --> 0:10:45.160 off viruses and bacteria can actually destroy most of the 0:10:45.240 --> 0:10:48.200 microbes in HIV. It's actually part of the reason that 0:10:48.200 --> 0:10:51.320 when an alligator tail is severed in a swamp, even 0:10:51.320 --> 0:10:54.600 if the water is muddy and dirty, the animals rarely 0:10:54.600 --> 0:10:58.079 get infections. So this discovery is incredible because it has 0:10:58.160 --> 0:11:01.520 all sorts of potential applications for humans. I was looking 0:11:01.559 --> 0:11:04.080 at this article in National Geographic talking about this, and 0:11:04.120 --> 0:11:07.320 it was showing that the resulting medicines could help everyone 0:11:07.440 --> 0:11:11.560 from like diabetes patients with foot ulcers, to burn victims, 0:11:11.559 --> 0:11:14.360 to people suffering from various autoimmune diseases. 0:11:14.480 --> 0:11:15.520 That's pretty remarkable. 0:11:15.640 --> 0:11:17.360 It's kind of funny that something like a bat could 0:11:17.400 --> 0:11:19.840 get as COVID, but an alligator might be the one. 0:11:19.679 --> 0:11:20.120 To cure it. 0:11:20.280 --> 0:11:20.760 Exactly. 0:11:20.840 --> 0:11:22.920 Your here's a ridiculous one I like just because I 0:11:23.000 --> 0:11:26.840 like picturing it. Apparently alligators have two types of walks, 0:11:27.280 --> 0:11:30.000 a high walk and a low walk or a sprawl. 0:11:30.120 --> 0:11:30.880 What does that mean? 0:11:32.000 --> 0:11:33.239 Well, the low walk. 0:11:33.080 --> 0:11:35.360 Is cooler, like they kind of drag their belly on 0:11:35.400 --> 0:11:38.280 the ground and they kind of lazily pull themselves along. 0:11:38.440 --> 0:11:41.040 But you know, whether on the move or late for 0:11:41.080 --> 0:11:45.000 a meeting, they high tail it. Literally they raise their 0:11:45.000 --> 0:11:47.480 bellies and half their tail up off the ground and 0:11:47.520 --> 0:11:50.480 they kind of stand upright on all fours and then 0:11:50.520 --> 0:11:52.880 they really move. And I didn't realize this, but according 0:11:52.880 --> 0:11:56.199 to our palas how stuff works, alligators aren't really hunters 0:11:56.280 --> 0:11:59.720 or gatherers. They're more what they call lurkers. They kind 0:11:59.760 --> 0:12:03.240 of just lunge at food, so they're opportunistic and they 0:12:03.240 --> 0:12:05.040 can actually go a few years without eating if they 0:12:05.040 --> 0:12:07.319 need to. But when they decide they're really hungry, they 0:12:07.320 --> 0:12:10.600 can really high walk to a meal. They can apparently 0:12:10.679 --> 0:12:14.560 reach peak speeds of thirty five miles per hour on Wow, 0:12:14.600 --> 0:12:17.680 that's fast. Yeah, but they also tire very very quickly, 0:12:17.840 --> 0:12:19.480 so they're never going to be an antelope in a 0:12:19.520 --> 0:12:21.280 marathon or a half marathon. 0:12:21.360 --> 0:12:25.040 All right, that's another good factor write down. But speaking 0:12:25.080 --> 0:12:27.720 of facts, we've got three more facts to go. But 0:12:27.800 --> 0:12:29.920 let's take a quick break and we'll be right back. 0:12:44.200 --> 0:12:46.520 Welcome back to Part Time Genius, where we're talking all 0:12:46.559 --> 0:12:47.760 about gators today. 0:12:48.080 --> 0:12:49.880 All right, what did you want to talk about next? Mego? 0:12:50.240 --> 0:12:53.320 So, something I think is super cool about alligators is 0:12:53.320 --> 0:12:57.200 that their sex isn't predetermined by genetics. It actually has 0:12:57.240 --> 0:12:59.560 all to do with the temperature you store an alligator 0:12:59.559 --> 0:13:02.400 egg at Actually, just to take a step back, one 0:13:02.400 --> 0:13:04.920 thing that's fascinating is that in the nineteen fifties and sixties, 0:13:04.960 --> 0:13:08.960 alligators were nearly hunted to extinction in America. But part 0:13:08.960 --> 0:13:11.000 of the reason they managed to recover is that the 0:13:11.040 --> 0:13:13.800 gators lay a lot of eggs, like thirty to fifty 0:13:13.840 --> 0:13:16.160 of them at one time, so once there were more 0:13:16.200 --> 0:13:20.000 restrictions on hunting, they made a quick comeback. But gators 0:13:20.080 --> 0:13:23.480 make a giant nest like three feet high and six 0:13:23.480 --> 0:13:26.200 feet wide, and then they bury their eggs inside it, 0:13:26.679 --> 0:13:29.720 and the eggs that incubate at around eighty degrees will 0:13:29.720 --> 0:13:32.160 turn out female, but the ones that incubate a closer 0:13:32.240 --> 0:13:35.080 to ninety degrees will be male, and in between is 0:13:35.160 --> 0:13:37.360 just a mix of males and females, which I think 0:13:37.440 --> 0:13:40.440 is kind of remarkable. But the other thing that's interesting 0:13:40.440 --> 0:13:43.120 about alligators is that the moms also stick around to 0:13:43.200 --> 0:13:47.040 protect their hatchlings, which is super rare in modern reptiles 0:13:47.120 --> 0:13:51.199 and more common frankly to birds and some dinosaur species. 0:13:51.280 --> 0:13:52.280 That is really interesting. 0:13:52.520 --> 0:13:53.720 So we're down to two. 0:13:53.600 --> 0:13:56.000 Last facts, and I'm curious, what do you have as 0:13:56.040 --> 0:13:57.240 your final last fact? 0:13:57.320 --> 0:13:59.199 For my final fact, I think. 0:13:59.240 --> 0:14:01.480 The most insane thing I found this week is from 0:14:01.480 --> 0:14:05.160 this article on Smithsonian, and it's called When Kids Played 0:14:05.200 --> 0:14:08.400 with Alligators in Los Angeles, and the piece is all 0:14:08.440 --> 0:14:10.400 about a theme park. As soon as I saw this headline, 0:14:10.400 --> 0:14:12.719 I was like, this is gonna be good. And it's 0:14:12.760 --> 0:14:14.839 all about this theme park. I'd never heard of it before. 0:14:14.880 --> 0:14:18.440 It was called the California Alligator Farm, which I guess 0:14:18.520 --> 0:14:22.560 operated from nineteen oh seven to nineteen fifty three, so 0:14:22.680 --> 0:14:25.880 almost half a century. And for only one quarter you 0:14:25.880 --> 0:14:30.280 could see over a thousand alligators of all sizes. And 0:14:30.320 --> 0:14:32.960 while the gators were exercised and you could you could 0:14:33.000 --> 0:14:36.080 watch them eat live chickens. There were twenty ponds with 0:14:36.160 --> 0:14:40.160 supposedly trained alligators that you could interact with. But the 0:14:40.160 --> 0:14:43.560 photos are insane, Like there's this picture of a baby 0:14:43.640 --> 0:14:47.520 in a pin with thirty hatchlings and no parents anywhere 0:14:47.520 --> 0:14:49.960 to be found there. Yeah, if you really need to 0:14:49.960 --> 0:14:52.440 look this up. There are photos of people writing on 0:14:52.480 --> 0:14:55.480 the alligator backs. There are pictures of picnics in the 0:14:55.520 --> 0:14:58.680 water with people in bathing suits eating meals right next 0:14:58.680 --> 0:15:03.040 to these gators. Gators are actually approaching the table. No 0:15:03.080 --> 0:15:05.520 one seems to be scared by this, And I think 0:15:05.560 --> 0:15:07.680 my favorite fact is that there are photos of people 0:15:07.760 --> 0:15:11.200 watching as adult alligators all climb up a ladder and 0:15:11.240 --> 0:15:14.280 then take a water slide down into the pond for fun. 0:15:14.480 --> 0:15:17.640 Like it is the weirdest thing. It's like a giant 0:15:17.680 --> 0:15:21.360 petting zoo for gators. It makes no sense at all, but. 0:15:21.360 --> 0:15:22.800 It sounds fun for the gators too. 0:15:23.080 --> 0:15:25.520 Yes, that maybe they were having fun so they had 0:15:25.680 --> 0:15:26.680 decided not to attack. 0:15:26.840 --> 0:15:29.000 So I'm definitely gonna look this up. But did anyone 0:15:29.080 --> 0:15:29.600 die there? 0:15:29.680 --> 0:15:32.359 Like that? All sounds so incredibly dangerous. 0:15:32.680 --> 0:15:33.240 Yeah, it is. 0:15:33.280 --> 0:15:35.520 I mean, in that article on how stuff works, the 0:15:35.600 --> 0:15:40.120 editors right how alligators are really instinctual animals because you know, 0:15:40.120 --> 0:15:42.680 their brains are only nine grams and they take about 0:15:43.080 --> 0:15:47.040 half a tablespoon of space, which means there's no such 0:15:47.120 --> 0:15:49.160 thing as a nice gator. I mean, these things are 0:15:49.240 --> 0:15:52.560 programmed to behave a certain way. But for whatever reason, 0:15:52.640 --> 0:15:56.560 there really aren't reports of injuries there, so I'm certain 0:15:56.560 --> 0:15:58.760 there were some that happened. And one thing I do 0:15:58.840 --> 0:16:01.640 know is there were a lot of posted to remind visitors, 0:16:01.880 --> 0:16:02.600 you know, not. 0:16:02.560 --> 0:16:05.320 To punch the gators or throw rocks at them, so don't. 0:16:05.440 --> 0:16:06.080 Don't try that. 0:16:06.160 --> 0:16:09.680 And apparently college pranksters used to occasionally sneak in and 0:16:09.760 --> 0:16:12.200 steal a gator. But other than that, there really isn't 0:16:12.200 --> 0:16:14.360 a whole lot of reporting on, you know, the darker 0:16:14.400 --> 0:16:15.640 side of an alligator farm. 0:16:15.840 --> 0:16:19.480 That's amazing. Well, my last fact is kind of fitting. 0:16:19.560 --> 0:16:22.720 I decided to look up the origins of see you later, alligator. 0:16:23.080 --> 0:16:24.600 Okay, all right, what did you find out? 0:16:25.120 --> 0:16:25.600 Not much? 0:16:26.160 --> 0:16:28.080 Good, good, Well that does it for today. 0:16:29.880 --> 0:16:32.960 So, as you might imagine, there's no clear origin story, 0:16:33.120 --> 0:16:34.640 like there isn't for a lot of these things. But 0:16:35.120 --> 0:16:38.040 it's really funny. There's a site called word Histories, and 0:16:38.080 --> 0:16:41.320 they looked up early newspaper accounts that reference the phrase, 0:16:41.480 --> 0:16:44.080 and there are all these explainer columns for adults trying 0:16:44.080 --> 0:16:46.320 to understand their kids and why they're talking this way. 0:16:46.880 --> 0:16:49.160 So in nineteen fifty two, there was a column in 0:16:49.200 --> 0:16:52.840 the Honolulu Star Bulletin that explained teenage slang in Hawaii, 0:16:53.240 --> 0:16:57.240 and it reads, quote, many high school students use expressions 0:16:57.280 --> 0:17:00.600 such as tutulu tofu or see you alligator, which I 0:17:00.680 --> 0:17:03.840 might responses like see you soon, goon and hit the 0:17:03.880 --> 0:17:07.080 toad road, which I guess means that in a while, 0:17:07.160 --> 0:17:10.440 crocodile wasn't immediately like the default response yeah. 0:17:10.400 --> 0:17:14.399 Yeah, like I never heard that before. 0:17:14.800 --> 0:17:18.360 No, but it gets better. There's also an explanation from 0:17:18.359 --> 0:17:21.240 this guy, Lester Rand in the Baltimore Sun, and this 0:17:21.280 --> 0:17:24.520 is from nineteen fifty four, and he clarifies the alligator 0:17:24.560 --> 0:17:27.399 and see you alligator is an all encompassing term and 0:17:27.520 --> 0:17:32.480 relieves the leaving party of having to recite several names. 0:17:33.200 --> 0:17:36.760 That's great, and in case the Olds needed more explanation, 0:17:36.960 --> 0:17:41.240 it continues. The popular teenage rhyming expressions rarely convey any 0:17:41.280 --> 0:17:44.600 actual meaning and are somewhat confusing, like do you know 0:17:44.680 --> 0:17:47.840 what I mean, jelly bean, let me have steak jake 0:17:48.359 --> 0:17:50.840 and have a piece of salami Tommy. 0:17:51.320 --> 0:17:57.720 Right, it feels like a phrase we should bring. 0:17:57.560 --> 0:18:00.480 Brack right, Like yeah, for sure, whatever we. 0:18:00.400 --> 0:18:02.280 Say goodbye tous onone, And I kind of want to say, like, 0:18:02.359 --> 0:18:03.720 have a piece of lobby tommy. 0:18:03.880 --> 0:18:04.719 Yeah, that's a weird one. 0:18:04.760 --> 0:18:06.160 And I think if I was a parent my kid 0:18:06.240 --> 0:18:07.960 kept saying this as he walked out of the door, 0:18:08.000 --> 0:18:11.119 I'd probably be confused enough to want to read an 0:18:11.160 --> 0:18:13.840 article about what was wrong with him. But anyway, who 0:18:13.920 --> 0:18:16.760 do you think deserves the crown for today's fact off. 0:18:17.119 --> 0:18:19.680 Well, I did like the fact that we talked about 0:18:19.720 --> 0:18:20.760 B flat so much. 0:18:20.800 --> 0:18:21.879 There was a lot of B flat. 0:18:22.040 --> 0:18:25.679 Those photos of alligators on water slides, I think have 0:18:25.720 --> 0:18:28.320 to be my new wallpaper. I'm gonna say, you win. 0:18:28.440 --> 0:18:31.040 This crazy alligator farm theme park thing is too good. 0:18:31.160 --> 0:18:33.640 It's so good looking at those photos, so I will 0:18:33.680 --> 0:18:36.399 take it. Thank you very much, I'm honored. That is 0:18:36.440 --> 0:18:39.000 it for today's Part Time Genius. If you like hearing 0:18:39.000 --> 0:18:41.520 the show, hit us up on Twitter or Instagram, drop 0:18:41.560 --> 0:18:43.840 us a line in Apple Reviews, And if you have 0:18:44.000 --> 0:18:46.480 any great gator facts we missed or have a topic 0:18:46.520 --> 0:18:48.480 you want us to cover, be sure to write to 0:18:48.600 --> 0:18:49.560 us about those. 0:18:49.320 --> 0:18:52.160 Two and thank you, thank you, thank you so much 0:18:52.200 --> 0:18:56.440