1 00:00:03,120 --> 00:00:06,000 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff to Blow your Mind from how Stuff 2 00:00:06,000 --> 00:00:13,400 Speaker 1: Works dot com. Hey, you're welcome to stuff to blow 3 00:00:13,440 --> 00:00:16,400 Speaker 1: your mind. My name is Robert Lamb and I'm Julie Douglas. Julie, 4 00:00:16,400 --> 00:00:19,360 Speaker 1: where do you stand on giant snakes? Where do I 5 00:00:19,400 --> 00:00:21,440 Speaker 1: stand on? And not near the head? That's right, That's 6 00:00:21,720 --> 00:00:24,880 Speaker 1: that's the worst place to stand. Yeah, what about you? Um, 7 00:00:25,160 --> 00:00:27,720 Speaker 1: I've always loved him, um, you know, because I think 8 00:00:27,760 --> 00:00:30,920 Speaker 1: probably from like an early age seeing U Cob the 9 00:00:31,000 --> 00:00:35,000 Speaker 1: Snake and Jungle Book trying to eat mowgli. Um, you 10 00:00:35,040 --> 00:00:39,720 Speaker 1: can't help it be fascinated with the seductive power of 11 00:00:39,720 --> 00:00:42,160 Speaker 1: of any kind of serpent, right, and then the possibility 12 00:00:42,200 --> 00:00:45,520 Speaker 1: they can swallow you whole and it and just how 13 00:00:45,600 --> 00:00:49,479 Speaker 1: inhuman the creature is, no arms or legs, just slithering around. 14 00:00:50,040 --> 00:00:55,200 Speaker 1: That's funny you bring up a jungle Book because related Ricky, Ticky, Tavi, 15 00:00:56,200 --> 00:01:00,560 Speaker 1: Nag and nagaina some of my favorites in action there, 16 00:01:01,600 --> 00:01:05,120 Speaker 1: but also the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad from Kill Bill 17 00:01:05,240 --> 00:01:07,959 Speaker 1: Volumes One and two. Oh yes, which was more like 18 00:01:08,000 --> 00:01:11,320 Speaker 1: the human embodiment of snakes. Yeah, but yeah, certainly just 19 00:01:11,319 --> 00:01:16,040 Speaker 1: the symbolic power of snakes throughout human history can't be denied. 20 00:01:16,160 --> 00:01:19,640 Speaker 1: But because they end up representing so much, you have, 21 00:01:19,720 --> 00:01:24,360 Speaker 1: like your cosmic world serpents in so many different cultures, 22 00:01:24,440 --> 00:01:28,720 Speaker 1: the idea that there's some gigantic primal snake that plays 23 00:01:28,760 --> 00:01:34,400 Speaker 1: into the creation and or destruction of the world. Yeah, exactly, Yeah, 24 00:01:34,400 --> 00:01:36,679 Speaker 1: which we we did an entire episode on which I'll 25 00:01:36,680 --> 00:01:38,920 Speaker 1: include a link to that on the landing page for 26 00:01:38,959 --> 00:01:43,320 Speaker 1: this episode. But but even in popular culture, um, modern 27 00:01:43,400 --> 00:01:46,560 Speaker 1: pop culture, we see giant snakes continue to pop up. 28 00:01:46,600 --> 00:01:50,520 Speaker 1: We we can't help but be fascinated by the uh 29 00:01:50,640 --> 00:01:53,160 Speaker 1: you know, the struggle between stay Conan the Barbarian and 30 00:01:53,200 --> 00:01:57,160 Speaker 1: a giant snake in in Bulsa Dooms Dungeon. That was 31 00:01:57,200 --> 00:02:00,280 Speaker 1: certainly when I was enjoyed watching up. That's only one 32 00:02:00,320 --> 00:02:03,720 Speaker 1: I always enjoyed watching as I was growing up. Um 33 00:02:03,840 --> 00:02:08,480 Speaker 1: Or then, of course there's Anaconda in which digested John 34 00:02:08,560 --> 00:02:14,320 Speaker 1: Voight falls out of the monster serpent. There's also Beetlejuice. Oh, yes, 35 00:02:14,400 --> 00:02:18,480 Speaker 1: with the the sand worming creatures. Well, actually Michael Keaton 36 00:02:18,480 --> 00:02:22,360 Speaker 1: turns into a snake, giant snake on the banister. But yes, 37 00:02:22,480 --> 00:02:24,560 Speaker 1: at the end of the movie or near the end, 38 00:02:24,600 --> 00:02:28,600 Speaker 1: he's consumed by the sandform. And I think Freddy Crueger 39 00:02:28,680 --> 00:02:31,000 Speaker 1: also turned into it like a big snake in eight 40 00:02:31,639 --> 00:02:35,480 Speaker 1: one of the victims in three or four I can't remember, 41 00:02:35,600 --> 00:02:39,919 Speaker 1: dream Warriors maybe. And in terms of mythology too, you'll 42 00:02:39,960 --> 00:02:44,560 Speaker 1: see that Groutslan is an Afrikaans word meaning great snake. 43 00:02:44,840 --> 00:02:46,720 Speaker 1: And by the way, this is from the Mental philost 44 00:02:46,880 --> 00:02:51,160 Speaker 1: article eleven Legendary Monsters of Africa and the monster of 45 00:02:51,200 --> 00:02:54,000 Speaker 1: that name grouts Lang lives in a cave called the 46 00:02:54,040 --> 00:02:57,680 Speaker 1: Wonder Hole and the area of South Africa. And the 47 00:02:57,760 --> 00:03:01,440 Speaker 1: story is that the original broots groots Long was found 48 00:03:01,480 --> 00:03:04,320 Speaker 1: to be too powerful, so the gods subdivided the animal 49 00:03:04,320 --> 00:03:09,280 Speaker 1: into two species, the elephant in the snake. Yeah, however, 50 00:03:09,360 --> 00:03:13,480 Speaker 1: Groups Long or two escaped in we'd have to have two, right, 51 00:03:13,639 --> 00:03:16,920 Speaker 1: and uh, they reproduced. So that's the idea of this, 52 00:03:17,000 --> 00:03:20,720 Speaker 1: and that this monster could grow up to sixty feet long. 53 00:03:21,120 --> 00:03:24,400 Speaker 1: And supposedly it's cave is full of diamonds, but nobody 54 00:03:24,480 --> 00:03:27,120 Speaker 1: knows for sure because Groups Long is guarding it. Yeah, 55 00:03:27,200 --> 00:03:28,920 Speaker 1: who's gonna the only way you're gonna wind up in 56 00:03:28,919 --> 00:03:31,079 Speaker 1: that cave? I guess you. You pass through the other 57 00:03:31,120 --> 00:03:33,200 Speaker 1: side of the snake. Well, And what I love about 58 00:03:33,200 --> 00:03:36,200 Speaker 1: this is that there's this idea that I have on 59 00:03:36,240 --> 00:03:38,480 Speaker 1: my mind, this romantic notion of back in the day, 60 00:03:38,520 --> 00:03:41,560 Speaker 1: everybody's sitting around the fire and talking about groots long, 61 00:03:41,760 --> 00:03:48,200 Speaker 1: this giant snake growing to sixty feet long, indeed so tall, 62 00:03:48,240 --> 00:03:51,600 Speaker 1: tales of of of what snakes can consist of and 63 00:03:51,640 --> 00:03:53,920 Speaker 1: how big they can get. Yeah, getting to the heart 64 00:03:53,920 --> 00:03:56,800 Speaker 1: of our question today. Yeah, indeed, what is the largest 65 00:03:56,800 --> 00:04:00,400 Speaker 1: snake that has ever existed? So obviously, by the way 66 00:04:00,400 --> 00:04:02,600 Speaker 1: we phrase this question, they are kind of two areas 67 00:04:02,600 --> 00:04:05,600 Speaker 1: where going to explore. The first question being what's the 68 00:04:05,680 --> 00:04:10,480 Speaker 1: largest snake alive today, which, as you'll explore, is a 69 00:04:10,560 --> 00:04:13,680 Speaker 1: little more complicated above a question than you might think. 70 00:04:13,760 --> 00:04:16,320 Speaker 1: And then what is the largest snake that has ever lived? 71 00:04:16,360 --> 00:04:19,039 Speaker 1: Taking into an account the the fossil record and what 72 00:04:19,120 --> 00:04:24,880 Speaker 1: we know about large serpents in prehistoric times. And you know, 73 00:04:24,920 --> 00:04:26,839 Speaker 1: what do you mean by large? Do you mean weight 74 00:04:27,040 --> 00:04:31,400 Speaker 1: or a link? That's right? So, uh, to that meet 75 00:04:31,440 --> 00:04:34,039 Speaker 1: this criteria, which you could call. The largest snakes in 76 00:04:34,040 --> 00:04:38,120 Speaker 1: the world presently living are the reticulated python and the 77 00:04:38,200 --> 00:04:41,240 Speaker 1: green anaconda. And in both the cases we are definitely 78 00:04:41,240 --> 00:04:43,960 Speaker 1: talking about the females of the species, because the females 79 00:04:44,160 --> 00:04:49,080 Speaker 1: are larger in both the reticulated python and the green anaconda. 80 00:04:49,279 --> 00:04:52,479 Speaker 1: Now it's worth noting that on March six of this year, 81 00:04:52,520 --> 00:04:55,760 Speaker 1: the US Fish and Wildlife Service declared the reticulated python 82 00:04:55,800 --> 00:04:58,760 Speaker 1: and the green anaconda as two of four injury US 83 00:04:59,279 --> 00:05:03,400 Speaker 1: Wildlife pieces and will prohibit import of the snakes into 84 00:05:03,440 --> 00:05:06,760 Speaker 1: the US and its territories, as well as transport across 85 00:05:06,839 --> 00:05:10,960 Speaker 1: state lines. Uh this is because not only are these 86 00:05:11,440 --> 00:05:14,520 Speaker 1: these two snakes some of the largest living snakes, they 87 00:05:14,520 --> 00:05:17,919 Speaker 1: are also traded commercially as pets. And what that means 88 00:05:18,000 --> 00:05:22,080 Speaker 1: is that sometimes these really powerful snakes have been intentionally 89 00:05:22,320 --> 00:05:26,360 Speaker 1: released into the wild, while others will escape enclosures. And 90 00:05:26,440 --> 00:05:29,080 Speaker 1: so if you look at Florida, for instance, where you've 91 00:05:29,080 --> 00:05:33,440 Speaker 1: seen the Burmese python taking over parts of Florida, you'll 92 00:05:33,480 --> 00:05:37,560 Speaker 1: see that the native wildlife is really at risk because 93 00:05:38,000 --> 00:05:40,960 Speaker 1: these snakes, their sides and their strength they make they 94 00:05:41,000 --> 00:05:44,520 Speaker 1: make them apex predators in the environments that they're already 95 00:05:44,560 --> 00:05:47,839 Speaker 1: indigenous too. But put them in one where there are 96 00:05:47,920 --> 00:05:50,720 Speaker 1: lesser predators around, you can see how they would run 97 00:05:51,320 --> 00:05:54,560 Speaker 1: rampant and to just give you an idea of the 98 00:05:54,640 --> 00:05:57,280 Speaker 1: kind of strength that they're sporting. Here, I mean to 99 00:05:57,360 --> 00:05:59,840 Speaker 1: turn to this account by Todd Mexico, writing for an 100 00:06:00,040 --> 00:06:05,760 Speaker 1: multiversity dot Org, he says, um, with reticulated pythons, if 101 00:06:05,960 --> 00:06:09,840 Speaker 1: the antlers, because they go after unculates, are small enough, 102 00:06:10,440 --> 00:06:15,280 Speaker 1: they are simply ingested and digested. However, if the antlers 103 00:06:15,320 --> 00:06:17,479 Speaker 1: are too large on the animals trying to take down, 104 00:06:17,480 --> 00:06:21,360 Speaker 1: the snake can actually break them back to lie alongside 105 00:06:21,360 --> 00:06:24,640 Speaker 1: the body and then consume them. Um. Then he says 106 00:06:24,680 --> 00:06:28,159 Speaker 1: that sometimes, very rarely, that the snake that particulated python 107 00:06:28,200 --> 00:06:32,640 Speaker 1: actually swallows the hind quarters and then when it works 108 00:06:32,680 --> 00:06:36,200 Speaker 1: its way to the antlers, it stops and it allows 109 00:06:36,240 --> 00:06:40,159 Speaker 1: its digestive acids to break down the animals flesh until 110 00:06:40,200 --> 00:06:45,520 Speaker 1: the antlers actually become weak and drop off, essentially decapitating 111 00:06:45,520 --> 00:06:49,240 Speaker 1: the creature with your own digestive fluids. I love that 112 00:06:49,240 --> 00:06:51,920 Speaker 1: this is such a wonderful, grotesque ou thing that I mean, 113 00:06:51,960 --> 00:06:55,320 Speaker 1: that's the reason. Uh, you know, you can't help but 114 00:06:55,320 --> 00:06:59,240 Speaker 1: but love these giant serpents, you know, particularly the constrictors. Yeah, 115 00:06:59,240 --> 00:07:02,479 Speaker 1: it's grizzly stuff, and and yes you're attracted, but also 116 00:07:02,680 --> 00:07:04,640 Speaker 1: repulsed by them. Yeah, I'm even when you go to 117 00:07:04,640 --> 00:07:06,200 Speaker 1: the pet store, it's like you don't really want to 118 00:07:06,200 --> 00:07:09,760 Speaker 1: see the cute little mouse eaten by the snake, but 119 00:07:09,840 --> 00:07:13,880 Speaker 1: you can't look away, and yet you probably don't look away. 120 00:07:14,640 --> 00:07:17,840 Speaker 1: All right, So let's uh, let's look at these two 121 00:07:17,840 --> 00:07:21,160 Speaker 1: species and a little more detail. Uh. First, we have 122 00:07:21,280 --> 00:07:26,440 Speaker 1: the Asian reticulated python, Python reticulatis, so called for the 123 00:07:26,640 --> 00:07:30,680 Speaker 1: geometric color pattern on its body. They thrive and steamy 124 00:07:30,760 --> 00:07:34,800 Speaker 1: tropical rainforest throughout Southeast Asia. Uh. They need water, and 125 00:07:34,840 --> 00:07:37,520 Speaker 1: they need tropical environments with temperatures in the range of 126 00:07:37,640 --> 00:07:42,000 Speaker 1: eight degrees fahrenheit, so they're like it hot. Uh. They're 127 00:07:42,040 --> 00:07:47,040 Speaker 1: non social, solitary creatures. They ambush their prey frequently waiting 128 00:07:47,040 --> 00:07:49,640 Speaker 1: in trees. And that's gonna be key when we start 129 00:07:49,680 --> 00:07:53,160 Speaker 1: talking about their their their length and weight, because obviously 130 00:07:53,280 --> 00:07:55,480 Speaker 1: the creature has to crawl up into the into the trees. 131 00:07:55,800 --> 00:07:57,840 Speaker 1: It's not gonna be just super heavy. It has to 132 00:07:57,880 --> 00:08:01,240 Speaker 1: have a certain amount of lightness on its inside. They 133 00:08:01,240 --> 00:08:03,720 Speaker 1: tend to feed on birds and mammals, and as far 134 00:08:03,760 --> 00:08:06,200 Speaker 1: as the mammals go, the smaller ones, the younger ones 135 00:08:06,200 --> 00:08:09,160 Speaker 1: are gonna eat mostly rats, but as they grow, and 136 00:08:09,160 --> 00:08:12,480 Speaker 1: they grow throughout their life, they're gonna shift to larger mammals, 137 00:08:12,520 --> 00:08:17,040 Speaker 1: so porcupines, monkeys, wild pigs, mouse, deer uh. And Now, 138 00:08:17,120 --> 00:08:20,040 Speaker 1: like all reptiles, they have a low metabolic rate, which 139 00:08:20,040 --> 00:08:22,440 Speaker 1: allows them to go without food for a long period 140 00:08:22,480 --> 00:08:24,800 Speaker 1: of time. So it's not a situation where they're having 141 00:08:24,800 --> 00:08:27,200 Speaker 1: to eat a monkey every day, but they score a 142 00:08:27,200 --> 00:08:30,920 Speaker 1: monkey every once in a while. They're good. Right. Um. Again, 143 00:08:30,920 --> 00:08:34,360 Speaker 1: the females grow the largest, and they usually lay twenty 144 00:08:34,440 --> 00:08:37,600 Speaker 1: five to eighty or so eggs. Uh. And they also 145 00:08:37,720 --> 00:08:40,560 Speaker 1: they they provide a certain amount of care and protection 146 00:08:40,600 --> 00:08:43,520 Speaker 1: for the eggs until they hatch, and then once they hatch, 147 00:08:43,679 --> 00:08:47,400 Speaker 1: there on their own. Now, as far as how big 148 00:08:47,720 --> 00:08:52,360 Speaker 1: these uh, these these gals get. Field measurements in survey 149 00:08:52,520 --> 00:08:55,280 Speaker 1: averaged a little under twelve feet or three point two 150 00:08:55,280 --> 00:08:58,720 Speaker 1: meters in the jungles of southern Sumatra, maxing out at 151 00:08:58,760 --> 00:09:02,720 Speaker 1: just shy of twenty eight six point one. Um. You'll 152 00:09:02,720 --> 00:09:05,599 Speaker 1: find less reputable accounts they hit the thirty three and 153 00:09:05,720 --> 00:09:08,800 Speaker 1: forty mark, but we'll get to those shortly. For the 154 00:09:08,840 --> 00:09:12,360 Speaker 1: most part, however, you're going to find the longer reported 155 00:09:13,160 --> 00:09:19,280 Speaker 1: measurements with the reticulated Now in the other corner here 156 00:09:19,440 --> 00:09:24,320 Speaker 1: of the ring, we have unixte miranus, that is the 157 00:09:24,400 --> 00:09:29,400 Speaker 1: green anaconda, and though it's not as long as reticulated python, 158 00:09:29,559 --> 00:09:33,120 Speaker 1: it is the uncontested heavyweight champion of the snake world 159 00:09:34,000 --> 00:09:37,000 Speaker 1: according to the National Zoo. In captivity, they can grow 160 00:09:37,040 --> 00:09:40,520 Speaker 1: to twenty nine ft long, they can weigh more than 161 00:09:40,760 --> 00:09:44,600 Speaker 1: five fifty pounds, and they can have a diameter of 162 00:09:44,640 --> 00:09:49,800 Speaker 1: more than twelve inches. Now, most documented instances of anaconda's 163 00:09:49,960 --> 00:09:53,400 Speaker 1: weights are more in the two hundred to four hundred 164 00:09:53,480 --> 00:09:58,240 Speaker 1: range and grow to about twenty feet in length. So well, 165 00:09:58,280 --> 00:10:01,880 Speaker 1: we can say that this long and fifty is at 166 00:10:01,920 --> 00:10:05,360 Speaker 1: the outer limits of its morphology. Now they're a member 167 00:10:05,400 --> 00:10:07,640 Speaker 1: of the Boa family and they can be found in swamps, 168 00:10:07,679 --> 00:10:12,160 Speaker 1: marshes and slow moving streams in Trinidad, Venezuela, Colombia, Brazil, 169 00:10:12,240 --> 00:10:18,360 Speaker 1: northern Bolivia, northeastern Peru, and French Guiana. And no surprise here. 170 00:10:18,400 --> 00:10:22,600 Speaker 1: The anaconda is a great swimmer, super stealthy in the water, 171 00:10:22,760 --> 00:10:26,520 Speaker 1: and part of that is because its weight is being 172 00:10:26,559 --> 00:10:28,600 Speaker 1: held up by the buoyancy of the water, right which 173 00:10:28,600 --> 00:10:31,040 Speaker 1: it allows it to go much faster and it can 174 00:10:31,080 --> 00:10:34,240 Speaker 1: remain underwater for up to ten minutes at a time. 175 00:10:34,400 --> 00:10:39,079 Speaker 1: So anacondas like crocodiles, have eyes and nostrils that are 176 00:10:39,120 --> 00:10:42,440 Speaker 1: designed to poke above the surface of the water, and 177 00:10:42,600 --> 00:10:47,280 Speaker 1: that really helps them to strike very quickly and efficiently. 178 00:10:47,960 --> 00:10:53,320 Speaker 1: So on land they're not so elegant and stealthy, but 179 00:10:53,400 --> 00:10:56,840 Speaker 1: they can sidewine and they use these large j shaped 180 00:10:56,880 --> 00:10:59,360 Speaker 1: coils to pull themselves along, which I think really speaks 181 00:10:59,400 --> 00:11:03,680 Speaker 1: to how incredibly muscular they are. Now they are non 182 00:11:03,800 --> 00:11:08,800 Speaker 1: venomous constrictors. They coil those those muscular bodies around captured 183 00:11:08,800 --> 00:11:12,880 Speaker 1: prey and they squeeze until the animals phyxiates. They can 184 00:11:13,000 --> 00:11:16,599 Speaker 1: unhinge their jaws to stretch their mouths around the prey, 185 00:11:16,600 --> 00:11:19,520 Speaker 1: eating the carcass whole, and they have four rows of 186 00:11:19,600 --> 00:11:22,280 Speaker 1: backwards facing teeth on their upper jaws to help grab 187 00:11:22,640 --> 00:11:26,320 Speaker 1: prey really fastened and swallow it whole. They dine on 188 00:11:26,480 --> 00:11:32,760 Speaker 1: wild pigs, dear birds, turtles, caymans, even jaguars, and on occasion, 189 00:11:32,920 --> 00:11:36,600 Speaker 1: white tailed deer, which can grow to be about a 190 00:11:36,679 --> 00:11:40,320 Speaker 1: hundred and fifty pounds or more in the wild, which 191 00:11:40,360 --> 00:11:42,319 Speaker 1: makes you go, oh, a hundred fifty pounds, and that 192 00:11:42,480 --> 00:11:46,400 Speaker 1: that's kind of on par with humans, So would they 193 00:11:46,440 --> 00:11:50,760 Speaker 1: go after a human? And despite the premise of the 194 00:11:50,800 --> 00:11:55,520 Speaker 1: show Eating Alive, in which naturalist Paul Rosalie offers himself 195 00:11:55,559 --> 00:11:58,640 Speaker 1: to be swallowed whole by an anaconda, there are no 196 00:11:58,840 --> 00:12:04,200 Speaker 1: verified reports of anaconda's ingesting a human being. Yeah. I mean, 197 00:12:04,240 --> 00:12:06,400 Speaker 1: it's just it's gonna be a harder kill to make, write, 198 00:12:06,400 --> 00:12:08,719 Speaker 1: a harder ambush to pull off. And are there a 199 00:12:08,760 --> 00:12:13,080 Speaker 1: lot of humans around in their immediate environment? Um? Now, 200 00:12:13,760 --> 00:12:17,320 Speaker 1: when it comes to maximum sizes for both of these species, 201 00:12:17,720 --> 00:12:19,960 Speaker 1: you might think it would be easy to just find 202 00:12:19,960 --> 00:12:23,439 Speaker 1: a good ballpark figure about how big these these these 203 00:12:23,440 --> 00:12:26,200 Speaker 1: gals can get. Uh. But but you'd be wrong. And 204 00:12:26,240 --> 00:12:28,160 Speaker 1: I found this out when I was putting together an 205 00:12:28,240 --> 00:12:32,960 Speaker 1: article for for How Stuff Works. Um It. It quickly 206 00:12:33,000 --> 00:12:36,040 Speaker 1: becomes a game of like whose figures do you trust? 207 00:12:36,120 --> 00:12:39,640 Speaker 1: And whose whose figures are they trusting? Um And if 208 00:12:39,679 --> 00:12:42,960 Speaker 1: you want to really thorough breakdown of the different accounts 209 00:12:42,960 --> 00:12:45,160 Speaker 1: of maximum size of both the reticulated python and the 210 00:12:45,160 --> 00:12:48,880 Speaker 1: green anaconda, UM, I would recommend you check out John C. 211 00:12:49,120 --> 00:12:52,520 Speaker 1: Murphy's website on record snake Sizes on clue to link 212 00:12:52,600 --> 00:12:56,160 Speaker 1: to that on the page for this episode. UM, because 213 00:12:56,679 --> 00:13:01,400 Speaker 1: you basically, when it comes to these these reports of 214 00:13:01,440 --> 00:13:05,240 Speaker 1: giant snakes, which themselves are rare occurrences in remote locations, 215 00:13:05,679 --> 00:13:09,920 Speaker 1: often tended to by untrained individuals, you see local hearsay 216 00:13:10,040 --> 00:13:13,840 Speaker 1: at times, you see second and third hand accounts. You 217 00:13:13,880 --> 00:13:16,280 Speaker 1: see mere sightings where someone just saw the snake and 218 00:13:16,280 --> 00:13:18,120 Speaker 1: they're giving you an estimation on how long they think 219 00:13:18,160 --> 00:13:22,480 Speaker 1: it was. Um. Certainly just exaggerated accounts, just sort of 220 00:13:22,520 --> 00:13:25,240 Speaker 1: like the I cotta fish this big situation, and it 221 00:13:25,320 --> 00:13:29,200 Speaker 1: grows with the telling right questionable measurement techniques. In some cases, 222 00:13:29,200 --> 00:13:31,600 Speaker 1: they'll be questions about, well did you measure it from 223 00:13:31,800 --> 00:13:34,520 Speaker 1: you know, the from snout to tail or are you 224 00:13:34,559 --> 00:13:37,520 Speaker 1: dealing with the with the decapitated body? Is this the 225 00:13:37,600 --> 00:13:39,520 Speaker 1: hide and it is the hide? Are you stretching it 226 00:13:39,559 --> 00:13:42,200 Speaker 1: out when you're measuring it? And how are you measuring it? 227 00:13:42,240 --> 00:13:44,840 Speaker 1: Are you just walking alongside it and doing paces? Are 228 00:13:44,880 --> 00:13:48,520 Speaker 1: you using rods? Are using measurement tape? Um? All these 229 00:13:48,600 --> 00:13:51,120 Speaker 1: questions end up coming into play. And I would imagine 230 00:13:51,160 --> 00:13:53,200 Speaker 1: too that it's not like going to your vent and 231 00:13:53,240 --> 00:13:56,160 Speaker 1: just dropping your dog on the scale. Right. If you're 232 00:13:56,160 --> 00:13:58,640 Speaker 1: trying to weigh a snake. There's a lot more to it, 233 00:13:58,720 --> 00:14:00,840 Speaker 1: I mean in terms of going to get a handle 234 00:14:00,960 --> 00:14:03,560 Speaker 1: on this and then accurately weigh it. And again, these 235 00:14:03,559 --> 00:14:07,880 Speaker 1: are encounters that are occurring often in remote locations, again 236 00:14:07,920 --> 00:14:12,240 Speaker 1: with with untrained individuals. UM. I'm gonna just roll through 237 00:14:12,280 --> 00:14:16,040 Speaker 1: a couple of encounters that Murphy outlines on his website. 238 00:14:16,800 --> 00:14:21,120 Speaker 1: One is an alleged thirty three foot reticulated python UH 239 00:14:21,120 --> 00:14:24,640 Speaker 1: that was mentioned in the ninety Natural History magazine story 240 00:14:24,720 --> 00:14:28,120 Speaker 1: and the story itself was about a nineteen twelve siding 241 00:14:28,880 --> 00:14:31,720 Speaker 1: and UH. As Murphy points out this, this stat, this 242 00:14:31,840 --> 00:14:34,520 Speaker 1: thirty three foot stat continues to pop up in articles 243 00:14:34,520 --> 00:14:38,680 Speaker 1: on giant snakes, despite his continued efforts to try and 244 00:14:38,800 --> 00:14:43,000 Speaker 1: uh and kill it. Um. Here is what the author 245 00:14:43,120 --> 00:14:46,720 Speaker 1: of the original piece, Harry c Raven, wrote, and you 246 00:14:46,760 --> 00:14:50,400 Speaker 1: can tell us how reputable it sounds. He says, I 247 00:14:50,480 --> 00:14:52,680 Speaker 1: left the schooner and went inland a short distance to 248 00:14:52,720 --> 00:14:55,400 Speaker 1: camp on the mountains, which were covered with virgin jungle. 249 00:14:55,760 --> 00:14:57,360 Speaker 1: The white men at the mind told me of a 250 00:14:57,440 --> 00:14:59,480 Speaker 1: huge python one of their relatives that killed a few 251 00:14:59,560 --> 00:15:01,760 Speaker 1: days before of my arrival, and showed me a very 252 00:15:01,760 --> 00:15:04,480 Speaker 1: poor photograph of it. Taken after it had been killed 253 00:15:04,480 --> 00:15:07,080 Speaker 1: and dragged a camp. Though the print was dull, you 254 00:15:07,120 --> 00:15:09,480 Speaker 1: could see a man standing on the huge body, which 255 00:15:09,480 --> 00:15:12,040 Speaker 1: was about a foot thick. A civil engineer told me 256 00:15:12,080 --> 00:15:14,560 Speaker 1: that it was just ten meters long. I asked him 257 00:15:14,600 --> 00:15:16,760 Speaker 1: if he had had I asked him if he had 258 00:15:16,760 --> 00:15:18,960 Speaker 1: taste off its length, but he said no, he had 259 00:15:19,000 --> 00:15:22,480 Speaker 1: measured it with the surveying tape. So here you see 260 00:15:22,520 --> 00:15:25,440 Speaker 1: a number of factors. Right, it was witnessed by other 261 00:15:25,520 --> 00:15:29,640 Speaker 1: people killed before he arrived. And as Murphy points out 262 00:15:29,960 --> 00:15:31,840 Speaker 1: on his website, where do you get a photo to 263 00:15:31,920 --> 00:15:38,520 Speaker 1: alot that quickly? In nineteen twelve, Sulawesi okay, so photograph, hearsay, 264 00:15:38,720 --> 00:15:42,560 Speaker 1: I'm not sure if the methods entirely Yeah, what could 265 00:15:42,600 --> 00:15:44,720 Speaker 1: go wrong with that? I know? And still, as he 266 00:15:44,760 --> 00:15:47,200 Speaker 1: points out, you still see that's that that that length 267 00:15:47,320 --> 00:15:50,840 Speaker 1: of that record length showing up in various articles and 268 00:15:51,280 --> 00:15:56,680 Speaker 1: wiki pages. Another record length that continued to pop up 269 00:15:56,720 --> 00:16:00,760 Speaker 1: throughout the later twentieth century came from the Done Lehman 270 00:16:00,880 --> 00:16:03,600 Speaker 1: record of a green anaconda. So the way this one 271 00:16:03,640 --> 00:16:07,000 Speaker 1: broke down is in nineteen forty four, herpetologist immit Ray 272 00:16:07,160 --> 00:16:10,800 Speaker 1: Read Done published an article on the reptiles of Columbia, 273 00:16:10,880 --> 00:16:13,800 Speaker 1: and it included a statement from his friend and geologist 274 00:16:14,040 --> 00:16:16,640 Speaker 1: Robert Lehman, who was working in the area for an 275 00:16:16,640 --> 00:16:19,480 Speaker 1: oil company. Lehman claimed to have killed and measured an 276 00:16:19,520 --> 00:16:24,080 Speaker 1: eleven point five meter anaconda in eastern Colombia. Raymond Gilmore 277 00:16:24,240 --> 00:16:27,560 Speaker 1: of the US Fish and Wildlife Service later investigated this 278 00:16:27,640 --> 00:16:31,800 Speaker 1: record in nineteen fifty four, and the results were less encouraging. 279 00:16:32,240 --> 00:16:34,560 Speaker 1: Lehman later stated in a in a letter about his 280 00:16:35,080 --> 00:16:37,560 Speaker 1: encounter with the snake. He says, if memory serves me right, 281 00:16:37,600 --> 00:16:40,080 Speaker 1: it required almost three lengths of the rod to obtain 282 00:16:40,080 --> 00:16:42,720 Speaker 1: the dimensions. But I could not swear to this in 283 00:16:42,760 --> 00:16:44,800 Speaker 1: that it may have just been almost two lengths of 284 00:16:44,840 --> 00:16:48,760 Speaker 1: the rod. So again you see somebody's sort of faint 285 00:16:48,800 --> 00:16:52,800 Speaker 1: recollection of how it went down in in a remote location, uh, 286 00:16:52,960 --> 00:16:55,480 Speaker 1: dealing with the un endeavor outside of his field of 287 00:16:55,480 --> 00:16:58,400 Speaker 1: expertise using a rod as a measurement, Yeah, for a 288 00:16:58,520 --> 00:17:03,400 Speaker 1: dead snake. So so hopefully this helps to illustrate just 289 00:17:03,440 --> 00:17:05,440 Speaker 1: a little bit of the problems you get into when 290 00:17:05,440 --> 00:17:09,240 Speaker 1: you're dealing with these these often old accounts of particularly 291 00:17:09,280 --> 00:17:13,080 Speaker 1: large specimens. All Right, we're gonna take a quick break 292 00:17:13,080 --> 00:17:14,840 Speaker 1: and we get back. We're going to venture into the 293 00:17:14,960 --> 00:17:28,040 Speaker 1: sarajn rainforest. Alright, we're back. Alright, Julie, let's jump into 294 00:17:28,040 --> 00:17:32,160 Speaker 1: the time machine, take us back to the hopefully safely, 295 00:17:32,680 --> 00:17:36,920 Speaker 1: to the Sarah Jean Rainforest. Well, the Sarah Hone Rainforest 296 00:17:37,119 --> 00:17:40,600 Speaker 1: once hosted the largest snake that ever existed, or that 297 00:17:40,640 --> 00:17:43,639 Speaker 1: we know about so far. And the reason why we 298 00:17:43,720 --> 00:17:48,240 Speaker 1: know that is because sixty million year old fossils of 299 00:17:48,320 --> 00:17:52,720 Speaker 1: the titan Boa sajus were discovered in a Colombian coal 300 00:17:52,800 --> 00:17:56,600 Speaker 1: mine by a paleontologists led by Jonathan Block of the 301 00:17:56,720 --> 00:18:01,160 Speaker 1: University of Florida and Carlo Sierramo of the Smithsonian Tropical 302 00:18:01,200 --> 00:18:05,679 Speaker 1: Research Institute. So, what we're talking about here, and we 303 00:18:05,720 --> 00:18:08,720 Speaker 1: won't go into too many specifics right now, but we're 304 00:18:08,760 --> 00:18:12,679 Speaker 1: talking about a snake that was longer than a great 305 00:18:12,720 --> 00:18:17,359 Speaker 1: white and bigger than a hippo. Now, the Titan Boa 306 00:18:17,640 --> 00:18:21,040 Speaker 1: was sustained by a neotropical rainforest that would have come 307 00:18:21,080 --> 00:18:25,879 Speaker 1: into existence in the Paleocene epoch, shortly after the extinction 308 00:18:25,880 --> 00:18:30,680 Speaker 1: of dinosaurs. But according to Scott Wing, a paleontologist from 309 00:18:30,680 --> 00:18:34,200 Speaker 1: the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, the rainforest had 310 00:18:34,240 --> 00:18:37,080 Speaker 1: a really low plant diversity, and he chalks this up 311 00:18:37,119 --> 00:18:39,240 Speaker 1: to well, it could either be because of a new 312 00:18:39,280 --> 00:18:43,360 Speaker 1: type of plant community that still hadn't had time to diversify, 313 00:18:43,720 --> 00:18:46,560 Speaker 1: or it was still recovering from the events that caused 314 00:18:46,560 --> 00:18:51,600 Speaker 1: the mass extinction of dinosaurs sixty five million years ago. Uh. 315 00:18:51,680 --> 00:18:54,000 Speaker 1: But of course, even though this was a huge creature, 316 00:18:54,080 --> 00:18:58,080 Speaker 1: that does not mean that it didn't have competition, because 317 00:18:58,119 --> 00:19:01,199 Speaker 1: in two thousand and eleven, University of Florida researchers discovered 318 00:19:01,200 --> 00:19:04,720 Speaker 1: the fossils of a twenty foot extinct species in that 319 00:19:05,000 --> 00:19:09,960 Speaker 1: same Colombian coal mine. And this is a freshwater relative 320 00:19:10,040 --> 00:19:13,280 Speaker 1: to modern crocodiles. It is the first known land animal 321 00:19:13,320 --> 00:19:19,000 Speaker 1: from Palatine New World tropics specialized for eating fish, meaning 322 00:19:19,359 --> 00:19:22,680 Speaker 1: that it competed with titan boa for food. And it's 323 00:19:22,720 --> 00:19:26,119 Speaker 1: the second crocodila form that was found in the same cave. 324 00:19:26,560 --> 00:19:28,480 Speaker 1: But of course the the other one was the diet 325 00:19:28,480 --> 00:19:31,000 Speaker 1: was more generalized, so it wouldn't have been competing with 326 00:19:31,040 --> 00:19:35,000 Speaker 1: the titan boa. So although this twenty ft long relative 327 00:19:35,040 --> 00:19:38,680 Speaker 1: to the croc would have been really formidable, uh, it's 328 00:19:39,000 --> 00:19:43,080 Speaker 1: it's a much smaller and more vulnerable offspring. Probably would 329 00:19:43,119 --> 00:19:46,840 Speaker 1: have shown up on Titan BoA's dinner plate. Yeah, they 330 00:19:46,840 --> 00:19:50,840 Speaker 1: were kind of co apex predators in this uh this 331 00:19:50,960 --> 00:19:57,399 Speaker 1: really steamy, dangerous world, tropical environment full of car size 332 00:19:57,480 --> 00:20:00,920 Speaker 1: turtles on one hand, and then twenty ft uh hell 333 00:20:01,000 --> 00:20:02,840 Speaker 1: crocks on the other. And I say hell crocks because 334 00:20:02,840 --> 00:20:05,600 Speaker 1: they named the species after one of the rivers and 335 00:20:05,800 --> 00:20:11,480 Speaker 1: Dante's inferno. Um. But then the Titana Boa itself uh 336 00:20:11,600 --> 00:20:15,040 Speaker 1: palon tagists estimate it's tip tip to tail length came 337 00:20:15,080 --> 00:20:18,359 Speaker 1: in into whopping forty two ft or thirteen meters, and 338 00:20:18,400 --> 00:20:21,760 Speaker 1: it weighed more than a ton um. It would have 339 00:20:21,800 --> 00:20:24,359 Speaker 1: looked something like a modern day Boa constrictor, but it 340 00:20:24,359 --> 00:20:28,080 Speaker 1: would have behaved more like the water dwelling anaconda that 341 00:20:28,200 --> 00:20:30,720 Speaker 1: we described in in the first half of this episode. 342 00:20:30,800 --> 00:20:34,520 Speaker 1: So again, it's it's massive weight is is is supported 343 00:20:34,640 --> 00:20:36,960 Speaker 1: by the buoyssey of the water, and it's using that 344 00:20:37,000 --> 00:20:40,200 Speaker 1: as a means to ambush its prey. Now, palont Is 345 00:20:40,280 --> 00:20:43,680 Speaker 1: really kind of hit the jackpot in actually discovering fossil 346 00:20:43,720 --> 00:20:47,639 Speaker 1: evidence of the Titana Boa because for one thing, you, 347 00:20:48,560 --> 00:20:51,960 Speaker 1: as we've discussed before, the whole fossil game is kind 348 00:20:51,960 --> 00:20:54,399 Speaker 1: of a game of chance in some respects, you know, 349 00:20:54,440 --> 00:20:57,000 Speaker 1: are the conditions going to be just right for the 350 00:20:57,000 --> 00:21:00,480 Speaker 1: preservation of the fossils so that we can actually get 351 00:21:00,480 --> 00:21:03,760 Speaker 1: a glimpse of what what kind of skeletons these creatures 352 00:21:03,880 --> 00:21:07,760 Speaker 1: and primordial age had. Well, in this case, they got 353 00:21:07,800 --> 00:21:11,600 Speaker 1: really fortunate because they found an entire skull, which is 354 00:21:11,640 --> 00:21:14,320 Speaker 1: which is almost unheard of, an entire snake skull, The 355 00:21:14,440 --> 00:21:17,719 Speaker 1: entire Titanoboa skull uh not broken into pieces, but just 356 00:21:17,920 --> 00:21:22,600 Speaker 1: completely contained. They're preserved in the shale mud of this environment. 357 00:21:22,880 --> 00:21:25,240 Speaker 1: And then they were able to collect some vertebrae as well. 358 00:21:25,720 --> 00:21:29,080 Speaker 1: And then by comparing the size of the preserved vertebrae 359 00:21:29,119 --> 00:21:33,239 Speaker 1: fossils with the vertebrae of existing large snakes, they were 360 00:21:33,280 --> 00:21:36,280 Speaker 1: able to extrapolate just how large it would have been. 361 00:21:36,400 --> 00:21:39,760 Speaker 1: So again, forty two ft long, more than a ton. 362 00:21:40,920 --> 00:21:45,920 Speaker 1: Virtually the king and or queen of the of the environment. 363 00:21:45,960 --> 00:21:49,720 Speaker 1: They're unrivaled. Once it reached its adult form, yeah, and 364 00:21:49,760 --> 00:21:52,840 Speaker 1: consider this an order to eat its prey whole. Titan 365 00:21:52,880 --> 00:21:56,600 Speaker 1: Boa had jaw bones that snapped apart and flexible ligaments 366 00:21:56,640 --> 00:22:01,520 Speaker 1: for opening its mouth almost one hundred and eighty degrees, 367 00:22:03,040 --> 00:22:06,640 Speaker 1: which led some very clever people at the Smithsonian Channel 368 00:22:07,320 --> 00:22:09,639 Speaker 1: to wonder because, by the way, the Smithsonian Channel has 369 00:22:09,760 --> 00:22:12,040 Speaker 1: a documentary on the Titan Boa, but it made them 370 00:22:12,040 --> 00:22:17,240 Speaker 1: wonder t Rex versus Titan Boa, who would come out 371 00:22:17,280 --> 00:22:19,560 Speaker 1: on top? And that's because the t Rex this we know, 372 00:22:19,640 --> 00:22:23,800 Speaker 1: has a ferocious bite, a bite force that's twice um 373 00:22:24,280 --> 00:22:27,360 Speaker 1: of a great white m guess. I mean it comes 374 00:22:27,359 --> 00:22:29,560 Speaker 1: down to who has a home turiff, I guess, and 375 00:22:29,680 --> 00:22:32,040 Speaker 1: which one is using the time machine obviously right because 376 00:22:32,040 --> 00:22:34,280 Speaker 1: they didn't exist at the same time. But it's it's 377 00:22:34,320 --> 00:22:36,720 Speaker 1: kind of fun to think about. Yeah. I think it 378 00:22:36,760 --> 00:22:38,679 Speaker 1: goes down in a like a B movie kind of 379 00:22:38,680 --> 00:22:41,520 Speaker 1: way where time travelers go back to check out the 380 00:22:41,560 --> 00:22:44,720 Speaker 1: Titana Boa, they get eaten. Titana Boa clowns into the 381 00:22:44,720 --> 00:22:48,480 Speaker 1: time machine, accidentally knocks the controls, and then it travels 382 00:22:48,480 --> 00:22:51,919 Speaker 1: through time battling various creatures. That sounds oddly like the 383 00:22:51,960 --> 00:22:55,680 Speaker 1: next alien movie in the franchise, perhaps, yeah, I say, 384 00:22:55,920 --> 00:22:58,639 Speaker 1: bring it on. Yeah, alright, so how could it have 385 00:22:58,760 --> 00:23:02,400 Speaker 1: gotten so big? We don't know exactly, of course, And 386 00:23:02,640 --> 00:23:06,520 Speaker 1: by the way, prehistoric largess is not exclusive to the 387 00:23:06,520 --> 00:23:10,680 Speaker 1: Titan Boa. For instance, the plant eating Argentina Saurus is 388 00:23:10,720 --> 00:23:13,080 Speaker 1: thought to have measured more than one hundred feet long 389 00:23:13,080 --> 00:23:16,159 Speaker 1: and weighed over one hundred tons, and the ground sloth 390 00:23:16,280 --> 00:23:22,000 Speaker 1: was the size of today's elephant. Can you imagine? I 391 00:23:22,000 --> 00:23:23,679 Speaker 1: I love to imagine it. We have a one of 392 00:23:23,680 --> 00:23:27,399 Speaker 1: those giant sloth replicas at the local Firm Bank Museum 393 00:23:27,480 --> 00:23:29,040 Speaker 1: here in Atlanta, and every time I get to look 394 00:23:29,080 --> 00:23:30,719 Speaker 1: at it, I'm just like, what would it be like 395 00:23:30,800 --> 00:23:33,800 Speaker 1: to smell this creature in her life? And I always 396 00:23:33,800 --> 00:23:36,679 Speaker 1: think of like, it looks like a rejected Muppet character 397 00:23:36,760 --> 00:23:38,560 Speaker 1: for me, and I love it. It's got that what 398 00:23:38,720 --> 00:23:42,479 Speaker 1: looks to be a smile alright. So one idea for 399 00:23:42,560 --> 00:23:45,880 Speaker 1: the largess is that when the ice ages occurred, warm 400 00:23:45,880 --> 00:23:49,680 Speaker 1: blooded animals increased in size to retain heat. Cold blooded 401 00:23:49,680 --> 00:23:54,480 Speaker 1: ones favored large bodies in warmer climates to better insulate 402 00:23:54,520 --> 00:23:57,000 Speaker 1: them from overheating, and as we see with the Titan Boa, 403 00:23:57,280 --> 00:24:00,280 Speaker 1: it was living in a neotropical rainforest, so that would 404 00:24:00,320 --> 00:24:04,199 Speaker 1: have made sense. Another theory requires that we look to 405 00:24:04,200 --> 00:24:07,280 Speaker 1: the dinosaurs living in the Cretaceous period. Carbon dioxide was 406 00:24:07,320 --> 00:24:09,840 Speaker 1: a lot more prevalent than today, and as a result, 407 00:24:09,880 --> 00:24:13,760 Speaker 1: the temperature was much higher and in some areas of 408 00:24:13,800 --> 00:24:17,680 Speaker 1: the world were carpeted by vegetation. So what does this mean. 409 00:24:17,720 --> 00:24:19,960 Speaker 1: It means that it's a kind of all you can 410 00:24:20,000 --> 00:24:26,199 Speaker 1: eat buffet um and the limits of morphology at that 411 00:24:26,280 --> 00:24:29,560 Speaker 1: time could have been expanding because it's no longer a 412 00:24:29,600 --> 00:24:34,000 Speaker 1: game of okay over time and evolutionary terms, the morphology 413 00:24:34,040 --> 00:24:38,400 Speaker 1: of these creatures has to shrink so that they require 414 00:24:38,520 --> 00:24:40,919 Speaker 1: less food and less energy. Nope, there's plenty of it 415 00:24:41,000 --> 00:24:43,879 Speaker 1: for everyone. It's a buffet. Indeed, when we're looking at 416 00:24:43,920 --> 00:24:46,399 Speaker 1: the size of Titana boah or the green anaconda or 417 00:24:46,400 --> 00:24:50,800 Speaker 1: the reticulated python, the maximum size has everything to do 418 00:24:50,880 --> 00:24:56,399 Speaker 1: with ambient environmental temperature, metabolic rate, and how much stuff 419 00:24:56,520 --> 00:24:58,639 Speaker 1: is there for them to eat. And if you travel 420 00:24:58,720 --> 00:25:01,520 Speaker 1: back to a steamy your time with a little more 421 00:25:01,560 --> 00:25:05,680 Speaker 1: biomass around, you're gonna get bigger snakes. Apparently a steamier time. 422 00:25:05,760 --> 00:25:10,840 Speaker 1: That sounds like um romance, Boustier bus star. Oh yeah, well, hey, 423 00:25:10,960 --> 00:25:14,800 Speaker 1: you know the Adam eve snake. That's all there, right, yeah, 424 00:25:14,880 --> 00:25:18,359 Speaker 1: and snake charmers. Yeah, this doesn't have to do with 425 00:25:18,400 --> 00:25:20,360 Speaker 1: the world's largest snake, but we thought we would roll 426 00:25:20,400 --> 00:25:23,159 Speaker 1: this up for you. If you live in you know, 427 00:25:23,440 --> 00:25:26,880 Speaker 1: South Asia and your snake charmer, you want a king cobra. 428 00:25:27,600 --> 00:25:30,560 Speaker 1: So although they can hear, they're actually deaf to ambient 429 00:25:30,600 --> 00:25:34,480 Speaker 1: noises that the flute would make. Right, So when you 430 00:25:34,600 --> 00:25:37,719 Speaker 1: see them responding to the snake charmer, it is really 431 00:25:37,800 --> 00:25:40,760 Speaker 1: just to the flute, to the movement to the flute, 432 00:25:40,960 --> 00:25:43,600 Speaker 1: and if the snake charmer is actually keeping a beat 433 00:25:44,160 --> 00:25:47,000 Speaker 1: with his foot on the ground, and so they're also 434 00:25:47,520 --> 00:25:51,000 Speaker 1: using those cues to move around. So it has nothing 435 00:25:51,119 --> 00:25:52,679 Speaker 1: really to do with the music of the flute, just 436 00:25:52,720 --> 00:25:54,720 Speaker 1: the shape of the flute, movement of the flute, and 437 00:25:54,760 --> 00:25:57,080 Speaker 1: the sound of the thumping on the ground. Yeah, that 438 00:25:57,280 --> 00:26:00,959 Speaker 1: music isn't that enthralling? All right? You know, we got 439 00:26:00,960 --> 00:26:03,040 Speaker 1: a few minutes here, Let's call over the robot and 440 00:26:03,080 --> 00:26:08,240 Speaker 1: do a little listener mail. All right. We received a 441 00:26:08,440 --> 00:26:12,240 Speaker 1: great bit of listener mail from a listener, Steffen, who 442 00:26:12,320 --> 00:26:16,199 Speaker 1: is a certified neurological music therapist. But he had an 443 00:26:16,240 --> 00:26:19,719 Speaker 1: interesting account of of sleep paralysis to share it with, 444 00:26:19,760 --> 00:26:22,080 Speaker 1: which is we've discussed in the past of sleep paralysis 445 00:26:22,160 --> 00:26:25,480 Speaker 1: is you know when you're you're you're waking up and 446 00:26:25,560 --> 00:26:29,280 Speaker 1: your body still on lockdown from dreaming and you're kind 447 00:26:29,280 --> 00:26:31,280 Speaker 1: of been. You're in the state in between that's really 448 00:26:31,320 --> 00:26:36,120 Speaker 1: prone to hallucination. Uh, he says. Periodically, since I was eighteen, 449 00:26:36,119 --> 00:26:40,359 Speaker 1: I've experienced sleep paralysis, which you mentioned on the podcast. However, 450 00:26:40,359 --> 00:26:42,520 Speaker 1: I've come to learn how to control it. I have 451 00:26:42,560 --> 00:26:48,320 Speaker 1: had many different hallucinatory experiences, including door swinging open, evil presences, 452 00:26:48,840 --> 00:26:52,199 Speaker 1: strong winds entering the bedroom, etcetera, but none compared to 453 00:26:52,200 --> 00:26:54,360 Speaker 1: the tipping point in the summer of two thousand six. 454 00:26:54,440 --> 00:26:56,879 Speaker 1: I returned home in the summer after my sleep paralysis 455 00:26:56,920 --> 00:26:59,560 Speaker 1: reutal freshman year at college. I was taking a nap 456 00:26:59,600 --> 00:27:03,199 Speaker 1: with my girlfriend when I when I became conscious and 457 00:27:03,240 --> 00:27:05,640 Speaker 1: could not move. Here we go, I thought to myself, 458 00:27:05,680 --> 00:27:10,400 Speaker 1: as the hallucinatory experience began completely, black demons with glowing 459 00:27:10,480 --> 00:27:13,239 Speaker 1: yellow eyes entered the room and surrounded the bed. I 460 00:27:13,280 --> 00:27:15,520 Speaker 1: threw myself out of the bed, only to be lifted 461 00:27:15,560 --> 00:27:18,040 Speaker 1: into the air by invisible forces and thrown back into 462 00:27:18,040 --> 00:27:20,119 Speaker 1: the bed like an apple core being tossed out of 463 00:27:20,119 --> 00:27:24,120 Speaker 1: a car window on the freeway. The demons began sinking 464 00:27:24,119 --> 00:27:26,560 Speaker 1: me into the bed as I was forced to suffocate 465 00:27:26,600 --> 00:27:29,000 Speaker 1: my own girlfriend. At the same time, I began shouting 466 00:27:29,000 --> 00:27:31,359 Speaker 1: wake up, wake up to my girlfriend, hoping that she 467 00:27:31,400 --> 00:27:33,719 Speaker 1: could wake up and stop the nightmare. I threw myself 468 00:27:33,720 --> 00:27:36,160 Speaker 1: out of the bed several more times, only to float 469 00:27:36,240 --> 00:27:39,200 Speaker 1: higher above the bed and sink deeper. When thrown back down, 470 00:27:39,560 --> 00:27:42,920 Speaker 1: I came within what felt like inches to death as 471 00:27:42,920 --> 00:27:45,600 Speaker 1: I sunk deeper and deeper into the mattress. Eventually I 472 00:27:45,680 --> 00:27:48,520 Speaker 1: closed my eyes and awoke from my nightmare. I asked 473 00:27:48,560 --> 00:27:51,160 Speaker 1: my girlfriend if she had heard me screaming or moving 474 00:27:51,240 --> 00:27:53,960 Speaker 1: or anything, and she told me no. At this point, 475 00:27:54,080 --> 00:27:58,040 Speaker 1: knowing nothing of sleep paralysis, I actually thought I was possessed. Immediately, 476 00:27:58,080 --> 00:28:00,639 Speaker 1: I went to the computer, began researching, and quickly found 477 00:28:00,640 --> 00:28:03,760 Speaker 1: out that I was experiencing sleep paralysis, typically induced in 478 00:28:03,840 --> 00:28:07,560 Speaker 1: periods of transition in life, stress moving to college being one. 479 00:28:07,640 --> 00:28:10,800 Speaker 1: Of course, I was comforted. I've been fascinated with possession 480 00:28:10,800 --> 00:28:13,520 Speaker 1: in high school and had many debates with my religious 481 00:28:13,520 --> 00:28:16,360 Speaker 1: friends on the concepts of demons and exorcism, so this 482 00:28:16,560 --> 00:28:20,800 Speaker 1: experience was already hiding somewhere in my subconscious. Therefore, when 483 00:28:20,840 --> 00:28:23,679 Speaker 1: I woke up and couldn't move, I became frightened and uh. 484 00:28:23,960 --> 00:28:26,399 Speaker 1: And because I was frightened still in rim sleep, my 485 00:28:26,480 --> 00:28:30,280 Speaker 1: hallucinatory experiences were frightening in nature. As time went on, 486 00:28:30,359 --> 00:28:32,760 Speaker 1: I continued to experience sleep paralysis, but I was no 487 00:28:32,800 --> 00:28:35,199 Speaker 1: longer scared of the experience, and I learned how to 488 00:28:35,200 --> 00:28:38,120 Speaker 1: control my hallucinations. Thank you for reading, and hopefully this 489 00:28:38,200 --> 00:28:40,800 Speaker 1: story will help someone who may be experiencing the terror 490 00:28:40,920 --> 00:28:45,400 Speaker 1: that is sleep paralysis have a wonderful weekend. Yeah, thank 491 00:28:45,400 --> 00:28:48,200 Speaker 1: you for sharing that. I just terrifying. Have you had 492 00:28:48,200 --> 00:28:49,920 Speaker 1: it before? I have not had it, but I've I've 493 00:28:49,920 --> 00:28:53,160 Speaker 1: read enough accounts of it, and certainly Oliver Sacks goes 494 00:28:53,160 --> 00:28:57,120 Speaker 1: into it at depth in his book Hallucinations. And yet 495 00:28:57,200 --> 00:29:00,480 Speaker 1: even if you only experience one k to it in 496 00:29:00,520 --> 00:29:05,120 Speaker 1: your life, and uh, statistics very I think goes high 497 00:29:05,280 --> 00:29:09,000 Speaker 1: as of people have experienced at least one case. Yeah, 498 00:29:09,080 --> 00:29:12,800 Speaker 1: I've had it throughout my life pretty sparsely, um in 499 00:29:12,880 --> 00:29:16,280 Speaker 1: the last ten years. But my husband has been a 500 00:29:16,280 --> 00:29:18,560 Speaker 1: little bit freaked out before because he said that I 501 00:29:18,640 --> 00:29:24,160 Speaker 1: was completely still once, but I was going I wasn't 502 00:29:24,200 --> 00:29:26,840 Speaker 1: opening my mouth or anything, but he could hear sound 503 00:29:26,880 --> 00:29:31,080 Speaker 1: being made inside my mouth, and in my dream I 504 00:29:31,200 --> 00:29:35,680 Speaker 1: was full on screaming with my mouth open. But yeah, 505 00:29:35,800 --> 00:29:38,479 Speaker 1: it can it can be a little unsettling, all right. 506 00:29:38,520 --> 00:29:42,240 Speaker 1: We have another listener email here from Brent. He says, Hello, 507 00:29:42,280 --> 00:29:44,040 Speaker 1: I'm a very big fan. You guys do a wonderful 508 00:29:44,120 --> 00:29:47,200 Speaker 1: job explaining the topic you take on in your podcast. 509 00:29:47,240 --> 00:29:50,280 Speaker 1: I was listening to a podcast on hallucinations. My family 510 00:29:50,320 --> 00:29:53,000 Speaker 1: suffered from sleepwalking. As far back as I have been 511 00:29:53,040 --> 00:29:56,160 Speaker 1: able to track, my family, particularly the males, have had 512 00:29:56,240 --> 00:30:00,960 Speaker 1: sleepwalking issues. As I have aged now sixty, my sleepwalking 513 00:30:01,000 --> 00:30:03,920 Speaker 1: frequently has decreased a very seldom, but my son, who 514 00:30:03,960 --> 00:30:07,360 Speaker 1: has thirty, still sleepwalks every night. I've had episodes of 515 00:30:07,400 --> 00:30:10,800 Speaker 1: sleepwalking that I remember struggling with what I was seeing 516 00:30:10,840 --> 00:30:13,480 Speaker 1: and what my mind is telling me I should be seeing. 517 00:30:13,840 --> 00:30:16,880 Speaker 1: When I'm sleepwalking, I see everything and everyone that I 518 00:30:16,960 --> 00:30:20,520 Speaker 1: would if I was awake, except my mind creates more 519 00:30:20,560 --> 00:30:25,040 Speaker 1: images and or smells, textures, and sounds. I could write 520 00:30:25,080 --> 00:30:28,840 Speaker 1: a book about my sleepwalking experiences. My understanding is the 521 00:30:28,920 --> 00:30:33,080 Speaker 1: mind is lost between normal sleeping mode and awake mode, 522 00:30:33,120 --> 00:30:37,040 Speaker 1: allowing the brain to create the show normally done when asleep, 523 00:30:37,080 --> 00:30:39,960 Speaker 1: but allowing the person to talk and respond to people 524 00:30:39,960 --> 00:30:42,600 Speaker 1: and things around them. The person's eyes are open and 525 00:30:42,600 --> 00:30:45,320 Speaker 1: can carry on conversation with people. Would like to hear 526 00:30:45,320 --> 00:30:48,680 Speaker 1: what you can tell me about this, and I've gotten 527 00:30:48,760 --> 00:30:50,560 Speaker 1: my queue and it's been in there for a while. 528 00:30:50,600 --> 00:30:52,080 Speaker 1: I need to get to it. I believe it's called 529 00:30:52,120 --> 00:30:55,280 Speaker 1: Sleepwalk with Me, And this is the account of the 530 00:30:55,320 --> 00:31:00,840 Speaker 1: guy who has had some like extreme sleep walking um 531 00:31:01,040 --> 00:31:03,640 Speaker 1: situations throughout his life where he actually has to sleep 532 00:31:03,760 --> 00:31:06,600 Speaker 1: to h zip himself up into a sleeping bag to 533 00:31:06,600 --> 00:31:11,440 Speaker 1: try to prevent him from escaping. Yeah, that's that's some 534 00:31:11,560 --> 00:31:15,800 Speaker 1: extreme parasomnia for sure. All right, let's do one last 535 00:31:15,840 --> 00:31:19,080 Speaker 1: listener mail. This comes to us from Benjamin. Benjamin says, Hi, 536 00:31:19,160 --> 00:31:21,160 Speaker 1: I stuff to blow your mind crew. I'm a relatively 537 00:31:21,160 --> 00:31:23,120 Speaker 1: new listener coming to your podcast from Other House Stuff 538 00:31:23,160 --> 00:31:25,560 Speaker 1: Works podcast, and I love it already. I recently listened 539 00:31:25,600 --> 00:31:27,560 Speaker 1: to your episode could You Outrun a Fireball, which was 540 00:31:27,560 --> 00:31:30,640 Speaker 1: great as always, but covered the possibility about running wildfire 541 00:31:30,720 --> 00:31:33,000 Speaker 1: or explosion. I will admit reading the title, I had 542 00:31:33,000 --> 00:31:36,800 Speaker 1: imagined a slightly different subject, rather than explosions or wildfire, 543 00:31:36,880 --> 00:31:40,600 Speaker 1: outrunning an actual ball of fire or more precisely, plasma. 544 00:31:41,000 --> 00:31:43,400 Speaker 1: Early in my life I worked as an electronics technician 545 00:31:43,400 --> 00:31:45,520 Speaker 1: aboard a warship in the U. S. Navy. In the 546 00:31:45,520 --> 00:31:47,680 Speaker 1: course of my work, I periodically had to work in 547 00:31:47,680 --> 00:31:52,280 Speaker 1: the vicinity of energized gear live bus bars carrying extremely 548 00:31:52,360 --> 00:31:56,440 Speaker 1: high voltage and high current since operation. Since operation is 549 00:31:56,520 --> 00:31:58,920 Speaker 1: key for a worship worship, we do not always have 550 00:31:58,960 --> 00:32:01,480 Speaker 1: the luxury of turning off the power to conduct repairs 551 00:32:01,560 --> 00:32:04,479 Speaker 1: or maintenance. My crew always took ample precautions for this, 552 00:32:04,520 --> 00:32:08,200 Speaker 1: But Navy ghost stories were common about the dreaded plasma ball. 553 00:32:08,880 --> 00:32:10,640 Speaker 1: As the story goes, a worker near one of these 554 00:32:10,680 --> 00:32:14,160 Speaker 1: high voltage panels accidentally dropped a larger wrench, which touched 555 00:32:14,160 --> 00:32:16,680 Speaker 1: two of the bus bars and caused a short. At 556 00:32:16,760 --> 00:32:19,720 Speaker 1: voltages this high, the arc vaporized the middle of the 557 00:32:19,760 --> 00:32:23,120 Speaker 1: two inch thick steel wrench and created a cloud of 558 00:32:23,120 --> 00:32:26,720 Speaker 1: superheated metal particles of plasma ball. Not only are these 559 00:32:26,760 --> 00:32:29,640 Speaker 1: things extraordinarily dangerous, as they are in order of magnitude 560 00:32:29,680 --> 00:32:32,040 Speaker 1: hotter than any normal fire. As the story goes, it 561 00:32:32,160 --> 00:32:34,760 Speaker 1: chased a man as he ran for his life. The 562 00:32:34,800 --> 00:32:37,360 Speaker 1: explanation they give is that when you run, it creates 563 00:32:37,400 --> 00:32:40,640 Speaker 1: an eddy current or an area of lower pressure behind 564 00:32:40,720 --> 00:32:43,560 Speaker 1: you that the floating ball of plasma is drawn into. 565 00:32:44,120 --> 00:32:46,720 Speaker 1: Though this coutionary tale has a rather gruesome end, I 566 00:32:46,760 --> 00:32:49,000 Speaker 1: thought it would make for a great follow up topic 567 00:32:49,080 --> 00:32:52,040 Speaker 1: about fireballs. I cannot vouch for the scientific accuracy of 568 00:32:52,080 --> 00:32:54,600 Speaker 1: the claim, as it is just a story passed around, 569 00:32:54,800 --> 00:32:57,440 Speaker 1: but the exclamation seems plausible to me. I would love 570 00:32:57,440 --> 00:32:59,440 Speaker 1: to hear your take on it. Thanks, and keep up 571 00:32:59,440 --> 00:33:03,680 Speaker 1: a great show. Been from Virginia. Well, that sounds fascinating. 572 00:33:03,720 --> 00:33:06,680 Speaker 1: I would love to look into the into into the 573 00:33:06,720 --> 00:33:11,040 Speaker 1: possible existence of of plasma balls about aboard navy vessels. 574 00:33:11,520 --> 00:33:16,400 Speaker 1: Plasma balls I mean chasing down unfortunate sailors and burning 575 00:33:16,440 --> 00:33:20,560 Speaker 1: them the embers. I love it. You love the idea 576 00:33:20,560 --> 00:33:25,640 Speaker 1: of the not a lot, but I love the idea, 577 00:33:25,800 --> 00:33:29,560 Speaker 1: the idea of the plasma ball. All right, Hey, in 578 00:33:29,600 --> 00:33:32,320 Speaker 1: the meantime, we've you want to see what other episodes 579 00:33:32,360 --> 00:33:35,960 Speaker 1: we've covered, blog post videos, links out of social media? 580 00:33:36,040 --> 00:33:37,720 Speaker 1: What have you head on? Over stuff to Blow your 581 00:33:37,760 --> 00:33:39,840 Speaker 1: mind dot com? That is the mothership. That is uh 582 00:33:39,920 --> 00:33:42,800 Speaker 1: that's the homepage. And if you have thoughts we want 583 00:33:42,800 --> 00:33:45,000 Speaker 1: to hear them. You can send them to us by 584 00:33:45,120 --> 00:33:48,080 Speaker 1: emailing us at blow the Mind at house to works 585 00:33:48,160 --> 00:33:54,280 Speaker 1: dot com for more on this and thousands of other topics. 586 00:33:54,520 --> 00:34:00,000 Speaker 1: Is it how stuff works dot Com