WEBVTT - 9 Chomp-worthy facts about Alligators

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Part Time Genius, the production of iHeartRadio, Guess

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<v Speaker 1>What Will?

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<v Speaker 2>What's that Mango?

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<v Speaker 1>So I was thinking about how sometimes we forget that

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<v Speaker 1>all these simple things around us.

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<v Speaker 2>Are really music, and what do you mean by that?

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<v Speaker 1>Like I was in traffic coming from the airport this

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<v Speaker 1>weekend and everyone was honking, and I remembered how most

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<v Speaker 1>cars actually honk in the key of F or. This

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<v Speaker 1>is another thing. When I was in high school, this

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<v Speaker 1>kid Sean, and my jazz band realized that our high

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<v Speaker 1>school's bell rang at I think a G. So when

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<v Speaker 1>the class was over and the first bell rang, everyone

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<v Speaker 1>would harmonize and play a G seven chord on their instruments.

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<v Speaker 1>It's so nerdy, so stupid, but of course I loved it.

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<v Speaker 1>But this week I learned that if you want to

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<v Speaker 1>get an alligator's attention, all you have to do is

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<v Speaker 1>grab your tuba and play a B flat.

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<v Speaker 3>Okay, I like that for this experiment, all you have

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<v Speaker 3>to have You got to have an alligator and a

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<v Speaker 3>tube nearby. But so what exactly happens when you play

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<v Speaker 3>a B flat?

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<v Speaker 1>It is magical because for some reason, that note arouses

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<v Speaker 1>male gators, and when an alligator hears it, it'll bellow

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<v Speaker 1>or call back to you.

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<v Speaker 2>Is this a real thing?

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, it's actually got this great origin story. So apparently

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<v Speaker 1>in the nineteen forties, the New York Philharmonic took a

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<v Speaker 1>field trip to the Natural History Museum and while they

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<v Speaker 1>were warming up there, this alligator named Oscar, who I

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<v Speaker 1>guess was a part of the natural history exhibit at

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<v Speaker 1>the time, he just started moaning.

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<v Speaker 2>And you know, they're all.

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<v Speaker 1>These scientists there and they were watching, and you know,

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<v Speaker 1>he'd start moaning, and then the instruments would play, and

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<v Speaker 1>then he'd moan, and then he'd stop and it would

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<v Speaker 1>start again. And so you know, the scientists stopped the

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<v Speaker 1>musicians and got them to start playing different notes to

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<v Speaker 1>see what was specifically causing it. And for whatever reason,

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<v Speaker 1>it turns out B flat was the key to the

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<v Speaker 1>alligator call. Thanks to this great science done by Oscar

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<v Speaker 1>and the New York Philharmonic, plenty of folks have actually

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<v Speaker 1>repeated experiment and gotten alligators to duet with them. But

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<v Speaker 1>you actually have to remember, not any B flat works.

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<v Speaker 1>You actually have to play the B flat that's one

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<v Speaker 1>octave below middle sea to really get them going. Okay,

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<v Speaker 1>that's just the first of nine wonderful facts we've got

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<v Speaker 1>about alligators today.

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<v Speaker 2>So let's dig in.

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<v Speaker 3>Hey, their podcast listeners, welcome to part time Genius. I'm

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<v Speaker 3>Will Pearson and as always I'm joined by my good

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<v Speaker 3>friend mangesh Hot Ticketter. And on the other side of

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<v Speaker 3>that soundproof glass are good Buddy Ramsey.

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<v Speaker 2>He's giving us his best toothy grin. All right, mego.

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<v Speaker 3>So it's been a while since we've done one of

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<v Speaker 3>these shows. I know I've actually missed it so much.

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<v Speaker 3>And two things before we can this off.

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<v Speaker 1>One, I promised that if and when we finally started

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<v Speaker 1>doing the show again, we'd give a shout out to

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<v Speaker 1>our listener's son, Apollo, who is a fan of the

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<v Speaker 1>show or was a fan of the show. But Apollo,

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<v Speaker 1>if you're listening, tag us on Instagram. We want to

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<v Speaker 1>see what you're up to.

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<v Speaker 2>What's up, Apollo, This weird show.

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<v Speaker 1>About alligators is for you. And two, Will, I know

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<v Speaker 1>you've gone to Saint Pete's in Florida so many times,

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<v Speaker 1>but I don't know why you didn't tell me that

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<v Speaker 1>they keep baby alligators in their mini golf places there.

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<v Speaker 3>The only downside to doing this episode is that I

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<v Speaker 3>was hoping to save this for when we both I know,

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<v Speaker 3>both of us really want to retire to Florida, and

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<v Speaker 3>since we're really bad at most sports instead of golf,

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<v Speaker 3>we were going to retire there to play mini golf.

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<v Speaker 3>And that's when I was going to tell you, Yeah,

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<v Speaker 3>the big reveal.

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<v Speaker 1>So my in laws rented a place there for winter

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<v Speaker 1>break and we took my kids mini golfing. And the

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<v Speaker 1>fact that there were tiny gators that you could feed.

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<v Speaker 2>These pellets so crazy.

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<v Speaker 1>You put alligator food on the little fishing and send

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<v Speaker 1>it down. Honestly, it was the greatest thing. And the

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<v Speaker 1>mini golf was so unremarkable, but the fact that my

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<v Speaker 1>tiny monsters were feeding these tiny monsters was just great.

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<v Speaker 1>So I thought, you know, I wanted to learn more

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<v Speaker 1>about gators.

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<v Speaker 2>That's awesome. And actually you have one more reason, right.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, And this one's a little more personal. My dad

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<v Speaker 1>has been pretty ill recently. I know I told you this,

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<v Speaker 1>but he can't really watch things. But he loves you,

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<v Speaker 1>and he has stacks of mental floss in his garage

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<v Speaker 1>and he's a huge, huge, part time genius fan. So

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<v Speaker 1>he and Apollo might be the only ones left off there.

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<v Speaker 1>But I thought hearing us laugh and be goofy and

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<v Speaker 1>sharing facts who would make him smile. So thank you

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<v Speaker 1>for making the time to do some more episodes with me.

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<v Speaker 2>Oh, I love your dad.

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<v Speaker 3>This was a no brainer to do this, And it

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<v Speaker 3>makes sense for this topic because when I think of

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<v Speaker 3>your dad, I always think of his love for these big,

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<v Speaker 3>aggressive reptiles. It's kind of like his thing. So it

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<v Speaker 3>makes sense you pick this theme especially for him. But

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<v Speaker 3>we've actually got eight facts to go. So what do

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<v Speaker 3>you say I do the next one?

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, go for it, all right.

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<v Speaker 3>So I actually wanted to build on your b flat

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<v Speaker 3>fact because bellowing is one of those things crocodiles do

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<v Speaker 3>as a mating ritual. And so the bellow does this

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<v Speaker 3>amazing thing to the water. It's where the alligator just

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<v Speaker 3>raises his head and tail out of the water, so

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<v Speaker 3>his back and belly are still submerged. You know, it's

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<v Speaker 3>almost like if you imagine like a banana curved up

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<v Speaker 3>and so you lower it into the water so both

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<v Speaker 3>ends are sticking out and you know you can picture this, right,

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<v Speaker 3>except instead of a banana, it's a gate. Just go

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<v Speaker 3>with me, just just think about it. And so when

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<v Speaker 3>the gator bellows or does its deep grow. These vibrations

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<v Speaker 3>make the water around its body kind of kind of

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<v Speaker 3>like ripple out.

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<v Speaker 2>It's actually pretty spectacular if.

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<v Speaker 3>You look at this in slow motion, and it's very

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<v Speaker 3>very appealing to female alligators of course.

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<v Speaker 1>And is that the main way that male alligators like

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<v Speaker 1>court females like They don't dim lights and play smooth.

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<v Speaker 3>Jazz, neither of those things. But this is one part

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<v Speaker 3>of it. So sometimes you'll hear one gator bellow and

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<v Speaker 3>then another male gator, well, we'll try to out bellow

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<v Speaker 3>it by making its own giant ripples. But gators have

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<v Speaker 3>some of the most amazing and really romantic courting rituals too.

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<v Speaker 3>There was this piece in Wired I was looking at

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<v Speaker 3>and they like quote head slapping on the water's surface,

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<v Speaker 3>snout and back rubbing, and blowing bubbles, you know, the usual.

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<v Speaker 2>It's pretty awesome.

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<v Speaker 1>That's pretty romantic. So here's one I hadn't realized. I know,

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<v Speaker 1>Cape Canaverl is in Florida, and it's where NASA launches

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<v Speaker 1>and land shuttles, but I didn't realize the land around

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<v Speaker 1>it is actually a wildlife sanctuary. And this is all

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<v Speaker 1>stuff I learned in modern farmer. But in the nineteen sixties,

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<v Speaker 1>NASA bought about one hundred and forty five thousand acres

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<v Speaker 1>of coastal property there, but since they only needed about

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<v Speaker 1>six thousand acres, they turned the rest into this Merritt

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<v Speaker 1>Island National Wildlife Refuge. But according to modern farmer, that

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<v Speaker 1>proximity to wildlife has definitely caused some issues. And I'm

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<v Speaker 1>reading here quote morning commuters have to wait as bobcats

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<v Speaker 1>cross the roadway. Shuttle launches are stalled by armadillos, woodpeckers

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<v Speaker 1>poke holes in fuel tanks. But according to the guy

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<v Speaker 1>who manages the island call center, the biggest issue at

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<v Speaker 1>NASA is with of course, gators. And here's how we

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<v Speaker 1>put it. Quote we've got gators blocking doorways, climbing fences.

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<v Speaker 1>We've got little bitty ones to shore big enough the gators.

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<v Speaker 1>NASA employees are encouraged to keep alert indoors and out.

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<v Speaker 1>You're never supposed to feed the gators, and always check

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<v Speaker 1>on your cars before hopping in. And since I can't

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<v Speaker 1>get off this b flat thing, sometimes when the shuttles land,

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<v Speaker 1>the gators start bellowing because they're trying to outdo the shuttles.

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<v Speaker 2>Mating call. Wow.

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<v Speaker 3>Actually, I think this episode could have just been about

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<v Speaker 3>B flat. We should do a separate one just on

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<v Speaker 3>B flat. But I need you to back up for

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<v Speaker 3>a second. So what are you supposed to do if

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<v Speaker 3>you see a gator?

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<v Speaker 2>I mean, go back inside. I guess that's good advice.

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<v Speaker 1>There's really only one account I read about an employee

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<v Speaker 1>trying to deal with a gator on his own. He

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<v Speaker 1>apparently made karate chopping motions and kept yelling hi yah,

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<v Speaker 1>and the gator hissed and spit, but apparently eventually went away.

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<v Speaker 1>So I guess if you know you have to deal

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<v Speaker 1>with a gator, learn karate.

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<v Speaker 3>Okay, all right, I'll think about that. And I actually

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<v Speaker 3>I realized this is off topic. But did you read

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<v Speaker 3>about the guy with the alligator at the drive through

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<v Speaker 3>while you were researching for this episode?

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<v Speaker 2>No? What was this recently? All right?

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<v Speaker 3>So this was again talking about Florida kind of reminded

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<v Speaker 3>me about this. This is back from I think it

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<v Speaker 3>was twenty sixteen. So there was this kid that apparently

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<v Speaker 3>drove up to a Windy's. He made an order, he

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<v Speaker 3>got his drink, and then of course he tossed the

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<v Speaker 3>three foot gator through the window of the drive through. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 3>thankfully nobody was heard, and he didn't really have a motive.

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<v Speaker 3>Apparently his mom's defense to the local news was that,

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<v Speaker 3>you know, he's just a big prankster and can't help himself.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, franksters, what happened to him?

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<v Speaker 3>So he got charged with quote assault with a deadly weapon,

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<v Speaker 3>which I guess is, you know, not far off. And

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<v Speaker 3>the judge had some pretty strict terms for him. So

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<v Speaker 3>one of the punishments he's banned from Wendy's for life. So,

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<v Speaker 3>I mean, you gotta really think twice before you throw

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<v Speaker 3>a game through a drive through because you cannot go

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<v Speaker 3>back for that spicy chicken sandwich. And he was told

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<v Speaker 3>that he couldn't frattenize with any animals except his mother's dog,

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<v Speaker 3>which of course makes sense.

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<v Speaker 1>So my son Henry does the worst pranks like he

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<v Speaker 1>is under the mistaken impression that just saying April Fools

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<v Speaker 1>absolves you of anything you do. And two years ago

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<v Speaker 1>he decided to pour some water in our bed as

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<v Speaker 1>a prank, and right before bed he took three giant

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<v Speaker 1>pine glasses.

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<v Speaker 2>Of water and poured them on our mattress. Gotcha, I got.

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<v Speaker 1>So mad we had to sleep on the guest bed

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<v Speaker 1>in the living room for two days before the thing

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<v Speaker 1>cried out.

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<v Speaker 2>Wow. Yeah, that's quite the frank.

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<v Speaker 1>But I'm really hoping that he never gets access to alligators.

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<v Speaker 1>So your fact kind of sounds like the most Florida

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<v Speaker 1>man headline I've heard in a while. But but do

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<v Speaker 1>you want to do another fact to make off for it?

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah?

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<v Speaker 3>Yeah, let me see which one I want to want

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<v Speaker 3>to do next. All right, Well, this is something I

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<v Speaker 3>think is super cool. So alligators obviously seem tough because

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<v Speaker 3>they've got that bony armor on their skin, and they

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<v Speaker 3>can climb fences like you mentioned and do these death

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<v Speaker 3>rolls and things like that. But even their blood is

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<v Speaker 3>actually tougher than ours. So part of the reason you

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<v Speaker 3>never see an alligator with colds and flus, Like, have

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<v Speaker 3>you ever seen an.

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<v Speaker 2>Alligator with a cold ango?

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<v Speaker 3>You know, I haven't. It's weird you haven't, And that's

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<v Speaker 3>because it does not sell to them. No, it really

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<v Speaker 3>doesn't doesn't work at all, because they have this incredible

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<v Speaker 3>immune system. These scientists in Louisiana have actually discovered that

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<v Speaker 3>the serum and alligator blood can fight off viruses and

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<v Speaker 3>bacteria can actually destroy most of the microbes in HIV.

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<v Speaker 3>It's actually part of the reason that when an alligator

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<v Speaker 3>tail is severed in a swamp, even if the water

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<v Speaker 3>is muddy and dirty, the animals rarely get infections. So

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<v Speaker 3>this discovery is incredible because it has all sorts of

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<v Speaker 3>potential applications for humans. I was looking at this article

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<v Speaker 3>in National Geographic talking about this, and it was showing

0:11:04.679 --> 0:11:08.960
<v Speaker 3>that the resulting medicines could help everyone from like diabetes

0:11:09.040 --> 0:11:12.520
<v Speaker 3>patients with foot ulcers, to burn victims to people suffering

0:11:12.559 --> 0:11:14.360
<v Speaker 3>from various autoimmune diseases.

0:11:14.480 --> 0:11:15.520
<v Speaker 2>That's pretty remarkable.

0:11:15.640 --> 0:11:17.400
<v Speaker 1>It's kind of funny that something like a bat could

0:11:17.400 --> 0:11:19.920
<v Speaker 1>give as COVID, but an alligator might be the one.

0:11:19.720 --> 0:11:20.760
<v Speaker 2>To cure it. Exactly.

0:11:20.880 --> 0:11:22.920
<v Speaker 1>Your here's a ridiculous one I like just because I

0:11:23.000 --> 0:11:26.840
<v Speaker 1>like picturing it. Apparently alligators have two types of walks,

0:11:27.320 --> 0:11:30.040
<v Speaker 1>a high walk and a low walk or a sprawl.

0:11:30.120 --> 0:11:33.200
<v Speaker 2>As does that mean, well, the low walk.

0:11:33.080 --> 0:11:35.400
<v Speaker 1>Is cooler, Like they kind of drag their belly on

0:11:35.440 --> 0:11:38.240
<v Speaker 1>the ground and they kind of lazily pull themselves along.

0:11:38.480 --> 0:11:41.040
<v Speaker 1>But you know, whether on the move or late for

0:11:41.120 --> 0:11:45.000
<v Speaker 1>a meeting, they high tail it. Literally they raise their

0:11:45.000 --> 0:11:47.520
<v Speaker 1>bellies and half their tail up off the ground and

0:11:47.559 --> 0:11:50.439
<v Speaker 1>they kind of stand upright on all fours and.

0:11:50.400 --> 0:11:51.320
<v Speaker 2>Then they really move.

0:11:51.400 --> 0:11:53.400
<v Speaker 1>And I didn't realize this, but according to our Palasa

0:11:53.520 --> 0:11:57.320
<v Speaker 1>how stuff works, alligators aren't really hunters or gathers. They're

0:11:57.360 --> 0:12:01.040
<v Speaker 1>more what they call lurkers. They kind of just lunge

0:12:01.040 --> 0:12:03.800
<v Speaker 1>at food, so they're opportunistic and they can actually go

0:12:03.840 --> 0:12:05.520
<v Speaker 1>a few years without eating if they need to. But

0:12:05.520 --> 0:12:08.440
<v Speaker 1>when they decide they're really hungry, they can really high

0:12:08.520 --> 0:12:11.840
<v Speaker 1>walk to a meal. They can apparently reach peak speeds

0:12:11.880 --> 0:12:13.720
<v Speaker 1>of thirty five miles.

0:12:13.400 --> 0:12:15.200
<v Speaker 2>Per hour on Wow, that's fast.

0:12:15.320 --> 0:12:18.200
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, but they also tire very very quickly, so they're

0:12:18.200 --> 0:12:20.079
<v Speaker 1>never going to be an antelope in a marathon or

0:12:20.520 --> 0:12:21.280
<v Speaker 1>a half marathon.

0:12:21.360 --> 0:12:23.160
<v Speaker 2>All right, that's another good fact to write down.

0:12:23.240 --> 0:12:27.320
<v Speaker 3>So but speaking of facts, we've got three more facts

0:12:27.360 --> 0:12:29.319
<v Speaker 3>to go. But let's take a quick break and we'll

0:12:29.360 --> 0:12:45.640
<v Speaker 3>be right back. Welcome back to Part Time Genius, where

0:12:45.640 --> 0:12:47.800
<v Speaker 3>we're talking all about gators today.

0:12:48.120 --> 0:12:49.920
<v Speaker 2>All right, what did you want to talk about next? Mego?

0:12:50.240 --> 0:12:53.320
<v Speaker 1>So, something I think is super cool about alligators is

0:12:53.360 --> 0:12:57.200
<v Speaker 1>that their sex isn't predetermined by genetics. It actually has

0:12:57.280 --> 0:12:59.560
<v Speaker 1>all to do with the temperature you store an alligator

0:12:59.559 --> 0:13:02.160
<v Speaker 1>egg at. Actually, just just to take a step back,

0:13:02.240 --> 0:13:04.360
<v Speaker 1>One thing that's fascinating is that in the nineteen fifties

0:13:04.400 --> 0:13:07.960
<v Speaker 1>and sixties, alligators were nearly hunted to extinction in America.

0:13:08.480 --> 0:13:10.760
<v Speaker 1>But part of the reason they managed to recover is

0:13:10.800 --> 0:13:13.240
<v Speaker 1>that the gators lay a lot of eggs, like thirty

0:13:13.320 --> 0:13:15.840
<v Speaker 1>to fifty of them at one time, so once there

0:13:15.880 --> 0:13:18.520
<v Speaker 1>were more restrictions on hunting, they made a quick comeback.

0:13:18.920 --> 0:13:23.000
<v Speaker 1>But gators make a giant nest like three feet high

0:13:23.040 --> 0:13:25.640
<v Speaker 1>and six feet wide, and then they bury their eggs

0:13:25.640 --> 0:13:29.040
<v Speaker 1>inside it, and the eggs that incubate at around eighty

0:13:29.080 --> 0:13:31.800
<v Speaker 1>degrees will turn out female, but the ones that incubate

0:13:31.800 --> 0:13:34.480
<v Speaker 1>it closer to ninety degrees will be male, and in

0:13:34.559 --> 0:13:37.040
<v Speaker 1>between is just a mix of males and females, which

0:13:37.160 --> 0:13:39.560
<v Speaker 1>I think is kind of remarkable. But the other thing

0:13:39.600 --> 0:13:42.680
<v Speaker 1>that's interesting about alligators is that the moms also stick

0:13:42.720 --> 0:13:46.160
<v Speaker 1>around to protect their hatchlings, which is super rare in

0:13:46.200 --> 0:13:49.920
<v Speaker 1>modern reptiles and more common frankly to birds and some

0:13:50.040 --> 0:13:51.200
<v Speaker 1>dinosaur species.

0:13:51.280 --> 0:13:53.360
<v Speaker 2>That is really interesting. So we're down to.

0:13:53.320 --> 0:13:55.640
<v Speaker 1>Two last facts, and I'm curious, what do you have

0:13:55.840 --> 0:13:57.240
<v Speaker 1>as your final last fact.

0:13:57.320 --> 0:14:00.360
<v Speaker 3>For my final fact, I think the most insane thing

0:14:00.360 --> 0:14:03.080
<v Speaker 3>I found this week is from this article on Smithsonian

0:14:03.480 --> 0:14:07.119
<v Speaker 3>and it's called When Kids Played with Alligators in Los Angeles,

0:14:07.480 --> 0:14:09.320
<v Speaker 3>and the piece is all about a theme park. As

0:14:09.360 --> 0:14:11.000
<v Speaker 3>soon as I saw this headline, I was like, this

0:14:11.080 --> 0:14:13.800
<v Speaker 3>is gonna be good. And it's all about this theme park.

0:14:13.840 --> 0:14:15.440
<v Speaker 3>I'd never heard of it before. It was called the

0:14:15.520 --> 0:14:20.320
<v Speaker 3>California Alligator Farm, which I guess operated from nineteen oh

0:14:20.400 --> 0:14:23.880
<v Speaker 3>seven to nineteen fifty three, so almost half a century.

0:14:24.320 --> 0:14:26.800
<v Speaker 3>And for only one quarter you could see over a

0:14:27.080 --> 0:14:31.120
<v Speaker 3>thousand alligators of all sizes. And while the gators were

0:14:31.160 --> 0:14:34.520
<v Speaker 3>exercised and you could you could watch them eat live chickens.

0:14:34.600 --> 0:14:38.400
<v Speaker 3>There were twenty ponds with supposedly trained alligators that you

0:14:38.440 --> 0:14:42.280
<v Speaker 3>could interact with. But the photos are insane, Like there's

0:14:42.320 --> 0:14:45.040
<v Speaker 3>this picture of a baby and a pin with thirty

0:14:45.080 --> 0:14:48.560
<v Speaker 3>hatchlings and no parents anywhere to be found there. Yeah,

0:14:49.040 --> 0:14:51.000
<v Speaker 3>if you really need to look this up. There are

0:14:51.040 --> 0:14:53.760
<v Speaker 3>photos of people riding on the alligator backs. There are

0:14:53.800 --> 0:14:56.920
<v Speaker 3>pictures of picnics in the water with people in bathing

0:14:56.960 --> 0:14:59.480
<v Speaker 3>suits eating meals right next to these gators.

0:15:00.000 --> 0:15:02.240
<v Speaker 2>The gators are actually approaching the table.

0:15:02.880 --> 0:15:05.360
<v Speaker 3>No one seems to be scared by this, and I

0:15:05.360 --> 0:15:07.360
<v Speaker 3>think my favorite fact is that there are photos of

0:15:07.400 --> 0:15:10.720
<v Speaker 3>people watching as adult alligators all climb up a ladder

0:15:11.120 --> 0:15:13.480
<v Speaker 3>and then take a water slide down into the pond

0:15:13.560 --> 0:15:17.040
<v Speaker 3>for fun. Like it is the weirdest thing. It's like

0:15:17.080 --> 0:15:20.400
<v Speaker 3>a giant petting zoo for gators. It makes no sense

0:15:20.440 --> 0:15:20.880
<v Speaker 3>at all.

0:15:21.200 --> 0:15:22.800
<v Speaker 1>But it sounds fun for the gators too.

0:15:23.080 --> 0:15:25.520
<v Speaker 3>Yes, that maybe they were having fun so they had

0:15:25.720 --> 0:15:26.720
<v Speaker 3>decided not to attack.

0:15:26.880 --> 0:15:29.040
<v Speaker 1>So I'm definitely gonna look this up. But did anyone

0:15:29.080 --> 0:15:32.400
<v Speaker 1>die there? Like that all sounds so incredibly dangerous.

0:15:32.720 --> 0:15:33.240
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, it is.

0:15:33.320 --> 0:15:35.520
<v Speaker 3>I mean, in that article on how stuff works, the

0:15:35.640 --> 0:15:40.120
<v Speaker 3>editor's right, how alligators are really instinctual animals because you know,

0:15:40.160 --> 0:15:42.680
<v Speaker 3>their brains are only nine grams and they take about

0:15:43.120 --> 0:15:47.040
<v Speaker 3>half a tablespoon of space, which means there's no such

0:15:47.160 --> 0:15:49.160
<v Speaker 3>thing as a nice gator. I mean, these things are

0:15:49.240 --> 0:15:52.560
<v Speaker 3>programmed to behave a certain way. But for whatever reason,

0:15:52.680 --> 0:15:56.560
<v Speaker 3>there really aren't reports of injuries there, so I'm certain

0:15:56.600 --> 0:15:58.760
<v Speaker 3>there were some that happened. And one thing I do

0:15:58.840 --> 0:16:00.760
<v Speaker 3>know is there were a lot of sign posted to

0:16:00.800 --> 0:16:03.880
<v Speaker 3>remind visitors, you know, not to punch the gators. Or

0:16:03.920 --> 0:16:06.240
<v Speaker 3>throw rocks at them, so don't don't try that. And

0:16:06.280 --> 0:16:10.120
<v Speaker 3>apparently college pranksters used to occasionally sneak in and steal

0:16:10.160 --> 0:16:12.240
<v Speaker 3>a gator. But other than that, there really isn't a

0:16:12.240 --> 0:16:14.680
<v Speaker 3>whole lot of reporting on, you know, the darker side

0:16:14.680 --> 0:16:15.640
<v Speaker 3>of an alligator farm.

0:16:15.880 --> 0:16:16.680
<v Speaker 2>That's amazing.

0:16:16.960 --> 0:16:20.080
<v Speaker 1>Well, my last fact is kind of fitting. I decided

0:16:20.120 --> 0:16:22.720
<v Speaker 1>to look up the origins of see you later, alligator.

0:16:23.080 --> 0:16:26.760
<v Speaker 2>Okay, all right, what did you find out? Not much? Good, good,

0:16:27.000 --> 0:16:28.080
<v Speaker 2>Well that does it for today.

0:16:29.880 --> 0:16:32.960
<v Speaker 1>So, as you might imagine, there's no clear origin story,

0:16:33.120 --> 0:16:34.680
<v Speaker 1>like there isn't for a lot of these things. But

0:16:35.120 --> 0:16:38.040
<v Speaker 1>it's really funny. There's a site called word Histories and

0:16:38.120 --> 0:16:41.360
<v Speaker 1>they looked up early newspaper accounts that reference the phrase,

0:16:41.480 --> 0:16:44.080
<v Speaker 1>and there are all these explainer columns for adults trying

0:16:44.120 --> 0:16:46.320
<v Speaker 1>to understand their kids and why they're talking this way.

0:16:46.880 --> 0:16:49.160
<v Speaker 1>So in nineteen fifty two there was a column in

0:16:49.200 --> 0:16:52.840
<v Speaker 1>the Honolulu Star Bulletin that explained teenage slang in Hawaii

0:16:53.280 --> 0:16:57.280
<v Speaker 1>and it reads, quote, many high school students use expressions

0:16:57.280 --> 0:17:00.600
<v Speaker 1>such as tutlu tofu or see you alligator, which I

0:17:00.720 --> 0:17:04.560
<v Speaker 1>might responses like see you soon, goon and hit the toad. Road,

0:17:05.200 --> 0:17:08.080
<v Speaker 1>which I guess means that in a while crocodile wasn't

0:17:08.119 --> 0:17:10.520
<v Speaker 1>immediately like the default response Yeah.

0:17:10.400 --> 0:17:14.439
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, like I never heard that before.

0:17:14.800 --> 0:17:18.360
<v Speaker 1>No, But it gets better. There's also an explanation from

0:17:18.359 --> 0:17:21.240
<v Speaker 1>this guy, Lester Rand in the Baltimore Sun, and this

0:17:21.280 --> 0:17:24.560
<v Speaker 1>is for nineteen fifty four, and he clarifies the alligator

0:17:24.560 --> 0:17:27.440
<v Speaker 1>and see you alligator is an all encompassing term and

0:17:27.520 --> 0:17:30.960
<v Speaker 1>relieves the leaving party of having to recite several names.

0:17:33.200 --> 0:17:36.800
<v Speaker 1>That's great, and in case the Olds needed more explanation,

0:17:36.960 --> 0:17:41.240
<v Speaker 1>it continues. The popular teenage rhyming expressions rarely convey any

0:17:41.280 --> 0:17:44.600
<v Speaker 1>actual meaning and are somewhat confusing, like do you know

0:17:44.680 --> 0:17:47.840
<v Speaker 1>what I mean, jelly bean? Let me have steak jake

0:17:48.359 --> 0:17:50.840
<v Speaker 1>and have a piece of salami tommy.

0:17:51.320 --> 0:17:58.080
<v Speaker 2>Right, it feels like a phrase we should bring brack right,

0:17:58.560 --> 0:18:00.480
<v Speaker 2>Like yeah, for sure, whatever we.

0:18:00.400 --> 0:18:02.240
<v Speaker 1>Say goodbye to someone, and I kind of want to say, like,

0:18:02.359 --> 0:18:03.720
<v Speaker 1>have a piece of lobby tommy.

0:18:03.920 --> 0:18:05.280
<v Speaker 3>Yeah, that's a weird one. And I think if I

0:18:05.320 --> 0:18:07.119
<v Speaker 3>was a parent my kid kept saying this as he

0:18:07.160 --> 0:18:09.960
<v Speaker 3>walked out of the door, I'd probably be confused enough

0:18:10.000 --> 0:18:12.280
<v Speaker 3>to want to read an article about what was wrong

0:18:12.280 --> 0:18:15.040
<v Speaker 3>with him. But Anyway, who do you think deserves the

0:18:15.119 --> 0:18:16.760
<v Speaker 3>crown for today's fact off?

0:18:17.160 --> 0:18:19.720
<v Speaker 2>Well, I did like the fact that we talked about

0:18:19.760 --> 0:18:21.919
<v Speaker 2>B flat so much. There was a lot of B flat.

0:18:22.040 --> 0:18:25.679
<v Speaker 1>Those photos of alligators on water slides, I think have

0:18:25.720 --> 0:18:28.320
<v Speaker 1>to be my new wallpaper. I'm gonna say, you win.

0:18:28.480 --> 0:18:31.040
<v Speaker 1>This crazy alligator farm theme park thing is too good.

0:18:31.160 --> 0:18:33.680
<v Speaker 3>It's so good looking at those photos, so I will

0:18:33.720 --> 0:18:36.399
<v Speaker 3>take it. Thank you very much, I'm honored. That is

0:18:36.440 --> 0:18:39.000
<v Speaker 3>it for today's Part Time Genius. If you like hearing

0:18:39.040 --> 0:18:41.520
<v Speaker 3>the show, hit us up on Twitter or Instagram, drop

0:18:41.600 --> 0:18:43.879
<v Speaker 3>us a line in Apple Reviews, And if you have

0:18:44.000 --> 0:18:46.480
<v Speaker 3>any great gator facts we missed or have a topic

0:18:46.520 --> 0:18:48.520
<v Speaker 3>you want us to cover, be sure to write to

0:18:48.600 --> 0:18:49.520
<v Speaker 3>us about those.

0:18:49.320 --> 0:18:52.200
<v Speaker 1>Two and thank you, thank you, thank you so much

0:18:52.200 --> 0:18:55.439
<v Speaker 1>for listening, especially you Dad.

0:19:08.960 --> 0:19:11.800
<v Speaker 3>Part Time Genius is a production of iHeartRadio. For more

0:19:11.800 --> 0:19:15.440
<v Speaker 3>podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or

0:19:15.440 --> 0:19:17.159
<v Speaker 3>wherever you listen to your favorite shows.