WEBVTT - The Monstrefact: Nipper Sticks of ‘Labyrinth’

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind, a production of iHeartRadio.

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<v Speaker 2>Hi, my name is Robert Lambin. This is the Monster Fact,

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<v Speaker 2>a short form series from Stuff to Blow Your Mind,

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<v Speaker 2>focusing in non mythical creatures, ideas and monsters. In time,

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<v Speaker 2>I'd like to turn our attention once more to the

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<v Speaker 2>world of Jim Henson's nineteen eighty six fantasy film Labyrinth,

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<v Speaker 2>where a vast shifting maze surrounds the Goblin King's castle

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<v Speaker 2>full of various hazards, traps, and riddles. It is not

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<v Speaker 2>uncommon to encounter the Goblin army in these parts, as

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<v Speaker 2>they tend to such important work as tormenting good natured

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<v Speaker 2>beasts like Ludo. In the film, Sarah encounters several heavily

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<v Speaker 2>armored goblins engaging in just such work with nipper sticks.

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<v Speaker 2>These are long sticks or cudgels with a strange bity

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<v Speaker 2>creature perched toward the end of the stick. These creatures

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<v Speaker 2>are hairless and pink, Their eyes remain closed, and they

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<v Speaker 2>seem unwilling or incapable of leaving the end of the

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<v Speaker 2>stick that they cling to with clod hands and feet.

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<v Speaker 2>While the goblins don't bother to explain the origin of

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<v Speaker 2>the nipper sticks, and the bestiaries and novelizations I turn

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<v Speaker 2>to are equally silent on the matter. One is struck

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<v Speaker 2>by a sense of new born or larval morphology in

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<v Speaker 2>the nipper beast. It has not yet opened its eyes,

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<v Speaker 2>It does not move on its own, it has not

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<v Speaker 2>grown hair. Its only defining behavior is to bite at

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<v Speaker 2>any and everything it can with its pronounced sharp teeth.

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<v Speaker 2>Larval aggression is very much reality in the animal world.

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<v Speaker 2>It is common among nursery mates, generally due to resource limitations.

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<v Speaker 2>Some salamanders and frogs even develop cannibal morphs with larger

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<v Speaker 2>teeth and mouths to gobble up nursery mats when resources

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<v Speaker 2>are tight. While horrific sounding to us, this is just

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<v Speaker 2>the survival economics of the wild. It's also one way

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<v Speaker 2>of interpreting the large mouths and teeth of the nippers.

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<v Speaker 2>Larvae have many enemies, however, so it also bodes well

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<v Speaker 2>for larvae to fend off predators as well as cannibal

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<v Speaker 2>adults of the same species. It has been theorized that

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<v Speaker 2>the dorsal spines on metallic blue lady beetle larvae serve

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<v Speaker 2>to protect them against attacks by the larvae of other

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<v Speaker 2>species species that often boast the speed, maneuverability and mandibles

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<v Speaker 2>to take out susceptible larvae. This according to intragilled predation

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<v Speaker 2>among Lady Beetles and a green lace wing by Macaud

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<v Speaker 2>and Grant from the Bulletin of Intomological Research in two

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<v Speaker 2>thousand and seven. In short, larvae and babies generally have

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<v Speaker 2>a great deal development left to do, sometimes in quite

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<v Speaker 2>a hurry, but in some cases it makes sense to

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<v Speaker 2>front load that development with an outsized ability to defend

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<v Speaker 2>yourself or to consume your competitors. One can easily imagine

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<v Speaker 2>the goblins of the Goblin City in Labyrinth capitalizing on

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<v Speaker 2>these adaptations for their own nasty weaponry. Tune in for

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<v Speaker 2>additional episodes of The Monster Fact each week. As always,

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<v Speaker 2>you can email us at contact at Stuff to Blow

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<v Speaker 2>your Mind dot com.

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<v Speaker 1>Stuff to Blow Your Mind is production of iHeartRadio. For

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<v Speaker 1>more podcasts from my Heart Radio, visit the iHeartRadio app,

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