1 00:00:03,080 --> 00:00:05,920 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind from how Stuff 2 00:00:05,920 --> 00:00:15,560 Speaker 1: Works dot com. Hey, wasn't it stuffed to blow your mind? 3 00:00:15,600 --> 00:00:17,800 Speaker 1: My name is Robert Lamb and I am Christian Saber. 4 00:00:18,280 --> 00:00:21,800 Speaker 1: Now you're all aware that we war is kind of 5 00:00:21,960 --> 00:00:26,440 Speaker 1: humanity's staying. It's our it's our big endeavor. It's wrapped 6 00:00:26,520 --> 00:00:29,840 Speaker 1: up in Uh most of our big technological gains were 7 00:00:29,880 --> 00:00:32,000 Speaker 1: great at it. Yeah, it's just ingrained in our culture 8 00:00:32,200 --> 00:00:36,279 Speaker 1: and we're not above, of course, inflicting war on the 9 00:00:36,360 --> 00:00:40,360 Speaker 1: environment as a whole, and also inviting our our fellow 10 00:00:40,440 --> 00:00:43,760 Speaker 1: animals and other members of the animal kingdom to participate 11 00:00:43,840 --> 00:00:48,080 Speaker 1: in our war at varying level, sometimes as weapons. Yeah. 12 00:00:48,120 --> 00:00:52,479 Speaker 1: In fact, throughout human history we've used animals. We've basically 13 00:00:52,560 --> 00:00:55,200 Speaker 1: seen them as being tools in the same way we 14 00:00:55,200 --> 00:00:57,240 Speaker 1: would see like a hammer or an axe or gun, 15 00:00:57,440 --> 00:01:01,520 Speaker 1: right in a way to extend human action in combat. 16 00:01:02,200 --> 00:01:05,880 Speaker 1: So today we're talking about weaponizing animals and how it's 17 00:01:05,920 --> 00:01:09,440 Speaker 1: been done and hypotheses on how it could be done. 18 00:01:09,959 --> 00:01:11,480 Speaker 1: The first place I want to go with this, though, 19 00:01:11,560 --> 00:01:13,640 Speaker 1: is and what inspired me to want to talk about 20 00:01:13,640 --> 00:01:17,800 Speaker 1: this is the another patron saint I think of Stuff 21 00:01:17,840 --> 00:01:21,640 Speaker 1: to Blow your mind, Grant Morrison's great work We Three, 22 00:01:21,720 --> 00:01:24,280 Speaker 1: which I've read, and I was surprised you hadn't. Yeah, 23 00:01:24,319 --> 00:01:26,200 Speaker 1: it's I've I've read a lot of Graham Morrison, but 24 00:01:26,240 --> 00:01:28,360 Speaker 1: I've never read that title. I've wanted to for years. 25 00:01:28,400 --> 00:01:29,920 Speaker 1: I think it's one of those that, since it's such 26 00:01:29,959 --> 00:01:32,600 Speaker 1: a short book, I was always hesitant to buy it 27 00:01:32,760 --> 00:01:35,399 Speaker 1: because it's I felt like, well, I'm I could get 28 00:01:35,440 --> 00:01:37,679 Speaker 1: more comic if I read this other great comic that 29 00:01:37,760 --> 00:01:42,480 Speaker 1: I haven't read yet. It's such a beautifully condensed story that, 30 00:01:42,520 --> 00:01:45,680 Speaker 1: even though it's only three issues long, uh, that you 31 00:01:45,720 --> 00:01:47,600 Speaker 1: get your bang for your buck with it. It's drawn 32 00:01:47,640 --> 00:01:49,840 Speaker 1: by Frank Quietly, who's worked with Morrison on a bunch 33 00:01:49,840 --> 00:01:53,440 Speaker 1: of other projects, and there's just amazing work with like 34 00:01:53,600 --> 00:01:57,760 Speaker 1: layering panels to tell the story. But the gist is 35 00:01:57,760 --> 00:01:59,960 Speaker 1: is it's sort of like the size sci fi. It's 36 00:02:00,000 --> 00:02:02,520 Speaker 1: extension of what we're going to talk about today. The U. 37 00:02:02,640 --> 00:02:05,919 Speaker 1: S Military takes a rabbit, a dog, and a cat 38 00:02:06,280 --> 00:02:10,360 Speaker 1: and mix them into cyborgs that wear exoskeletons so they 39 00:02:10,360 --> 00:02:13,920 Speaker 1: can use them on covert black ops. Uh. And they 40 00:02:13,960 --> 00:02:17,120 Speaker 1: send them to like kill like Mexican drug lords. Uh. 41 00:02:17,160 --> 00:02:20,600 Speaker 1: And then essentially the story is these these three animals 42 00:02:20,840 --> 00:02:23,600 Speaker 1: get out and they're on the run. All right, Yeah, well, 43 00:02:23,639 --> 00:02:26,560 Speaker 1: I definitely want to check it out at some point. Um. Now, 44 00:02:26,880 --> 00:02:29,280 Speaker 1: as we roll through these, uh, these examples and talk 45 00:02:29,360 --> 00:02:33,120 Speaker 1: about the history of of using animals as weapons, uh, 46 00:02:33,160 --> 00:02:35,400 Speaker 1: there's a lot we're gonna end up leaving out because 47 00:02:35,639 --> 00:02:39,000 Speaker 1: in the same way that so many human technologies are 48 00:02:39,000 --> 00:02:41,800 Speaker 1: tied in with war, our usage of animals is often 49 00:02:41,840 --> 00:02:44,600 Speaker 1: tied in with war. I mean, I mean take the 50 00:02:44,600 --> 00:02:47,320 Speaker 1: horse for example. The horse is a major Jane game 51 00:02:47,400 --> 00:02:50,760 Speaker 1: changer for war in human civilization and its earliest examples 52 00:02:50,800 --> 00:02:53,560 Speaker 1: it It gave raiders the ability to strike out across 53 00:02:53,639 --> 00:02:57,800 Speaker 1: long distances. And you can even look to its transformative effect, 54 00:02:57,840 --> 00:03:01,640 Speaker 1: particularly on a Native American ribes who you know who 55 00:03:01,760 --> 00:03:03,880 Speaker 1: managed to get buy for the longest without the horse. 56 00:03:03,960 --> 00:03:07,440 Speaker 1: Europeans bring the horse and you see tribes like the Comanche, 57 00:03:07,440 --> 00:03:11,000 Speaker 1: for instance, who were just just became a completely different culture, 58 00:03:11,040 --> 00:03:14,960 Speaker 1: became a horse centric cultural game change highly adept at 59 00:03:15,120 --> 00:03:19,079 Speaker 1: equestrian warfare in the aftermath of that introduction. Yeah, I mean, 60 00:03:19,200 --> 00:03:22,760 Speaker 1: we've used animals for all kinds of duties in warfare, right, 61 00:03:22,760 --> 00:03:25,480 Speaker 1: We used them for mounts as mounts such as horses 62 00:03:25,600 --> 00:03:29,760 Speaker 1: or elephants. Uh. We've used them for infiltration, rescue, retrieval. 63 00:03:29,800 --> 00:03:33,600 Speaker 1: I wrote um pieces for Stuff of Genius about how 64 00:03:33,800 --> 00:03:37,720 Speaker 1: ferrets have been trained to find minds in war uh, 65 00:03:37,760 --> 00:03:40,680 Speaker 1: and also to lake cable in particular wartime scenarios where 66 00:03:40,680 --> 00:03:42,640 Speaker 1: they're digging tunnels and things like that. So we've used 67 00:03:42,640 --> 00:03:44,960 Speaker 1: them for all of those. But in this particular episode, 68 00:03:44,960 --> 00:03:47,600 Speaker 1: we really want to hone in on how we've made 69 00:03:47,640 --> 00:03:51,840 Speaker 1: them into weapons themselves, right, where by either adding things 70 00:03:51,920 --> 00:03:54,480 Speaker 1: to them or basically rilling them up in a horrible 71 00:03:54,520 --> 00:03:57,640 Speaker 1: way to assault our enemies with. Yeah. So as we 72 00:03:57,760 --> 00:03:59,920 Speaker 1: roll into this first section, I'm actually going to read 73 00:03:59,920 --> 00:04:02,600 Speaker 1: a quote from the Bible, because this is uh. This 74 00:04:02,640 --> 00:04:04,880 Speaker 1: is a Biblical quote that always comes to mind when 75 00:04:04,920 --> 00:04:08,280 Speaker 1: the topic of weaponized animals comes up. All right, this 76 00:04:08,320 --> 00:04:11,200 Speaker 1: is from Judges fifteen four in it uh, and involves 77 00:04:11,240 --> 00:04:17,640 Speaker 1: Sampson that you know, sort of herculean figure of old Testament, 78 00:04:18,040 --> 00:04:20,280 Speaker 1: Samson with the hair, Yeah, yeah, Samson with the hair 79 00:04:20,320 --> 00:04:22,680 Speaker 1: the one. Yeah. He gets his hair eventually all shaved off. 80 00:04:23,040 --> 00:04:25,320 Speaker 1: He can't, he loses all his strength, but then he 81 00:04:25,360 --> 00:04:27,800 Speaker 1: grows it back and he pushes down some pillars, and 82 00:04:27,839 --> 00:04:30,840 Speaker 1: he's saying, in other cases he kills a thousand men 83 00:04:30,880 --> 00:04:33,720 Speaker 1: with a jaw bone of a donkey. He's like a superhero. 84 00:04:33,800 --> 00:04:37,200 Speaker 1: He's like the Bible superhero. Yeah, he's a he's a violent, 85 00:04:37,440 --> 00:04:42,799 Speaker 1: violent man um and in this particular instance, he's engaging 86 00:04:42,960 --> 00:04:46,560 Speaker 1: uh in the weaponization of animals. Says it goes like this. 87 00:04:46,800 --> 00:04:49,520 Speaker 1: Samson and said to them this time I shall be 88 00:04:49,560 --> 00:04:52,880 Speaker 1: blameless in regard to the Philistines when I do them harm. 89 00:04:53,240 --> 00:04:56,640 Speaker 1: Samson went and caught three hundred foxes and took torches 90 00:04:56,920 --> 00:04:59,240 Speaker 1: and turned the fox's tail to tail and put one 91 00:04:59,279 --> 00:05:02,520 Speaker 1: torch the middle between two tales. When he had set 92 00:05:02,560 --> 00:05:05,160 Speaker 1: fire to the torches, he released the foxes into the 93 00:05:05,200 --> 00:05:09,120 Speaker 1: standing grain of the Philistines, thus burning up both the 94 00:05:09,200 --> 00:05:13,320 Speaker 1: shocks and the standing grain, along with the vineyards and groves. 95 00:05:13,920 --> 00:05:16,480 Speaker 1: So this sounds kind of fantastic, right, It sounds like 96 00:05:16,480 --> 00:05:19,240 Speaker 1: a myth or is. And I don't know if if 97 00:05:19,279 --> 00:05:22,120 Speaker 1: if Sampson actually did this, or if somebody did do 98 00:05:22,160 --> 00:05:25,360 Speaker 1: this with foxes before, but our first piece of weaponized 99 00:05:25,400 --> 00:05:31,919 Speaker 1: animals in warfare is in fact using them as incendiary devices. So, uh, 100 00:05:31,960 --> 00:05:34,039 Speaker 1: whether it's done with foxes or not. I don't know, 101 00:05:34,200 --> 00:05:37,640 Speaker 1: but we've got war pigs. Uh. And uh, that's not 102 00:05:37,720 --> 00:05:42,000 Speaker 1: just a black Sabbath reference. Uh. In ancient Megara in 103 00:05:42,200 --> 00:05:46,080 Speaker 1: Greece in two hundred and fifty five BC, the city 104 00:05:46,160 --> 00:05:50,599 Speaker 1: was under attack from Macedonian conqueror Antigonus the second, and 105 00:05:50,640 --> 00:05:53,599 Speaker 1: the mcgarren's used a countermeasure by doing the same thing 106 00:05:54,160 --> 00:05:56,960 Speaker 1: that Sampson did, although a little bit more brutally. They 107 00:05:57,040 --> 00:05:59,799 Speaker 1: rounded up all their pigs, they doused them in pitch, 108 00:06:00,160 --> 00:06:02,520 Speaker 1: and then they set them on fire. Then they pushed 109 00:06:02,520 --> 00:06:05,359 Speaker 1: them out the city gates and outside the city this 110 00:06:05,360 --> 00:06:07,640 Speaker 1: is where the Macedonians had all their camps set up. Right, 111 00:06:07,920 --> 00:06:10,960 Speaker 1: So these terrified burning pigs are running around, and they 112 00:06:11,040 --> 00:06:13,719 Speaker 1: run into the camps and they set these tents on fire, 113 00:06:14,080 --> 00:06:17,279 Speaker 1: and then the Macedonians road war elephants, and the elephants 114 00:06:17,279 --> 00:06:21,360 Speaker 1: were terrified of these burning pigs, as you would be. Uh. 115 00:06:21,760 --> 00:06:25,720 Speaker 1: And the elephants subsequently lost total control and trampled a 116 00:06:25,800 --> 00:06:28,280 Speaker 1: number of the Macedonians. Now this is a ballsy move 117 00:06:28,400 --> 00:06:31,120 Speaker 1: for a besieged city. Say all right, we're gonna show them. 118 00:06:31,279 --> 00:06:33,600 Speaker 1: Let's take all these food animals we have here, and 119 00:06:33,680 --> 00:06:36,600 Speaker 1: let's just set them on fire and send them out. Yeah. 120 00:06:36,640 --> 00:06:38,640 Speaker 1: Maybe they just had a surplus of pigs that year. 121 00:06:38,720 --> 00:06:41,000 Speaker 1: I don't know. I mean they there was a gamble, right, 122 00:06:41,000 --> 00:06:43,000 Speaker 1: I guess they said, hey, we could keep these pigs 123 00:06:43,000 --> 00:06:45,760 Speaker 1: and eat them as we would continue to be. If 124 00:06:45,760 --> 00:06:48,880 Speaker 1: they won, they could still eat them, right Like, I 125 00:06:48,880 --> 00:06:52,080 Speaker 1: guess if there's just these burning pig corpses outside, they 126 00:06:52,080 --> 00:06:56,960 Speaker 1: could theoretically drag them back in the incentives for those 127 00:06:57,000 --> 00:06:59,600 Speaker 1: to go out to kill the dying. No one out 128 00:06:59,640 --> 00:07:02,040 Speaker 1: there would guess that I'm the vegetarian on something lay 129 00:07:02,080 --> 00:07:06,040 Speaker 1: or night. But yeah, So some accounts say that Antigonus 130 00:07:06,200 --> 00:07:10,200 Speaker 1: was so badly plagued by this particular strategy that he 131 00:07:10,240 --> 00:07:14,240 Speaker 1: actually started training his war elephants to mingle with pigs 132 00:07:14,240 --> 00:07:16,679 Speaker 1: on a regular basis so that they wouldn't be scared 133 00:07:16,720 --> 00:07:19,000 Speaker 1: of them, whether they were on fire or not. I 134 00:07:19,000 --> 00:07:21,160 Speaker 1: don't know if he actually like set pigs on fire 135 00:07:21,200 --> 00:07:25,320 Speaker 1: and had his animals hang out with these fire pigs. Yeah, 136 00:07:25,480 --> 00:07:29,880 Speaker 1: it's inexpensive too, uh. And this was done again later, 137 00:07:30,040 --> 00:07:32,360 Speaker 1: not with pigs, but with camels. A thousand years later, 138 00:07:32,920 --> 00:07:36,280 Speaker 1: the Tuco Mongol leader Teamore was said to have used 139 00:07:36,360 --> 00:07:40,520 Speaker 1: flaming camels against Indian elephants in warfare. So the same 140 00:07:40,560 --> 00:07:42,360 Speaker 1: thing he said, a bunch of camels on fire and 141 00:07:42,760 --> 00:07:45,680 Speaker 1: sent them on their way against these elephants. I'm imagining, 142 00:07:45,800 --> 00:07:48,520 Speaker 1: like I think, like most people, if they don't immediately 143 00:07:48,560 --> 00:07:52,960 Speaker 1: go to the Hannibal elephant story, which we're gonna get into, 144 00:07:53,280 --> 00:07:55,360 Speaker 1: they think of Lord of the Rings and those giant 145 00:07:55,440 --> 00:07:58,240 Speaker 1: elephants that they're writing in that, And I'm wondering why 146 00:07:58,280 --> 00:08:00,400 Speaker 1: the elves just didn't set a bunch of pigs on 147 00:08:00,480 --> 00:08:02,400 Speaker 1: fire and Lord of the rigs and send them on 148 00:08:02,440 --> 00:08:04,880 Speaker 1: their way towards those what do they call those elephants? 149 00:08:04,920 --> 00:08:09,240 Speaker 1: They were like they were like elephants variation of elephant. 150 00:08:09,240 --> 00:08:11,320 Speaker 1: It was like, yeah, like some kind of dire elephant 151 00:08:11,360 --> 00:08:15,000 Speaker 1: masted on type of thing. Yeah, okay, uh, fun little 152 00:08:15,040 --> 00:08:18,840 Speaker 1: aside here, I'm talking about weaponizing a camel um And 153 00:08:18,920 --> 00:08:21,200 Speaker 1: granted this involves essentially the use of a camel as 154 00:08:21,200 --> 00:08:25,240 Speaker 1: a mount, but then also as a weapons platform. Uh. 155 00:08:25,280 --> 00:08:29,080 Speaker 1: The There's this a Turkish tradition of the Zemburic, which 156 00:08:29,120 --> 00:08:32,680 Speaker 1: is essentially camel mounted weaponry. The earliest examples are you 157 00:08:32,720 --> 00:08:35,600 Speaker 1: have a crossbow that's mounted on the saddle, then you 158 00:08:35,640 --> 00:08:39,480 Speaker 1: have powdered guns, and then eventually this evolves to feature 159 00:08:39,640 --> 00:08:44,240 Speaker 1: rapid fire gatling guns that are mounted on a swivel. Now, 160 00:08:44,600 --> 00:08:48,040 Speaker 1: you didn't fire this while the camel was standing, but 161 00:08:48,120 --> 00:08:49,760 Speaker 1: what you would do is you would get the animal 162 00:08:49,800 --> 00:08:52,520 Speaker 1: to kneel and then you would fasten each leg to 163 00:08:52,600 --> 00:08:56,080 Speaker 1: accord to keep it from moving because you're about to 164 00:08:56,120 --> 00:08:59,120 Speaker 1: fire at gatling gun on its back. And I think 165 00:08:59,160 --> 00:09:01,760 Speaker 1: the average camel might be a little bit spooked by that. 166 00:09:01,760 --> 00:09:03,720 Speaker 1: That sounds like the kind of thing that would fit 167 00:09:03,760 --> 00:09:05,880 Speaker 1: in really well and like a D and D campaign. 168 00:09:06,360 --> 00:09:10,960 Speaker 1: Like you've got your proficiency with mounted animals and then 169 00:09:11,080 --> 00:09:14,320 Speaker 1: you add your proficiency with like arranged weapons to that. 170 00:09:14,679 --> 00:09:18,600 Speaker 1: Mount your mount your gatling gun on a dragon or something. Yeah, 171 00:09:18,640 --> 00:09:20,000 Speaker 1: and if you want to see a picture of one 172 00:09:20,000 --> 00:09:22,120 Speaker 1: of these, I'll include a link to a post I 173 00:09:22,200 --> 00:09:24,200 Speaker 1: did about this on the landing page for this episode. 174 00:09:24,559 --> 00:09:27,680 Speaker 1: So the incendiary animals doesn't end there either. We've got 175 00:09:27,800 --> 00:09:31,760 Speaker 1: monkeys doing this in China and not to themselves, yand you. 176 00:09:32,000 --> 00:09:35,160 Speaker 1: Rebels in China apparently attacked the Song dynasty in the 177 00:09:35,160 --> 00:09:38,880 Speaker 1: twelfth century, So the imperial army, not the rebels. The 178 00:09:39,040 --> 00:09:42,120 Speaker 1: army lit a bunch of monkeys on fire and unleashed 179 00:09:42,200 --> 00:09:46,240 Speaker 1: them into the ends you camp presumably would you know, 180 00:09:46,400 --> 00:09:48,959 Speaker 1: to burn down their tents had caused general terror to 181 00:09:49,120 --> 00:09:51,640 Speaker 1: just run around and young and spread fire. I've also 182 00:09:51,679 --> 00:09:54,040 Speaker 1: read that during the Opium War in the mid nineteenth 183 00:09:54,120 --> 00:09:57,280 Speaker 1: century that the Chinese were, you know, trying to destroy 184 00:09:57,360 --> 00:10:00,559 Speaker 1: damage the English ships. Uh. And they start by looking 185 00:10:00,559 --> 00:10:04,040 Speaker 1: into using fire rafts, and they actually went forward with 186 00:10:04,080 --> 00:10:08,680 Speaker 1: a plan to send fireworks laden monkeys onto the boats. Uh. 187 00:10:08,679 --> 00:10:10,920 Speaker 1: And to the point that they actually acquired the monkeys 188 00:10:11,240 --> 00:10:15,160 Speaker 1: move them to an advanced base. But then some defeats 189 00:10:15,160 --> 00:10:17,960 Speaker 1: pushed the initiative back and nothing never came of it. 190 00:10:17,960 --> 00:10:19,680 Speaker 1: But they had the monkeys, they were ready to do it. 191 00:10:19,760 --> 00:10:22,400 Speaker 1: This is gonna be a common theme in today's episode 192 00:10:22,440 --> 00:10:26,000 Speaker 1: that we've experimented with using animals as weapons a lot, 193 00:10:26,080 --> 00:10:28,520 Speaker 1: and then just before we're about to do it, we 194 00:10:28,679 --> 00:10:30,720 Speaker 1: back off and we say, wait, we figured out something 195 00:10:30,720 --> 00:10:33,720 Speaker 1: else that's even worse that doesn't involve animals. Yeah, because 196 00:10:34,320 --> 00:10:36,440 Speaker 1: time and time again, it seems like a simple fix. 197 00:10:36,480 --> 00:10:38,680 Speaker 1: It seems like it's just as simple as Samson saying 198 00:10:38,880 --> 00:10:40,800 Speaker 1: that Samson saying, Hey, I'm gonna burn them down. I'm 199 00:10:40,800 --> 00:10:42,360 Speaker 1: gonna just light some fire on the back of these 200 00:10:42,360 --> 00:10:44,360 Speaker 1: foxes and send them on. But then you have to 201 00:10:44,640 --> 00:10:46,280 Speaker 1: do all of these steps. You have to do training, 202 00:10:46,280 --> 00:10:48,760 Speaker 1: you have to work in the technology, and eventually there 203 00:10:48,840 --> 00:10:53,800 Speaker 1: is a better, more simple and dependable method out there. Yeah, yeah, absolutely, 204 00:10:53,920 --> 00:10:56,600 Speaker 1: especially with modern technology. It's really kind of caps off 205 00:10:56,600 --> 00:10:59,319 Speaker 1: around World War Two, which is where we're gonna go next. 206 00:10:59,360 --> 00:11:01,760 Speaker 1: So you get used to setting animals on fire and 207 00:11:01,800 --> 00:11:04,360 Speaker 1: sending them out your enemies, what's the next step strapping 208 00:11:04,400 --> 00:11:06,800 Speaker 1: bombs to them and sending them out your enemies. So 209 00:11:07,080 --> 00:11:09,280 Speaker 1: a lot of you out there have probably heard of this. 210 00:11:09,280 --> 00:11:11,480 Speaker 1: This is the most common example that's brought up with 211 00:11:11,480 --> 00:11:14,240 Speaker 1: the weaponization of animals. But if you haven't, we're going 212 00:11:14,320 --> 00:11:17,400 Speaker 1: to talk about anti tank dogs. Now. This is during 213 00:11:17,440 --> 00:11:22,280 Speaker 1: World War Two. The Soviet Army UH was training dogs 214 00:11:22,320 --> 00:11:26,000 Speaker 1: beginning in nineteen thirties, so actually just before they gotten 215 00:11:26,240 --> 00:11:29,160 Speaker 1: into major battles with Germany, they were training them to 216 00:11:29,280 --> 00:11:33,680 Speaker 1: carry explosives towards wide range targets, then released the bomb 217 00:11:33,760 --> 00:11:35,600 Speaker 1: and then run away, and then they would have like 218 00:11:35,600 --> 00:11:38,600 Speaker 1: a remote detonator for the bomb. What this evolved into 219 00:11:38,720 --> 00:11:41,160 Speaker 1: was in nineteen forty one, they started training the dogs 220 00:11:41,400 --> 00:11:44,880 Speaker 1: by hiding food on the undersides of tanks, and they 221 00:11:44,880 --> 00:11:47,440 Speaker 1: would underfeed these dogs so they be malnourished dogs who 222 00:11:47,440 --> 00:11:49,840 Speaker 1: are looking for food. They basically teach them the place 223 00:11:49,880 --> 00:11:52,440 Speaker 1: to find food is under tanks. Uh, And then they 224 00:11:52,480 --> 00:11:57,400 Speaker 1: would strap ten to twelve kims of high explosives and 225 00:11:57,480 --> 00:11:59,920 Speaker 1: four pouches to these dogs like in a little backpack. 226 00:12:00,480 --> 00:12:03,000 Speaker 1: In fact, recently on social media kind of teased our 227 00:12:03,040 --> 00:12:05,320 Speaker 1: audience with what we're gonna be talking about today by 228 00:12:05,360 --> 00:12:08,400 Speaker 1: posting an illustration of this from from the time We've 229 00:12:08,480 --> 00:12:12,320 Speaker 1: landed a very lighthearted place here. Um, starved dogs that 230 00:12:12,360 --> 00:12:15,440 Speaker 1: are laden with explosives. It gets worse. They've been a 231 00:12:15,440 --> 00:12:18,880 Speaker 1: spring loaded trigger sticking up on their back. Right. So 232 00:12:19,040 --> 00:12:21,120 Speaker 1: the the idea here is they train these dogs ago 233 00:12:21,160 --> 00:12:23,560 Speaker 1: looking for food under tanks. They sent them off towards 234 00:12:23,559 --> 00:12:26,600 Speaker 1: the Germans. The dogs crawl under German tanks and then 235 00:12:26,600 --> 00:12:29,000 Speaker 1: when they stand up to look for the food, they 236 00:12:29,040 --> 00:12:31,600 Speaker 1: pushed the pin into the bottom of the tank. Boom 237 00:12:31,640 --> 00:12:35,040 Speaker 1: goes the explosives and kills the dog. Right. Uh. You know, 238 00:12:35,080 --> 00:12:37,520 Speaker 1: I guess this is better than setting the dogs on 239 00:12:37,559 --> 00:12:43,439 Speaker 1: fire because it's pretty instantaneous death. But it's still pretty horrific. Unfortunately, 240 00:12:43,480 --> 00:12:46,240 Speaker 1: it didn't quite work out for the Russians as they planned, 241 00:12:46,320 --> 00:12:51,400 Speaker 1: because German tanks use petrol and Russian tanks used diesel. 242 00:12:52,080 --> 00:12:54,640 Speaker 1: So what would happen was the dogs would you know, 243 00:12:54,720 --> 00:12:57,280 Speaker 1: they've they're operating more on their sense of smell when 244 00:12:57,280 --> 00:12:59,200 Speaker 1: they're looking for something to eat, so they would end 245 00:12:59,280 --> 00:13:02,680 Speaker 1: up heating act to where they came from smelling the diesel. 246 00:13:03,120 --> 00:13:05,400 Speaker 1: They would also run away because of the loud noises 247 00:13:05,440 --> 00:13:08,600 Speaker 1: of gunshots and explosions during battle, so they would often 248 00:13:08,840 --> 00:13:11,920 Speaker 1: either end up under Soviet tanks or they would dive 249 00:13:11,960 --> 00:13:15,959 Speaker 1: into Soviet trenches and then explode. So okay. The Germans 250 00:13:16,040 --> 00:13:19,000 Speaker 1: also caught wind of this from capturing some prisoners, and 251 00:13:19,080 --> 00:13:22,000 Speaker 1: during interrogation, the prisoners were like, yeah, we're training dogs 252 00:13:22,000 --> 00:13:24,800 Speaker 1: and strapping bombs to their backs and uh. So the 253 00:13:24,840 --> 00:13:27,120 Speaker 1: Germans had a policy at this point they would just 254 00:13:27,120 --> 00:13:29,720 Speaker 1: shoot any dogs on site. Once they learned this, so 255 00:13:29,800 --> 00:13:31,959 Speaker 1: any dogs that they came in contact with they would 256 00:13:31,960 --> 00:13:34,800 Speaker 1: just immediately shoot them from far away. Uh And then 257 00:13:34,840 --> 00:13:39,080 Speaker 1: earlier there were border skirmishes with Japan in which Russia 258 00:13:39,200 --> 00:13:42,480 Speaker 1: sent mine carrying dogs. They tried to train them to 259 00:13:42,559 --> 00:13:45,439 Speaker 1: open the hatches on the top of tanks and then 260 00:13:45,720 --> 00:13:48,840 Speaker 1: drop the minds in that would explode. Apparently these mines 261 00:13:48,840 --> 00:13:51,880 Speaker 1: were somehow set to explode in proximity to metal, so 262 00:13:51,960 --> 00:13:54,040 Speaker 1: the metal of the tanks would would would make the 263 00:13:54,120 --> 00:13:56,400 Speaker 1: minds explode then too. So the idea here is when 264 00:13:56,440 --> 00:14:00,000 Speaker 1: strapping explosives to a dog make the task is complicated, 265 00:14:00,040 --> 00:14:02,200 Speaker 1: it is possible. Oh yeah, you can make it even worse. 266 00:14:02,280 --> 00:14:05,520 Speaker 1: The Japan also used dogs in World War Two, but 267 00:14:05,640 --> 00:14:08,840 Speaker 1: instead of giving them little backpacks, they would strap little 268 00:14:08,960 --> 00:14:11,600 Speaker 1: carts to them that they pulled behind them that were 269 00:14:11,640 --> 00:14:14,640 Speaker 1: filled with fifty pounds of explosives, and they would detonate 270 00:14:14,679 --> 00:14:17,880 Speaker 1: those remotely. And my impression was, this isn't the situation 271 00:14:17,920 --> 00:14:20,440 Speaker 1: where they would let the dogs deliver the goods and 272 00:14:20,480 --> 00:14:22,720 Speaker 1: then come back. They blew the dogs up as well. 273 00:14:23,160 --> 00:14:28,000 Speaker 1: They reportedly used this when Japan attacked Malaysia and Hong Kong. Uh. 274 00:14:28,000 --> 00:14:31,240 Speaker 1: And then we in the US also tested this. Uh. 275 00:14:31,320 --> 00:14:34,800 Speaker 1: We tested it with time bombs though uh. What ended 276 00:14:34,880 --> 00:14:37,000 Speaker 1: up happening was the dogs would end up running back, 277 00:14:37,040 --> 00:14:40,120 Speaker 1: similar to the Soviet situation. They'd run back to their owners. 278 00:14:40,120 --> 00:14:41,960 Speaker 1: They never actually made it into battle, and it was 279 00:14:42,000 --> 00:14:46,160 Speaker 1: just deemed inefficient. Yeah, they're the US uh briefly flirted 280 00:14:46,200 --> 00:14:48,920 Speaker 1: with the use of explosive dogs. Um. They even started 281 00:14:48,960 --> 00:14:55,000 Speaker 1: a trial program at Virginia's uh Fort Belvoir in nineteen three. Uh. 282 00:14:55,040 --> 00:14:59,240 Speaker 1: They they labeled them demolition wolves, which is interesting because 283 00:15:00,320 --> 00:15:03,280 Speaker 1: the American affinity for dogs. I feel like they they 284 00:15:03,320 --> 00:15:05,800 Speaker 1: had to just linguistically take a step back from that 285 00:15:05,880 --> 00:15:08,600 Speaker 1: and say, oh, well, they're not bomb dogs, they're uh, 286 00:15:08,800 --> 00:15:12,800 Speaker 1: they're Timolian wolves. Yeah. So, but they were looking at 287 00:15:12,800 --> 00:15:15,720 Speaker 1: working on using them as bunker busters. So the aim 288 00:15:15,800 --> 00:15:19,200 Speaker 1: here was to train them to enter Japanese tunnels and 289 00:15:19,240 --> 00:15:23,840 Speaker 1: fortifications while wearing twenty pounds of explosives either timed or 290 00:15:24,000 --> 00:15:28,080 Speaker 1: remotely detonated by a three d foot electrical wire. So, 291 00:15:28,160 --> 00:15:31,040 Speaker 1: as you mentioned, one of the problems dog or wolf 292 00:15:31,120 --> 00:15:35,560 Speaker 1: is trailing behind electrical wire. Who just to keep it simple. Now, 293 00:15:35,600 --> 00:15:37,560 Speaker 1: as as you mentioned one of the problems, it was 294 00:15:37,560 --> 00:15:40,200 Speaker 1: always worried that the dog would return to the friendlies, 295 00:15:40,240 --> 00:15:43,240 Speaker 1: returned to the U. S. Marines and explode, or that 296 00:15:43,400 --> 00:15:45,920 Speaker 1: donated dogs would be hard to come by when it 297 00:15:46,000 --> 00:15:49,000 Speaker 1: became known that this is what the military was using 298 00:15:49,040 --> 00:15:51,640 Speaker 1: them for. Yeah, and and so this gets kind to 299 00:15:51,720 --> 00:15:53,440 Speaker 1: kind of the heart of why I think we don't 300 00:15:53,520 --> 00:15:56,920 Speaker 1: see this as much in present day as because it's 301 00:15:56,920 --> 00:16:01,520 Speaker 1: just kind of considered barbaric and unethical actually with you know, dogs, 302 00:16:01,560 --> 00:16:04,240 Speaker 1: which are sort of man's best friend, right, and then 303 00:16:04,240 --> 00:16:06,400 Speaker 1: that that would be the last animal that we would 304 00:16:06,440 --> 00:16:09,880 Speaker 1: want to do this with. Although you know, uh, there's 305 00:16:09,960 --> 00:16:12,960 Speaker 1: you We're we're not going to specifically hone in on this, 306 00:16:13,040 --> 00:16:18,440 Speaker 1: but the dolphin usage in wartime has been rumored to 307 00:16:18,720 --> 00:16:22,240 Speaker 1: have been we should, uh imply that the conspiracy guys 308 00:16:22,240 --> 00:16:25,480 Speaker 1: should do an episode on dolphin weaponization because as far 309 00:16:25,520 --> 00:16:27,840 Speaker 1: as I could find, there's no evidence that dolphins are 310 00:16:27,840 --> 00:16:32,360 Speaker 1: actually weaponized. They are used by the military, uh for 311 00:16:32,360 --> 00:16:36,840 Speaker 1: for you know, research missions or you know, finding minds 312 00:16:37,040 --> 00:16:40,800 Speaker 1: or rescue operations, but there's no actual evidence in the 313 00:16:40,840 --> 00:16:44,120 Speaker 1: military denies every time somebody says, oh yeah, you're strapping 314 00:16:44,160 --> 00:16:48,320 Speaker 1: like missile launchers to to dolphin backs. Now, not too 315 00:16:48,400 --> 00:16:50,920 Speaker 1: long after this whole demolition wolves the scenario, the US 316 00:16:51,000 --> 00:16:55,280 Speaker 1: also experimented with dogs his mind detectors, um, and this 317 00:16:55,480 --> 00:16:57,120 Speaker 1: is up being something we do to this day. The 318 00:16:57,200 --> 00:17:00,680 Speaker 1: US military still uses bomb dogs. You know, we're talking 319 00:17:00,800 --> 00:17:05,479 Speaker 1: highly trained explosive sniffing animals, but at the time this 320 00:17:05,560 --> 00:17:08,520 Speaker 1: was a rougher procedure. In the training, they found that 321 00:17:09,760 --> 00:17:12,359 Speaker 1: of the minds were discovered by the dogs, the dogs 322 00:17:12,359 --> 00:17:14,879 Speaker 1: were actually really good at sniffing off the minds, but 323 00:17:15,000 --> 00:17:17,919 Speaker 1: they also didn't want the dogs detonating the minds, so 324 00:17:17,960 --> 00:17:20,879 Speaker 1: they tried to train them to fear the minds, and 325 00:17:20,920 --> 00:17:23,320 Speaker 1: this made up most of the dogs been afraid of 326 00:17:23,359 --> 00:17:27,040 Speaker 1: all metal objects, including their own food bowls, to the 327 00:17:27,040 --> 00:17:29,760 Speaker 1: point where only six of these dogs were ever actually 328 00:17:29,800 --> 00:17:33,159 Speaker 1: sent into combat. Only six were able to to to 329 00:17:33,320 --> 00:17:37,760 Speaker 1: exit training um with with the correct level of fear 330 00:17:37,960 --> 00:17:40,560 Speaker 1: regarding metal objects. Well, you know, I'm in the middle 331 00:17:40,560 --> 00:17:43,040 Speaker 1: of training a new dog right now. I I can sympathize. 332 00:17:43,040 --> 00:17:45,000 Speaker 1: I'm having trouble just getting our new dog to walk 333 00:17:45,080 --> 00:17:48,040 Speaker 1: up and downstairs. What's a complicated thing, right, manipulating another 334 00:17:48,280 --> 00:17:51,760 Speaker 1: organism's behavior, like knowing how it is evolved to behave 335 00:17:51,840 --> 00:17:54,879 Speaker 1: and then warping that to your own benefit. Be it 336 00:17:55,240 --> 00:17:58,840 Speaker 1: just the benefit of living calmly in a house or 337 00:17:59,160 --> 00:18:02,679 Speaker 1: dealing with explode. Yeah, it's sort of teaching them what 338 00:18:02,760 --> 00:18:04,920 Speaker 1: the rules of the world are is a lot more 339 00:18:04,960 --> 00:18:08,320 Speaker 1: difficult than we would think that it would be. Uh. So, yeah, 340 00:18:08,359 --> 00:18:12,679 Speaker 1: we mentioned there's Hannibal's elephants. Those were notoriously used in 341 00:18:12,800 --> 00:18:16,520 Speaker 1: military operation. Uh, there's the dolphins that I talked about before. 342 00:18:16,680 --> 00:18:19,080 Speaker 1: We've got to get to John C. Lily. We keep 343 00:18:19,119 --> 00:18:23,280 Speaker 1: talking about this, but somebody just asked me about on 344 00:18:23,359 --> 00:18:25,919 Speaker 1: social media if we were going to do something around 345 00:18:26,240 --> 00:18:29,240 Speaker 1: telepathy and dolphins, and I thought, we just gotta we 346 00:18:29,320 --> 00:18:31,560 Speaker 1: gotta dive right into that John C. Lily episode. Yeah, 347 00:18:31,600 --> 00:18:33,560 Speaker 1: we need to order some books and then move forward. 348 00:18:34,119 --> 00:18:37,600 Speaker 1: But yeah, I mean dogs are still used today as 349 00:18:37,640 --> 00:18:40,359 Speaker 1: recently as in two thousand five, there was a dog's 350 00:18:40,400 --> 00:18:44,520 Speaker 1: suicide bomb that was reported in Cokirk by bomber in Iraq. 351 00:18:44,840 --> 00:18:47,199 Speaker 1: The dog was killed, but no humans were hurt in 352 00:18:47,240 --> 00:18:50,600 Speaker 1: that scenario. So people are still strapping bombs to dogs. 353 00:18:51,000 --> 00:18:54,200 Speaker 1: And fortunately that we have other explosive sniffing animals like 354 00:18:54,240 --> 00:18:56,960 Speaker 1: I was talking about with those ferrets that are particularly 355 00:18:56,960 --> 00:18:59,479 Speaker 1: good at seeking out minds. I believe there I've been 356 00:18:59,520 --> 00:19:04,200 Speaker 1: some excellent projects involving rats as well. Yeah, that makes sense. Alright, 357 00:19:04,240 --> 00:19:06,000 Speaker 1: we're gonna take a quick break and when we come back, 358 00:19:06,240 --> 00:19:19,359 Speaker 1: more weaponized animals. Alright, we're back. So one of the 359 00:19:19,400 --> 00:19:23,239 Speaker 1: most insane stories that I came across when we were 360 00:19:23,280 --> 00:19:29,359 Speaker 1: researching this involved bats. Same idea. Strap some explosives or 361 00:19:29,400 --> 00:19:33,879 Speaker 1: in this case they are incendiary devices to bats and 362 00:19:33,920 --> 00:19:36,640 Speaker 1: then drop them on your enemy. And it's crazy because 363 00:19:36,640 --> 00:19:38,600 Speaker 1: it seems like the one of the last animals you 364 00:19:38,600 --> 00:19:41,719 Speaker 1: would choose, right, But apparently it was rather efficient. So 365 00:19:41,800 --> 00:19:45,240 Speaker 1: this was his idea. Okay, Robert, you take the bats 366 00:19:45,359 --> 00:19:48,159 Speaker 1: and you put them into an egg shaped container and 367 00:19:48,200 --> 00:19:50,840 Speaker 1: you drop them over your target. It's like a bomb 368 00:19:50,960 --> 00:19:53,920 Speaker 1: full of bats. Yeah. Uh. And it's it's got a 369 00:19:53,960 --> 00:19:57,720 Speaker 1: parachute and it opens right so at the level, so 370 00:19:57,800 --> 00:20:00,679 Speaker 1: the bats can fly off and they can go and 371 00:20:00,840 --> 00:20:03,840 Speaker 1: land and hide and addicts and barns and homes all 372 00:20:03,840 --> 00:20:06,119 Speaker 1: the kinds of places that bats normally go to. Right. 373 00:20:06,560 --> 00:20:10,520 Speaker 1: They're searching for, you know, tight enclosed, dark spaces. Uh. 374 00:20:10,560 --> 00:20:14,000 Speaker 1: And then these bats have these explosives on them that 375 00:20:14,040 --> 00:20:18,320 Speaker 1: are radio controlled and we set them off remotely. We 376 00:20:18,400 --> 00:20:21,359 Speaker 1: actually prototyped this. So this was his idea that he 377 00:20:21,400 --> 00:20:23,480 Speaker 1: just wrote in a letter. Can imagine like today, like 378 00:20:23,560 --> 00:20:26,360 Speaker 1: I write to Barack Obama and I say, I got 379 00:20:26,359 --> 00:20:29,920 Speaker 1: an idea. What if we strap bombs to bats? You know, 380 00:20:30,440 --> 00:20:32,600 Speaker 1: like that would just immediately go in the junk pile 381 00:20:34,119 --> 00:20:37,879 Speaker 1: finish the letter, right, yeah, exactly, but no, at that time, 382 00:20:38,000 --> 00:20:39,520 Speaker 1: not only did they read it, but they went this 383 00:20:39,600 --> 00:20:42,840 Speaker 1: is a pretty good idea and then put it into uh, 384 00:20:43,000 --> 00:20:47,000 Speaker 1: put it into prototype, so that they in the nineteen forties, 385 00:20:47,040 --> 00:20:50,520 Speaker 1: the U. S. Government actually tested this. They accidentally set 386 00:20:50,560 --> 00:20:53,359 Speaker 1: an Air Force base in Carl's Bad, New Mexico on 387 00:20:53,520 --> 00:20:59,640 Speaker 1: fire testing with bats. So this task involved basically two 388 00:20:59,680 --> 00:21:02,160 Speaker 1: teams here and this is where you can really imagine 389 00:21:02,160 --> 00:21:05,360 Speaker 1: the mini series unfolding, right. So one involved a few 390 00:21:05,440 --> 00:21:08,800 Speaker 1: men who had to scout cave throughout the American Southwest 391 00:21:09,240 --> 00:21:13,199 Speaker 1: to find both the variety of bat that that they 392 00:21:13,240 --> 00:21:16,160 Speaker 1: could use and a place where they could be captured 393 00:21:16,160 --> 00:21:18,879 Speaker 1: in the necessary quantities. So you have to hit that 394 00:21:18,880 --> 00:21:21,280 Speaker 1: sweet spot, right. It needs to be something you can 395 00:21:21,280 --> 00:21:24,560 Speaker 1: strap explosives to, but it needs to be something you 396 00:21:24,560 --> 00:21:27,919 Speaker 1: can find in large enough amounts. It needs to be 397 00:21:27,960 --> 00:21:30,679 Speaker 1: something that you can handle, that you can feed, that 398 00:21:30,720 --> 00:21:33,880 Speaker 1: you can store. And that's why they end up deciding 399 00:21:33,960 --> 00:21:38,159 Speaker 1: on this Mexican freetail bat. Alright, so we've got the bats, 400 00:21:38,560 --> 00:21:42,159 Speaker 1: We've got an egg shaped container form, right, how do 401 00:21:42,200 --> 00:21:44,440 Speaker 1: we strap these tiny little bombs to the and this 402 00:21:44,440 --> 00:21:46,400 Speaker 1: this is the other area where it gets crazy, right, 403 00:21:46,440 --> 00:21:49,919 Speaker 1: because because each of what they come up with is 404 00:21:50,040 --> 00:21:55,520 Speaker 1: basically a marvel of explosive engineering. We're talking one ounce bombs. 405 00:21:55,840 --> 00:22:01,679 Speaker 1: Each one is an oblong uh nitro cellulose case filled 406 00:22:01,720 --> 00:22:06,520 Speaker 1: with thickened kerostene essentially napalm and a delayed action timer, 407 00:22:06,760 --> 00:22:10,919 Speaker 1: and when ignited, the capsule produces a two foot long 408 00:22:11,080 --> 00:22:15,840 Speaker 1: flame for eight solid minutes. Geez yeah, okay, yeah, so 409 00:22:15,840 --> 00:22:18,080 Speaker 1: it's not like a little so much more than I 410 00:22:18,119 --> 00:22:21,040 Speaker 1: expected that when I was initially reading about this. Yeah, 411 00:22:21,080 --> 00:22:23,560 Speaker 1: I mean they engineered the heck out of this problem. 412 00:22:23,800 --> 00:22:25,280 Speaker 1: They said, oh, you want to you want a bat 413 00:22:25,320 --> 00:22:28,719 Speaker 1: to explode, Well, we're gonna make it as explosive as 414 00:22:28,760 --> 00:22:31,520 Speaker 1: humanly POSSI. This is like the kind of like steampunk 415 00:22:31,600 --> 00:22:33,800 Speaker 1: weaponry that I can imagine in like some kind of 416 00:22:33,880 --> 00:22:37,080 Speaker 1: video game nowadays, like a BioShock or something like that, 417 00:22:37,160 --> 00:22:39,800 Speaker 1: Like you now have the power to send out a 418 00:22:39,840 --> 00:22:43,560 Speaker 1: swarm of bats that are covered in explosive Yeah, I 419 00:22:43,600 --> 00:22:45,000 Speaker 1: guess it would be. You could think of it as 420 00:22:45,040 --> 00:22:47,560 Speaker 1: like what animal punk or something. I don't know. There's 421 00:22:47,600 --> 00:22:50,560 Speaker 1: gonna be a whole new literature genre based around this. 422 00:22:51,040 --> 00:22:53,640 Speaker 1: So yeah, the Marines tested this. They built a mock 423 00:22:53,720 --> 00:22:56,280 Speaker 1: up of a Japanese city and they dropped the bats 424 00:22:56,320 --> 00:22:59,280 Speaker 1: on it, and the test was deemed a success. They 425 00:22:59,280 --> 00:23:03,080 Speaker 1: spent two million dollars on testing this project, and then 426 00:23:03,119 --> 00:23:05,520 Speaker 1: they canceled it. And the reason why was they felt 427 00:23:05,560 --> 00:23:07,560 Speaker 1: the the U. S. Government felt that it was moving 428 00:23:07,600 --> 00:23:11,880 Speaker 1: along too slowly, so they moved all of those resources 429 00:23:11,960 --> 00:23:15,480 Speaker 1: into focusing on the atom bomb uh and, which we 430 00:23:15,560 --> 00:23:20,120 Speaker 1: now know was used and and and was fairly successful. Adams, 431 00:23:20,160 --> 00:23:21,800 Speaker 1: the guy who came up with this idea and wrote 432 00:23:21,840 --> 00:23:26,159 Speaker 1: the letter initially, was later interviewed and he reportedly said 433 00:23:26,440 --> 00:23:30,040 Speaker 1: that his bat bomb plan would have caused much as 434 00:23:30,119 --> 00:23:33,080 Speaker 1: much structural damage as an A bomb, but there wouldn't 435 00:23:33,119 --> 00:23:35,520 Speaker 1: have been as much loss of life. So he wished 436 00:23:35,600 --> 00:23:37,920 Speaker 1: that they had stuck with the bat bomb plan rather 437 00:23:38,040 --> 00:23:41,200 Speaker 1: than moving into atomic weaponry. It's still amazingly that we 438 00:23:41,280 --> 00:23:43,879 Speaker 1: ended up spending millions of dollars on it, though, And 439 00:23:44,119 --> 00:23:46,680 Speaker 1: I have a few other tidbits here from just the 440 00:23:46,720 --> 00:23:50,600 Speaker 1: kind of wackiness of this whole endeavor. So the idea 441 00:23:50,680 --> 00:23:52,760 Speaker 1: for deployment was that they would keep the bats in 442 00:23:52,840 --> 00:23:56,480 Speaker 1: cool hibernation in that big egg bombay and then they'd 443 00:23:56,520 --> 00:23:59,040 Speaker 1: wake up when the bomb containing them opened at the 444 00:23:59,040 --> 00:24:02,040 Speaker 1: appropriate altitude. But in the test, many of the bats 445 00:24:02,119 --> 00:24:05,480 Speaker 1: died when they didn't wake up before ground impact. They're 446 00:24:05,480 --> 00:24:07,720 Speaker 1: just landing. That was something I was wondering about. Two 447 00:24:07,760 --> 00:24:10,320 Speaker 1: is like how they're packed in there right, because I'm picturing, like, 448 00:24:10,560 --> 00:24:12,520 Speaker 1: you know, bats like to hang from things. Do they 449 00:24:12,560 --> 00:24:15,240 Speaker 1: just like stuff this thing until it was full of 450 00:24:15,320 --> 00:24:18,159 Speaker 1: a thousand bats, but you know they have like little 451 00:24:18,320 --> 00:24:21,400 Speaker 1: I don't know, compartments for each bat. Yeah. And then 452 00:24:21,640 --> 00:24:23,720 Speaker 1: and then in the test too, and I'm presuming that 453 00:24:23,760 --> 00:24:25,719 Speaker 1: they were not laden with explosives at this point, they 454 00:24:25,720 --> 00:24:28,440 Speaker 1: were just testing the deployment. Some of them flew further 455 00:24:28,480 --> 00:24:31,479 Speaker 1: away than expected, up to twenty miles away, and this 456 00:24:31,560 --> 00:24:34,200 Speaker 1: ended up threatening the project secrecy. So the testing team 457 00:24:34,240 --> 00:24:38,359 Speaker 1: had to go out knock on the doors, visit farmers 458 00:24:38,359 --> 00:24:41,480 Speaker 1: and say, hey, what with the military, can we look 459 00:24:41,480 --> 00:24:43,439 Speaker 1: in your attict and your barn and see if there 460 00:24:43,480 --> 00:24:47,040 Speaker 1: are any anything suspicious going up there? And after X 461 00:24:47,040 --> 00:24:50,400 Speaker 1: Files episode Waiting to Happen, it's like the cold open 462 00:24:50,520 --> 00:24:53,080 Speaker 1: is just like bats swarm all over the small town 463 00:24:53,160 --> 00:24:55,359 Speaker 1: and then Molder and Scullies show up and they're like, 464 00:24:55,760 --> 00:24:57,760 Speaker 1: why are there all these bats here? And it turns 465 00:24:57,800 --> 00:25:00,240 Speaker 1: out that they're weaponized by the US government. And you 466 00:25:00,240 --> 00:25:02,399 Speaker 1: already mentioned the burning air base, but the details are 467 00:25:02,600 --> 00:25:05,359 Speaker 1: crazy too, because this begins where they have all the 468 00:25:05,400 --> 00:25:08,520 Speaker 1: bats suited up. You know, they're they're they're perfectly explodable 469 00:25:08,520 --> 00:25:10,680 Speaker 1: and everything. Uh, and they say, hey, if somebody should 470 00:25:10,680 --> 00:25:13,400 Speaker 1: get a photo of this, So the army photogs move 471 00:25:13,480 --> 00:25:16,199 Speaker 1: in right and they're getting there, they're getting ready to 472 00:25:16,200 --> 00:25:18,440 Speaker 1: take some close ups, and then the bats are startled 473 00:25:18,480 --> 00:25:22,000 Speaker 1: by this. They wake up far faster than anticipated. They escape. 474 00:25:22,040 --> 00:25:24,240 Speaker 1: They run over to the nearby abandoned air base that 475 00:25:24,320 --> 00:25:28,760 Speaker 1: Carl's Bad Auxiliary Airfield, catch it on fire, and this 476 00:25:28,800 --> 00:25:31,840 Speaker 1: is a secret operation so they can't call in the 477 00:25:31,880 --> 00:25:33,600 Speaker 1: fire department to put it out, so they just have 478 00:25:33,640 --> 00:25:36,760 Speaker 1: to watch it burned. And one of the bats flies 479 00:25:36,880 --> 00:25:41,879 Speaker 1: under a general's car and and and then yeah, the 480 00:25:41,920 --> 00:25:46,280 Speaker 1: car explodes. Man. Uh, these poor bats, I mean, they're 481 00:25:46,320 --> 00:25:50,680 Speaker 1: providing us with some some humor now, but wow, that's unfortunate. 482 00:25:51,040 --> 00:25:53,360 Speaker 1: Although again I guess it's better than you know, it's 483 00:25:53,359 --> 00:25:55,359 Speaker 1: like the dog thing. It's better than being set on 484 00:25:55,440 --> 00:25:58,199 Speaker 1: fire at least it's quick. Yeah. And here's another detail, 485 00:25:58,240 --> 00:26:01,480 Speaker 1: and I got this from a book by on Him Kissler, 486 00:26:01,880 --> 00:26:04,679 Speaker 1: his book Animals in the Military from Animals elephants to 487 00:26:05,320 --> 00:26:07,200 Speaker 1: the dolphins of the U. S. Navy, and this goes 488 00:26:07,240 --> 00:26:10,240 Speaker 1: into not only weaponized animals, their general usage. So it's 489 00:26:10,240 --> 00:26:13,439 Speaker 1: a great book to point out. But he he mentions 490 00:26:13,480 --> 00:26:18,199 Speaker 1: that after the fires Shenanigan's, the army actually bailed and 491 00:26:18,280 --> 00:26:21,160 Speaker 1: the Navy took it over. And then this is where 492 00:26:21,160 --> 00:26:25,280 Speaker 1: it really becomes Operation x Ray as it's called. Navy 493 00:26:25,359 --> 00:26:30,400 Speaker 1: leases four caves that includes um Nay Cave, which contains 494 00:26:30,400 --> 00:26:32,399 Speaker 1: twenty to thirty million bats. So you're good to go. 495 00:26:33,000 --> 00:26:35,120 Speaker 1: They just just scoop them up, put him in the egg. 496 00:26:36,280 --> 00:26:38,760 Speaker 1: You don't have to train these bats either, is my understanding. 497 00:26:38,760 --> 00:26:40,560 Speaker 1: It's just put him in the egg, give him a 498 00:26:40,600 --> 00:26:44,600 Speaker 1: little backpack full of bombs, drop them. They do the rest. Yes, 499 00:26:44,600 --> 00:26:46,600 Speaker 1: they rely on their natural behavior. Ye. So, and that 500 00:26:46,720 --> 00:26:49,040 Speaker 1: it that sense. It seems a lot more sensible than 501 00:26:49,080 --> 00:26:51,680 Speaker 1: the dog thing. You're not having to manipulate its behavior 502 00:26:51,840 --> 00:26:54,160 Speaker 1: so much and not have to rewrite its behavior. You're 503 00:26:54,200 --> 00:26:56,080 Speaker 1: just saying, hey, their bats are gonna do what bat 504 00:26:56,119 --> 00:26:58,040 Speaker 1: to do and if they should happen to have a 505 00:26:58,040 --> 00:27:01,199 Speaker 1: little bit of napalm on them, well, hey, you know, 506 00:27:01,880 --> 00:27:04,879 Speaker 1: great dentists have come up with amazing ideas that have 507 00:27:04,960 --> 00:27:08,159 Speaker 1: pushed forward, as we learned, as we learned in our 508 00:27:08,200 --> 00:27:13,760 Speaker 1: episode on on tooth modification and extraction. They're they're they're 509 00:27:13,800 --> 00:27:17,480 Speaker 1: outside the box thinkers. So there's another animal that was 510 00:27:17,600 --> 00:27:20,320 Speaker 1: used in a situation kind of similar to this again 511 00:27:20,400 --> 00:27:24,199 Speaker 1: during World War Two. Again a sort of weird suggestion, 512 00:27:24,320 --> 00:27:27,320 Speaker 1: although this is from somebody who's a little bit more famous. Uh, 513 00:27:27,400 --> 00:27:30,080 Speaker 1: we're gonna talk about Project Pigeon or it was also 514 00:27:30,160 --> 00:27:33,480 Speaker 1: known as Project or Con and our guest star for 515 00:27:33,560 --> 00:27:38,000 Speaker 1: this is one B. F. Skinner Skinner Box. Yeah. Skinner 516 00:27:38,040 --> 00:27:40,879 Speaker 1: came up with this idea that you take train pigeons 517 00:27:41,200 --> 00:27:43,720 Speaker 1: and you would put them inside the nose cones on 518 00:27:43,760 --> 00:27:47,480 Speaker 1: the front of US missiles and the pigeons would guide 519 00:27:47,520 --> 00:27:50,400 Speaker 1: these missiles. Is before we had like missile targeting systems, 520 00:27:50,920 --> 00:27:55,680 Speaker 1: uh by tapping a target on a touch sensitive screen 521 00:27:55,840 --> 00:27:59,040 Speaker 1: that showed its destination. This is the part I don't understand. 522 00:27:59,080 --> 00:28:01,359 Speaker 1: I don't remember. It's not that I was alive, but 523 00:28:01,600 --> 00:28:04,320 Speaker 1: we had touch sensitive screens during world War two. I 524 00:28:04,520 --> 00:28:06,439 Speaker 1: don't remember this. It sounds like they have this pigeon 525 00:28:06,480 --> 00:28:08,880 Speaker 1: in a little room with an iPad. Well, I think 526 00:28:08,920 --> 00:28:14,399 Speaker 1: the screen here is likely, um, like the fabric screen. Oh, 527 00:28:15,520 --> 00:28:18,600 Speaker 1: because my one sources I was looking at referred to 528 00:28:18,720 --> 00:28:22,520 Speaker 1: neck movement, So I think maybe we're talking about fabric screens. 529 00:28:22,600 --> 00:28:26,199 Speaker 1: And then when the pigeons they're actually seeing what's in 530 00:28:26,280 --> 00:28:28,520 Speaker 1: front of the missile, it's not a projection of what 531 00:28:28,720 --> 00:28:31,360 Speaker 1: is in front of them, is I guess? Okay? But yeah, 532 00:28:31,400 --> 00:28:33,200 Speaker 1: this one's a little This one was a little harder 533 00:28:33,400 --> 00:28:35,400 Speaker 1: for me to wrap my head around. They train these 534 00:28:35,440 --> 00:28:39,720 Speaker 1: pigeons to peck at specific shapes that were you know, 535 00:28:39,800 --> 00:28:43,200 Speaker 1: high targets, so ships for instance, if you if the 536 00:28:43,200 --> 00:28:46,080 Speaker 1: pigeon packed on a ship, then they would be rewarded 537 00:28:46,120 --> 00:28:49,000 Speaker 1: with grain. Uh. And you know, we spent two million 538 00:28:49,040 --> 00:28:51,480 Speaker 1: on the bats, we only spent twenty five thousand on 539 00:28:51,520 --> 00:28:55,560 Speaker 1: the pigeon program. And again it was ultimately shelved in 540 00:28:55,680 --> 00:28:59,120 Speaker 1: nineteen the military wanted to use the funds instead to 541 00:28:59,240 --> 00:29:02,240 Speaker 1: focus on full developing radar. Yeah, and ultimately that's the 542 00:29:02,280 --> 00:29:05,560 Speaker 1: method that that plays out. Um. So that's kind of 543 00:29:05,600 --> 00:29:08,160 Speaker 1: Skinner's thing though, just as the answer to everything is like, yeah, 544 00:29:08,200 --> 00:29:10,960 Speaker 1: put it in a box. Now we're about to talk 545 00:29:11,000 --> 00:29:13,320 Speaker 1: about rats. I do want to mention real quick that 546 00:29:13,640 --> 00:29:16,840 Speaker 1: on Project x RAY with the exploding bats, yeah, at 547 00:29:16,880 --> 00:29:19,840 Speaker 1: one point some of the research team said, hey, let's 548 00:29:19,840 --> 00:29:22,600 Speaker 1: do this with rats too. Yeah. It's we've already developed 549 00:29:22,720 --> 00:29:27,360 Speaker 1: the the super small incendiary devices. Small step to move 550 00:29:27,400 --> 00:29:30,440 Speaker 1: forward to rats, right. Yeah, and instead of I'm assuming 551 00:29:30,480 --> 00:29:34,120 Speaker 1: that they would instead of opening the egg shaped container 552 00:29:34,120 --> 00:29:36,000 Speaker 1: in mid air, they would just let it land and 553 00:29:36,000 --> 00:29:37,800 Speaker 1: it would open and then the rats would run into 554 00:29:37,920 --> 00:29:39,880 Speaker 1: right or I guess they would be deployed some other way. 555 00:29:39,960 --> 00:29:42,560 Speaker 1: But apparently that suggestion was just completely ignored. I guess 556 00:29:42,560 --> 00:29:44,560 Speaker 1: they were like, no, I'm sorry, We're all in on bats. 557 00:29:44,560 --> 00:29:48,080 Speaker 1: We're not doing rats too. The head of the project 558 00:29:48,160 --> 00:29:51,320 Speaker 1: was Bruce Wayne, and he was just like, sorry, I 559 00:29:51,360 --> 00:29:55,920 Speaker 1: only do bats, no other animals. It's Project x RAY. 560 00:29:55,920 --> 00:29:59,840 Speaker 1: It's not gonna make sense if we do rats. Come on, Okay, 561 00:30:00,080 --> 00:30:04,000 Speaker 1: So we've done incendiary weaponization of animals, we've done explosive 562 00:30:04,040 --> 00:30:08,360 Speaker 1: weaponization of animals. We're gonna end with the biological weaponization 563 00:30:08,400 --> 00:30:11,920 Speaker 1: of animals. So what better animal to start with than 564 00:30:12,320 --> 00:30:15,600 Speaker 1: the rat? Right? So again. We turned to World War Two. 565 00:30:15,920 --> 00:30:19,800 Speaker 1: It's ninety two and the Soviets take disease bearing rats 566 00:30:19,840 --> 00:30:22,400 Speaker 1: and send them out against German troops in the Battle 567 00:30:22,480 --> 00:30:25,960 Speaker 1: of Stalingrad. So the story goes that they infected these 568 00:30:26,080 --> 00:30:29,160 Speaker 1: rats with tularemia, which is also known as rabbit fever. 569 00:30:29,320 --> 00:30:33,640 Speaker 1: It's a bacterial infection that causes weakness, fever, and skin ulcers. 570 00:30:33,800 --> 00:30:37,680 Speaker 1: Doesn't sound pleasant, right, So they spread this through contact 571 00:30:37,760 --> 00:30:40,640 Speaker 1: with the infected animal, in this case a rat, but 572 00:30:40,720 --> 00:30:44,880 Speaker 1: it can also be transmitted through respiration. So before the 573 00:30:44,920 --> 00:30:49,280 Speaker 1: Germans reached the Volga, fifty of the German soldiers who 574 00:30:49,280 --> 00:30:53,440 Speaker 1: had entered Soviet camps after Stalingrad had symptoms of this 575 00:30:53,560 --> 00:30:56,800 Speaker 1: disease of rabbit fever. And it's hypothesized that it was 576 00:30:56,840 --> 00:31:00,640 Speaker 1: because of this, uh you know, d I y hack 577 00:31:01,720 --> 00:31:04,720 Speaker 1: life hacks for the for World War two of infecting 578 00:31:04,720 --> 00:31:06,840 Speaker 1: these rats with the disease. Yeah. I was reading some 579 00:31:06,880 --> 00:31:12,400 Speaker 1: material on this from bioweapons former Soviet bioweapons researcher Ken Alabek, 580 00:31:12,440 --> 00:31:15,560 Speaker 1: who has written some fabulous stuff on bioweapons, and he 581 00:31:15,600 --> 00:31:18,240 Speaker 1: pointed out that so in ninety one, the Soviet Union 582 00:31:18,240 --> 00:31:21,360 Speaker 1: reported ten thousand cases of the illness. And it's during 583 00:31:21,360 --> 00:31:25,640 Speaker 1: that German siege of Stalingrad when it's apparently weaponized. And 584 00:31:25,720 --> 00:31:28,120 Speaker 1: we see the case of skyrocket to a hundred thousand, 585 00:31:28,680 --> 00:31:31,240 Speaker 1: and the way he laid it out, he made it sounded, 586 00:31:31,320 --> 00:31:34,440 Speaker 1: I mean, he strongly suggested. His argument was that, yes, 587 00:31:34,520 --> 00:31:37,320 Speaker 1: this had to have been a biological attack. And it's 588 00:31:37,320 --> 00:31:40,120 Speaker 1: also interesting that Alabec would go on to develop a 589 00:31:40,160 --> 00:31:45,280 Speaker 1: strain of vaccine resistant to laremia further Soviets before defecting 590 00:31:45,320 --> 00:31:48,920 Speaker 1: to the United States in nine well as with many 591 00:31:48,920 --> 00:31:52,200 Speaker 1: of the other examples that we have given already today, Uh, 592 00:31:52,240 --> 00:31:54,880 Speaker 1: this didn't quite work out so well, right, as with 593 00:31:54,960 --> 00:31:57,560 Speaker 1: the dogs, as with the bats, so it seems with 594 00:31:57,600 --> 00:32:02,120 Speaker 1: the disease also infected the Soviet It. Yeah, apparently it was. 595 00:32:02,760 --> 00:32:04,840 Speaker 1: It can be treated in a timely manner and everything. 596 00:32:05,320 --> 00:32:08,360 Speaker 1: Uh and and some people develop a life loan resistance 597 00:32:08,400 --> 00:32:10,000 Speaker 1: to it if they've been treated. So some of the 598 00:32:10,040 --> 00:32:13,080 Speaker 1: Germans had, you know, potentially already had it. They were 599 00:32:13,120 --> 00:32:17,040 Speaker 1: resistant to it because of that. But uh, subsequently other 600 00:32:17,280 --> 00:32:20,680 Speaker 1: Germans weren't passing along to one another after they got 601 00:32:20,680 --> 00:32:24,120 Speaker 1: it from the rats. Sunlight also kills it in thirty minutes, 602 00:32:24,200 --> 00:32:27,160 Speaker 1: as does antibiotics. So you know, there are a lot 603 00:32:27,200 --> 00:32:29,360 Speaker 1: of ways that the Germans could shake this off. But 604 00:32:29,440 --> 00:32:32,960 Speaker 1: then the rats apparently weren't, you know, just going at 605 00:32:33,000 --> 00:32:35,640 Speaker 1: the Germans, I'm sticking around this case. You see the 606 00:32:35,960 --> 00:32:40,680 Speaker 1: problem of depending on two biological agents in your biological 607 00:32:40,720 --> 00:32:43,800 Speaker 1: weapon program, both of which you're just you're trying to 608 00:32:43,840 --> 00:32:47,280 Speaker 1: manipulate how they behave, but they're both going to do 609 00:32:47,360 --> 00:32:49,520 Speaker 1: their thing. The rats going to do its thing and 610 00:32:49,960 --> 00:32:52,760 Speaker 1: the disease is going to do its thing. Yeah, exactly, 611 00:32:52,960 --> 00:32:56,880 Speaker 1: So we see something similar in which we try to 612 00:32:57,040 --> 00:33:01,360 Speaker 1: move this biological weaponization onto the next logical stage, right 613 00:33:01,440 --> 00:33:06,160 Speaker 1: from wraps to bugs. Uh. So, fleas were actually sprayed 614 00:33:06,200 --> 00:33:10,800 Speaker 1: with disease and dropped from low flying airplanes and bombs. Uh. 615 00:33:10,840 --> 00:33:15,760 Speaker 1: They also filled these bombs with a slurry of cholera bacteria. 616 00:33:15,960 --> 00:33:20,680 Speaker 1: This has supposedly been done by the Japanese against the Chinese, 617 00:33:20,840 --> 00:33:24,080 Speaker 1: and that they killed at least four hundred and forty 618 00:33:24,160 --> 00:33:29,520 Speaker 1: thousand Chinese with such a weapon. Yeah. And it seems 619 00:33:29,560 --> 00:33:31,800 Speaker 1: one of the things to keep in mind about these 620 00:33:31,920 --> 00:33:35,480 Speaker 1: essentially low tech vermin based attacks is that they're still 621 00:33:35,480 --> 00:33:40,760 Speaker 1: possible today. Um, most of the the major players in 622 00:33:40,920 --> 00:33:45,520 Speaker 1: biological weaponry or hopefully in many cases former players as 623 00:33:45,680 --> 00:33:48,040 Speaker 1: as some countries get out of the business. You know, 624 00:33:48,080 --> 00:33:51,000 Speaker 1: most of them are are experienced experimenting with more high 625 00:33:51,000 --> 00:33:54,760 Speaker 1: tech weaponized versions, such as use of aerosols, but you 626 00:33:54,880 --> 00:33:58,040 Speaker 1: still can potentially go back to these low tech vermin 627 00:33:58,080 --> 00:34:01,800 Speaker 1: based methods. Yeah, multiple articles that I read for this. Uh, 628 00:34:02,000 --> 00:34:04,760 Speaker 1: there wasn't any research saying that people were doing this, 629 00:34:04,840 --> 00:34:08,120 Speaker 1: but basically the insinuation was, well, if we're worried about 630 00:34:08,280 --> 00:34:11,560 Speaker 1: terrorism in present day society, this is one way that's 631 00:34:11,640 --> 00:34:15,759 Speaker 1: fairly easy for a terrorist to attack a large area. Right, 632 00:34:15,880 --> 00:34:21,800 Speaker 1: infect rats or insects with some kind of not lethal 633 00:34:21,880 --> 00:34:24,440 Speaker 1: but bad disease, it's going to really, you know, weaken 634 00:34:24,520 --> 00:34:29,719 Speaker 1: the population. So the US also did this with fleas. Uh. 635 00:34:29,880 --> 00:34:32,680 Speaker 1: There was the operation I love the names for these, 636 00:34:32,719 --> 00:34:35,040 Speaker 1: Operation x Ray, and then there must have been like 637 00:34:35,440 --> 00:34:38,040 Speaker 1: one person who just like came up with all the names. 638 00:34:38,040 --> 00:34:39,960 Speaker 1: He sat around all day coming up with this. The 639 00:34:40,040 --> 00:34:44,799 Speaker 1: name for this one was Operation big itch Um and 640 00:34:44,840 --> 00:34:48,000 Speaker 1: that's because they were using fleas again. Uh. They tested 641 00:34:48,040 --> 00:34:51,800 Speaker 1: it at Utah's dug Way Proving Ground in nineteen fifty four, 642 00:34:52,160 --> 00:34:54,560 Speaker 1: and what they did was that they placed a bunch 643 00:34:54,600 --> 00:34:57,480 Speaker 1: of guinea pigs in a six hundred and sixty yards 644 00:34:57,520 --> 00:35:01,240 Speaker 1: circular grid. Just this is how they detected the presence 645 00:35:01,239 --> 00:35:03,200 Speaker 1: of whether or not the fleas were working. They used 646 00:35:03,200 --> 00:35:06,880 Speaker 1: tropical rat fleas, uh, and they dropped them from bombs. 647 00:35:07,120 --> 00:35:09,200 Speaker 1: The bombs in this case we're designed to hold two 648 00:35:09,280 --> 00:35:13,000 Speaker 1: hundred thousand fleas each. And the test showed that the 649 00:35:13,040 --> 00:35:16,040 Speaker 1: fleas survived the drop and did attach themselves to the 650 00:35:16,080 --> 00:35:18,040 Speaker 1: hosts in this case, all of these guinea pigs that 651 00:35:18,080 --> 00:35:21,759 Speaker 1: are in this big circular grid. The downside was that 652 00:35:21,760 --> 00:35:24,920 Speaker 1: the canisters were opening in mid air and those aboard 653 00:35:24,920 --> 00:35:28,160 Speaker 1: the plane, including the pilot and the person operating you know, 654 00:35:28,239 --> 00:35:31,880 Speaker 1: the drop and everything, they were also getting bitten. So 655 00:35:32,040 --> 00:35:35,120 Speaker 1: they didn't infect these fleas with any diseases for this test. 656 00:35:35,440 --> 00:35:38,000 Speaker 1: This was just like, can we drop fleas in a 657 00:35:38,080 --> 00:35:40,759 Speaker 1: bomb and they'll actually get all over these guinea pigs 658 00:35:40,880 --> 00:35:43,800 Speaker 1: and potentially use them as a delivery system for another 659 00:35:43,880 --> 00:35:48,239 Speaker 1: exactly literal guinea pigs. This is not they actually used 660 00:35:48,239 --> 00:35:50,879 Speaker 1: guinea pigs. All right, Well, I think we covered all 661 00:35:50,960 --> 00:35:54,439 Speaker 1: the basic ways you can weaponize an animal. Yeah, I mean, 662 00:35:54,480 --> 00:35:57,160 Speaker 1: I'm sure that there are other examples out there or 663 00:35:57,320 --> 00:35:59,680 Speaker 1: rumors of examples, right, but these were the ones that 664 00:35:59,680 --> 00:36:02,680 Speaker 1: we could nailed down and find evidence for. If you 665 00:36:02,800 --> 00:36:06,560 Speaker 1: out there have some kind of reference that to something 666 00:36:06,600 --> 00:36:10,440 Speaker 1: we missed, especially something is like absolutely insane as the 667 00:36:10,480 --> 00:36:13,680 Speaker 1: bat bomb, we want to hear about it. Yeah, because 668 00:36:13,680 --> 00:36:16,040 Speaker 1: certainly there are a lot of other examples in history. 669 00:36:16,080 --> 00:36:19,400 Speaker 1: Like I was reading that Hannibal allegedly experimented with hurling 670 00:36:19,560 --> 00:36:22,719 Speaker 1: poisonous snakes onto enemy vessels. Yeah. Yeah, we talked in 671 00:36:22,760 --> 00:36:25,480 Speaker 1: the X Files episode Joe and I talked about using 672 00:36:25,600 --> 00:36:30,000 Speaker 1: bee hives as projectile weapons and hurling them at your enemies. Yeah. 673 00:36:30,040 --> 00:36:33,759 Speaker 1: And supposedly Byzantine emperor Leo the Wise, who ran from 674 00:36:33,760 --> 00:36:36,480 Speaker 1: eight eight six and nine twelve, he supposedly employed the 675 00:36:36,560 --> 00:36:40,160 Speaker 1: use of scorpions in a similar tactics that they like 676 00:36:40,320 --> 00:36:45,000 Speaker 1: fill like a launcher with scorpions and just fired them out. 677 00:36:45,120 --> 00:36:47,799 Speaker 1: I'm guessing like a basket of scorpions just lob into 678 00:36:47,840 --> 00:36:50,279 Speaker 1: the enemy ship. I mean, that's how basic, Like some 679 00:36:51,000 --> 00:36:53,560 Speaker 1: the weaponization of animals dizzles. Let's take is there a 680 00:36:53,600 --> 00:36:56,040 Speaker 1: dangerous animal, Let's get a lot of them and just 681 00:36:56,160 --> 00:36:58,319 Speaker 1: throw them at the enemy. Well, if you out there 682 00:36:58,320 --> 00:37:02,680 Speaker 1: have got more examples like this, scorpions, poisonous snakes, bee hives, 683 00:37:02,760 --> 00:37:05,600 Speaker 1: whatever we want to hear about it. The best ways 684 00:37:05,640 --> 00:37:07,479 Speaker 1: to get in touch with us are you can start 685 00:37:07,480 --> 00:37:10,200 Speaker 1: with social media. We're on Facebook, We're on Twitter, we're 686 00:37:10,200 --> 00:37:13,799 Speaker 1: on tumbler, all those we receive messages and we are 687 00:37:13,920 --> 00:37:17,000 Speaker 1: blow the mind on those. Uh and we don't just 688 00:37:17,120 --> 00:37:19,439 Speaker 1: you know, post our own stuff on social media as well. 689 00:37:19,440 --> 00:37:21,759 Speaker 1: Throughout the week, Robert, Joe and I are curating all 690 00:37:21,840 --> 00:37:24,680 Speaker 1: kinds of weird, bizarre science factoids that we're picking up 691 00:37:24,680 --> 00:37:27,480 Speaker 1: along our way as we do research for these episodes. Yeah, 692 00:37:27,520 --> 00:37:30,759 Speaker 1: whatever crosses our desk can find it there. And hey, 693 00:37:30,760 --> 00:37:32,920 Speaker 1: sometimes you can find hints of what we're gonna be covering. 694 00:37:33,640 --> 00:37:35,520 Speaker 1: Oh yeah, yeah, as in this case when I just 695 00:37:35,560 --> 00:37:38,120 Speaker 1: posted a weird illustration of a dog with bomb strapped 696 00:37:38,239 --> 00:37:41,719 Speaker 1: us back, some people actually guessed it cool. Well, hey, 697 00:37:41,760 --> 00:37:42,920 Speaker 1: and if you want to get in touch with us 698 00:37:42,960 --> 00:37:46,239 Speaker 1: the old fashioned way via the email, reach out to 699 00:37:46,360 --> 00:37:58,520 Speaker 1: us at below the Mind at how stuff works dot com. 700 00:37:58,600 --> 00:38:01,080 Speaker 1: Well more on this than path ands, weather topics, is It, 701 00:38:01,160 --> 00:38:02,319 Speaker 1: housetop Workshop, comm