1 00:00:03,279 --> 00:00:05,640 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind, a production of 2 00:00:05,640 --> 00:00:10,280 Speaker 1: My Heart Radio. Hi, my name is Robert Lamb and 3 00:00:10,320 --> 00:00:13,320 Speaker 1: this is the Monster Fact, a short form series from 4 00:00:13,320 --> 00:00:16,560 Speaker 1: Stuff to Blow Your Mind, focusing in on mythical creatures, 5 00:00:16,680 --> 00:00:24,079 Speaker 1: ideas and monsters in time. When it comes to the 6 00:00:24,120 --> 00:00:27,880 Speaker 1: fauna of the planet Aracus, your mind probably turns to 7 00:00:27,920 --> 00:00:32,320 Speaker 1: the famous sandworm. Alternatively, you might think of muad Dib, 8 00:00:32,520 --> 00:00:36,919 Speaker 1: the desert mouse, descended from terrestrial kangaroo mice that were 9 00:00:36,960 --> 00:00:42,080 Speaker 1: introduced to the planet by human colonists. But another introduced 10 00:00:42,080 --> 00:00:47,360 Speaker 1: species concerns me today, the Coulon. Yes, the donkeys of 11 00:00:47,520 --> 00:00:51,680 Speaker 1: Frank Herbert's Doone. The coulon are only mentioned twice in 12 00:00:51,720 --> 00:00:56,080 Speaker 1: the original novel, both times in the appendix, were told 13 00:00:56,120 --> 00:00:59,800 Speaker 1: that they were once wild donkeys of Earth's asiatic step 14 00:01:00,240 --> 00:01:04,640 Speaker 1: and were introduced and adapted for work on the planet Aracus. 15 00:01:05,240 --> 00:01:08,840 Speaker 1: We also learn that some smugglers made use of coulon 16 00:01:08,920 --> 00:01:12,120 Speaker 1: as pack animals, but quote the water price was high 17 00:01:12,240 --> 00:01:15,640 Speaker 1: even when the beasts were fitted with modified still suits. 18 00:01:16,560 --> 00:01:19,039 Speaker 1: This is the tidbit that enthralls me every time I 19 00:01:19,120 --> 00:01:21,560 Speaker 1: reread it. Perhaps it's just the mental image of a 20 00:01:21,640 --> 00:01:25,600 Speaker 1: donkey clad in a futuristic water reclamation suit, then used 21 00:01:25,600 --> 00:01:29,839 Speaker 1: by smugglers to traffic psychedelic space drugs. While the Dune 22 00:01:29,920 --> 00:01:34,240 Speaker 1: Encyclopedia is usually quick to expand on concepts from the novels, 23 00:01:34,280 --> 00:01:37,600 Speaker 1: they offer very little on the donkeys of Done except 24 00:01:37,600 --> 00:01:40,600 Speaker 1: to claim that the Fremen inhabitants of Aracus employed them 25 00:01:40,600 --> 00:01:43,959 Speaker 1: as well and use the animal's milk in their cuisine. 26 00:01:44,480 --> 00:01:47,320 Speaker 1: By the way, this book features a few recipes you 27 00:01:47,319 --> 00:01:50,760 Speaker 1: can prepare yourself. I often wondered why Frank Herbert would 28 00:01:50,800 --> 00:01:55,600 Speaker 1: choose to have introduced donkeys on Aracus and not camels. Camels, 29 00:01:55,640 --> 00:01:58,880 Speaker 1: after all, are the ships of the desert highly suited 30 00:01:58,920 --> 00:02:02,680 Speaker 1: for dry air environments, but the donkey, too, is a 31 00:02:02,760 --> 00:02:07,720 Speaker 1: highly evolved desert ungulate. Both species offer energy and water savings, 32 00:02:08,040 --> 00:02:10,120 Speaker 1: but is one truly a better choice than the other? 33 00:02:10,320 --> 00:02:13,959 Speaker 1: Was I wrong to question Herbert's wisdom in giving oracous 34 00:02:14,040 --> 00:02:22,120 Speaker 1: the donkey as usuff at all? Explore In energy costs 35 00:02:22,160 --> 00:02:26,200 Speaker 1: of walking in camels from nine, the camel benefits from 36 00:02:26,280 --> 00:02:29,360 Speaker 1: low energy cost of walking, which results in an economy 37 00:02:29,360 --> 00:02:33,760 Speaker 1: of heat production and food water requirements. Plus, the authors 38 00:02:34,000 --> 00:02:37,160 Speaker 1: argue that the camel is unequaled by other mammals in 39 00:02:37,160 --> 00:02:40,959 Speaker 1: its ability to carry heavy loads for long distances. The 40 00:02:41,040 --> 00:02:43,760 Speaker 1: domestication and popularity of the camel is a topic of 41 00:02:43,800 --> 00:02:47,120 Speaker 1: great interest and was the subject of historian Richard Bullets 42 00:02:48,320 --> 00:02:51,919 Speaker 1: book The Camel and the Wheel. In his two thousand 43 00:02:52,000 --> 00:02:55,360 Speaker 1: five book Hunters, Herders and Hamburgers, he mentions that he 44 00:02:55,400 --> 00:02:58,000 Speaker 1: nearly wrote a book on the donkey as well. Both 45 00:02:58,000 --> 00:03:01,440 Speaker 1: animals would have entered the world of human domestication, he 46 00:03:01,480 --> 00:03:05,880 Speaker 1: writes between four thousand and three thousand b c. As 47 00:03:05,960 --> 00:03:10,080 Speaker 1: Roger S. Bagnal discusses in the paper The Camel, the 48 00:03:10,080 --> 00:03:13,919 Speaker 1: Wagon and the Donkey in later Roman Egypt, both creatures 49 00:03:13,919 --> 00:03:17,239 Speaker 1: had their advantages depending on the job and the environment. 50 00:03:17,720 --> 00:03:21,560 Speaker 1: The camel was superior in its greater range, endurance, and 51 00:03:21,600 --> 00:03:25,240 Speaker 1: ability to go long distances without water, but it was 52 00:03:25,280 --> 00:03:28,399 Speaker 1: also more expensive than the donkey, and its advantages would 53 00:03:28,440 --> 00:03:31,760 Speaker 1: be less impressive if it was required for short and 54 00:03:32,040 --> 00:03:36,240 Speaker 1: or infrequent trips. And so what of the world of Iracus. 55 00:03:36,560 --> 00:03:39,880 Speaker 1: We might well assume that the mighty camel's long distance, 56 00:03:40,200 --> 00:03:44,400 Speaker 1: high volume skills were less necessary within a civilization full 57 00:03:44,400 --> 00:03:48,600 Speaker 1: of high tech ornithopters, and on a world where travel 58 00:03:48,680 --> 00:03:52,520 Speaker 1: across the open desert is so terribly risky due to 59 00:03:52,560 --> 00:03:58,680 Speaker 1: the sandworms attraction to the rhythm afoot and hoofsteps. Perhaps 60 00:03:58,720 --> 00:04:02,400 Speaker 1: then the donkey was the best fit and the domesticated 61 00:04:02,440 --> 00:04:06,280 Speaker 1: species most likely to survive on aracous long term, as 62 00:04:06,320 --> 00:04:09,400 Speaker 1: it was perhaps cheaper to keep and better used for 63 00:04:09,480 --> 00:04:13,600 Speaker 1: short travel in protected areas and also as a dairy animal. 64 00:04:16,600 --> 00:04:20,400 Speaker 1: Tune into additional episodes of The Monster Fact or The 65 00:04:20,520 --> 00:04:23,920 Speaker 1: Artifact each week. As always, you can email us at 66 00:04:23,960 --> 00:04:35,279 Speaker 1: contact at stuff to Blow your Mind dot com. Stuff 67 00:04:35,279 --> 00:04:37,479 Speaker 1: to Blow Your Mind is production of I Heart Radio. 68 00:04:37,839 --> 00:04:39,960 Speaker 1: For more podcasts for my heart Radio, visit the i 69 00:04:40,000 --> 00:04:42,839 Speaker 1: heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to 70 00:04:42,839 --> 00:04:43,680 Speaker 1: your favorite shows.