WEBVTT - The Monstrefact: The Wampas of Hoth

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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 Lamb And This is the

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<v Speaker 2>Monster Fact, a short form series from Stuff to Blow

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<v Speaker 2>Your Mind, focusing on non mythical creatures, ideas, and monsters

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<v Speaker 2>in time. The Star Wars universe is home to many

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<v Speaker 2>monstrous creatures, but few are as iconic as the mighty Wampa.

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<v Speaker 2>This horned, yetty like bipedal brute makes its home on

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<v Speaker 2>Frigid Hoth, where it preys on abundant ton Tons as

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<v Speaker 2>well as the occasional extraplanetary visitor. One even managed to

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<v Speaker 2>get its pause on Jedi in training Luke Skywalker and

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<v Speaker 2>very nearly succeeded in killing the legendary warrior. The Star

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<v Speaker 2>Wars Alien Archive, one of my favorite books, is light

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<v Speaker 2>on Wampa details, but an earlier book, The Wildlife of

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<v Speaker 2>Star Wars, A Field Guide by Terrell Whitlatch and Bob

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<v Speaker 2>caraw provides a great deal more information. Both of these authors,

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<v Speaker 2>by the way, are interesting figures in the history of

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<v Speaker 2>Star Wars. Carau Co wrote nineteen eighty four's The Ewok Adventure,

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<v Speaker 2>and Whitlatch, an illustrator with a background in zoology, served

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<v Speaker 2>as principal creature designer for Star Wars episode one, The

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<v Speaker 2>Phantom Menace, a film that is just absolutely overflowing with

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<v Speaker 2>amazing creatures. The book in question, however, is from two

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<v Speaker 2>thousand and one. It's still available from used booksellers and

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<v Speaker 2>well worth picking up if you're into Star Wars and

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<v Speaker 2>or bestiaries, and in addition to providing robust details on

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<v Speaker 2>the creatures of Naboo, it also covers the likes of

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<v Speaker 2>the rain Corps and the Wampa. The authors describe the

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<v Speaker 2>wampa as an apex ambush predator, as its body is

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<v Speaker 2>not ideal for prolonged chases against speedy ton tons. No,

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<v Speaker 2>its locomotion seems similar to that of a mountain gorilla,

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<v Speaker 2>capable of bipedal and quadrupedal movement, but it's going to

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<v Speaker 2>need to wait and ambush its prey to leap out

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<v Speaker 2>and overpower it in the Empire strikes back. Luke, of course,

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<v Speaker 2>his frozen feet first in the ceiling of a wampa's

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<v Speaker 2>ice cave, seemingly via the creature's saliva, so we imagine

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<v Speaker 2>it must have taken a comatose Luke, licked his boots

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<v Speaker 2>up real good and then stuck him up there and

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<v Speaker 2>allowed the saliva to set and turn to ice, though

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<v Speaker 2>we don't get to witness this process in the film,

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<v Speaker 2>of course. Now, while this method seems to work for

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<v Speaker 2>small prey like humans, whitlatch and caraal present a far

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<v Speaker 2>more grizzly storage method. For the wampa's primary prey, the

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<v Speaker 2>ton ton quote prey is impaled on large icicles or

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<v Speaker 2>stuck to cavern ceilings with saliva to keep the meat fresh.

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<v Speaker 2>Saliva acts as an anesthetic in victims. Indeed, one of

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<v Speaker 2>the book's three wampa illustrations depicts a mother wampa tending

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<v Speaker 2>to her younglings in a cave where no fewer than

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<v Speaker 2>four ton tons hang, pierced through the lower legs by

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<v Speaker 2>meat hook like upward thrusting ice spikes. This behavior, of course,

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<v Speaker 2>brings to mind terrestrial butcher birds, which use plant thorns

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<v Speaker 2>to tear and store the impaled bodies of insects and

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<v Speaker 2>small rodents, as well as to detoxify certain insects by

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<v Speaker 2>letting them cure on the spike, if you will. The

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<v Speaker 2>authors don't explore this, but I can't help but wonder

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<v Speaker 2>if tontons, given their famous odor, are not to some

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<v Speaker 2>degree toxic, and their bodies must cure a while on

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<v Speaker 2>the ice spikes before they can be consumed. Or perhaps

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<v Speaker 2>wampas simply have to make the best out of surplus

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<v Speaker 2>kills and store up the meat, especially for the growing

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<v Speaker 2>little ones. As for the ice spikes, well, various terrestrial mammals, birds,

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<v Speaker 2>and fish do manipulate ice or snow in their environments,

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<v Speaker 2>and is pointed out by Gloria Dickey in a twenty

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<v Speaker 2>twenty one Science News article, polar bears have been observed

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<v Speaker 2>to throw blocks of ice at seals, and indigenous accounts

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<v Speaker 2>report that polar bears sometimes use blocks of stone or

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<v Speaker 2>ice to bash in the heads of walruses. As the

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<v Speaker 2>article explains, scientists take this possibility very seriously, especially given

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<v Speaker 2>similar behavior concerning ice observed in wild and captive polar bears.

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<v Speaker 2>So if shaggy apex predators in our own frozen environments

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<v Speaker 2>are using ice as a tool, then perhaps it's not

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<v Speaker 2>too much of a fantasy to imagine wampas using ice

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<v Speaker 2>spikes as meat hooks in a galaxy far far away.

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<v Speaker 2>Tune in for additional episodes of The Monster Fact each week,

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<v Speaker 2>and as always, you can email us at time. Contact

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<v Speaker 2>at stuffd Blow Your Mind dot com.

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