WEBVTT - Listener Mail: A Bird of Courage

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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>Hello, and welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind. Listener mail.

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<v Speaker 2>My name is Joe McCormick. My regular co host Robert

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<v Speaker 2>Lamb is out today, so I'm going to be recording

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<v Speaker 2>this episode solo. But don't worry. Rob will be back

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<v Speaker 2>on Mike with me next time. It's Monday, the day

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<v Speaker 2>of each week that we read back messages from the

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<v Speaker 2>Stuff to Blow Your Mind email address. If you would

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<v Speaker 2>like to get in touch, you can write us at

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<v Speaker 2>contact at stuff to Blow your Mind dot com. Whatever

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<v Speaker 2>you want to send us fine. We appreciate feedback to

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<v Speaker 2>recent episodes, especially if you have something interesting to add

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<v Speaker 2>to something we have talked about. Okay, I'm going to

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<v Speaker 2>start off today with a response to an older series

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<v Speaker 2>of episodes we did on throwing behavior in non human animals,

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<v Speaker 2>and one of the big examples we talked about in

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<v Speaker 2>that series was a paper about octopuses doing something that

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<v Speaker 2>looked like deliberate targeted throwing of inanimate objects like shells

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<v Speaker 2>and clumps of sediment at each other and I think

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<v Speaker 2>occasionally at fish, but mostly at each other for getting

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<v Speaker 2>in one another's personal space and I do recall there

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<v Speaker 2>was some ambiguity about whether that was the right interpretation

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<v Speaker 2>of the behavior or not. Was it actually targeted throwing

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<v Speaker 2>or just something that kind of looked that way because

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<v Speaker 2>they were kicking up dust or sediment for some other reason.

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<v Speaker 2>And continuing the theme of octopuses and animal throwing, Nathan writes, Hi, Robert,

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<v Speaker 2>Joe and Carney a shout out to the mailbot. I

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<v Speaker 2>just finished listening to your episodes on animals throwing things

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<v Speaker 2>when I saw an interesting article on the CBC. There

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<v Speaker 2>had been video caught of a sea lion and octopus

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<v Speaker 2>fighting off the cost of Nanaimo, British Columbia, which is

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<v Speaker 2>definitely not typical octopus stomping grounds. In the video, the

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<v Speaker 2>sea lion picks up the octopus and throws it across

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<v Speaker 2>the surface of the water with surprising force at least twice.

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<v Speaker 2>In the article, Andrew Trites, director of the Marine Mammal

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<v Speaker 2>Research Unit at the University of British Columbia, says that

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<v Speaker 2>sea lions will bite down hard on one tentacle, then

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<v Speaker 2>fling the octopus in an effort to tear the arm off.

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<v Speaker 2>This is apparently the safest way for them to pray

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<v Speaker 2>on octopus, as otherwise the octopus can suffocate the sea

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<v Speaker 2>lion with its many tentacles. Thanks for all your great work,

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<v Speaker 2>and though behind currently, my wife Olivia and I never

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<v Speaker 2>miss an episode. Thanks Nathan. Well, Nathan, thank you for

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<v Speaker 2>sending this in. So I went and looked up the

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<v Speaker 2>CBC article you referenced. It's from November seventeenth, twenty twenty

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<v Speaker 2>three by Andrew Kurjada. If you want to look this up, folks,

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<v Speaker 2>it is called Swimmer witnesses Surprise Fight between between octopus

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<v Speaker 2>and Sea Lion, and the video is attached with the article.

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<v Speaker 2>The video is pretty cool, so you can see this

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<v Speaker 2>marine mammal repeatedly breaching the water's surface, seeming to kind

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<v Speaker 2>of gasp and struggle at something, and then a couple

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<v Speaker 2>of times it does suddenly whip its head around and

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<v Speaker 2>fling something from its jaws, and it looks to me

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<v Speaker 2>like immediately after it does that, especially in at least

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<v Speaker 2>one instance, but maybe in a couple of them, the

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<v Speaker 2>sea lion is working its jaws, maybe like it's chewing

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<v Speaker 2>on something. And according to this researcher that Nathan mentioned,

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<v Speaker 2>Andrew Tritz, who is the marine biologist quoted in the

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<v Speaker 2>article the sea lion in the video was a stellar

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<v Speaker 2>sea lion, and that's a species name spelled ste ll

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<v Speaker 2>e Er, one of the two species found in these waters,

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<v Speaker 2>along with the California sea lion. I'll read a direct

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<v Speaker 2>quote from Trites explaining this behavior in the article quote.

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<v Speaker 2>The challenge for a sea lion is to swallow an

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<v Speaker 2>octopus without the octopus using it eight arms to grab

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<v Speaker 2>onto the sea lion's head while it is being swallowed whole,

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<v Speaker 2>the sea lion would suffocate. The sea lion's solution is

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<v Speaker 2>to bite down onto one arm at a time and

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<v Speaker 2>fling the octopus's body with all its force to rip

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<v Speaker 2>off an arm to swallow hole. They do it at

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<v Speaker 2>the surface because they can get more torque in the

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<v Speaker 2>air than they can underwater. I missed that detail about

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<v Speaker 2>I'm swallowing the octopus armhole, so maybe it's not chewing.

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<v Speaker 2>I don't know. The jaw working could be something else,

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<v Speaker 2>but anyway, this would explain why the sea lion was

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<v Speaker 2>poking its head up above the water to do this.

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<v Speaker 2>That is trying to get more torque when it flings

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<v Speaker 2>its you know, whips its neck around to throw the

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<v Speaker 2>octopus and try to rip the arm off. Another consideration

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<v Speaker 2>mentioned in the CBC article is that the octopus not

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<v Speaker 2>only threatens to suffocate the sea lion that is preying

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<v Speaker 2>on it, it can also wrap itself around a predatory

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<v Speaker 2>mammal's head like a sort of kill monster mask and

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<v Speaker 2>bite with its beak. Also worth considering that octopuses are venomous,

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<v Speaker 2>So yeah, it makes sense that the sea lion is

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<v Speaker 2>really eager to get the octopus away from its face,

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<v Speaker 2>even while trying to eat part of the octopus's body. Now,

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<v Speaker 2>this behavior brings me back to an issue we talked

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<v Speaker 2>about in that series on animal throwing behavior, which was

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<v Speaker 2>the cognitive distinction between throwing behavior that seems to be

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<v Speaker 2>for the purpose of affecting the projectile versus throwing that's

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<v Speaker 2>designed to affect the target. So, for example, throwing a

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<v Speaker 2>nut against a rock to crack the nut versus throwing

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<v Speaker 2>a rock at a target animal to make it, I

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<v Speaker 2>don't know, leave you to hurt the animal, or to

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<v Speaker 2>make it go away and leave you alone. There is

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<v Speaker 2>implicitly different cognition involved. In one case, you already have

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<v Speaker 2>the object you want to affect in your possession, and

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<v Speaker 2>you throw it in order to change something about it,

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<v Speaker 2>maybe to damage it, or just to get it away

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<v Speaker 2>from you to change its location. In the other case,

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<v Speaker 2>the target you want to influence is at a distance

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<v Speaker 2>from your body, and the projectile is a third party

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<v Speaker 2>tool you're using to cause that effect at distance. In

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<v Speaker 2>this case, I think it's pretty clear that the throwing

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<v Speaker 2>is to affect the projectile, not a target, and it's

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<v Speaker 2>in two ways. The goal is number one, to rip

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<v Speaker 2>part of the octopus's body off so that it can

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<v Speaker 2>be eaten, but then also just to get the other

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<v Speaker 2>arms and the beak away from the sea lion's face.

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<v Speaker 2>So anyway, many thanks, Nathan Okay onto another message leading

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<v Speaker 2>to some interesting facts about animal behavior. So Troy wrote

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<v Speaker 2>to us in response to a previous listener mail after

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<v Speaker 2>our Weird House Cinema episode on Critters. Critters is a

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<v Speaker 2>mainline Gromlin's movie series about little monster hedgehogs from space

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<v Speaker 2>that love to eat. The movie we covered was the

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<v Speaker 2>original film from nineteen eighty six, but a previous listener

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<v Speaker 2>brought up the fact that in the sequel from nineteen

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<v Speaker 2>eighty eight, which is Critters to the main course, the

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<v Speaker 2>crits at one point glom onto one another to form

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<v Speaker 2>a gigantic ball that rolls around, smashing people and generating mayhem.

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<v Speaker 2>And the question came up whether there are real world

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<v Speaker 2>examples of animals that agglomerate together to serve a collective

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<v Speaker 2>destructive purpose like this? Are there animals that will form

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<v Speaker 2>giant balls out of their bodies? And the answer is yes.

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<v Speaker 2>The one answer I could think of on the spot

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<v Speaker 2>when we read this first male was the bivouac formed

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<v Speaker 2>by colonies of army ants. I think driver ants too.

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<v Speaker 2>The bivouac is essentially a mobile protective nest made by

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<v Speaker 2>the ants out of their own bodies, by ants out

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<v Speaker 2>of ants, living ants. So the colony will form this

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<v Speaker 2>kind of cyclopean mass made out of hundreds of thousands

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<v Speaker 2>of worker ants that gather around the queen and her

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<v Speaker 2>larvae to protect them when the foraging column comes to rest.

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<v Speaker 2>And of course they have to do this because they

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<v Speaker 2>can't form a permanent nest structure, say like with tunnels

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<v Speaker 2>in the ground or a mound like some other types

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<v Speaker 2>of ants or usocial insects, because the colony it forges

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<v Speaker 2>so much that it always has to keep moving to

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<v Speaker 2>find new feeding sources, so they have to take their

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<v Speaker 2>nest with them. So the nest is made out of

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<v Speaker 2>the colony, out of the ant's own bodies. So the

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<v Speaker 2>worker ants grip each other's legs to form this cohesive

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<v Speaker 2>structure around the queen for the resting period, and then

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<v Speaker 2>when it's time to move again, the bivouac dissolves and

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<v Speaker 2>the ants go on their way. Now, Troy writes to

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<v Speaker 2>us with another example of stunningly weird agglomeration behavior in animals,

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<v Speaker 2>and it might not be a surprise that it's also

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<v Speaker 2>from the order of Hymenoptera. So he brings up the

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<v Speaker 2>behavior known as bee bawling or sometimes heat balling in honeybees.

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<v Speaker 2>This is a really interesting defensive strategy that has been

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<v Speaker 2>documented in the Asian honeybee. I was reading about it

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<v Speaker 2>in paper specifically on the Japanese honeybee, which is APIs

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<v Speaker 2>serana japonica, and it works to protect the bees colonies

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<v Speaker 2>against attacks by predatory hornets such as the Asian giant

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<v Speaker 2>hornet Vespa mandarinia. And it seems like this is actually

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<v Speaker 2>a pretty complex interspecies relationship. Just one example. I was

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<v Speaker 2>reading about that there is some evidence of information exchange

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<v Speaker 2>between bees and hornets that can sometimes avert failed predation

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<v Speaker 2>attempts that would be costly for both parties. So maybe

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<v Speaker 2>bees can do behaviors that let the hornets know that

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<v Speaker 2>the bees see the hornets and thus are preparing their defenses,

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<v Speaker 2>and thus the hornets can just avoid attacking them in

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<v Speaker 2>the first place because probably won't be successful and it

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<v Speaker 2>will just hurt both sides. But if a hornet does

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<v Speaker 2>decide to attack a hive of Asian honeybees, the main

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<v Speaker 2>lethal defensive strategy available to the bees is to surround

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<v Speaker 2>the hornet in a tight cluster and then violently vibrate

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<v Speaker 2>their flight muscles. So this tight ball of vibrating bees

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<v Speaker 2>quickly increases in temperature. It gets hot, and the structure

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<v Speaker 2>of the beat of the bee ball traps the heat,

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<v Speaker 2>and it also traps carbon dioxide inside. And this combination

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<v Speaker 2>of heat and CO two density kills the hornet but

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<v Speaker 2>allows most of the bees to survive. And interestingly, though,

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<v Speaker 2>of course Japanese honeybees can sting, I've read that they

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<v Speaker 2>rarely use their stingers against predatory hornets. The ball is

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<v Speaker 2>all you need. Also, I just wanted to mention while

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<v Speaker 2>I was reading about this, I came across a related

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<v Speaker 2>fact concerning another defensive strategy used by Asian honeybee colonies

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<v Speaker 2>against hornet attacks. And this was in a paper by

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<v Speaker 2>Matila at All published in Plus one in twenty twenty.

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<v Speaker 2>The paper is called honeybees APIs serrana use animal feces

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<v Speaker 2>as a tool to defend colonies against group attack by

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<v Speaker 2>giant hornets Vespas sorore And yeah, so you heard it

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<v Speaker 2>there in the title. This paper documented Asian honeybees responding

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<v Speaker 2>to threats from predatory hornets by foraging for animal feces

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<v Speaker 2>such as water buffalo dung, bringing that animal dung back

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<v Speaker 2>to the hive, and smearing it around the entrance to

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<v Speaker 2>the hive. To read from the abstract here quote Fecal

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<v Speaker 2>spotting increased after colonies were exposed, either to naturally occurring

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<v Speaker 2>attacks or to chemicals that scout hornets use to target

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<v Speaker 2>colonies for mass attack. Spotting continued for days after attack ceased,

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<v Speaker 2>and occurred in response to Vesper sorore, which frequently landed

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<v Speaker 2>at and chewed on entrances to breach nests, but not

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<v Speaker 2>Vespa velutina, a smaller hornet that rarely landed at entrances.

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<v Speaker 2>Moderate to heavy fecal spotting suppressed attempts by vsrore to

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<v Speaker 2>penetrate nests by lowering the incidents of multiple hornet attacks

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<v Speaker 2>and substantially reducing the likelihood of them approaching and chewing

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<v Speaker 2>on entrances. We argue that APIs Serrana forages for animal

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<v Speaker 2>feces because it has properties that repel this deadly predator

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<v Speaker 2>from nest entrances, providing the first report of tool use

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<v Speaker 2>by honeybees and the first evidence that they forage for

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<v Speaker 2>solids that are not derived from plants. So what are

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<v Speaker 2>these properties of animal dung that would work to keep

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<v Speaker 2>the hornets away? The authors say they do not know yet. Also,

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<v Speaker 2>just to note that if you dig into the paper,

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<v Speaker 2>they do qualify the claim that this is the first

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<v Speaker 2>documentation of tool use in honey because as usual with

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<v Speaker 2>studies about tool use in animals, there is disagreement about

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<v Speaker 2>what the criteria are, and there have been other observations

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<v Speaker 2>that could qualify as tool use and bees depending on

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<v Speaker 2>your criteria. All right, this next message comes from Chuck

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<v Speaker 2>and it is a response to our series of episodes

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<v Speaker 2>on the invention of the crossbow. Specifically, this is Chuck

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<v Speaker 2>from San Diego. Chuck from San Diego says Dear Robert,

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<v Speaker 2>Joe and JJ, thanks again for your interesting, thoughtful, and

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<v Speaker 2>informative content. I think, like many of your listeners, I

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<v Speaker 2>don't normally have a reason in my daily life to

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<v Speaker 2>ponder many of the topics you discuss in depth, but

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<v Speaker 2>I'm glad you do it for me. Often your discussion

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<v Speaker 2>reminds me to consider topics in new ways or simply

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<v Speaker 2>unlock cherished memories. That's a long winded way of saying,

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<v Speaker 2>you guys enrich my life. Case in point crossbows. Oh,

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<v Speaker 2>thank you, Chuck. That means a lot about crossbows. Chuck says,

0:14:00.080 --> 0:14:02.920
<v Speaker 2>I personally found the discussion of crossbows as a quote

0:14:03.120 --> 0:14:08.000
<v Speaker 2>evil weapon fascinating, considering two formative memories that I have

0:14:08.440 --> 0:14:11.800
<v Speaker 2>that counter that notion. The first is from the nineteen

0:14:11.880 --> 0:14:16.520
<v Speaker 2>eighty movie Hawk the Slayer. This sword and sorcery film,

0:14:16.600 --> 0:14:20.080
<v Speaker 2>a good selection for weird house cinema, actually stars Jack

0:14:20.280 --> 0:14:24.000
<v Speaker 2>Palance as the evil Voltan and John Terry as the

0:14:24.040 --> 0:14:28.360
<v Speaker 2>titular Hawk. Hawk must gather a ragtag band of heroes

0:14:28.400 --> 0:14:32.440
<v Speaker 2>to defeat Voltan and restore order and goodness to the Land.

0:14:32.560 --> 0:14:35.880
<v Speaker 2>The film is not good, but it does have its moments,

0:14:36.000 --> 0:14:39.480
<v Speaker 2>especially in some of the character and action choices. One

0:14:39.520 --> 0:14:43.000
<v Speaker 2>of the heroes, played by William Morgan Shepherd is Ranulf,

0:14:43.160 --> 0:14:47.080
<v Speaker 2>who loses a hand and replaces it with a repeating

0:14:47.280 --> 0:14:50.680
<v Speaker 2>crossbow fed by a clip of bolts with an insane

0:14:50.760 --> 0:14:53.880
<v Speaker 2>rate of fire. To eight year old me watching it

0:14:53.880 --> 0:14:56.120
<v Speaker 2>for the first time in nineteen eighty, this was the

0:14:56.280 --> 0:15:00.280
<v Speaker 2>coolest weapon ever. Of course, because of Ranulf, repeat eating

0:15:00.320 --> 0:15:04.640
<v Speaker 2>crossbows ended up in later D and D campaigns. I

0:15:04.640 --> 0:15:06.800
<v Speaker 2>guess Chuck means his own D and D campaigns. I'm

0:15:06.800 --> 0:15:09.520
<v Speaker 2>not sure, or Chuck, do you mean that this like

0:15:09.640 --> 0:15:12.760
<v Speaker 2>inspired the creators of the D and D players guides

0:15:12.800 --> 0:15:15.880
<v Speaker 2>to well, I don't know, yeah, right in clarify if

0:15:15.880 --> 0:15:19.000
<v Speaker 2>you want, Chuck goes on. The second memory is from

0:15:19.080 --> 0:15:24.239
<v Speaker 2>the nineteen eighty three Atari Arcade light gun game Crossbow.

0:15:24.840 --> 0:15:27.520
<v Speaker 2>This cabinet had a near life sized version of a

0:15:27.560 --> 0:15:30.760
<v Speaker 2>crossbow that players had to use to defend their adventuring

0:15:30.800 --> 0:15:34.800
<v Speaker 2>allies as they slowly moved from left to right across

0:15:34.840 --> 0:15:38.520
<v Speaker 2>hazard filled screens. Eventually, the players had to find and

0:15:38.560 --> 0:15:42.160
<v Speaker 2>shoot the Master of Darkness to win the game, as

0:15:42.200 --> 0:15:46.000
<v Speaker 2>your life meter, your adventuring allies on screen were essentially

0:15:46.160 --> 0:15:50.160
<v Speaker 2>useless think endless escort quest. So it was up to

0:15:50.320 --> 0:15:53.280
<v Speaker 2>only you and your trusty crossbow to save the land

0:15:53.360 --> 0:15:56.160
<v Speaker 2>from darkness. Thanks again for all you do, and my

0:15:56.320 --> 0:15:59.840
<v Speaker 2>very best wishes to you and your families this holiday season, Sincerely,

0:16:00.360 --> 0:16:03.240
<v Speaker 2>Chuck from San Diego. Well, thank you so much, Chuck,

0:16:03.280 --> 0:16:06.040
<v Speaker 2>and saying back to you and yours. So I have

0:16:06.320 --> 0:16:09.400
<v Speaker 2>never seen Hawk the Slayer, but I just looked up

0:16:09.440 --> 0:16:12.320
<v Speaker 2>the poster before recording here, and I guess this is

0:16:12.360 --> 0:16:15.400
<v Speaker 2>supposed to be John Terry as Hawk here, but it's

0:16:15.560 --> 0:16:19.240
<v Speaker 2>just Han Solo. The costume is exactly the same, folks.

0:16:19.240 --> 0:16:22.080
<v Speaker 2>Look this up Hawk the Slayer. Am I wrong? There's

0:16:22.120 --> 0:16:24.680
<v Speaker 2>like the deep v neck off white shirt with the

0:16:24.680 --> 0:16:29.920
<v Speaker 2>long sleeves, black vest, dark pants, tall boots. So yeah,

0:16:29.960 --> 0:16:32.640
<v Speaker 2>it's just Han Solo from the first Star Wars movie.

0:16:32.680 --> 0:16:35.000
<v Speaker 2>And I looked up shots from the actual movie of

0:16:35.000 --> 0:16:37.560
<v Speaker 2>Hawk the Slayer and his costume's a little different on screen,

0:16:37.600 --> 0:16:43.160
<v Speaker 2>but that poster is Come on, shameless dudes. Also, Jack

0:16:43.240 --> 0:16:47.080
<v Speaker 2>Palance as the villain has an interesting costume feature. He

0:16:47.160 --> 0:16:50.600
<v Speaker 2>wears a metal helmet that only reveals one eye. The

0:16:50.680 --> 0:16:53.040
<v Speaker 2>other eye gap in the helmet is covered with a

0:16:53.080 --> 0:16:55.880
<v Speaker 2>steel plate, so I guess it's taking the villain with

0:16:55.920 --> 0:16:59.240
<v Speaker 2>an eye patch principle to the next level. All right,

0:16:59.280 --> 0:17:06.680
<v Speaker 2>next message is about Weird House Cinema. This is from Steph.

0:17:07.119 --> 0:17:10.440
<v Speaker 2>Steph says, hello, gentlemen. I listened to your Weird House

0:17:10.440 --> 0:17:14.560
<v Speaker 2>Cinema episode on the Butterfly Murders and, as always, really

0:17:14.640 --> 0:17:16.840
<v Speaker 2>enjoyed it and wished I could see the movie myself.

0:17:17.280 --> 0:17:20.040
<v Speaker 2>After hearing how rare a copy of this movie was,

0:17:20.119 --> 0:17:22.280
<v Speaker 2>I pretty much gave up hope for ever seeing it

0:17:22.320 --> 0:17:25.600
<v Speaker 2>and relegated myself to checking out the trailer on YouTube.

0:17:25.880 --> 0:17:28.560
<v Speaker 2>I fired up my laptop and found the trailer easily,

0:17:28.720 --> 0:17:31.840
<v Speaker 2>but as often happens, things got busy. Dinner had to

0:17:31.880 --> 0:17:34.480
<v Speaker 2>be made and cleaned up, homework had to be finished,

0:17:34.680 --> 0:17:37.800
<v Speaker 2>and kids needed baths and tucking in, so I left

0:17:37.800 --> 0:17:40.240
<v Speaker 2>it until this morning. I sat down with my coffee

0:17:40.240 --> 0:17:42.199
<v Speaker 2>to watch what I thought was about to be a

0:17:42.640 --> 0:17:46.080
<v Speaker 2>was about a four minute trailer. Guys, it's the whole movie.

0:17:46.200 --> 0:17:49.119
<v Speaker 2>I am absolutely stoked at this turn of events. I

0:17:49.119 --> 0:17:51.440
<v Speaker 2>only wish it wasn't Monday morning, before I had to

0:17:51.560 --> 0:17:54.080
<v Speaker 2>leave for work. I plan on revisiting this when I

0:17:54.119 --> 0:17:56.320
<v Speaker 2>get home and watching the heck out of this movie.

0:17:56.680 --> 0:17:58.639
<v Speaker 2>Thanks for all you do. You keep me entertained with

0:17:58.680 --> 0:18:01.359
<v Speaker 2>thought provoking, deep die on the most bonkers in the

0:18:01.359 --> 0:18:05.200
<v Speaker 2>best way subjects and wonderful so bad they're good movie recaps.

0:18:05.520 --> 0:18:09.840
<v Speaker 2>I appreciate you too, Sincerely, Steph. Oh, thank you, Steph.

0:18:09.840 --> 0:18:13.600
<v Speaker 2>Thank you for the for the nice comments, and I

0:18:13.600 --> 0:18:15.439
<v Speaker 2>hope you enjoy the movie. I would I would like

0:18:15.480 --> 0:18:18.120
<v Speaker 2>to once again issue a call to somebody out there

0:18:18.160 --> 0:18:19.960
<v Speaker 2>who I don't know owns the rights to this or

0:18:20.000 --> 0:18:22.440
<v Speaker 2>whatever put out a high quality restoration disc of The

0:18:22.480 --> 0:18:24.879
<v Speaker 2>Butterfly Murders. I am I am ready to give you

0:18:24.920 --> 0:18:27.439
<v Speaker 2>my money, and Steph, you'll have to let us know

0:18:27.480 --> 0:18:28.840
<v Speaker 2>what you think of the movie. I hope we didn't

0:18:28.880 --> 0:18:31.359
<v Speaker 2>build it up too much, but yeah, I hope you

0:18:31.440 --> 0:18:35.400
<v Speaker 2>enjoyed as much as we did. Okay, one last message

0:18:35.440 --> 0:18:39.600
<v Speaker 2>in response to our series on the legends of headless Ghosts, gods,

0:18:39.600 --> 0:18:43.160
<v Speaker 2>and monsters. This message comes from Taylor and it describes

0:18:43.200 --> 0:18:47.080
<v Speaker 2>as strange and uncanny personal experience. So I'll leave you

0:18:47.080 --> 0:18:50.159
<v Speaker 2>with a with a little spooky story. At the end

0:18:50.200 --> 0:18:59.280
<v Speaker 2>of today's episode, Taylor says, Hello, Robin, Joe, I just

0:18:59.320 --> 0:19:02.160
<v Speaker 2>finished your two part series on headless beings and felt

0:19:02.160 --> 0:19:05.600
<v Speaker 2>inclined to share a spooky personal anecdote in the stuff

0:19:05.640 --> 0:19:08.600
<v Speaker 2>to Blow your mind tradition of the Halloween hangover. Who

0:19:08.720 --> 0:19:10.760
<v Speaker 2>I guess we're getting a little deep in November for that,

0:19:10.880 --> 0:19:13.919
<v Speaker 2>But you know what, that's all right, Taylor says. On

0:19:14.160 --> 0:19:16.960
<v Speaker 2>a chilly autumn evening in my mid teens, I was

0:19:17.000 --> 0:19:20.159
<v Speaker 2>cycling home from a friend's house when I spotted a

0:19:20.280 --> 0:19:23.560
<v Speaker 2>strange mass of gore and feathers on the side of

0:19:23.600 --> 0:19:27.280
<v Speaker 2>the road. The amorphous thing was centered in a pool

0:19:27.320 --> 0:19:31.120
<v Speaker 2>of light cast by a corner street lamp. Ever curious

0:19:31.160 --> 0:19:34.320
<v Speaker 2>and unsure what I beheld, I dismounted my bike to

0:19:34.359 --> 0:19:38.159
<v Speaker 2>get a closer look. As I approached, in horrified fascination,

0:19:38.640 --> 0:19:42.199
<v Speaker 2>the thing rose up and turned to regard me with

0:19:42.320 --> 0:19:45.879
<v Speaker 2>the gory stump of its neck. I realized that the

0:19:45.960 --> 0:19:51.360
<v Speaker 2>previously indistinguishable mass of bloody feathers was a decapitated chicken.

0:19:52.119 --> 0:19:55.359
<v Speaker 2>For a long moment, I stared into that next stump,

0:19:55.400 --> 0:19:59.160
<v Speaker 2>and the stump seemed to stare back at me. Then,

0:19:59.480 --> 0:20:03.400
<v Speaker 2>with seeming serenity, the chicken settled back into a resting position,

0:20:03.600 --> 0:20:06.320
<v Speaker 2>and I went on my way. I generally have a

0:20:06.320 --> 0:20:09.520
<v Speaker 2>poor memory of my personal history, but this moment was

0:20:09.560 --> 0:20:12.720
<v Speaker 2>so chilling and bizarre that it is burned into my mind.

0:20:12.960 --> 0:20:15.040
<v Speaker 2>I grew up in a semi rural area, and I

0:20:15.119 --> 0:20:17.800
<v Speaker 2>was aware that a chicken's body could go about without

0:20:17.840 --> 0:20:21.439
<v Speaker 2>its head for some hours. But who had dispatched this

0:20:21.560 --> 0:20:24.760
<v Speaker 2>chicken without collecting it? How had the body wandered into

0:20:24.840 --> 0:20:27.600
<v Speaker 2>the street, Why was it sitting right beneath a lamp

0:20:27.680 --> 0:20:31.639
<v Speaker 2>as it as if composed to frighten me? And most importantly,

0:20:31.920 --> 0:20:34.119
<v Speaker 2>how did it seem to see me without a head?

0:20:34.720 --> 0:20:37.639
<v Speaker 2>As an adult and a science educator, this memory serves

0:20:37.680 --> 0:20:40.959
<v Speaker 2>as an example against the false horse and rider dichotomy

0:20:40.960 --> 0:20:43.879
<v Speaker 2>we tend to draw between body and head. Perhaps the

0:20:44.000 --> 0:20:46.240
<v Speaker 2>chicken was under the street lamp because it was a

0:20:46.280 --> 0:20:50.680
<v Speaker 2>relatively warm location in its immediate environment. Perhaps it felt

0:20:50.760 --> 0:20:53.960
<v Speaker 2>the vibrations of my approaching footfalls through its feet and

0:20:54.000 --> 0:20:56.920
<v Speaker 2>thus rose to regard me. And perhaps all of those

0:20:56.960 --> 0:20:59.919
<v Speaker 2>stimuli were parsed and processed by an avan body bar

0:21:00.200 --> 0:21:02.720
<v Speaker 2>reft of its head. I hope you and my fellow

0:21:02.760 --> 0:21:06.000
<v Speaker 2>listeners enjoyed this spooky little memory. As ever, thank you

0:21:06.080 --> 0:21:08.520
<v Speaker 2>for sharing your thoughtful meditations with all of us. I

0:21:08.560 --> 0:21:13.159
<v Speaker 2>hope you and yours enjoy happy holidays. Taylor, Well, thank you, Taylor.

0:21:13.240 --> 0:21:16.639
<v Speaker 2>That is truly a creepy story. I don't know what

0:21:16.720 --> 0:21:19.399
<v Speaker 2>the best explanation of all that would be. I mean,

0:21:19.440 --> 0:21:23.000
<v Speaker 2>I know there are these stories of famously Mike the

0:21:23.040 --> 0:21:27.320
<v Speaker 2>headless chicken, which after being decapitated by a farmer, went

0:21:27.359 --> 0:21:30.040
<v Speaker 2>on to live for something like eighteen months or something,

0:21:30.600 --> 0:21:34.159
<v Speaker 2>and the explanation in that case was that the farmer

0:21:34.240 --> 0:21:37.439
<v Speaker 2>had severed its head near like the base of the skull,

0:21:37.520 --> 0:21:40.840
<v Speaker 2>but still most of its brain stem was intact and

0:21:40.960 --> 0:21:43.480
<v Speaker 2>was able to keep regulating body function for a while.

0:21:44.320 --> 0:21:47.120
<v Speaker 2>But even in other cases, I know, you know, as

0:21:47.160 --> 0:21:49.480
<v Speaker 2>you say, chickens do sometimes move around for a little

0:21:49.480 --> 0:21:53.520
<v Speaker 2>bit after getting their heads chopped off. But in this case, yeah,

0:21:53.560 --> 0:21:55.560
<v Speaker 2>I don't know how to explain what you saw. Actually,

0:21:55.800 --> 0:21:59.160
<v Speaker 2>the creepiest part for me is not really the fact

0:21:59.160 --> 0:22:02.439
<v Speaker 2>that it was a and still sort of alive and

0:22:02.480 --> 0:22:05.320
<v Speaker 2>moving around without a head, but that question you raised

0:22:05.359 --> 0:22:07.399
<v Speaker 2>about how it got that way and why it was

0:22:07.440 --> 0:22:10.320
<v Speaker 2>sitting there by itself, Like if a human or a

0:22:10.320 --> 0:22:14.520
<v Speaker 2>predator removed its head, where'd they go? I don't know. Creepy.

0:22:15.160 --> 0:22:17.560
<v Speaker 2>All right, that's going to close things out for today,

0:22:17.640 --> 0:22:20.440
<v Speaker 2>but Rob and I will be back tomorrow with all

0:22:20.520 --> 0:22:23.320
<v Speaker 2>new stuff for you to enjoy. We read listener mail

0:22:23.480 --> 0:22:26.440
<v Speaker 2>every Monday on the show. Tuesdays and Thursdays are our

0:22:26.640 --> 0:22:29.920
<v Speaker 2>core Stuff to Blow your Mind episodes about science and culture.

0:22:30.440 --> 0:22:33.760
<v Speaker 2>Wednesdays we run short form episodes called the Artifact or

0:22:33.760 --> 0:22:36.439
<v Speaker 2>the Monster Fact. On Fridays we take a break from

0:22:36.480 --> 0:22:38.680
<v Speaker 2>our regular subject matter to do a show we call

0:22:38.840 --> 0:22:42.040
<v Speaker 2>Weird House Cinema, where each week we watch and discuss

0:22:42.080 --> 0:22:45.480
<v Speaker 2>a weird movie. It can be great or terrible, well

0:22:45.520 --> 0:22:48.639
<v Speaker 2>known or obscure. The only real criterion is that it

0:22:48.720 --> 0:22:52.560
<v Speaker 2>is weird. And then on Saturdays we feature an older

0:22:52.560 --> 0:22:55.719
<v Speaker 2>episode of the show from the vault Huge thanks, as

0:22:55.760 --> 0:23:00.359
<v Speaker 2>always to our excellent audio producer JJ Posway'd like to

0:23:00.359 --> 0:23:02.640
<v Speaker 2>get in touch with us with feedback on this episode

0:23:02.760 --> 0:23:04.840
<v Speaker 2>or any other, to suggest a topic for the future,

0:23:04.960 --> 0:23:07.080
<v Speaker 2>or just to say hello, you can email us at

0:23:07.320 --> 0:23:16.640
<v Speaker 2>contact at stuffdo Blow your Mind dot com.

0:23:16.760 --> 0:23:19.280
<v Speaker 1>Stuff to Blow Your Mind is a production of iHeartRadio.

0:23:19.640 --> 0:23:22.600
<v Speaker 1>For more podcasts from my heart Radio, visit the iHeartRadio app,

0:23:22.720 --> 0:23:25.479
<v Speaker 1>Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows,