1 00:00:02,360 --> 00:00:05,560 Speaker 1: Hey, Saturday listeners, Today we do have a classic episode 2 00:00:05,559 --> 00:00:08,080 Speaker 1: for you, but we also have a little something special. 3 00:00:08,160 --> 00:00:11,159 Speaker 1: We have special guests in house, John Roderick and Ken 4 00:00:11,240 --> 00:00:14,520 Speaker 1: Jennings from the new podcast Omnibus, and they are gonna 5 00:00:14,560 --> 00:00:16,200 Speaker 1: talk with us for a little bit. We're gonna have 6 00:00:16,239 --> 00:00:18,320 Speaker 1: our episode as normal, and then at the end of 7 00:00:18,320 --> 00:00:20,920 Speaker 1: this episode you can enjoy a little snippet of their 8 00:00:20,960 --> 00:00:22,920 Speaker 1: new podcast, and we think you're really gonna love it. 9 00:00:23,200 --> 00:00:26,920 Speaker 1: So first Ken and John tell us about your podcast. 10 00:00:27,600 --> 00:00:30,760 Speaker 1: Our project is called Omnibus. John and I have been 11 00:00:30,760 --> 00:00:34,280 Speaker 1: concerned for a long time that are increasingly turbulent world. 12 00:00:34,680 --> 00:00:37,879 Speaker 1: You know, may face imminent doom at any second, and 13 00:00:37,960 --> 00:00:39,599 Speaker 1: I know that's not usually a fun topic to bring 14 00:00:39,720 --> 00:00:41,640 Speaker 1: up on a podcast, but our idea is to create 15 00:00:42,080 --> 00:00:45,839 Speaker 1: a series of recordings of all human knowledge from our civilizations, 16 00:00:45,840 --> 00:00:48,479 Speaker 1: so that just in case that gets lost, we can 17 00:00:48,640 --> 00:00:50,240 Speaker 1: we still have these recordings that we can send to 18 00:00:50,720 --> 00:00:53,920 Speaker 1: Earthlings of the future, whoever that may be. So the 19 00:00:53,960 --> 00:00:56,920 Speaker 1: episode that we have picked for our Classic today is 20 00:00:57,200 --> 00:01:00,720 Speaker 1: our prior episode on the rabbit proof fences that were 21 00:01:00,720 --> 00:01:04,360 Speaker 1: built in Australia, which were a response to the fact 22 00:01:04,400 --> 00:01:07,160 Speaker 1: that people imported rabbits that try to make Australia more 23 00:01:07,240 --> 00:01:09,720 Speaker 1: like England. And it reminded me of the very first 24 00:01:09,760 --> 00:01:15,880 Speaker 1: episode of Omnibus, which is about a similar story involving starlings. Uh. 25 00:01:16,080 --> 00:01:19,679 Speaker 1: Tell us a little bit about that, John or ken Well. 26 00:01:20,000 --> 00:01:22,920 Speaker 1: It is a similar story, although this one is full 27 00:01:22,959 --> 00:01:26,520 Speaker 1: of even more hubris. I don't want to give too 28 00:01:26,600 --> 00:01:31,160 Speaker 1: much away, but the premise of the importation of starlings 29 00:01:31,160 --> 00:01:36,679 Speaker 1: to America was that one eccentric millionaire in New York 30 00:01:36,760 --> 00:01:41,000 Speaker 1: City wanted to have all of the birds that appear 31 00:01:41,040 --> 00:01:46,760 Speaker 1: in Shakespeare's plays present in Central Park. He thought that 32 00:01:46,800 --> 00:01:49,120 Speaker 1: would make that would be a that would be an 33 00:01:49,160 --> 00:01:52,520 Speaker 1: interesting diversion for him personally, and maybe it would get 34 00:01:52,520 --> 00:01:55,480 Speaker 1: his name in the newspaper. And also all the residents 35 00:01:55,480 --> 00:01:57,520 Speaker 1: of New York, of course, would love to see the 36 00:01:57,560 --> 00:02:02,840 Speaker 1: birds of uh Shakespeare in Central Park. Uh. The eventual 37 00:02:03,720 --> 00:02:09,239 Speaker 1: result was that starlings despoiled the entire continent. I guess, 38 00:02:09,240 --> 00:02:11,639 Speaker 1: I guess I kind of ruined the ending. Sorry, every 39 00:02:11,639 --> 00:02:15,480 Speaker 1: every starling you see sitting outside your window making its 40 00:02:15,520 --> 00:02:21,560 Speaker 1: horrendous noise is a descendant of that initial population, which 41 00:02:21,600 --> 00:02:23,560 Speaker 1: was a which was a complete folly on the part 42 00:02:23,560 --> 00:02:25,880 Speaker 1: of this one person, hundreds of millions of these crude, 43 00:02:25,960 --> 00:02:28,880 Speaker 1: murderous birds, all because one rich person had a little 44 00:02:28,919 --> 00:02:32,760 Speaker 1: too much free time. Uh. We often talk on our 45 00:02:32,760 --> 00:02:35,920 Speaker 1: show about how one person can really tip the scales 46 00:02:35,919 --> 00:02:39,640 Speaker 1: of history and change things pretty significantly without giving anything 47 00:02:39,639 --> 00:02:42,680 Speaker 1: else away. Uh, could you give us a few hints 48 00:02:42,720 --> 00:02:46,400 Speaker 1: about other shows that maybe in the pipeline for you? Well, 49 00:02:46,639 --> 00:02:49,440 Speaker 1: we're doing two shows a week, and uh, and every 50 00:02:49,440 --> 00:02:52,400 Speaker 1: week Ken will bring in a topic and I will 51 00:02:52,400 --> 00:02:55,000 Speaker 1: bring in a topic, and so the Tuesday shows will 52 00:02:55,040 --> 00:03:01,840 Speaker 1: be driven by Ken's peculiar fascinations and Thursdays will be mine. 53 00:03:02,880 --> 00:03:05,560 Speaker 1: But because I'm lucky enough to be working with Ken, 54 00:03:05,600 --> 00:03:11,600 Speaker 1: who has a wide and varied intelligence and knowledge, every 55 00:03:11,639 --> 00:03:13,600 Speaker 1: time one of us brings in an idea, the other 56 00:03:13,919 --> 00:03:17,000 Speaker 1: has a lot to contribute to the conversation, and we 57 00:03:17,120 --> 00:03:20,840 Speaker 1: discuss it in the context of it being some information 58 00:03:21,520 --> 00:03:25,360 Speaker 1: that maybe won't be It won't be like a top 59 00:03:25,480 --> 00:03:30,560 Speaker 1: tier level of information recorded for posterity. Right are our 60 00:03:30,600 --> 00:03:34,880 Speaker 1: premises that even if it is a really big apocalypse, 61 00:03:36,200 --> 00:03:40,280 Speaker 1: residents of the future will still be familiar with the Beatles, 62 00:03:40,320 --> 00:03:45,440 Speaker 1: but they may not hear about the animals or the Kinks. 63 00:03:45,480 --> 00:03:49,920 Speaker 1: So we're there too. We're basically bringing you the kinks. 64 00:03:50,400 --> 00:03:53,440 Speaker 1: These are kind of the strange but true footnotes of 65 00:03:53,600 --> 00:03:57,800 Speaker 1: culture and science and history. UM. A lot of them 66 00:03:57,800 --> 00:04:01,840 Speaker 1: are oddballs, like a man who could picture four dimensional 67 00:04:01,880 --> 00:04:05,400 Speaker 1: shapes in his head. UM. Some of them are unusual, 68 00:04:05,880 --> 00:04:08,760 Speaker 1: unlikely historical occurrences, like the US and the UK almost 69 00:04:08,760 --> 00:04:13,520 Speaker 1: going to war over a hungry pig in the nineteenth century. UM. 70 00:04:13,720 --> 00:04:16,320 Speaker 1: Little things like that that we fear may not survive 71 00:04:16,600 --> 00:04:19,760 Speaker 1: the inevitable apocalypse, but are very important to know about. 72 00:04:20,720 --> 00:04:23,080 Speaker 1: That pig war is important. We have talked about it 73 00:04:23,120 --> 00:04:26,720 Speaker 1: on our show before. Also, we love a good pig 74 00:04:26,760 --> 00:04:31,000 Speaker 1: war here in the Omnibus, Parker, So we are going 75 00:04:31,080 --> 00:04:33,960 Speaker 1: to hop into our Saturday classic for today, which our 76 00:04:34,080 --> 00:04:38,240 Speaker 1: is our previous episode about the Australian rabbit proof fences, 77 00:04:38,360 --> 00:04:40,880 Speaker 1: and then stay tuned at the end because we are 78 00:04:40,920 --> 00:04:44,680 Speaker 1: going to have an awesome preview of Omnibus. I have 79 00:04:44,800 --> 00:04:47,560 Speaker 1: listened to the episode on Starlings and I really enjoyed it. 80 00:04:48,200 --> 00:04:52,160 Speaker 1: We do well. We are super pleased to be joining 81 00:04:52,200 --> 00:04:55,640 Speaker 1: you in the house Stuff Works podcast. Cannon, thanks for 82 00:04:55,680 --> 00:05:03,440 Speaker 1: having us. Welcome to stuff you missed in history class 83 00:05:03,480 --> 00:05:19,159 Speaker 1: from House Stuff works dot Com. Hi, I am Tracy B. Wilson. 84 00:05:19,600 --> 00:05:22,039 Speaker 1: I'm Holly Fry. I welcome to the podcast. So in 85 00:05:22,080 --> 00:05:25,200 Speaker 1: our previous episode we talked about the Great Emu War 86 00:05:26,160 --> 00:05:28,720 Speaker 1: and something came up in that episode which comes up 87 00:05:28,760 --> 00:05:32,360 Speaker 1: pretty often if you are reading about Australia, particularly if 88 00:05:32,400 --> 00:05:35,719 Speaker 1: you were reading about the state of Western Australia. It's 89 00:05:35,760 --> 00:05:38,880 Speaker 1: the rabbit Proof Fence, which I had known nothing about 90 00:05:38,920 --> 00:05:41,000 Speaker 1: before we got into that one. Now I feel like 91 00:05:41,000 --> 00:05:43,479 Speaker 1: it keeps coming up when I'm reading things about Australia. 92 00:05:43,520 --> 00:05:46,080 Speaker 1: There's also a film I have seen called rabbit Proof 93 00:05:46,080 --> 00:05:49,040 Speaker 1: Fence that came out in two thousand and two. It's 94 00:05:49,080 --> 00:05:51,680 Speaker 1: about some young girls who were part of the Stolen 95 00:05:51,800 --> 00:05:55,360 Speaker 1: Generation of the thirties who follow the rabbit Proof Fence 96 00:05:55,440 --> 00:05:59,000 Speaker 1: home to get back to where they came from in Jigalong. 97 00:05:59,800 --> 00:06:02,360 Speaker 1: It based on the book Followed the rabbit Proof Fence, 98 00:06:02,760 --> 00:06:04,839 Speaker 1: uh and the score in the film is by Peter Gabriel. 99 00:06:05,440 --> 00:06:07,880 Speaker 1: I like it quite a lot. I have not seen 100 00:06:07,920 --> 00:06:09,800 Speaker 1: the film, but I will make a point too. Yes 101 00:06:09,960 --> 00:06:13,680 Speaker 1: it is. It's a little slight digression, but every time 102 00:06:13,720 --> 00:06:16,200 Speaker 1: this rabbit Proof Fence comes up, I go Okay, obviously 103 00:06:16,360 --> 00:06:18,560 Speaker 1: there are lots of rabbits in Australia. Somebody put up 104 00:06:18,600 --> 00:06:21,880 Speaker 1: a big fence. What's really going on with this fence? 105 00:06:21,920 --> 00:06:23,640 Speaker 1: And so that's what we're going to talk about in 106 00:06:23,680 --> 00:06:28,240 Speaker 1: this episode. Yeah, uh, And first we have to kind 107 00:06:28,240 --> 00:06:34,039 Speaker 1: of start with how rabbits got introduced to the environment. Uh. 108 00:06:34,080 --> 00:06:37,640 Speaker 1: And the earliest European settlers to Australia, as most people know, 109 00:06:37,760 --> 00:06:40,679 Speaker 1: we're convicts and their keepers. But by the mid eighteen 110 00:06:40,760 --> 00:06:43,520 Speaker 1: hundreds more affluent English people were starting to settle there 111 00:06:43,560 --> 00:06:47,000 Speaker 1: as well. They a lot of them brought animals and 112 00:06:47,080 --> 00:06:49,840 Speaker 1: plants from home with them to try to make Australia 113 00:06:50,000 --> 00:06:54,360 Speaker 1: feel more like England. These people were known as acclimatizers. 114 00:06:54,400 --> 00:07:00,200 Speaker 1: There were acclimatization societies, including the Victorian Acclimatization Society, which 115 00:07:00,200 --> 00:07:03,760 Speaker 1: was founded in eighteen sixty one by Edward Wilson. So 116 00:07:03,960 --> 00:07:06,320 Speaker 1: really what they were after was to try to make Australia, 117 00:07:06,400 --> 00:07:10,320 Speaker 1: which does not feel like England in most places, feel 118 00:07:10,320 --> 00:07:14,360 Speaker 1: more like England. Yeah. It was their own weird version 119 00:07:14,360 --> 00:07:17,280 Speaker 1: of terraforming to try to turn it somehow into an 120 00:07:17,280 --> 00:07:19,720 Speaker 1: English countryside. In a lot of ways, this was deeply 121 00:07:19,800 --> 00:07:25,200 Speaker 1: unsuccessful and damaging with this being one example. Enter Thomas Austin. 122 00:07:25,360 --> 00:07:28,200 Speaker 1: He was born in Somerset, England, and his uncle James 123 00:07:28,240 --> 00:07:31,760 Speaker 1: was a convict settler who had been sent to Hobart Town, Tasmania. 124 00:07:32,920 --> 00:07:36,240 Speaker 1: James Austin died before Thomas and his family got to 125 00:07:36,280 --> 00:07:39,480 Speaker 1: Tasmania in eighteen thirty one, but they all got money 126 00:07:39,640 --> 00:07:43,080 Speaker 1: in his will, and many of the family actually returned 127 00:07:43,080 --> 00:07:46,560 Speaker 1: to England, but Thomas and his brother decided uh whose 128 00:07:46,680 --> 00:07:48,440 Speaker 1: name was James, decided that they were going to stay 129 00:07:48,440 --> 00:07:51,600 Speaker 1: down Under and make a go of it. In eighteen 130 00:07:51,680 --> 00:07:54,840 Speaker 1: thirty seven, Thomas and James moved to what would later 131 00:07:54,880 --> 00:07:59,480 Speaker 1: become Victoria. Thomas established the estate of Barrowin Park, which 132 00:07:59,560 --> 00:08:02,640 Speaker 1: was a forty two room mansion. Eventually he didn't build 133 00:08:02,680 --> 00:08:04,640 Speaker 1: that right off the bat, but eventually there was a 134 00:08:04,680 --> 00:08:08,040 Speaker 1: forty two room mansion there. It was surrounded by twenty 135 00:08:08,120 --> 00:08:12,760 Speaker 1: nine thousand acres of stocked grounds. He farmed sheep and 136 00:08:13,160 --> 00:08:16,120 Speaker 1: raised and trained horses, among other things, on all of 137 00:08:16,120 --> 00:08:21,080 Speaker 1: this land. And he also really wanted some rabbits. And 138 00:08:21,160 --> 00:08:24,440 Speaker 1: he had married Elizabeth Phillips Harting in Melbourne on August 139 00:08:24,440 --> 00:08:28,360 Speaker 1: fourteenth of eighteen forty five, and together they had eleven children, 140 00:08:28,480 --> 00:08:32,680 Speaker 1: eight of whom survived to adulthood. And he also is 141 00:08:32,720 --> 00:08:36,400 Speaker 1: one of the people who introduced sparrows to Australia, which 142 00:08:36,440 --> 00:08:41,640 Speaker 1: also later became pests. So here we have Thomas, his family, 143 00:08:41,840 --> 00:08:45,400 Speaker 1: his wife living on this estate together really wanting to 144 00:08:45,400 --> 00:08:49,120 Speaker 1: introduce rabbits. Uh. There was a demand. They weren't the 145 00:08:49,120 --> 00:08:50,920 Speaker 1: only people who were of this mindset. There was a 146 00:08:50,920 --> 00:08:55,840 Speaker 1: demand for rabbits in Australia. Early acclimatizers had brought domesticated rabbits, 147 00:08:55,840 --> 00:08:58,720 Speaker 1: which did okay when people were looking after them, but 148 00:08:58,760 --> 00:09:02,160 Speaker 1: if they managed to escape into the Australian wilderness, they 149 00:09:02,240 --> 00:09:05,920 Speaker 1: usually did not manage to survive really well. Sometimes they 150 00:09:05,920 --> 00:09:09,520 Speaker 1: would manage to establish a little colony, get kind of 151 00:09:09,520 --> 00:09:13,079 Speaker 1: a foothold, but they didn't run rampant anywhere. They did 152 00:09:13,120 --> 00:09:15,520 Speaker 1: a little better in Tasmania and some of the other 153 00:09:15,640 --> 00:09:20,880 Speaker 1: smaller islands around the main Australian continent, but in general, 154 00:09:21,240 --> 00:09:25,640 Speaker 1: domesticated rabbits were not doing so well. No uh, and 155 00:09:25,679 --> 00:09:28,679 Speaker 1: Thomas actually asked his nephew, William Mack to bring him 156 00:09:28,720 --> 00:09:31,840 Speaker 1: some wild rabbits in an effort to kind of bolster 157 00:09:31,960 --> 00:09:35,120 Speaker 1: the population, and William brought twenty four rabbits on the 158 00:09:35,160 --> 00:09:39,000 Speaker 1: Clipper Lightning in December of eighteen fifty nine. Eighteen of 159 00:09:39,000 --> 00:09:41,720 Speaker 1: those rabbits were feral, and they had just been trapped 160 00:09:41,720 --> 00:09:44,520 Speaker 1: and held in an enclosed warren. They weren't domesticated, they 161 00:09:44,559 --> 00:09:48,760 Speaker 1: weren'tccustomed to interacting with humans at all. Thomas, in an 162 00:09:48,800 --> 00:09:52,480 Speaker 1: act he became quite notorious for doing set thirteen of 163 00:09:52,520 --> 00:09:55,960 Speaker 1: the rabbits free. He kept eleven of them and fenced 164 00:09:56,080 --> 00:10:00,600 Speaker 1: enclosures on his property, and they multiplied as rabbits do. 165 00:10:01,720 --> 00:10:04,520 Speaker 1: Three years later, a flood destroyed part of his fence 166 00:10:04,640 --> 00:10:08,360 Speaker 1: and so some of those now huge population of rabbits 167 00:10:09,400 --> 00:10:16,240 Speaker 1: escaped into the Australian territory, which caused an explosion of 168 00:10:16,320 --> 00:10:20,920 Speaker 1: rabbit population. Yes, by eighteen sixty seven, rabbits were really everywhere, 169 00:10:21,000 --> 00:10:24,000 Speaker 1: and Thomas would have rabbit hunting parties at his estate. 170 00:10:24,559 --> 00:10:27,360 Speaker 1: Prince Alfred, the Duke of Edinburgh went on a hunting 171 00:10:27,480 --> 00:10:29,920 Speaker 1: day in Barrowin Park that year and he shot four 172 00:10:30,000 --> 00:10:32,880 Speaker 1: hundred and sixteen rabbits and three and a half hours. 173 00:10:33,520 --> 00:10:36,200 Speaker 1: He reportedly had to have attendance on hand to hand 174 00:10:36,280 --> 00:10:38,439 Speaker 1: him new guns when the one he was using got 175 00:10:38,480 --> 00:10:40,800 Speaker 1: too hot, because he was shooting too fast for his 176 00:10:40,840 --> 00:10:45,160 Speaker 1: guns to cool down between shots. By eighteen sixty nine, 177 00:10:45,480 --> 00:10:48,400 Speaker 1: the infestation of rabbits was causing property values in some 178 00:10:48,480 --> 00:10:51,720 Speaker 1: areas to plummet, and the rabbits themselves. We should point 179 00:10:51,720 --> 00:10:54,160 Speaker 1: out we're not the only ones to blame. Farmers were 180 00:10:54,160 --> 00:10:57,640 Speaker 1: actually clearing woodland and making it a much more hospitable 181 00:10:57,720 --> 00:11:02,240 Speaker 1: environment for the rabbits to thrive in. Their introduction was 182 00:11:02,280 --> 00:11:06,240 Speaker 1: in Victoria on the coast and the far southeast of Australia, 183 00:11:06,320 --> 00:11:09,880 Speaker 1: and they spread north and west from there. By the 184 00:11:09,920 --> 00:11:13,040 Speaker 1: eighteen eighties, the government had started offering bounties on dead 185 00:11:13,120 --> 00:11:15,280 Speaker 1: rabbits because there were so many of them, and by 186 00:11:15,920 --> 00:11:19,240 Speaker 1: dred rabbits were in all or part of every Australian state. 187 00:11:19,800 --> 00:11:23,080 Speaker 1: They were the biggest nuisance outside of the tropical areas. 188 00:11:23,280 --> 00:11:25,679 Speaker 1: And so this was less than forty years after they 189 00:11:25,679 --> 00:11:29,920 Speaker 1: were introduced to Australia. They were in every state of Australia. 190 00:11:30,120 --> 00:11:33,719 Speaker 1: It's a big continent, it is. That's a pretty explosive 191 00:11:33,920 --> 00:11:38,320 Speaker 1: population growth for any animal. Uh in less than four 192 00:11:38,360 --> 00:11:42,679 Speaker 1: decades to completely engulf a continent is pretty amazing, right. 193 00:11:42,760 --> 00:11:47,079 Speaker 1: The rabbits became prey for other introduced species like wildcats, 194 00:11:47,200 --> 00:11:51,240 Speaker 1: wild dogs, foxes, and dingos. All of these except for dingoes, 195 00:11:51,280 --> 00:11:54,040 Speaker 1: were introduced after the landing of the first Fleet, which 196 00:11:54,080 --> 00:11:57,360 Speaker 1: was the eleven ships that reached Australia from Great Britain 197 00:11:57,400 --> 00:12:00,640 Speaker 1: in seventeen. A lot of people think of ingoes as 198 00:12:00,679 --> 00:12:04,400 Speaker 1: being native to Australia, but they really arrived to Australia 199 00:12:04,440 --> 00:12:07,720 Speaker 1: whens humans did about three thousand or four thousand years ago, 200 00:12:07,840 --> 00:12:13,760 Speaker 1: So whether to call dingoes native is a subject of debate. Yeah. Uh. 201 00:12:13,800 --> 00:12:16,320 Speaker 1: And in addition to the basic nuisance factor that was 202 00:12:16,360 --> 00:12:18,720 Speaker 1: going on and the fact that the rabbits were crowding 203 00:12:18,720 --> 00:12:22,520 Speaker 1: out native species, they could also completely strip an area 204 00:12:22,760 --> 00:12:25,679 Speaker 1: of anything they would eat. That includes food crops that 205 00:12:25,720 --> 00:12:28,240 Speaker 1: were intended for people as well as crops that were 206 00:12:28,240 --> 00:12:32,320 Speaker 1: intended to support the raising of other animals. So this 207 00:12:32,440 --> 00:12:35,040 Speaker 1: also led not only to things going without food, but 208 00:12:35,080 --> 00:12:38,120 Speaker 1: also really bad erosion issues. Right. You can find pictures 209 00:12:38,160 --> 00:12:42,680 Speaker 1: sometimes of really well maintained rabbit fences and on one 210 00:12:42,720 --> 00:12:46,239 Speaker 1: side of the fence will be completely stripped of all vegetation, 211 00:12:46,400 --> 00:12:48,840 Speaker 1: and on the other side there will be healthy grass growing. 212 00:12:49,440 --> 00:12:53,560 Speaker 1: So it's it's a dramatic difference of rabbits versus no rabbits. 213 00:12:53,640 --> 00:12:58,440 Speaker 1: They're extremely thorough in finding every consumable element in an environment. Yes, 214 00:13:05,600 --> 00:13:09,560 Speaker 1: and then uh, the great idea happened to build a 215 00:13:09,600 --> 00:13:12,160 Speaker 1: fence to help with this problem. Yea. By the eighteen eighties, 216 00:13:12,200 --> 00:13:14,800 Speaker 1: people were building fences on their own an attempt and 217 00:13:14,800 --> 00:13:17,760 Speaker 1: an attempt to keep rabbits out of their property. Often 218 00:13:17,840 --> 00:13:20,680 Speaker 1: this was not effective at all because there were already 219 00:13:20,760 --> 00:13:24,080 Speaker 1: rabbits on both sides of the fence, and also rabbits 220 00:13:24,120 --> 00:13:26,199 Speaker 1: like to borrow under things, and so even if there 221 00:13:26,240 --> 00:13:28,880 Speaker 1: had not been rabbits on both sides of the fence, 222 00:13:28,920 --> 00:13:31,000 Speaker 1: the rabbits would just dig a hole underneath and come 223 00:13:31,040 --> 00:13:35,520 Speaker 1: up on the other side. So eventually, UH, construction was 224 00:13:35,559 --> 00:13:38,760 Speaker 1: begun on what what became the State Barrier Fence, and 225 00:13:38,840 --> 00:13:41,280 Speaker 1: that happened from nineteen o one to nineteen o seven, 226 00:13:42,120 --> 00:13:45,320 Speaker 1: And this followed a five month investigation by Arthur Mason 227 00:13:45,400 --> 00:13:48,760 Speaker 1: which started in eighteen ninety six and a Royal commission 228 00:13:48,800 --> 00:13:51,720 Speaker 1: in nineteen o one. So private contractors did the work 229 00:13:51,760 --> 00:13:54,160 Speaker 1: on the State Barrier Fence and then handed it over 230 00:13:54,200 --> 00:13:57,160 Speaker 1: to the Public Works Department in nineteen o four. The 231 00:13:57,200 --> 00:14:00,319 Speaker 1: fence itself, when it was originally being built. Is made 232 00:14:00,360 --> 00:14:04,520 Speaker 1: of wooden posts, wire and wire netting with gates every 233 00:14:04,640 --> 00:14:08,480 Speaker 1: thirty four kilometers which is about twenty miles, and traps 234 00:14:08,520 --> 00:14:11,000 Speaker 1: to try to catch rabbits that did manage to burrow 235 00:14:11,080 --> 00:14:14,240 Speaker 1: under it. Usually the crews were cutting timber from the 236 00:14:14,280 --> 00:14:16,800 Speaker 1: surrounding trees to make the posts, and if there weren't 237 00:14:16,840 --> 00:14:20,280 Speaker 1: any trees they would use metal posts instead. UM. The 238 00:14:20,400 --> 00:14:23,720 Speaker 1: netting for the fence also extends underground to try to 239 00:14:23,880 --> 00:14:27,840 Speaker 1: prevent burrowing from underneath it, and they would coat the 240 00:14:27,840 --> 00:14:29,960 Speaker 1: bottom part of the fence too, in the hope of 241 00:14:30,040 --> 00:14:34,120 Speaker 1: keeping it from resting out. So the number one fence 242 00:14:34,640 --> 00:14:37,160 Speaker 1: runs from north to south, roughly through the middle of 243 00:14:37,160 --> 00:14:41,080 Speaker 1: western Australia. The number three fence stretches out east to 244 00:14:41,120 --> 00:14:43,800 Speaker 1: west about midway down the number one fence, and the 245 00:14:43,920 --> 00:14:46,960 Speaker 1: number two fence stretches north to south, dividing the zone 246 00:14:47,000 --> 00:14:50,080 Speaker 1: created by the number one and number three fences roughly 247 00:14:50,160 --> 00:14:53,040 Speaker 1: in half. Yes, so basically there's a fence running the 248 00:14:53,240 --> 00:14:57,200 Speaker 1: entire height of Australia from north to south all the 249 00:14:57,240 --> 00:15:00,120 Speaker 1: way down. UM. The reason that there are three of 250 00:15:00,160 --> 00:15:02,720 Speaker 1: them is because as they were building, rabbits kept getting 251 00:15:02,720 --> 00:15:04,520 Speaker 1: ahead of the fence, and so they were sort of 252 00:15:04,560 --> 00:15:09,040 Speaker 1: further subdividing to try to keep the rabbits contained. What 253 00:15:09,080 --> 00:15:12,240 Speaker 1: they wound up with was three thousand, two hundred and 254 00:15:12,240 --> 00:15:15,800 Speaker 1: fifty six kilometers, which is two thousand, twenty three miles 255 00:15:15,800 --> 00:15:19,760 Speaker 1: of fence, which cost more than three hundred thousand pounds 256 00:15:19,840 --> 00:15:22,120 Speaker 1: at the time. Like we said in the last episode, 257 00:15:22,160 --> 00:15:24,480 Speaker 1: Australia was not on the dollar for money at the time, 258 00:15:24,520 --> 00:15:26,600 Speaker 1: so it's a little hard to compare what that would 259 00:15:27,080 --> 00:15:30,200 Speaker 1: amount to you in today's money. Uh. And the fences 260 00:15:30,360 --> 00:15:34,520 Speaker 1: fell under the jurisdiction of I love this title. The 261 00:15:34,600 --> 00:15:38,280 Speaker 1: first Chief Inspector of Rabbits, whose name was Alexander Crawford. 262 00:15:38,880 --> 00:15:41,240 Speaker 1: At their completion in nineteen o seven, he took over 263 00:15:41,320 --> 00:15:44,760 Speaker 1: as Chief Inspector of Rabbits, which is just the best 264 00:15:45,000 --> 00:15:50,160 Speaker 1: thing to put up that it's just building the fence 265 00:15:50,200 --> 00:15:52,600 Speaker 1: was not enough. They were going to then have to 266 00:15:52,680 --> 00:15:55,960 Speaker 1: inspect the fence constantly to make sure that it didn't 267 00:15:55,960 --> 00:16:00,400 Speaker 1: get damaged or burrowed under. People would travel the length 268 00:16:00,440 --> 00:16:03,680 Speaker 1: of the fence using bicycles, horses and camels to lick 269 00:16:03,720 --> 00:16:07,280 Speaker 1: for breaches, and there were huts set up periodically along 270 00:16:07,320 --> 00:16:09,160 Speaker 1: the way that people could stay in while they were 271 00:16:09,160 --> 00:16:13,080 Speaker 1: doing this inspection. Once motor vehicles became more common, people 272 00:16:13,120 --> 00:16:16,640 Speaker 1: did start using them to inspect the fence, but really 273 00:16:16,680 --> 00:16:20,120 Speaker 1: in the beginning it was bicycles, horses, camels or on foot, 274 00:16:20,160 --> 00:16:23,400 Speaker 1: which is a lot of fence to try to just 275 00:16:23,600 --> 00:16:27,320 Speaker 1: inspect it is. And they're, uh, we're not always areas 276 00:16:27,360 --> 00:16:29,680 Speaker 1: that motor vehicles could even reach, so they had to 277 00:16:29,720 --> 00:16:33,680 Speaker 1: retain some of those slower methods for the those areas 278 00:16:33,720 --> 00:16:39,320 Speaker 1: that just couldn't be um arrived at by car. And 279 00:16:39,360 --> 00:16:42,920 Speaker 1: there were other anti rabbit fences constructed elsewhere in Australia. 280 00:16:43,000 --> 00:16:46,080 Speaker 1: This these three were not the only ones. Now there's 281 00:16:46,120 --> 00:16:49,600 Speaker 1: there's the dog fence which goes it's very meandering, but 282 00:16:49,640 --> 00:16:53,320 Speaker 1: it's in a roughly east west direction through South Australia, 283 00:16:53,840 --> 00:16:57,920 Speaker 1: then along the South Australia Australia Queensland New South Wales 284 00:16:57,960 --> 00:17:02,280 Speaker 1: border through queens and almost to the coast. It keeps 285 00:17:02,400 --> 00:17:05,280 Speaker 1: dingoes on one side of the fence and was put 286 00:17:05,359 --> 00:17:07,919 Speaker 1: up when dingo attacks were happening so frequently that it 287 00:17:07,960 --> 00:17:13,119 Speaker 1: had become basically impossible to raise sheep um. Also, in 288 00:17:13,119 --> 00:17:17,119 Speaker 1: addition to their being multiple other sort of vermin excluding 289 00:17:17,200 --> 00:17:20,359 Speaker 1: fences is the broad category they fall into. The State 290 00:17:20,400 --> 00:17:24,200 Speaker 1: barrier fence also discussed deters other animals than rabbits, such 291 00:17:24,200 --> 00:17:27,880 Speaker 1: as emails, as we talked about in the previous episode. Now, 292 00:17:28,000 --> 00:17:29,919 Speaker 1: the thing is that all of these contracts, all of 293 00:17:29,960 --> 00:17:33,040 Speaker 1: these fences remain a little controversial um as to whether 294 00:17:33,119 --> 00:17:36,720 Speaker 1: or not they really work, whether their impact on the 295 00:17:36,760 --> 00:17:40,199 Speaker 1: bio diversity of the areas outweighs um the benefit of 296 00:17:40,200 --> 00:17:44,320 Speaker 1: containing vermin, and so it's it's while they are doing 297 00:17:44,320 --> 00:17:47,080 Speaker 1: your jobs. In many cases some people question their validity 298 00:17:47,200 --> 00:17:51,040 Speaker 1: as a maintained entity, like are we wasting our time 299 00:17:51,080 --> 00:17:54,679 Speaker 1: and money on this? But the Department of Agriculture and 300 00:17:54,680 --> 00:17:59,480 Speaker 1: Food in two thousand one decided that the fence was 301 00:17:59,520 --> 00:18:02,679 Speaker 1: now would now be maintained by the Department of Agriculture, 302 00:18:02,920 --> 00:18:06,480 Speaker 1: the Agriculture Protection Board, the State Barrier Fence Advisory Committee, 303 00:18:06,760 --> 00:18:11,440 Speaker 1: local shires and stateholders. So roughly every year the fence 304 00:18:11,640 --> 00:18:15,480 Speaker 1: is has about thirty to thirty five kilometers that need replacing. 305 00:18:16,480 --> 00:18:21,280 Speaker 1: The new sections have steel posts and more modern prefabricated knitting. Right, 306 00:18:21,359 --> 00:18:24,040 Speaker 1: so it's a fense that's still they're still being maintained, 307 00:18:24,359 --> 00:18:28,040 Speaker 1: still attempting due to do the job of keeping rabbits 308 00:18:28,040 --> 00:18:30,480 Speaker 1: on one side and not on the other side, or 309 00:18:30,520 --> 00:18:34,199 Speaker 1: at least fewer rabbits on one side than on the 310 00:18:34,240 --> 00:18:38,320 Speaker 1: other side. And rabbits are still a nuisance um right now. 311 00:18:38,359 --> 00:18:43,280 Speaker 1: There there's a similarly controversial attempt to introduce diseases into 312 00:18:43,400 --> 00:18:48,359 Speaker 1: rabbit populations to try to curb their spread, and there 313 00:18:48,440 --> 00:18:51,639 Speaker 1: there are lots of layers of the reasons why that 314 00:18:51,720 --> 00:18:54,639 Speaker 1: can be problematic or upsetting to some people, but that 315 00:18:54,960 --> 00:18:57,399 Speaker 1: is one of the things that's being done in an 316 00:18:57,440 --> 00:19:02,000 Speaker 1: attempt to keep their rabbit population from completely overrunning the 317 00:19:02,040 --> 00:19:13,280 Speaker 1: rest of Australia. So one important legacy to look at 318 00:19:13,560 --> 00:19:17,240 Speaker 1: is that of the man who brought rabbits to Australia. 319 00:19:18,080 --> 00:19:20,639 Speaker 1: Thomas really started to take the blame for the rabbit 320 00:19:20,640 --> 00:19:24,160 Speaker 1: infestation pretty early on. He was probably not the only 321 00:19:24,240 --> 00:19:29,080 Speaker 1: person to bring rabbits that eventually did multiply. Uh that 322 00:19:29,080 --> 00:19:32,320 Speaker 1: that's sort of unlikely, but he was really boastful about 323 00:19:32,359 --> 00:19:36,520 Speaker 1: what he was doing. He frequently gave breeding pairs to 324 00:19:36,640 --> 00:19:41,600 Speaker 1: people as gifts. Uh So, while it's probably not true 325 00:19:41,600 --> 00:19:45,320 Speaker 1: that the entire population of rabbits in Australia now is 326 00:19:45,400 --> 00:19:49,480 Speaker 1: the fault of this one guy. He he was kind 327 00:19:49,480 --> 00:19:52,000 Speaker 1: of taking the hint. He Yeah, he bragged about his 328 00:19:52,119 --> 00:19:54,920 Speaker 1: rabbits a lot, and he made a name for himself 329 00:19:54,960 --> 00:19:59,760 Speaker 1: that way. He died on December seventy one, which was 330 00:20:00,040 --> 00:20:04,119 Speaker 1: six months after their mansion was finished. His widow eventually 331 00:20:04,240 --> 00:20:06,840 Speaker 1: used her money to open a hospital for what they 332 00:20:06,880 --> 00:20:10,480 Speaker 1: called incurables in eighty two, and she opened a children's 333 00:20:10,560 --> 00:20:14,159 Speaker 1: ward in So they went on to have kind of 334 00:20:14,200 --> 00:20:19,560 Speaker 1: a legacy in Australia apart from bringing rabbits to all 335 00:20:19,720 --> 00:20:22,119 Speaker 1: the negative rabbit image is not the only thing that 336 00:20:22,200 --> 00:20:25,240 Speaker 1: his family left behind, which is good. Yeah, And it's 337 00:20:25,240 --> 00:20:28,399 Speaker 1: also good to recognize that while he's getting all the flak, 338 00:20:28,480 --> 00:20:31,840 Speaker 1: probably there were many other rabbit people who just did 339 00:20:31,840 --> 00:20:34,600 Speaker 1: not make quite the name for themselves that he did. Yeah, 340 00:20:34,640 --> 00:20:36,320 Speaker 1: he was not the only person that wanted to turn 341 00:20:36,359 --> 00:20:41,119 Speaker 1: Australia into England. It's it's very likely the plenty of 342 00:20:41,160 --> 00:20:44,600 Speaker 1: other people were bringing in rabbits as well as other species, right. 343 00:20:44,640 --> 00:20:46,880 Speaker 1: And that's the thing that you'll see in other English 344 00:20:46,880 --> 00:20:50,120 Speaker 1: colonies and attempts to make other places that are absolutely 345 00:20:50,119 --> 00:20:54,440 Speaker 1: not England like England. It's a it's a sort of 346 00:20:54,480 --> 00:20:59,000 Speaker 1: a colonial tradition and is absolutely problematic, but is a 347 00:20:59,080 --> 00:21:03,040 Speaker 1: thing that definitely contributed in a long lasting way to 348 00:21:03,320 --> 00:21:06,840 Speaker 1: a lot of parts of the world, for good or 349 00:21:06,920 --> 00:21:27,200 Speaker 1: for illymore and siving this message, we are Ken Jennings 350 00:21:27,280 --> 00:21:29,960 Speaker 1: and John Roderick. We speak to you from our present, 351 00:21:30,119 --> 00:21:32,679 Speaker 1: which we can only assume is your distant past, the 352 00:21:32,680 --> 00:21:36,280 Speaker 1: turbulent time that was the early twenty one century. Fearing 353 00:21:36,280 --> 00:21:39,680 Speaker 1: the great cataclysm that will surely befall our civilization, we 354 00:21:39,720 --> 00:21:43,080 Speaker 1: began this monumental reference of strange and obscure human knowledge. 355 00:21:43,280 --> 00:21:46,680 Speaker 1: These recordings represent our attempt to compile and preserve wonders 356 00:21:46,680 --> 00:21:50,480 Speaker 1: and esoterica that would otherwise be lost. So, whether you're 357 00:21:50,480 --> 00:21:53,520 Speaker 1: listening from an advanced civilization or have just reinvented the 358 00:21:53,560 --> 00:21:57,000 Speaker 1: technology to decrypt our transmissions, this is our legacy to you. 359 00:21:58,040 --> 00:22:28,879 Speaker 1: This is our time capsule. This is the offibus you 360 00:22:28,960 --> 00:22:33,920 Speaker 1: have access to Entry one dot p S eight four 361 00:22:34,000 --> 00:22:39,600 Speaker 1: oh three Certificate number two seven six zero three. The 362 00:22:39,680 --> 00:22:48,240 Speaker 1: European Starling. The European Starling is also known as the 363 00:22:48,280 --> 00:22:51,520 Speaker 1: common Starling. The problem is that at least an our era, 364 00:22:52,119 --> 00:22:57,040 Speaker 1: it's much too common and not nearly European enough. Uh. 365 00:22:57,280 --> 00:23:00,320 Speaker 1: This is a story that begins back in eighteen nine. Indeed, 366 00:23:00,760 --> 00:23:06,600 Speaker 1: on March six, there's an eccentric, wealthy pharmaceutical manufacturer in 367 00:23:06,600 --> 00:23:10,280 Speaker 1: New York named Eugene Schifflin who goes to Central Park 368 00:23:10,359 --> 00:23:13,159 Speaker 1: because he is a man with a dream. He's a 369 00:23:13,200 --> 00:23:16,520 Speaker 1: man with a very weird dream. Funny that that an 370 00:23:16,520 --> 00:23:20,359 Speaker 1: eccentric pharmaceutical magnate would also be a guy with a 371 00:23:20,359 --> 00:23:22,760 Speaker 1: weird dream. To be honest with you, the weird dream 372 00:23:22,760 --> 00:23:24,560 Speaker 1: is the only evidence I have that he's eccentric. I 373 00:23:24,560 --> 00:23:26,760 Speaker 1: have no idea if he like also dresses up as 374 00:23:26,760 --> 00:23:31,439 Speaker 1: a bear and runs down you know. Uh. But on 375 00:23:31,480 --> 00:23:34,919 Speaker 1: this particular day, he's in service of this dream that 376 00:23:34,920 --> 00:23:37,040 Speaker 1: has been animating him for many years, which is for 377 00:23:37,080 --> 00:23:40,760 Speaker 1: some reason, to introduce to North America every species of 378 00:23:40,840 --> 00:23:43,880 Speaker 1: bird that appears in the works of William Shakespeare. He's 379 00:23:43,880 --> 00:23:46,400 Speaker 1: a lover, as so many of us are, of both 380 00:23:46,440 --> 00:23:49,600 Speaker 1: Shakespeare and birds. Well, and that was when we were 381 00:23:49,920 --> 00:23:52,600 Speaker 1: we hadn't yet decided how exactly we were going to 382 00:23:52,760 --> 00:23:55,480 Speaker 1: make America all the way through. And that I'm sure 383 00:23:55,480 --> 00:23:57,159 Speaker 1: that made perfect sense. I think he did. He was 384 00:23:57,160 --> 00:24:00,000 Speaker 1: a member of a society called something like the America 385 00:24:00,000 --> 00:24:03,840 Speaker 1: An acclimatization society, which really was like, how do we 386 00:24:03,880 --> 00:24:07,240 Speaker 1: get all the good stuff from Europe into this new 387 00:24:07,359 --> 00:24:10,560 Speaker 1: sort of suspect, shabby country. Yeah right, the good stuff 388 00:24:10,600 --> 00:24:16,159 Speaker 1: from Europe apparently, and the Irish and the Irish of birds, 389 00:24:16,720 --> 00:24:20,600 Speaker 1: the European starling alight. So he wants to introduce every 390 00:24:20,600 --> 00:24:24,800 Speaker 1: bird from Shakespeare. Unfortunately for Posterity and Henry. The fourth 391 00:24:24,840 --> 00:24:29,280 Speaker 1: part one, Shakespeare brings up starlings, which in his time 392 00:24:29,320 --> 00:24:31,920 Speaker 1: we're famous for their sense of mimicry. Like a starling 393 00:24:32,119 --> 00:24:33,840 Speaker 1: doesn't just have one call, I can have dozens. It 394 00:24:33,880 --> 00:24:35,800 Speaker 1: can make like any noise. Do you have access to 395 00:24:35,800 --> 00:24:40,159 Speaker 1: the Shakespeare quote? Yeah? So early in the play, Hotspur 396 00:24:40,960 --> 00:24:43,280 Speaker 1: is very angry at King Henry. He wants Harry to 397 00:24:43,359 --> 00:24:47,200 Speaker 1: ransom one of Henry's political enemies, a guy named Edmund Mortimer, 398 00:24:47,520 --> 00:24:49,840 Speaker 1: and Henry forbids him to talk about this, and so, 399 00:24:49,880 --> 00:24:51,520 Speaker 1: in the manner of shakespeare play, as soon as Henry 400 00:24:51,520 --> 00:24:53,680 Speaker 1: turns his back, Hotspur turns to the audience and starts 401 00:24:53,720 --> 00:24:56,600 Speaker 1: scheming about how he's gonna keep bugging the king about 402 00:24:56,600 --> 00:24:58,800 Speaker 1: Mortimer and one of his plans, one of his very 403 00:24:58,800 --> 00:25:02,080 Speaker 1: improbable plans. He says, nay, I'll have a starling. She'll 404 00:25:02,119 --> 00:25:04,800 Speaker 1: be taught to speak nothing but Mortimer and give it 405 00:25:04,880 --> 00:25:08,360 Speaker 1: him to keep his anger still in motion Mortimer. Yeah, 406 00:25:08,359 --> 00:25:10,680 Speaker 1: So as any of us would do in this situation, 407 00:25:11,040 --> 00:25:14,159 Speaker 1: Hospera wants to train a hypothetical bird to say the 408 00:25:14,200 --> 00:25:17,800 Speaker 1: word Mortimer and bother the king with that. Quoth the 409 00:25:17,840 --> 00:25:23,280 Speaker 1: starling Mortimer. Uh, And I'm not sure. I'm not sure 410 00:25:23,320 --> 00:25:24,840 Speaker 1: if he if he just thinks that'll annoy the king, 411 00:25:24,880 --> 00:25:26,800 Speaker 1: or the king will eventually change his mind. Hey, this 412 00:25:26,840 --> 00:25:30,080 Speaker 1: bird is onto something Mortimer anyway. But the point of 413 00:25:30,119 --> 00:25:32,560 Speaker 1: it is that the word starling only appears once in 414 00:25:32,760 --> 00:25:35,639 Speaker 1: you know, the million million word corpus of Shakespeare. But 415 00:25:35,720 --> 00:25:39,600 Speaker 1: that was enough for Eugene chief Win. Shakespeare had Starling's damn, 416 00:25:39,640 --> 00:25:44,560 Speaker 1: it's almost America. Let me ask. Was Eugene Chieflin responsible 417 00:25:44,600 --> 00:25:47,720 Speaker 1: for the introduction of many other birds from Shakespeare into 418 00:25:47,760 --> 00:25:50,760 Speaker 1: Central Park? I don't know if there's any Uh, I 419 00:25:50,800 --> 00:25:53,240 Speaker 1: don't know of any evidence the starling was his his 420 00:25:53,320 --> 00:25:56,240 Speaker 1: only contribution to this, his greatest work. It's like play 421 00:25:56,280 --> 00:26:02,239 Speaker 1: the heads Eugene free bird. So then what happened free starling? Uh? 422 00:26:02,320 --> 00:26:05,480 Speaker 1: He releases Uh. I don't know like thirty or forty 423 00:26:05,520 --> 00:26:09,480 Speaker 1: birds into Central Park and uh doesn't hear back? And 424 00:26:09,480 --> 00:26:11,159 Speaker 1: I think a few months later does it again? Releases 425 00:26:11,160 --> 00:26:13,680 Speaker 1: a bunch more, and a matter of years later he 426 00:26:13,960 --> 00:26:16,320 Speaker 1: learns that there is actually a pair of starlings, European 427 00:26:16,359 --> 00:26:19,200 Speaker 1: starlings nesting in the eaves of the Museum of Natural 428 00:26:19,240 --> 00:26:21,280 Speaker 1: History across from the park. And this, I can only 429 00:26:21,320 --> 00:26:25,760 Speaker 1: imagine was an amazing day for our hero Mr Chi. 430 00:26:26,400 --> 00:26:28,760 Speaker 1: Can you imagine a better place for them than the 431 00:26:28,800 --> 00:26:31,679 Speaker 1: eaves of the Museum of Natural History? He just loves it. 432 00:26:32,080 --> 00:26:34,520 Speaker 1: Starlings have come to his country. Can you imagine being 433 00:26:34,520 --> 00:26:38,399 Speaker 1: a passenger on the ship that has like between sixty 434 00:26:38,400 --> 00:26:42,320 Speaker 1: and a hundred starlings on it? Multiple times? It's true 435 00:26:42,320 --> 00:26:44,320 Speaker 1: he had to import these from something, right, I mean 436 00:26:44,320 --> 00:26:47,280 Speaker 1: that he had to first of all, capture eighty starlings, 437 00:26:47,359 --> 00:26:50,960 Speaker 1: let's say, cage them, bring them. It might not be 438 00:26:51,080 --> 00:26:56,159 Speaker 1: him personally. The American acclimatization society might be a a vast, 439 00:26:57,080 --> 00:27:03,000 Speaker 1: a vast mechanism. He might have underlings combing England, employing starlings, 440 00:27:03,040 --> 00:27:05,639 Speaker 1: employing people in like cloth caps to do this work. 441 00:27:06,240 --> 00:27:08,280 Speaker 1: So for him, it's just a whim. It's a. It's 442 00:27:08,280 --> 00:27:10,600 Speaker 1: an artistic fancy. He's he's a rich guy with a 443 00:27:10,640 --> 00:27:13,800 Speaker 1: weird hobby. No idea that this will change the course 444 00:27:13,800 --> 00:27:17,600 Speaker 1: of history, because what has happened in the succeeding a 445 00:27:17,680 --> 00:27:19,520 Speaker 1: hundred and you know, from where we sit a hundred 446 00:27:19,520 --> 00:27:21,520 Speaker 1: and twenty seven years for you listening to us, this 447 00:27:21,600 --> 00:27:24,200 Speaker 1: is this is centuries over the past. Yeah, we don't 448 00:27:24,200 --> 00:27:26,639 Speaker 1: we don't know what your starling situation is, but in 449 00:27:26,680 --> 00:27:29,960 Speaker 1: our world it's not great. Actually, from the that one 450 00:27:30,040 --> 00:27:32,479 Speaker 1: breeding pair in the eaves of the museum, they're now 451 00:27:32,480 --> 00:27:37,080 Speaker 1: two hundred and twenty million starlings European starlings in America. 452 00:27:37,640 --> 00:27:40,320 Speaker 1: You know, if you see just some random gray spotted 453 00:27:40,320 --> 00:27:43,760 Speaker 1: bird flying around near your home or in the country, 454 00:27:43,760 --> 00:27:47,240 Speaker 1: it's probably a starling because they have come to dominate 455 00:27:47,720 --> 00:27:51,840 Speaker 1: the country. They they're really bad for native songbird populations 456 00:27:51,880 --> 00:27:56,880 Speaker 1: because their nest bandits what their nest bandits. So tell 457 00:27:56,920 --> 00:28:00,800 Speaker 1: me more. They don't like other birds. They only building nests. 458 00:28:00,800 --> 00:28:02,159 Speaker 1: You know, they can nest anywhere. They'll nest in a 459 00:28:02,200 --> 00:28:05,800 Speaker 1: little hole, which so you know, newly deforested, suburbanized America 460 00:28:05,880 --> 00:28:07,800 Speaker 1: is great for them. You know, get any gas station 461 00:28:07,920 --> 00:28:10,600 Speaker 1: or porch or nook of your house. You know, starlings 462 00:28:10,600 --> 00:28:12,760 Speaker 1: can't find a hole there, but those are in short supply. 463 00:28:12,840 --> 00:28:14,600 Speaker 1: So what they will do is they'll they'll they'll wait 464 00:28:14,720 --> 00:28:16,920 Speaker 1: at the entrance to a hole, and if a bluebird 465 00:28:16,960 --> 00:28:18,800 Speaker 1: or a woodpeck or whatever sticks its head out, the 466 00:28:18,800 --> 00:28:21,639 Speaker 1: starling will impale it with its beak until it dies, 467 00:28:22,400 --> 00:28:24,440 Speaker 1: kill the eggs, if there's any eggs, and just take 468 00:28:24,480 --> 00:28:26,960 Speaker 1: over the whole. I dated somebody like this. This is 469 00:28:26,960 --> 00:28:30,760 Speaker 1: almost an exact description of our relationship. And Starlings are 470 00:28:30,760 --> 00:28:33,760 Speaker 1: also super loud and super annoying. They are because they'll 471 00:28:33,800 --> 00:28:36,280 Speaker 1: you know, they can mimic any call, so you know, 472 00:28:36,320 --> 00:28:38,440 Speaker 1: they make these sort of gross noises in you know, 473 00:28:38,600 --> 00:28:42,400 Speaker 1: automobile heavy America. They now make car centric noises. They'll 474 00:28:42,400 --> 00:28:45,600 Speaker 1: imitate the noises of crossing signals or of car engines. 475 00:28:45,640 --> 00:28:47,800 Speaker 1: You know, starlings living near interstate will just sound like 476 00:28:47,880 --> 00:28:51,800 Speaker 1: cars whizzing by. Uh, because that's absolutely true. They you know, 477 00:28:51,840 --> 00:28:54,200 Speaker 1: they're they just want to fit in, you know, aren't 478 00:28:54,200 --> 00:28:56,560 Speaker 1: they aren't we all starlings at art like that a 479 00:28:56,560 --> 00:28:59,480 Speaker 1: little bit. That's not annoying at all, Although now that 480 00:28:59,520 --> 00:29:02,480 Speaker 1: you're saying, aren't we all starlings. Of course, the most 481 00:29:02,520 --> 00:29:06,280 Speaker 1: famous human starling is Clarice Starling from the Silence of 482 00:29:06,320 --> 00:29:09,320 Speaker 1: the Lambs. She says she's a bit of a predator. 483 00:29:09,400 --> 00:29:11,400 Speaker 1: She seems harmless on the outside, but when she gets 484 00:29:11,440 --> 00:29:14,880 Speaker 1: her teeth in a in a case, her beak, she 485 00:29:14,920 --> 00:29:17,680 Speaker 1: gets her beak in a case. When she gets a 486 00:29:17,680 --> 00:29:20,040 Speaker 1: beacon her case, she doesn't like, you know, Lector finds 487 00:29:20,040 --> 00:29:21,719 Speaker 1: out she's a force to be reckoned. With that, I 488 00:29:21,720 --> 00:29:24,320 Speaker 1: wonder if that's what the references. She's gonna not only 489 00:29:24,440 --> 00:29:26,800 Speaker 1: not only kill Lector, but all of the eggs in 490 00:29:26,840 --> 00:29:32,600 Speaker 1: his nest. So the victims of the European starling are 491 00:29:32,720 --> 00:29:35,160 Speaker 1: all of us many well, yeah, I mean humans included. 492 00:29:35,360 --> 00:29:38,520 Speaker 1: Birds are birds. Bird populations have been decimated. They're believed 493 00:29:38,560 --> 00:29:40,840 Speaker 1: to have contributed to the extinction of the Carolina parakeet 494 00:29:41,120 --> 00:29:44,400 Speaker 1: and the passenger pigeon, so you know, whole species are 495 00:29:44,440 --> 00:29:47,880 Speaker 1: on their hit list. I thought that the passenger pigeon 496 00:29:48,520 --> 00:29:52,400 Speaker 1: went extinct entirely as a result of like wanton human hunting. 497 00:29:53,200 --> 00:29:56,680 Speaker 1: Did the starling really play a role? Are we absolved 498 00:29:56,800 --> 00:29:59,720 Speaker 1: somewhat of the responsibility of destroying the passenger pige I 499 00:29:59,720 --> 00:30:01,600 Speaker 1: don't like they once. You know, they said they would 500 00:30:01,600 --> 00:30:03,560 Speaker 1: once fly overhead for days, right, because I would say, 501 00:30:03,560 --> 00:30:06,200 Speaker 1: the passenger pigeon like in the sky flock would start 502 00:30:06,280 --> 00:30:08,760 Speaker 1: and then it would just be like twilight for like 503 00:30:08,920 --> 00:30:10,880 Speaker 1: eight hours as they passed over. You know, there were 504 00:30:10,920 --> 00:30:12,960 Speaker 1: so many and they were delicious, so we ate them all. 505 00:30:13,080 --> 00:30:17,080 Speaker 1: And it always amazed me that we could even conceivably 506 00:30:17,120 --> 00:30:19,800 Speaker 1: have killed that many birds. Now, thinking that maybe the 507 00:30:19,800 --> 00:30:22,840 Speaker 1: Starlings are responsible makes me feel like we owe fewer 508 00:30:22,880 --> 00:30:25,360 Speaker 1: reparations to the passenger pigeons community. I don't think should 509 00:30:25,360 --> 00:30:27,600 Speaker 1: feel better because think about this, like we also created 510 00:30:27,640 --> 00:30:30,600 Speaker 1: the Starlings, you know, like at least the people shooting 511 00:30:30,600 --> 00:30:32,440 Speaker 1: the pigeons were like, I know, I'm killing this guy. 512 00:30:32,480 --> 00:30:33,920 Speaker 1: You know, this was just some out of touch rich 513 00:30:33,960 --> 00:30:35,560 Speaker 1: guy who was like, you know what the world needs 514 00:30:35,960 --> 00:30:38,760 Speaker 1: these two starlings, Dick and Betsy, and he has no idea. 515 00:30:39,400 --> 00:30:42,680 Speaker 1: I imagine sitting in the drawing room of some fancy 516 00:30:42,760 --> 00:30:45,560 Speaker 1: lady's house on the Upper East Side talking about having 517 00:30:45,600 --> 00:30:49,600 Speaker 1: introduced all the birds from Shakespeare's plays into Central Park. 518 00:30:49,760 --> 00:30:52,560 Speaker 1: I think that was probably a pretty winning line at 519 00:30:52,560 --> 00:30:54,800 Speaker 1: the time, right when people were dropping handkerchiefs on the 520 00:30:54,840 --> 00:30:58,440 Speaker 1: floor as a supreme mating signal. If I were in 521 00:30:58,480 --> 00:31:01,000 Speaker 1: that Edith Wharton drawing him like I think my monica 522 00:31:01,040 --> 00:31:05,200 Speaker 1: would fall into my soup. If some if some strange 523 00:31:05,240 --> 00:31:11,280 Speaker 1: man and a goatee started bragging about his successful ornithological acclimatizations, 524 00:31:11,320 --> 00:31:22,240 Speaker 1: almost surely he had a Trotsky goatee, almost surely. Thank 525 00:31:22,280 --> 00:31:25,440 Speaker 1: you so much for joining us for this Saturday classic. 526 00:31:25,760 --> 00:31:27,920 Speaker 1: Since this is out of the archive, if you heard 527 00:31:27,960 --> 00:31:30,240 Speaker 1: an email address or a Facebook U r L or 528 00:31:30,320 --> 00:31:33,200 Speaker 1: something similar during the course of the show, that may 529 00:31:33,200 --> 00:31:36,960 Speaker 1: be obsolete. Now, so here's our current contact information. We 530 00:31:37,000 --> 00:31:39,720 Speaker 1: are at History Podcast at how stuff Works dot com, 531 00:31:39,800 --> 00:31:42,600 Speaker 1: and then we're at Missed in the History all over 532 00:31:42,680 --> 00:31:46,760 Speaker 1: social media that is our name on Facebook, Twitter, Tumbler, Pinterest, 533 00:31:47,000 --> 00:31:52,120 Speaker 1: and Instagram. Thanks again for listening for more on this 534 00:31:52,320 --> 00:31:54,840 Speaker 1: and thousands of other topics because it how stuff Works 535 00:31:54,840 --> 00:32:03,480 Speaker 1: dot com.