Speaker 1: Welcome to Creature feature production of iHeartRadio. I'm your host
Speaker 1: of Many Parasites, Katie Golden. I studied psychology and evolutionary biology,
Speaker 1: and today on this show, hey don't be mean to crocodiles.
Speaker 1: I saw a video going around of someone bonking crocodiles
Speaker 1: on the nose with a shovel, and hey, that sucks.
Speaker 1: So today we are gonna talk about this video. We're
Speaker 1: gonna talk about why these poor crocs do not deserve
Speaker 1: a bonk to the nose. We're gonna talk about what
Speaker 1: the heck is going on in that viral video, and
Speaker 1: why crocodile crocodilians are actually sweet babies who just want
Speaker 1: to have fun and will only sometimes eat you discover
Speaker 1: this is more as we answer the age old question,
Speaker 1: are crocodiles really that into polyamory? Joining me today is
Speaker 1: someone who is actually nice to crocodile's friend of the show, producer,
Speaker 1: host of podcast Rough Stuff as well as Shooting Threes.
Speaker 1: Welcome Bridget Greenberg.
Speaker 2: Hello, Thank you for mentioning my niceness to crocodiles. It
Speaker 2: is something that should be known about me. Frind to crocodile.
Speaker 1: We all know Bridget we're like Bridget you know, she
Speaker 1: can be real tough on set, but she's real nice
Speaker 1: to crocodiles.
Speaker 2: Real nice to crocodiles, A real softy when it comes
Speaker 2: to them crocs.
Speaker 1: That's right, that's right. But you are you did you
Speaker 1: hail from Fair Florida, So Florida, Yes, Fair Florida. So
Speaker 1: you you've probably like wrastled some alligators.
Speaker 2: I've I've I've had some. Yeah, I've seen it. There
Speaker 2: was a weird section in school where they taught us
Speaker 2: gator safety. I'm not really yeah, they I'm not really.
Speaker 2: You know Miami, They they tend to stay away from
Speaker 2: the big city, but for some reason we still learned
Speaker 2: gator safety. Which I've talked to someone and heard everything
Speaker 2: that I learned was wrong.
Speaker 1: Okay, what it was? Some of the wrong stuff you learned.
Speaker 2: And none of this has been I'm not sure I now.
Speaker 2: I just don't know. But I heard they have really
Speaker 2: bad peripheral vision, so you want to run in zigzags
Speaker 2: if you are trying to run away from one, and
Speaker 2: which I feel like if they're going to attack you,
Speaker 2: they're going to do it in the water, not on land.
Speaker 2: You have to really mess up if they're trying to
Speaker 2: attack you on land. It's been interesting.
Speaker 1: You get chomped on by alligators every so often happens.
Speaker 1: It's usually someone being I don't want a victim blame,
Speaker 1: but doing something they probably shouldn't be doing.
Speaker 2: They're a little close, that's the thing. You don't really
Speaker 2: have to ever get that close to them. Yeah, you know,
Speaker 2: if you see a swamp, it's not like you want
Speaker 2: to go swimming in the swamp.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Like, if.
Speaker 2: That's where they're hanging out.
Speaker 1: Like, if you see an alligator, don't go up to it,
Speaker 1: don't get an the water with it, you know. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's gonna be like like you're gonna avoid ninety nine
Speaker 1: percent of the danger if you just don't go up
Speaker 1: to an alligator and swim with it.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, it didn't. I wasn't that afraid of running
Speaker 2: into one. But I did, you know along road trips
Speaker 2: run in two see some along the highway, did the
Speaker 2: fanboat tours and the Elverglades, Yeah, saw some there.
Speaker 1: Well. Don't and don't pick up hitchhiking alligators, Like that's
Speaker 1: another one. Don't pick up hitchhikers.
Speaker 2: Don't And if you are a hitchhiker, and they will try.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and don't get into a van with a bunch
Speaker 1: of alligators and there you go, easy, easy, easy to avoid.
Speaker 1: But what we are talking about is that sometimes people,
Speaker 1: I guess, have a hard time empathizing with crocodilions. When
Speaker 1: I say crocodilians, I mean crocodiles and alligators and timon
Speaker 1: and gariols and they because you know, they do look
Speaker 1: sort of like mindless reptilian carnivores. I get that, But
Speaker 1: let's talk about it because there is a video going around.
Speaker 1: My best guess about the species is that their bunch
Speaker 1: of Siamese crocodiles, they are resting on a sandy bank
Speaker 1: and they get chased around by a man into the water.
Speaker 1: In any crocodile who doesn't run away gets hit on
Speaker 1: the snout with a metal shovel. And I think a
Speaker 1: lot of people find this funny, but I think it
Speaker 1: is kind of sad because it's you know, if we
Speaker 1: saw like a video of this of say, I don't know,
Speaker 1: any other any kind of furry mammal, right, like say
Speaker 1: this was a bunch of lions getting hit in the
Speaker 1: face with a shovel, have same amount of danger, but
Speaker 1: I don't know that we'd find it funny.
Speaker 2: Yeah, just because they big lizards doesn't mean they don't
Speaker 2: have feelings exactly exactly.
Speaker 1: Uh yeah, I mean, so are you looking at this video?
Speaker 2: Bridge, I'm seeing this video and like, yeah, it's I
Speaker 2: don't think this is fun.
Speaker 1: Yeah yeah, I mean, like me, look if this was fake, right,
Speaker 1: like if this was fake crocodiles and there was if
Speaker 1: it was like a crocodile dial that was cgi stepping
Speaker 1: on a rake and then the rake hits it in
Speaker 1: the face, that would be funny because that's theater. But
Speaker 1: this is real crocodiles getting hit on the face with
Speaker 1: a shovel. I don't think that's funny. And I think
Speaker 1: that there is a I guess it's like, you know,
Speaker 1: it's just people struggle to empathize with animals unless their
Speaker 1: faces are something we can relate to, right, like you know,
Speaker 1: like you think about an animal that is similar in
Speaker 1: terms of danger to crocodiles, because I saw some people
Speaker 1: saying like, well, it's funny because they would try to
Speaker 1: eat you, if you know. But if it was bears, right,
Speaker 1: like grizzly bears, and you saw a video of them
Speaker 1: getting hit in the face. I think people would be
Speaker 1: much more outraged by that.
Speaker 2: Yeah, just because something isn't friend shape doesn't mean you
Speaker 2: should boop it on the nose with a shovel, exactly.
Speaker 1: And just because something is friend shaped doesn't mean that
Speaker 1: it is your friend also, yeah, vice versa. Yeah exactly,
Speaker 1: And I'm not I'm not saying that you should befriend crocodile,
Speaker 1: but you don't need to hit it with a shovel.
Speaker 2: They mostly just want a sunbathe. That's an understanding. Like
Speaker 2: they just want to take naps in the sun pretty much.
Speaker 2: It Yeah, and eat but not you.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean they will if you like they will
Speaker 1: if you if you chase it and you get in
Speaker 1: the water with them, they might eat you. But it's again,
Speaker 1: they're probably not going to like run after you to
Speaker 1: on the land to try to eat you. That's just
Speaker 1: not you probably seem a little big. Most of the
Speaker 1: like victims to It's like the really big crocodiles, like
Speaker 1: nile crocodiles do sometimes eat people just because they're so
Speaker 1: they're such big crocodiles. But you know, most alligators don't
Speaker 1: really want to. I don't really want to but they
Speaker 1: they will, so don't like go up to one and
Speaker 1: hog it. But because that's like I mean, imagine if
Speaker 1: like a burger ran up to you and like tried
Speaker 1: to nuzzle you, you'd be like, well, okay, and then
Speaker 1: you'd eat that burger.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I h I don't know if I would, but
Speaker 2: burger tried to cuddle me. If a burger moved, I
Speaker 2: don't think I'd want to eat it, but that happen.
Speaker 1: I guess for me, it depends on what kind of burger.
Speaker 1: If it's got like mayonnaise and pickles on it, I
Speaker 1: don't want that anyways, I'm not gonna eat it.
Speaker 2: But yeah, yeah, I'm not into moving burgers. But you
Speaker 2: know that's a weird thing about that. I'm picky like that.
Speaker 1: Well you know, I guess you're you could be then
Speaker 1: qualified as like a vegetarian in crocodile terms. So yes,
Speaker 1: I looked at this video because I wanted to figure
Speaker 1: out what was going on, and uh, this is my
Speaker 1: detailed analysis. I from what I can tell that fascinated. Yes,
Speaker 1: these crocodiles are in and and clothes, and so my
Speaker 1: guess would be that this is a crocodile farm. It
Speaker 1: is most likely to be in Thailand, given that this
Speaker 1: is the country with the most crocodile farms. But there
Speaker 1: are crocodile farms all over the world, including in the US,
Speaker 1: like in States in Louisiana. But yeah, so it could
Speaker 1: be anywhere in the world. But my guess, right, just statistically,
Speaker 1: this is probably a crocodile farm in Thailand. And yeah,
Speaker 1: there are crocodile and alligator farms, and these are mainly
Speaker 1: funded by demand for their skin, you know, like alligator
Speaker 1: skin products, but the meat can also be sold and
Speaker 1: sometimes the farms are open to tourists, so they might get
Speaker 1: money from tourists from the meat and from the skin.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Uh, I didn't know. Well, I guess I could
Speaker 2: have figured it out because I've eaten crocodile or I've
Speaker 2: eat an alligator. I'd eat an alligator. I've never eaten crocodile.
Speaker 1: What does alligator taste like?
Speaker 2: Exactly like chicken?
Speaker 1: Oh?
Speaker 2: Really, it's a it's a white meat and it looks
Speaker 2: and tastes exactly like chicken.
Speaker 1: That makes sense they're related, actually, because like.
Speaker 2: That's that kind of Yeah, it kind of like closes
Speaker 2: the loop for me on the dinosaurs is birds.
Speaker 1: Yeah, birds are the only remaining dinosaurs, and crocodiles are
Speaker 1: related to dinosaurs. They crocodiles are not dinosaurs, but they
Speaker 1: are one of the closest relatives actually, Like like I
Speaker 1: would say crocodiles are more closely related to birds than
Speaker 1: they are to say a lot of modern reptile species.
Speaker 2: Yeah. That uh, that's the thing that is hard to
Speaker 2: wrap your head around by looking at the two things.
Speaker 2: And then you eat it and it makes a ton
Speaker 2: of sense. This is why you really gotta eat it.
Speaker 1: Some education that can happen, like when Darwin and all
Speaker 1: those animals, it's like, look, I'm doing science.
Speaker 2: There. There was a video. This is a this is
Speaker 2: a tangent. There's a video going around round of chef
Speaker 2: Jose Andreas talking about wanting to eat the sandworms in
Speaker 2: dune and that's all I can pay.
Speaker 1: But they taste like shrimp. Oh yeah, that's my GiB.
Speaker 2: Probably he was talking about like fileying it and putting
Speaker 2: it on our barbecue. So yeah, probably probably shrimp.
Speaker 1: If anyone would that, I bet you would be able
Speaker 1: to see like the entire future of the universe. And
Speaker 1: also it would taste like shrimp.
Speaker 2: The future is shrimp.
Speaker 1: The future is shrimp. Yes, But I'm actually not like
Speaker 1: one hundred percent against farming crocodiles or alligators, because you know,
Speaker 1: like I think that you could potentially have a farm
Speaker 1: that is humane right, like not treating the animals poorly,
Speaker 1: and the ecological impacts of crocodile farming is probably less
Speaker 1: than that of like farming cattle, and so you know,
Speaker 1: there's also like an argument to be made that there
Speaker 1: will always be a demand for crocodilian skin and that
Speaker 1: farming could cut down on illegal poaching of endangered animals.
Speaker 1: So I'm not actually completely opposed to these farms. I
Speaker 1: think it highly depends on how these animals are treated,
Speaker 1: and so you shouldn't hit them in the face with
Speaker 1: a shovel. That This is exactly I think. I think
Speaker 1: all farms, right for any kind of animal needs to
Speaker 1: be as humane as possible, which we definitely fail at
Speaker 1: with like concentrated animal feeding operations CAFOs, Like we really
Speaker 1: suck at having humane farms when it comes to animals
Speaker 1: that are not alligators or crocodiles, And so you know,
Speaker 1: when it comes to alligators and crocodiles, we should also
Speaker 1: be careful, like just be nice, just being nice, you know,
Speaker 1: just be nice. And I know that it's like, oh,
Speaker 1: but you're killing them eventually, so what does it matter.
Speaker 1: It matters a lot, Like an animal can suffer, including crocodilions,
Speaker 1: So like, you know, their life should be nice up
Speaker 1: until you know, like.
Speaker 2: Anything else, we all die.
Speaker 1: We do all die, and it's so.
Speaker 2: It would be yeah nice, you would enjoy life, you know,
Speaker 2: enjoy your life here.
Speaker 1: Yes, Like I get that they're predators and they kill
Speaker 1: other things, but like again it's it's there's no reason
Speaker 1: to make them suffer before, like if we are farming
Speaker 1: them and we are going to kill them, like we
Speaker 1: should give them a good life before they die, because
Speaker 1: we're humans and we get to decide to not suck.
Speaker 2: Yeah, this is like this guy is just playing like
Speaker 2: Sonic with these alligators. Yeah, and uh, that doesn't seem fair.
Speaker 1: You know what, But you said Sonic. But Mario actually
Speaker 1: has the worst track record when it comes to reptiles,
Speaker 1: right because he's always stopping on them turtles.
Speaker 2: He's stopping on turtles. He I mean, I don't know
Speaker 2: what the deal is with Yoshi, but he I mean,
Speaker 2: I don't know if Yoshi seems to like getting written.
Speaker 1: Bridget I'm clipping that and gonna play it out of context.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yep, yep, Yeah that feels fair. That's fair. I'll
Speaker 2: allow it. Well you kind of, yeah, Yoshi asked for it, esus,
Speaker 2: so Yoshi.
Speaker 1: Look, we're gonna let's say that Yoshi and Mario are
Speaker 1: in a inequitable it's consensual. But I don't think it's
Speaker 1: consensual when he stomps on them turtles.
Speaker 2: No, for sure not. I don't think those turtle shells
Speaker 2: like being thrown and blown out, stuffed with explosives. I
Speaker 2: assume I don't.
Speaker 1: I guess I don't know as much about Mario as
Speaker 1: I thought I I haven't.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, I haven't done that deep dive. But something's
Speaker 2: going on with them shells. Yeah, with them blue shells,
Speaker 2: with them shells, Yeah, them blue shells. Something something up
Speaker 2: with them. Don't don't get those yeah in your car.
Speaker 2: There's actually I recently read that Florida doesn't have crocodile.
Speaker 2: Crocodiles I think only exist in Asia and Africa, but
Speaker 2: a bunch of them got loose out of a Fort
Speaker 2: Lauderdale zoo and are now inhabiting the swamps of Florida,
Speaker 2: which I assume is a bad thing. Yeah, I mean.
Speaker 1: You just don't want invasive species, right, Like boa constrictors
Speaker 1: and pythons that are in Florida are invasive, and so
Speaker 1: the problem with invasive species is that they just take
Speaker 1: resources or directly eat or out compete the native animals.
Speaker 1: So yeah, it's not great to have invasive crocodiles.
Speaker 2: In any capacity. Yeah, this also maybe is a sidebar,
Speaker 2: but feels like a great platform because since there are
Speaker 2: other reptiles that seem to have taken over Florida, like
Speaker 2: the lizard when I go back to Miami now, the
Speaker 2: like little geckos to tiny lizards have completely change. There
Speaker 2: are different species of lizards that have overtaken the ones
Speaker 2: in Florida that I grew that tiny little green ones.
Speaker 2: There are these like cuban curly tailed brown lizards now
Speaker 2: that have completely eradicated the old lizards.
Speaker 1: Iguanas are everywhere. Whoa like these are like pet iguanas
Speaker 1: that escaped, And there.
Speaker 2: Are pet iguanas. I think there are some that might
Speaker 2: have swam over or got down shipping containers and came over.
Speaker 2: But yeah, there are iguanas everywhere. They're very invasive. They
Speaker 2: burrow into sea walls and like ruin infrastructure, and you
Speaker 2: are supposed to kill them if you can, which is
Speaker 2: a very Florida sounding rule that feels very dangerous, but
Speaker 2: it is okay to kill them. And they are, like
Speaker 2: I said, everywhere, So they are just like on the streets,
Speaker 2: roaming around and it's kind of free open season on them.
Speaker 1: So apparently. Also, there are some crocodiles that are in Florida.
Speaker 1: They're not necessarily native there, but their range has extended
Speaker 1: so they're not like invasive in the sense of like
Speaker 1: they weren't brought over by like you know, illegal pet trade.
Speaker 1: Because there are some crocodiles in South America, but because
Speaker 1: of like canal systems, they they have made their way
Speaker 1: to a sort of the the southernmost tip of Florida.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah, I saw someone. I was in Costa Rica
Speaker 2: and I was surprised to see them there, crocodiles and
Speaker 2: they are.
Speaker 1: They get around? Am I crazy?
Speaker 2: Are they bigger than alligators?
Speaker 1: It depends, It depends on the species. Some alligators are
Speaker 1: going to be bigger than crocodiles. Some crocodiles are going
Speaker 1: to be bigger than alligators. I think like the biggest
Speaker 1: species of crocodilian is probably a crocodile. I think it
Speaker 1: might be the the nile. Crocodiles like the largest, but
Speaker 1: like the main thing. I think the main like way
Speaker 1: you can kind of tell the difference between the alligator
Speaker 1: versus the rocdile. Yes, you can guess, can I this
Speaker 1: is my this is my Florida education.
Speaker 2: It's a snout, right, it's a snout. Crocodiles have the
Speaker 2: round or shorter snout, and alligators have like a longer,
Speaker 2: pointier snout.
Speaker 1: That's right, Yes, let's go.
Speaker 2: So, so they weren't.
Speaker 1: Wait actually wait you said alligators have the rounder snout
Speaker 1: or they.
Speaker 2: No, no other way around. Crocodiles have the rounder snout.
Speaker 1: No, actually, okay, so crocodiles actually have the more tapered
Speaker 1: snout and alligators have the rounder snout.
Speaker 2: Okay, they have they they have like a little bulb
Speaker 2: guy at the end.
Speaker 1: So uh the yeah, so actually, so crocodiles I think
Speaker 1: are the ones that have more of the like kind
Speaker 1: of a tapered snout but also like the kind of
Speaker 1: bowlby thing at the and the alligators are the ones
Speaker 1: with the more just like it's a smooth but rounded snout,
Speaker 1: but kind of broader and bigger.
Speaker 2: I knew someone with a snout and I'll count it.
Speaker 2: I'm going to count it. Baby.
Speaker 1: Also, you can crocodile. See, So with alligators when the
Speaker 1: mouth is closed, you can only see the upper teeth,
Speaker 1: and with the crocodiles you can see some some of
Speaker 1: the lower teeth when the mouth is closed as well.
Speaker 2: Which, yeah, I'm going to give cute points to the
Speaker 2: alligator of crocodile for that. It does give it like
Speaker 2: a dirty look.
Speaker 1: I would say alligators tend to be cuter to me personally.
Speaker 2: They are, Yes, they are cute when they are little too.
Speaker 2: I've held I've held a baby gator.
Speaker 1: The sound that they make is quite adorable.
Speaker 2: The little yeah, yeah, very very they they're yeah they
Speaker 2: it's like a little bird squawk. But yeah, I have
Speaker 2: held a baby alligator. What how why when I don't
Speaker 2: think it was cool? Holding the baby alligator was cool,
Speaker 2: But I don't think it was cool of me as
Speaker 2: like a twelve year old to do that.
Speaker 1: At some better bridget God, at.
Speaker 2: Some like Everglade field trip that we went on.
Speaker 1: Wait was just a wild baby. Like, what do you mean, like.
Speaker 2: It wasn't I guess say, like it was like a
Speaker 2: rehab facility, sanctuary for injured injured gator.
Speaker 1: Okay, that's all right, but they gave you permission to
Speaker 1: hold it.
Speaker 2: They Yeah, they gave us a hold.
Speaker 1: That's okay. That's if it's a rehab since or like
Speaker 1: a sanctuary and they allowed the allowed you guys to
Speaker 1: hold it. I think that's probably okay.
Speaker 2: We're gonna go ahead and assume it was safe at
Speaker 2: the time.
Speaker 1: Let's say it's probably okay. I again, don't just go
Speaker 1: out and pick up an alligator, even a baby wan
Speaker 1: first of all, because you know, unless you know, like
Speaker 1: they probably had hopefully they had you wash your hands
Speaker 1: before and after. But also, like you know, in addition
Speaker 1: to spreading diseases too and from the alligators, it might
Speaker 1: stress them out in that situation because they're not used
Speaker 1: to humans, Like if you just pick one up from
Speaker 1: the wild. Also, like moms don't like that. We're gonna
Speaker 1: talk extensively about alligator parents and how much they love
Speaker 1: their children. So I wouldn't do it just for your
Speaker 1: own safety, Like if you're hassling a little baby you're
Speaker 1: like this is adorable. Like mom might be nearby and
Speaker 1: it might hear that little yeah and then like hey
Speaker 1: this and.
Speaker 2: That's when you're in trouble with the gators.
Speaker 1: That's right, This like very edible person is hassling my child.
Speaker 1: There seems to be one solution that I have that
Speaker 1: can solve a couple of problems what to make for
Speaker 1: dinner and get rid of this threat to my baby.
Speaker 2: Was Okay, maybe I'm like a cross referencing my information
Speaker 2: between everything I've seen online that is probably wrong and
Speaker 2: this poor gator education that I got. But also there,
Speaker 2: I know their top jaws snap quite ferociously, but they
Speaker 2: can't move their bottom jaw too.
Speaker 1: Well, it's that, I mean, I think.
Speaker 2: It's a downward force it.
Speaker 1: Yes, it's that the muscles are not used to like
Speaker 1: opening up with a lot of force, but there's a
Speaker 1: lot of downward force.
Speaker 2: Because yeah, there was something about like putting pressure on
Speaker 2: the snout.
Speaker 1: Yeah, if you like tell like that's why when they're
Speaker 1: relocating alligators or crocodiles, they can just like tape the
Speaker 1: snout shut and they're like that, then the alligators just
Speaker 1: is just well, you've found my one weakness scotch tape.
Speaker 2: Right. I yeah, I do remember this lesson thinking if
Speaker 2: I'm if I'm that close that I have to hold
Speaker 2: this thing snout shut. It's probably bad for.
Speaker 1: Me, it's probably bad for you. But hey, you know what,
Speaker 1: just don't get that close to them.
Speaker 2: Just don't get that close. And then it was very easy.
Speaker 2: It was very easy not to get that close.
Speaker 1: That's right, that's right. But let's let's recap. Don't hit
Speaker 1: alligators or crocodiles with shovel. Alligators have the rounded snowt.
Speaker 1: Crocodiles have the point to your snoot. It's annoying because
Speaker 1: you would think that, like there's a cool newmonic where
Speaker 1: it's like alligators have the A shaped snowt and crocodiles
Speaker 1: have the C shaped snowt. Nope, opposite.
Speaker 2: Very easy to get confused.
Speaker 1: Yeah, crocodiles you can see bigger smiles. That mnemonic kind
Speaker 1: of works, right because you can see both sets of teeth, right,
Speaker 1: Alligators only the top teeth. And yeah, let's let's take
Speaker 1: a quick break, and when we get back, I want
Speaker 1: to talk about. Another reason to empathize with crocodilians is
Speaker 1: that they like to have a good time and it's adorable.
Speaker 1: So we will be right back. Bridget. You know what
Speaker 1: is this? You know, you know what, there's something that
Speaker 1: unites crocodiles and girls do.
Speaker 2: They just want to have fun.
Speaker 1: They just want to have fun. Let's go there, we go.
Speaker 1: I mean, honestly, like all genders like to have fun,
Speaker 1: and all crocodilians also seem to like to have fun.
Speaker 1: So let's get into it. Crocodiles have been observed playing around,
Speaker 1: just fooling around. It's very cute. So the research on
Speaker 1: this is pretty thin for reasons that I think are
Speaker 1: probably self explanatory, like trying to get crocodiles in a
Speaker 1: lab difficult, trying to measure fun, Trying to measure fun
Speaker 1: very subjective, trying to observe of crocodiles and alligators stealthily
Speaker 1: also difficult. Yeah, so and directly playing with them ill advised.
Speaker 1: Only one guy has done it without, as far as
Speaker 1: I know, getting chomped on. So yeah, let's well, let's
Speaker 1: talk about it. So these are all basically like anecdotes
Speaker 1: or observation of individuals, but they add up to a
Speaker 1: picture that I think is pretty compelling. That these crocodilians
Speaker 1: are having fun and are playing around. So there is
Speaker 1: a baby kymen that was observed at the Santa Cruz
Speaker 1: Zoo in Bolivia repeatedly surfing a current created by the
Speaker 1: man made filter in his enclosure. So there's like a
Speaker 1: filter and it's you know, shooting water out of a jet.
Speaker 1: So this like kyman was playing in the water jet
Speaker 1: and it would essentially swim up to the water jet,
Speaker 1: let it like push it back, and then swim back
Speaker 1: up to the water jet and let it push it back.
Speaker 2: That's so sweet.
Speaker 1: Yeah, little baby things that it's doing. A cute little.
Speaker 2: Baby I feel like, I mean probably in a zoo
Speaker 2: or some sort of enclosure, I would imagine they get
Speaker 2: a little bit more bored, yeah, than they would trying
Speaker 2: to survive out in the swamp or creek or river
Speaker 2: and have to entertain themselves. And that's very sweet. Yeah,
Speaker 2: I guess we you're saying we haven't seen them do
Speaker 2: that in the wild at all, but that's more because
Speaker 2: it's difficult.
Speaker 1: Well, I think we have actually seen them playing in
Speaker 1: the wild. It is easier to observe them in zoos
Speaker 1: just because we're there. But there was an esture and
Speaker 1: crocodile who was seen apparently surfing the waves in Port Douglas, Australia.
Speaker 2: So horrifying as a surfer right next to a crocodile.
Speaker 1: But hey, you know that would also possibly be radical.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, pretty cool. Yeah, yeah there. I think as
Speaker 2: a surfer there are a lot of things you can
Speaker 2: expect to see with you. Yeah, sharks, jellyfish, sharks, dolphins, Yeah, jellyfish,
Speaker 2: sting rays, stuff like that. For a croc would surprise me,
Speaker 2: yeah for sure. But you know, I'm glad they're getting
Speaker 2: out there.
Speaker 1: Hey, they have every right to to the waves, is
Speaker 1: anyone else you know that's surfing? Sure, you gotta take
Speaker 1: turns on the waves.
Speaker 2: And it also you gotta take turns, you gotta respect
Speaker 2: the lineup.
Speaker 1: That's right.
Speaker 2: I you said play, and that was, of course the
Speaker 2: way you said it made sense that it was more
Speaker 2: like they're playing in surf and with currents and swimming.
Speaker 2: I was having a really hard time picturing them playing
Speaker 2: because their arms are so little, So I was trying
Speaker 2: to like picture like two of them playing together, right.
Speaker 1: Fights, tiny arms, slappy fights, because.
Speaker 2: Playing like biting or whatever, like you might see like
Speaker 2: a dog or a mammal kind of do like play biting. Yeah,
Speaker 2: it doesn't seem like it would be playful with those snouts,
Speaker 2: so I was kind of just picturing little, yeah, tiny alligator.
Speaker 1: Arms, little slaps, your thing makes more sense. Yeah, actually,
Speaker 1: you know you mentioned that, like you think that they
Speaker 1: wouldn't do play bites, but apparently they can. In fact,
Speaker 1: they have very good control over the pressure of their bites.
Speaker 1: We'll talk about that later why they have such good
Speaker 1: control in the when we talk about them being good parents.
Speaker 1: But yeah, there's a cuban crocodile at the Toledo Zoo
Speaker 1: that repeatedly would attack and push around a large ball
Speaker 1: and like blow bubbles at it. And apparently so blowing
Speaker 1: bubbles is like usually a mating behavior, but there was
Speaker 1: no evidence that the crocodile's trying to hump the ball
Speaker 1: because also crocodiles wouldn't attack their mate, like after blowing
Speaker 1: bubbles at it. It seemed like it was just kind of
Speaker 1: like having fun with this ball, and it was like, yeah,
Speaker 1: just like pushing it around, blowing bubbles at it, chomping
Speaker 1: on it.
Speaker 2: That's very sweet.
Speaker 1: There was like anhing them.
Speaker 2: Blow bubbles is also a funny image.
Speaker 1: It sounds really cute. It's like, you know, blowing bubbles
Speaker 1: in your drink as a kid. Yeah, but you're a
Speaker 1: big crocodile.
Speaker 2: And also sexy bubbles. Sexy bubbles.
Speaker 1: Hey, you know what, there's nothing more sensual like when
Speaker 1: you're in the tub with your lover and then they
Speaker 1: start blowing bubbles.
Speaker 2: Yeah, crocs get it? Did they play with the ch other?
Speaker 1: Yes?
Speaker 2: Or okay, yes.
Speaker 1: They have been observed playing with each other doing things
Speaker 1: like hitching rides. That seems to be like a big
Speaker 1: thing that they like to do. Is like they like
Speaker 1: to give themselves piggyback rides from like mate siblings or
Speaker 1: other members of a crush. A crush is like a
Speaker 1: crocodilian nursery. They're not all necessarily related, but they could
Speaker 1: all grow up together and then basically just have fun together.
Speaker 1: They can also like chase each other around in like
Speaker 1: little circles, just like you know, like how dogs do
Speaker 1: just like chasing each other around. And a rare case,
Speaker 1: I know, it's so cute having a good time. Man.
Speaker 1: In rare cases, they are exactly like people. They have
Speaker 1: sometimes been observed playing with other species rather than eating them.
Speaker 1: I can't emphasize enough how rare this is. So please
Speaker 1: don't like let your dog go towards an alligator a crocodile,
Speaker 1: and also don't you do that either, because you know
Speaker 1: very likely that the alligator is just gonna be like
Speaker 1: sweet free snow or be scared and you know, bite
Speaker 1: you out of fears. So there, But there was this case,
Speaker 1: a famous case of a tame American crocodile in Costa
Speaker 1: Rica named Pocho who he was rescued by this guy.
Speaker 1: This guy basically raised it and then released it, and
Speaker 1: so he like loved this human. Apparently he would like
Speaker 1: sort of do these like mock charges at him, and
Speaker 1: then the guy would turn around, and then the crocodile
Speaker 1: is like, hey, just kidding, and he'd swim around with
Speaker 1: this guy and like let the guy pet him and
Speaker 1: cuddle him. This is like probably a once and like
Speaker 1: one in a million, once in a lifetime sort of
Speaker 1: thing to happen. This is not going to be your
Speaker 1: experience with crocodiles, but it is really really interesting to
Speaker 1: see that like this crocodile just is like, hey, you'r
Speaker 1: a body. Basically I think probably saw this guy as
Speaker 1: like another crocodile.
Speaker 2: That is so cool. I would be so curious to
Speaker 2: hear from that guy the experience of learning that this
Speaker 2: crocodile was trying to play with it, Yeah, trying and
Speaker 2: play with him, because yeah, if he's just fake charging
Speaker 2: and you haven't established that relationship yet.
Speaker 1: I would poof my pants a lot, That's what I do.
Speaker 2: Oh, poor croc doesn't realize how scary it is, how
Speaker 2: sharp its steeth is, and it just wants to play. Yeah,
Speaker 2: really a big learning curve.
Speaker 1: It really does seem like it was play.
Speaker 2: Like.
Speaker 1: The other explanation could be that it's like it's like
Speaker 1: ooh food, and then it gets close and it's like wait, no, no,
Speaker 1: wait a minute, this is my friend, this is my buddy.
Speaker 1: But you know, like the fact that they do chase
Speaker 1: each other around as clearly playing that it makes me
Speaker 1: think that he was playing with this guy. There was
Speaker 1: another case documented of an American alligator seeming to maybe
Speaker 1: play with river otters. To these river otters, I feel
Speaker 1: like mess around with these alligators and would like poke
Speaker 1: at them and tug at their tails and then run away,
Speaker 1: and so you know, they kind of seem to be
Speaker 1: like harassing this this alligator, And so I don't know
Speaker 1: if they're like frenemies or if they're friends, but he
Speaker 1: would like snap out these river otters, but never actually
Speaker 1: seemed to try to kill them. Maybe he felt like
Speaker 1: they were more trouble than their worth. But there was
Speaker 1: a time where one of the otters slipped off the
Speaker 1: bank of the river and the alligator actually grabbed it
Speaker 1: in its mouth, shook it around, dunked it in the
Speaker 1: water a few times, and then just let it go.
Speaker 1: So it's like hard to know exactly what it was doing.
Speaker 1: If it was like trying to teach it a lesson,
Speaker 1: if it was like maybe I'll eat you, but you're
Speaker 1: two wiggies, so no, thank you, or if he was
Speaker 1: just like playing with the otter and having like yeah,
Speaker 1: or like or like hey, you know, turn about his
Speaker 1: fair play. Keep messing with you me, I'll mess with
Speaker 1: you a little bit. It's really hard to know, you know.
Speaker 1: It's like we can't really get into the head of
Speaker 1: an alligator, but it's certainly very interesting behavior. And it
Speaker 1: is definitely not just like mindless kill machine behavior, right,
Speaker 1: Like there's something going on here.
Speaker 2: It feels like otters would be a good snack for
Speaker 2: an alligator.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I you know, I don't know. But they're also
Speaker 1: very playful. River otters can be pretty big and feisty,
Speaker 1: So like I could imagine it being like, hey, you
Speaker 1: know what, I don't I don't want to like mess
Speaker 1: with you because you're gonna be a difficult thing to
Speaker 1: mess with. But you know, on the other hand, it's
Speaker 1: just like, yeah, like if this alligator really wanted to,
Speaker 1: I'm pretty sure it could kill this river otter.
Speaker 2: Yeah. I also like, uh again, I've heard through the
Speaker 2: grape vine that like otters can be real jerks. Yeah,
Speaker 2: and yeah, I wonder if this precator was just trying
Speaker 2: to Yeah, I was just trying to like keep keep
Speaker 2: the peace.
Speaker 1: Like, hey, you know what it could be like listen, otter,
Speaker 1: you've been being a real a hole. I'm just gonna
Speaker 1: dunk you a few times for you to understand.
Speaker 2: Just just put you in your place. Yeah you're not
Speaker 2: you don't run stuff.
Speaker 1: I know you got hands, Yeah you got these little
Speaker 1: little hands. Oh we're all so impressed.
Speaker 2: Chomp, chomp, chomp, exactly, just you know, kind of just
Speaker 2: giving it am a warning shot.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you don't run this place. Yeah.
Speaker 2: Uh.
Speaker 1: Crocodilians have frequently been observed playing with dead prey without
Speaker 1: eating it. So, you know, cat stuff just being big
Speaker 1: scaly cats.
Speaker 2: That is gross.
Speaker 1: But you know, I don't judge them typical cat that's
Speaker 1: not judgment. It's just cat stuff. I mean. Another cat
Speaker 1: like behavior is juvenile American alligators were kept someone was
Speaker 1: keeping them in their home. I don't know why. This
Speaker 1: was a rehab situation where like keeping them as pets,
Speaker 1: which bad idea. Don't do that they get big. But
Speaker 1: apparently these babies would like go around the bathroom and
Speaker 1: swat the ceramic caps off of the you know how
Speaker 1: the toilets have like those ceramic caps that go over
Speaker 1: the bolts in the ground, And yeah, they would like
Speaker 1: bat it around and toss it around, and like, that's
Speaker 1: exactly what my dog would do. Uh when I lived
Speaker 1: somewhere that had one of those toilets with those like
Speaker 1: ceramic caps that go over the bolt, Like that's exactly
Speaker 1: what she would do.
Speaker 2: Uh. Once again, I am picturing it doing this with
Speaker 2: its hands. I understand it's probably doing it with its snout.
Speaker 1: Yes, I know it's cute too with its hands, hands stuffy, Yes,
Speaker 1: little stubborns laws. It's mostly its mouth. It seems to
Speaker 1: kind of operate through the world.
Speaker 2: It's a mouth first creature.
Speaker 1: It is very much a mouth first creature. The cutest
Speaker 1: thing that they have been observed doing is specifically playing
Speaker 1: with pink flowers. Seems like they like pink flowers. So
Speaker 1: they have been seen picking up pink flowers, pushing them
Speaker 1: around with their snout, carrying them in their teeth. They success, Yeah,
Speaker 1: they seem to like the color pink. They'll play with
Speaker 1: any sort of flowers, but pink is like their favorite.
Speaker 1: But yeah, it's just like such a It's like a
Speaker 1: thing where you know, we associate crocodiles with these big, mean,
Speaker 1: tough things that don't have feelings, but like they like
Speaker 1: pink flowers.
Speaker 2: And how can you hate something that likes pink flowers exactly?
Speaker 2: That's very sweet.
Speaker 1: It's very very sweet. You're if you're curious about more
Speaker 1: of this, So like all of this, all of these anecdotes,
Speaker 1: all these observations were collected and published by zoologist of
Speaker 1: Vladimir Dennett's, whose research is very interesting in terms of
Speaker 1: trying to kind of fill in some of the lack
Speaker 1: of research on alligator behaviors. So yeah, this is uh,
Speaker 1: this is like a big collection of all of these anecdotes.
Speaker 2: Yeah that's cool because they yeah, they even growing up
Speaker 2: in near their territory and they were always these like cold,
Speaker 2: steely reptiles that didn't seem to have much personality. But
Speaker 2: it is nice to know, you know, they're still living things.
Speaker 1: Of Course, interestingly, it might be partially because they are
Speaker 1: nervous about exhibiting some of these behaviors when they're being observed.
Speaker 1: Like the person who said that the alligator babies were
Speaker 1: playing with the ceramic cap, like whenever she would like
Speaker 1: open the door to the bathroom to try to see
Speaker 1: them doing it, they would stop. But then when she
Speaker 1: would close the door, she kept hearing this like rattling
Speaker 1: sound and scuttling around, and she'd open the door and
Speaker 1: the cap is somewhere else and the alligators all freeze
Speaker 1: and like look at her. So like, yeah, that's like
Speaker 1: one of the examples of why it might be so
Speaker 1: hard to observe them doing all this is that, uh,
Speaker 1: it is it's difficult. They're like maybe change their behavior
Speaker 1: when we're watching them. Also, like sometimes it might be
Speaker 1: unclear whether it's playing. Like sometimes it seems like alligators
Speaker 1: and crocodiles like to play underneath like water dripping, like
Speaker 1: water dripping from a you know, a faucet or probably
Speaker 1: in nature, like some kind of little waterfall, but like
Speaker 1: they'll snap at the water and like move their head
Speaker 1: under it, and it might just look like, ah, they're dumb,
Speaker 1: they think the water is food, But they actually intentionally
Speaker 1: seek out these this water dripping and we'll put their
Speaker 1: head under it and snap at it, and then once
Speaker 1: it's turned off, they'll like lose interest and leave. So
Speaker 1: like it seems like they actually that might just be
Speaker 1: you know, like how your cat sometimes will stick its
Speaker 1: head under a faucet and play around with the water,
Speaker 1: or dogs play with water coming out of a hose,
Speaker 1: like you know, it's just a class like animals like
Speaker 1: to play around with water.
Speaker 2: Animals like to play. Yeah, because every time at least
Speaker 2: I've seen them in the water in the wild, they're
Speaker 2: very still.
Speaker 1: They like to bask a lot.
Speaker 2: Yeah, they are like easily mistaken for logs just like
Speaker 2: or debris floating around in the water. It's kind of
Speaker 2: hard to unless like you have a guide being like
Speaker 2: that's it, or you're very close to it from a distance,
Speaker 2: You're just like that's a floating log.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and that helps them catch prey, right, because they
Speaker 1: can be very good ambush predators. Yeah, they'll stay very
Speaker 1: very still. Yeah. Until so it makes sense, which is
Speaker 1: why when people, when researchers see this behavior of an
Speaker 1: alligator or crocodile moving around more than it needs to,
Speaker 1: it's like, well, they don't have a lot of energy
Speaker 1: to like spare, so they probably would only do that
Speaker 1: if there's a reason in terms of like having fun
Speaker 1: and enjoying it, right, Like, Otherwise it doesn't seem like
Speaker 1: they would want to do this.
Speaker 2: And the reason is fun.
Speaker 1: The reason could be fun, It could be some other reason, right, Like,
Speaker 1: we don't we can't mind read these crocodiles, but it
Speaker 1: does seem to follow a pattern of like this, this
Speaker 1: movement doesn't seem to gain them anything materially. It doesn't
Speaker 1: seem to benefit them in any other way. Uh, And
Speaker 1: therefore the only option is like having fun, pool them around.
Speaker 2: I just like it.
Speaker 1: I like it just enjoying themselves. Well, we're gonna take
Speaker 1: a quick breaker. They really do they deserve some some
Speaker 1: self care time just playing around with pink flowers, so cute.
Speaker 1: So when we get back, we're gonna see if we
Speaker 1: can answer the question if crocodiles can love. All right,
Speaker 1: so we are back and Bridget, what do you think?
Speaker 1: Do you think crocodiles can love? Are they capable of such.
Speaker 2: A I mean, well, you know, the questions a bit leading,
Speaker 2: but I believe in their capacity to love. I believe
Speaker 2: in all things capacity to love.
Speaker 1: Like you know, that's beautiful. What about bacteria, Bridget.
Speaker 2: Huh no, kill it all?
Speaker 1: Ah, fair enough? So uh, crocodiles, Well, look, I actually
Speaker 1: don't know. I'm gonna say maybe so, because like again,
Speaker 1: we cannot mind read a crocodile. We don't know what
Speaker 1: emotions they're feeling. We can look at their behavior and
Speaker 1: kind of guess, right, Like I look at my dog.
Speaker 1: It looks at me soulfully. It likes to get in
Speaker 1: my lap, It likes cuddles, And I think I think
Speaker 1: my dog loves me. Maybe she only sees me as
Speaker 1: like a magical food couch that like provides food in
Speaker 1: a comfortable, warm place to sit. It's hard to know,
Speaker 1: but I think she does love me, and I think
Speaker 1: she does care about me crocodiles, it is. It's again
Speaker 1: it's hard to say. Can they feel love? I mean,
Speaker 1: our feelings of love did come from instincts, right like
Speaker 1: instincts to procreate, instincts to care for offspring, instincts to survive.
Speaker 1: So at some point, right like, these instinctive things become emotions,
Speaker 1: And I just don't think we know exactly when that
Speaker 1: happens for which animals it happens. But I would say,
Speaker 1: given their capacity to play, I bet they do feel
Speaker 1: some emotion in terms of love. And here's some examples
Speaker 1: of how they care about each other. So maybe the
Speaker 1: famous thing is like how good they are at being parents.
Speaker 1: Usually it's the females that do most of the parenting.
Speaker 1: There are some species, like the garials, that seem to
Speaker 1: be very attentive fathers. But yeah, so crocodile mothers are
Speaker 1: very attentive. They listen to the calls of their offspring.
Speaker 1: They famously will carry their offspring gin jery in their
Speaker 1: mouths and take them from the nesting site to the
Speaker 1: water like a little taxi service to keep them safe.
Speaker 1: And they are able to keep them in their mouths
Speaker 1: and they never seem to be tempted to chomp down
Speaker 1: on them. They'll even like very gingerly crack open their
Speaker 1: eggs like when they are hatching and help them hatch.
Speaker 1: So they have this incredible ability to really modulate the
Speaker 1: strength of their jaws to help them help those little
Speaker 1: babies out of their out of their eggs.
Speaker 2: That's so sweet. Yeah, I'd be very afraid that they
Speaker 2: would like Lenny enough mice and men them their babies.
Speaker 1: Yeah, but no, they're they have more self control than
Speaker 1: Lenny from Mice of Men. From Mice of Men the
Speaker 1: book Mice of Men of Mice and Men of the
Speaker 1: Ice Men of the Mousemen. It's a book about mutant
Speaker 1: mousemen who take over the world and Lenny must stop
Speaker 1: them back with his strong hands. Lenny alone can stop
Speaker 1: these mistakes. It's the only one I read the spark notes,
Speaker 1: so I don't know.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it was a long time ago. I can't remember.
Speaker 2: That's very sweet. Are they like as they grow up?
Speaker 2: Are they communal?
Speaker 1: Like?
Speaker 2: Do they do they hang out?
Speaker 1: Siblings? They usually disperse once they get older, they will
Speaker 1: go out and disperse, But for a while, the babies
Speaker 1: hang out together. They seem to play together, and like
Speaker 1: you know, they'll do sort of fun sibling times until
Speaker 1: they get a bit bigger, and then they are they
Speaker 1: go out and disperse. Sometimes they are gently encouraged to
Speaker 1: disperse by their mother so that they do find their
Speaker 1: own areas and stuff. But yeah, I mean like crocodiles
Speaker 1: do can like as we see them sort of just
Speaker 1: basking together and stuff. They'll do that with their siblings,
Speaker 1: but they'll also do it with just other members of
Speaker 1: their species, and they don't.
Speaker 2: Necessarily the neighborhood.
Speaker 1: Yeah, exactly, Like they can get along pretty well. It
Speaker 1: depends on the species in terms of how territorial they are,
Speaker 1: but yeah, a lot of them can have this communal
Speaker 1: living and like a lot of them grow up in
Speaker 1: sort of this crash which is this meant nesting site
Speaker 1: that is shared by different different families. So sometimes crocodile
Speaker 1: mothers will actually be more attentive to the sounds of
Speaker 1: smaller offspring, which is really sweet, right, Like, so they
Speaker 1: listen for the like you know, the baby alligator cries
Speaker 1: or baby crocodile cries. It's going very cute. They sound
Speaker 1: different when they're smaller and younger, and crocodile crocodilian mothers
Speaker 1: will pay more attention to the younger ones, to the
Speaker 1: smaller ones, because those are the more vulnerable ones versus
Speaker 1: the older, bigger, more capable offspring. So that to me
Speaker 1: that there's something sweet about that right like where it is, Yeah,
Speaker 1: it is making sure the littlest ones are getting the
Speaker 1: lover share that they need.
Speaker 2: That's very safe. I I also like the idea of
Speaker 2: like just a bunch of baby because they are so
Speaker 2: they are very cute when they're little. They had these like.
Speaker 1: Little shit eating grins they are.
Speaker 2: And they they just they're like little skinny long lizards
Speaker 2: with these yeah little like slight eyes in these little
Speaker 2: smiles and uh yeah, having them all play together. I
Speaker 2: like that.
Speaker 1: If I, if I had no moral compass and I
Speaker 1: was a mad scientist, I would like breed a tiny
Speaker 1: alligator that always was small as like pett yeah, and
Speaker 1: keep it as like a baby. Highly unethical, very much
Speaker 1: morally against that. But when I think about it, like
Speaker 1: what would I like to do, I'd like to cuddle
Speaker 1: a baby alligator forever. So if I had if I
Speaker 1: just went, if I lost my moral like if bridget
Speaker 1: if I'm ever like well, I am trying to breed
Speaker 1: the perfect tiny alligator minigators. Stop me. I've lost my way.
Speaker 2: You have become a mad scientist, which has always been
Speaker 2: a possibility for you.
Speaker 1: It's you know, that's what I've This is what I've
Speaker 1: been told. A lot is like, well, you know, like
Speaker 1: in my high school, they're like most likely to become
Speaker 1: mad scientists who breeds tiny alligators.
Speaker 2: A lesion of tiny gators.
Speaker 1: And I can't say they're wrong, but please stop me.
Speaker 1: You have to stop me by any means necessary.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that is your supervillain origin story. And it would
Speaker 2: take a Florida woman to stop you.
Speaker 1: That's right. I don't as long as I don't like
Speaker 1: see a play about alligators and then go out into
Speaker 1: the alleyway and then some mugger like hurts my family.
Speaker 1: Right that, I think it'll be okay. I think we're good.
Speaker 1: Well what about what about romance? Bridget romance?
Speaker 2: Oh, I mean they got to they they have to.
Speaker 1: I mean they do have to will love and we
Speaker 1: do know already, well, them bubbles, they do blow them
Speaker 1: bubbles in mating, which is pretty already very romantic. Oh well, interestingly,
Speaker 1: alligators can be surprisingly monogamous. A decades long study of
Speaker 1: alligators at a Louisiana Wildlife Refuge found that seven out
Speaker 1: of the ten females that they studied opted to mate
Speaker 1: with the same males over many years, indicating some amount
Speaker 1: of monogamy. U. Some of the pairs lasted from like
Speaker 1: nineteen ninety seven to two thousand and five.
Speaker 2: That's a good run.
Speaker 1: That's okay, that's like eight years. That's a good relationship.
Speaker 2: That's a good that's a good And I hate to
Speaker 2: I hate to stereotype like this, but the females choose
Speaker 2: to mate with the same man male over and over again.
Speaker 1: Do the males reciprocate that level of monogamy? You know?
Speaker 1: I mean I think are they running around? I think
Speaker 1: that they are. It's hard to know exactly, but it
Speaker 1: did seem like there might be more less monogamy on
Speaker 1: the part of the males, but still like, uh, they
Speaker 1: were Like Basically, what they did was they looked at
Speaker 1: the eggs the broods of these females and found that
Speaker 1: there was a lot of consistency in terms of the
Speaker 1: males that they would select to mate with. So I
Speaker 1: don't it's one of those studies I don't think is
Speaker 1: so comprehensive that we can't we can't rule out males
Speaker 1: also being pretty monogamous, but they just didn't really have
Speaker 1: that in its scope. But ye, but true love can endure. Yes,
Speaker 1: you know what, like maybe the there's there's some some
Speaker 1: of these male crocodiles that are not they do delete
Speaker 1: their hinge profiles.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think the alligator dating app would still be
Speaker 2: called hinge right because of the jaws, because of because of.
Speaker 1: The jobs, right, because of the jaws.
Speaker 2: Because of the jaws.
Speaker 1: Right. You know, these jaws only open one way, baby,
Speaker 1: that's for you, and that's for you. These jaws only
Speaker 1: open for you, baby. I think I think we've I
Speaker 1: think we now know how to get into the alligator
Speaker 1: or crocodile dating scene, which is always a good thing
Speaker 1: to know.
Speaker 2: Yeah, do you want to know?
Speaker 1: Yes, we do. We do want to know. We need
Speaker 1: to know, Bridget before we go. We do. Got to
Speaker 1: play a little game game I like to call the
Speaker 1: Mystery Animal sound game. I Guess who's squawking? Every week
Speaker 1: I play a Mystery Animals and you're the listener, and
Speaker 1: you the guest kind of guess who is making that sound? Uh?
Speaker 1: We I wrapped up sort of the older Mystery Animal
Speaker 1: sounds last week. So we just got one brand fresh
Speaker 1: new that's not how you say it, brand fresh brand
Speaker 1: new brand news brand spank and a spank and new
Speaker 1: sash brand fresh the freshness brand. So uh, full disclosure, Uh,
Speaker 1: these sounds were put shifted down. Uh so there is
Speaker 1: some sound editing going on, but that's part of the mysteries.
Speaker 1: So the uh, the hint is this. Uh, these sound
Speaker 1: like certain movie star animals and they are in fact
Speaker 1: in the clade you're probably thinking of, but maybe not
Speaker 1: quite how you are imagining them. All right, so here
Speaker 1: is the sound.
Speaker 2: M h.
Speaker 1: M hmm, yeah, m so this was This audio was
Speaker 1: edited by Dane Pavott on on Twitter. Dane Pavott is
Speaker 1: a paleontological science communicator. Uh So, cool stuff there, Bridget,
Speaker 1: What do you think? What do you think you think
Speaker 1: this sounds? Those are so many sounds. I want to
Speaker 1: say it's some sort of lion hmmm, this sort of
Speaker 1: lie that could be.
Speaker 2: Uh yeah, I'm between between elephant and lion, which is strange.
Speaker 2: I'm gonna I'm gonna double down online.
Speaker 1: All right, Bridget thinks lyon or maybe elephant or maybe
Speaker 1: something in between. Well we will find out on next
Speaker 1: time's podcast. Man, I'm not doing well with the English
Speaker 1: right now. Next next podcast is when we will find
Speaker 1: out the answer to this one. A cliffhanger. Everyone's in suspense.
Speaker 1: If you think you know who is making this sound,
Speaker 1: you can write to me at Creature feature pot at
Speaker 1: gmail dot com. You can also write to me your
Speaker 1: questions and I try to answer them. H Bridgie, thank
Speaker 1: you so much for joining us today. Where can the
Speaker 1: people find you?
Speaker 2: Uh yeah, I'm still on that site formerly known as
Speaker 2: Twitter at bridget Tweets. I'm also on Instagram bridget underscore Greenberg.
Speaker 1: You can also check out a really fun short.
Speaker 2: Film that just got released on YouTube that I produced
Speaker 2: I was at Sundance called Pathological. It's on the onmleto
Speaker 2: movie channel, which shows a bunch of great short films.
Speaker 2: So check that out.
Speaker 1: Very fun, incredible, Do check that out. Bridget's a great,
Speaker 1: a great movie maker. She just gotta make a movie
Speaker 1: about how crocodiles are sweet babies.
Speaker 2: Yep, that's that's on the list.
Speaker 1: Yeah, called Crocodiles in Love, a Story of scaly sweetness.
Speaker 1: I already gave you, I already gave you the title.
Speaker 1: The movie makes itself.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it writes itself, all right.
Speaker 1: Thank you guys so much for listening. If you're enjoying
Speaker 1: the show and you leave a rating and review, I
Speaker 1: truly do appreciate it. I read every single one of
Speaker 1: the reviews in the ratings tangibly help me in the podcast.
Speaker 1: And and thanks to the Space Classics for their super
Speaker 1: awesome song xcel Lumina. Creature features a production of iHeart Radio.
Speaker 1: For more podcasts like the one you just heard, listen
Speaker 1: to the iHeartRadio app app podcast or Hey, guess what
Speaker 1: webby listen to. I don't know, I don't care. I'm
Speaker 1: not your mother, and I can't tell you what to
Speaker 1: do except don't go up to that crocodile. I know
Speaker 1: it's got some flowers. I know it's got some pink
Speaker 1: flowers with.
Speaker 2: Us gonna try to seduce you with bubbles and flowers.
Speaker 1: Listen, you can't. It's these big gestures from these crocodiles,
Speaker 1: and they give you the flowers and the whole thing
Speaker 1: and the chocolates. You gotta watch out. You can't fall
Speaker 1: for You can't fall for it, honey. You gotta look
Speaker 1: for commitment, all right, See you next Wednesday. Thank