226: Mozzy Talk I: Hot Blooded

It’s book report time this week! We’re chatting about the Minnesota state bird and all of its horrible history on the toll it has taken on humanity. EeeeEeeeE

Source Material: The Mosquito: Timothy C. Winegard

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Episode Transcript

[0:00:08 – 0:00:10] Adam: Undeniably, they have a lot to answer for. [0:00:11 – 0:00:22] Adam: Malaria, yellow fever, dengue, encephalitis, and the ominous tiny whine that begins humming around your ear just after you’ve gotten comfortable in the sleeping bag. [0:00:23 – 0:00:32] Adam: All these griefs and others are the handiwork of that perfidious family of biting flies known as the Saludaceae, the mosquitoes. [0:00:33 – 0:00:43] Adam: They assist in the murder of millions of humans each year, carry ghastly illness to millions more, and drive not a few of the rest of us temporarily insane. [0:00:45 – 0:00:47] Adam: They are out for blood. [0:01:22 – 0:01:40] Adam: welcome to tumble home uh border waters podcast my name is adam joining me here in the tumble shed is arrow the husky and my dear friend eric hello we’ve turned off the fridge but you can’t turn off the husky she’s not don’t turn that husky off [0:01:41 – 0:01:49] Adam: And starting the show with a cold open from one of my favorite authors, David Quammen, beautiful science writer. [0:01:49 – 0:01:53] Adam: Maybe that’s the way you can describe his work. [0:01:53 – 0:01:56] Adam: That was from the essay Sympathy for the Devil. [0:01:57 – 0:01:59] Adam: And a lot of great essays out there. [0:01:59 – 0:02:04] Adam: I used to write essays for Outside Magazine back in the day. [0:02:04 – 0:02:06] Adam: And now into bigger works. [0:02:06 – 0:02:14] Adam: If you like this episode, Eric, you’ll want to go check out Spillover, which is a whole big book on zoonosis, which is… [0:02:15 – 0:02:35] Adam: diseases that are hopping from one kind of animal to humans uh via vector species which is what we’re talking about tonight that’s never happened has that ever happened keep happening more and more as the planet warms when’s the last time that’s happened ever it’s gotta it’s must have it’s been hundreds of years since that’s happened though right [0:02:37 – 0:03:00] Adam: at least yeah maybe a thousand yeah i think that essay was in the book boilerplate rhino um always want to you definitely the book i started with that somebody recommended to me back in college was flight of the iguana by david kwame oh yeah it’s a collection of essays again but all sorts of neat nature stuff neat nature stuff really neat it’s pretty neat and uh [0:03:01 – 0:03:01] Adam: That one’s a good one. [0:03:02 – 0:03:11] Adam: Another one I really liked was Monster of God, which is all about apex predators and their situation. [0:03:11 – 0:03:12] Adam: That’s not great. [0:03:14 – 0:03:14] Adam: Their mental health. [0:03:14 – 0:03:23] Adam: The fragmentation of the wilderness is not helpful for apex predators like our good friend Amba the tiger is. [0:03:23 – 0:03:24] Erik: Not good for anybody. [0:03:24 – 0:03:26] Adam: I think Amba’s on the cover of that one. [0:03:26 – 0:03:30] Adam: I wouldn’t be surprised if Dersu Urzala makes an appearance in Monster of God. [0:03:30 – 0:03:32] Adam: It’s been a long time since I read that. [0:03:32 – 0:03:32] Adam: Wow. [0:03:32 – 0:03:33] Erik: That would be something. [0:03:33 – 0:03:34] Adam: Yeah, you know, look at me. [0:03:34 – 0:03:35] Adam: I’m reading a bunch. [0:03:36 – 0:03:36] Adam: Look at you. [0:03:36 – 0:03:45] Adam: The main book we’re going to be working off of tonight, and then we should get into our programming notes, is The Mosquito by Timothy C. Weingard. [0:03:45 – 0:03:52] Adam: A British guy, I believe he’s a professor somewhere in the desert southwest. [0:03:52 – 0:03:54] Adam: I don’t want to blow this guy up or anything. [0:03:55 – 0:03:57] Erik: Yeah, I’m sure we’ll be blowing him up. [0:03:59 – 0:04:10] Adam: I finished it in like under a week, and a week after finishing Dersu finally, and I realized what happened was I deleted the Reddit app from my phone, and now I’m reading books again. [0:04:10 – 0:04:11] Adam: Look at that. [0:04:11 – 0:04:33] Adam: wow you were in solidarity with the third app not really that’s not what drove me off it was yeah just like this one specific ad that kept popping up in my feed i kept trying to block it and like report it as a this thing is violating um my personal space and they just kept showing me the same ad i was like fine matter honestly i just needed one excuse to do this yeah do you remember [0:04:33 – 0:04:37] Adam: It was for some really horrible online casino or something. [0:04:38 – 0:04:41] Adam: But it was the specific face of the guy in the ad that I couldn’t handle. [0:04:42 – 0:04:45] Adam: It was specifically designed to drive me insane or something. [0:04:46 – 0:04:47] Adam: So I was like, I’m done. [0:04:47 – 0:04:49] Adam: I don’t need this ad on my phone. [0:04:49 – 0:04:50] Adam: I don’t need this app. [0:04:50 – 0:05:06] Erik: Well, if anybody out there in the Reddit world has any affiliation with that kind of social advertising on platforms like that, yeah, just let it be known that can lead to a complete drop in using the service. [0:05:06 – 0:05:06] Adam: Don’t worry, though. [0:05:07 – 0:05:16] Adam: I did bookmark the Tumble Home subreddit on Safari on my phone, so I still can participate in the subreddit, and that’s my only interaction right now. [0:05:17 – 0:05:22] Adam: I do miss our Minnesota probably the most, along with our high strangeness. [0:05:22 – 0:05:24] Erik: I don’t go on there nearly as much as I used to. [0:05:24 – 0:05:28] Erik: It’s just all the same. [0:05:28 – 0:05:30] Erik: People stealing each other’s videos. [0:05:31 – 0:05:33] Erik: Nothing really all that interesting. [0:05:33 – 0:05:40] Erik: The comments have devolved into even less interesting to read, which is mainly why I used to go on there, because I thought those were kind of fun. [0:05:41 – 0:05:47] Adam: Now I’m wondering if this book was mentioned first on the subreddit or through another channel. [0:05:47 – 0:05:54] Adam: But either way, I believe this was gifted to the show by a true friend of the show, Scotty Baldwin. [0:05:56 – 0:06:01] Adam: Sent a message, I think, saying that he thought we’d enjoy the book and should read it. [0:06:01 – 0:06:05] Adam: And then a week later, a copy appeared at the co-op. [0:06:05 – 0:06:06] Erik: That’s usually how it goes. [0:06:06 – 0:06:07] Erik: Yeah, I don’t remember. [0:06:07 – 0:06:12] Adam: So then I shelved it, and it’s just been an epically horrible mosquito season here. [0:06:13 – 0:06:15] Adam: And it’s definitely not light summer reading. [0:06:16 – 0:06:16] Adam: No. [0:06:16 – 0:06:17] Adam: It’s definitely not a beach book. [0:06:19 – 0:06:21] Adam: It’s not Izzy or Paige Turner. [0:06:21 – 0:06:26] Adam: And it’s certainly not what I was expecting, like a quite large book about mosquitoes. [0:06:27 – 0:06:31] Adam: But I ended up enjoying it, and I finished it pretty quickly. [0:06:31 – 0:06:33] Adam: So that is tonight’s episode. [0:06:33 – 0:06:39] Adam: We’ll be discussing our horrible enemies on planet Earth, the mosquito. [0:06:39 – 0:06:40] Adam: They are out for blood. [0:06:41 – 0:06:44] Adam: Tonight’s Tumble Home outdoor calendar fact of the night. [0:06:44 – 0:06:45] Adam: Can’t wait. [0:06:45 – 0:06:46] Adam: For July 15th. [0:06:49 – 0:07:12] Erik: 2023 can you believe it it’s mid-july that’s great oh my god i feel like it was just the fourth of july you believe this it’s almost halfway through july like yeah it’s just time baby it’s how it works it goes by it goes fast summer everybody’s got things going on too many things the days they fly by yeah i know it’s crazy it’s wild i don’t really care but it’s yeah it’s just like [0:07:13 – 0:07:16] Erik: I don’t go a day where you don’t hear somebody say that. [0:07:17 – 0:07:18] Adam: It’s already mid-July. [0:07:18 – 0:07:19] Erik: It’s going to be August. [0:07:19 – 0:07:20] Erik: It’s going to be fall. [0:07:20 – 0:07:22] Erik: Yeah, it’s just summer, man. [0:07:22 – 0:07:23] Erik: It’s crazy. [0:07:23 – 0:07:26] Erik: Everybody’s doing things constantly because it’s nice out. [0:07:27 – 0:07:28] Adam: Don’t you have any tuna salad? [0:07:28 – 0:07:29] Adam: Gee whiz. [0:07:30 – 0:07:31] Adam: Gee whiz. [0:07:31 – 0:07:32] Adam: I had a nightmare. [0:07:32 – 0:07:42] Adam: I was being yelled at about not having tuna salad in the deli, but it was like 2033, and I was like, the tuna’s been extinct for years, sir. [0:07:42 – 0:07:43] Adam: Wow. [0:07:43 – 0:07:46] Adam: And they’re still yelling about the lack of tuna salad sandwich. [0:07:46 – 0:07:49] Erik: Well, quick dream share if we’re on that. [0:07:49 – 0:07:50] Erik: I woke up the other morning. [0:07:51 – 0:07:54] Erik: I was sleeping so hard my left ear hurt when I woke up. [0:07:54 – 0:07:54] Erik: That’s good. [0:07:54 – 0:08:01] Erik: I woke up from a dream where I was opening up a box of mac and cheese, but they were spirals. [0:08:02 – 0:08:20] Erik: and then the good ones so there was the bag of like your full-size spirals but then there was a small like you know the little tiny bags of uh like extra hardware you get with like picture frames oh yeah it has like two or three screws in it tiny screws except it was a tiny it was a bag of tinier shells [0:08:21 – 0:08:33] Erik: tiny replacement shells those are for your mosquito friends yeah just in case you need to top off or I don’t know what but that image has just been stuck in my mind I was like yeah [0:08:34 – 0:09:01] Erik: maybe should i yeah i’ve been there are some images that you’ve sent me from this book that has me thinking maybe my my first tattoo might be coming my way and then that morning when i woke up to that dream that image of like a tiny bag of replacement spirals has been in my head i was like but how it would have to be you would have to show the scale so you’d have to have like a show big spirals full size like bowl of spiral mac and cheese but then like a little bag off to the side of mini replacement and [0:09:02 – 0:09:04] Erik: Just in case you lose a shell or two. [0:09:04 – 0:09:07] Erik: Or they were spirals, so that’d be even harder to tattoo. [0:09:07 – 0:09:09] Erik: That sounds like a painful tattoo to get. [0:09:09 – 0:09:10] Erik: This is a spiral noodle. [0:09:10 – 0:09:11] Adam: Yeah, it’s fine detail work there. [0:09:12 – 0:09:12] Adam: Yeah. [0:09:14 – 0:09:17] Adam: Talking about outdoor calendar fact of the night. [0:09:19 – 0:09:22] Adam: Listen for the pumping American bittern, Eric. [0:09:22 – 0:09:23] Adam: Oh, man. [0:09:23 – 0:09:24] Erik: I’m always listening for the pumping. [0:09:24 – 0:09:26] Erik: Boom, boom, boom, boom. [0:09:27 – 0:09:31] Adam: Sunset is at 8.56 p.m. Days are getting shorter. [0:09:31 – 0:09:32] Adam: Gee whiz. [0:09:32 – 0:09:35] Erik: The days are getting shorter here at the Tumble Shed. [0:09:35 – 0:09:36] Erik: It’s getting shorter. [0:09:37 – 0:09:40] Adam: I don’t like that. [0:09:41 – 0:09:43] Adam: Let’s get to our supplies. [0:09:44 – 0:09:44] Adam: It’s a mystery bag. [0:09:44 – 0:09:46] Adam: I’m feeling pretty thirsty. [0:09:46 – 0:09:51] Adam: It is a mystery bag, and we’ve made it back to the top of the whiteboard, Eric. [0:09:51 – 0:09:52] Adam: Mystery bag eight? [0:09:52 – 0:09:53] Adam: Are we on to this year? [0:09:55 – 0:10:17] Erik: no it’s still from october oh okay well then this one though i feel like gets us into 2023 no i don’t know maybe well it does the one below it says winter 23 all right cool that’s your handwriting so this is not we don’t have a name on this one it’s just a mystery bag there might be information in the bag he’s tearing he’s ripping he’s shredding like a raccoon [0:10:19 – 0:10:20] Erik: Oh, my God. [0:10:20 – 0:10:20] Erik: What? [0:10:21 – 0:10:22] Erik: There’s a… What? [0:10:22 – 0:10:23] Adam: Is that fruit? [0:10:23 – 0:10:24] Adam: There’s a lemon. [0:10:24 – 0:10:25] Adam: It’s a 40… [0:10:26 – 0:10:27] Erik: It’s a 40-50… [0:10:27 – 0:10:31] Adam: It’s a 40-53, and I guarantee you 40-53 is a lemon. [0:10:31 – 0:10:32] Erik: I thought that was a kiwi. [0:10:32 – 0:10:33] Adam: It’s so brown. [0:10:33 – 0:10:35] Adam: Ooh, it’s petrified. [0:10:35 – 0:10:36] Adam: Here, you handle that. [0:10:36 – 0:10:37] Erik: Oh, my God. [0:10:37 – 0:10:38] Erik: That’s incredible. [0:10:38 – 0:10:40] Erik: I hope these aren’t supposed to be served with lemon. [0:10:40 – 0:10:42] Adam: Oh, no. [0:10:42 – 0:10:42] Adam: What’s this? [0:10:42 – 0:10:43] Adam: Oh, it’s okay. [0:10:43 – 0:10:43] UNKNOWN: Okay. [0:10:44 – 0:10:45] Erik: We got multiple notes here, Eric. [0:10:46 – 0:10:47] Erik: We’re going to get to. [0:10:47 – 0:10:49] Erik: It doesn’t really smell like anything. [0:10:50 – 0:10:53] Erik: Wow, that is the most desiccated lemon I’ve ever seen. [0:10:53 – 0:10:55] Adam: Is that actually tea? [0:10:55 – 0:11:00] Adam: Yeah, we got a turmeric ginger tea and a note. [0:11:01 – 0:11:04] Adam: This tea will turn your mug and everything in its path yellow. [0:11:04 – 0:11:05] Adam: Worth it, though. [0:11:05 – 0:11:07] Adam: Best with lemon honey. [0:11:07 – 0:11:09] Erik: Okay, so I bet you there’s some honey. [0:11:10 – 0:11:10] Adam: There is. [0:11:11 – 0:11:13] Adam: Well, it’s a good thing honey doesn’t go bad. [0:11:13 – 0:11:13] Adam: It can’t. [0:11:14 – 0:11:15] Adam: Literally can’t. [0:11:15 – 0:11:18] Adam: This is from Hive and Honey, Henderson, Minnesota. [0:11:19 – 0:11:23] Adam: Do not give raw honey to children under one or your intern. [0:11:24 – 0:11:28] Adam: They multiply then, especially if it’s after dark. [0:11:28 – 0:11:29] Erik: It’s a mogwai situation. [0:11:30 – 0:11:32] Adam: Art supplies to celebrate the coldest temps. [0:11:33 – 0:11:35] Adam: Kalen and Josh D. [0:11:36 – 0:11:37] Erik: Oh, hey, I remember those guys. [0:11:37 – 0:11:38] Erik: They’ve donated in the past. [0:11:39 – 0:11:39] Adam: I believe so. [0:11:40 – 0:11:41] Adam: Locals, I think. [0:11:41 – 0:11:42] Erik: Yeah. [0:11:42 – 0:11:43] Adam: I guarantee it. [0:11:43 – 0:11:43] Adam: They’re locals. [0:11:43 – 0:11:47] Adam: Thank you for the… All right, so we got Kalen and Josh to thank for the lemon. [0:11:48 – 0:11:50] Adam: We messed that up, but the honey is still good. [0:11:50 – 0:11:51] Erik: We cutting open this lemon or what? [0:11:51 – 0:11:55] Adam: And now everybody knows it’s about time, too, because I’m finally getting into tea. [0:11:56 – 0:11:58] Erik: Everybody knows I’m a tea horse now. [0:11:58 – 0:11:59] Erik: The lavender hooked you. [0:11:59 – 0:12:03] Erik: Or not the lavender, but the Labrador tea got you hooked. [0:12:03 – 0:12:11] Adam: And we do have a nice-looking six-pack here, ice cold, of Bent Paddle 14-degree Amber Ale. [0:12:12 – 0:12:14] Adam: Amber Ale, just like in Jurassic Park. [0:12:15 – 0:12:17] Adam: They found the mosquito in the amber. [0:12:17 – 0:12:18] Erik: In the amber. [0:12:18 – 0:12:19] Erik: Are those gluten-free? [0:12:19 – 0:12:22] Erik: I don’t know. [0:12:23 – 0:12:26] Erik: No, they literally just malty right on it. [0:12:28 – 0:12:28] Adam: All right. [0:12:31 – 0:12:33] Adam: Seems like the dog’s calmed down over here. [0:12:33 – 0:12:34] Adam: She was chasing something. [0:12:35 – 0:12:38] Erik: Extra special bitter? [0:12:38 – 0:12:40] Erik: Yeah, I think so. [0:12:40 – 0:12:40] Erik: Bitter. [0:12:40 – 0:12:42] Adam: Extra special bitter. [0:12:42 – 0:12:43] Erik: Extra special bitter. [0:12:43 – 0:12:44] Adam: Yeah. [0:12:44 – 0:12:45] Adam: So I was telling Eric. [0:12:48 – 0:13:15] Adam: drew the bittern back to the night and there was you know when we first bought the place there was always this bittern i think this is a little late honestly i feel like i haven’t heard the bittern pumping lately it seems like a yeah like a month too late spring thing yeah it’s usually yeah more june i would say early june even and the first couple years there was a definitely a bittern that would appear i assume they migrate in from the gulf of mexico or something and [0:13:15 – 0:13:33] Adam: set up shop down by the river behind the house and would start pumping and at first we thought it was like a giant toad or something yeah until we like finally did a little research and no it’s a very strange looking bird they’re really creepy and prehistoric looking they are yeah i like them but i don’t like to look at them [0:13:33 – 0:13:34] Adam: Yeah. [0:13:35 – 0:13:35] Adam: Yeah. [0:13:35 – 0:13:37] Adam: And I’d only heard it for a couple of years. [0:13:38 – 0:13:46] Adam: And then one day I come out of the house and it’s just standing there in the driveway and the cat gets out and like runs on the steps and chases it off. [0:13:46 – 0:13:48] Adam: And Dan darn near got it. [0:13:48 – 0:13:49] Adam: Wow. [0:13:49 – 0:13:51] Adam: And then we never heard or saw that better. [0:13:51 – 0:13:56] Adam: And again, and then the next year it comes back, but it was like way off in the woods in a wetland over there. [0:13:57 – 0:14:01] Adam: I was like, it seems like the same one that just got scared off with a cat, you know? [0:14:01 – 0:14:06] Adam: And then a couple of years later, there’s a new one back in the river, but you can tell it’s definitely not the same one. [0:14:06 – 0:14:07] Adam: It has its own dialect. [0:14:08 – 0:14:10] Adam: It doesn’t sound like it quite knows how to pump. [0:14:10 – 0:14:10] Adam: Right. [0:14:10 – 0:14:14] Adam: It’s a young and young, fully know how to pump. [0:14:14 – 0:14:15] Adam: Right. [0:14:15 – 0:14:18] Erik: Yet the youngers, the youngins don’t know how to pump quite right. [0:14:18 – 0:14:18] UNKNOWN: Yeah. [0:14:19 – 0:14:20] Adam: It takes time. [0:14:20 – 0:14:20] Erik: It takes time. [0:14:20 – 0:14:24] Adam: You’ve got a life experience, you know, learning how to pump. [0:14:25 – 0:14:31] Adam: So, yeah, the Bittern ESB 14 degrees extra special Bittern ale. [0:14:31 – 0:14:37] Erik: Clearly this package was meant to be opened and enjoyed in the wintertime, I feel. [0:14:39 – 0:14:42] Adam: Well, the honey and the tea, we can save that for winter. [0:14:42 – 0:14:45] Adam: But this is really good, nice and ice cold. [0:14:46 – 0:14:48] Adam: They’re screwing around with the can on this one. [0:14:48 – 0:14:50] Adam: It’s this classic Bent Paddle. [0:14:51 – 0:14:52] Adam: Nice color palette. [0:14:52 – 0:14:57] Erik: I think you can tell that this is old because I think Bent Paddle has updated this can artwork as well. [0:14:57 – 0:14:58] Adam: Actually, you’re right. [0:14:58 – 0:15:01] Adam: Yeah, this is last year’s artwork. [0:15:01 – 0:15:02] Adam: Vintage can artwork. [0:15:02 – 0:15:04] Adam: Vintage Bent Paddle. [0:15:04 – 0:15:04] Adam: Extra special. [0:15:04 – 0:15:05] Erik: Extra special. [0:15:05 – 0:15:06] Adam: Call us up, Bent Paddle. [0:15:06 – 0:15:07] Adam: Let’s make this happen. [0:15:07 – 0:15:07] Adam: Episode 226. [0:15:07 – 0:15:11] Erik: We’ve been trying for five years, Bent Paddle. [0:15:11 – 0:15:11] Erik: 226 episodes. [0:15:11 – 0:15:12] Erik: You still haven’t called? [0:15:12 – 0:15:13] Erik: Yes. [0:15:13 – 0:15:14] Adam: You haven’t written? [0:15:14 – 0:15:18] Adam: You never visit Bent Paddle, but actually they do visit quite often. [0:15:18 – 0:15:19] Erik: What else do we have to do? [0:15:19 – 0:15:21] Adam: Thanks to our tumble homies they visit. [0:15:21 – 0:15:24] Adam: We talk about you like every five episodes. [0:15:25 – 0:15:30] Erik: Extolling the virtues of local craft beer. [0:15:31 – 0:15:32] Erik: My God. [0:15:33 – 0:15:35] Adam: Did I say it right in the intro? [0:15:35 – 0:15:36] Adam: Culissidae? [0:15:36 – 0:15:38] Adam: I can’t remember how I said it. [0:15:38 – 0:15:41] Adam: I did look it up how to say the Latin for mosquito. [0:15:41 – 0:15:43] Adam: How is it spelled? [0:15:44 – 0:15:50] Adam: C-U-L-I-C-I-D-A-E. Culissidae, I believe, but I don’t think I said it that way in the cold open. [0:15:50 – 0:15:52] Adam: It’s double a C and then another C? [0:15:54 – 0:15:56] Adam: Yeah, it’s all C’s. [0:15:56 – 0:15:58] Erik: Man, see, the English language is so effed up. [0:15:58 – 0:16:00] Adam: I don’t think that’s C, that’s Latin. [0:16:00 – 0:16:05] Erik: Well, but the pronunciation of stuff like that, where you’re just like… That doesn’t make any sense. [0:16:06 – 0:16:07] Adam: If I have to look it up, this is a problem. [0:16:07 – 0:16:08] Erik: Is it a hard C? [0:16:08 – 0:16:09] Erik: Is it a soft? [0:16:09 – 0:16:10] Erik: Is it an S C? [0:16:11 – 0:16:14] Adam: I guarantee it won’t be the last word I’ll probably butcher on this episode. [0:16:14 – 0:16:15] Adam: No. [0:16:15 – 0:16:16] Adam: It doesn’t matter. [0:16:16 – 0:16:16] Adam: I guarantee not. [0:16:16 – 0:16:18] Adam: Everybody knows what we meant. [0:16:19 – 0:16:20] Erik: No, I think it sounded right. [0:16:20 – 0:16:21] Erik: Just say it with confidence. [0:16:21 – 0:16:22] Erik: That’s all that matters. [0:16:22 – 0:16:22] Erik: There you go. [0:16:22 – 0:16:23] Adam: With gusto. [0:16:24 – 0:16:25] Adam: And verve. [0:16:27 – 0:16:28] Adam: And the verve. [0:16:28 – 0:16:31] Adam: Yeah, we were playing a little disc golf. [0:16:31 – 0:16:34] Adam: We got a nice round in before the episode tonight. [0:16:34 – 0:16:41] Erik: Yeah, and that audio that you heard that was playing in the background at the beginning of the cold open, that was taken live just minutes ago. [0:16:41 – 0:16:48] Adam: Yeah, we uploaded it to Spotify because there isn’t hardly any good mosquito sound effects available. [0:16:48 – 0:16:51] Erik: Just mosquito repellent tracks? [0:16:51 – 0:16:52] Adam: Acoustic repellent tracks. [0:16:52 – 0:16:55] Erik: Would you make it sound like it’s probably worse than experiencing mosquitoes? [0:16:55 – 0:16:56] Erik: It is. [0:16:56 – 0:16:57] Adam: They all were, yeah. [0:16:57 – 0:16:57] Adam: I tried a couple. [0:16:57 – 0:16:59] Adam: Just high-pitched whistling noises? [0:16:59 – 0:17:00] Adam: There was one I just turned on. [0:17:00 – 0:17:01] Adam: It was literally nothing. [0:17:01 – 0:17:02] Adam: I was like, well, I’m… [0:17:03 – 0:17:07] Adam: Even the dog, it was like the dog was running in circles, pawing at the door. [0:17:08 – 0:17:09] Adam: This is nothing, actually. [0:17:09 – 0:17:12] Erik: Just a snake oil track where it’s like, yeah, this is working. [0:17:12 – 0:17:13] Adam: This is doing something. [0:17:14 – 0:17:15] Adam: Yeah, that doesn’t work at all. [0:17:15 – 0:17:15] Erik: Absolute silence. [0:17:16 – 0:17:17] Adam: There’s only been a few things… [0:17:19 – 0:17:39] Adam: throughout time that have actually proven to like deter mosquitoes but they’ve been around way longer than uh human beings and uh they’ve been a pest the whole time and do we really need them is there anything well yeah that’s the argument that we might have a discussion on is maybe one of the more pointless species besides like the feeding of like others but it’s not [0:17:40 – 0:17:41] Erik: it’s not absolutely necessary. [0:17:42 – 0:17:43] Erik: There are other things that animals could feed on. [0:17:44 – 0:17:44] Adam: Yeah. [0:17:44 – 0:17:51] Erik: Um, but you know, is there any kind of a proven, sorry, Andrew, would something, is there any kind of a proven noise that does deter the mosquito? [0:17:51 – 0:17:53] Erik: A noise? [0:17:53 – 0:17:53] Erik: Yeah. [0:17:54 – 0:17:54] Erik: I don’t think so. [0:17:54 – 0:17:55] Erik: That you read about? [0:17:55 – 0:17:56] Adam: It wasn’t in this book at least. [0:17:56 – 0:17:58] Adam: And honestly, this book was not what I was expecting. [0:17:58 – 0:18:03] Adam: Uh, honestly, like I said earlier, it’s no David Quammen book on mosquito. [0:18:04 – 0:18:04] Adam: Um, [0:18:04 – 0:18:06] Adam: but it ended up being interesting in its own way. [0:18:06 – 0:18:18] Adam: It’s more like, honestly, a book about, um, like recent military history of the human race, um, immigration patterns of humans and mostly malaria. [0:18:18 – 0:18:18] Erik: Yeah. [0:18:18 – 0:18:28] Adam: So that’s the hidden story here tonight is it’s mostly a story about malaria, a little bit about yellow fever, and then just a smidge of mosquito in there. [0:18:28 – 0:18:31] Adam: But either way, it’s an interesting story. [0:18:31 – 0:18:32] Adam: And, uh, [0:18:32 – 0:18:54] Adam: yeah for something that like is a bigger part of our lives as the mosquito is every summer and on most of our trips into the boundary waters and that’s our angle you know it’s something everybody that’s listened to this has experienced out in the park this the onslaught of murderous mosquitoes out for blood um you know [0:18:56 – 0:19:18] Adam: is there a purpose you know uh there’s no malaria real threat up here because of the winters obviously so yeah more ends up being a question in the end of like well they’ve done a lot of harm you know if there’s a way we can get rid of them can’t should we get rid of them yeah well bill gates is working on that isn’t he he is yeah would you get rid of the mosquitoes right now if you could [0:19:18 – 0:19:19] Erik: Yeah, who would say no? [0:19:20 – 0:19:21] Erik: What would be the downfall? [0:19:21 – 0:19:24] Adam: I’ve read the whole book, and I’m like, why haven’t we gotten rid of them yet? [0:19:25 – 0:19:25] Erik: Yeah, there’s no reason. [0:19:25 – 0:19:28] Adam: We’re spoiling the ending, but not really. [0:19:28 – 0:19:30] Adam: I don’t know if there’s really an argument. [0:19:31 – 0:19:35] Adam: There is an argument to keep them around because, okay, you get rid of the mosquitoes. [0:19:35 – 0:19:42] Adam: For one, it’s only a couple of the mosquitoes out of the thousands on planet Earth that actually carry the diseases that are problematic. [0:19:43 – 0:19:48] Adam: So let’s say we got rid of just those, the ones that carry malaria specifically. [0:19:48 – 0:19:56] Adam: Well, then I would think it’s probably likely just another kind of mosquito would just pick up the baton and go with it. [0:19:56 – 0:20:01] Adam: So then you’re talking about you’ve got to get rid of all the mosquitoes probably over time. [0:20:01 – 0:20:11] Adam: I just feel like even though they don’t seem to serve any real good purpose, there are exceptions to that statement. [0:20:11 – 0:20:12] Adam: But for the most part, they’re junk. [0:20:12 – 0:20:14] Adam: They don’t do anything good. [0:20:14 – 0:20:16] Adam: They just cause pain and suffering. [0:20:16 – 0:20:39] Adam: yeah but yeah if you got rid of them like that’s a huge chunk of the food web and it’s a delicate balance you know everything is a delicate balance and paddling and in life and probably it would there’s something out there that we hadn’t thought of i don’t care let’s do it we’re already but i still say let’s get them yeah let’s get them out of here so that’s the later in the story is like what could be done but there are solutions [0:20:40 – 0:20:45] Adam: And there are some vaccines available, but there’s no perfect solution so far to this problem. [0:20:45 – 0:20:46] Adam: It’s still a problem. [0:20:46 – 0:20:49] Adam: We were out disc golfing and they’re still middle of July. [0:20:49 – 0:20:51] Adam: It hasn’t really been raining all that much. [0:20:51 – 0:20:56] Adam: And there’s still just a ton of these mosquitoes and black flies were back today for some reason. [0:20:56 – 0:20:57] Adam: It’s just nonstop out there. [0:20:57 – 0:20:58] Adam: So you get used to it. [0:20:58 – 0:21:00] Erik: You never know what you’re going to get. [0:21:00 – 0:21:01] Erik: It’s always a trifecta of something. [0:21:01 – 0:21:03] Erik: There was some deer flies mixed in. [0:21:04 – 0:21:18] Erik: The no-see-ums have been a mild non-factor so far, but every week it’s just like another, like, add another, like, level of, like, biblical plague-esque. [0:21:18 – 0:21:19] Erik: Like, what’s next? [0:21:19 – 0:21:20] Erik: Locusts? [0:21:20 – 0:21:21] Erik: Are we getting locusts next? [0:21:22 – 0:21:22] Erik: Yeah. [0:21:22 – 0:21:24] Erik: Because the moths, like, you wouldn’t think the moths are crazy. [0:21:25 – 0:21:27] Erik: But the moths have just been insane. [0:21:27 – 0:21:30] Erik: Like, these tiny little, like, pinky nail-sized moths are just everywhere. [0:21:30 – 0:21:30] Erik: Yeah. [0:21:30 – 0:21:47] Erik: yeah that’s them budworms god it’s just nasty every week it’s like oh these things are out now and they’re gonna be horrible like yeah like but whatever they are like give me a break yeah which is that’s what winter’s for and ticks ticks also up there with the mosquitoes in terms of like pointless animals [0:21:48 – 0:21:50] Adam: Yeah. [0:21:51 – 0:21:52] Adam: I don’t know. [0:21:52 – 0:21:57] Adam: That’s a philosophical discussion, I guess, but they really don’t seem to serve a purpose. [0:21:58 – 0:21:59] Erik: Yeah. [0:21:59 – 0:22:08] Adam: There are a few mosquitoes that maybe pollinate a rare Arctic orchid or something, but for the most part, I’d say 99% of them get on and out of here. [0:22:08 – 0:22:09] Adam: Go on and get. [0:22:09 – 0:22:10] Erik: Some rare Werner Herzog mosquitoes. [0:22:15 – 0:22:34] Erik: island in the middle of the like illusion ocean where it’s like without the mosquito the arctic orchid would die like yeah we don’t need fine pretty good sorry pretty good herzog was it yeah it was i don’t know i think it was i don’t know i don’t think it was very good at all [0:22:35 – 0:22:35] Adam: I loved it. [0:22:36 – 0:22:39] Erik: Well, next week, it’s going to be all Werner Herzog. [0:22:39 – 0:22:44] Adam: There’s a couple of Werner Herzogs up on the whiteboard for Tumulam Cinema Classics. [0:22:44 – 0:22:45] Adam: Oh, yeah. [0:22:45 – 0:22:48] Erik: We should just get that out of the way before we get into the book here. [0:22:48 – 0:22:49] Adam: Yeah, well, we got a new one. [0:22:49 – 0:22:53] Adam: I just Googled movies with mosquito. [0:22:53 – 0:22:53] Adam: Yeah. [0:22:54 – 0:22:56] Adam: I also had to Google today, what is molasses? [0:22:58 – 0:22:59] Adam: Which we’re not going to get into that. [0:23:00 – 0:23:00] Adam: What do you mean? [0:23:00 – 0:23:01] Adam: I don’t know. [0:23:01 – 0:23:02] Adam: I just wanted to see what it would say. [0:23:02 – 0:23:03] Adam: What is molasses? [0:23:04 – 0:23:04] Adam: And? [0:23:05 – 0:23:10] Adam: It’s just like rendered sugar cane and beet sugars. [0:23:10 – 0:23:11] Erik: Yeah, it was my treat. [0:23:11 – 0:23:13] Erik: Grandma always used to just dip a… [0:23:13 – 0:23:14] Erik: It was like a special spoon. [0:23:14 – 0:23:21] Erik: It was smaller than like… Obviously, it was way smaller than a tablespoon, but it was like even like lightly smaller than… [0:23:22 – 0:23:24] Erik: It was like those spoons that you used to like… Yeah. [0:23:25 – 0:23:27] Erik: That had like the… Teensy spoons. [0:23:27 – 0:23:31] Erik: It was like dipped in rubber and you would like feed babies with it back in the day. [0:23:31 – 0:23:33] Erik: It was that size and it was just like… [0:23:34 – 0:23:37] Adam: They still feed babies with those in modern times. [0:23:37 – 0:23:39] Erik: Yeah, just suck on the molasses spoon. [0:23:39 – 0:23:41] Adam: Yeah, you can do that. [0:23:41 – 0:23:42] Adam: You can’t do it with honey. [0:23:42 – 0:23:43] Erik: No. [0:23:43 – 0:23:46] Adam: But molasses you can give to a baby or an intern. [0:23:46 – 0:23:46] Erik: Mm-hmm. [0:23:47 – 0:23:47] Adam: Yeah. [0:23:47 – 0:23:49] Erik: Not Trevor, though. [0:23:49 – 0:23:49] Erik: Sorry, buddy. [0:23:49 – 0:24:15] Adam: get out of here just sit stay maybe some of this old honey that’s been sitting in a bag for a year but we’ll talk about that later so yeah anyways 1994 the it’s just mosquito not the mosquito like the book yeah we’re reading tonight mosquito 1994 and it has a really great artwork on the poster it’s like a huge mosquito of course it’s going to be a second down into a tent yeah [0:24:15 – 0:24:33] Adam: uh like a illuminated from the inside tent you know with like a lady in there and it’s like this huge mosquito and it sounds like the ufo crashes and a state park and the mosquitoes eat the aliens but then they mutate into these monsters and start going after campers [0:24:34 – 0:24:35] Adam: Like, how have we never heard of this? [0:24:35 – 0:24:39] Adam: This sounds right in the wheelhouse for Tumble Home Cinema Classics. [0:24:39 – 0:24:40] Adam: I took a screen grab. [0:24:40 – 0:24:42] Adam: I sent it to Eric while we were both at work today. [0:24:42 – 0:24:44] Adam: And I was like, this is my next selection. [0:24:44 – 0:24:45] Adam: Yeah, that sounds like it’s got to be. [0:24:45 – 0:24:46] Erik: Yeah, we’re doing that. [0:24:47 – 0:24:52] Erik: I don’t know, like, the perfect year for a bad movie to come out. [0:24:52 – 0:24:57] Erik: Like, I don’t know if it is 1994, but it’s pushing up against the ceiling. [0:24:57 – 0:24:59] Erik: Because once you start getting into CGI. [0:25:00 – 0:25:01] Adam: Jurassic Park came out in 94, though. [0:25:01 – 0:25:02] Erik: Right. [0:25:02 – 0:25:04] Adam: But the answers are very realistic. [0:25:04 – 0:25:12] Erik: But bad movies, once they get into the CGI era, it’s so easy for them just to lean on that cheap, horrible CGI. [0:25:13 – 0:25:16] Erik: I want to see that practical mosquito effect. [0:25:16 – 0:25:20] Adam: I think the top review I saw was like, this is so bad, it’s good. [0:25:20 – 0:25:21] Adam: Which is perfect. [0:25:21 – 0:25:22] Adam: Yeah. [0:25:22 – 0:25:23] Adam: So that’s our next one. [0:25:23 – 0:25:24] Adam: Skeeto. [0:25:24 – 0:25:24] Erik: Skeeto. [0:25:24 – 0:25:26] Adam: It had a couple of different names. [0:25:26 – 0:25:36] Adam: One of the fun facts about it that I read was that the special effects coordinator or whatever the special effects person is called in film. [0:25:37 – 0:25:41] Adam: They literally said, I’m going to have a cigarette and walked off and never came back. [0:25:42 – 0:25:43] Erik: Oh, wow. [0:25:43 – 0:25:44] Adam: Jeez. [0:25:44 – 0:25:47] Adam: So it’s being made with this backup special effects coordinator. [0:25:47 – 0:25:47] Adam: Wow. [0:25:47 – 0:25:48] Adam: Yeah, I can’t wait. [0:25:49 – 0:25:49] Adam: There’s aliens. [0:25:49 – 0:25:50] Adam: There’s mosquitoes. [0:25:50 – 0:25:52] Adam: There’s campers and lots of blood. [0:25:52 – 0:25:54] Adam: And it’s rated R. I cannot wait. [0:25:54 – 0:25:59] Erik: I’m so glad it’s rated R. Like so many absentee dads, he just walked off. [0:25:59 – 0:25:59] Adam: He went off. [0:26:00 – 0:26:00] Adam: I’m going. [0:26:00 – 0:26:02] Adam: I’m going to go buy a pack of cigs. [0:26:02 – 0:26:03] Erik: I’ll be right back. [0:26:04 – 0:26:05] Erik: I can’t. [0:26:05 – 0:26:06] Adam: I just can’t do it anymore. [0:26:06 – 0:26:09] Adam: Like cue the Ben Affleck smoking a cigarette outside meme. [0:26:09 – 0:26:09] Adam: Yeah. [0:26:10 – 0:26:10] Adam: Yeah. [0:26:11 – 0:26:13] Adam: I can’t believe I signed on for this. [0:26:13 – 0:26:14] Erik: That’s great. [0:26:14 – 0:26:14] Erik: Oh, I can’t wait. [0:26:15 – 0:26:16] Adam: So that’s exciting. [0:26:17 – 0:26:19] Adam: There are, I think happy people is still up there. [0:26:19 – 0:26:20] Adam: Brother Andrew’s listening. [0:26:21 – 0:26:23] Adam: It’s probably one of the first ones on the whiteboard. [0:26:23 – 0:26:24] Adam: That’s a Herzog for you, but. [0:26:25 – 0:26:29] Adam: Anyways, we’ll start with that one, but Castaway’s out there. [0:26:30 – 0:26:36] Adam: I posted a picture of Bill Paxton on the Instagram from Simple Plan and got like four likes. [0:26:36 – 0:26:40] Adam: Didn’t nobody appear to get it or understand what was happening. [0:26:40 – 0:26:42] Erik: It was a little too deep in the metaverse, I think. [0:26:42 – 0:26:42] Adam: Too deep? [0:26:42 – 0:26:44] Adam: A little too late, probably. [0:26:44 – 0:26:44] Adam: Yeah. [0:26:45 – 0:26:54] Adam: I wanted to make sure I got a shout out to a friend of the show on Reddit, Isla Pines, when I was down in the cities. [0:26:55 – 0:26:58] Adam: This was in the notes last week in the unicycle talk. [0:26:58 – 0:27:06] Adam: I got too excited about unicycles and forgot to get back to this, but I want to ask you about that too, but we got to get this in here. [0:27:07 – 0:27:08] Adam: Shout out to Isla Pines. [0:27:09 – 0:27:12] Adam: Adrian and I were playing Highland in the middle of the conference. [0:27:12 – 0:27:14] Adam: We had to sneak out and get around in at Highland. [0:27:14 – 0:27:19] Adam: If anybody’s played it, it’s a pretty nice free public course in St. Paul. [0:27:20 – 0:27:30] Adam: And we’re playing, and this guy, we’re playing too, and we kind of got caught behind these old guys, so we were going a little slow, and this single solo player caught up to us, made a really nice putt. [0:27:30 – 0:27:31] Adam: I was like, nice putt. [0:27:32 – 0:27:34] Adam: And he goes, are you… [0:27:35 – 0:27:37] Adam: Are you from, Adam from Tumble Home? [0:27:38 – 0:27:39] Adam: I was like, yeah. [0:27:40 – 0:27:42] Adam: So we ended up playing the rest of the round together. [0:27:42 – 0:27:43] Adam: Super nice guy. [0:27:43 – 0:27:47] Adam: And we were talking, he turns out he’s a children’s book author and like an art teacher. [0:27:47 – 0:27:48] Adam: That’s amazing. [0:27:48 – 0:27:55] Adam: And he’s got a book coming out like in the fall called Frasier the Forest Ranger, which sounds great. [0:27:55 – 0:27:57] Erik: Yeah, I like the way that that rhymes. [0:27:57 – 0:28:04] Adam: And then I was telling him how I was reading The Pike and the book I like to read the most right now is The Wolf, The Duck, and The Mouse. [0:28:05 – 0:28:09] Adam: And he also knew, based on Tumulon, that we love Over the Garden Wall. [0:28:10 – 0:28:12] Adam: So he made a recommendation of… [0:28:12 – 0:28:26] Adam: poco and the drum and so i ordered a copy and got it delivered to drury lane and grammar a yeah and picked up it’s great and then uh got to the end of it and it’s like the guy uh you can look it up [0:28:28 – 0:28:29] Adam: I will butcher the name. [0:28:29 – 0:28:30] Adam: So you just look it up if you want to. [0:28:30 – 0:28:32] Adam: It’s Poco and the Drum, spelled the usual way. [0:28:33 – 0:28:44] Adam: And at the end, the guy who wrote it is involved in the artistic process of Adventure Time, which there is an Adventure Time to Over the Garden Wall connection to all of this. [0:28:45 – 0:28:48] Adam: So thank you for the recommendation anyways. [0:28:48 – 0:28:48] Adam: Wow. [0:28:49 – 0:28:51] Adam: Really enjoyed it and a great child’s book. [0:28:51 – 0:28:56] Adam: So anyways, just one of those neat things out in the middle of nowhere in St. Paul. [0:28:57 – 0:28:57] Erik: Yeah, that’s weird. [0:28:57 – 0:29:00] Erik: Usually around town, you know, it’s not that shocking. [0:29:00 – 0:29:05] Erik: You get a bunch of people coming in for their supplies before the Boundary Waters entry point and heading up to the bunkhouse. [0:29:06 – 0:29:10] Erik: So, you know, the demographic that we’re playing to, they’re kind of in the area. [0:29:10 – 0:29:14] Erik: So, yeah, it’s not surprising to run into people in Grand Marais. [0:29:14 – 0:29:16] Erik: Like, it kind of happens every once in a while, but like… [0:29:16 – 0:29:18] Erik: In St. Paul, Minnesota? [0:29:18 – 0:29:18] Erik: Yeah. [0:29:18 – 0:29:19] Erik: Like, that’s crazy. [0:29:19 – 0:29:21] Adam: Just a random morning, like, rounded disc golf. [0:29:21 – 0:29:21] Adam: Yeah. [0:29:22 – 0:29:24] Adam: Yeah. [0:29:24 – 0:29:25] Adam: Anyways, just one of those magic moments. [0:29:26 – 0:29:29] Adam: Tomahomey love, you know? [0:29:29 – 0:29:29] Adam: Yeah. [0:29:29 – 0:29:30] Adam: It’s neat to run into you. [0:29:33 – 0:29:37] Adam: Do you have any more, other than Mudro, obviously, in October? [0:29:37 – 0:29:41] Adam: Do you have any other trips for the Boundary Waters that you’re, like, thinking of right now? [0:29:41 – 0:29:42] Adam: Boundary Waters trips? [0:29:42 – 0:29:42] Adam: No. [0:29:42 – 0:29:43] Adam: Or just camping in general? [0:29:44 – 0:29:45] Erik: No, nothing that I’m planning. [0:29:46 – 0:29:49] Adam: Yeah, I did agree to do the Namakagan River. [0:29:49 – 0:29:50] Adam: I was asking you about that this week. [0:29:51 – 0:29:52] Adam: It’s kind of like over Labor Day, though. [0:29:53 – 0:29:53] Adam: It’s tough. [0:29:53 – 0:29:54] Erik: Yeah, it’s a tough one for me. [0:29:54 – 0:29:56] Adam: But, yeah, I want to go. [0:29:56 – 0:30:00] Adam: It sounds like an amazing time, but… And Natalie and I are doing Cushwee Lake. [0:30:01 – 0:30:02] Adam: Yeah, that’s coming up, isn’t it? [0:30:03 – 0:30:04] Adam: Not even, yeah, a couple weeks. [0:30:05 – 0:30:06] Adam: So that’s going to be… [0:30:07 – 0:30:28] Adam: here before we know it and then yeah mudro in the fall hopefully mudro early uh early october i think is what we determined would be the best one to hit that up so no bugs for that one i’m not terribly worried about bugs that coish we like in a couple weeks they seem to have dropped off a little but it’s still some nights you get out there on sunset it’s like gee whiz [0:30:29 – 0:30:30] Erik: Yeah, no, it’d probably be pretty manageable. [0:30:30 – 0:30:31] Erik: It’s also a mindset thing. [0:30:31 – 0:30:39] Erik: I feel like even when we were out on crab, it’s just like when you’re camping, they don’t bother me nearly as much as when I’m like my day to day life. [0:30:39 – 0:30:41] Erik: I’m like, no, I’m not. [0:30:41 – 0:30:44] Erik: I don’t want this in my life right now. [0:30:44 – 0:30:47] Erik: But when I’m camping, it’s like, all right, I’m in your territory. [0:30:47 – 0:30:48] Erik: I get it. [0:30:48 – 0:30:49] Erik: The woods, the water. [0:30:49 – 0:30:50] Erik: I’m in a swamp. [0:30:50 – 0:30:51] Erik: I’m on a portage. [0:30:51 – 0:30:52] Erik: I don’t know. [0:30:52 – 0:30:58] Erik: They don’t bother me nearly as much when I’m in the Boundary Waters as they do when I’m just living. [0:30:58 – 0:31:01] Erik: I’m like, I’m just trying to exist in the world. [0:31:01 – 0:31:03] Erik: Why are you in my house? [0:31:03 – 0:31:09] Erik: I can’t kill that one because clearly he’s filled with blood, so I can’t smash him on my wall. [0:31:09 – 0:31:10] Erik: But when I’m camping, I’m just like, smash. [0:31:12 – 0:31:13] Erik: Oh, wow. [0:31:13 – 0:31:14] Erik: Already getting corrected here. [0:31:14 – 0:31:15] Erik: Look at this guy. [0:31:15 – 0:31:16] Erik: The big brains. [0:31:16 – 0:31:18] Adam: The male mosquitoes never bite. [0:31:18 – 0:31:21] Adam: And it’s only the female mosquito that’s looking for blood. [0:31:21 – 0:31:22] Erik: Totally makes sense. [0:31:22 – 0:31:23] Adam: Yeah. [0:31:23 – 0:31:24] Adam: They need it to grow the eggs. [0:31:24 – 0:31:25] Erik: Yeah. [0:31:25 – 0:31:27] Erik: Well, that’s even a better reason to kill the ones that have blood in them. [0:31:28 – 0:31:28] Adam: Yeah. [0:31:29 – 0:31:31] Adam: Drywall and paint be damned. [0:31:31 – 0:31:31] Adam: Yeah. [0:31:32 – 0:31:36] Adam: I think every house in Cook County for sure is smeared with blood all over the place by now. [0:31:36 – 0:31:37] Adam: This is a light murder scene at all times. [0:31:37 – 0:31:38] Erik: What happened? [0:31:38 – 0:31:40] Erik: Why did you have to smear it like that, hon? [0:31:40 – 0:31:40] Adam: Jesus. [0:31:41 – 0:31:42] Adam: Because they deserved it. [0:31:42 – 0:31:51] Erik: Yeah, I want to make sure that there is nothing left over afterwards besides just a little wad of like, I don’t even know what you call like mosquito like flesh. [0:31:51 – 0:31:53] Erik: It’s just like, it’s like, it’s like a dust ball. [0:31:53 – 0:31:54] Erik: Debris. [0:31:54 – 0:31:55] Erik: Just wet debris. [0:31:55 – 0:31:56] Adam: Mosquito debris. [0:31:57 – 0:31:57] Adam: Ugh. [0:31:57 – 0:31:57] Adam: Yeah. [0:31:58 – 0:32:05] Adam: I am going back to the Namakagan around Labor Day, which is going to be a good float and probably catch a couple different kinds of red horse, obviously. [0:32:05 – 0:32:05] Erik: Of course. [0:32:05 – 0:32:08] Adam: But the last time I did that trip, it’s been way too long. [0:32:08 – 0:32:10] Adam: And I was telling Natalie, I’m like, I got to go this year. [0:32:10 – 0:32:11] Adam: They’re going to stop inviting me. [0:32:12 – 0:32:14] Adam: Like the old Wisconsin boys are just going to stop inviting. [0:32:14 – 0:32:15] Adam: Cut off. [0:32:15 – 0:32:17] Adam: You’re not ever coming. [0:32:17 – 0:32:19] Adam: We’ll just cut you out of the email loop. [0:32:19 – 0:32:20] Adam: They sell furious here now. [0:32:20 – 0:32:21] Adam: We don’t need you. [0:32:21 – 0:32:23] Adam: We don’t need you to come down and bring the furious anymore. [0:32:23 – 0:32:24] Adam: Actually, we have plenty. [0:32:24 – 0:32:24] Erik: Yeah. [0:32:24 – 0:32:26] Erik: And it’s not as good as it used to be either. [0:32:26 – 0:32:27] Erik: So whatever. [0:32:28 – 0:32:36] Adam: So, you know, some of these boys were on the episode, the tub years and rule classic back in the day, ice fishing is very close to the Namakagan river. [0:32:38 – 0:32:45] Adam: And like, I was texting them, you know, the warden and chin whisker Charles about like, I’m, I’m coming this year. [0:32:45 – 0:32:48] Adam: Like what camps are you going to be on, on so-and-so night or whatever. [0:32:48 – 0:32:52] Adam: And then I was thinking back, and the last time I actually went was one of those years we had a horrible flood. [0:32:53 – 0:32:54] Adam: Yeah, I remember that. [0:32:54 – 0:32:58] Adam: And then we almost got crushed under a bridge and just pulled off at the next landing. [0:32:59 – 0:33:03] Adam: And we had to hide in a very nice outhouse, I got to say. [0:33:03 – 0:33:06] Adam: It was up there with the outhouse on Boathouse Lake. [0:33:06 – 0:33:29] Adam: the big big big size like an engineered outhouse we were hiding in the outhouse because the bugs are so bad like waiting for our like toe pickup to come get us and i was texting chin whisker about that and he like within 12 seconds sent me a picture from of me and him in that outhouse oh wow still on the reading yeah i was like wow must be in you must have a special folder of yeah those kinds of pictures yeah [0:33:30 – 0:33:59] Adam: outhouse picks so yeah that was one of those that was one of the trips for you it was the flood that chased us but also the bugs were horrible because of the flood yeah because of the floods so that was always one of those a memorable trip in the wrong kind of way so i’m hoping to get back and redeem myself and the river and uh and the red horse redeem the river um well i’m ready to get into the book here are you feeling okay to get into some some reading yes just after this [0:34:03 – 0:34:05] Adam: We are at war with the mosquito. [0:34:06 – 0:34:18] Adam: A swarming and consuming army of 110 trillion enemy mosquitoes patrols every inch of the globe, save Antarctica, Iceland, and a handful of French Polynesian micro-islands. [0:34:19 – 0:34:36] Adam: The biting female warriors of this droning insect population are armed with at least 15 lethal and debilitating biological weapons against our 7.7 billion humans deploying suspect and often self-detrimental defensive capabilities. [0:34:37 – 0:34:48] Adam: In fact, our defense budget for personal shields, sprays, and other deterrents to stymie her unrelenting raids has a rapidly rising annual revenue of $11 billion per year. [0:34:51 – 0:34:58] Adam: And yet, her deadly offensive campaigns and crimes against humanity continue with reckless abandon. [0:34:59 – 0:35:08] Adam: While our counterattacks are reducing the number of annual casualties she perpetuates, the mosquito remains the deadliest hunter of human beings on the planet. [0:35:09 – 0:35:11] Adam: Last year, she slaughtered only 830,000 people. [0:35:16 – 0:35:16] Adam: That’s it. [0:35:16 – 0:35:19] Adam: Not even a million people last year. [0:35:19 – 0:35:19] Erik: Under a million? [0:35:19 – 0:35:21] Erik: Why are we even talking about these things? [0:35:21 – 0:35:24] Adam: That’s nothing. [0:35:24 – 0:35:24] Adam: 110 trillion of them? [0:35:25 – 0:35:27] Adam: Well, it’s like that thing with the ants. [0:35:27 – 0:35:29] Adam: The ants are figured out. [0:35:29 – 0:35:29] Adam: We’re doomed. [0:35:30 – 0:35:30] Erik: Yeah. [0:35:30 – 0:35:32] Adam: See how much one of those things can lift? [0:35:32 – 0:35:36] Erik: Yeah, they’ll be around long after we’re gone, that’s for sure. [0:35:36 – 0:35:38] Erik: Both the ants and the mosquitoes, I’m sure. [0:35:39 – 0:35:39] Erik: Yeah. [0:35:40 – 0:35:47] Adam: Just a reminder here, anytime we’re reading passages, it’s from The Mosquito, Timothy C. Weingard. [0:35:47 – 0:35:51] Adam: According to NPR, this thing is hugely impressive. [0:35:51 – 0:35:53] Adam: Hugely. [0:35:53 – 0:35:55] Adam: That’s one way to say it. [0:35:56 – 0:35:59] Adam: Our apex predator in perpetuity is the mosquito. [0:35:59 – 0:36:05] Adam: Since 2000, the annual average number of human deaths caused by the mosquito has hovered around 2 million each year. [0:36:06 – 0:36:09] Adam: We come in a distant second at 475,000 deaths per year. [0:36:09 – 0:36:11] Adam: As in like humans killing humans? [0:36:11 – 0:36:12] Adam: I guess, yeah. [0:36:12 – 0:36:14] Adam: And then what’s third? [0:36:14 – 0:36:14] Adam: Snakes. [0:36:24 – 0:36:26] Erik: $50,000 a year to the snakes. [0:36:26 – 0:36:28] Erik: Wow, that’s such a drop-off. [0:36:28 – 0:36:29] Adam: I know. [0:36:30 – 0:36:33] Adam: I mean, so seriously, $2 million for the mosquitoes. [0:36:34 – 0:36:39] Adam: We are in there in the middle with just homicide and war crimes. [0:36:39 – 0:36:43] Erik: And then snakes, third place, $50,000 a year. [0:36:44 – 0:36:45] Erik: That’s still a lot. [0:36:45 – 0:36:47] Adam: Yeah, I love that you had the third one. [0:36:47 – 0:36:48] Adam: I got a bunch. [0:36:48 – 0:36:49] Adam: What do you think is next? [0:36:50 – 0:36:50] Adam: Four? [0:36:51 – 0:36:51] Adam: Yeah. [0:36:51 – 0:36:52] Adam: Got any other guesses? [0:36:53 – 0:36:54] Adam: They’re in here somewhere. [0:36:55 – 0:36:59] Adam: Third, fourth place, dog and sand flies, 25,000 each. [0:36:59 – 0:36:59] Adam: What? [0:36:59 – 0:37:03] Erik: Dog flies and sand flies or dogs and sand flies? [0:37:04 – 0:37:04] Erik: Dog. [0:37:05 – 0:37:08] Erik: I’m assuming that means dog flies and sand flies. [0:37:08 – 0:37:10] Erik: They must be like a transferring of bad blood. [0:37:10 – 0:37:11] Erik: Also a vector, yeah. [0:37:12 – 0:37:14] Adam: The tsetse fly. [0:37:14 – 0:37:15] Adam: That’s a tricky one. [0:37:15 – 0:37:18] Erik: The tsetse fly. [0:37:18 – 0:37:25] Erik: I always remember the tsetse fly from Jumanji that got real big and poked its proboscis through the windshield at Robin Williams. [0:37:25 – 0:37:28] Adam: Tsetse is $10,000 a year, tied also with the kissing bug. [0:37:29 – 0:37:29] Adam: Oh, no. [0:37:30 – 0:37:33] Erik: I do not want to even know what the kissing bug is all about. [0:37:33 – 0:37:34] Adam: Don’t Google kissing bug, Eric. [0:37:35 – 0:37:36] Adam: Just don’t. [0:37:36 – 0:37:37] Erik: Does it crawl in somewhere? [0:37:39 – 0:37:43] Adam: It’s like, did you ever watch episode five of the new season of Twin Peaks? [0:37:44 – 0:37:47] Erik: I don’t even know what episode that is, but maybe. [0:37:47 – 0:37:52] Adam: It’s the one that’s like the, it’s basically the whole episode, just a Nine Inch Nails music video. [0:37:53 – 0:37:55] Adam: That’s sort of it. [0:37:55 – 0:38:00] Adam: Next up on the list, crocodiles. [0:38:00 – 0:38:05] Adam: What place on the top 100 of human deaths per year do you think crocodiles are coming in at? [0:38:05 – 0:38:08] Erik: Well, you said next up on the list, so I would assume like six. [0:38:08 – 0:38:10] Adam: It’s not, though. [0:38:10 – 0:38:12] Adam: I don’t have the whole top 10. [0:38:12 – 0:38:13] Adam: I have crocodiles, though. [0:38:14 – 0:38:14] Adam: They’re coming up next. [0:38:14 – 0:38:16] Adam: This is in the second page of the book. [0:38:16 – 0:38:18] Adam: He’s just giving a top 10 rundown. [0:38:18 – 0:38:20] Adam: And trust me, it’s one of the better parts of the book. [0:38:21 – 0:38:22] Adam: We’re going to milk it a little bit. [0:38:22 – 0:38:24] Erik: Yeah, and then you just page to the halfway point. [0:38:24 – 0:38:27] Adam: Yeah, literally my next set of notes is on page 140. [0:38:28 – 0:38:28] Erik: Crocodiles? [0:38:28 – 0:38:31] Adam: I don’t know. [0:38:31 – 0:38:32] Adam: A few thousand. [0:38:33 – 0:38:33] Adam: Top 10. [0:38:33 – 0:38:33] Adam: 3,000? [0:38:33 – 0:38:35] Adam: 1,000 a year for the crocodiles. [0:38:35 – 0:38:36] Adam: Number 10. [0:38:37 – 0:38:39] Adam: I’ll just give you a couple more fun ones here that are listed. [0:38:40 – 0:38:40] Adam: I’m shocked. [0:38:40 – 0:38:41] Adam: Hippos. [0:38:41 – 0:38:41] Adam: Oh, yeah. [0:38:41 – 0:38:43] Adam: I was going to think hippos. [0:38:43 – 0:38:44] Adam: 500 a year. [0:38:45 – 0:38:45] Adam: Nice. [0:38:45 – 0:38:50] Erik: That’s still really low, but I was shocked that snakes are killing 50,000 people. [0:38:50 – 0:38:51] Adam: I got nothing on spiders, actually. [0:38:51 – 0:38:55] Adam: I thought I had some spider facts for you there, but it’s not a spider episode. [0:38:55 – 0:38:56] Erik: What about drop bears? [0:38:56 – 0:38:57] Erik: Where are they at? [0:38:58 – 0:38:58] Erik: No drop bears? [0:38:59 – 0:38:59] Adam: None. [0:38:59 – 0:39:00] Adam: None. [0:39:02 – 0:39:04] Adam: I got elephants and lions. [0:39:04 – 0:39:07] Adam: Who do you think kills more, elephants or lions? [0:39:07 – 0:39:08] Adam: Elephants. [0:39:08 – 0:39:10] Adam: Actually, it’s a trick question. [0:39:10 – 0:39:10] Adam: It’s 100 each. [0:39:12 – 0:39:12] Erik: That’s crazy. [0:39:12 – 0:39:15] Adam: 100 elephant deaths and 100 lion deaths a year. [0:39:16 – 0:39:24] Adam: And the much-slandered shark and wolf share the number 15 position, killing an average of 10 people per year. [0:39:24 – 0:39:25] Adam: Yeah, get out of here. [0:39:26 – 0:39:27] Adam: Get out of here with that. [0:39:27 – 0:39:28] Adam: Anybody scared? [0:39:28 – 0:39:30] Adam: Notice bears weren’t listed. [0:39:30 – 0:39:34] Adam: Anybody scared of bears and wolves while camping in the Boundary Waters? [0:39:34 – 0:39:35] Adam: You don’t have to worry about that. [0:39:35 – 0:39:36] Erik: Don’t let the bears get you. [0:39:36 – 0:39:45] Adam: There’s no snakes in the Boundary Waters that are up there, and the mosquitoes up here don’t carry malaria or yellow fever, so you’re pretty safe. [0:39:45 – 0:39:47] Adam: There are a lot of humans in the Boundary Waters, though. [0:39:47 – 0:39:48] Adam: Watch out for them at number two. [0:39:48 – 0:39:49] Erik: Oh, yeah. [0:39:49 – 0:39:51] Erik: We’ve got a bunch of Barney Lackners out there especially. [0:39:51 – 0:40:01] Erik: I’m sure the gum-mouthed garter snake isn’t really doing much to anybody besides milking them with that stink milk, but you’ll be fine. [0:40:01 – 0:40:02] Erik: You can wash that off. [0:40:06 – 0:40:11] Adam: The mosquito has killed more people than any other cause of death in human history, obviously. [0:40:12 – 0:40:21] Adam: Statistical extrapolation situates mosquito-inflicted deaths approaching half of all the humans that have ever lived. [0:40:21 – 0:40:23] Adam: I think I dropped this last week. [0:40:23 – 0:40:24] Erik: Last week, you said it was more… [0:40:25 – 0:40:30] Adam: Half of all the humans that have ever lived on this planet have been killed by the mosquito. [0:40:30 – 0:40:31] Erik: That’s an insane fact. [0:40:31 – 0:40:36] Erik: I think last week you said that the mosquitoes have killed more people than have ever lived. [0:40:37 – 0:40:38] Adam: Well, that doesn’t make any sense. [0:40:38 – 0:40:39] Adam: I don’t think that’s what I said. [0:40:39 – 0:40:41] Erik: Well, no, it could be possible. [0:40:43 – 0:40:45] Adam: Well, I’m still alive. [0:40:45 – 0:40:47] Adam: No, it wouldn’t be possible. [0:40:47 – 0:40:50] Erik: Well, more people that are alive now. [0:40:51 – 0:40:51] Adam: Right. [0:40:51 – 0:40:53] Adam: Which is maybe true. [0:40:53 – 0:40:54] Adam: It might be. [0:40:55 – 0:41:05] Adam: In plain numbers, the mosquito has dispatched an estimated 52 billion people from a total of 108 billion throughout a relatively brief 200,000-year existence. [0:41:05 – 0:41:06] Erik: Jeez. [0:41:06 – 0:41:08] Adam: So, yeah, they’ve only killed 52 billion humans. [0:41:09 – 0:41:10] Erik: Yeah, I mean… [0:41:10 – 0:41:10] Adam: Ever. [0:41:11 – 0:41:14] Adam: Yes, the mosquito does not directly harm anyone. [0:41:15 – 0:41:21] Adam: It is the toxic and highly evolved diseases she transmits that cause an endless barrage of desolation and death. [0:41:21 – 0:41:27] Adam: Without her, however, these sinister pathogens could not be transferred or vectored to humans. [0:41:27 – 0:41:30] Adam: nor continue their cyclical contagion. [0:41:30 – 0:41:34] Adam: In fact, without her, these diseases would not exist at all, Eric. [0:41:35 – 0:41:38] Adam: You cannot have one without the other. [0:41:39 – 0:41:44] Adam: I don’t know why I sang that, but it seemed appropriate and it was not. [0:41:44 – 0:41:46] Erik: That was a horrible decision. [0:41:46 – 0:41:48] Erik: I feel like it was mildly appropriate. [0:41:49 – 0:41:49] Erik: All right. [0:41:49 – 0:41:53] Erik: So, I mean, I’m sure there’s going to be a lot of this that you get into, but like, [0:41:55 – 0:41:56] Erik: So like leeches, right? [0:41:57 – 0:41:57] Erik: Yeah. [0:41:57 – 0:41:58] Erik: They don’t transfer anything. [0:41:59 – 0:42:00] Erik: They just suck, right? [0:42:00 – 0:42:01] Adam: Yeah, I don’t know. [0:42:02 – 0:42:07] Adam: I mean, basically the mosquito is just extracting blood from you, but… [0:42:07 – 0:42:08] Erik: It does a little thing where it’s like… [0:42:08 – 0:42:10] Adam: It does a thing, and that’s the next passage. [0:42:10 – 0:42:16] Adam: It explains what the saliva transfer is that allows malaria to slip into your liver. [0:42:16 – 0:42:19] Erik: You gotta pop a little in there before you start sucking. [0:42:20 – 0:42:23] Adam: Yeah, I thought about starting the show with this passage, just on the bite. [0:42:24 – 0:42:25] Adam: It’s exquisite. [0:42:28 – 0:42:36] Adam: It has been one of the most universally recognizable and aggravating sounds on earth for 190 million years, the humming buzz of a mosquito. [0:42:37 – 0:42:48] Adam: After a long day of hiking while camping with your family or friends, you quickly shower, settle into your lawn chair, crack an ice-cold beer, and exhale a deep, contented sigh. [0:42:49 – 0:42:59] Adam: Before you can enjoy your first satisfying swig, however, you hear that all too familiar sound signaling the ambitious approach of your soon-to-be tormentors. [0:42:59 – 0:43:03] Adam: It is nearing dusk, her favorite feeding time. [0:43:04 – 0:43:12] Adam: Although you heard her droning arrival, she gently lands on your ankle without detection, as she usually bites close to the ground. [0:43:12 – 0:43:14] Adam: It’s always a female, by the way, Eric. [0:43:15 – 0:43:21] Adam: She conducts a tender, probing, ten-second reconnaissance, looking for a prime blood vessel. [0:43:22 – 0:43:27] Adam: With her backside in the air, she steadies her crosshairs and zeroes in with six sophisticated needles. [0:43:28 – 0:43:35] Adam: She inserts two serrated mandible cutting blades, much like an electric carving knife with two blades shifting back and forth. [0:43:36 – 0:43:36] Adam: Yes. [0:43:37 – 0:43:39] Adam: And saws into your skin. [0:43:39 – 0:43:50] Adam: While two other retractors open a passage for the proboscis, a hypodermic syringe that emerges from its protective sheath. [0:43:51 – 0:44:01] Adam: With this straw, she starts to suck 3 to 5 milligrams of your blood, immediately excreting its water while condensing its 20% protein content. [0:44:01 – 0:44:02] Adam: Did you get that? [0:44:02 – 0:44:09] Adam: As it’s sucking the blood out of you, it’s like removing the water from the blood to only hang on to the hemoglobin proteins. [0:44:09 – 0:44:09] Adam: Sure. [0:44:09 – 0:44:10] Adam: Amazing. [0:44:11 – 0:44:18] Adam: All the while, a sixth needle is pumping in saliva that contains an anticoagulant, preventing your blood from clotting at the puncture site. [0:44:20 – 0:44:27] Adam: This shortens the feeding time, lessening the likelihood that you feel her penetration and splat her across your ankle. [0:44:28 – 0:44:33] Adam: The anticoagulant causes an allergic reaction, leaving an itchy bump as her parting gift. [0:44:34 – 0:44:39] Adam: The mosquito bite is an intricate and innovative feeding ritual required for reproduction. [0:44:40 – 0:44:43] Adam: She needs your blood to grow and mature her eggs. [0:44:45 – 0:44:46] Adam: Yeah, there is no God. [0:44:50 – 0:44:54] Erik: There can’t possibly be if a creature like that exists. [0:44:54 – 0:44:56] Erik: That doesn’t just snap out of nowhere. [0:44:56 – 0:44:57] Adam: That’s a demon. [0:44:58 – 0:45:09] Erik: Yeah, that’s pure and perfect evolution of an animal to harvest what it needs. [0:45:09 – 0:45:10] Erik: That’s all it is, straight and forward. [0:45:11 – 0:45:14] Erik: Cut and dry, that thing is a product of evolution. [0:45:15 – 0:45:16] Erik: It’s got seven needles. [0:45:16 – 0:45:19] Erik: I thought it was just one little tube that just like… [0:45:19 – 0:45:20] Adam: popped in. [0:45:20 – 0:45:21] Adam: Well, that’s what it looks like. [0:45:21 – 0:45:22] Erik: You can see the tube. [0:45:22 – 0:45:31] Adam: Yeah, but in that tube there’s saw blades, there’s a tube inside the saw blades, and then there’s another one that’s jamming your frequencies so you can’t even feel it. [0:45:31 – 0:45:34] Erik: This thing is more highly refined than anything man has made to this point. [0:45:35 – 0:45:38] Adam: And then I like the, I didn’t, that all is super interesting. [0:45:38 – 0:45:41] Adam: And like, I would love to see a closeup video in HD of that. [0:45:41 – 0:45:41] Adam: Yeah. [0:45:42 – 0:45:48] Adam: There probably exists, but the fact that it’s like somehow like siphoning the water out of your blood as it’s drinking it. [0:45:48 – 0:45:48] Adam: Yeah. [0:45:48 – 0:45:50] Adam: Cause I mean, you know, they’re tiny. [0:45:50 – 0:45:52] Adam: They take on, there’s a passage in here. [0:45:52 – 0:46:01] Adam: It says like, oh, it’s one of them things where it’s like, it’s, it’s flying around with 20% of its total weight or whatever, 200% of its total weight is just the blood meal. [0:46:01 – 0:46:04] Adam: And then the rest of it’s, it’s like tiny little wings and body. [0:46:04 – 0:46:04] Erik: Yeah. [0:46:05 – 0:46:06] Adam: So it makes sense to get rid of the water. [0:46:06 – 0:46:07] Adam: It’s useless. [0:46:07 – 0:46:09] Adam: It’s just looking for the pure protein of blood. [0:46:09 – 0:46:11] Adam: Yeah, that’s highly efficient. [0:46:11 – 0:46:11] Adam: It is. [0:46:12 – 0:46:13] Adam: It’s crazy efficient. [0:46:13 – 0:46:17] Adam: Apparently they can smell carbon dioxide from 200 feet away. [0:46:17 – 0:46:19] Erik: And that’s what attracts them? [0:46:19 – 0:46:20] Adam: That’s one of the theories. [0:46:20 – 0:46:24] Adam: I don’t really know exactly how they find you. [0:46:24 – 0:46:29] Adam: It could be the body temperature. [0:46:29 – 0:46:31] Adam: It could be the carbon dioxide you’re emitting. [0:46:33 – 0:46:37] Adam: They apparently can just smell, for sure, like household. [0:46:37 – 0:46:40] Adam: I’ve been told, don’t shower and wash your hair before a camping trip. [0:46:40 – 0:46:41] Adam: They can smell the soap. [0:46:41 – 0:46:41] Erik: Oh, yeah. [0:46:41 – 0:46:42] Adam: That was in there. [0:46:42 – 0:46:44] Adam: They apparently have a pretty refined nose. [0:46:45 – 0:46:49] Erik: I’ve mentioned it multiple times in the past at Clearwater. [0:46:49 – 0:46:57] Erik: How many people would get up and do a full-blown showering routine before going into the Boundary Waters? [0:46:57 – 0:47:00] Erik: I can smell you from here. [0:47:01 – 0:47:02] Erik: I can smell you smell good. [0:47:03 – 0:47:07] Adam: They also, yeah, and then the mosquitoes can smell that too. [0:47:07 – 0:47:08] Adam: They also have excellent eyesight. [0:47:08 – 0:47:13] Adam: Apparently in tests they’ve been proven to like go towards bright colored objects more. [0:47:13 – 0:47:14] Erik: They do have big eyes. [0:47:14 – 0:47:15] Adam: Yeah. [0:47:15 – 0:47:21] Adam: So if you’re wearing like a neon shirt on a portage, you are more likely to get followed apparently and possibly bit. [0:47:23 – 0:47:25] Adam: Finally, do you know what your blood type is? [0:47:26 – 0:47:26] Erik: I don’t. [0:47:27 – 0:47:27] Adam: I don’t either. [0:47:28 – 0:47:29] Adam: It’s not O though. [0:47:29 – 0:47:32] Adam: And apparently they love O type blood. [0:47:32 – 0:47:33] Erik: Is that the universal one? [0:47:33 – 0:47:33] Adam: It is. [0:47:33 – 0:47:35] Adam: The universal donor. [0:47:35 – 0:47:36] Adam: Isn’t that elegant? [0:47:37 – 0:47:38] Erik: I like that it’s a circle. [0:47:38 – 0:47:39] Erik: Yeah. [0:47:39 – 0:47:41] Adam: That makes sense. [0:47:41 – 0:47:45] Adam: So yeah, apparently in tests they’ve been proving that they’ll go after old blood if they can get it. [0:47:46 – 0:47:46] Adam: Wow. [0:47:47 – 0:47:48] Adam: Yeah. [0:47:48 – 0:47:56] Adam: I think, I don’t know what chapter this is in or why it’s the Italians, but apparently in Italy they would bring a pig to sleep inside with them. [0:47:57 – 0:48:01] Adam: Because pigs have a higher internal core temperature. [0:48:01 – 0:48:02] Adam: So that they would go for the pig instead? [0:48:02 – 0:48:06] Adam: They’re thinking they’d go for the hot pig over the cold human touch. [0:48:06 – 0:48:06] Adam: Oh, wow. [0:48:07 – 0:48:08] Adam: So there’s another theory. [0:48:08 – 0:48:11] Adam: Bring somebody that’s hotter than you with you while camping. [0:48:11 – 0:48:12] Erik: Or just bring a pig. [0:48:12 – 0:48:13] Adam: Bring somebody with old blood. [0:48:13 – 0:48:14] Erik: Can you bring a pig into the Boundary Waters? [0:48:15 – 0:48:17] Erik: I doubt it, but why not? [0:48:17 – 0:48:19] Erik: If you have a pet, like dogs are allowed. [0:48:20 – 0:48:20] Erik: Might as well. [0:48:21 – 0:48:24] Adam: Can you run a dog sled team of pigs? [0:48:24 – 0:48:25] Adam: Hot dogs. [0:48:27 – 0:48:28] Adam: I think that’s called a pronto. [0:48:28 – 0:48:28] Erik: Yeah. [0:48:29 – 0:48:29] Adam: Yeah. [0:48:29 – 0:48:30] Erik: A live pronto. [0:48:33 – 0:48:37] Adam: But ultimately, they really don’t know how they find you. [0:48:37 – 0:48:41] Adam: But yeah, you’re kicking around in some thick brush. [0:48:41 – 0:48:43] Adam: You’re naturally kicking them up. [0:48:43 – 0:48:46] Adam: And yeah, they’re just very attuned to their surroundings. [0:48:46 – 0:48:49] Adam: So anything moving with warm blood. [0:48:49 – 0:48:49] Adam: They are cold-blooded. [0:48:49 – 0:48:51] Adam: I don’t know if I knew that. [0:48:52 – 0:48:53] Adam: I just assumed they were. [0:48:53 – 0:48:56] Adam: But they are cold-blooded, but they must drink warm blood. [0:48:57 – 0:48:58] Adam: Or even better yet, hot blood. [0:48:59 – 0:49:00] Adam: That’s disgusting. [0:49:00 – 0:49:00] Adam: Hot blooded. [0:49:01 – 0:49:02] Erik: Check it and see. [0:49:02 – 0:49:04] Erik: Check it and see, Eric. [0:49:04 – 0:49:05] Erik: Is that the ending? [0:49:05 – 0:49:07] Erik: Are we going to get a foreigner chip tune for the outro? [0:49:07 – 0:49:08] Erik: I hope so. [0:49:08 – 0:49:10] Adam: I don’t have a way to take notes. [0:49:10 – 0:49:15] Adam: I’m reading off notes, so you’re going to have to, you shouldn’t write that down. [0:49:15 – 0:49:16] Erik: Hot-blooded. [0:49:18 – 0:49:24] Adam: Mosquitoes can evolve and adapt quickly to changing environments within just a few generations. [0:49:24 – 0:49:41] Adam: During the Blitz of 1940 and 1941, for example, as German bombs rained down on London, isolated populations of Culex mosquitoes were confined to the air raid tunnels and shelters of the underground tube along with the city’s resilient residents. [0:49:46 – 0:49:56] Adam: These trap mosquitoes quickly adapted to feed on mice, rats, and humans instead of the birds and are now a species of mosquitoes distinct from their above-ground parental counterparts. [0:49:57 – 0:50:04] Adam: So now London has two mosquitoes that are distinct from the mosquitoes that live outside. [0:50:04 – 0:50:05] Erik: Are they still in the… [0:50:05 – 0:50:06] Erik: They’re still down there. [0:50:06 – 0:50:06] Erik: Jeez. [0:50:07 – 0:50:30] Adam: gross i don’t like that but it is a there’s a whole section on this but i thought that story like best illustrated how within just a couple and they rapidly reproduce obviously so it doesn’t take long how many generations exist over the course of a summer six six well each mosquito can reproduce generally about six or seven times in their lifetime if ample blood is found [0:50:31 – 0:50:32] Adam: I’m having another beer. [0:50:32 – 0:50:33] Adam: Ice cold beer. [0:50:33 – 0:50:36] Adam: Well, after I just finished that hike with my pals. [0:50:37 – 0:50:37] Adam: Oh, no. [0:50:37 – 0:50:38] Adam: Did you hear that? [0:50:38 – 0:50:39] Erik: Oh, no. [0:50:40 – 0:50:40] Adam: Cue the sound effects. [0:50:40 – 0:50:41] Erik: Yeah, that was kind of a… [0:50:41 – 0:50:42] Erik: I like that. [0:50:42 – 0:50:43] Erik: That was good. [0:50:43 – 0:50:44] Erik: It was just so straightforward. [0:50:44 – 0:50:45] Erik: Black and white. [0:50:45 – 0:50:47] Adam: Cracking a cold one with your family. [0:50:47 – 0:50:48] Erik: Cold ice cold one. [0:50:48 – 0:50:49] Erik: Next to the Alpine Lake. [0:50:50 – 0:51:00] Adam: So, yeah, I mean, within obviously a short frame of the summer, these mosquitoes could evolve and become a completely different species based on where they’re forced to live. [0:51:01 – 0:51:15] Adam: And that story also illustrates their ability to live in a confined space, limited resources, because shipping, especially ships coming from Europe and Africa over to North America, play a big part in this story later on. [0:51:16 – 0:51:17] Adam: Their ability to stow away. [0:51:19 – 0:51:22] Adam: This happens also with rats and other critters. [0:51:23 – 0:51:31] Adam: This CritterCast is sponsored by Bent Paddle 14-degree ESB Extra Special Bittern Ale. [0:51:31 – 0:51:32] Adam: And rats. [0:51:33 – 0:51:35] Adam: And rats. [0:51:35 – 0:51:36] Adam: And pet rats. [0:51:37 – 0:51:38] Adam: And skeeters. [0:51:40 – 0:51:48] Adam: Unlike other insects, it does not pollinate plants in any meaningful way or aerate the soil, nor does it ingest waste. [0:51:48 – 0:51:48] Adam: Useless. [0:51:49 – 0:51:54] Adam: Contrary to popular belief, the mosquito does not even serve as an indispensable food source for any other animal. [0:51:55 – 0:52:00] Adam: She has no purpose other than to propagate her species and perhaps kill humans. [0:52:01 – 0:52:01] Adam: Useless. [0:52:02 – 0:52:11] Adam: As the apex predator throughout our odyssey, it appears that her role in our relationship is to act as a countermeasure against uncontrolled human population growth. [0:52:12 – 0:52:14] Erik: Now, this is an interesting point. [0:52:14 – 0:52:15] Adam: I’ll give it that. [0:52:16 – 0:52:23] Adam: Because in the essay we started the show with, Sympathy for the Devil, David Quammen essentially arrives at the same conclusion. [0:52:23 – 0:52:31] Adam: These things are pointless, useless, horrible little creatures, and they serve no useful purpose whatsoever. [0:52:32 – 0:52:33] Adam: Except for they maybe protect the rainforest. [0:52:34 – 0:52:37] Adam: That’s like the ultimate like, well, there’s one good thing. [0:52:37 – 0:52:42] Adam: Humans would have destroyed all the rainforest like thousands of years ago if it wasn’t for mosquitoes. [0:52:42 – 0:52:43] Adam: So there’s that. [0:52:43 – 0:52:43] Adam: Yeah. [0:52:44 – 0:52:44] Adam: Keeping us out. [0:52:44 – 0:52:47] Adam: And this is sort of like, yeah, this is just another way of saying that. [0:52:47 – 0:52:51] Adam: Like it is a countermeasure just against like global overpopulation. [0:52:51 – 0:52:51] Adam: Sure. [0:52:52 – 0:52:55] Adam: So, you know, maybe there is something good about them. [0:52:55 – 0:53:01] Erik: I like that the areas that you mentioned that are completely devoid of mosquitoes. [0:53:01 – 0:53:03] Erik: I didn’t realize that Iceland just no mosquitoes. [0:53:03 – 0:53:05] Adam: Yeah, no mosquitoes in Iceland somehow. [0:53:06 – 0:53:08] Adam: And again, it’s the cold. [0:53:09 – 0:53:13] Adam: The cold is a good reason why we still have mosquitoes here, obviously. [0:53:13 – 0:53:17] Adam: But the malaria cycle is not able to continue on through the winter. [0:53:17 – 0:53:22] Adam: So it just eventually cuts it off and then it never resumes. [0:53:22 – 0:53:24] Adam: So you never have huge issues with it up north. [0:53:25 – 0:53:31] Adam: Although there are certainly malarial epidemics in parts of Canada in the past. [0:53:31 – 0:53:31] Adam: Sure. [0:53:32 – 0:53:40] Adam: You have enough people and immigration and people coming from new places to new places, from old places that… [0:53:40 – 0:53:57] Adam: you know it can happen but yeah just in like localized uh like in montreal in the middle of summer yeah and then it’s over right and then if it got brought in there but it won’t like survive year after year and become endemic yeah which is where you get real problems for malaria yeah [0:53:57 – 0:54:08] Adam: There are vaccines, and a lot of preventative measures against mosquitoes and malaria, they only seem to work well for a while. [0:54:09 – 0:54:19] Adam: And malaria is, if anything’s more, if anything’s hardier than the mosquito, or what’s a better way to say that? [0:54:19 – 0:54:23] Adam: If anything demonstrates perseverance on that level in nature, [0:54:24 – 0:54:26] Adam: with the mosquito, it’s malaria. [0:54:26 – 0:54:32] Adam: Malaria will continue to evolve almost faster than the mosquitoes will to stay one step ahead. [0:54:32 – 0:54:34] Adam: Jesus. [0:54:34 – 0:54:36] Adam: So, yeah, there are treatments. [0:54:37 – 0:54:46] Adam: Obviously, there are definitely what would be considered vaccines against it that rich people will take before they travel to hot climates if you can afford it. [0:54:47 – 0:54:52] Adam: But a lot of people can’t afford that stuff, and it’s spotty at best if it really will work. [0:54:52 – 0:54:52] Adam: I mean… [0:54:53 – 0:54:57] Adam: It’s one of those things where if you can afford it, you’re better off taking it and getting that vaccine. [0:54:58 – 0:55:01] Adam: But it’s not like a 100% guarantee. [0:55:01 – 0:55:02] Erik: Sure, because it’s always the same. [0:55:02 – 0:55:10] Adam: And with every passing year, they become less and less effective because both the mosquito and the malaria parasite will kind of work their way around it eventually. [0:55:11 – 0:55:11] Erik: Yeah. [0:55:11 – 0:55:13] Erik: And it’s like what? [0:55:15 – 0:55:22] Erik: Deadly for the more compromised people. [0:55:22 – 0:55:23] Adam: Yeah, for sure. [0:55:24 – 0:55:25] Erik: And it’s just not great for most people. [0:55:26 – 0:55:28] Adam: Yeah, it’ll take down completely healthy people too. [0:55:28 – 0:55:29] Adam: Well, sure, yeah. [0:55:29 – 0:55:36] Adam: Like the mosquitoes, there’s vast sums of different strains of malaria that are carried by different mosquitoes. [0:55:37 – 0:55:43] Adam: Some will wreck you, and some aren’t really problematic at all in modern day. [0:55:43 – 0:55:45] Erik: Yeah, and they don’t affect the mosquitoes at all? [0:55:46 – 0:55:47] Adam: That’s a good question. [0:55:47 – 0:55:51] Adam: I don’t think so because the mosquito’s lifetime is so short anyways. [0:55:52 – 0:55:55] Adam: They’re really, as you said, they’re just a vector. [0:55:55 – 0:55:57] Adam: They’re helping transfer it back. [0:55:58 – 0:56:07] Adam: The thing is like malaria gets into the human by the mosquito, but then it changes while it’s in your liver and like system in your blood. [0:56:08 – 0:56:15] Adam: And then when you get bit again, then like a different version of it comes out to like continue the cycle. [0:56:15 – 0:56:15] Adam: Yeah. [0:56:16 – 0:56:19] Adam: Yeah, it’s really gross when you think about it, how it’s working inside of you. [0:56:19 – 0:56:20] Adam: And it’s always with you then. [0:56:20 – 0:56:21] Erik: Yeah. [0:56:22 – 0:56:23] Adam: Yeah, not great. [0:56:24 – 0:56:31] Adam: Whereas like yellow fever is just more of a standard virus, which again, we also don’t fully understand the mechanisms of virus. [0:56:33 – 0:56:33] Adam: Are they dead? [0:56:33 – 0:56:34] Adam: Are they alive? [0:56:35 – 0:56:36] Adam: That one’s always creeped me out. [0:56:36 – 0:56:44] Adam: Yellow fever has done a ton of damage, but really this book mostly focuses on the malaria angle and rightly so. [0:56:44 – 0:56:51] Adam: We got two different kinds of mosquitoes out of the thousands on the planet that are the main vectors, vector species. [0:56:51 – 0:56:53] Adam: I want to read you a little bit about those, Eric. [0:56:54 – 0:57:06] Adam: The anopheles and aedes mosquitoes, they transfer between them pathogens, viruses, worms, and parasites of all kinds. [0:57:06 – 0:57:07] Adam: Worms? [0:57:07 – 0:57:08] Erik: No. [0:57:08 – 0:57:09] Adam: Nasty stuff. [0:57:09 – 0:57:10] Adam: Not worms. [0:57:11 – 0:57:25] Adam: Idae’s mosquito species transmit a catalog of mosquito-borne disease, including the viruses that cause yellow fever, dengue, chikungunya, West Nile, Zika, and various encephalitis. [0:57:27 – 0:57:46] Adam: uh encephalitis is uh it gets in you and like expands your brains and heads and stuff i think yeah your eyeballs right out i believe it says right here yeah it says eyeballs pop right out you don’t want that that one’s bad um that one zika is kind of new like i’ve known people who’ve gotten zika [0:57:46 – 0:57:48] Erik: Oh, the Zika, that’s a bad… [0:57:48 – 0:57:50] Adam: They don’t really even fully understand that one. [0:57:50 – 0:57:54] Erik: That one’s bad because it transfers to the babies in a bad way. [0:57:54 – 0:57:55] Adam: That’s true. [0:57:55 – 0:57:56] Adam: That is true. [0:57:58 – 0:58:01] Adam: Anopheles, I’m going to spell this one out. [0:58:01 – 0:58:03] Adam: You guys figure out how to say it. [0:58:03 – 0:58:14] Adam: A-N-O-P-H-E-L-E-S. Anopheles mosquito species are the sole vectors of the five human types of malaria, Plasmodium. [0:58:15 – 0:58:16] Adam: So there you go. [0:58:16 – 0:58:17] Adam: Plasmodium. [0:58:17 – 0:58:18] Adam: Plasmodium. [0:58:20 – 0:58:23] Adam: Yeah, those are the two that you really want to watch out for. [0:58:23 – 0:58:26] Erik: That’s where a mosquito gives a speech from. [0:58:27 – 0:58:28] Adam: The plasmodium. [0:58:28 – 0:58:29] Erik: Yeah. [0:58:30 – 0:58:39] Adam: I have a little passage on temperature that goes along with this segment I wanted to get into it right now. [0:58:41 – 0:58:53] Adam: temperature is an important element for both mosquito reproduction and the life cycle of malaria given their symbiotic relationship they’re also both climate sensitive in colder temperatures [0:58:55 – 0:58:57] Adam: It takes longer for mosquito eggs to mature and hatch. [0:58:58 – 0:59:04] Adam: Mosquitoes are also cold-blooded and, unlike mammals, cannot regulate their own body temperatures. [0:59:04 – 0:59:09] Adam: They simply cannot survive in mercury-dipping environments below 50 degrees. [0:59:09 – 0:59:16] Adam: Mosquitoes are generally at their prime health and peak performance in temperatures above 75 degrees Fahrenheit. [0:59:18 – 0:59:21] Adam: A direct heat of 105 degrees will boil mosquitoes to death. [0:59:22 – 0:59:25] Adam: Heck yeah, I like to hear that. [0:59:25 – 0:59:34] Adam: For temperate non-tropical zones, this means that mosquitoes are seasonal creatures with breeding, hatching, and biting taking place from spring through fall. [0:59:35 – 0:59:36] Adam: And that is that. [0:59:36 – 0:59:39] Erik: So is that maybe why the desert isn’t a great place? [0:59:39 – 0:59:40] Erik: Obviously the lack of water. [0:59:41 – 0:59:45] Adam: Yeah, it’s too dry, but also too wild fluctuations. [0:59:45 – 0:59:49] Adam: It gets pretty cold at night in the desert, you know, but also obviously in the daytime. [0:59:50 – 0:59:51] Adam: Above 105 is not unheard of. [0:59:52 – 0:59:54] Erik: There’s some crazy heat out west right now. [0:59:54 – 1:00:04] Erik: It’s supposed to be on the verge of breaking the all-time record for highest recorded temperature on the planet in Death Valley right now. [1:00:04 – 1:00:05] Erik: The record is 131. [1:00:05 – 1:00:06] Erik: The high there today was 129. [1:00:06 – 1:00:08] Erik: The low in Death Valley tonight is 99 degrees. [1:00:08 – 1:00:08] Erik: That’s horrible. [1:00:08 – 1:00:08] Erik: Yeah. [1:00:17 – 1:00:36] Erik: yeah what do you even do yeah just like dig a trench and bury yourself in dirt because it might be about yoshi’s castle or whatever oh god scotty’s got enough yoshi’s castle i mean this is at like the very bottom bad water basin but even like even phoenix it’s like 110 low like low of 90 [1:00:40 – 1:00:47] Erik: I just do not understand how that much air conditioning can be running at one time and the power grid is not being shut down. [1:00:47 – 1:00:49] Adam: No, that’s just straight garbage, you know. [1:00:50 – 1:00:55] Adam: But, yeah, according to that, you know, mosquitoes aren’t going to thrive in that kind of environment either. [1:00:57 – 1:01:05] Adam: You know, they’re basically, they love the rainforest, which is why Kwaman’s like, they’ve basically saved the rainforest from being destroyed a long time ago at this point. [1:01:05 – 1:01:13] Adam: Because if it was easy to get in there and, you know, basically the mosquitoes have kept us from destroying those rainforests already, you know, and we’re on our way. [1:01:14 – 1:01:15] Adam: We’re trying our best, but… [1:01:16 – 1:01:21] Adam: The rainforest is ideal because it doesn’t get way too hot like that, but it’s definitely like always above 75. [1:01:21 – 1:01:23] Adam: Yeah, it’s wet and 75 degrees. [1:01:23 – 1:01:24] Adam: Real wet, you know. [1:01:25 – 1:01:25] Adam: Yeah. [1:01:25 – 1:01:27] Adam: It’s hot and wet. [1:01:27 – 1:01:27] Adam: Yeah. [1:01:27 – 1:01:28] Adam: Nice and humid. [1:01:30 – 1:01:31] Adam: Peter Gabriel. [1:01:32 – 1:01:36] Erik: Tons of other animals outside of humans for them to get their blood from. [1:01:36 – 1:01:37] Erik: A lot of blood to suck. [1:01:37 – 1:01:38] Adam: Yeah, because you don’t have to. [1:01:38 – 1:01:41] Adam: Somebody was, I don’t remember who asked this. [1:01:41 – 1:01:44] Adam: It was like, would they feed on like roadkill? [1:01:46 – 1:01:48] Erik: I don’t think they would if it was fresh enough. [1:01:49 – 1:02:00] Adam: They did say in the Arctic, because the feeding window is so short in the Arctic for the mosquito, that if they take down a hare, for instance, or whatever, they’ll take the whole body out. [1:02:00 – 1:02:01] Erik: Suck it dry. [1:02:02 – 1:02:03] Adam: bones and everything. [1:02:03 – 1:02:03] Adam: It’s gone. [1:02:04 – 1:02:10] Adam: Every ounce of blood will be used on that animal before it even can get cold. [1:02:10 – 1:02:14] Erik: One of the biggest issues with the moose is the warm winters. [1:02:14 – 1:02:20] Erik: The ticks don’t hibernate or bed down as long and so they become active sooner and they just… [1:02:21 – 1:02:28] Erik: just basically desiccate these moose in the spring because they all come to life and get active. [1:02:29 – 1:02:37] Erik: And I remember, I think I’ve told this story multiple times, hiking in the woods in the early spring, late winter, where you just see these massive piles where it looks like it’s a kill of some sort. [1:02:38 – 1:02:40] Erik: But what it is is it’s moose, like, [1:02:40 – 1:03:03] Erik: on their sides like trying to scratch off these ticks and they’re just popping all of these tick like big tick pods that are on their sides and back and butt and they’re just like rolling around in the snow to try to get them off and it’s popping all these ticks so it looks like a kill but it’s popped tick blood that’s i mean it’s moose blood but like their own blood yeah no and it’s like yeah [1:03:04 – 1:03:06] Erik: Yeah, like, it’s a temperature thing. [1:03:06 – 1:03:07] Erik: It’s so huge. [1:03:07 – 1:03:08] Erik: It’s crazy. [1:03:08 – 1:03:19] Erik: Like, I mean, it’s crazy, though, that the biggest thing for me is, like, does a winter, like, a harder winter, like, play any kind of a factor into… [1:03:21 – 1:03:24] Erik: how bad they’re going to be in the spring because they always come back. [1:03:24 – 1:03:28] Erik: You would think if they can’t survive above 50, how are they coming back? [1:03:28 – 1:03:32] Erik: Why isn’t it just eradicating the species every winter? [1:03:32 – 1:03:33] Erik: Maybe they come around. [1:03:33 – 1:03:41] Adam: Yeah, that’s why they’re always giving the front line to the dog in the middle of winter because those ticks can pop out of the snow and attach themselves on one sunny day. [1:03:41 – 1:03:42] Erik: Oh, yeah. [1:03:42 – 1:03:47] Adam: Apparently, the mosquito and the bugs themselves can’t survive extreme temperatures, but apparently they… [1:03:48 – 1:03:50] Adam: Buried eggs can. [1:03:50 – 1:03:50] Adam: Somewhere. [1:03:50 – 1:03:51] Adam: Insulated under the snow. [1:03:52 – 1:03:52] Erik: Yeah. [1:03:52 – 1:03:53] Adam: No problemo. [1:03:54 – 1:03:54] Adam: Yeah. [1:03:55 – 1:03:57] Adam: I skipped ahead about 150 pages. [1:03:57 – 1:03:59] Adam: Did you skip over? [1:03:59 – 1:04:01] Adam: I can summarize the pages thusly. [1:04:02 – 1:04:09] Adam: The Greek Empire was created by the mosquito and then also destroyed by the mosquito. [1:04:09 – 1:04:09] Erik: Okay. [1:04:09 – 1:04:17] Adam: And then the Roman Empire was also helped by the mosquito at first and then also later destroyed by the mosquito. [1:04:17 – 1:04:17] Erik: How were they helped? [1:04:18 – 1:04:31] Adam: Uh, like, oh, there’s a bunch of mosquitoes around the Capitol and every time some horde of Germans came down to try and get them, they would encounter new kinds of malaria and like yellow fevers that they weren’t used to. [1:04:32 – 1:04:35] Adam: And basically half their guys would just die in the swamp. [1:04:35 – 1:04:35] Adam: Yeah. [1:04:36 – 1:04:37] Adam: on the way over and then get turned back. [1:04:37 – 1:04:42] Adam: So basically, like, they act as a shield for invading armies. [1:04:43 – 1:04:54] Adam: But, like, when they went on the offensive to begin their empires, they also brought their own malarias and fevers with them that, like, took out the people they were trying to conquer. [1:04:54 – 1:04:56] Adam: It’s funny how that thing works. [1:04:56 – 1:04:57] Erik: But it didn’t work vice versa? [1:04:57 – 1:04:58] Erik: Like, you know what I mean? [1:04:58 – 1:04:59] Adam: Sometimes it does, though. [1:04:59 – 1:05:01] Adam: We’ll get to more of that later as well. [1:05:01 – 1:05:04] Erik: People coming in, they didn’t bring their own, like, hyper-specific, like, [1:05:04 – 1:05:14] Adam: In North America, this plays out and that did happen where it worked in one direction at first and then later worked in the opposite direction. [1:05:14 – 1:05:15] Adam: So you just never know. [1:05:16 – 1:05:28] Adam: It’s all circumstantial and based on geography, politics, the whims of the greed of humankind, how the mosquito plays into that is always interesting. [1:05:28 – 1:05:28] Adam: But [1:05:29 – 1:05:34] Adam: The first 150 pages about the history of Ã¢â‚¬â€œ this is where I was like, what is this book? [1:05:34 – 1:05:37] Adam: I’m just reading about the military history of the Roman Empire now? [1:05:37 – 1:05:39] Adam: I mean, I’ll be honest. [1:05:39 – 1:05:40] Adam: I was skimming a little. [1:05:40 – 1:05:41] Erik: Oh, sure. [1:05:41 – 1:05:47] Adam: Because there’s not a lot of information about the mosquito at all, and it all sort of does play into it, I’ll agree. [1:05:47 – 1:05:52] Adam: But I think they went in Ã¢â‚¬â€œ dude went into a little too much detail. [1:05:52 – 1:05:52] Adam: Yeah. [1:05:52 – 1:05:54] Adam: On the military history. [1:05:54 – 1:05:58] Adam: It seemed like he just wanted to write a military history book, but there’s a billion of those. [1:05:59 – 1:06:01] Adam: White guy’s writing history books about war. [1:06:02 – 1:06:02] Erik: Yeah. [1:06:02 – 1:06:09] Adam: He’s like, you know what I’ll do is I’ll bill it as a mosquito and malaria book instead, but I’ll still just secretly, I can write about battles. [1:06:10 – 1:06:10] Erik: Yeah. [1:06:10 – 1:06:22] Adam: And, you know, this guy in his white New Balance sneakers and tufted white hair is sitting there furiously punching the keys about the, you know, the marshes around Rome. [1:06:23 – 1:06:26] Adam: They help Julius Caesar repel the hordes. [1:06:26 – 1:06:29] Adam: And, you know, it’s like, is this a mosquito book? [1:06:29 – 1:06:31] Adam: Is this even a malaria book? [1:06:31 – 1:06:39] Adam: I don’t know what’s going on, but it did sort of finally get back to more focused on the bug itself and how it’s impacted human history. [1:06:39 – 1:06:46] Adam: And sure, you can’t tell the story of the mosquito without telling the full history of at least white people. [1:06:47 – 1:06:48] Erik: So there you go. [1:06:50 – 1:06:51] Adam: How are we doing on time right now? [1:06:52 – 1:06:52] Erik: 1.06. [1:06:52 – 1:06:55] Adam: All right, I think this is a good place to leave part one. [1:06:56 – 1:06:57] Adam: We’ve jumped ahead now. [1:06:58 – 1:07:03] Adam: We’re getting into white people going to North America at this point. [1:07:03 – 1:07:10] Adam: So I think there’s a lot ahead, and I’d rather just… [1:07:11 – 1:07:16] Adam: So leave it there and enjoy these delicious bent paddle beers. [1:07:16 – 1:07:22] Adam: And then maybe next week we’ll get back into part two of the book because there is more than half the book to go. [1:07:22 – 1:07:26] Adam: But, you know, we’ve set the stage, I think, pretty well. [1:07:26 – 1:07:49] Erik: yeah and i mean i don’t know like i think everybody kind of knows like you know white man comes to north america and i mean we all i think everybody just kind of lives symbiotically it gets along real well with uh yeah actually i was looking up um movies with canoes in it and they’re like you should check out pocahontas oh yeah and that’s in part two of this episode too um [1:07:50 – 1:07:52] Adam: Because the white people came over and Pocahontas saved them. [1:07:53 – 1:07:57] Adam: And then Thanksgiving, they kiss. [1:07:57 – 1:07:58] Adam: All kisses and hugs. [1:07:58 – 1:08:01] Adam: Definitely, it was all cool and really nice. [1:08:02 – 1:08:03] Adam: Everybody loved it. [1:08:03 – 1:08:05] Adam: And the end, happy ending. [1:08:06 – 1:08:07] Adam: Pocahontas, there’s a canoe in it. [1:08:08 – 1:08:11] Erik: Definitely, Jamestown is in there. [1:08:11 – 1:08:11] Erik: And… [1:08:13 – 1:08:19] Adam: Yeah, a lot of new diseases coming to North America, which didn’t go over so hot. [1:08:19 – 1:08:24] Erik: Yeah, and then I think at the end of the day, everybody found out what the color of the wind was. [1:08:25 – 1:08:26] Adam: Yeah, the blue corn moon. [1:08:27 – 1:08:27] Adam: Yeah. [1:08:27 – 1:08:28] Adam: Is that it? [1:08:29 – 1:08:30] Adam: Oh, yeah. [1:08:31 – 1:08:32] Adam: It’s been a while. [1:08:33 – 1:08:35] Adam: It’s been a while. [1:08:35 – 1:08:37] Adam: That story just really touches my heart, Eric. [1:08:37 – 1:08:38] Erik: Yeah, it rips. [1:08:38 – 1:08:41] Erik: It shreds at my heart strings. [1:08:41 – 1:08:42] Erik: Yeah. [1:08:42 – 1:08:44] Erik: Like a seven needle proboscis. [1:08:44 – 1:08:47] Adam: You know, Pocahontas had to move back to London with John Smith. [1:08:48 – 1:08:50] Erik: They forced her back there, didn’t they? [1:08:50 – 1:08:50] Erik: Yeah. [1:08:50 – 1:08:53] Erik: To showcase her as a wonder of the Western world. [1:08:53 – 1:08:55] Erik: They took her to the museum, basically. [1:08:56 – 1:08:57] Adam: Look at this. [1:08:57 – 1:08:58] Adam: We got her. [1:08:59 – 1:09:01] Erik: It must have been an amazing experience for her. [1:09:01 – 1:09:04] Adam: She’s even got the feather in her hair and everything. [1:09:04 – 1:09:07] Adam: We got the Pocahontas canoe and all that. [1:09:07 – 1:09:08] Erik: World traveler. [1:09:08 – 1:09:09] Adam: She died by age 21. [1:09:09 – 1:09:11] Adam: Pocahontas. [1:09:11 – 1:09:12] Adam: I can’t take this anymore. [1:09:14 – 1:09:17] Adam: She was just outside the British Museum smoking a cigarette like… [1:09:19 – 1:09:39] Erik: like the original ben affleck yeah the big long sigh of a drag off of a god damn it anyways john smith i can’t believe you kidnapped me and took me to this awful island yeah you lived in perfect harmony with nature your whole life let’s go to a horrible like city you’ll be fine oh this is great what are the black clouds [1:09:40 – 1:09:41] Erik: No, that’s industry. [1:09:41 – 1:09:43] Erik: That’s just the industrial revolution. [1:09:43 – 1:09:44] Adam: What have you done to the river? [1:09:44 – 1:09:46] Adam: Why is it brown? [1:09:49 – 1:09:51] Adam: We laugh so we don’t cry here on Tumble Home. [1:09:51 – 1:09:56] Adam: And that’ll do it for episode 226 of our podcast. [1:09:56 – 1:09:57] Adam: Thanks for being here. [1:09:57 – 1:09:59] Adam: Shout out to the Tumble Homies. [1:09:59 – 1:10:00] Adam: Shout out to everybody on the Patreon. [1:10:01 – 1:10:03] Adam: And, of course, everybody on the Tumble Home subreddit. [1:10:04 – 1:10:07] Adam: I may have deleted my Reddit app, but I have not deleted you from my heart. [1:10:08 – 1:10:11] Adam: I still have it saved as a bookmark in my Safari browser. [1:10:11 – 1:10:12] Adam: So I’m there. [1:10:13 – 1:10:14] Adam: Also, check out the Discord. [1:10:15 – 1:10:22] Adam: I’ll drop some of the weird mosquito artwork from this book into the Discord after this episode’s recorded. [1:10:22 – 1:10:22] Erik: Oh, yeah. [1:10:22 – 1:10:26] Erik: One of those is maybe going to be my first tattoo. [1:10:26 – 1:10:32] Adam: It looks like that lemon you’re holding was sucked dry by a six-pronged double-sawed proboscis. [1:10:32 – 1:10:35] Erik: Yeah, I was just thinking maybe we should zest this. [1:10:35 – 1:10:37] Adam: It looks so delicious. [1:10:37 – 1:10:38] Adam: Still a lot of good zest on the bone there. [1:10:38 – 1:10:43] Erik: Yeah, I mean, speaking of harvesting, this looks like somebody just ripped this right out of my chest. [1:10:43 – 1:10:44] Erik: Is this my heart? [1:10:44 – 1:10:45] Adam: It might be. [1:10:45 – 1:10:47] Adam: It’s a little triple ventricled lemon. [1:10:48 – 1:10:50] Adam: Shriveled, brown, smaller. [1:10:50 – 1:10:53] Adam: Your heart was two sizes too big, Eric. [1:10:53 – 1:10:54] Adam: Yeah. [1:10:54 – 1:10:56] Adam: The sticker is still on it, though, which is great. [1:10:56 – 1:11:03] Adam: Thanks for the honey and the tea, of course, and the delicious ice-cold beers, Kalen and Josh, dear friends of the show. [1:11:03 – 1:11:08] Adam: We appreciate you, and we hope you’re not getting carried off of the mosquitoes. [1:11:08 – 1:11:09] Adam: I’m sure they’re out there paddling somewhere. [1:11:09 – 1:11:11] Adam: They’re pretty hardcore paddlers. [1:11:12 – 1:11:19] Adam: And, yeah, we’ll get back to it next week, the stunning conclusion of The Mosquito by Timothy C. Weingarde. [1:11:20 – 1:11:22] Adam: Let me hear the music in it, Eric. [1:11:22 – 1:11:27] Adam: For Tumble Home, a Boundary Waters podcast, coming to you from the Tumble Shed. [1:11:27 – 1:11:27] Adam: We’re out of here. [1:11:28 – 1:11:31] Adam: As we always say, life is precious, and they’re coming for your blood. [1:11:32 – 1:11:32] Adam: Good night. [1:11:32 – 1:11:40] Erik: Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz [1:11:41 – 1:11:42] Erik: Yeah, we’ll get some Forerunner going. [1:11:42 – 1:11:44] Adam: I can find it, I’m sure. [1:11:44 – 1:11:46] Adam: We don’t need chiptune. [1:11:46 – 1:11:47] Adam: We got it. [1:11:47 – 1:11:48] Adam: We got that. [1:11:48 – 1:11:50] Adam: I saw Forerunner at Bratfest in Sheboygan. [1:11:53 – 1:11:54] Adam: We don’t need the chiptunes. [1:11:55 – 1:11:56] Adam: My, how the mighty have fawned.

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