Killer Earth
Killer Earth
The Nile
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This week, Kat and Vanessa discuss the longest river in the world, The Nile, and all of the murderous creatures lurking beneath its surface and on its shores.
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Earthquakes, lightning, boring, rain, tornadoes, obviously in a hurricane.
unknownKiller Earth.
SPEAKER_00Hello and welcome to KillerEarth. Hi. Hi. My name is Vanessa. I'm here with my best friend, Kay Giffy. Hey. Catherine. Your name is Kay Giffy in my phone. Did you know that? No, I didn't. So our friend Kate was here recently at my house, and you called me and your name popped up, and she was like, Who the fuck is Kay Giffy?
SPEAKER_03Oh, really? Yeah. Well, you guys always like, you're the one who started calling me Kat, which I love. Yes. Oh, oh, really? Am I the you're the first like first one that's like ever called me, and now everyone calls me that.
SPEAKER_00A lot of people still call you Katie, though.
SPEAKER_03Oh, yeah, like on my family side. Yeah, I'm like, stop.
SPEAKER_00It bothers you. Not her name.
SPEAKER_03It is. That was like my name, like my whole life, but my real name's Catherine.
SPEAKER_00So I have so many people's names on my phone, like as their like nicknames that I've come up with. And I worry sometimes if I ever got like murdered and they found my phone, like the you know, they look at the last people you talk to.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Or if someone just like found your phone. Cause like my brother, his name is Owen, but my dad, as a joke, since he was little, calls him Owen P. Coltrane. And I have him in my phone as Owen P. Coltrane. So like the police would be like, We're looking for an Owen P. Coltrane. Oh no. Who's last talking to Vanessa Hill? They would like never find your people. They'd be like, hey, Giphy. That's great. It should probably like change the names for safety reasons. Oh, it's I'm sure it's fine.
SPEAKER_03They figured it out. They'd figure it out like because they would see that we talk like every day, probably three times a day.
SPEAKER_00I guess.
SPEAKER_03Because we're crazy.
SPEAKER_00But these police officers would be like, No wonder she got murdered. She's a fucking idiot. Put people's real names in her phone.
SPEAKER_03Well, boy, do we have some content for you all this week?
SPEAKER_00Oh, sure. Um, I kind of know what you're doing for your subject.
SPEAKER_03Oh, did you peek?
SPEAKER_00No, you told me.
SPEAKER_03On the Google Drive.
SPEAKER_00Oh no, you told me.
SPEAKER_03Oh, you just don't know which one.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Yeah. Um, I know the general idea of your topic. Yeah. Okay, cool. So we're gonna get into that.
SPEAKER_03Yep.
SPEAKER_00Um, I wanted to share something that happened to me and my family last night. Um, it was disturbing and eye-opening. So amazing. You just don't know how stupid people in your family are until you test them.
SPEAKER_03Well, go for it. Tell us.
SPEAKER_00Tell the so yesterday afternoon I was on TikTok. My favorite thing to do, to be on TikTok, and I see this filter or like this effect they call it. Um, where if you look through your phone, like out your window, there you can see dinosaurs from like Jurassic World, and it's like play the music. So it was like several dinosaurs, and I was like, Oh my, oh god, freaked out, and I'm like, yeah, this is for my four-year-old. And so I like couldn't find the effect in TikTok. You can just search it, and I'm like looking through the comments, and everybody is like, oh, I can't find it, I can't find it, or it's like it's lame. And then someone was like, Oh, try the Google like a like a filter if you just like use your Google app on your smartphone. Yeah. So I download the Google app, which took like 20 minutes with my shitty Wi-Fi.
SPEAKER_03But it's worth it because if all of you don't know, and I don't know if we've talked about this, Vanessa and I love dinosaurs.
SPEAKER_00We we I don't know why we don't have a dinosaur podcast, but yeah, we know maybe one day maybe, yeah, yeah, we're obsessed. And like I routinely put on like any of the Jurassic Park franchises, yeah. In the background when I'm doing stuff, and I pretend that my four-year-old loves Camp Cretaceous, the animated series from Netflix. So we watch it all the time. I actually put it on because I'm a fan.
SPEAKER_03And I like, I know it's coronavirus, so we weren't really able to make it happen, but I was like, for my birthday, can we please go to that dinosaur museum in Utah? Oh, yeah, yeah, which I still want to go. Oh, I want to go to it so bad. I went when I was young and it was like the wall of bones. I was like dead. I was like, this is the best thing that's ever happened to me.
SPEAKER_00Last year, in the middle of the pandemic, right? Or no, the beginning, because your birthday's soon, it's in March. Yeah, you were like, What? You just like called me one night. You're like, okay, what do you think? I think we could get like cheap tickets to like Salt Lake from there. We take a two-hour car ride. I don't think there's any hotels. I'm like to the Dino Museum. How are we gonna do that? I have a child.
SPEAKER_03Oh God, it would it it's gonna happen. We'll make it happen. Anyway, sorry to sidebar your story.
SPEAKER_00No, okay, so I download the Google app and I'm like, okay, let's do this. So the Google app you use, and like you can search whatever you want on it, and it gives you the option, like you can search other animals, but if you search like a type of dinosaur, it gives you the option to look at it in 3D mode through your phone. So, like, I do it, and they're like one of those little like um like ankle biter dinosaurs. It's like on my fucking porch.
SPEAKER_03Oh my god.
SPEAKER_00And it was so fucking weird. Um, what do they call them? They're like com tees, com cheese. I don't uh I don't know. That's the name of them, anyway. Okay, then Lola. So my four-year-old is like losing her fucking mind. She's tweaking out. We're looking at like triceratops and T-Rexes and like Brachiosaurus out our window. Like, if you look out, yeah. So if you look at the picture window in my living room, it's like a snowy hill, and then right below it is my driveway, and there's trees behind the driveway. You know, it's pretty like open. Yeah. So I'm we're doing the like Velociraptor filter, and I'm like, okay, this actually kind of looks semi-real. Like an idiot would think this was a real dinosaur.
SPEAKER_03And I also was like far away enough where like in a photo, it looks like it's literally walking like down your driveway or something.
SPEAKER_00It yeah, so it was probably like 50, 60 feet from me. I don't know if that's even accurate, but it like yeah, it wasn't like up at the window, you know. Yeah, so but still, you know, dinosaurs are extinct, so I'm not sure what the confusion would be, but I so I took a photo. You can like you can like take a screenshot. I couldn't figure out how to take a video because like the little like 3D animals move. And I was like, oh, this'll be funny. I'm gonna send it in a group text to my mom, my brother, and my sister-in-law. Um, because they'll think it's funny, and like my mom will probably fall for it for one second, but then she'll realize. Yeah. So that's not what ended up happening because it's a dinosaur. That's not what ended up happening. And I'm gonna read the screenshots, and I'm gonna post the screenshots and the photos with this episode's like post after when we publish this episode.
SPEAKER_03It's great.
SPEAKER_00Okay, so I I say, What the hell is this? And I send a photo of this like dark velociraptor in the driveway. My mom immediately responds, When did that show up? Is it moving? So I'm like, Oh, oh fuck, yes, we're on. Because my brother and I prank my mom all the time.
SPEAKER_03Like all the time.
SPEAKER_00Like recently, he got like a really incredible promotion at work and like accepted it, of course, because like there was no, you know, questioning of whether he should accept it or not. But my mom was all like bent out of shape about it. She was like, You should have asked a lawyer. My brother convinced my mom that he had hired um, better call Saul, Saul Goodman from Breaking Bad. Oh my god. He convinced her that he hired that guy and that he was like a lawyer in a town like near where we live. And she he he was like, Mom, she's the he's the best. He does like motorcycle accidents, they're the best lawyers. Like, they're you always want like a a small claims injury lawyer handling your your shit.
SPEAKER_03Wow.
SPEAKER_00So this, I'm just saying, this is how gullible she is. And she was like, she was so freaked out. She was like, How could you do that, Owen? What the like, who is this guy? He looks greasy and shady. And he found a flyer from the show and sent it to our group chat.
SPEAKER_03That's amazing. He also like is lives in New Mexico, like in the show.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, he's it's not real. It's not real. Anyway, and there's been many other examples of that, but okay, it's the best thing to prank your mom. So I was like, Yes, it's moving. Um, so she texted me back. Are you serious? Sandy stopped here. Sandy is her boyfriend, and she likes to like text me and my brother, like the locations of people for no reason. But I think she was indicating that like Sandy was at her house.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Because like he's our go-to guy, like when there's problems.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, he's like always there, he's the best.
SPEAKER_00So I kind of ignore her and I go, Oh my god, what is this? And she texts right back and she goes, Is Lola seeing it? And I said, Yes, we are freaking out. And then she goes, Ness, why are you including Linz and Owen? Like talking about my sister-in-law, my brother in the group chat. And I'm like, Oh fuck, does she know? Yeah, I'm like screwing with her. So I go, Oh, because I'm scared.
SPEAKER_03Oh my gosh.
SPEAKER_00And she goes, Did you put that in the lick pick? She had messed up there.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, okay.
SPEAKER_00And I'm like, oh fuck. And then she, I'm like, she figured me out, like, fuck, this like prank has fallen flat. And then she goes, Sandy coming there now. I'm like, yes, we're back in the game.
unknownOh my god.
SPEAKER_00So I go, here's another one. Oh my god. And I posted the bottom half of a T-Rex in front of my window because T-Rexes are really big.
unknownI'm dying.
SPEAKER_00It's like it's like it's next to like our maple tree. It doesn't even make sense. Go ahead and keep going. So she goes, You were making that up. Where is that? Not funniness. And I go, something crazy is going on. And she goes, stop. But you know, she didn't tell Sandy to not come here. Yeah. So I'm like, oh haha, like this is fine. Like, you know, I convinced her that momentarily that there was like some like weird animal. And she's seen Jurassic Park, like we saw it in the theater together in like then like 1994 or whenever it came out.
SPEAKER_03As soon as you showed me the picture, I was like, that's a velociraptor. Yeah. And then like the T-Rex feet, I was like, that's a T-Rex.
SPEAKER_00It's it takes up the entire photo pretty much with its feet and like like side of its body.
SPEAKER_03So good.
SPEAKER_00So like I'm like, okay, like that was funny, whatever. Five minutes later, who comes flying in the driveway? Sandy in his truck. And I get a text from her. And like not on the group text.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_00And wait, let me find it. Okay, she messages me. Um, Sandy is coming. He's in Doug's flamingo truck. Like all official, because his his brother passed away last year, and he has like kind of inherited the truck, and it has these pink flamingos. Oh, yeah. Like sticking out of the top. So I'm like, that's why is that? I don't know why that like matters.
SPEAKER_03Is that gonna scare the dinos away?
SPEAKER_00The birds are gonna because dinosaurs, cat dinosaurs used to be birds.
unknownI know.
SPEAKER_00Oh my god, they they evolved into birds. I know. So I'm like, cool. So he comes racing up the driveway, but then I think he realizes again. So he so Sandy didn't know. Like he he he didn't see these photos. All he heard from my mom was there's some dangerous, shady animal in the driveway. I I got these photos. Like, please go over to the girls. They like they need your help, like, go check it out. So he doesn't even know. For all he knows, it's like a pack of coyotes or like a fucking weird rabid raccoon. Like, he has no idea.
SPEAKER_03That's great.
SPEAKER_00He's just coming to be like, figure it out. So he comes up, you know, racing up the driveway. He's like, Okay, there's nothing here. Parks comes into the house. He's like, What's doesn't he have his gun with him though? In the truck, yeah, in the truck, but like to be fair, they always have guns with them. That's true. It is Vermont. I mean, and there's like 73 guns in this house, yeah. So he comes upstairs and he's like, What's what's going on? What your mother said there was a dangerous animal in the yard, and then I needed to come over and like figure it out. Oh my god, it's too much. I showed him the photos, and I he was like, Oh my god, this is amazing. I gotta like send these to people.
SPEAKER_03This is like basically, how does she not know? That's like the best part of it.
SPEAKER_00So I someone, I feel like it was Kate, our friend, was like, maybe she didn't have her glasses on. Like, someone was, or did you say that? Someone was like very generous to her, like towards her. Um, but I was like, mom, what animal could that possibly be that's a native to Vermont? That looks like a velociraptor.
SPEAKER_03It's the greatest thing. Yeah. Wow, thank you for retelling that. And when I saw those screenshots and the pictures, I was like dead. I was laughing. I think I peed my pants. Like, I'm not kidding.
SPEAKER_00Oh, yeah. I I was sending it to like random like friends. Like, and I was like, just like read these screenshots. She's so gullible.
SPEAKER_03Well, I called you and you were like wheezing laughing too, and it made me laugh. I was like, oh my god. Woo! That's a good one. So now I'm plotting my next prank. You gotta. Um, great. Thank you for sharing that. In other news, um, we have something to tell you guys.
SPEAKER_00Oh, yeah. So this has been like a thing that's been going on for like a month that we're finally talking about.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, because we wanted to make sure it was cool to share. Um, and it is, we got permission. Um, so you know, back going back to the quicksand episode, um, we had mentioned quicksand porn, and we were kind of like, that's disturbing.
SPEAKER_00Like, well, I had mentioned it.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_00It was something that I had heard about on another podcast years ago. Yeah. I had never looked it up. I was just like, oh, I heard this was a thing, but I'm sure it's fake. I think I said that.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, and I was just like, that's disturbing. And anyway, we finally got our first um email from a listener.
SPEAKER_00First fan email. We've gotten messages like on Facebook, but yeah, which has been really nice.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, but first official email. And we were so excited, we're like, oh my god, a listener emailed us, and like, you know, from out of the country or whatever. We're not gonna say what country or what name. Um, but anyway, uh, he proceeds to tell us that he doesn't watch quicksand porn, but he himself has a quicksand fetish.
SPEAKER_00Well, he didn't say that at first in the email. He didn't say that at first because we drafted an email to him in response and we said, Is so is this a fetish? Like, what's going on here?
SPEAKER_03Yeah, because he basically said he likes to sink in quicksand and it's enjoyable, and that quicksand varies from place to place. And we were like, and he was like, I, you know, he he was very, very kind, he wasn't explicit, which was really awesome.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Um, and but we were just like, oh my god, tell us everything, but like obviously keep it like we don't want to see anything, you know.
SPEAKER_00He was very um clear from the beginning, like you know, I'm asking you for your consent to share more details or photos, but like nothing will be explicit. But I think we were a little like, so it's I mean, it's like thank you for not being explicit without us being like, yeah, this is cool, but like what what really does this mean? Like, do you like get an erect an erection from being in the quick sand?
SPEAKER_03And I I I basically I think that's what happens.
SPEAKER_00I think it I think he so it doesn't didn't he say sometimes that happens.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, it's like it's this. Um, he explained that it was a when we, you know, Vanessa, I believe you were the one who asked, like, is this a fetish? And then he said yes. Um, and he explains that it's like the danger of putting yourself in quickstand and then getting out of it is like exciting.
SPEAKER_00And like he said something about like feeling yourself being pulled into it, yeah. Which is kind of hot, yeah, right?
SPEAKER_03I guess so. But he did send us pictures and it was funny because it was just like you know, he had shorts on and like he was facing the other way, which is good. Like his butt was to the picture, and he was like sinking in it, and I was like, Oh, okay.
SPEAKER_00No, I think there was front shot. There were some front shots, not him naked, but like it was like his stomach.
SPEAKER_03Oh, I I swear, I think I don't remember, but it was like you know, we want to be really clear that um, you know, we think every people have fetishes, and we're accepting people, and like we're happy to hear if you have like a fetish with Mother Earth, you tell us, but don't be explicit about it.
SPEAKER_00You know, you can that's the thing. I don't mind people being explicit about it. Like, what are we in church?
SPEAKER_03Like, I don't care, but well, I just don't want like no, I keep like sending us like yeah stuff, but this guy was not a creep, and then no, not at all. He was he was really nice, and he was like, he was like, Oh, like I think he was a little nervous because he wasn't sure if we were gonna be like, Ew, you fucking weirdo, like don't email us, but of course we would that was not our position, that's not our position ever, because we're pretty open and yeah, he also mentioned that it's like it was nice to talk to us because um he just like feels like he can't open up to anyone, and like although we're not therapists or whatever, and we don't want to be, but it was like nice to hear that he felt comfortable and asked like enough coming to us to talk about this. So I thought that was really cool. And like I I'm really happy that our listeners, you know, some of you feel like that. So that's really cool. One of you feels like that. One of you. Oh, there's some, I don't know.
SPEAKER_00There's no, it made me it, it made me a little sad that he can't really like open up, I guess, to people in his life about it. Yeah, you know, it is dangerous to like place yourself in quicksand on purpose. So I understand if like his parents or like his friends are like, bro.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, they'd probably be like, you can't do that.
SPEAKER_00But it seems like he is really good at like he knows exactly how to get himself out of quicksand. Yeah. After he's done doing his thing.
SPEAKER_03So he doesn't want to be on the podcast personally, but I think I'm gonna set up a a side meeting with him. Like a call. And I just wanna, yeah. I just want to learn like more about how to get out of it because I feel like I did give some advice that I learned, but I like there here's a professional that like purposely goes in it and gets out of it. A professional, yeah. So I'm like curious, but anyway, but I wanted to share that with all of you. I thought that was really interesting that there are fetishes with people with quicksand, and maybe some of you listeners have the same thing and you just don't talk about it.
SPEAKER_00So I mean, what are the what I wonder what the percentages are? Yeah, there there's other mother nature fetishes. That hopefully people reach out to us about.
SPEAKER_03Oh my God, we need to know it. Please tell us. If you like earthquakes and if you get off to earthquakes, tell us.
SPEAKER_00How could you get off to an earthquake?
SPEAKER_03Like it shakes, and you're like, oh yeah.
SPEAKER_00Like every 10 years, wherever you live, you're like, yes. Um, I think people who have sex with trees, aren't they called demophiliacs? I think.
SPEAKER_03I don't know, but like, how do you do that?
SPEAKER_00You just rub your bits up on the tree, your gens, gens out. That would hurt. It sure would. Much like quick stamp squeezing your erect penis in a really aggressive way, and you potentially dying. Yeah. Like fetishes aren't safe.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. But we want to know it if you have a mother earth-related fetish. Like, don't come to us and be like, because we want it, it we're we're trying to keep it to the podcast.
SPEAKER_00Like, don't come to us with your non-Mother Earth fetish, which I agree.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. But anyway, we we thank you, listener, for reaching out to us. I think it's really cool. And if I am able to set up a meeting with him, I like it'll be quick. And I just want to like find out some more information about Quicksand that I'll get back to you guys on. I I think it's an interesting topic, and um, again, it's very pro it's more prevalent than I thought it would be. So I think it will be cool to learn more about it.
SPEAKER_00So get putting yourself in quicksand on purpose.
SPEAKER_03No, just like getting out of it and like how it feels and stuff, like listening to somebody who like does it.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I love also how you're saying that you're gonna set up a meeting. Yeah, you're like, I have a meeting with him scheduled.
SPEAKER_03Everybody's not scheduled, but I'm I'm setting one up, so or just like a chat, yeah. Um, in other news, sorry, I feel like this is the longest intro ever, but we're having fun, so who cares? Um, we got merch ordered. We're getting it like this. I think it's coming to your house this week. And what's exciting is that Vanessa and I, we haven't seen each other in so long. Um, but for my birthday, I'm driving out to Vermont, which is like a four-hour drive from here, and I'm staying with her all week. Um, and we're gonna work a lot on our podcast, and we'll probably uh do a podcast together, which will be fun, and we're gonna um try out merch like samples essentially, but um, we hope they look cool. So we're really excited about that.
SPEAKER_00We're gonna record in-person episodes and we're gonna get samples of our merch and yeah, see if we like it.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, so we're really excited about that. Um, so I don't know, it's been a fun couple days for this for this pod.
SPEAKER_00So I looked, we only um released one episode in the entire month of February. What? Yeah, look at the look at it. No, we released more than that. No, we didn't. One episode in all of February.
SPEAKER_03Oh, sorry guys.
SPEAKER_00And also like we have full-time jobs, and like I have a child, so yeah, so get over it. Nobody's upset. I'm just saying that's what that's what happened. If you look at it, I got defensive.
SPEAKER_03I was like, well, guys, don't know.
SPEAKER_00No, we haven't gotten any complaints from the 14 people that listen. They're good, they're like, Yeah, we'll catch up with you like on our next slide.
SPEAKER_03I'm saying we're doing two a week because we were being aggressive.
SPEAKER_00That was ballsy. Nobody has time for that. We'll try to do more episodes in the future. It's just life happens.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I was like taking my sweet time. I didn't mean to, I just got really busy every night. Um, no, it was both of us. I'm trying to do more research uh more often. And you guys, it's really hard to do research, it takes a minute, so just letting you know it's like a it's like a term paper.
SPEAKER_00It really is. Every episode, it's whoever has the subject is uh the topic is doing a ton of work.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, because you read it and then you're like, what does this word mean? You have to Google that, and then you have to Google that.
SPEAKER_00And we're morons, so it really takes us a long time.
SPEAKER_03We're like pretty stupid. I wouldn't go there. I think we're pretty awesome.
SPEAKER_00No, I think we are. So when I have to, you know, Google what is a sound.
SPEAKER_03Well, I didn't know either, and I bet a lot of people don't know that. So give me a lot of people. Well, that's what I'm saying. It takes we're not we're we have a podcast about you know, like geology, meteorology, it's a it's a tough subject, but we both love it. Yeah, and we are definitely gonna cover dinosaurs at one point because that's like a big thing, and that's mother earth related, so we're happy about that.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, just because it's no longer on Mother Earth doesn't mean that it's not a part of mother nature.
SPEAKER_03My wish is that I had a pet dinosaur. I would be so thrilled if I could just have a pet dinosaur.
SPEAKER_00Okay, yeah. I don't know what you mean. What dinosaur would you have? If I could have a pet dinosaur. I mean, I barely like having a dog, so probably none of the above.
SPEAKER_03I would probably have I forgot the name, the correct name of it, but you know, like um Land Before Time long necks.
SPEAKER_00So I'm not sure that you could have that as your pet because they're really large and just kind of do what they want. It's either Brontosaurus or Brosiosaurus.
SPEAKER_03Um, maybe a brachiosaurosaurus, actually.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, you could have that as a pet. That's like having like um like a blue whale as a pet, essentially. That big. Okay.
SPEAKER_03All right. Should we get into it? Yeah, let's do it. Okay, we're getting into it. Um, okay, so my topic is we're gonna call this dangerous rivers, and this is the Nile River edition. Oh my god. So I wanted to make sure I didn't monopolize like all the dangerous rivers because there's so many ones, and there's so many cool things to learn about each river. So this is called the dangerous rivers.
SPEAKER_00So you're doing one dangerous river, but this is gonna be like a series, is what you're saying.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, and like you can do a dangerous river if you feel like it.
SPEAKER_00Yes, okay.
SPEAKER_03Um, so this one's the Nile River. Oh my god, the Nile River is so scary. It's so amazing though. And honestly, like last night, I was as I was doing research, I like put on YouTube on my TV, and I was just like listening to Egyptian music and like watching pictures of the Nile, and it was just like giving me life. Wow, because like that's like one one of my biggest, biggest dreams is to go to Egypt and like go like see the Nile River and then like hop around Africa. That's like my biggest dream.
SPEAKER_00A very large continent.
SPEAKER_03By the way, I know there's so many states that I want to go to, though.
SPEAKER_00You did tell me recently you want to go to Egypt. I have no desire to go to Egypt. I've heard horrible things about it. Oh god, no offense to anybody that lives in Egypt.
SPEAKER_03I just I don't know that it's like I think it's pretty dangerous. I've heard it's they've seen about everything.
SPEAKER_00I heard it's really um they have a trash removal problem. Yeah. And I actually had a professor in college who lived in that area for a long time, and he was telling us like how kind of awful it was.
SPEAKER_03Um, don't you want to see the pyramids though? Like that's a huge thing.
SPEAKER_00Like, I don't know. I mean, I heard they're like right next to like the city, and it's yeah, like they don't it's there's a lot of trash, and like I don't care, like I just need to see it for my own self.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, and I want to take like a cruise down the Nile.
SPEAKER_00Is that a thing?
SPEAKER_03Mm-hmm. You can get like a cruise boat and go down it. Wow. Um, okay. So my sources are britannica.com, fun trivia.com, oceaninfo.com, usatoday.com, uh snakebiteinitiative.org, nationalgeographic.com, pbs.org, ranker.com, sorry, nparks.gov, uh hogglezoo.org, and history.com.
SPEAKER_00You have so many sources every time.
SPEAKER_03Because I have to like fact check every every that's really good.
SPEAKER_00I like that. Cool.
SPEAKER_03Okay. So um just like again, this river has always been like I've been obsessed with it. I think it's like majestic and I need to go there. Um uh so the Nile River is the longest river in the world called the Father of African rivers. Um, it rises south of uh south of the equator and flows northward through northeastern Africa.
SPEAKER_00It flows northward, yes.
SPEAKER_03Okay, so that's the weirdest part about this river is that it it's the only river that floats. Um you saying floats or flows? Flows. Okay, sorry, flows south to north. Isn't that weird? That is weird, and I have an explain explanation of why. Um it has a length of about 4,132 miles and drains an area estimated at 1,293,000 square feet. Um, sorry, square miles. Um, its basin includes parts of Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Uganda, South Sudan, Ethiopia, Sudan, and Egypt. It's basin. Yeah, so like where it flows through. Like those are all the countries that goes through. Okay. Yeah. Um, the name Nile is uh derived from the Greek uh Nelius, and it's like Latin, it says Nelis, meaning a valley or a river valley. Just some fun facts there. Um the Nile, unlike other great rivers, flows south to north and was in flood, like it and it would flood during the warmest time of the year. So, like the um, this was like a mysterious thing to the ancient Egyptians and Greeks because they were like, Why is this the only river that flows this way? And why does it flood during like the biggest heat strokes?
SPEAKER_00Like, oh, so like during heat waves, it would yeah, yeah, it said heat strokes, sorry, heat waves.
SPEAKER_03It's okay. Um, the reason the river flows south to north is because the land falls away towards the north, thus, the river flows north until it reaches the Mediterranean Sea at the Nile Delta. Direction of the flow of a river is determined by elevation of the drainage basin. Um, so basically, like the elevation is just higher where it starts and goes out to the Mediterranean Sea. So that's why it flows backwards, essentially, like backwards in comparison to most rivers. But I found that really interesting. Um the Nile also, like in regards to the flooding, um, it swells in the summer, the floods rising as a result of heavy tropical rains in Ethiopia. In South Sudan, uh, the flood begins as early as April, but the effect is not felt um in Egypt until July. Uh, the water starts to rise and continues to do so throughout August and September, with the maximum maximum occurring in mid-September. Um, at Cairo, the maximum um is delayed until October. The level of the river then rapidly falls through November and December. So, like the ancient Egypt Egyptians and Greeks were like, How why is this happening? But that's why. But they didn't have like any technology to like see what was figure it out. Yeah. Um, the availability of water from the Nile throughout the year combined with the area's high temperatures make possible intensive cultivation along its banks, even in some region regions in which the average rainfall is sufficient for cultivation. Marked annual variations in percip uh precipitation often make cultivation without irrigation risky.
SPEAKER_00Um probably because the crops can't get no water.
SPEAKER_03Well, exactly. Like it's mostly like I mean, not I'm not gonna say mostly because you have like it flows through the Congo too, which is like very like lush. Um, but there's parts of it that are not lush and like sandy, yeah. Um Egyptians say that their ancestors would have done anything to protect their indispensable Nile River, and so they should, but overdevelopment and construction of massive dam upstream in Ethiopia jeopardizes their vital water supply and very existence. Um, so there's like this big dam called the Grand Renaissance Dam. Um, it stands more than 500 feet tall, and it's like the biggest in Africa. Um, the dam is about 450 miles from the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa, gener and it generates uh 6,450 megawatts at its full capacity, more than three times the energy produced by the Hoover Dam. So it's like a big dam. Um, but it yeah, like pretty like apparently a lot of people um in Ethiopia, especially, uh, suffer from a shortage of electricity. Um, so that's like why they built this. Um that that are that piece of information was from 2017. So I I read something more recent. Um, in July 2020, the Ethiopian prime minister um announced that the first filing or sorry, the first filling of the dam has been completed. The early filling of the dam was attributed to heavy rains. Um, so that's good. So I think the the dams like in work in the works now, or like at least filled at this point, because it's been like almost a year. Um, so hopefully like the power shortage is getting better for them. Um, but yeah, it just it just produces so much electricity because of the Nile. Um throughout history, the Nile has been incredibly important for citizens throughout Africa, but it also presents numerous threats. These include crocodiles that can move that can move around 30 miles an hour on land and kill 200 people a year. 30 miles an hour a crocodile can move. That's fast.
SPEAKER_00So the Nile crocodile, yeah. Yeah, don't they kill a ton of people just trying to like chill by the river's edge?
SPEAKER_03Just anything they can, like if they're hungry, they're coming after you.
SPEAKER_00I was gonna say, if you wanted a pet dinosaur, just get a crocodile. Oh god, they're the worst I fucking hate crocodiles.
SPEAKER_03Okay, do you remember this? Wasn't a crocodile, I think it was an alligator, but that poor kid at Disney World. Girl, I know that you have like a young child, so that was like devastating for you. You were like, I can't deal with this situation.
SPEAKER_00My mother was more affected by it because you know she believes in dinosaurs, I guess. Outside your so we I think it was two years after that happened. We went to so that happened at the Grand Floridian, yeah, which is like the like nicest resort you can stay at at Disney, but it shares the little man-made like lake with um the resort that we were at. Was that the Moana one? Yeah, the Polynesian resort. Oh, so like after when so it happened, it actually might have been the next year. We went shortly after it happened to Disney World.
SPEAKER_03You went like, I think a year and a half later.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. So like every there, I think there was another, there's another resort like on that little man-made lake, but every resort had like a beach with sand, and I had been there many times as a child, like every single year of my childhood, we always went to Disney World and we stayed at one of those places.
SPEAKER_03I think when I went to Disney World, the one time we did, I I know that we stayed at a hotel with a lake that we swam in.
SPEAKER_00Yes. So and I don't know which one it was, I'll have to ask my mom, but like which is so shady because yeah, they so this family, they were with their two-year-old and their older daughter, I think she was like five. I don't I'm sure they were paid off their multimillionaires at this point. But the fact that Disney was allowing people to so there were there were signs up that had that were saying we couldn't. It said no swimming.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_00But people still would and would wade in there. And um, when we were there They would, yeah, people would go in there.
SPEAKER_03Okay, because I thought that okay, go ahead.
SPEAKER_00But when we were there after this happened, there were these like fences up where you could there is no way a crocodile or an alligator could I guess there's no crocodiles, but an alligator could get over that and you could climb over it technically, but like there's all these signs that are like absolutely no swimming.
SPEAKER_03It probably looks ugly with the fence, but it's like worth it if you have no, it was like it's no, it was a cute little fence, honestly. Uh oh.
SPEAKER_00But but you know, it's because my brother and I took my daughter for a walk on the little beach in front of a resort, and we were like, Yeah, those, and there were all these signs that were like warning, warning, crocodile, crocodile, you know, or alligator. I don't know, it's it's alligators, right? I think so.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, in Florida, yeah.
SPEAKER_00But um, yeah, that was that was horrendous. That was so terrible, and I cannot believe the kid wasn't even in the water. I think he was like he was on the beach, chipping his feet in with his parents and his sister and the and then it just came up and ate him. It just well, it didn't even it it didn't even eat him, it took him, dragged him underwater, drowned him, and stuffed his body under a log underwater for later to come back and eat him. That's disgusting because they found his body, you know, right away, I think, or within an hour or so, they found it.
SPEAKER_03Um, but you know how horrific is that?
SPEAKER_00Well, it's like you're at Disney World. I the fact that I mean Disney would even allow people knowing that there were possibly alligators, because in Florida, like you don't I don't think you swim in like you don't really I don't know. I just I know people from Florida, like it's it's you have to be careful about where you swim.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, for sure. Because they're like, I mean, you see these like big ass alligators on like golf courses, like walking around.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, my grandparents lived down there and they would randomly have an alligator like in their backyard just like passing through. Yeah. Or like in a pool.
SPEAKER_03Oh, it's just so terrible. I remember you and I talking about that anyway.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, that really was terrible.
SPEAKER_03Crocodiles are actually more aggressive, though. What are crocodiles?
SPEAKER_00Oh, yeah, I know.
SPEAKER_03Oh god, they're awful. Okay, so the topic really, I just wanted to give you some background information about the Nile, but the topic really is about the dangerous animals that live on the Nile. Oh my gosh, okay. Okay, all right. So the um, these are the top animals that make the Nile dangerous. Um, the black mamba lives there.
SPEAKER_00Snake.
SPEAKER_03Mm-hmm. Um, so okay, so the black mama snakes are not known, are not named for their exterior color, but rather the inky black that appears inside their mouth.
SPEAKER_01Ugh.
SPEAKER_03So that's what the why why they're called the black mama. Um since they are one of the world's most venomous and deadly snakes, the inside of the black mama's mouth is not what you want to see. They're highly toxic, toxic venom can kill a person in 20 minutes. Like if you're if you're bitten by one, like you're not gonna make it in time.
SPEAKER_00Unless you're like next to a hospital.
SPEAKER_03Right. If left untreated, um, oh sorry, if left untreated, you're gonna die in 20 minutes. Um, if that's not scary enough, these deadly snakes are extremely aggressive and have the ability to move up to 12 miles per hour.
SPEAKER_00I don't even think I can run 12 miles.
SPEAKER_03I don't, I was thinking that too.
SPEAKER_00How would I escape?
SPEAKER_03I think I was doing like in high school when I was like in my best shape. I think I was doing like 10 miles per hour. So these snakes can like come after you.
SPEAKER_00Why does a snake want to bite you? That's what I want to know. Because it because you're a threat, because it's not trying to eat one of us.
SPEAKER_03No, it's not like an anaconda, it's just like on the banks of the Nile. So if you're like in there and like you step on one or like you either buy them, or threaten one, yeah. When they attack, they will often strike more than once and inject a good amount of venom each time. So they like keep biting you, inject more venom. Um, although there is anti venom, it is not widely available in parts of Africa. Another reason the black mama is considered to be so deadly, it kills get this 20,000 people a year.
SPEAKER_00No, yeah, they need to tighten that up. There's gotta be maybe some more venom available.
SPEAKER_03I mean, if you think about it though, like there's so many like remote places in Africa, which is like where you know, I if I were gonna go visit there, I would literally spend like hundreds of dollars on anti-venom for so many things. I think also you and like have it in my backpack.
SPEAKER_00I don't know that you would be in a situation where you would be walking down to the banks of the Nile without like coverage.
SPEAKER_03I don't know because I love the Nile. I just like I need to be there. Okay. Okay, so the Nile crocodile. Um, one of the scariest and most deadly creatures to live in the Nile River is the Nile crocodile, the biggest of all Africa's crocodiles. Nile crocs can weigh as much as 1650 pounds. Um, and measure how much? Sorry, 1650. I think I said that weird. Wow. Um, pounds, and measure up to 20 feet long. That's higher than like that's so huge. They are higher than my ceiling. They're big, they're big motherfuckers. They're dinosaurs, but I want a real dinosaur. I don't want a croc.
SPEAKER_00Well, they're they are, I think, though. Don't they have yes?
SPEAKER_03They're basically dinosaurs, reptiles. But I want like a I want like a real, like you can't, you're not in Jurassic Park.
SPEAKER_00Damn it, can't have it.
SPEAKER_03I still believe in the mosquito theory. I don't think it's not a thing.
SPEAKER_00They would have done it, it's not real. It was a good idea, it was in a fiction book. Ugh.
SPEAKER_03They're extremely aggressive and skilled predators hiding in the river, snatching their prey from the shore with their long, powerful jaws and dragging it underwater to drown. Oh my god, that's like what we just talked about. So, like, that's what they do. Like, you can't really that's why they're so deadly. Is that they're like literally stalking you, yeah, but like you can't see them, and then like if you're by the shore, like cleaning your clothes or whatever it is, which a lot of people I think use to the Nile to like wash their clothes in like the poorer countries, like, yeah. Um, hundreds of humans are attacked and possibly killed every year by these scary creatures, proving Nile crocodiles are optimistic eaters and will go after whatever prey they can, regardless of species.
SPEAKER_00They kill about 200 people each year, which isn't a lot for the population of Africa, but still, yeah.
SPEAKER_03And they're like that, you know, the crocodile roll. The what? The crocodile roll.
SPEAKER_00Oh, yeah.
SPEAKER_03That's like the worst part. It's like they grab onto you and they roll, they roll, roll, roll, right. Okay, uh, the next animal that lives next to the Nile is the Egyptian cobra. Um, according. I know. According to legend, it was an Egyptian cobra that bit Cleopatra and helped her commit suicide.
SPEAKER_00Oh, yes. The legend is that she stuck her hand in like the straw basket. What?
SPEAKER_03Sorry, I'm laughing because you just reminded me of like the Bible that I was like I had to learn growing up. Yes, because you know how like Moses they sent him in a basket down the Nile, like a like a reed basket. Unaware. Okay, well, they did that, and I'm like, that's a baby idea. Yeah, they put the baby in a basket and was like, here you go, and floated it down the river.
SPEAKER_00There's a lot of terrible ideas in the Bible. So I think sending a baby in a basket down the Nile is like pretty that's like pretty it's like you wanted the baby to that's one of the bad ideas.
SPEAKER_03Oh god, anyways, that's why I was laughing.
SPEAKER_00But, anyways, what were you saying about the the whole story is that Cleopatra was like, I'm done, I'm dying. Wasn't she like 15?
SPEAKER_03Yeah, and she was like, Why was she dying? Did she have a disease?
SPEAKER_00No, I don't know, I have no idea. And she put her hand in a basket of her cobras, and they one of them bit her, and that's how she like decided to commit suicide. Oh, but there's a lot to the Cleopatra story. Like, I feel like she stole like her sister's man, the king.
SPEAKER_03So she was kind of a bitch.
SPEAKER_00She was a ho. Oh ho ho.
unknownI didn't know.
SPEAKER_00Which is fine. I mean, do it. I mean, do what you gotta do, but steal your sister's man if that means that you're gonna like get somewhere. I guess I don't know.
SPEAKER_03God, that must have been an awful way to commit suicide, though, because that's like not quick.
SPEAKER_00It might have been the other way around where her little slutty sister stole her man. Oh, I'm not sure. There was something with this.
SPEAKER_03Is there a movie about it?
SPEAKER_00There's yeah, well, so there's like the famous movie with um with who? Elizabeth huge actress. Taylor, Elizabeth Taylor. Oh, cool. I should watch it. And I feel like maybe not. No, did Angelina Jolie play her?
SPEAKER_03Ooh, that would be hot.
SPEAKER_00Maybe.
SPEAKER_03Um okay, anyways. Um, it's okay. I like I like our sidebars today. I'm like really having fun.
SPEAKER_00Okay, good.
SPEAKER_03Um, these cobras are feared due to their extreme, sorry, due to their extremely potent venom, which has the ability to take down an adult elephant in three hours. And that's a big that's a big thing. Yeah. Can you imagine a human? It's like you're dead.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, you'd be screwed.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. The venom is so toxic, it will paralyze while destroying the victim's victim's nervous system, ultimately killing them due to the respiratory system shutting down. Although they will display their un or their easily un sorry, their easily recognizable hood when threatened.
SPEAKER_02Hood?
SPEAKER_03Yeah, like the thing that comes out, the cobra, like the cheeks that flare. Do you know what I'm saying? Um they're unable to you know, when they like when they hiss, their like cheeks come out. I think they have that like diamond-shaped head, but I think it comes out more. I think that's what I'm picturing it, yeah. Yeah. Um, but they are unable to spit venom like other cobras. Um, Egyptian cobras can be found in all areas over Africa, including many parts of the Nile. Um, but uh the death rate is about 34 deaths each year.
SPEAKER_00Wow.
SPEAKER_03Oh, yeah, they're like they're that like majestic looking snake with like the yeah, it's like where the guy plays the flute or whatever, or not the flute, and it comes out of the basket.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I don't know if that's real. Is that real? I think I saw that in Aladdin and I was like, yes, and like Indiana Jones, maybe. I don't know. Yeah, I have no idea what it means.
SPEAKER_03I think it does happen like a snake charmer. Yeah, this is why we need to go. We need to go. We need to like literally take a month off and be like, bye, and we need to go to Egypt, Kenya, Rwanda, um, Zimbabwe, Seychelles, and South Africa. Okay, okay.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I agree. I wish I could do that in a world where there wasn't a global pandemic and I didn't have a four-year-old. Okay. Oh, and I had money, and I had money. Oh, yeah, that too. We need that. We kind of need that. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Okay. Hippopotamus. Oh, those motherfuckers. I know. Um, they're translated to river horse. Um it says hippopotami, that's like what you can call them, like as a group.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, it's a plural.
SPEAKER_03Oh, okay. Uh, may appear slow and dumb, but in reality, they are anything but although they are uh although they spend a lot of time in the water, they will make their way onto so excuse me, solid ground to consume up to 80 pounds of grass every night. That's a lot of grass, um, which is weird because like an animal that big, they eat that much, like they eat grass.
SPEAKER_00Um, I thought they would eat more things, yeah. But don't they murder people?
SPEAKER_03Yeah. Oh, so they no, no, no, no. I but that's like what I keep reading that they ate. Like I think they they they murder other things for like omnivores territory.
SPEAKER_00Are they omnivores?
SPEAKER_03Um, I think or maybe they're maybe they're they're um they're just aggressive and they defend their territory, but they don't eat the people.
SPEAKER_00Oh, okay.
SPEAKER_03So yeah, they just kill you, but they eat the grass. That's what's like so amazing is that these animals this big can like they're like, don't threaten my vegetables. Yeah, it's like nobody was trying to no one was trying to eat your grass. We don't want your grass. Um, that doesn't seem like very much food for the third biggest animal on earth. Did you know that? They're the third biggest animal on earth. Yeah, I knew that they were one of the wait, that's crazy because like we have elephant, we have the whale, and then the hippo.
SPEAKER_00Blue whale is the biggest animal, right?
SPEAKER_03Mammal, mammal, then is animal is animal and mammal different.
SPEAKER_00Oh god, you're gonna make me look real stupid, cat. Why? Um, and I think a mammal is a type of animal. Okay, because I don't know. That's why I'm saying you're gonna make me look stupid because I don't know.
SPEAKER_03Oh my god, we don't have to know everything. We're not scientists.
SPEAKER_00We don't, and we don't know everything.
SPEAKER_03Okay, um, hippos can be extreme extremely aggressive, dominating their territory to to a point where um crocodiles and even lions and hyenas will stay away from them. Yeah, they have also been known to attack boats and people in the water, um, although they are protecting their young from threats in these cases. Hippos kill 3,000 people a year.
SPEAKER_00I was gonna say there was like this, I don't know, I've just seen this thing online for the last like five years. It's like, did you know hippos kill more people than crocodiles?
SPEAKER_03Yeah. Um, here's an interesting fact going back to ancient Egypt again. Um, there's a theory that a hippo killed King Tut. Really? Why he was Dr. Benson Harrer um has added a new theory to the mix: death by hippo, an Egypt uh an Egyptology professor at California State University. Herer had previously established that King Tut had several ribs and was embedded without his heart or in uh interior chest wall, which is a departure from the strictly codified mummification process of the era. So they like had to follow like strict rules, and he was without his heart or like his chest walls. So they were like, whoa. Um, in Hara's view, this made the case for a crushing injury to the chest as the cause of death. Um, pointing to the Egyptian's pharaoh's uh known fondness for hippopotamus hunt hunting. He has now suggested that a lethal hippobite might have been the damage that killed him.
SPEAKER_00Wasn't he also like wasn't he like 12? Yeah, or like 19 or something. God, they didn't live long, did they, huh? No, I think, but no, but he had an untimely death. He was young, he was like a teenager.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, that makes sense. Yeah, it's kind of cool. So I learned that. Um, okay, so the next animal is the African rock python, which is the largest snake in Africa, and it can be found around the Nile River. African rock rock pythons can grow up to 20 feet long, and they are not known for being friendly, they can be extremely aggressive when provoked or hungry and have killed humans.
SPEAKER_00Not known for being friendly, no shit.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, the pythons, no shit. Um, although they are not venomous snakes, they will constrict themselves around their prey, tightening their grip each time the victim in exhales. Uh, rock pythons swallow their prey whole and are able to consume animals as big as crocodile crocodiles and antelopes, which is so weird. They're like, I know it's it's like disgusting, though. It's like, how do you do that? Have you seen the film, the seminal film Anaconda with my god, it's the worst movie, but it's the best movie.
SPEAKER_00I watched this um like critique of it on YouTube by this wildlife expert, and he was like, Yeah, no, like anacondas don't like wrap themselves around you starting with their tail, like they're doing like a swing dance, and also like they like don't hunt people like that, but um yeah, no, they do they they can expand and but you can get them off of you. Like how do you cut them? So if you so what I've researched and heard, um, if you pour liquid on their face, like what kind, like water or anything? Well, yeah, pythons and anacondas. So water, but also I was watching this thing about snake owners, and a lot of them keep like a jug of vodka next to their like snake tank in case like their their their snake like latches onto them and starts wrapping itself around them. Wow, you just pour vodka like in their head region, and I guess they release. Wow, or something. Oh, but I think you can do it with like most liquids. I don't know, vodka maybe just be more of like it's probably like stings them or something, yeah. Or yeah, the alcohol content does something, but um, but also like don't own a python. People do.
SPEAKER_03I know it's weird. My ex-boyfriend's um brother had a a snake that would I think technically could like my big I mean I think I think it's fine to like own a python, but my biggest fear would be like it escaping its cage and like strangling me in the night, which I I've totally happened, yeah.
SPEAKER_00Oh yeah, yeah. No, I think it's weird to own snakes. Very because then and then keeping them in that little glass cage, that's so odd. I know it's like let them live.
SPEAKER_03Let them remember the um snake that got loose in Maine in yes, and that's like right behind where I used to work, wasn't it? I worked there for like four years in this building, like in the river was right behind us, and there was like a giant anna like it was an anaconda.
SPEAKER_00No, no, this happened recently.
SPEAKER_03No, I know.
SPEAKER_00No, wait, it wasn't no, it was like a python. I think it was like a 10-foot. Oh, maybe it wasn't working there at the time, but it went after, yeah. It was like two years ago, it was like a name him. It was Wesie, yeah, because it was in Westbrook, and it was like a 10-foot-long python that was just loose in the town, and I don't know if they found him, but I don't think they ever found him.
SPEAKER_03I don't know, but the he could have frozen in the in the winter, unfortunately.
SPEAKER_00The concern was that he was just gonna start like murdering everybody's dogs and cats because he was hungry.
SPEAKER_03Oh god, that was so crazy.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, all right.
SPEAKER_03So, um, the African rock python, their digestive system is so sophisticated, a huge meal gives them enough to digest for an entire year.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_03So if they eat like a crocodile, they're good for a year.
SPEAKER_00Ugh, how would that even happen? I don't know, it's crazy.
SPEAKER_03Disgusting. Um, but a lot of like you said, we were just talking about this. Um, just this is like a random fact and has nothing to do with the Nile. But um, as pets, uh, two boys were found strangled by an African rock python in New Brunswick, Canada.
SPEAKER_00Um it was their pet.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, they were so uh they're so ill-tempered that they come out of the egg striking. Um the egg, yeah, like when they're born, these these pets, like or these uh this African python, like it comes out like it's like piss. Yeah, it's like piss. It's like get me back in the egg.
SPEAKER_00No, it's like I'm gonna kill everybody around exactly.
SPEAKER_03Um, and there's a quote that says, I personally don't see why people need to have these as pets, they're not good pets, and look what ends up happening. Um, I was shocked to hear about this. The snake escaped from its enclosure and through the ceiling of the apartment where the boys are visiting.
SPEAKER_00So that's like oh, it wasn't even their pet. Yeah, oh, I guess it was somebody else's pet. Sorry. Holy shit.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, it was someone else's pet, and they were in the ceiling, so it's like no offense to like anyone listening.
SPEAKER_00Someone who thinks it's cool to have a snake in a glass case that can kill you, they're weirdo. That's a weird person.
SPEAKER_03I don't know. My friend Chelsea, like, she had a snake that was really cool, but it wasn't a python, it wasn't deadly.
SPEAKER_00That's what I'm saying, though. Like a a snake that could kill you.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, like you have to be a little or gets loose and kills your neighbor's children. Right, as if you have a snake fetish.
SPEAKER_00Oh, I don't even want to know about those details.
SPEAKER_03What would that even I don't know? Just just do it though, if you do, it's fine. Okay, maybe people are like the thought of getting like strangled is like a good thing.
SPEAKER_00I'm sure there's a yeah, I'm sure there is that.
SPEAKER_03All right, so the next animal is a mosquito. Uh, the West obviously mosquitoes killed more people in the entire world than anything else. Um, what's the actual stat though? I don't I didn't read that.
SPEAKER_00No, no, no, but it's half of isn't it like half of all people that ever lived on earth have died from a mosquito um caused disease like malaria? Um half of the people that have ever lived in the world have died because of a mosquito. That's true.
SPEAKER_03Probably, yeah. Yeah. The I I should have looked it up, the the stats for the West Nile disease, but I know like I I think West Nile like actually came over here. Yeah, I think it did too, right? And I like it's been all over the world, yeah. But it like it that's where it came from. Um the West Nile virus was discovered in 1937 when a woman west of the Nile in Uganda was affected. It has since spread all over the world thanks to birds transporting it and mosquitoes passing it on. Malaria is another disease, which can be partially blamed on mosquitoes. And even though there is a cure, the World Health Organization report it still causes somewhere around one million deaths each year. So I did write it down. Sorry. Yeah, one million deaths each year. That's crazy. Yeah, yeah. Um, since mosquitoes incubate the larvae um in water, the Nile River is most likely to uh many of these blood suckers. Since 90 uh since 90% of all malaria cases in the world appear in Africa, perhaps it's mosquitoes are uh mosquitoes which are the most deadly thing around the Nile. So I guess the Nile does produce like uh malaria and West Nile virus, but yeah, but you've heard of West Nile. Like it's like oh yeah, it's crazy that it's like come here, but it's from birds.
SPEAKER_00Uh from mosquitoes transferring it to birds, right? Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_03Um, the African tiger fish is the next animal. It's related to piranhas. Whoa, piranhas. African tigerfish. Um that's like a uh it's another aquatic creature that's carnivorous. Their powerful jaws and protruding sharp teeth are used to consume other fish, making it the most vicious predator in the Nile. They are they aren't they aren't picky eaters, so they'll like pretty much eat anything in the water. Um so that's like scary.
SPEAKER_00Will they eat a person or just like bite a person? Yeah, no, they'll eat anything. They're just like they're not gonna like eat a person if you're swimming, they don't like eat you. No, they will. How are they gonna eat you? They'll bite you, but a swarm of them.
SPEAKER_03Uh no, a swarm of you, a swarm of them.
SPEAKER_00They'd kill you, yeah.
SPEAKER_02Where's the like a swarm of tiger fish would?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, how many people have been killed by a swarm of tiger fish? Couldn't find it because probably I don't think anybody's been killed by like a tiger fish.
SPEAKER_03I mean, I can look it up, but it's deadly don't think I can find it to other animals, other creatures.
SPEAKER_00Um, I saw something recently on River Monsters. Well, it says all that people, they just like will bite you, but like they're not they've never really like maybe they've killed like one. Person.
SPEAKER_03It says although tiger tiger fish can grow um quite large at almost 41 inches long and weigh as much as 62 pounds, they're as dangerous to humans as piranhas. So maybe maybe they just do bite you, but like I'm sure you get like bacteria and get infected or something. But I I could not, I don't even know if I looked actually to be very clear, but um yeah. Okay, so the next animal is the Nile Monitor Lizard.
SPEAKER_00Monitor lizard.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, the most dangerous ones I know are in Indonesia that like kill a lot of people. Um, the monitor lizard found around the Nile are not as big as crocodiles, which is like in the family, but they're still some of the largest lizards in Africa. They're able to grow up to almost 80 inches long. They use their powerful tails to swim like pros, so they can swim, which I had no idea. Um, but can also whip them with strength and accuracy with when self-defense is needed. So they like use their tails to like fight you off. Um, nile monitors are known as vicious predators and are not picky about their prey, killing and consuming fish, frogs, birds, and small mammals. They also have been observed using teamwork to distract female crocodiles from their nest while another lizard steals their eggs. It's kind of like I feel like that's like a dino thing.
SPEAKER_00That's like that movie, that Disney movie, um, rescuers.
SPEAKER_02Yes, I loved that movie. Rescuers Down Under. Yes, yeah.
SPEAKER_03I I love both of those movies, like the little orphan in the first one when she sings, like Come Rescue Me. I oh dead, yeah.
SPEAKER_00The rescue rescuers down under the like Australian I love that one too. Oh no, he wasn't even Australian. The poet was the Australian poacher. One of the people that was living in Australia wasn't, I think it was maybe the boy. He didn't have an Australian accent, which was really weird. But um, he had that little like lizard sidekick that was like stealing the eggs.
SPEAKER_03Oh my god, the rescuers are like literally. I need to watch that again and just like cry. Um, so really quick, this is an interesting fact. The monitor actually uses it, it's like a lizard that uses venom to kill small prey, which I did not know. Yeah. Um, for as for humans, um, they only are dangerous because they won't eat you, but they can bite you, and they have a lot of bacteria in their sharp teeth. Um, but it's not necessarily fatal to humans. But if you don't treat it, you could, you know, die of the bacteria.
SPEAKER_00So that is like that other creature, the like drag the Komodo dragon.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, the Komodo dragon is the one in in Indonesia, I believe.
SPEAKER_00It bites you and its venom slowly kills you, so you can like keep crawling away from it or running, and yeah, you'll you'll die. You'll die.
SPEAKER_03Okay, the next animal is the um Vundu catfish. Um, this I found this really weird. Um Vundu catfish hang out at the bottle, uh, the bottle, the bottom of the Nile River, occasionally surfacing to eat whatever it can find. This includes many um fish, any garbage that's thrown into the water, any animal carcasses that it's left behind. Um, basically, Vundu catfish are the vultures of the Nile. Their long, thick body can weigh more than a hundred pounds. And because they need to occasionally breathe, it said that the Vundu catfish can survive out of the water for a good chunk of time. Or sorry, yeah, out of the water for a good chunk of time. There are also rumors that full-grown men have been dragged to their death by these catfish, but this has never been confirmed.
SPEAKER_00Ugh. So it can survive out of water. How does it get out of water?
SPEAKER_03I don't know, didn't say really, I didn't really go that much into it, but I just like don't like the fact that that's a giant catfish. Yeah. 100-pound catfish. That's ugly. Also, they're like disgusting. They like eat whatever. That's why I don't like lobster. I know a lot of you guys out there like lobster, no offense. Like, I just think they're like cockroaches.
SPEAKER_00They like whatever no, they literally are. And I can't deal with it. My stepmother's nephew is a he, I guess he's technically a scientist. For years, like he studied biology and like ice bugs in Alaska. He, I remember when I was younger, him like a family gathering. He was like, you know, lobsters are basically cockroaches that like just live in the water. They have this same thing. They are like they have all the same like characteristics.
SPEAKER_03They're just sc and cockroaches are my worst fear. Like, I could I can handle spiders, I can handle any insect you want, but cockroaches, no, thank you. Nope.
SPEAKER_00Same, same. Yeah. When I lived in Honduras, I think I mentioned this like our last episode. I'm not trying to like only ever talk about Honduras, but when I lived there, the cockroaches, they also called them like palmetto bugs.
SPEAKER_03That's so disgusting.
SPEAKER_00They were the size of a deck of cards.
SPEAKER_03That's so disgusting. I would literally die. I would not be able to do that.
SPEAKER_00No, yeah. So, like, I remember I was renting this room, this hotel room, and um my friend Alex and I were like just hanging out in the room, and this cockroach crawled up the wall. It was seriously the size of like my palm. Ew.
SPEAKER_03Maybe a little smaller. I mean, I don't know how you like lived there for so long. I would have so I've been dead.
SPEAKER_00My friend Alex, she starts freaking out. I'm freaking out. We're both of us are like so. I she I was like, I'm gonna go. There was a convenience store right across the street, and I was like, I'm gonna go get a bottle of raid because I knew they I had been in the store and I saw that they had that. I run across, get the raid. It's like you know, six minutes later. I sprayed this. The cockroach is just on the wall. I sprayed the cockroach three inches away from it with raid.
SPEAKER_03They don't give a fuck. It like does it like literally doesn't die.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I sprayed it for like 20 seconds. Alex and I were like gagging, it just crawls away. Nothing, it yeah, not it did not give a fuck, it didn't care, it didn't matter.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I know it doesn't work, and like I I remember being in Texas like two years ago, and there was this cockroach that was like coming after me, and my mom and I got raided, and my mom's like, it won't die, it won't die, and we kept spraying and it wouldn't die. It was like hilarious.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, they don't it's I don't know what can kill them. You have to like feed them something.
SPEAKER_02I don't know.
SPEAKER_03All right, um, the next animal. Sorry, uh, is that what I know? Sanboa. I'm trying to make it quick. No, do you why would you make it quick? I don't know. Just like I feel like we're taking up some time. Take up the time. This like creeps me out though, like the sandboa. I really don't like this. What is it? Sandboa, it's like a snake. Um, and sandboas get their name from the use of sand to stock their prey. They basically bury their whole body except for their little heads. Nope. So you can't see it, but their head is like there, not cool. Yeah, and they're like they camouflage with it too. So um they also can constrict your body and squeeze the victim until it suffocates. Um, but mostly a threat to small animals again, not so much for humans, but here's some fun facts about them. Um, when food is scarce, sandboas may live over a year without any food at all. Wow. And sandboas are the smallest boas species on earth.
SPEAKER_00So they're the smallest boa constructor, yeah. On earth. Wow.
SPEAKER_03But they are but it's like creepy that they like bury them. Like, what if you're like walking along the shore and you just like don't see their little head, and then they just come out, they jet out and like try to get you.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I don't know why you would walk along the shore at this point. I will. There's like 10 things that can kill you.
SPEAKER_03I know.
SPEAKER_00I'm talking about you, I'm not talking about the people that live. I'm talking about you.
SPEAKER_03I just really want to go. I know. Um the Nile perch is the next um fish. It's a African knife fish, which is a species of fish.
SPEAKER_00Um African knife fish. Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER_03It has an appearance similar to an eel, and they share the ability to wield an electric field around their body. Uh-huh. Um, however, the knife, the knife fish um electric current, which they use to navigate with a method similar to sonar, is much weaker than that of an eel. They are nocturnal predators and feed on insects and worms along the bottom of the Nile. Although knifefish can be aggressive and are able to grow 12 inches long, many people keep them as exotic pets. Uh, knifefish um are also capable of making different noises, such as bell-like sounds when swallowing surface air and barks during mating.
SPEAKER_01It's like woof, woof, I'm getting it. Oh god. Uh I think so.
SPEAKER_03Okay. So those are the animals that I found to be interesting and dangerous. Um, the question is, can you swim in the Nile River? And when I look it up a lot of articles, they say it is not safe. Uh I think we've I think we now know that. Well, uh, due to the presence of okay, I'm gonna really try this. Of the all the poopy. This is so hard. Shistosemiasis. You're saying that like a drunk person.
SPEAKER_00You're like shisting.
SPEAKER_03No, it's really hard. Gistos semi semi mass.
SPEAKER_00Hey, spell it for me.
SPEAKER_03S C H I S T O S O M I A S I S.
SPEAKER_00I can't, I can't I can't pronounce that with the spelling. My brain doesn't work that fast. Cisto.
SPEAKER_03So it's also known as a snail fever.
SPEAKER_00Oh, like leechmaniasis.
SPEAKER_03But yeah, I've seen this on the monster inside me. Yes. Um, it's a disease caused by parasitic flatworms called schistosomas. I think it's cysto. Why would it be sha? It's s d-h I send the H shits, yeah.
SPEAKER_02Okay.
SPEAKER_03Um, they so it affects the urinary, like the urinary tract and intestines may be infected. Symptoms include abdominal pain, diarrhea, bloody stool, and blood in the urine. So not good. So, and they say, yeah, swimming in the Nile is not recommended, but there are a few like places that are safe, and it's usually where the water is running really hard. Um, but um, there are several like places that they mentioned, but they were all kind of like varied, so I didn't really trust writing it down because I was like, I don't know.
SPEAKER_00I'm more scared of parasites than hippos and crocodiles, by the way. Yeah, they're the worst.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. But then I like wanted to do like a a benefit of this, and I wanted to like look up, you know, someone local. And I I went on Quora.com and um found this review of swimming in the Nile, and it said, um, as an Egyptian who who lived there all my childhood by the Nile, I can answer this question. I lived in Egypt for 23 years before moving to the US in 2010. I spent most of those years partying with friends swimming in the Nile, especially in hot summer season. Um, it was like a tradition. If you have ever been to Rosetta in the summer, yes, the city where Rosetta Stone was originally found, in quotes. Um, you will see small boats gathering and tens of hundreds of semi-naked people in the middle of the Nile for just jumping in to swim. It is perfectly fine. And I have never had any problem or never heard that someone had a problem swimming in the Nile. Water is not perfectly clear, but no alligators, no shistom uh shistoma or large. I don't know what it is. Yeah, can make swimming dangerous or anything like that. People confuse the Nile water with a long um oh sorry, people can confuse the Nile River um with other long but narrow canals and rural areas. Um, so I think he's like basically saying like there's some parts that you can swim in. I think that's literally what he's saying. Yeah, but he like he said, like, go if you're gonna go, go to like a wide part of the river and jump in the middle and you're fine. But if you're gonna go down these like skinny narrow pathways, like there's probably gonna be like animals like there.
SPEAKER_00I think he's also saying like the more populated areas of the river are cool. Also, I've never personally been affected, so I'm gonna give like a good review, the way that like everybody gives reviews about everything.
SPEAKER_03Core, of course, yeah. And I wanted to include that because he's like actually from Egypt.
SPEAKER_00Also, I love that that you went to Quora. I didn't know that was a thing, isn't that like the Yahoo of I just I just like Googled, like, is it safe to swim?
SPEAKER_03And I I just I I just discovered it, and I was like, I have to include this, you know. Yeah, um, and that is the end of my tales of the Nile.
SPEAKER_00Wow, so very eye-opening. Um, I've never wanted to swim in the Nile, and now I know I really don't want to. Um The Heart of Darkness, as they call it in the Congo. Did you know that? Yeah, did you read in high school Heart of Darkness?
SPEAKER_02Why no, I didn't read. Not the book.
SPEAKER_03Oh, yeah, oh, I forgot you didn't read. Yeah, I just I don't well I could read, but I didn't want to. I never I didn't want to. But like that's a cool book I actually would have read. Like they were giving me like books that were horrible, so yeah, you should have given it a chance.
SPEAKER_00What is it about? It's about the Congo, and um, I you know, how I think it's a fictional book, but Heart of Darkness.
SPEAKER_03Um it's my it's my biggest dream to go there, like yeah, to go to Africa in general, and but especially Egypt, and just even I was if I was there like two days, like in all the places I want to go, I I would just totally do it, and it'd be my life would be made.
SPEAKER_00There's just too many dangerous animals, Kat. Who cares? We don't know where to go. Come and eat me to the Nile. Come and eat me. Hey guys, thank you so much for listening to this episode of Killer Earth. We had major technical difficulties um both recording this episode and actually publishing it. Um, so we apologize for the like weeks delay it took to get this episode out, but uh we've recorded a bunch more episodes. We're gonna be releasing them um in more of a timely fashion. Uh, we know we've been slacking, we've been super busy. But again, thank you so much for your support. Thank you for listening. We have merch now that'll go on sale soon. And yeah, to the seven and a half people that listen, don't give up on us because we promise we are gonna have a lot of new, fresh content. So, with that being said, enjoy your day. Bye bye. Okay, beach, go away now.