Bonus: Pika Who?

[00:00:00] This is BewilderBeasts, an infotainment show dedicated to inspiring curiosity for all

[00:00:13] ages by investigating the ways animals intersect at humanity.

[00:00:17] I am not a historian and a anthropologist, a researcher, a scientist, a zoologist,

[00:00:22] a trained audio engineer or an expert in, well, anything.

[00:00:26] Y'all, I'm lucky if I can remember to put my clean laundry in the dryer before it gets

[00:00:30] funky.

[00:00:31] And while I make every effort to present things as accurately as I can with a fun flair,

[00:00:36] I'm going to mess up!

[00:00:37] And that's okay.

[00:00:38] I hope I've given you a nice place to jump off from on your own adventures into curiosity

[00:00:42] or at the very least, I've given you the key to when you're next round of trivia.

[00:00:56] Hello, hello, hello, welcome to BewilderBeasts.

[00:01:11] I'm your host, Melissa Mekima-Grath, still recording from the tiniest podcast studio

[00:01:14] class at Outside of Boston, Massachusetts.

[00:01:16] Today on BewilderBeasts, you get to hear my husband warm up on trumpet and pico-hoo!

[00:01:22] Okay, let's go!

[00:01:26] So bonus number two, and I'm guessing of all the episodes I've covered, this one might

[00:01:39] actually end up getting some…well, actually male as I'm not a Pokemon-efficient

[00:01:44] Otto.

[00:01:45] A bunch of rightfully angry seven-year-olds and a few 40-year-olds?

[00:01:49] Well, I'm just waiting.

[00:01:51] So sorry in advance.

[00:01:54] I'm really trying.

[00:01:56] Thank you, thank you, thank you for supporting this show and even if I'm wrong.

[00:02:00] Thank you so much for supporting this, whatever it is.

[00:02:04] So let's do this thing, pico-choo, I choose you.

[00:02:15] So there are a few news stories going on about now, and I'm recording this in late July

[00:02:19] 2021 about how the most famous Pokemon pico-choo is based on a real animal, a real animal that

[00:02:26] survives on Yak poop.

[00:02:29] Which makes me question the whole quote, feed candy to evolve weirdness that comes from

[00:02:33] this show?

[00:02:34] Evolution doesn't happen to an individual and Yak Dung is not candy, but we'll get

[00:02:40] into it in a minute.

[00:02:41] Let me back this train up because truthfully I'm a terrible representative of 80s and

[00:02:47] 90s culture because I didn't know at all about Pokey things until I had a kid who got

[00:02:52] into Pokemon hardcore.

[00:02:55] Thanks Netflix, she saw her very first episode and she was in so deep we had to catch up.

[00:03:02] And then because timing the Pokemon go craze hit keeping her Pokey thing fascination strong.

[00:03:08] At the time she was for an over the moon, so we were also over the moon because when you

[00:03:12] have a kiddo who doesn't go on walks with the family because we live in a city and cities

[00:03:16] are hard to foster exploration.

[00:03:19] I mean, there's only so many times that you can pass by the flock of pigeons or go to

[00:03:23] the Dunkin' Downids before saying, um, I'm good.

[00:03:27] Having a game like Pokemon go really helps inspire kids to go out and explore our area.

[00:03:32] Honestly it helps inspire a lot of middle aged people to go out and explore their areas

[00:03:36] too.

[00:03:37] So my kiddo had a target she had a thing that she could focus on and do.

[00:03:42] Kids to the Pokey stop, get Pokeballs, catch them all and most importantly get excited

[00:03:47] to go on walks.

[00:03:48] I am here for all of this.

[00:03:52] So when the stories came out this year about Pikachu is really based on a real animal,

[00:03:56] really.

[00:03:57] I thought, wait, this is news?

[00:04:00] In my kiddos encyclopedia of the over 800 Pokemon because that encyclopedia exists,

[00:04:08] they all seem to have a loose root in real animals.

[00:04:12] Here are some examples.

[00:04:14] Caterpee.

[00:04:15] It's not what you find in your litter box.

[00:04:18] It is a cartoony caterpillar that evolves into metapod which looks like a chrysalis.

[00:04:26] It's right there guys and then it evolves again into butter free which is, you'll be shocked

[00:04:32] a butterfly.

[00:04:33] So I do want to take a quick minute though to discuss one thought I had.

[00:04:39] I've had to explain numerous times to the point where I get the exasperated eye roll that

[00:04:45] only a child can give their parent.

[00:04:47] A deep sigh and a patented, I know mom of a kid who has heard this thing from my parent

[00:04:56] way too often.

[00:04:57] Pokemon creatures evolve when a trainer feeds the candy.

[00:05:01] The more candy then they evolve again.

[00:05:06] That's not how this works!

[00:05:07] That's not how any of this works.

[00:05:09] Ha!

[00:05:10] Okay, so I'm really curious to see if any biologist teachers are out there and if they

[00:05:14] find it really hard to teach evolution of the fundamental example is become a trainer

[00:05:20] feed candy evolution happens.

[00:05:23] It's not.

[00:05:24] That's how we got puggles.

[00:05:26] Although I've met puggles and I've also wondered if there was a trainer somewhere who just

[00:05:31] fed a dog candy and then just kept evolving them anyway.

[00:05:37] What all joking aside, evolution is a process that takes time, centuries.

[00:05:44] Giraffes evolved to have longer and longer necks because over time the shorter necks

[00:05:48] found it harder and harder to get food and they just died.

[00:05:52] The genes for long necks prevailed and continued to pass on to the little giraffes.

[00:05:57] Sure, mutations do still happen and sometimes those mutations are beneficial.

[00:06:04] But sometimes evolution has ideas and not unlike that one uncle everyone has a Thanksgiving

[00:06:12] who also has ideas.

[00:06:15] Super not great!

[00:06:16] See, in this giraffe example dwarf giraffes are a thing and though they are super cute

[00:06:22] they're not gaining any benefit.

[00:06:25] They are too short to reach the leaves and the two known dwarf giraffes that scientists

[00:06:31] have discovered in the last few years have not been spotted in well more years and

[00:06:38] they're presumed dead.

[00:06:42] And let's say I've also developed an ability to dig holes and become part of an underground

[00:06:46] giraffe mafia where they are thriving.

[00:06:48] Then hey, great move evolution but this is doubtful.

[00:06:52] For more on dwarf giraffes the episode 23 dwarfed giraffes and two dany de vidos.

[00:06:58] Back to the Pikachu inspiration.

[00:07:01] The OG Pokemon Ashes Best Bro Pikachu is commonly considered to be inspired by a mouse but

[00:07:10] the creator of Pikachu puts that myth too bad.

[00:07:14] Come for the weird animal stories, stay for the pokemon facts.

[00:07:18] I never thought it would come to this but here we are.

[00:07:22] Pikachu is based on a squirrel.

[00:07:24] The illustrator at Suku Nishita said that she thought squirrels were super cute.

[00:07:29] She loved their tail and fluffy bodies.

[00:07:32] So she turned the iconic squirrel tail into a lightning bolt, put lightning on Pikachu's

[00:07:37] cheeks because you know when squirrels eat their cheeks get all puffy and then there you

[00:07:41] go.

[00:07:42] Animals inspiring imagination and creativity at a card game that after 20 years after it

[00:07:48] hit the scene is still causing kids and yes grown adults to stand in line for cards, video

[00:07:56] games and as the mom of a kid who loves alping pokemon I will hunt down any Pikachu sweatshirt

[00:08:02] or PJ1Z until she is over this.

[00:08:05] And if you want to take a bit of a tangent do yourself a favor and look up on any video

[00:08:10] service you can find.

[00:08:11] The phrase germans can't say squirrel but there is a real life animal named after the

[00:08:18] Pikachu.

[00:08:20] So Peacas are a small mammal in North America and in Asia.

[00:08:23] Some of these happen to live on mountainous plateaus and Tibet and in China but unlike

[00:08:28] other small mammals they don't migrate to warmer climbs in the winter.

[00:08:33] The brutal brutal brutal winter.

[00:08:38] Peacas are 5000 meters above sea level, three fifths the height of Mount Everest, two

[00:08:43] and a half times as long as the Kentucky Derby track and five times as long as angel falls

[00:08:49] which is the highest waterfall in the world.

[00:08:53] And there aren't exactly a lot of berries available in the deep dark depths of winter time

[00:08:57] that far up.

[00:08:59] You need to conserve energy if you are a peaca right?

[00:09:02] Because taking the effort to move around and find things to eat all consumed precious

[00:09:06] precious precious energy.

[00:09:08] Misting warm when it's commonly 22 degrees below zero Fahrenheit and 30 degrees below

[00:09:16] zero Celsius takes a lot of energy.

[00:09:23] Or you could just use the tools you have.

[00:09:27] And in the Peacas case, yak poop, leaving, dung, droppings, gambled and lost, waste or poop.

[00:09:37] Which, pretty convenient given that it has food that yaks can't totally digest and some

[00:09:48] water in it.

[00:09:49] Which would otherwise be frozen solid and would take a lot of effort for peacas to get.

[00:09:55] So suck it up Pikachu, get a poop cycle which is basically candy right?

[00:10:01] And then evolve into something that might be able to hibernate and sleep through this

[00:10:04] long, devastating impossible winter.

[00:10:07] Hey, Peaca, wake me up when the brushberries emerge.

[00:10:11] And there's one other way in which Pikachu has inspired real life.

[00:10:16] There is an Australian possum who is gaining attention for its unique color of fur and

[00:10:21] is prompting it to be called the Pikachu Possum.

[00:10:25] The bright yellow color comes from the animal's genetic mutation.

[00:10:29] And this mutation is resulting in lower levels of melanin.

[00:10:33] And if you think about humans, we have a varying degree of melanin too.

[00:10:37] I am...

[00:10:39] Pasty.

[00:10:40] Very...

[00:10:41] Very, very white.

[00:10:45] I have a very low level of melanin.

[00:10:48] The more melanin you have, the more dark your skin appears.

[00:10:53] In this particular situation, the Pikachu Possum has a lower level of melanin compared to normal

[00:11:00] Australian possums.

[00:11:02] So Pikachu...

[00:11:04] So if you Google Pikachu Possum, you will see a bright yellow brushtail possum that looks

[00:11:12] very similar to the iconic Pokémon character.

[00:11:16] He's bright yellow.

[00:11:18] He's got a little pink nose.

[00:11:20] He's got little beady black eyes.

[00:11:22] He's awesome.

[00:11:24] And of course, safe named in Pikachu because what else are you going to name him?

[00:11:28] But he is presently living at the Baronia Veterinary Clinic in Melbourne, Australia.

[00:11:33] He apparently arrived by himself.

[00:11:36] But his caretaker said that it's likely that the five-month-old baby fell off of his mom's

[00:11:42] back.

[00:11:43] Why is that a big deal?

[00:11:44] Well...

[00:11:45] Because of his unusual color, they can't really release him back into the wild because

[00:11:50] of the yellow color being very, very visible to predators at night.

[00:11:56] Humans tend to come out at night as do their predators like owls and other birds of prey.

[00:12:01] So if this little Pikachu went out, he would just get eaten like that.

[00:12:06] So Pikachu, the possum, is going to be staying at the animal hospital and will probably be

[00:12:13] sent to a rehabilitation center or to a wildlife preservation area.

[00:12:17] And he's not the first golden possum to be discovered.

[00:12:21] Apparently there are pockets of them in Victoria, Australia and they're trying to keep the

[00:12:26] location of these animals secret so that we people don't go out and literally try to collect

[00:12:33] them all.

[00:12:40] So thank you for supporting the Wilder Beasts on Patreon.

[00:12:44] This is just for you.

[00:12:46] So thank you, thank you, thank you.

[00:12:48] If there are topics that you would be interested in hearing about on the podcast,

[00:12:51] know of any historical animals who change the world, animals who help humans or other

[00:12:56] unusually colored Pokemon inspired animals, please send them in.

[00:13:01] You can email bewilderbeastspod.com, bewilderedpod on Twitter, DM or voice text for children and adults

[00:13:09] who just don't like to type anymore, on bewilderbeastspod on Facebook or lurk at bewilderbeasts on Instagram.

[00:13:16] I'm Melissa McHumagrap.

[00:13:17] Author of Considerations for the City Dog.

[00:13:19] Are you getting a dog?

[00:13:21] Live near other people?

[00:13:22] Want to know how to keep dogs happy, well unleashes or while you go back to work?

[00:13:26] Consider buying considerations for the City Dog.

[00:13:29] I'm also funny enough the creator and host of this podcast.

[00:13:32] Now go get curious.

[00:13:36] I got today's information from wdsu.com.

[00:13:41] That a cool article titled Pikachu is at you.

[00:13:45] IFL Science because as always, IFL Science.

[00:13:49] Theverge.com.

[00:13:51] LiveScience.com.

[00:13:52] GameRant.com because you know, Pokemon.

[00:13:56] And Wikipedia on the history of Pokemon?

[00:13:59] Okay so I thought Pokemon was created in the 70s but it was just 1996.

[00:14:05] I was a sophomore in high school.

[00:14:07] Oh the 90s.

[00:14:09] The only things that are still as popular back then as now are Pokemon and Robert Downey Jr.

[00:14:15] Everything else including belly shirts and high waisted jeans are...

[00:14:19] Wait, what?

[00:14:21] Oh I'm just getting a text.

[00:14:22] Those are back too?

[00:14:24] Really?

[00:14:25] Alright well carry on then just have fun.

[00:14:30] Intro music is Dan Lieberwitz and interstitial music is by MK2.

[00:14:35] Don't forget to like and subscribe and share with your curious friends you know all the

[00:14:39] things every other podcast tells you to do.

[00:14:41] Thank you so much for listening and I will see you after you catch them all or next week.

[00:14:48] Whenever.

[00:14:49] Intro music

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