Hour 2: Best Of Ron Magill

Summary

The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz

Episode: Hour 2: Best Of Ron Magill
Release Date: January 6, 2025

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Introduction

Note: Advertisements, intros, and outros have been omitted for clarity.

The episode begins with Dan Le Batard addressing technical issues, explaining that Hour 2 will be a "best of" segment featuring memorable moments from previous shows. The focus shifts to Zoo Miami, where various animals and their unique characteristics are showcased.

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Zoo Miami Animal Highlights

Patagonian Cavy (Tango)

• Description: Tango is a Patagonian cavy, resembling a large guinea pig with soft fur.
• Discussion Points:
  • Tango was found wandering in the parking lot, likely escaped from someone's pet.
  • Emphasizes the gentle nature of the animal: “He's not gonna bite you” ([03:20]).
  • Origins from the Andes in Chile, adapted to varying weather with a thick coat.
• Notable Quote:
  • Dan: “This is Tango. Tangle, tangle, tangle...” ([02:15])

Galapagos Tortoise (Goliath)

• Description: Goliath is a 500-pound, approximately 90-year-old Galapagos tortoise, one of the oldest living vertebrates.
• Discussion Points:
  • Goliath's longevity and slow-paced nature are highlighted.
  • Symbolizes dependability and a lovable presence at the zoo.
• Notable Quote:
  • Dan: “Look at that. Look at that, Mike. It's very soft.” ([04:10])

Other Featured Animals

• Owls: Discussion on the exceptional hearing and silent flight of owls, debunking myths about their intelligence.
  • Quote: Dan: “They're like the stealth bomber of the animal kingdom.” ([05:30])
• Porcupines: Explains their quills as modified hair and their prehensile tails for stability in trees.
  • Quote: Stugotz: “These quills are actually modified hair.” ([06:45])
• Pygmy Hippos (Dan Levitard the Hippo): Introduction of Dan Levitard, a pygmy hippo named after Dan, highlighting its role in conservation efforts.
  • Quote: Ron: “Dan is one of the nicest pygmy hippos...” ([09:10])

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Ron McGill's Wildlife Photography Insights

Photographic Techniques and Experiences

• Highlights:
  • Ron McGill discusses his passion for wildlife photography and his role as a Nikon ambassador.
  • Shares memorable encounters with animals, such as a close interaction with a mountain gorilla.
• Notable Quotes:
  • Ron: “Every photograph that I take preserves a moment that’ll never happen exactly that way again.” ([28:30])
  • Ron recounts sitting next to a mountain gorilla: “She leaned over to me and tugged on my earlobe...” ([33:58])

Conservation and Education

• Discussion Points:
  • Importance of understanding and respecting wildlife.
  • Efforts in conservation through photography and public awareness.
• Quote:
  • Ron: “Photography just connects me to nature and helps preserve those moments.” ([29:21])

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Comedic Segment: Snake in the Studio

• Incident:
  • Ron brings a non-venomous python into the studio, leading to humorous interactions as Stugotz reacts with fear.
• Discussion Points:
  • Safety tips regarding snake handling.
  • Misconceptions about snakes' behavior and the importance of understanding them.
• Notable Quotes:
  • Dan: “You need to understand them. I'm not saying be careless...” ([44:12])
  • Stugotz: “Are there snakes other than the boa that can strangle people to death?” ([45:27])

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Wildlife Insights and Animal Behavior

Sense Abilities in Animals

• Topics Covered:
  • Owls: Exceptional hearing and silent flight.
  • Dogs: Ability to smell diseases like cancer and trained detection dogs.
  • Bats: Echolocation and advanced hearing.
• Notable Quotes:
  • Dan: “Owls have incredible hearing... They are the quietest of the animals as hunters.” ([17:20])
  • Ron: “Dogs can smell ovarian cancer before it's even diagnosed medically.” ([51:50])

Apex Predators: Orcas

• Discussion Points:
  • Intelligence and cooperative hunting techniques of orcas.
  • Orcas' role as apex predators in marine ecosystems.
• Notable Quote:
  • Dan: “When you watch orcas hunt cooperatively, it's spectacular.” ([62:06])

Zoo Security and Animal Theft

• Incident:
  • Discussion about past attempts to steal zoo animals, highlighting the black market for exotic pets.
• Quote:
  • Ron: “There's a huge black market for these animals. These small emperor tamarins are threatened in the wild...” ([18:45])

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Conservation and Ethical Considerations

Handling Encounters with Wildlife

• Advice:
  • Emphasis on maintaining safety and respect during wildlife interactions.
  • Ron shares personal experiences highlighting the balance between safety and appreciation for animals.
• Notable Quote:
  • Ron: “You have to understand them. It helps in appreciating their role in nature.” ([36:11])

Ethical Treatment of Animals

• Topics Covered:
  • Debates on keeping animals in captivity versus wild conservation.
  • The impact of human activities on animal behavior and survival.
• Quote:
  • Ron: “I don't believe that whales should ever be in captivity unless it's to save their lives.” ([21:13])

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Listener Engagement and Fun Segments

Interactive Polls and Jokes

• Highlights:
  • Light-hearted questions posed to Ron about exotic foods and animal behaviors.
  • Comedic exchanges about selling cars and interacting with animals.
• Notable Quotes:
  • Dan: “The elephant went into a 711 and bought a pack of cigarettes. But my question to Ron is this...” ([40:52])
  • Stugotz: “Do you like the animal?” ([43:03])

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Conclusion

The episode wraps up with continued discussions on animal behavior, conservation efforts, and the importance of understanding wildlife. The blend of informative content, personal anecdotes, and humor provides a comprehensive and engaging overview for listeners both familiar and new to the show.

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Key Takeaways

• Animal Understanding: Emphasizes the importance of knowing and respecting animals to foster conservation and reduce fear.
• Wildlife Photography: Highlights Ron McGill's role in capturing and preserving moments with wildlife, aiding in education and conservation.
• Conservation Efforts: Showcases the zoo's dedication to animal welfare and conservation through interactive exhibits and species preservation.
• Humor and Banter: Balances serious discussions with light-hearted interactions, enhancing listener engagement.

Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• Dan Le Batard:
  • “[03:20] ‘He's not gonna bite you.’”
  • “[04:10] ‘Look at that. Look at that, Mike. It's very soft.’”
  • “[05:30] ‘They're like the stealth bomber of the animal kingdom.’”
• Ron McGill:
  • “[28:30] ‘Every photograph that I take preserves a moment that’ll never happen exactly that way again.’”
  • “[33:58] ‘She leaned over to me and tugged on my earlobe…’”
  • “[51:50] ‘Dogs can smell ovarian cancer before it's even diagnosed medically.’”

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This summary encapsulates the diverse range of topics covered in the episode, providing insights into animal behaviors, conservation efforts, and personal experiences, all enriched with memorable quotes and structured sections for easy navigation.

Transcript

[Dan Le Batard]

You're listening to Giraffkings Network. You know that sound? It's the sound of money hitting your Venmo account. A friend paying you back. Or maybe it's getting cash back from your favorite business when you pay with the Venmo debit card. Or it's realizing you can pay with Venmo at checkout at thousands of brands. Now there are so many more ways to answer the question. What's your Venmo? Download Venmo. Today, the Venmo MasterCard is issued by the Bancorp Bank N.A. pursuant to license by MasterCard International Incorporated. DOSH Cash Back Terms apply. This episode is brought to you by Allstate. Some people just know they could save hundreds on car insurance by checking Allstate first. Like, you know, to check the date of the big game first before you accidentally buy tickets on your 20th wedding anniversary and have to spend the next 20 years of your marriage making up for it. Yeah, checking first is smart. So check all state first for a quote that could save you hundreds. You're in good hands with Allstate Savings. Vary terms apply. Allstate Fire and Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates, Northbrook, Illinois. This is the Dan Levator show with the Stugats podcast. Hello, listeners. Hey, I got a problem. I'd love to be starting hour two right now, but we're having technical issues. And I get it. You're like New Year, new them, but it's the same us. And we're having technical issues. Okay? It's not our fault. I don't want to, you know, bore you with all the facts, but hour two is going to be a best of. We will be back better than ever. Back better than ever tomorrow morning. We are efforting currently to fix everything. We love you. We appreciate your accepting of us the way we are. We know you love us. We love you. I could talk to you for days, but I'm gonna let you get on to. You know, maybe I'll just do all of our two. Just me. Hello, everyone. Welcome to hour two. Now. I'm kidding. We're gonna do a best of, but we'll be back tomorrow, back at better than ever. Here's a best of hour two in Zoo Miami. I want you to meet this guy. This kind of looks like a hybrid animal. This guy here. Hey, come here. Tango. Tango. Look. This is Tango. Tangle, tangle, tangle, tangle, tangle. Oh, peanuts. This is called a Patagonian cavy, or amara, and it's basically a big guinea pig. This guy, believe it or not. For those of you who live in south Florida. I was called by the police department. He was walking along in the parking lot of the fall shopping center. Somebody must have had him as a pet. The cool thing about him is he feels really soft. You can pet him, Mike. He's not gonna bite you. I'm good. Mike. Mike, you can pet him, Mike, pet him, pet him, pet him. All right, here, Mike, give him a peanut. Give him a peanut. Show him the peanut. Let him take the peanut. Look at that. Mike, you are now an animal guy. Can I ask you a question while I got you? Sure, sure. Have you ever seen a hamster in the wild? Because I think they only exist in pet stores. I've never seen hamsters. Never seen a hamster in the wild. They only exist in pet stores. Yeah, you. And you're probably right. I think they have been kind of a modified breed that is just basically used as pets. But this guy should not really be a pet. Obviously, somebody tried to keep him as a pet. He got away. He's in the fall shopping center now. He's an ambassador here at the zoo. Found up in the mountains of Chile, up in the Andes, they get a nice thick coat. They work really well to deal with the different kinds of changing weather there all the time. Tango is one of our favorites. Yeah, it looks like a combination of a lot of different animals. Yeah. Like, where do you stand on that? You ever see the island of Dr. Moreau? I did. Yeah. And this does. You're right, Marlon Brando on that. This is like a combination of a kangaroo, a rabbit with short ears, and a guinea pig. All right, here we go. I got another for you. Tango's liking those peanuts. You're a big hit with him, brother. This is Goliath. He's our galapagos tortoise. He's 500 pounds, probably about 90 years old. One of the oldest living vertebrates in the world. And to me, you know, he's a little bit on the heavy side. Very, very slow. If I was going to look at one of the guys and say, who would most be, like the Galapagos tortoise? You got to go with great Cody. Yeah, I hear him wheezing. He's definitely, most likely in the animal kingdom to miss a hard network out, it would appear. Absolutely, absolutely. But you know what? At the end of the day, dependable and also quite lovable. And if you look closely at his face, that's E.T. man. Look at it. E.T. phone home. He's 90. He can live to be over 150. So is that the oldest tortoise that you have here at the zoo. We believe he's one of the oldest. We don't know, because a lot of these guys actually came in as adults from the Galapagos Islands. They're one of the only animals we have at the zoo that actually are out of the wild because they're so old, because zoos don't take animals out of the wild anymore. All right, and Goliath will be coming with you in studio. We'll see. Yeah, fits in an overhead. Not one of your stronger impressions, Ron. I imagine this elephant over here is probably not going to make the trip, being that he's bigger than our tight studio. Yeah, you know, but I'm working on it. I'm thinking if we can put him on Ocean Drive, it would be a good draw. It'd probably bring a lot of attention to the marathon. So I'm working on a Specialized trailer. You know, listen, Mike, nothing's out of the question. Anything can happen, especially at the. The Clevelander. I'm pretty sure there have been elephants there in the past. Now, there are warnings out here that the. The elephants can throw things with their trunks. That is true. You know, there's over 40,000 mussels in the elephant's trunk, and they have an accuracy with things that can be really big. But if we don't give them any ammunition, we should be safe. You just never know. Again, I think adding to the excitement of it, you want to have. You want to have an element of uncertainty. Yeah, right. With this whole marathon, that's what it's all about, a live television element. Anything can happen. So you guys could be riding an elephant down Ocean Drive. I'm probably gonna bring this guy to the studio. Very small studio. Well, there's a partition of glass. That'll protect me. It'll be fine. I'm not the third person. Why are you not a bird person? Mike? Got attacked by a bird. Ducked my head down into a spiked fence, you know, broke all the skin. And now. What kind of bird attacked you? It was a vicious. It was a vicious, you know, standard pigeon, but he was. He was angry. This is an eagle. Owl talons. I see that. That's the dangerous part, buddy. That's what you got to watch out for. Yeah, Mike, I want you to just touch the back. Just. Mike, Mike, Mike, Mike. Just very softly in the back. Just. Right, Just, just, just. Come on, Mike. You can do it. Come on. You're a sports guy, Mike. You're fearless. Come on, Mike. You can do it. Look at that. Look at that, Mike. It's very soft. Look at that, right? Very soft, right? Pretty incredible. Owls generally freaked me out even before I grew to fearing birds because of the whole exorcist neck thing. And they're just always up to something. But they got to do that, Mike. You know why? Because they can't move their eyes. They can't. You know, you and I can do this, right? We can look around like this. The Al can't do that. So he's got to be able to point his head directly. What? He likes you, buddy. He's got. He's kind of who's laser focused on you there for a while. Yeah, I see that. You can keep this guy here. I really think this is going to be one I'm bringing to the studio. I think. I think I'm going to bring him to the studio, you know, so the guys can see he's just going to stay in your arms the entire time. Well, sometimes he might fly off, but we'll get him back. He'll be okay. He can't fly. You must have, like, clipped the wings or something. No, he can fly. He can fly. But I got him stepped so he can only fly a short distance. Mike is really not one. We're good. We're good. We don't need to do that. All right. Oh, he's gonna fly. He's gonna fly. There he goes. This is where he does his bad impression. That is not a noise I like to hear. Move on to the next one. Feel free to stay home, bud. We're bringing this guy to the studio. He's coming to the studio. We're gonna make him, like, Bond. Well, it's a Dan Lebatard show. We're done by animals. There's Dan and Stugots right there doing their thing. Brother, we're done by animals. That's a good point, Stan. I think it's perfect, don't you? Yeah, maybe a little Cody injected in there. A little Cody. So obviously the st Gods ape jokes are pretty easy. Are these the type of monkeys that sling at each other? No, they don't. And first of all, they're not monkeys. Well, the ones in the studio, 24 hours hard. But this is again, Lerd show animated by s not monkeys. They don't have a tail. They can't be a monkey. They're a lesser ape. But we talk about the apes in the studio all the time. Including Mr. Ryan right here. Yeah, One of the better looking apes, I must say. Proud of it. Proud of my ape. Status. I didn't know that. That's what makes the difference between an ape and a monkey. No, tails are monkeys. Dan, tell us what you think, bro. Oh, look at that baby. Who's got a tongue like that? Not me. Not you. Now, Ron, obviously, I don't think you got room in your transport vehicle to bring giraffes to the studio. We're basically here because it. It makes for cool video as part of this whole teaser thing. But it's a good opportunity to talk about the cool experiences here at Zoo Miami, because this is one of my favorite things to do with my daughter. Absolutely. This is probably the. The top interactive experience we have where you can come up, get on a platform, and you can look at a giraffe eye to eye. Look at those eyelashes, look at that tongue. It's a great experience we can do. You can feed the lorikeets. You can come and feed a camel. So these are great experiences. And our giraffe now have three babies out here, so it's a wonderful opportunity to come see the moms and their babies and the dad. And these great eyelashes. And look at these great. I mean, tallest land mammal on earth. Pregnancy of about 13 to 15 months. And you know what? Baby falls 4 to 6ft to the floor. Mom doesn't even lay down. It's incredible. Neck's almost as long as Drew Breezes. Interesting fact. We've got seven bones in our neck. How many bones you think a giraffe has in its neck? Eight. That was close. Seven. Oh, really? Yeah, It's a trick question. Almost all mammals have seven bones in their neck. Just some of the bones are longer than others. Kind of feel like I've seen YouTube videos of two giraffes just absolutely going at it, swinging their heads and fighting. That's true. That's how the males fight for dominance. They swing their heads like a baseball bat against each other. They try to knock each other down. They try to knock each other at their feet, but they don't kick, they don't bite. They just use their heads as battering rams to try to knock the other one down for dominance. Here comes the rest of the herd out here now. So they're all getting good. Morning, Zoo Miami. Got to come out and enjoy this and enjoy. Oh, come on. You want one, too? I know, I know. Look at the little slobber. She's drooling. Oh, my gosh. Oh, jeez. Can you believe this is my job? It's a great scam. Yeah. I work with animals. You work with Animals, we know what it's like. Synergy. Synergy. I imagine after 24 hours, we're going to be feeling a lot like this guy. Oh, yeah. You are going to be feeling like this guy. I got to tell you something. Slowest mammal in the world. You know what? Walk. They can only do about six feet a minute now. They swim a lot better, so they swim a little better. Totally arboreal animal, very well known. Let me see if I can get something else for him. I'm gonna leave it. He's showing an interesting food here called the two toed sloth. Here we go. Look at this. Look at that. They even eat slowly. Okay. But another wonderful animal here at the zoo. These guys were rescues. They actually were orphaned in Panama. We brought them down here. They've been here now for a. A few years and are thriving on one of our ambassador animals. We might be bringing them. I don't know. Look at this. The porcupine. So after 24 hours, I'm not really a normal morning person, so maybe I'll start getting prickly like this guy. I'm gonna work in the animal puns. Pretty big here, Ron. I can tell. Yeah, yeah. Porcupine is just a big specialized rodent. Really kind of interesting. These quills are actually modified hair. They don't shoot their quills out like people think. They'll erect the quills and they'll back up into you real quickly. And the quills at the end have little barbs on them. They get stuck and can make a real nasty infection on you. But this guy here, prehensile tail, porcupine. Because this tail is actually what they can use as another arm, another finger. And they'll hang from the trees. They'll kind of stabilize themselves as they're up in the trees. And as you can tell, he likes to eat a lot of stuff, too. Ron, as you know, our time over at the mothership, this was one of those controversial moments. We try to get a hippo named Dan Lebatard. We thought we had it, then we lost it. And, I mean, you guys ended up winning out because there was a sizable donation made, but. Exactly. After all those years, we finally got a hippo named after Dan. And this is Dan Levitard the hippo. Dan Levitard the hippo. For all the people that keep writing me and emailing me and messaging me, they want to know how Dan's doing. And we thought it'd be a great opportunity to show you. He's got a beautiful exhibit. He goes out there on but this is the barn that he sleeps in at night. And what we wanted to do is we wanted to show the people how well Dan is doing, how nice and rotund Dan is maintaining. How he still loves to eat, though, I think the real Dan, does he eat lettuce or. He's more like not unlike the real Dan. All he does is claim to eat lettuce, yet he still gets fatter and fatter. But the bottom line is, listen, Dan is one of the nicest pygmy hippos I've ever had the pleasure of knowing. I'm confused. Which one are we talking about? This particular one right here. The one I don't get to work with the real Dan as much as you get to work with the real Dan, so you'll have to speak on that behalf. But this Dan here, we see him here, he's become quite a crowd favorite, and he has raised a significant amount of money to help his. His cousins in the wild, which has been a great something that we're proud to be associated with. You know, the endowment, the Rombagill Conservation Endowment has already provided over $10,000 for pygmy hippo research, thanks to Dan Levittart. Thanks to the Dan Levittard show, thanks to the incredible crew over there. This is just a beautiful moment for all of us. Get the other half of this, put it over your shoulders. All right. Get the back half, put it over your shoulders. Or pick it up in front of you. Whatever you're gonna do. Take a little weight off of me, brother. Okay. Okay. So. So I think I'm bringing this guy to the studio, too. Mike. This is the vision I have. Yeah. I have this vision of the getting together. Yeah. And we wrapping the snake around the whole team for a group shot. Yeah. It'll be beautiful. Yeah. No, seriously. And look. See, they. They have that little tongue. No, Mike, Mike, Mike, let me show you something. This is a male. Look at these guys, right? Oh, God. Look at that. Huh? That's the. No, that's not what you're thinking. It is. No, these are actually vestigial limbs, Mike. And what the male does is he uses that to scratch the back of the female to convince her to lift her tail. So, you know, Bomb took a bomb. You don't have to look directly into my eyes when you're saying, and this is a Burmese python. It's an albino Burmese python. He's about, I don't know, 12, 14ft. I read about these things being problems in the. Exactly, right. It's Very heavy. I've got the bulk of it. Mike, you're holding the back half of the tail. You can honestly take the back half too, Mike. I'm good. You're bringing this guy to the studio? I'm gonna bring it to the studio. I think I'm pretty convinced I want to bring this guy to the studio. And the group shot's going to be the whole team. We'll wrap it around. I did it with a LeBron. With your D and bro. A lot of luck to them. So you have it just casually around your neck and I've seen anaconda before. Yeah, yeah. No. Well, you wouldn't do that with a wild snake. This is a snake that we've raised. I've got people here to help me. Shitty can decide to constrict around the neck. But you normally would not hold a snake this way. But I have to have the shoulders because of the weight, because it's 100 pound snake. So it's, you know. This is the one that. This is one that LeBron put around his shoulders. This is the one. This is the very one. Wow. This is the very one. So he's coming to the studio, huh? Coming to the studio, man. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. You'll never have eyes like an owl. Okay. FAU nine seed, they're the interloper in this final four. Right. Half of the 90% of the country is going saying FAU what? So here's the chant. Are you ready? Are you ready, Ron? Yeah, we're all ready.

[Stugotz]

We might not be ready for.

[Dan Le Batard]

Hold on. I'm speaking to the rest of the country. You say who? We say hoot. You say who? We say hoot. You say who? We say hoot. You say hoot. We say hoot. Thank you. That's the way it goes. What are you doing?

[Stugotz]

He's doing it. He's doing an owl.

[Dan Le Batard]

He's doing an actual owl.

[Stugotz]

He's doing an actual owl sound. A better owl sound than you say who? We say who.

[Dan Le Batard]

Thank you, Billy.

[Stugotz]

I don't like.

[Dan Le Batard]

He's got a shocker. How much hurricane sounds.

[Stugotz]

You're enjoying how terrible this is. I don't think it's going to get off the ground.

[Dan Le Batard]

The owl in FAU owls is the burrowing owl, which is a very small owl. But I think of all owls as being mean and ornery. What can you tell us about the burrowing owl? Oh, it's of course a terrestrial owl. It's not a big flyer, except when it's hunting. They tend to be Underground, as opposed to most other owls that are more arboreal. Owls in general though, and I know that you're not going to want to hear this, but generally speaking, we always hear about the wise old owl. I've talked to this about before. They have very large eyes. Those eyes are so large, they take up so much space in the skull, there's very little space for the brain. So they're not the most intelligent bird. Actually they're one of the least intelligent of all birds. Having said that, know they are nocturnal. They have incredible eyesight. You know, if you had the eyes of an owl, you could read a newspaper 100 yards away. To give you an idea of how that can't be true. That can't be true. How could anyone have tested that? Ron? They test the fovea of the eye. They taste the, the, the, the, the, what do they call the, the, the rods in the eyes, the eye. People who know more than I do about eyes tell me that's the case. That's what they can focus on. They've tested that. They also have incredible hearing. Now I've done this test myself at the University of. We took an owl, we covered its ears, so could not hear anything. Covered, I mean, covered its eyes rather so it could not see anything. Released a mouse in a pitch black room. And that owl flew from 30 yards away and landed right on that mouse just from hearing the mouse. So it's flipping unbelievable the kind of hearing they have. Now keep in mind, their ears are different than ours. We've got, you know, one ear on each side of our head, kind of parallel to each other. But owls have one ear on the top part on the left side and on the bottom part on the right side. So they're able to triangulate sound better than we can. And that's how they can find their prey, using sound alone. So they're incredible bir that way. They have very specialized feathers in their wings. So when they flap their wings they make no sound. They have silencer feathers in their wings. So when they're flying. So when they're flying, you know, a mouse is eating on the ground and all of a sudden if you're a chicken, you're like, flop, flop, flop. The mouse is gonna go, incoming, I'm out of here. But with the owl, it's like the stealth bomber. They're unbelievable that way.

[Stugotz]

What is the quietest of the animals as a hunter?

[Dan Le Batard]

It's got to be the owl. Really? Absolutely the quietest. Oh yeah, okay. I've seen huge owls Big great horned owls fly across the room and I cannot hear. And I'm listening for them. You cannot hear a single thing. It's absolutely silent. Special feathers in their way. Las paellas, masinderes santes el Mundo.

[Stugotz]

Ron McGill joins us from his home. I'm going to take a tour of the things behind him in a moment because his home is filled. It's replete with skulls and bones and all sorts of precious historical artifacts. Ron, what do you regard as the most interesting thing in your home behind you presently right now? I can see some. I see some bones, I see some horns in the background. What's happening around you?

[Dan Le Batard]

Greatest thing. I'm gonna get out of my seat for a second. Hold on.

[Stugotz]

Yep, we'll wait for you.

[Dan Le Batard]

This is really cool.

[Stugotz]

He does have all sorts of skulls in there as well.

[Dan Le Batard]

A lot of wood. Yeah. Guys, see this? That's a narwhal horn.

[Stugotz]

Holy shit. How big is that?

[Dan Le Batard]

That's about almost six feet, maybe. Geez, that look cool. That's really cool. Look at that. Now, they don't. They don't use that as a weapon, do narwhals? What is it used for? What is it? Hold on a second, I gotta put it back here. Hold on.

[Stugotz]

Why do you have that in your home? It seems like it's taking up a lot of space. Where is that?

[Dan Le Batard]

It's hanging over the sliding doors that look outside into the yard. Anyway, so narwhals, you know, the males, they get the really long ones and they use it. They found to stun fish. They will use it to stun fish, and they use it kind of. Of is an attraction to the females. The longer horns get more females.

[Stugotz]

Who do you regard as the most size matter?

[Dan Le Batard]

Size matters with narwhals, narwhals, not necessarily with humans, though.

[Stugotz]

Who do you think is the most interesting of the whales?

[Dan Le Batard]

Wow, that's a hard one to answer. You know, narwhals are certainly interesting, but I think belugas are really fascinating. All the whales, to me, all the cetaceans are very fascinating animals. You know, you gotta look at the blue whale. Jesus Christmas. The largest animal that's ever lived, bigger than any dinosaur than any animal has ever lived, is still living on this planet.

[Stugotz]

The blue whale, you think? What of the whales in general? How smart are they? I don't know that we've spent a lot of time talking about the whales. Their eating habits are. Many of them are unusual or different than I would have expected.

[Dan Le Batard]

Well, yes, you Know, like a lot of whales. I'd have to go to another room to show it to you. But I mean, like, whales are we called toothed whales and we have baleen whales. And I have actually baleen from a whale which is like this huge piece of like, like keratin with filters on it, like hairs. And that's how they collect all the food that they eat. The biggest whales, blue whales, humpback whales, these are baleen whales. They don't have teeth, they don't eat big fish. Like people would think they siphon food out of the water. Shrimp and, and different types of, you know, invertebrates and things like that. It's really kind of cool stuff. But all the whales to me are incredibly intelligent. They're, you know, I've said it on the show before, I don't believe that whales should ever be in captivity. I believe that these animals are pelagic, they're, they're nomadic. And I don't believe you should ever take a whale out of the wild and put it in captivity unless you're trying to save that individual animal's life.

[Stugotz]

What do you regard as the most creative of the hunters in the, in the sea kingdom?

[Dan Le Batard]

Oh, that's got to be the killer whales, guys. You know, we've talked about it before. You've watched these killer whales, they work like teamwork. You know, you'll see a seal on an iceberg saying, okay, I'm safe, the thing can't get to me on the iceberg. And all these killer whales get together and they get all right next to each other and they create this huge wave, like a tidal wave. So the tidal wave hits the iceberg, knocks the seal off, and the whales on the other side waiting for it, boom, they eat it. I mean, think about that, think about the thought process that goes into these. Well, okay, let's get together here, let's make this wave. We'll knock the seal off. We'll have one of our buddies wait on the other side and grab them. Come on, guys. This is so amazing, Ron. There was an incredible close up footage on a boat where somebody was videotaping a humpback whale breach out of the water, maybe like 30ft away from them. Can you explain to us how big that would be? Like with us just looking at it here, like, how enormous is that animal? I've had that happen. I've had a whale, a humpback whale breached literally probably less than 30ft, maybe closer to 20ft next to the boat. It is one of the most exhilarating things you can ever imagine.

[Stugotz]

It's look at me, Louie, because you've had that happen to you as a sentence you love to utter around here, and it's a good sentence.

[Dan Le Batard]

I'm just trying to tell you I'm not speaking. I'm not speaking from something I saw on television. I'm trying to relate to you, that this is something that's really. It's hard to describe in words, guys, when something that massive comes out of and there's no, like, there's no alert, there's no saying, okay, he's coming up on this side now. Get ready to get ready. No, all of a sudden, just the thing comes out of the water, and it's so huge. It's so amazing. It's exhilarating. I. I don't think that, you know, I. I don't feel like, for instance, oh, my God, we're gonna die. I never feel fear. It's one of these things where you just feel, wow. Just absolute wow.

[Stugotz]

How rare numerically is it, Ron, for a whale to accidentally be breaching water, trying to eat something else, and by accident, a canoe gets stuck in their mouth and a human being is accidentally harmed by this?

[Dan Le Batard]

I mean, it's probably one of the rarest things on the planet. Oh, that's a Pinocchio. You have a canoe being near a whale.

[Stugotz]

I mean, I've seen. You've seen the videos all over the place. You think I'm kidding? I've seen it happen very close.

[Dan Le Batard]

It has happened. It has happened where a whale has hit a boat coming up. But it's so profoundly rare, guys. I mean, these whales are usually generally very aware of what's above them. They know what's going on. They avoid those types of things. But sometimes they get so caught up in the feeding that they may get cut up. Especially if you're in something like a small kayak or something like that. Certainly there's an issue there. There's a potential danger there, but it's incredibly rare. I mean, this is like, you know, forget about it. Don't even think about it. More. Much more likely to get struck by light. So they don't do it on porpoise. Oh, geez. Ron, what are security measures at the zoo? Because fences seem an obvious one, but. And also, how often do people try and take stuff from the zoo? Well, I'll tell you. You know, years ago, probably 20 something years ago, we had some of our ambassador showbirds stolen out of the amphitheater. Somebody broke into the amphitheater, bypassed the alarm system and stole these birds. And, you know, the, the thought comes to mind right away, there's a huge black market for these animals. These were our talking parrots, did the shows. They were kind of our stars of the show. There's a huge black market for that. These small emperor tamarins also have a huge black market. As a matter of fact, that's one of the reasons they're threatened in the wild, is because they're, you know, raped out of the jungle and sold as pets. And they do not make good pets. People don't understand that. You know, people look at the picture, they go, oh my God, they're so cute. These upper tamarins have these huge long white like mustaches that come out and they are adorable to look at. They're absolutely incredibly looking animals. But they don't make good pets. And you know, anybody who thinks, you know, if it's one of these extremists, oh, I'm just going to set them free because they deserve to be free. Well, no, you may have condemned it to death by letting it out in Dallas in 30 degree weather. Ron, we find ourselves in a heated MVP debate this morning. Jalen Hurts Patrick Mahomes, who's the MVP? So I'm asking you, who's the MVP of the zoo? The animal. I need three animals. Give me a bronze, a silver and a gold of just the MVP of your zoo. Well, that's a hard one. That's, that's a, that really is a hard one. You know, I would go probably our first MVP is going to be the. The gold is. Well, let's go start with the bronze. The bronze is going to be Goliath, the Galapagos tortoise, because he's an animal that is the oldest animal in the zoo. He's close. He's over 100 years old. He's one of the animals that, you know, select guests can go in and meet him and touch him and scratch his neck. He likes his neck. Yeah, I've done it before. He likes his neck stretched, so that makes a big impression. So he would get the bronze. I'm going with the silver is. I guess it's going to be Bharani. Bharani's our male Sumatran tiger. And it's that first impression, you know, it's the first main exhibit on the right hand side, that big T. And when you look at Bharani and his massiveness and his strength, that, that leaves a really good first impression of coming to the zoo. But I want to give the gold to Malcolm the giraffe. Yeah, because Malcolm is the giraffe that'll come right up to that feeding platform. Stick out that 20 inch tongue, wrap it around your hand, take that piece of leaf from your hand or the little carrot slice and man, that leaves an indelible impression. Baby, when you see that 20 inch purple tongue come out and you're looking eye to eye at an animal that stands 17ft tall, that makes an impression. He gets to go. The excitement of taking photos in the wild.

[Stugotz]

Ron, what are your favorite photographed moments? Like that you still have the same enthusiasm after all these years. And I see it in your pictures. You can see it that how much you love the animals and how you convey it in your art. You are. I don't know if people know this, and Ron is terribly humble about this, but Ron is one of. I'm not making this up, Ron. Right. Like you are one of the world's most distinguished or decorated animal photographers. Correct? I don't. Don't be humble about this. You just are correct.

[Dan Le Batard]

I'm a wildlife photographer. I've been very fortunate to be, you know, given the label of a Nikon ambassador for Nikon usa, which is, you know, to me, the premier photographic company in the world. So. But there are many, many great photographers. I'm not as much a great photographer, Dan, as I am a very lucky person to be in places where you really can't take a bad photographs.

[Stugotz]

Okay.

[Dan Le Batard]

Very lucky.

[Stugotz]

Okay, but how many of those Nikon gives out, how many of those? You are an ambassador.

[Dan Le Batard]

I was one of the original 12.

[Stugotz]

Okay, so you're being false.

[Dan Le Batard]

You're being.

[Stugotz]

Yes, you're being modest, but he is modest. And so you're one of the original 12. And I've been telling you for a while that you should be selling your photographs here to help your endowment. But when you talk about the flamingos and these photographs, what specifically about it do you love? Is it that in your photographs I could see the love that you have for animals?

[Dan Le Batard]

I think what I see is a lot of times I can see things, you know, with a still photograph, you're picturing, basically you're freezing a thousandth of a second. And that is something that sometimes you don't even get to see with your naked eye. And so I get to see certain behaviors. I see certain subtle things that these animals do in these still photographs that teach me more about them. And every time I take a photograph, it just preserves a moment that'll never happen exactly that way again. And quite frankly, Dan, I'm not the brightest bulb in a chandelier, but I'm very lucky in the sense that. That I have a memory, a photographic memory, in that every photograph that I take. You can show me a photograph that I took 15 years ago in Africa. And when I see the photograph, I remember taking it. I remember where I was. I even sometimes remember what it smelled like when I took it. So this is just something that I've been very lucky to have that gift, because, like I say, I am not smart in any other way, but it's just a lucky gift that I have. So photography just connects me to nature. It just lets me see things, subtle things in nature, and helps preserve those moments. And it's my greatest tool when I have to try to teach people to care about nature, too.

[Stugotz]

Ron, I'd like to do some of this with you because I'd like this to be a little more of an audio and video experience. I don't know whether you have. Do you have any of these photographs in your office, or. Let's see them. Okay.

[Dan Le Batard]

So old.

[Stugotz]

The pink mustache is being helpful here. This photograph that Jessica is showing us of this lion. Tell us the backstory. Tell us the backstory of this photograph. It's beautiful.

[Dan Le Batard]

That is in the Okavango Delta in Botswana. This was a male lion. I am leaning low in the bottom of a Toyota Land Cruiser, and it's just walking up to me. The sun is just rising, which is that great side light. And it just slowly started taking step by step by step, and it kind of saw its reflection in the face of my lens. So it's just looking at me and wondering whether it's looking at me and wondering whether it's looking at what it thinks is another lion. So there's that moment there of just that, that anticipation, a little bit of anxiety, but it's just electric. You know, there's that old saying that says, you know, life isn't measured by the number of breaths that you take. It's measured by the number of times your breath is taken away. And when you have a lion like that standing literally 10, 15ft in front of you, staring right at you like that. And it's just got this incredible look. I mean, just the light and the smell of the Okavango Delta at sunrise. Man, I'll tell you, I remember that photograph very well. It really made quite an impression.

[Stugotz]

Jessica's going to show you another one now, but before she does. Last week you just sort of casually mentioned. And I don't think I had Heard this story from you before that there was a time that you were facing off sort of against a silverback gorilla like that. I, I don't, I heard you correctly, right? There was a lot happening because the, the professor we were talking to was describing my ass.

[Dan Le Batard]

But anyway, go ahead and.

[Stugotz]

Yes, but I just expound on that. Thank you. I didn't mean to, to trigger this side of you again, but can you explain that to us?

[Dan Le Batard]

I was actually, you know, one of my dreams, Dan. Growing up I used to watch the National Geographic specials and I'll never forget watching Dian Fosse in the Virunga volcanoes with these mountain gorillas coming up to her being able to be next to them. This is an animal that, you know, so many people have this preconceived notion that it's King Kong, it's this massive, you know, aggressive, dangerous animal. And yet I saw this gentle giant with Dian Fossey and I about seeing that myself. And this was the first time I was able to go to Rwanda into the Virungava volcanoes. And I was sitting there watching this incredible troop of mountain gorillas when one of them came right up to me. Now you're supposed to keep a 15 foot distance between you and the gorillas because you don't want to have anything transmit to the animals. There's zoonotic diseases where you can give something, a cold or something to the animals. You're not supposed to be on the mountain anyway if you have any kind of sickness. But anyway, you try to keep your distance. But if the gorilla comes to you, you do not turn and run. What you have to do is you just kind of get into the fetal position. Don't look at the gorilla, don't make any threatening moves or sounds. There's a sound that you do make to calm the gorilla down. It kind of goes, the guides make that sound and that's kind of a comforting sound to the gorillas. So I'm sitting there going, and this gorilla came, sat right next to me and all of a sudden she leaned over to me and with her lips, she just tugged on my earlobe. And I can feel her, she's breathing in my nose. She's. And you feel that and it's just such an electricity there. And I'm honestly telling you that I never thought for one second she was going to kill me or she was going to hurt me. I just couldn't believe I was there. And I took my camera, I had a wide angle lens on it. I just took a blind Shot. Not looking at this. I can't look at the gorilla. That's a threat. You can't look at these primates that way. It's a threat. And I just took a shot and I have this shot. You can't really see my face, but you can see the gorilla right next to me, this wide angle lens. And it's just one of those moments again, Dan, when you're just. You can't pay me enough to forget that moment of this incredible, majestic animal sitting gently next to me and curiously just kind of investigating my earlobe with her lips. It was just phenomenal.

[Stugotz]

Ron, you have to be shitting me. Never mind. I didn't know you had a photograph of this. I don't know where that photograph is. I would like to see that photograph. But how are you not. How are you not scared in that moment? I understand you trust the animals and you know the animals, but, Ron, this is the wilderness. And this animal can kill you in nine seconds.

[Dan Le Batard]

You know, Dan, I don't know. I just think it's my fascination and my wonder that overrides the fear. You know, I've never. I've never. You know, the only time I was ever really frightened and I told that story before is when that. That elephant came, came at us in the Ngorogoro crater in Tanzania. That was something that I knew I could really be in trouble. And I thought for. I really thought for a while that I was not gonna live through that. But, you know, any other thing, I understand that gorillas are these gentle giants. And this was not a male that came up to me, it was a female. And females are much more inquisitive. They're much less aggressive. You know, the male might tend to be aggressive if he feels you're threatening the troop, but this was the female. And, Dan, this is one of the rarest animals in the world. At that time, there were probably less than 500 mountain gorillas in the world. And here's one sitting next to me on this mountain that I had watched on National Geographic. The same mountain that Diane Fosse, you know, sat on working with these gorillas. That's a magical connection. I mean, you know, you could look, you know, as a journalist and think, God, this is like, you know, sitting at the desk of Edward R. Murrow and talking to these people. I mean, I don't know, it's not a good analogy, I guess, but for me, it was just so exciting to have such an incredible animal, such a majestic animal, and yet such a gentle giant. Next to me, I really, really never was afraid. It was an adrenaline rush. I'm not going to tell you. My heart wasn't beating over 200 beats a minute, but it was not out of fear. It was just adrenaline.

[Stugotz]

Give me another moment like that, Ron, because I want to straddle the space between fear and just gratitude. Give me a moment of spiritual serenity that we might look at and say, oh, my God, that's crazy that Ron would allow that to happen near a dangerous animal or an animal that we think is dangerous. Do you have another story like that? Because I've not heard the one you told. That situation sounds horrifying. And it sounds something like. You would advise others to be very careful if they were in that situation.

[Dan Le Batard]

When I say be careful, yes, you do not want to look up and look at the gorilla, because that would be a threat. But I knew that. I knew just to keep myself in the. In the fetal position, take the photograph. And yet I could just feel her lips gently tugging on my earlobe and feeling. Just blowing into my ear. Smelling. Smelling me, probably thinking I stole stink. Whereas, you know, the gorilla, to me, wasn't the greatest smelling animal in the world. But another. Another incident, I'll give you, actually happened in the Maasai Mara in Kenya. And this was an elephant. We were in the middle of a herd of a large herd of elephants, probably about 30, 40 elephants, mothers with calves. And all of a sudden, this calf came walking closer to the vehicle. And, you know, one of the most dangerous times to be around an elephant is a mother with her calf because they're very protective of their calves. So this calf came walking over, and you could see. Tell the mother was looking at it. Then all of a sudden, the mother came between the calf and the vehicle, but to the point where she was literally five feet from the vehicle. And I'm just standing there, trying to stand perfectly still. And then the trunk comes over, and it reaches over and just. You hear the trunk again and kind of touches the side of the vehicle. And I could feel the whiskers. I'm not moving. I grabbed my arm on the top of the Land Cruiser, and I could feel the whiskers of the trunk. And everybody's just saying, stay still. Don't make any moves. That's a big adrenaline rush there, too. But I think. I mean, this is gonna sound like a little stupid, and people are gonna, oh, you know, Ron, that's ridiculous. I just really felt that that elephant knew that we were not there to harm her, that she was just Kind of scoping out. And there was a way that she could sense that we were not a threat. And then she continued to eat and let us photograph her calf and be close to her calf. And that's kind of a very special, special feeling when an animal accepts you into its environment without thinking of you as a threat. Yeah, sure thing. Hey, you sold that car yet? Yeah, sold it to Carvana. Oh, I thought you were selling to that guy. The guy who wanted to pay me in foreign currency, no interest over 36 months. Yeah. No. Carvana gave me an offer in minutes, picked it up, and paid me on the spot. It was so convenient. Just like that. Yeah. No hassle. None. That is super convenient. Sell your car to Carvana and swap. Hassle for convenience, pickup fees may apply. The day on the Bertard show with Stu Gotz is sponsored by BetterHelp. Every January feels like a fresh start. 365 blank pages just waiting for your story to be written in 2025. Maybe you're ready for a plot twist, ready to revise the the parts of your story holding you back. Life isn't about New Year's resolutions that disappear by February. It's about picking up the pen and becoming the author of your life. Therapy can help you do just that. Therapy isn't just for the big traumas. It's for anyone who wants to grow, heal, and thrive with BetterHelp. Therapy is convenient and affordable. It's fully online. You can access it anywhere, anytime, Better help connects over 5 million people with a network of 30,000 licensed therapists, specialized, experienced, and ready to help. If it's not a right fit, you can switch therapists at any time at no extra cost. Write your story with Better Help. Visit betterhelp.com DLB today to get 10% off your first month. That's BetterHelp. H-E-L-P.com DLB yeah, sure thing. Hey, you sold that car yet? Yeah, sold it to Carvana. Oh, I thought you were selling to that guy. The guy who wanted to pay me in foreign currency, no interest over 36 months. Yeah. No. Carvana gave me an offer in minutes, picked it up and paid me on the spot. It was so convenient. Just like that. Yeah. No hassle. None. That is super convenient. Sell your car to Carvana and swap. Hassle for convenience, pickup fees may apply. Don Lebatard the elephant went into a 711 and bought a pack of cigarettes. But my question to Ron is this. Stugats.

[Stugotz]

That joke didn't really land the way.

[Dan Le Batard]

You wanted it to. Did it.

[Stugotz]

We all just stared at it.

[Dan Le Batard]

This is the Don Levatar show with the stugats Cu lebras en el Tulio.

[Stugotz]

Let's go ahead and get to the unveiling here. And the discomfort of Greg Cody, who's moving, squirming around in his chair.

[Dan Le Batard]

I'm going to the other room.

[Stugotz]

No, you gotta stay here.

[Dan Le Batard]

Why do I have to stay here? Because you're under contract for the point. It's the point. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. This is a bad idea.

[Stugotz]

What do you mean it's a bad idea?

[Dan Le Batard]

And now there are people barricading the door.

[Stugotz]

I can't get out enough. He's legitimate.

[Dan Le Batard]

You can leave. Come to work for this. Get.

[Stugotz]

Oh, no.

[Dan Le Batard]

He ran clear out the studio.

[Stugotz]

What a. What a.

[Dan Le Batard]

He ran clear press Mikey.

[Stugotz]

He injured Mike's arm.

[Dan Le Batard]

He's in the garage.

[Stugotz]

The barricading did not work. He knocked over a table here.

[Dan Le Batard]

He broke a camera.

[Stugotz]

No, he's legitimately scared. It's so strange.

[Dan Le Batard]

What he do that for? So very strange, right, guys? It's not right that you guys give these animals a bad le. You ran at him with that animal and waved it in his face. I'm gonna put my headphones back on. I'm gonna lay the snake. Don't worry, Greg. I'm not gonna let it hurt you, okay? It's looking right at Greg. Look at Greg. Greg. Don't move. Greg. Just stay. Shit. I want you to look at this animal. I want you to look beautiful.

[Stugotz]

It's a beautiful.

[Dan Le Batard]

Ron, you ran at him with that animal. I want you to understand. Is that a snake in your pants or are you just happy to see me? Boy, all hell is breaking loose. Yeah, it just killed the microphone. No, it's not.

[Stugotz]

Shambolo.

[Dan Le Batard]

It's good. It's good. Look, Greg, listen. Yeah. First of all, this is a ball python. It's a non venomous snake. Oh, thank God. It's a non venomous snake. I wouldn't bring a venomous snake out here. And I don't want to. I don't want Stu guys to run scared like that. I want him to understand. Once you understand an animal, you realize it's not everything you think it is. First of of all, it looks slimy, right? Yeah. It's not. I'm gonna ask Dan to touch it. I'm not gonna ask Greg to touch it because he already told me no. Is it slimy, Dan?

[Stugotz]

No.

[Dan Le Batard]

No, not at all. I would touch it, just not near the small.

[Stugotz]

Bring security with him.

[Dan Le Batard]

He just brought Frankie with him. He brought the camera. He broke the camera and everything.

[Stugotz]

He did knock over a camera running.

[Dan Le Batard]

But more importantly, he knocked over your wonderful social media person there. I mean, he. He heard her. She can sue you. St.

[Stugotz]

Mike, were you surprised by the strength of Stugatz's fear? Opening the door you were located?

[Dan Le Batard]

I wasn't expecting. I was trying to lock it conventionally, and he came going for it. And, yeah, it was like that mom strength.

[Stugotz]

It would have been such good video if he had stayed in.

[Dan Le Batard]

Oh, now he's coming up with security. Oh, look at him, how brave he is. All right. He ran right through the door. There's an outline of his body on the door right now. Franklin, let him come in. Let him come in. Franklin's gonna protect you. Franklin's gonna protect you. Franklin's gonna protect you. Franklin's gonna protect. Protect you. Okay, Frankie, you got to go in front of me, man.

[Stugotz]

Frankie, close the door behind him, please. Close the door behind him.

[Dan Le Batard]

I got you too. I got you.

[Stugotz]

I got you.

[Dan Le Batard]

Stu. Guys, look. No, look. St. Look at me.

[Stugotz]

St. Let him drape it on your shoulders. Let him drape it on your shoulders. It's non venomous.

[Dan Le Batard]

You have your snake, I have mine.

[Stugotz]

A couple snakes cutting it up.

[Dan Le Batard]

Snakes are important animals. They're missing. This is really. He's serious.

[Stugotz]

No, he is serious. He's not acting, but he's also not giving us the payoff we need because.

[Dan Le Batard]

He'S a total coward. Why are snakes important, Ron? You know why? Because they control vermin. They have a massive contribution to controlling rodents and other animals that pass on tremendous diseases, do tremendous damage to crops. They are totally misunderstood. I don't want Stu guys to have this feeling, you know, now saying that. I don't want anybody, especially kids who are watching the show. Don't think, oh, oh, there's a snake. Ron says it's okay. Go pick it up. No, don't do that either. Don't do that. But they're safe. And to prove how safe they are, Greg's got to put it around its neck. No. You know, Greg already asked me. Don't ask me to touch it. Okay. And I respect that. From. All right, Dan. So Greg is sitting here like a normal human being.

[Stugotz]

That's fine.

[Dan Le Batard]

There we go.

[Stugotz]

Sure, no problem.

[Dan Le Batard]

Ron, I have a question about. It's going to be the first time you've been lugging the snake around.

[Stugotz]

Been doing it for 18 years. Go ahead, Billy. What's the question?

[Dan Le Batard]

Well, his headphones aren't on. He can't hear me.

[Stugotz]

I'll repeat your question to.

[Dan Le Batard]

So I want. Because he says that it's not venomous. It's not gonna bite you, but is. Should there be a fear that that snake decides to strangle you? Like, because snakes sometimes will kind of. I'd like to see that snake try. Yeah, there he goes, right? Oh, no, no, no. It's right by his mouth.

[Stugotz]

There's no risk. There is no risk of this snake, for your coffee, strangling me.

[Dan Le Batard]

How do you know that? I'm right here. That's why I'm right here. I'm here. Is there, like, a release valve? What are you talking about? I'm alone with the snake. I am right here. The snake is totally. As a matter of fact. See how it's calm right now? Because Dan emits body heat. And when he emits the body heat, it calms the snake down. It gets rejuvenated by the body heat. It's a little cool in the studio here. So you see the tongue flicking out. Listen, you don't get any cooties from the tongue. The tongue is basically. It's collecting little chemical particles in the air that go back into the mouth. And there's an organ in the roof of the mouth of all snakes called a Jacobson's organs. Like a little computer. And it tells the snake what's around it. So, guys, if you just understand these animals, you would have a much greater appreciation for them. They really are fascinating. So many snakes get persecuted because of people like stugats.

[Stugotz]

This snake is pretty strong, heavy.

[Dan Le Batard]

That's what I'm saying. Be careful. What if it strangles you? Wow. Are there.

[Stugotz]

Are there snakes other than the boa that. That can strangle people to death? Are there other kinds of snakes that can do that? Ron?

[Dan Le Batard]

Absolutely, there are several types. Types of constrictors, large constrictors. There are a big group of boas. There are pythons, Plisskens. These are all many species that occur in those two groups that have the capability of constricting a person. Ron, quick question. Do snakes have ears? Like. No, That's a good question. Snakes do not have ears. Snakes do not have external ears as we know them, so they can never hear anything. Another thing snakes don't have is they don't have eyelids so they can close their eyes. Okay, well, you did it. They can't close their eyes. So that's why they always look like they're awake, but they're not. They can sleep with their Eyes open. Wow. So they don't have external ears. Of course, they don't have legs, but they do have the remnants of a pelvis. So there's actually these little spurs here. This is a female, so her spurs are small, but males have bigger spurs, and those are actually vestigial legs from when snakes actually had legs. People think snakes are so old because they don't have legs, that they evolved to grow legs. No, they evolved. Evolved to lose their legs. So they're actually an advanced type of reptile.

[Stugotz]

Put it on the poll, please. Juju at Lebatard show. Did you know that snakes had a pelvis? Ron, thrilling to have you here in studio. I'm sorry that Stugats is such a coward and that he misrepresents the animal kingdom by not listening to anything you've said. He doesn't listen to the time you've been on with us.

[Dan Le Batard]

He has this fear. Animals are incredible, guys. You just need to understand them. I'm not saying saying be careless with them. Don't put yourself at risk. Just understand them. Ron, what's the most exotic animal you've ever eaten? Jeez. Good question. I don't know if it's. It would be the most exotic or the strangest. And I don't know if most people would classify as an animal. I do. But it was this massive beetle in the Amazonian forest that I was with a group of indigenous people, an indigenous tribe in the forest, and this was part of their diet. And they also had a massive maggot, for lack of a better term. It's kind of a larval stage that, you know, was put into kind of a hot fryer and given to me to eat, and I ate it out of respect to the people. You gotta be.

[Stugotz]

You gotta be disrespectful there. You gotta be disrespectful.

[Dan Le Batard]

Give it a try. And in all fairness, it was not as awful as I thought it was going to be. I really thought it was just going to be a repulsive flavor. Everyone, especially the big larva, the big maggot was. Was actually there was a little bit of almost sweetness to it. That wasn't bad. It's the palatability of it, though, you know, kind of. And the fact is, when I ate it, it was kind of still alive, so it was moving when it went in your mouth. I just need some salt and pepper.

[Stugotz]

You got it.

[Dan Le Batard]

You gotta. The key thing is you gotta fight it, eat it right away, you know? These people don't. They do, but I did not savor it. I did not like.

[Stugotz]

Okay, put it on. Put it on the poll please. Roy at Lebatard show. Are you eating the sweet fried maggot or are you disrespecting the indigenous people?

[Dan Le Batard]

We talked about this before, though. Like, to eat something terrible, you just deep fry it. And that. That saves you a lot. So I'm surprised that they actually deep fried it. Nothing. The deep frying was for the big beetle that was deep frying. They deep fried it till it almost popped like a kernel of popcorn. The maggot was not fried. It was alive. It was like, right out of a husk of a tree. The incredible senses of animals. Talking about the sense of smell. Okay, right now, polar bear sense of smell is unflipping, believable. A polar bear can smell a seal five miles away. Five miles away. Now, you all look. I see you shaking your head. All that stuff. Tony was saying, all that stuff. Yeah, I got it. Okay? But I'm telling you, they can do it. Okay, okay. They can do it. If you look at the nasal bones, the turbinate bones in the nose of a polar bear, it looks like this tiny little holes everywhere. There's all these funky bones. There's so much surface area that they can pick up smell as opposed you look at a human skull. They have hardly any turbinate bones. And we think we can smell. We can't do anything compared to a polar bear. Okay, the sense of touch. Think about things. How animals use their sense of touch for different things. Look at raccoons. Raccoons use their sense of touch for food. They can feel things in holes. They can pretty much determine anything with their sense of touch. Their sense of touch is incredibly important to them. Okay, sense of sight. We're going to go to any bird of prey, whether you talk about an owl, you talk about an eagle. You talk about an animal that can read a newspaper 100 yards away. Even though Tony says it's a molla, it's not. They can do it. Or if they could read, assuming they can read that, you know, that's a big assumption. Of course, you're taking a stretch there. But the bottom line is they can make the details out of those little letters on a newspaper. From 100 yards away. They have an eagle can spot a mouse from almost half a mile in the air. Spot a mouse in the grass. Come on, guys. It's unbelievable stuff. Okay, now the taste. I don't know about the taste. I don't know what's going to have the taste type thing going on there. So I, I don't know, you can.

[Stugotz]

Pick another one of the senses and double up on another one of the senses if you need to adhere to the rigidity.

[Dan Le Batard]

I'm gonna go with hearing. I'm gonna go with hearing. Okay, let's go with the bats. I mean, what bats can do with your hearing is unbelievable. Echolocation. They're making the sound and they can bounce it back. And the ears, look at the close ups of bats. Look at the shapes and sizes of their ears. They look like aliens, man. It's unbelievable. And the way they can move it back and forth. They're like big radar dishes. That is freaking unbelievable when you look at what a bat can do with its hearing. So we got hearing, we got smell, we got sight, we got touch. The fifth one. What's the fifth one?

[Stugotz]

Well, no, you already said taste is not useful here. So go ahead to one of the. What is second most amazing on any of those that you're just gonna.

[Dan Le Batard]

It's gonna be smell and it's gonna be. You know, you look at some of these dogs that can smell cancer in a person. Think about this, guys. They can. Why are they doctors? Why are you saying that it's impossible? I'm just amazed. I'm not questioning. I didn't know that. I just didn't know that they should be. There are dogs that can smell ovarian cancer before it's even determined. Okay. Before it's even diagnosed medically. They can smell ovarian cancer. This is unbelievable stuff, guys. Animals can save our lives if we just give them the credit and the opportunity. So how would a dog respond to react if they smelled cancer? Like what would be the sign? The way they teach them. The way they teach them is they teach them to alert. And the way they alert is they just sit. They would walk. Let's say you put, you know, five women in a row. One has already been diagnosed or one has the ovarian cancer. The dog will walk by all five women. When it gets to the woman has cancer, he sits right in front of her. That's his alert saying, she's got it.

[Stugotz]

How do they teach. I saw, I saw a currency dog. Evidently there's a lot of money going from Miami to Los Angeles now. I did not know that there were currency dogs. I thought they were searching for drugs. How do they teach a dog to have the sense of smell necessary so that, that they could discover things like cancer or money?

[Dan Le Batard]

Well, what they do is they'll take things like cancer Cells, I'm going to assume, with cancer, okay. And they'll put it with other objects, and they wait for the dog to smell, and they reward the dog for smelling the cancer. So the dog's not saying, no, cancer. You need to take care of this person. The dog is doing something because it knows it's going to get rewarded for it. It's called bridging. We bridge when we teach animals to do things. When we see a behavior that we find favorable, we reward the animal. So what they'll do is they'll put money. Let's say, put money in one bag, and all the other bags have nothing. When the bird. When the dog goes to the money, he gets rewarded. That's called a bridge. Right away, okay? You can have money. Boom. So then the dog learns, hey, when I go to the money, I get rewarded. And then you just reinforce that behavior. You keep causing different bridges to connect the animal to whatever you're trying to teach it. So the animal is not saying, I'm a specialist in smelling cancer. No. Or, I'm a specialist in smelling drugs. No. We teach a dog that has an incredible sense of smell to pinpoint that one thing that becomes a drug specialist dog. He's been rewarded. Like, we wouldn't have a dog doing drugs and cancer at the same time, because then the dog's confused. So we teach the dog, this is what your specialty is. As soon as you, you, you, you, you, you know, determine that this is that you will get rewarded. And that's how it works.

[Stugotz]

Ron, good seeing you. Reminder the audience that has always been very strong. No bureaucracy when it comes to Ron McGill's substantive endowment. If the animals. He is doing it, you can search on the Internet. It's easy to find. If you want to support the things that Ron is supporting, the love for the animals is real. Thank you, sir.

[Dan Le Batard]

All right, guys, take care. Tony, missing you on the court, brother. Likewise. What should I eat and how to crate train your dog? Ron, I have a question for you. So there are three sort of main animals that are accepted in the popular culture as sort of being okay, or four, I guess, chickens, cows, pigs, and fish. We've all kind of, as a society, agreed it's not gross to eat those things, and those things are delicious. They go with a lot of meals. Is there one that we're missing? Is there something where people go, oh, that's weird that you'd eat that, but it would be a good, versatile dish with a lot of different flavors, with a lot of different kinds of food. What for you is the animal that humans don't eat that we should. Well, it's not that humans don't eat it, but most people look at it as some type of weird, exotic food. Alligator. Ostrich. Yeah, ostrich. Also really good quality meat. No fat and high in protein. Right. Human Jesus Christmas. Who's that? Cody? Did he just say that? Yeah. Yep. Wasn't me. No, Cody, that's called cannibalism. Yeah, but do we know if it's good Jesus Christmas? I mean, desperate times. We're just asking. This is desperate times. Where's Levitar, Dan? I need to say in desperate times. In desperate times, I would have asked that with him here. Yeah. Okay. And I would have followed up. I mean, Ron, the reason why I asked that is because a food blogger was fined $18,500 after posting a video. After buying, preparing and eating a great white shark is. Great white shark. Great white shark's a protected species. Hang on a second. Why are great white sharks a protected species? Yeah, they should not protect those animals. They're apex predators. Like, they eat everything occasionally. Show them who's boss. I need protection, guys. Because they're an imperative part of the food chain. They keep populations in balance. If you don't have white sharks eating things like seals and sea lions, the seals and sea lions get out of proportion. They start eating all the fish. Fishermen are not catching any fish. You start losing the tourism industry and fish people are not getting enough fish in their diet. It's just a domino effect. Circle of life. Great whites are eating the fishermen. What now? Great whites are eating the fishermen. I saw that, actually. Oh, jeez, guys. Yeah, yeah. We were wondering. Chris. Chris was really pressing him on this, and I don't blame him. But Greg is saying because he has a dog, he's less than one year old. I think that he cannot leave him in a cage for four consecutive hours because it's a really bad thing. So how long can you. I'm really checking on Greg Cody and whether or not. Not. He just felt like leaving a couple hours early today. What's the longest you can leave a dog in a cage and feel good about it? I've left. When I first get a dog, a puppy, I leave him in the kennel overnight, over eight hours to teach him. That's how you kennel train a dog so that he knows to hold it. Because dogs instinctively, even as puppies, they don't want to defecate a urinate where they sleep. So he'll hold it in that Kennel until you open the can. Then you take him for a walk immediately. And that's how you slowly but surely puppy train an animal. Animal gotta be crazy. My dog, my dad claims that he gets home after four hours and the dog shits and poops in the cage. And that's why. Shits and poops, he says. Yeah, he says that's why he. Oh, my bad. Peas and poops. Yeah, yeah. You know, he may have. Or he just wanted to leave early. I. He may have just wanted to leave early. He may just hate my segment and not want to be there. No, he loves your segment. So needles. Sensualist. Ron, I've noticed in a lot of lion videos that whenever they greet each other, they rub their heads together. Is that their main sign of affection? Lions? Are you talking about big cats? Yes, big cats. Lions, yeah. Gamble a lot. Ironically. Ironically, lions will always. The female, the male always bites the neck of the female. And you'll see that on almost all cats. So it seems kind of rough a little bit there. And remember now, the penises of lions, all cats, for that matter, matter, have these little fleshy spines that point backwards. So when he inserts it into the female, it slides in, no problem. However, if he tries to withdraw the penis while it's still erect, those fleshy spines rake the vaginal walls of the female. So you'll hear cat breeding. It kind of starts, it kind of goes, oh, oh. Even the lions, you hear them, they kind of go. And then all of a sudden you're. And that's when he's withdrawing and it hurts her and she turns around, she tries to slap the jeepers out of them and then 20 minutes later she's asking for it again. So I don't know if she remembers how much that hurt. Ron, in Ohio, a zebra attacked its 72 year old owner and bit the man's arm before the zebra was fatally shot by a sheriff's deputy. How do you feel about killing animals that basically are just exhibiting natural behavior? You know, I feel terrible for the zebra, but I cannot blame a sheriff. These sheriffs are not really trained in this kind of wild life. Their objective is to protect things. I saw the video. As a matter of fact, I commented on it this morning on the news that, you know, these sheriffs didn't know what to do. I, I can't blame them for doing that. What I do have to make people understand is this. And they said, oh, it's a zebra. It's kind of like a horse. Anybody who works with horses knows even A stallion, any stallion can be incredibly dangerous, especially when you've got mares around them that are in season. And this, this is a lone male zebra that had a bunch of female zebras around it. It was becoming very territorial. Anybody knows even a domestic horse can bite your arm off. And that's exactly what this zebra did. I feel horrible that they had to shoot it. I don't blame the police officers though, because they're in a situation. They just saw the zebra come at this guy, try to take his arm off. You got to protect yourself. If you were Ron, if you were at the scene, is there anything you could have done or said to that sheriff to save the zebra's life or. Yes, yes, yes, the zebra. And watching the video, they could have kept that zebra back. There was a guy there with a big stick. He kept having, kept, you know, keeping the zebra away. And the zebra kept coming back, kept coming back. And the, the officers just said, listen, I can't take this chance. I can't take this chance. I would have told him, listen, it's just keep yourself. You're not gonna. You can keep the zebra away with a big stick. Just keep screaming and yelling and keep the zebra away. You know, it's unfortunate they didn't have somebody there who could tell them what to do. They just saw a guy that had his arm all bitten off, the zebras coming at you. Again, you cannot blame the police for that funkiness. And sea hunters.

[Stugotz]

I'm also reading about, I think it's called the baya, the baya weaver. It's. It's known for building these massive, long hang. Hanging bulbous nests and they've got a narrow tube as an entrance. I don't know if you're interested in this particular animal, but I am curious what you regard as the finest tapestry and animal weaves of any kind. Kind.

[Dan Le Batard]

Oh, that's, you know, that's got to go to spiders. But you look at things that spiders do. If you're going to talk to something a little bigger like a bird, look at the aura pendula bird. The aura pendula bird makes this wonderful nest. It's like a dangling nest that hangs down from the tree and it's basically constructed that way so snakes can't get in to eat their chicks and their eggs. It's the way they've adapted to make this nest. But I've got one actually hanging in my office here. It's hanging in the back of my office that I brought back from Panama, that it's just a Beautiful tapestry weaver birds do the same thing thing in Africa. The weaver birds make these wonderful hanging, bulbous nests that are woven beautifully. To watch the whole process is amazing. Ron, over the weekend I was watching the Seawolf island on Netflix. It's an incredible show and it shows Vancouver island in Canada and all the surrounding ecosystem from the ocean to the sea, wolves themselves to bears to marmots, everything, right. And how everything in the walk of life, of nature feeds and, and feeds itself in different ways. I was really interested about the orcas. I know we haven't really talked about orcas in a while. Can you just talk about how, like, how impressive they are and why they're the apex predator of the sea? Oh, they're incredibly impressive. First of all because of their intelligence. They're amazingly intelligent animals. Their, their, their mode of communication. They have their own languages. Those languages can vary from pod to pod, where they have their own distinct languages from pod to pod. The way they can hunt cooperatively. First of all, Tony, I want to say how impressed I am that you watch these shows and you are fascinated with this kind of stuff. Not only are you a great athlete, but you're obviously a good mind that's taking in good information. How's the ankle, by the way? Ankle's doing better. I was on edibles, though.

[Stugotz]

Okay, enough, enough.

[Dan Le Batard]

All right. So anyway, the bottom line is you watch an orca hunt. I don't know if you guys seen those videos where a seal will go up on a plate of ice on an iceberg to get away from the orca, and they get together and say, okay, listen, this is what I'm going to do. We're all going to go on one side. We're going to make a way to knock the seal off the other end of the iceberg, and then they're going to get him on the other side. I mean, what kind of intelligence does that take to say, let's do this, let's make this wave, knock them off the iceberg, and then let's get him on the other side. Man, that's spectacular stuff. When you think about it, a team.

[Stugotz]

Has to be known as the orcas. We need to get the orcas as a team match.

[Dan Le Batard]

Absolutely. That would be a great name for a team. Ron, you work for Miami Dade County. I was curious, what are the orcas origins of zoos being associated with governments? And the need for governments to preserve zoos as something is like a public service? Well, they're usually part of the park system within the governments department, which is what we are. We're part of the parks and recreation system here in Miami Dade county. And it's not always necessary. You know, you have the of course government run zoos like the Smithsonian, the National Zoo is run by the government. But in the San Diego Zoo is a private zoo. Zoo. There's some zoos that are happen half, you know, so it's not obligatory that be run by a government or run privately to each zone. Depends on the market and how it evolves, but each can be very successful. Ron a town in the United Kingdom had its New Year's fireworks show canceled because a walrus ended up on the harbor. How distressing can these fireworks shows be to animals? Very distressing. And you know, it's the time of year when I tell people anybody who has a pet dog, even a pet cat, but pet dogs especially go through triple tremendous stress with these fireworks. You can try to get them things like thunder jackets and things like that, but very little works during the fireworks. And I feel, I feel really badly for these animals during the celebrations because people are celebrating, they don't realize the kind of stress that puts their animals through. But I can tell you, I bet you an overwhelming majority of your dog owners in your audience know the horrible stress that dogs go through.

[Stugotz]

No, it's my dog. Yes, hates it and. But he's also afraid of ATM beeps and balloons and cats and rain and.

[Dan Le Batard]

You know, to look at your dog, you would never think from hearing his.

[Stugotz]

And from his bark, but he's afraid of everything.

[Dan Le Batard]

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