Arctic Biologist Seth Beaudreault | This Past Weekend w/ Theo Von #221

today's guest is an Arctic biologist who. has come down directly from the great. white north to let us know exactly. what's going on and to answer some. questions we have about well all sorts. of stuff we're gonna get into nature. we're gonna get into the depths of the. cold and Alaska. today's guest is mr. Seth Boudreau. [Music].

[Music]. so do you just come from Alaska right. now coming from Costa Rica back up to. Alaska I just went down to see my lady. and spent some time in my place kind of. in the middle of the work season okay so. basically five months a year in Alaska. May through September studying migratory. birds and wildlife and then the rest of. the year I'm down in Costa Rica and yeah.

because you sent me a picture from Cote. you sent me a picture one time of lunch. I guess it was and it was some guano. claws you guys had a batch of want. iguana yeah yeah yeah and I was like. dang bro yeah my lady's dead traps them. in the yard and cooks them up and it's. not that great yeah yeah if you're in if. you're in a tight spot someone's going. I'll get you through well yeah I saw it. looked uh when I looked at him and we'll. have Nick put the picture up too but it.

they looked I'd have thought you two. eaten a different party to go on I'd. never really considered really the claw. yeah it was kind of all chopped up in. there but they're mostly bone so it. probably looked like a puff full of. claws yeah that's what it looked like. yeah. when you uh when you cook them up how do. you even cook those here yeah I think. you cook them in a pressure cooker with. like a chopped tomato and some garlic. and onion maybe some chicken bullion. pretty simple it's just kind of you can.

cook it the same way you cook chicken. yeah but it's like it's not that great. is it like an island treat kinda is it. pretty common there in Costa Rica no I. think a lot of rural people eat it. occasionally but a lot of people think. it's gross and definitely don't eat it. too but oh yeah it's kind of interesting. like it's almost like when I was growing. up people would eat a lot of like. hogshead cheese and stuff and um you. know where my sister lived they cook. cracklins a lot of times we will just. you know take a bunch of fat and put in.

a pot in here that's the best yeah at. the beginning you're like where's the. meat you know and then by the hand. you're just like left for these pieces. of fried leather oh and they're like. yeah and they're just hurting tasty. really hairy they're almost just it's. almost like they're almost like cotton. can't like the inverse of cotton candy. oh yeah pretty far on the other end of. the spectrum. sous-sous so when you go up to when you. go to Alaska what part of Alaska are you. in in the Arctic zone north of the. Brooks Range I'm at a science station.

can you pull that up Nick the Brooks. Range so we could see that I just want. to have an idea where you are. yeah about 370 miles north of Fairbanks. yeah and I don't even know where. Fairbanks is Phoenix looks like this you. know these are the Aleutian Islands okay. thanks kind of right in the middle I. know I'm up towards the top there okay. yeah so I'm above north of that mountain. range oh wow so that's called the North. Slope up there that's where there's a.

lot of oil business going on and the. Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. so which one you're you are up there. yeah it's about a 10 hour drive to get. up to where I work and if you go off the. top say you get to the top of Alaska and. you take a boat north what do you hit uh. North Pole eventually some ice really. yeah you can you can't really access the. coast there without paying for a permit. from the oil company to go on a tour you. can go on like an hour long tour where.

you get to dip your toes in the Arctic. Ocean but they don't want people messing. around up there so you can't just access. it on your own they kind of own the. whole North coastline there so they say. well it's private property yeah yeah. there's a town called Deadhorse up there. it's not really much of a talents like. an industrial outpost where everything's. made of metal and there's just. testosterone in the air yeah it's a. rough place it's ugly but you can see. some cool birds up there spectacled. eiders and phalaropes and king eiders.

and stuff it's pretty cool now are those. birds that are indeed there they're only. there spectacled eiders yeah a real. Arctic specialists they didn't even. really know where they spent the winter. until pretty recently the whole. population goes to like an opening and. the ice out in the Bering Sea I think. how you say it specks it's a lighter. cold Eider yeah I dar. and when you're up there like how close. you get into these birds like what do. you do to close my job I'm a naturalist.

for this science station up there and so. every day I'm out there just trying to. document what's happening with wildlife. when the bird species arrived to the. area when they leave in the fall and. then other wildlife you know there's. bears and wolves and Wolverines and. stuff up there so I'm just out there. spending time trying to see what's going. on and document it just for posterity. basically oh wow yeah yeah so it's a sea. duck and they just breed on the coast.

and grassy ponds and then spend the. winter out among the sea ice and. openings can you get a picture of the. fate of the head again ooh look at that. thing Wow yeah well and so what is that. coming off the back it almost looks like. gills up there by its head what is that. just feathering just yeah just weird. feathers and can you have one of these. at the house or these more these are. these you got to get some special. permits for that. yeah they don't they don't take kindly. it's I think it's a threatened species.

probably there's just not that many of. them and they breathe in really specific. areas and can you watch them fight or. they don't fight what do they do or they. seem pretty docile to me they're just. kind of sitting around on the water. minding their own business yes. you know Arctic summer is really short. and so the birds kind of have to get. there and get on with it get the. breathing done and then get the hell out. of there so and that's what a lot of new. breeding is in the is in the summer yeah. pretty much only then so we have like a. hundred and ten species of birds we've.

observed in the area that are coming. from the lower 48 states Central America. South America even all the way down to. Antarctica somewhat on the winter down. there. so birds kind of just come like. everybody's kind of popping in yeah yeah. who's kind of the Randy you know cuz. sometimes you're like on a plane to. Vegas and you got different groups you. got a couple of German guys you know you. got one guy making his own cocaine in. the backseat you know you got a bunch of. Italians. just just you know drinking deca 200. guys really what kind of group gets up.

there and just really just turns it out. there's a bird called the blue throat. that is mostly a Eurasian bird and the. population just barely extends over into. Alaska so you have if you want to see. him in the United States you have to go. up there and they yeah look at that. they sing bird karaoke they do like. imitations of other bird species and. they'll do this repertoire that goes on. for they can imitate up to like 25. species of other birds but you eat so.

you hear it you hear them singing all. this stuff but it sounds a little off. like karaoke where you're like I don't. think that's really the white-crowned. sparrow and it's that guy ah. and so they're just kind of there like. impersonators yeah yeah totally and the. other females seem to get a kick out of. the male with the biggest repertoire and. uh oh wow cool huh yeah that's cool it's. a bird there's like gonna be like I'm. gonna go up there and now can they will. they tempt other females from other.

species to come on over with since. they're using different peoples song I. haven't seen them tempt females but. other species will definitely get. agitated if they hear another bird. singing their song because they one bird. sing they're basically advertising their. territory so they sing on the edges of. the territory and then and the bird with. the next territory over will hear it and. he'll kind of establish his border so. they suddenly hear their own song in a. place where they thought they had their. territory staked out someone definitely. respond aggressively so it's so when a.

bird like sings it's it's always to let. people know that this is my territory. that and I'm available so they're. singing to let the females know that. they've got this pad and they're ready. to roll okay yeah so I got a comfortable. place here I got a little spot of Days. Inn or whatever got me a little spot. Hampton Inn got it for the summer yeah. okay so this is the only two reasons if. you hear a bird they're letting somebody. know about their territory mm-hmm or.

they are letting females know that. they're available yeah pretty much yeah. and Diouf is it just male birds that. sing or female birds also say mostly. just male birds. and females do little calls that they. used to keep in touch with each other. and to warn each other predators and. stuff yeah yeah waiting for this one. [ __ ] to text me back right now it's. only been two weeks so she's probably. busy you know traveling or something. yeah um. how cool so when you get up to Alaska.

man how cold is it like because people. think of Alaska and you know like a lot. of people you think of like gold country. and you and that sort of thing you think. of it being cold is there a level where. it doesn't matter that's cold anymore. that you can even like we can't even. really feel a difference between say you. know 20 degrees below and like 80. degrees below 20 degrees below is not. bad at all when you get down to 40 I. think 50 below is the lowest I've. experienced then you're just in pain you.

just don't want to be outside at all and. yeah. so down to minus 20 it's very dry up. there at least in Fairbanks and so you. can still go skiing and stuff and have. an alright time but when it gets cold in. that like you can feel a breeze coming. underneath the bottom of your cabin door. just because the temperature difference. is so great that the air is just like. blowing in trying to equal it out so we. explained that to me like saying exactly.

when there's differences in temperature. the air wind is basically air moving. from one place to another right okay a. ridiculously simple way to describe when. yeah I get it I think we all understand. that but like when there's a big. difference inside and outside the air is. trying to equalize to normal it out okay. so you have these like 10 inch thick. walls of a cabin or even the doors are. usually have several inches of.

insulation but just at the bottom the. only space where there's a little bit of. air it's just blowing in like your pants. will go like this in the wind if you're. standing near the door because the air. is coming in it's so much colder outside. than it is inside if you have it you. know 60 inside that it just creates wind. just trying to rush that close to each. other. but when I get up there and early May. and that's when it's still winter a. little bit there's usually a few feet of.

snow on the ground but it's already full. daylight so I don't see the sunset until. September so the sun's up the whole time. when you get there from men yep yeah. which yeah as I get older it gets harder. to be used to that like we have blackout. curtains you know to try to make it dark. in my room and stuff but it's you can't. keep it out the light a little bit so so. yeah it's it's kind of still winter a. little bit in early May and that's when. the birds start to arrive to the area so.

I'm out there all day like just visiting. the same types of habitat and trying to. keep track of when each species arrives. to the area ok concierge almost yeah. just trying to help them get settled in. so you do that for years and years and. years and then you have a nice record of. exactly what was happening you know in. any given year and you can track changes. over time and that's kind of how the. good kinds of science work where you're. just. there's people studying really specific.

stuff up there about carbon releasing in. the atmosphere and all that but I'm just. studying very basic like what are the. animals doing well I really love that. because I've just always been more of a. generalist but I like being outside and. just paying attention to stuff rather. than have my nose in the tundra sniffing. gases or whatever they're doing yeah. yeah yeah it's not you know there's much. of a corporate hunter right yeah yeah. when freelance yeah when they when when.

you start to see like different patterns. from birds like is there a time when you. like really start to get scared like is. there one species that you really start. to pay attention to yeah there's there's. a couple times the birds have frightened. me a little bit there's a bird called a. long-tailed Jaeger mm-hmm that um it's a. sea bird basically it's kind of like a. ghoulish tarnish type of bird but. they're a predatory sea bird and they. only come in land to breed on tundra. yeah that one Wow so they eat voles and.

lemmings and stuff. and when there aren't a lot of lemmings. or voles around those populations kind. of crash occasionally and when there's. not any round they'll just form groups. of like 40 and just maraud around and. one time I saw a group of 40 just coming. over a hill and it was kind of a. thundercloud in the distance and I was. like I didn't know that they did that. yet it's like why are these 40 Birds. coming here pretty gnarly yeah we. thought maybe they teamed up when we're. coming to get you we thought there was a. tsunami coming or something Wow yeah you.

just you spend enough time out there you. see weird things like that most people. you know don't know happen yeah how I. mean annals are so in tune with Mother. Nature they're almost like um it's. almost like they're like working for. Mother Nature or something yeah. or like you could get clues from them. you know yeah yeah definitely I I. learned a lot about us from watching. them and I think that's one of the great. things about doing that kind of work is. just being out there and having the. opportunity to be away from all the.

other noise that's going on and just. watch other things and have time to. think and yeah I've been doing it for 17. years now so like ever since I've been. an adult and is it a lifestyle that you. think you could get or that you would. want to go away from where do you start. to like look for I mean do you really. just look forward to that time up there. oh yeah I mean I'm away from my. girlfriend fiancee for those five months. which is why I go down and visit in the. middle of that for ten days so it's.

really great to see here and that's a. cost you know like it's a definitely an. alternative lifestyle and a lot of. couples I don't think it'd pull it off. long-distance relationship but we've. been going nearly six years now and it's. all I love it you can't see it for four. months love you though for me it'd be. great yeah I mean it yeah it would just. be I think it's almost something I'm. gonna have to have in my life um I'm.

trying to think of like was something. that I think about like how quiet does. it get it must give extremely quiet huh. it gets so quiet that you can hear your. own heartbeat like in your ears yeah. well there's no other sound especially. when there's no way. or anything and you don't yeah being. here I'm in the belly of the beast here. yeah especially la yeah oh my god flying. in everybody else seems to think it's. fine but I'm looking out there like this.

is so wrong. now when you say that is it just like. the amount of people the amount of like. goings-on in one space like the lack of. space what. yeah the just humans living so out of. balance with nature and just everything. that's here we depend on someone else. somewhere else making and doing you know. like it's kind of weird yeah and I don't. think it's good for us really like. having watched animals for so long you.

kind of realize like we are just another. animal we are an ape we're not special. we're not even domesticated like we're. as wild as we ever were we just have. changed our habitat a lot you know to. suit us but it comes at such a great. cost that when you're outside of this. stuff and have the peace and time to. kind of get out of it and then you come. back to it it's pretty shocking Wow yeah. but it's like you know if you're in a. bad relationship and your buddy could.

come up and tell you why you should get. out of it. yeah you can listen and it makes logical. sense maybe but you come up with excuses. for why you're just not going to do it. yet and then years later when you do you. look back and like what the hell was I. thinking yeah that's going on yeah just. because I had that chance to be outside. of this human civilization kind of and. so you get a different perspective I. think but you but I can't expect to make. people understand that in the same way.

that when you're in a better. relationship like someone could explain. something yeah yeah yeah it's hard to. see something when you're in it yeah so. it's nice to like down in Costa Rica you. know I'm living in a tiny little village. it's 200 people and there's no other. gringos around except for a couple of. families and Mennonites but oh yeah yeah. they're wild on their bacon over there. hit a little bakery and uh yeah they're. pretty interesting they call I got a.

Facebook message from someone I didn't. know the other day saying the Mennonites. want you to call them Ganga and I'm like. what the Mennonites need me for yeah and. it was a bird identification quick I saw. a bird that wasn't in the book you know. like it's a Southern Man Thanksgiving. over there with those minnows man it's. beautiful and they're pretty. self-sufficient those cultures aren't. they like Mennonites and I'm Amish. in a way yeah the Mennonites are kind of. weird where they they use cell phones.

they don't use the internet but they'll. use cell phones that use motors and not. like the Amish in that sense they're. really nice but you feel a little weird. around them because the women are. covered you know from head to toe and I. kissed. older Mennonite lady on the cheek by. accident cuz that's a custom in Costa. Rica when you say goodbye to someone. yeah yeah and as I got closer I kind of. realized like she doesn't want this to. happen but I'm into Todd yeah that's. most of a hug there are a lot of Jionni.

and Nick sexual history yeah yeah all of. that going on in here but but yeah so. being in these quiet places that's great. when people visit like I've got a lot of. good buddies I grew up with who have. come down to the Costa Rica if you have. come up to Alaska but I don't get that. much time off up there so um yeah my 7. months a year off is down in Costa Rica. and that's where people come visit and. can kind of like I think they before. they visit they imagine me laying in a. hammock on the beach drinking Imperial.

or something yeah yeah when they come. down and see we're living in like a. really small rural agricultural village. we're growing coffee you got to do a lot. of stuff as a lot of action yeah which. is that's kind of the best way we can be. is just doing work that's meaningful to. you to people around you yeah I can. imagine the exchange the human exchange. you get by helping others are being part. of a small community yeah yeah that's. how we're evolved to be you know like. we're supposed to be living in tribal.

groups of you know up to a hundred 150. and then we we've gotten so far away. from that. I don't think we can see our way back. but do you think there could be a. correction that happens that brings us. back like sometimes I feel like that's. the thing that I'm wondering like this. mother nature finally like all right. enough of this Sims [ __ ] you know. yeah. about to tighten up the [ __ ] you know I. think it's unavoidable what happens to. every other species on earth every other. species population goes up and down and.

up and down really yeah I mean like. links and snowshoe hares their. populations kind of follow each other as. the hare population gets high the links. start producing more kittens and then. start eating all the hares and start. dying off and then the Lynx have to die. off everything else goes like that and. if you look at a graph of the human. population since like 1700 we've just. gone in climate and we've done it by you. know like advances in agriculture and. medicine and everything which some of.

them are great but we can't keep going. forever like yeah like how sustainable. is it it's not at all so that's hard to. watch happening like and that no one. gives a [ __ ] right now like I'm lucky. the time I've had to be out in the wild. and get that perspective but it makes it. harder to be in the civilized world. because no one else like knows what the. hell I'm talking about right oh yeah you. start to look like an alien. yeah it just seemed like something.

that's it starts to seem like you're the. odd man out right exactly or when really. it's see it's kind of the other way I. mean I think especially in in America we. don't notice that there's more like. rural living in a lot of other cultures. yeah we don't realize that like and the. whole globe that there's tons of it. going oh yeah yeah like when people are. talking about how we're gonna have smart. cars driving everybody around here the. rest of the world has no idea that's. even being discussed right except for in. big cities maybe even like yeah it's.

funny I go to Illinois like in the. summer and they have a small town up. there and they don't even get 4G like. its 3G is what you get on your phone so. it's like if you want to watch a video. dude you got to drive with your buddy. you know 19 minutes you know yeah and. park outside the McDonald's. that's enough fricking off phone heat so. it's like those people aren't even. worried about it's more like an. agricultural environment in that in that. area yeah everybody else looks down on.

them you know yeah like they produce the. food we eat they do all this stuff that. we kind of tried to get away from having. to do ourselves yeah and then we look. down on them it's so wrong it is crazy I. mean especially like a lot of like media. and stuff these days yeah you know I. mean even Alaska I'm sure. I mean CNN hates anything that's white. it seems like so I'm surprised that they. even sir proposed on Alaska deniers but. um but yeah it is it I guess it's like I.

mean you have such an interesting. insight into that because you get to see. what it's like you're almost living in. two different realms totally yeah yeah. and just occasionally passing through. this one and just being like what the. hell is going on because your layover. Zee here on the way on your way back to. write Costa Rica basically between these. two kind of remote areas I pass through. places like this and so I'm away for. long enough where things have changed. since I last came through and I can see. them and most of them are alarming Wow.

like the uber drive over here is scarier. than any bear encounter I've ever had I. mean like it's way more dangerous being. on a highway here than being up there. and now dude you just you must notice so. many just like small like do you notice. that you are alarmed at a personal level. or do you notice that you are alarmed at. a NAT a level of like you know tension. in your body or things like that that. from being in the city like for on the.

uber Drive for example yeah both for. sure like I definitely feel way more in. danger just because we're supposed to. know everybody that we interact with. that's how our brains have been for. hundreds of thousands of us so to be in. a place where I've got a couple buddies. I grew up with at a visit when I'm here. other than that everybody's a stranger. and yeah it it's kind of wild to think. of how many stranger you run across and. run past yeah so it's like people are.

great generally but you just I think. evolu. generally in the back your mind you're. not at ease or at least I'm not you know. yeah. and and I think you know we're an eighth. but we're obviously super adaptable so. most people have adapted to deal with. that pretty fine and yeah not me do you. feel like we're definitely Apes you have. no doubt about it no doubt yeah anybody. who thinks for not just hasn't thought. about it enough I think but don't you.

think man you got to think if we're. eight like I've never looked at an ape. like up for example I never been to the. zoo and been like you know miss the old. place you know like nowhere in my body. does that reflect and I'm not saying I. think maybe we might be monkeys that God. created you know like I think maybe do. you think we're really a tape like you. cuz have you ever smelled your armpit. like after a nice hike yeah a little bit. when I was younger yeah I mean I get the.

hang of it now kind of but uh yeah I. mean like you watch how we behave in. groups and very much like Apes exactly. as Apes like it's a miracle anytime we. act above an ape I think it's a miracle. yeah and it doesn't happen that often. alaya the more that I always try to give. people the benefit of the doubt and then. I'll go around the different places and. I'm like damn it's really hard to keep.

doing this yeah yeah you know people. like we we will constantly let each. other down yeah yeah it's terrible but. that's because there's so many of us so. crowded in that we don't mean anything. to each other like yeah that's of the. end that's a great stage yeah that's. exactly what I feel like here all the. time yeah you know when you're in a. small community where you're kind of. interdependent that's how we're. programmed to function like in a group. of apes non-human Apes or human Apes. like everybody's supposed to have a role.

yeah and everybody kind of does. something that contributes to the group. every day. so in larger cities can have a lot of. people that they don't they may have a. role but they're it's not as prominent. or it's not as defined or maybe they. can't find their role there yeah. yeah we're so you probably didn't create. a lot of depression I would exactly yeah. so it's not surprising to me at all. how much depression there is and how. people are so disconnected. it's totally logical right you know.

because we're in know I like thinking. about this is interesting yeah because. in cities it's so funny when I go home. or I go someplace else even when I go to. other places and in the u.s. even I just. feel somewhat the second I leave here I. feel so much more relaxed yeah yeah man. it just I just feel better yeah you know. I just feel like yeah I don't know I. just don't feel like I have to just I. feel like I have to fight so hard here. to just be a person yeah you know you do. and it's just taxing yeah after a while.

it's real frenetic here there's no quiet. there's no darkness at night or there's. all the light pollution like it's so. against how we're how we spent so much. time being just in this recent fraction. of modern times is the only time we were. like this yeah yes it's so fast yeah. yeah what do you think are gonna be some. of the side effects of some of this that. we're gonna see I mean obviously we're. seeing a lot of now with like depression. you know you know people not feeling. like they fit into the world which makes. sense it's like how could you feel like.

you fit in when there's so many people. all clogged together and our genetics. haven't really caught up to this this. new way of living yeah yeah I don't know. man. that's the thing is I have no answer for. it even after all this time it still. boggles my mind and I see no way out of. it other than just each person trying to. do good things where they can on a scale. that they can see the results of you.

know yeah you know so like these we. always think of these problems as big. global issues but there are local issues. right just piled on top of each other. and they're all results of interval. individual people's decisions you know. yeah so like yeah that way all the time. yeah you can't solve a big global issue. you can just see work that needs to be. done do it and hope that you live to see. the results or that your kids do or. something but yeah even that we're.

being an ape we're not programmed to. think that far possibly being here yeah. it's debate I mean it's just like here's. the thing dude I never seen an ape and. been like oh yeah you know really my. buddy you gotta you gotta go to the zoo. again man but why then over there man. over there but I never seen a navy had. not once if I looked at an ape men like. oh man yeah. wonder what the boys are up to [ __ ] no.

man I'm not saying that it's not a. possibility but now what but but but uh. but you're out in nature you got in like. really you're out in the expanse of. probably some of the most beautiful. places you could probably see is that. true or is it just disgusting I know. barren up there and like is it miserable. uh it's both okay yeah like the. mosquitoes in Alaska in the summertime. on if you know but it's insane oh yeah. like you have a lot of racial slur he's.

talking about the actual animal yeah you. have to wear head nets and stuff. really yeah yeah yeah but there's no. humidity right it's pretty dry but with. all the snowmelt that melts in the. spring and and the mosquitos have laid. their eggs in those areas and they kind. of start hatching out those videos that. have been shot up where I work where you. will not believe the amount of. mosquitoes so oh you got to go to. Jefferson Parish dude in Louisiana and. they have debt I mean we go toe to toe. with you yeah.

where we bring our mosquitoes in you. bring yours yeah and we watch them. fighters over there Reena. and they hybridize yeah look at it wow. oh my god this look like a big orgy or. something yeah yeah but so like. intermittent but hold on a second. because this to thing everything in one. hour mosquitoes like little bitty birds. under there insects but are they similar. to birds or not they fly and some people.

say it's the Alaska State bird you know. some bumper stickers okay that's. evidence right but as far as like. genetically and like are they similar. not really. No okay hmm kind of buzzkill a little. spicy no pun intended on the buzzkill. man that's good yeah and some I repeated. it cuz somewhere else are still didn't.

get it. that's the only reason and I don't think. if I fully got it but that's a fair. point like there's great beauty up there. it's magnificent man that beauty make. you think like okay there's a higher. power there's something creating now I. mean yeah there's something there's. something bigger going on with something. creating all this yeah I don't know I. just with that question I always just. end up saying I don't know and I don't. know if it even matter it's like here we. are right right it's a good point yeah. like basing your whole existence on that.

it seems kind of intense yeah I'm. thinking that you know which one of the. many thousands of answers is the right. one right but do you but when you when. you're in some of those spaces and it's. so natural and it's so quiet and you. have the ability to even hear your own. heartbeat yeah like it must be like. almost like a really intense meditation. that goes on at like a core level or at. like a level of even your your cells. that you can't even really fathom. probably a level of like peacefulness. and stuff yeah do you does that make you.

feel like like what insight do you get. is there like something bigger going on. here or is there do you feel like a part. of something bigger or do you just feel. like really small does it you you. definitely feel more part of the big. picture but you also feel small bit. small because you are a tiny part of a. giant picture right now. so because especially if you're studying. nature and something like that you're.

really I mean you're right there on the. food chain um you're basically yeah you. know and yeah I've been charged by the. people in the food chain really yeah. I've been charged by bears muskox I have. been sent with this one you know we tell. you how to end it with a swan I mean. I've had I've had I mean I've had a. couple I had some [ __ ] [ __ ] go off in. Oregon one time but you know I was. trying a jog and these. when some of those animals group up they. get real violent they do yeah it's like. an T fall most or something yeah you.

know yeah yeah they definitely find. strength in numbers and UVU you really. you went toe-to-toe with the swan up. there I went hand and neck for this one. you killed it yeah yeah choked it out. damn boy that's what I'm saying do. Poirier over kabhi bro that's wrong. right they nearly got the best of me. though really they're like this tall. yeah and the wings are probably more. than six feet across. oh yeah and yeah Jesus yeah so the and.

what do they do how do they come in like. what's their attack they're mostly. bodywork there have been so many dude I. remember they used to have this group in. a you know I used this term I don't know. loosely Rho however I use it but these. have a group that would come through our. College in town called it was [ __ ]. fistfights right and it was gay men that. would fistfight each other in a boxing. ring and you pay for it at the bar you. pay six dollars or something you got a.

beer and you got to watch these guys go. at and uh but I would pay anything to. watch you know a a biologist and a and a. and a four and a half foot Swan figuring. things out go toe to toe yeah yeah. what's up so a lot of do they strike at. you what do they do they nip at you with. the beat yeah I got it by the neck right. away so it couldn't get me with the beak. but it was hissing at me. it wants to bet on this and the fact.

that I went to the body first that's. always the best yeah yeah I was taken. aback but yeah so I had it by the neck. and it was beating me with its wings and. it's kind of disorienting it knows. that's a good term just raining so does. it feel like painful or does it feel. like scary kind of scary just because I. thought you know I had shot at once and. that was the last bullet we had where'd. you shoot it you just shoot at point. blank or how'd you shoot no it was in it. it was in the back uh Jesus Christ dude.

like the coward of Jesse James have you. seen that movie man sorry to call you. out though but I know but dude we hadn't. we had. more food and we had another week to go. out there so what are you gonna do you. what are they oh the assassination of. Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. yeah I know I'm not proud of it was. trying to get away but uh so your food. was that vital at that point yeah I mean.

we had this guy this pilot was supposed. to fly over drop off two dry bags full. of food and he was supposed to get a. hundred feet off the water but because. of the weather he was 500 feet upside. dry bags hit the water exploded Denzel. Washington right there. I've seen that so all we could salvage. we ran out into the river and trying to. grab what we could but it was going away. pretty quickly we got a small bottle of. whiskey that the pilot had included for. us just to be nice Wow and a couple of. fruit cups I and so and so that's your.

that's your rations for the for what the. next week. it would have been yeah yeah a week and. a half I think so now you're like damn. yeah we're in trouble so and we were you. know probably a couple of hundred miles. outside of Fairbanks I think so there's. no getting out of there. and we're up a tiny little River where. you have to float all the way down to. get to a place where a plane a float. plane come get you and so yeah we just. had to start hunting grouse and geese. and ducks and whatever there was but we.

had a limited we weren't planning on. hunting we have guns for bear protection. so we didn't have that many bullets you. know yeah so you had to ah did you guys. miss a couple times or you know no we're. pretty good and is it a pistol you. walking right up on him and shoot him in. the back or is he okay yeah Jesus man. yeah and we already met it makes me sad. a little yeah some grouse out there. chilling dude you know maybe having a. cigarette or just relax yeah yeah.

thinking of my own and laying one day. there gross aren't that smart like yeah. I've hunted them before and they'll get. into a tree and they don't realize that. they don't blend in with the tree they. blend it in when they were on the ground. but then they're in a tree and you can. see like the. I think they think they still blend in. and they're like I see you they think. they're all slick looking at you yeah.

now what about the Fox man we had a fox. in school when I was young and somebody. stole it right and I knew I knew it was. gonna happen but um but what about the. Fox are they out there yeah there's red. foxes up there the occasional arctic fox. and then you hear man they're cool to. see you watch them hunting voles through. the snow in the spring and they're. walking along on top of the snow and. then they'll [ __ ] their head and and. kind of triangulate the sound they're. hearing the vole moving under the snow.

then they pop up in the air and dive. into the snow and probably six times out. of ten they come up with the vole it's. like evil Jima dude have you guys seen. that uh d-day or whatever that's insane. man is that one of the is that it one of. the most unique hunting techniques that. you see out definitely yeah yeah that's. one of the few species I've actually got. to see hunting even all this time up. there I've seen wolves chasing a caribou. once I look at that Fox and they're good. jumpers huh yeah people don't realize I.

felt like the Greg Louganis of like the. animal kingdom so they hear the the. rodent under the snow yeah and then they. get that lift and just hit them yeah BAM. yeah they triangulate the location and. then I don't know how they do that math. in their head huh it's pretty wild now. what are some of the larger animals that. you'll see up there in the area that. you're in grizzly bears the occasional.

moose musk ox caribou those are the big. ones which one is are the most friendly. do you find to like to humans or even. maybe overall do you or can animals do. someone can seem friendly like a dog can. seem real friendly yeah or any of those. larger animals you see up there. friendly caribou aren't unfriendly you. can trick them to come closer to you by. putting your arms up and it kind of. looks like a pair of antlers and either. they're eyesight's not that good or. they're not that bright but they'll.

start walking towards you wondering if. they're gonna fight you or. try to copulate or yeah it's like a. drunk uncle almost I feel like soso care. but you can kind of get near yeah muskox. you can get in here they're pretty they. don't know what's going on they're just. eating vegetation and staying put pretty. much they don't move a lot. um do you get a sense of awe of a night. like do you get a sense of like what the.

Ice Age was like and stuff when you're. up there like you start to get like a. sense of like wow what people have gone. through over history and stuff yeah yeah. you'll find not only fossils from 300. million years ago of coral and stuff. when it used to be under the ocean up. there yeah but then you'll also very. rarely find artifacts from native folks. from 10,000 years ago or whatever I. found a little spearhead sitting on top. of this little Knoll I went up there. because it was looked like a good.

viewpoint and I'm sitting there looking. for animals and stuff and then I see. sitting next to me this spear points if. someone else thought it was a good. viewpoint also ten thousand years ago no. one else went up there since Wow yeah. that's crazy yeah so yeah it's amazing. knowing that it's a human something like. that is very human it like a yeah like a. I would feel so like wow like I'm a part. of something yeah. very long yeah and then you go back to. the station and eat ravioli you cut that.

microwave shuts down those interview. cantata yeah I guess it's like it's hard. to not be stuck sometimes though in this. society that we're in that that's the. thing that you blame humans do you blame. businesses do you blame is there any. blame is it just the like where we are. kind of like and this isn't everyone. obviously this is more cities than rural. areas yeah I think it's the natural. tendency for most animals to try to make.

their situation easier not necessarily. better or maybe in a certain definition. but easier like if a dog gets unlimited. food they'll might just eat themselves. into obesity right yeah. and it's not good for him but they might. if they could articulate their thoughts. it might be like well it's all this food. would be good if I ate it you know maybe. there won't be later so I think every. little incremental change along the way.

has seemed like a benefit to us and it. has been in a sense but but they're. always unforeseen effects that come off. of it that you can't predict and by the. time they're really prevalent you're. already too far used to the thing that. you can't really think about going back. you know what I mean. uh yeah yeah if you get used to like. doing Halloween and they tell you no. you're gonna be a hugger you're still. gonna be a you lay on the porch forever. you know just expecting candy yeah yeah. yeah so that's the hardest thing it's.

like I can totally see that and it's. really interesting because then even as. humans we have the addictive personality. yeah we have the ability the easy. ability to like that sugar lizard that. just gets with you know just grass the. easiest first thing yeah yeah I think. you really have to fight that instinct. these days in order to get to a more. natural state exactly yourself yeah and. most people aren't interested in that at. all like would never spend five minutes. even thinking about it right in that.

baffling sometimes it is yeah because I. think a lot of times that we're all on. this struggle where we're trying to. we're trying we're trying our best you. know we know with it some of the stuff. you're saying we get it we can feel it. you know we know that I'm taking these. easy way outs here and there and I know. it's not benefiting me it like a level. inside of me but but then you see some. people and you're like oh they don't. they don't set a chance yeah not this. may be their next generation or two. might but whoever this person is he not.

seeing some people wandering around a. gas station sometime like August dude. you know he'll stay in here forever dude. he's gonna eat one of those hot dogs. Yeah right he's gonna need 100 of them. all right you know this dude will be in. here forever yeah you know this dude. will lay on the grill after a while. he's gonna change his name to Frank yeah. just never in bro let's do the feed. himself to his own family like you know. I'm saying like it's just you meet. people that are alike and it's not their. fault really it's just maybe where they. are genetically yeah it's like oh. they're or it's the culture where.

if everybody's doing this one thing it's. so hard to go against the grain and. that's that's the biggest part of the. trouble is that. millat of people say like what do you. want to go back to the 1700s no like. there were good things we gave up along. the way that we shouldn't have given up. like the great things we've come up with. in medicine like witchcraft I think yeah. I don't know I keep looking at these. guys they're not laughing at my jokes. either. I'm joking you're doing a good job.

Jionni's not yes sure. get a real totalitarian environment but. so it is so isn't it crazy to think then. that like we're it's like survival of. what will be the fittest then moving. forward is it people that are able to. realize that that the firt like not to. give into all the comforts that are able.

to have some awareness yeah or what is. the next survival of the fittest. survival of the fittest used to be it. was the strongest yeah right and it was. often sometimes the craftiest - yeah I. thought you had to also like you had to. align yourself with somebody that was. strength because you would need that. support but now I'm wondering what it's. becoming in our society in America. anyway yeah I feel like we're adapted to. get the next generation going but not. really anything beyond that which. logically we shouldn't be programmed to.

think that far into the future because. every other animal just tries to get the. next generation out and then they've. done their that part you know forget. what the hell I was where I was going. with that. that's by having me in the middle of. every sentence imagine running in with a. room to tell people something they. forget what it was that's how I feel. every single sentence with a murder. weapon in your hand you're like [ __ ] man. I need a preposition you know it's a.

little alarming what you guys got over. here Nick Jionni what's going on when. you're up in Alaska away from people. that long and then you come back do you. find it hard to come. indicate with people a little bit yeah I. think because I work alone most of the. time up there and I have my thoughts you. know on tumble dry up top yeah it can be. weird trying to articulate these kind of. ideas I guess but yeah people seem.

stupid. that's a good question yeah do people. seems to when you come back to us like. when you come back to like you know know. like it's not stupid at all cuz you guys. are well adapted to your situation right. here you know like maybe not long term. as a species but everybody's just kind. of doing what they got to do you know in. LA is a short term environment it has it. must I feel like it screams that yeah. like people are here passing through to. get enough to get to the next whatever.

they would rather be doing or an. environment that would be more. comfortable really a almost a for all. for the entire world this is almost. looks like an airport it feels like it. is yeah you know it even never ends it. feels like we're still in this like a. very far terminal the airport right yeah. we're podcast and even when I'm at my. apartment it feels like that I'm like. man I just never leave the airport yeah. you know it just never ends here what is. amazing about LA is how quickly you can. get way away from here like the hike I.

went on yesterday with my buddy. up in the Sun Gabrielle mountains I. guess was it Eagle Rock or something it. was Dawson saddle up to soup peak I. think I am which is up at like nine. thousand seven hundred feet it's. gorgeous up there and we may be past ten. people on the trail and four or five. hours and you that was busy it was yeah. it's like this place is bumper-to-bumper. but you can get up to that peak and look. you can have a 360 view of everything.

way out I don't know if it's Palmdale. where it's just flat desert out that way. I've been an Eagle Rock or something out. there before it was about an hour and 40. minute drive to get out there mm-hmm but. it's it was gorgeous was there a. chairlift that if you wanted to like it. was around there and then we asked some. chairlift. yeah. and yeah I think I've been up that hike. before is absolutely amazing yeah and. you can see LA and downtown and the. distance in the smog and it's just like. all of that is happening down there and.

nobody's up here it's crazy huh yeah. some cool birds some dirty bird species. up there pygmy nuthatch really bushed it. oh dude I'll show you some [ __ ] bush. tits right over here off the 101. Williamson saps make seen some. definitely not on the work computers. though that's the rules we have going on. around here National Geographic oh dude. I remember jerking off back in the day. to National Geographic you know there's. a dark tip near a fire you know no.

wonder I ended up like I did. that's a beautiful bird isn't it yeah. wow that's beautiful yeah do you think. um do you think like do you get a sense. when you're up there by their animals. that they know that you're a human do. they know like do they think that you're. like an anomaly or like a abnormality do. you think like it is kind of weird. because yeah they're not evolved to know. what we are I guess you know native. people have been there for 10,000 years. so maybe that's enough for some of them.

most of them run away like they seem to. understand that whatever you are it's. probably not good yeah but I've had bird. but I've had Birds laying on my head you. know like oh that's cool yeah so there's. some animals that seem to see you as. like a some delaying on I guess do you. find that animals are still like curious. about like do you find that they're. curious a little bit like what are. animals like khana they're mostly just. minding their own business and trying. not to get eaten by something you know. like you ever watch a bird eating there.

just looking up every two seconds like. they'll take a bite and then look up and. they just can't relax yeah so I don't. feel bad for him and the migration you. know like they migrate using a celestial. sky so they orient themselves to the. Stars and migrate that way real yeah. so they operate totally their migration. patterns they they basis all after. looking at the Stars and see what's. going on they they know where the North. Star is and. they orient based on that so they have.

these kind of like tracks in their. genetics basically some of them have it. in there and some of them learn it but. that's it's sad because like all these. cities and all this light pollution. totally disorients them yeah you got a. couple of sparrows jerking off outside. of Detroit there's no reason yeah they. gotta move it along. but like but no I could totally imagine. that yeah like how we're damaging like. how we're like we don't even realize the. effects that were had not at all yeah. because most people never would have a.

reason to stop and think about it like. the Twin Tower Memorial in New York they. have these two pillars of light that. they put up around that time I think in. late September and that's right during. bird migration and there's videos of. literally hundreds and thousands of. birds flying around and around and. around and falling to their death and if. they see a certain number of birds up. there in the lights they'll shut them. off for a half an hour but just that. alone is killing probably thousands of.

birds a year so that's just that's the. kind of that's a perfect example you. have example like we're doing something. that we feel like humans are doing. something we feel like it's honoring. yeah you know others that it's you know. it's it's out of love and support you. know and then even in that space we're. killing on the ground we're just trying. to get to Florida yeah but that's the. thing yeah there's always unseen ample.

yeah always unforeseen costs and I think. anytime you can ask yourself what is the. cost of what I'm doing or what I'm. participating in you find you you go. further down the line and you realize. things that you never would have figured. out from the get-go and that nobody. really talks about you know it's. interesting we think we try and think. about that even sometimes just here with. podcast like try not to sell like bad. products to be able or like that's great. you know we're trying like you know I'm. trying to think of what else yeah I mean.

I think we're trying to affect the. things that are close to us but yeah. it's interesting it's like as you it's. so weird it's like you grow up or I grew. up anyway I guess like I'm. you end up in working in a business or. in society and it's kind of built where. it's like you want to you know achieve. things or achieve your goals and with. those you it's almost like you only. realize the side effects that are going. on or the even the chain that Europe.

that were a part of the old system were. a part of isn't even it's not working. like very like copacetic with nature all. right because we don't have to see the. effects of anything we do now like. everything happens somewhere else. somebody else is doing everything to. produce the things we use and depend on. so back when we were in hunter-gatherer. groups we saw the effects of everything. you did right in front of you yeah you. couldn't eat everything there was. because then there was nothing left. right here we just kind of pretend that.

there's an endless supply of everything. and we create so much destruction with. people like Jesus Christ and nature. Johnny yes Adam I mean it's almost does. it get sad a little bit it's totally sad. and that's that's one of the hardest. things is like feeling so at odds with. the rest of how most the society works. and kind of feeling like it really. shouldn't be like this. but you got to play the game a little.

bit but right you have to play that way. you have to play the game some you have. to meet people where they are you have. to like do you look at society as like. is it hard not to look at societies like. oh were they're bad people. these people that we are bad it's hard. to not think that and that would just be. an emotional frustrated reaction you. know but I know everybody is in the. situation they're in and if I was in a. different situation I would be I would. have you know less freedom to make. choices - yeah unless time to think.

about it so but that's why I like where. we live down south that small village. where everybody knows everybody and you. kind of help your neighbors out you. trade bananas and oranges and stuff yeah. teamwork yeah we grow coffee and we. drink our own coffee you know it's nice. to just when you can do something for. yourself do it. it hits this kind of instinctually. feeling we have where that was a part of.

our genetics you know to be yeah yeah do. you feel like we're far from that if we. really tapped into it I don't know if we. are if we are already too far beyond. that or right like if we already become. too much of like you know zombies you. know I think so like I think every other. species gets knocked back down by. starvation predation or disease right. every single other thing and we keep. pushing those things off but we can't do.

it forever. yeah so I'm talking about yeah I'm ready. for man I'm ready for yeah. like if I die and like a big you know. thing that's crazy it's like a you know. a war for food or something least it's. gonna be exciting yeah a good couple. hours to television you know. yeah it's getting somebody over you. filming it yes I'm filming it and even. if they're not what an exciting like. sometimes I think about that like. imagine being in like a real shootout or. a real like you know like you see a. Leonardo DiCaprio fight that bear in the.

remanence or whatever yeah that was very. realistic yeah yeah and it's like how. great like even it's almost like just to. feel that alive for a minute yeah yeah. you know I was talking the other day to. this UFC fighter and he was telling me. like I seen a picture of me he lost a. fighter he'd come in second and and I. was like man but you still look like you. had like going through something and. he's like man it's crazy he's like every. fight you go through it's like you come. out even if you you don't get the.

outcome you want mm-hmm he's like you. come out the other side there's a you. have new revelations about yourself like. at a level that you didn't even really. know yeah. and that down of stuff just man it's so. enviable then like sometimes just. beating this drum out here not that our. lives are bad or anything obviously you. know like you know it's it's comfortable. yeah sure yeah but is it as I often. wonder if I'm be and if I'm very much. rewarded at like a level inside of me. that is almost like a light that's.

getting dimmer and dimmer over time. because we just keep throwing these like. blankets on it you know. I think you do good things you know for. the single moms and stuff like that oh. you you've definitely had an eye for. seeing things that you can do that are. good and do them right well that's nice. you to say that man you know and I'm. lucky I got it you know Nick and Johnny. really super you know we all kind of you. know Nick and I have similar backgrounds.

and some of that and yeah but I think I. think even just hearing you say that. like you know touch the things that we. can that are close to us because I. noticed well I do notice that I don't. like about myself and I start saying out. we all need to be like this it's like. when that's when we get preachy and then. we just get disconnected yeah it's so. disconnecting it's like yeah if we're. gonna solve people always point at the. government like if we're good the. government just saw us yeah there are. people that and they're just humans like. if something's gonna be different we. have to make it we ever do it yeah it.

reflects what we said we wanted. basically yeah so the problem is always. down at the individual level yeah but. it's kind of nice it falls back on us in. the end like totally if all these cities. burn or if there's an electric outage. out or outer edge and we're never able. to get it back up or something you know. like immediately you really quickly are. gonna be your your brain is he asking. yourself Who am I like quick-turn yeah. who are you you know can you do and what.

can you do yeah you can't do anything. that's necessary I'm gonna Joe Rogan's. but hopefully dude that's probably I'll. be back there to skin and bison for him. yeah if if something does go down like. the power yeah you're right can you. imagine how quickly it would be complete. chaos yeah well nobody knows how to grow. anything nobody knows how to fix. anything the water suddenly doesn't come. to your apartment nobody knows how to.

live like that yeah so it's not gonna be. good. and I'm not gonna survive it either like. I can grow some things but not enough to. but do you go [ __ ] bro let's be. honest do you could rear naked choke a. swamp. me and Nicky jihadi huh. so he's built pretty well do you can see. his ass in the movie MA you ever see. that movie it's a pretty decent movie.

but uh yeah no reason in the middle the. movie they made Johnny goodnight I. actually have a question so I feel like. a lot of people all the time are like oh. well where do I start there's so much. like I feel like I'm so behind like. what's something that someone could. start doing like every day like somebody. could do something where they could. further themselves to help the. environment instead of just destroying. it I think the Amish like you wouldn't. want to live like the Amish right I. don't know dude I like not having a lot.

of choices bro yeah limited choices dude. that's a great point yeah humans do best. when their choices are limited I think. that's great to hear actually and if you. have every new technology that comes out. the Amish asks themselves what is this. going to do to our community and they. usually come to a conclusion that they. shouldn't accept this new technology Wow. and we should do a lot more of that on. the individual level but I realize how. hard it is like I kept off from getting.

a smartphone for a bunch of years longer. than most people but then I got one and. I spent too much time on it and we're. we're so easily falling into those holes. you know so if I don't need to spend. time outside like people need to get. away from light pollution and noise. pollution and just get to a quiet place. and sit there and think a little bit you. know like so many of our politicians and. stuff who are making big decisions that.

affect everybody most of them have never. been to a wilderness area like they. don't even know what it is to be a human. animal they just know like what it is to. be living in modern society and think. that that's how everything has to be you. know yeah yeah and we and it's so funny. even hearing like it's making me think. like we think that's so much like even. just being in LA for a while you start. to think that everybody's similar you. that everybody's like you mom which. probably makes you have some desire to.

be different which makes a lot of people. at. freakishly probably yeah I don't know. man maybe not maybe I mean you might be. right I couldn't I was listening to you. but I couldn't process what you were. saying okay and that's why my it's you. know sometimes this [ __ ] you know. sounds like offline man and that's it. there's nothing I can do it sometimes. I'm looking at stuff I don't really know. what's going on yeah you know but you. can also like but you know here's what I. was thinking out but it's not our fault. as humans it's like we're just humans. like right if you're just born into the.

into an environment like it's nobody's. fault right yeah exactly so it's just. like I guess what type of and what type. of life do we want to know or what type. of yeah what can like what type of life. we want to live what do we want to know. you know what do we want to see is like. the capabilities in ourselves yeah some. cultures especially are very happy with. just like comfort and you know and then. I think there's some people or not. cultures but some people they just want. more they want something different yeah.

when things are available it's hard to. deny yourself taking them you know and. so yeah ask the British dude you know. yeah so we get blamed for slavery but. they really did it but um but yeah it's. so true it's like when things and it's. like I wonder if that's just the story. of humans how we're supposed to be it's. like probably a - you know it's like. it's natural right what we're doing is. natural and even a bird you set a nice. little thing of bread over - you know -.

branches from a bird that guy's gonna. [ __ ] be over there yeah yeah so once. birds get these little you know yeah. they get a smart beak [ __ ] wrap a. coyote ate my fiance's sandals the other. day and I was kind of sexy kind of. lethal I was kind of surprised that a. coyote had the spare time to be doing. that kind of stuff. yeah shouldn't they be out finding. somebody you don't tell me it's hitting.

everybody yeah creature comforts man. you're gonna see a coyote insane yeah. it's interesting yeah so when do you go. back when you go back into uh into the. great white north you're so far up there. yeah you're so far up there. you're close to Asia yeah people even. realizing we get to the north of Alaska. you know you're almost you're pretty. much practically Japanese a little bit. yeah I've been to one of the Alaskan. islands where you can see Russia it's. like 35 miles away you need to see this.

I see cliff mm-hmm and the native folks. said that they used to go back and forth. because the Siberian Yupik speak the. same language as the ones in the Alaska. side they used to trade ladies back and. forth and stuff and now they can anymore. and yeah so it's a crazy environment. it's mostly treeless up up that far. north it's north of the treeline so you. can see really great distances and yeah. it's incredible it comes alive in June.

all the little plants start growing a. little bit and flowering the birds are. all breeding theirs are fattening up and. then by late August it starts snowing. again and everything dies and then. September it starts getting covered in. snow again that's you really it's really. life cycle you see a real life cycle. yeah I buried that condensed into a. short period of time Wow and yeah so I. once the migratory birds take off then I. basically follow them down to Costa Rica. and get there and see them passing.

through so it's kind of a migratory. lifestyle you ever seen one of the same. birds yeah well I haven't seen one up. there and then seen the same individual. down there but I have seen birds return. that have gone on migration and come. back to the same exact places so because. I've done bird research in Costa Rica. and you bend them you put a little cut. like this you know the internet they put. a little sock or so yeah and so yeah we.

had we studied golden-winged warblers. and they winter in Central America and. breed up in northern US and Canada so. they fly all the way they're navigating. by the stars and then past the breeding. season don't get eaten by anything. reproduce and fly all the way back to. the same patches of forest as and it's a. little 9 gram bird if you think it's. just like like coming home it's just. like humans do you think it's some of. that same type of thing like you want to. go home sometimes or the. or is it just more of like a like a.

natural thing they just that like they. they have to go right back to the same. spot like is there a reason for it. they have territories so they'll come. back to the same spot and defend a. territory even on the wintering grounds. some of them pretty aggressively but do. they have gay birds do or not be honest. with me um yeah I mean Ducks especially. are oh yeah in a park all the time yeah.

and penguins penguins are terrible if I. was a penguin I would be you're out. there tough life day yeah you show up to. shore and there's two million there you. playing it you know you're playing a. ruder than anybody that's freaking you. know willing at that point got a pulse. or not yeah yeah I worked in Antarctica. as well so I've I've done a lot the. North Pole really the Antarctic South. Pole yeah yeah I worked on a sail ship a.

hundred year old Dutch tallship that. took people down to the Antarctic. Peninsula from Argentina and back and. and and once we did a trip all the way. over to South Africa from South America. the Antarctica visited Tristan da Cunha. which is the most remote inhabited. island in the whole world. Wow it's like 400 in bread people living. on this volcano in the middle of 400. people only six last names that's.

beautiful yeah and what do they seem. like at a certain point are they do they. seem really like in tune with what's. going on are they just like five armed. and just you know hoping for the best. it's pretty weird. they weren't even on a monetary system. until 1960 so they were just bartering. and stuff and every family has like a. couple of sheep and a cow in a certain. size piece of land on the side of this. volcano they were nice people but you. could tell that after being there a. couple days they're kind of ready for.

you to get out of Willy yeah could you. kind of what you look at the flow a. little bit yeah just maybe just because. like we're talking about you're supposed. to know everybody in your immediate. beer and then you have this ship sailing. up and a bunch of scruffy people from. Holland and stuff coming up and taking. pictures of everything. no no it's probably a little off-putting. yeah I could imagine I'd like to go over. there and we could do a group trip you. know do a work work trip yeah you have.

to sail there or take a boat there like. there's no other way to get there cuz. it's too far for any and when you pull. up like what are these people doing I. mean they're all but I mean like you. said that it's very tribal huh it's not. really tribal like they're they're all. one group yeah yeah but they're it's not. native people that's the weird thing. they're all descended from sealers and. whalers who shipwrecked there and so. there's Italian descent English descent. they have this kind of weird British.

accent it's really weird hmm and it's Co. chicks or not be honest I didn't see. anybody my last question for you are. this is my last thing I want to think. about everybody you know it's obviously. a big topic always global warming you. know like do you what are your thoughts. man do you feel like we are ruining. things do you feel like that it's just. the flow of things that you know that. there's a cycle like would it with some. of your vibe from being up there on on.

some of the front lines of just seeing. what's happened yeah where I work. there's a lot of people studying climate. change and yeah it's very clear that. it's happening and of course it's. because of us. like at least to a certain extent like. the amount of people on the earth. burning things and using up resources. like there's no way that that wouldn't. affect things so but to me that's kind. of like it's a big concern but even if.

we fix that we'd still not be really. getting anywhere as far as I'm concerned. and do you see like a lot of the people. that are up there doing research and. that kind of stuff do you trust all the. research that they're doing like. sometimes it just seems like I mean. people these days especially you can. create any any any belief you want and. I'm not denying climbing or anything. like that I'm saying like but you know. people can create anything they want. everybody has a technology to create any. story that they want to yeah do you see.

some of that like some of it seems like. kind of motivated like in like negative. ways or do you feel like it's it's on. it's just research like people want to. know what's going on I think the. research is pretty honest trying to. document what's going on but you. definitely see people studying things. that they know they'll be able to get. funding for mmm yes yeah you almost have. to you have to plan ahead just want to. get the funding yeah because you yeah. even if your ideas to up to sometimes. though it could be more helpful yeah a. government agency so I'm not gonna get.

the funding for that we're gonna sound. crazy to them yeah Wow but it's a yeah. it's a great place and there's up to 150. people there during the peak of the. summer there's only about three people. there during the winter most of the time. just three people living it and a little. bit of murder every now and then well no. there's never been any real that's the. thing is like I don't know we look back. at hunter-gatherer people are small. groups of people and think that it was. all violence all the time really wasn't.

like it was occasional skirmishes when. they bring groups and stuff but like it. wasn't that bad it was high infant. mortality but if he made it through that. you generally lived a pretty normal life. span yeah babies die sister you got to. open fire going on oh yeah. babies are risky you know let them crawl. into it raising just to see what the. gods wanted yeah or just to let the. strong survive it's just different. obstacles Tony Robbins thing there's.

different value systems you know that we. can't imagine taking part in but if we. were born there would think it's totally. normal right yeah you know it's an. almost almost almost feel like a little. bit not embarrassed I guess talking to. you a little bit but like I almost feel. a little ashamed of our own existence a. little bit not from you as a person but. just like thinking about that. you never think about it you know like. you never really I don't know or I don't. anyway a lot of people might and I wish. I did more and I think you actually.

reached out to originally saying hey man. you should go on some hikes you should. cook I think it's how we kind of crossed. paths is that right yeah I called in. with a swan call oh that's right okay. because then I know we've communicated. or emailing you send me some very. beautiful pictures and we're gonna put. some of those up throughout the episode. and like just kind of filling me in like. every now then I'll get you know like. come on email just let me know what's. going on powerful over Guana me with. some crazy birds yeah I'm like okay and.

I'll tell somebody next to me they don't. give a [ __ ] right yeah they do not care. but yeah yeah you shouldn't feel. embarrassed or anything like I know I. feel ashamed a little bit as a human. there's a little bit of that that starts. out yeah well that's good I think we. should all have a little bit of that. because we at the expense or what we. demand for our like standard of living. creates a lot of destruction so we. should be ashamed of it we should be. aware we should do some work to become.

aware of our effects on the world. because just to be a good neighbor to. other things you know yeah that would be. nice but I know it sounds preachy and I. know that most people are just getting. up and having to work and don't have the. time to think about that stuff but it. sounds hopeful though also I think in a. little bit I think I don't think it. sounds preachy yeah I don't think you. sound preachy at all I think it sounds. like studied and hopeful you know I'm.

not hopeful right oh maybe I want you to. be hum bro just what you flying to LAX. man like oh yeah I might ask you have. hope around here okay but no I look it's. like especially here like you know. everybody look I've people here look. down they have no empathy for like. people in other parts of like especially. America smaller jams where people are. like what do they do they're all they're. doing is like having a lot of trying to. have a good life you're loving more to. their neighbor yeah and not get. overwhelmed with things that don't kind.

of make their spirit feel good yeah. they're more into you have more people. that can hunt more people that can grow. yeah I agree man I mean that kind of. stuff makes me furious yeah it's hard. when there's some parts of rural living. that aren't good you know like there's. the massive opioid addiction issues but. I think that stems from them being. dismissed by everybody else and oh yeah. indict almost like coal coming in and. taking all the money away and leaving. people sick and stuff yeah so it's not.

surprising at all yeah it's not. surprising at all when people feel like. left out yeah and it's happening in the. village in Costa Rica too where. everybody's being raised to think if you. get out of this village you're a success. if you get a college degree it doesn't. matter what you end up doing or if you. never see your family again that's a. success and we kind of did that in this. country too yeah and people are. separated from their families and it's.

happening down there and it's kind of. like I think some of that could change. though yeah I think some of that could. really say I hope so I believe that. because I think people are starting to. realize that there's just such a there's. such a with not certain parts of America. like LEDs to control like what would. happen in Hollywood in a nemedian that. sort of thing and it's it's going away. now so I think a lot of people who are. dreamers or we want to be creators I. think they I think a lot of you are. hopefully gonna start to want to build. up the places that they're from or the.

places that they live because there's. such a bottleneck here it was such a. bottleneck in certain places that a lot. of the best creativity never gets to be. seen yeah even though if it were spread. out a little bit more it would really. flourish yeah. did you have any people believing really. wild things where you grew up like rural. superstitions oh yeah yeah we have a. woman we're friends with down in the. village who way denim Costa Rica yeah so. 40 years ago when she was pregnant they.

had an outhouse out that in the backyard. and she had to go to the bathroom at. night. and she didn't feel like yeah she's. something she didn't feel like walking. all the way to the outhouse so she just. went behind the house yeah man. when she looked down after she peed. there was a fer-de-lance pit viper. coiled up right there and she said it. didn't bite me and she always purposes. this kind of stuff with I know you're. not gonna believe me but it didn't bite. me because the urine of pregnant women.

is electrified Wow so this she thinks a. snake was sitting there like just scared. no like that electrocuted I could see. that yeah I could see yeah oh yeah dude. if something hits on me that was. pregnancy I take the afternoon off. easily man yeah I'd probably enjoy the. warm rain sensation yeah oh man I mean. this really is Dark Arts as you can get. yeah do you have to come back and let us. know what it's what's going on out there. you know any warning signs you know of. like any real huge flare-ups but I.

certainly appreciate you come and set. than just talking to us about you know. what it's like I by the north pole I'll. buy Alaska and like and they never built. a SAN or anything like that up there. right yeah actually south of Fairbanks. is a town called North Pole where they. have a giant Santa statue my sad little. reindeer and in a pin and you can go sit. on Santa's lap and stuff it's a little. dark artist yeah and they're also you. seem like they're trying to make a. statement with the reindeer in the pan. or they or no or is it just it's a real.

reindeer it's real but it's not a real. good one it's looking pretty sad look. David there's like 30 reindeer left yeah. but that's you know when you see animals. in the zoo and they're walking in. circles and stuff I kind of draw a. parallel between that and human society. like they have food they have shelter so. in a sense you think they they're fine. right but why are they walking in. circles like seeing with us like we're.

safe generally we've got food don't have. to worry about all that much why are. people so unhappy yeah because there's. something that tiger who walks around. the cage all day long is missing yeah. same for us I like that it's a good. thought man we got a break out of the. zoo yeah but we also have to yeah we. have to break out of the zoo we do have. to do it we got to get a food with us so. fun. took a stork out you know but yeah I. agree with you man.

thanks for coming man and hanging out. thanks for really appreciate man it's. great oh it's great to to meet you in. person. yeah. [Music]. [Music].

little time for me to set that parking. brake. and let myself. [Music]. [Music].