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  • This episode is sponsored by CuriosityStream.

  • Twenty-some-odd million years ago, there was a bit of a rodent situation.

  • Things had cooled off a bit, and the emerging grasslands were perfect for general rodent activities.

  • Around the same time, there was a group of emerging carnivores, the mustelids, that saw all of this as an opportunity for a buffet.

  • Now the innovation of the rodent, those meatballs of the field, was the ability to dig and burrow with their claws and ever-growing front teeth.

  • And it can be a challenge if your favorite snack is packaged in a maze of tunnels.

  • So the innovation of the mustelids, like this one right here, was to develop a body plan that could go right into the tunnels after them.

  • Their bodies got longer and their legs shorter, until they took the form of a kitten snake.

  • Which is obviously awesome, but there's trade-offs just like anything else.

  • You can see how good a ferret is in a tunnel. I mean, that's some crouched-down walking right there.

  • But if you're all stretched out like that, you're basically planking the whole time.

  • And it's a great ab workout, but it takes some doing.

  • So, when they walk out in the open, they arch their backs and bring their legs closer together, to better bear the weight.

  • On the plus side, they can use their bodies like a spring when they run.

  • Here's a demonstration by a leased weasel.

  • It's a ridiculous name. I can think of plenty of things less of a weasel than that.

  • Your mom's screwdriver. That's less.

  • Sudoku. I could go on.

  • Your mom. Sorry, just wanted to say that.

  • Anyway, these stretched-out rodent hunters became quite successful, and evolved into a diverse group of animals alive today.

  • One thing, though, that they all seem to have in common is that they're fierce little f**kers.

  • I mean, no wonder. That's what happens when you spend a few million years hunting in a hole.

  • Think about it. It's pitch black down there.

  • You're in a narrow tube, and the thing you're hunting has teeth that can chew through wood.

  • Jerry, this doesn't look intimidating.

  • Looks like it forgot its lines at an audition.

  • Well, this one's even worse, Jerry. It looks like Mr. Magoo is a Furby.

  • That line dates me, doesn't it?

  • Anyway, to deal with rodents that I believe would be scary coming at you in a tunnel, mustelids evolved disproportionately strong jaws.

  • Many animals go wider when they want a stronger bite, but mustelids went long, with lots of leverage for those muscles to work through.

  • And the connection between the lower and upper jaw is a strong, tight fit.

  • Stays together even as a skull.

  • A dog or a human lower jaw just falls off.

  • Anyway, having spent their evolutionary childhood performing face-first colonoscopies of rodent tunnels, mustelids were plenty ready to f*** things up when they ventured out into the rest of the world.

  • The mustelid perhaps best known for its bad acidness is the honey badger, with its ability to fart bees and squirt acid from its nipples.

  • Jerry, that's obviously not true.

  • What do you mean, how do I know?

  • Jerry, nothing farts bees, alright? Do your job.

  • Anyway, here you can see a honey badger that has a python right where it wants it.

  • Jerry, again, that honey badger is clearly f***ed. Look at it.

  • Oh great, now it's going to be eviscerated by jackals too.

  • Oh s***, you were right. That's crazy.

  • I mean, the snake definitely thought this was going to end different.

  • Fine, Jerry, I did too.

  • Oh, now they're doing the spaghetti scene from the dog movie, Lady and the Tramp.

  • I mean, that's always been a horror movie, from the point of view of the noodle.

  • But you can see that the rest of the animal kingdom is still trying to catch up to what mustelids are capable of.

  • They can go wherever they want.

  • A number of mustelids followed the rodents into the forests, like these stoats who were filmed by the naturalist Robert E. Fuller, who's very good at what he does.

  • May not be as many tunnels, but there's certainly burrows and nests to raid.

  • Listen, someone had to make sure that the squirrels don't get too sassy.

  • Look at it licking its chops.

  • And if you didn't know, squirrels are f***ing fast.

  • But that's fine for the stoat, it'll try after anything.

  • Check this out, straight up diving shot for the bird.

  • And the other one's so confused.

  • And look at this stoat, it's actually thinking about it.

  • That's the most delayed reaction from the pheasant.

  • But of course, sometimes you'll have to settle for an egg.

  • I mean, that's one way to scramble it, isn't it?

  • It's not even a dad joke, just like a dad observation.

  • I mean, s*** if you're that size, an egg will make you an omelette big enough to wear as a poncho.

  • But listen, I don't mean to make it sound like rodents are pushovers.

  • A rat, for example, will put up quite a fight.

  • I mean, look at that, the rat goes right in.

  • And the stoat's like, finally, someone worthy.

  • And then it gets all crouching tiger, hidden dragon from there.

  • And sometimes you gotta know when to give up.

  • But I certainly don't want to give you the impression that these smaller mustelids are all piss and vinegar.

  • I mean, they have a softer side as well.

  • Look at this one stretching out in his den.

  • He's even got a little pillow, oh god, that's a dead mouse.

  • You have to admit, it's pretty metal using a corpse for neck support.

  • But here's a little nuptial scene.

  • Oops, she's pissed.

  • Look at that side-eye, that's amazing.

  • He's totally come home drunk.

  • Probably out drinking with the rat and lost track of time.

  • She's having none of it, and he knows it too.

  • Right there is the stoat equivalent of sleeping on the couch.

  • Because they can get very cuddly.

  • You think your legs get tangled up under the sheets?

  • Try your whole torso, like a weasel do.

  • I mean, foreplay can look like a Cirque du Soleil act.

  • And you know what that leads to?

  • Weasel sex, right?

  • I mean, that looks very similar to killing, actually.

  • But, on the bright side, it goes on for about 90 minutes.

  • So, there's that.

  • Now the embryos of most mastelids don't necessarily implant right away.

  • They can remain in diapause until the conditions are right.

  • To make sure the little babies have a chance.

  • I mean, right out the gate you wouldn't want these cute little bastards to have to make it through a winter.

  • And winters can be challenging for mastelids.

  • That long body means that they lose heat quickly.

  • And they don't hibernate, so they've had to adapt.

  • Maybe the most remarkable is that some mastelids, including this leased weasel, again with a name.

  • I mean, it is around the size of a hot dog, so I'll let it slide.

  • Anyway, they reduce the size of their brain case and their brains during the winter.

  • They've got a high metabolism and that brain takes a lot of energy, so why not?

  • You want to sell your car to a weasel? Do it in January.

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  • I mean, we've been talking about mastelids, squirrel hunters.

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  • Where were we? Oh, right.

  • Now, these forest-dwelling mastelids can get quite a bit bigger.

  • I mean, those pine martins there aren't that much smaller than the fox.

  • But they're still quite comfortable up in the trees.

  • Look at this one doing a little inchworm down.

  • And then they get up to this.

  • I'll tell you right now, that's a fool's errand.

  • You don't let a squirrel goad you into a circle chase.

  • I mean, I get it, you can't give up once you start because you're so pissed off.

  • And now there's people filming it, for God's sakes.

  • And the only way to get to a squirrel is make fun of its tail.

  • Tell them they used product to get that poof.

  • They'll stop dead in their tracks, let you touch it.

  • It's all they've got.

  • A martin may be big enough to take on a cat, but mastelids get bigger still.

  • The wolverine, for example, went full bear.

  • With an incredible stocky build and the ability to fart bees.

  • God damn it, Jerry, you didn't do research, did you?

  • And I don't want to say it again, nothing farts bees.

  • Do you have anything about the wolverine?

  • It looks kind of like a bear, I just said that.

  • Forget it, just move on to badgers.

  • In addition to the honeyed variety, there's a number of flavors of badger out there.

  • Some of them more related than others.

  • They're all into eyeliner, but the European badger took it a bit far, in my opinion.

  • All badgers have the ability to fart.

  • Jerry, you deleted the word bees just now, didn't you?

  • Whatever, at least this way it's true.

  • Anyway, a long time ago, the badger said,

  • I'm tired of going into someone else's hole.

  • I don't want someone else's hole, I want my own hole.

  • And I want to wear sweatpants all the time.

  • So they changed their body into a pair of sweatpants.

  • And they learned how to dig with their incredibly long claws.

  • Their claws are so long that the badger wonders why a certain character is named after a wolverine and not a badger.

  • Look at him right there, it's bullshit.

  • Anyway, unlike other mustelids, badgers do dig their own holes.

  • And they're nice big holes, too.

  • Don't have to squat down all the time.

  • And speaking of squatting, they don't poop in there.

  • They go outside to poop.

  • Civilized, right?