Hey, smarty pants! Today I'm waiting near the roadway for my old friend and animal expert, Robert Maroon, to pick me up and take me to meet one of nature's most unusual creatures.
Oh look, here comes his Jeep now.
Oh yeah you go, mate. Quick, jump in.
Whoa, what's the hurry, Maroon?
There after me. Who is it this time?
The mob. Uh, did you say the mob?
As in the mafia? As in the bad guys in like 1000 action movies?
Are we being chased by violent criminals?
I'm not sure they're criminals, but they can get violent.
And I do know they got very deep pockets.
Deep pockets? They've got a lot of cash.
Let me guess, you borrowed money from the wrong people.
Hang on, tight turn! Whoa, what kind of trouble did you get yourself into, Maroon?
How the question's so light on me.
If you want to be helpful, hang on to this.
What's in this bag? Money?
It feels soft and light.
Look for yourself. Why it's grass?
Long blades of grass and some leaves.
Oh, no. There on our tail.
Can't this Jeep go any faster?
I've been having some engine problems, so she won't go faster than 55 kilometers an hour.
Or as you say, 35 miles per hour.
Not speedy enough for the freeway.
But around as fast as the Smobping Goat.
Uh-oh. I see him ahead of us now.
Where? Behind those kangaroos?
What? It is kangaroos, mate.
Uh, I thought you said the mob was chasing us.
It's what we call a group of kangaroos, a mob.
Here comes one who looks angry.
Quick, toss them some grass.
It worked. He's eating it.
And see what I mean about their deep pockets or patches?
Oh, yeah. I see some little kangaroos in there.
Those babies are called joys.
And if they take after their parents, they're going to be strong fighters too.
These big ruse can kick while they hop.
And they'll punch up with their super sharp claws.
Good thing we're safe in this Jeep.
Uh, blind me. The engine's out.
Guess we'll have to make a go of it on foot.
But the mob will catch us.
Yeah, we'll figure it out.
Come on, Nairaida. Let's go.
Oh, boy. Smarty pants. Looks like we're in for quite an adventure with a mob of kangaroos.
But what makes kangaroos so unique?
How are they so good at hopping?
Why do they have pouches?
And will a kangaroo really attack us?
Nairaida, run! It's time for another whiff of science, son.
Hello, smart egg. Who's smarted?
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Listen up. Everyone, we make smarting lots of fun on who smarted.
Oh, hey, smarty pants. For this special promo, I've journeyed to the land before time.
Way, way back to when Dino's walked the earth.
Let's see what I can see.
Oh, I spotted triceratops in a tourist's source.
I see an armored ankle of a source and a smaller therapy pod named Trudon.
Oh, what's that noise in the bushes?
It could be a hungry velociraptor.
Or it's Rex or... Hoho! Hey, trusty.
What an awesome surprise seeing you here.
Looks like someone else loves Dino's too.
Pleppy? Mika? I don't believe it.
What are you two doing here in the Lake Pratasia, Sarah?
Oh, Mika and I never miss a chance to see dinosaurs up close and personal.
Yep, this place is like a real-life Jurassic Park without the fences.
And without the danger, I hope.
Don't worry, trusty. We do stuff like this all the time as part of our new podcast.
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Pleppy and Mika's road trip?
That sounds amazing. What's it about?
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To the Arctic Circle. Wow, that sounds like a wild ride.
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Actually, that's a T-Rex standing behind you.
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You never know where they'll wind up next.
Hey, Smartypants. Right now, my friend, Maroon and I are crouched down in front of his broken Jeep while a bunch of kangaroos are messing with something in the back of it.
It's probably the carrots.
Carrots? Oh, I had a big bass get it in there.
And one in my pocket. You wanna buy it?
Not right now, did the carrots attract all these kangaroos?
There must be at least 50 of them here.
Yeah. Kangaroo mobs are usually made up of about 50 or more animals.
They're quite common around here.
Smartypants. Can you guess where around here is?
Where would you find a mob of kangaroos?
Is it Brazil, India or Australia?
Yep. I heard most of you say Australia, and you're right.
Or Australia's home to practically every type of kangaroo.
Wait, there's more than one kind?
Yep. But we'll get into that later when we're not under attack.
Wow. They really want those carrots.
Well, kangaroos attack anyone with food?
Well, I kind of gave them some carrots first.
You see, there's a thing people have been doing lately in Australia, especially tourists.
They've been feeding carrots to wild ruse, helping to get a selfie with one.
You tried to get a selfie with a kangaroo?
I tried to get a selfie with all 50 ruse.
I'd never have to boil lunch in this town again and find a picture like that.
You're not really known for buying lunch as it is.
So what happened? I began giving them carrots, but instead of posing for pictures, they started chasing me.
You should never give food to a wild animal.
Oh no, oh no, but no worries, mate.
I just want to do one of kangarooos, which is first, keep a barrier between yourself and them, like my cheap.
Then, curl up into a ball and wait for help.
Help? Who's going to find us here in the Australian Outback?
I've called the kangaroo expert.
She's in my emergency contacts.
You have a kangaroo expert in your emergency contacts.
Sure. We've got 50 million ruse in Australia, more than double the number of people.
It's good to know an expert.
You boys want to get out of here?
You talk to me. Hi Rosie, glad you could make it.
Why are you two lying in the dirt?
Huh? Hey, where'd all the kangaroos go?
They must have skidded when I pulled up.
And they took my carrots, at least I have a big bag of chips.
Hey, those are my chips.
You weren't eating them.
Because I was being chased by a mob of kangaroos.
Blimey, Maroon. Don't tell me you were trying to take a selfie with a wild ruse.
I'm not proud of it. There's a reason those kangaroos attacked.
Is something in carrots that drives them wild?
Smarty pants. Can you guess what that is?
Is it A, potassium, B, fiber, C, beta-carotene, or D, sugar?
Yeah, you may not think of carrots as having sugar, but they do.
And while carrots are healthy for humans, for kangaroos, it's like eating candy.
Oh, you wouldn't have been to have a chocolate by, would you?
Just like Maroon here, kangaroos are addicted to sweet stuff.
Unfortunately, that makes them more aggressive.
A kangaroo might attack a person if it feels threatened, or if it feels the person is keeping yummy food away from them.
What carrots? Like carrots.
Hop in. I'll show you what kangaroos normally eat.
Once we reach the plains, you'll probably see some wild ones eating.
Ah, there's some, see them?
Yeah, but those look different from the kangaroos we just saw.
What kind are these? Those are called Western Grey Kangaroos.
Oh, because they're grey?
You go at me. When we talk about rues, we usually mean big ones.
The Eastern and Western Grey Kangaroos, the Antelope Kangaroo, also known as the Antelopein Wallaby, and the biggest rule of all, the Red Kangaroo.
Red rues can stand two meters or six and a half feet.
Whoa. That's taller than most people.
Well, those four are the most recognizable kangaroos.
There's actually over 60 species in the Rue family, including the smallest one, called the Musky Red Kangaroo.
It's about the size of a large guinea pig.
Why, smaller than these grey rues out here in the field?
See what they're eating?
Smarty pants, can you guess what the kangaroos are munching on?
Think back to something that happened earlier.
That's right. They're eating grass.
Kangaroos' graves, just like cows.
And, just like cows, they regurgitate their food.
Regurgitate? You mean...
Yep. First they swallow their food, then they throw it back up so they can chew it a second time before swallowing it again and digesting it.
Besides grass, rues have been known to eat leaves, flowers, moss, ferns and insects, but not carrots.
Why? I get it. Carrots can actually be harmful to kangaroos and they're young.
Speaking of young, we've seen how kangaroos keep their babies in a pouch.
Why is that? That's because newborn babies still need time to develop.
When they're born, kangaroo jowies are yitty-bitty-tony little things.
Smurty-pins, can you guess how small a newborn kangaroo is?
Is it the size of a, a great, be it an orange or see a pineapple?
Believe it or not, Smurty-pins, they're only the size of a grape.
And they need protection from their mother's pouch as they develop.
Only female rues have pouchips.
The jowies stays there till it's about four months old.
At that point, it's big enough to make little trips outside.
And at ten months, the jowie leaves the pouch for good.
Boy, the way the pouches call them a soupion, which may sound familiar if you know what type of animal kangaroo is.
Smurty-pins, do you know what group kangaroos belong to?
That sounds like marsupion.
Did you say marsupials?
Good job. Those pouches make marsupials unique.
The Tasmanian, devil and koala are also marsupials and also have pouches.
But kangaroos are different from most animals in other ways.
Yeah, there are two things we can all do very easily, which your roof can't do at all.
Smurty-pins, can you guess what those two things are?
We'll tell you right after this quick break.
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So, Smarty Pants, I'm driving through the Australian Outback with my friend Maroon and Kangaroo expert Rosie, as Kangaroo's hop all around us.
Hi there, buttes for sure.
The pride of Australian.
Yeah. We Aussies love our ruse.
Do you know they're a national symbol of Australia?
I do. We actually did a who-smarted episode on national symbols.
Funny thing, it's a symbol because of what it can't do.
Let me show you. Smarties, if you can, stand up and make sure you have a safe area behind you.
Whatever you do, don't do this next to a cliff.
Um, in fact, don't be near a cliff at all.
Now, take a few steps backwards.
See how easy that was? Well, blind me.
You just did two things ruse can't do.
Smarty Pants, any guesses what those two things are?
Shut out your answers. That's right, mates.
First, a ruse can't walk like a person, and sick it, they can't go backwards.
We Australians like to think of ourselves as always moving forwards, looking toward the future.
So, Kangaroo's represent us nicely, because they can only move forward.
But why hand a Kangaroo walk backwards?
Kangaroo's legs and feet are very long and built for hopping.
They can't move their legs independently, except when they swim.
So, that's why they can't walk like people, but they are exceptional hoppers.
Some ruse can get across a full-size basketball court in just four leaps.
Kangaroo's have a long, sick tail that helps them hop and balance when they're standing, kinder like a third leg.
But the big tail and leg design make it nearly impossible for ruse to move backwards.
Whoa! Except maybe slightly when dodging a blow from other Kangaroos.
You don't want to get hit by their sharp nasty claws, mate.
They'll catch you. Eh, don't let them scare ya.
Most wild ruse leave humans alone.
Unless they feel threatened or think you're gonna feed them.
Nope, from now on, I'm only feeding myself.
Hey, Maroon, is that the candy bar from My Backpack?
A super shout out to Superfan Charlie in Zuer de Nebraska, who loves listening to who's smarted, because it's so funny.
Thanks Charlie, we're happy to keep you laughing and learning.
This episode, Kangaroo's, was written by Dave Bodry, and voiced by Brandon Bayless, Sophie Plitt and Jerry Colbert, technical direction and sound design by Josh Hahn, who smarted is recorded and mixed at the Relic Room Studios.
Our associate producer is Max Kamaski, the theme song is by Brian Suarez, with lyrics written and performed by Adam Textaivis, who smarted was created and produced by Adam Textaivis and Jerry Colbert.
This has been an atomic entertainment production.
I wore winter boots every day for two years.
I hate climbing trees. I'm Deborah Goldstein, host of the podcast The Big Fib, and half of those statements were indeed Fibs.
On every episode of The Big Fib, we bring on two grownups, one is an expert and the other is a liar, and it's the job of our human child contestant to help us figure out who is who, because no one can spot a liar better than a kid.
We've had episodes on everything from Minecraft to Mythology and from Lego to Libraries.
Join me and my robot co-host Lisa on The Big Fib on Apple Podcasts or on GZMshows.com.
