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I believe I met Russ Roberts some time ago when I was a staffer at a think tank for a few years. I didn't know he had a podcast. I think I'd better put this on my "check it out" list, even though I'm hard pressed to keep up with podcasts from The Dispatch.

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Re Conversations of the Curious clip. I never bought the saying, "puns are the lowest form of humor." I think he is saying what I've thought all along, perhaps it is the highest. It does require looking at and hearing and thinking about words in many ways and I think the most creative are the spontaneous ones. Of course, spontaneity lowers the success rate but better that than time spent to conjure up a story line to get to a pun. Well, that is always how I've seen it. Damn, I wrote that somewhat seriously! Time to move on.

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It is taking nearly as long to read the articles here as on the TMD mothership.

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Tried to be patient, but the mountain beckons. So I will preemptively give Phil a 🚪. Toucan play at this game, Phil!

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I heard Jacobs interviewed on another pod last summer. The book sounds fascinating and I plan to buy it.

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Today’s special animal friend is the Toco Toucan, Ramphastos toco. Native to South America, the toco toucan is the largest species in the toucan family, Ramphastidae. They can be 25 inches tall, weigh up to 2 lbs., and have a bill 9 inches long. The toucan’s body is black with a white throat, chest, and tail coverts. The bill is mainly yellow and orange.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRbdZ85IVM4

The bills aren’t as heavy as they look. They made of light keratin with supporting structures of thin bone.

https://www.sciencephoto.com/media/1009954/view/red-breasted-toucan-skeleton

It is believed that the bill helps deter predators by looking threatening. It may also have a function in mate selection. The bird can use the bill to dissipate body heat by increasing blood flow to its surface. The bill’s length allows the toucan to reach food items in branches that are too thin to support its weight. It has serrated edges that are useful for peeling fruit.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WB1ZFQwE90Q

In addition to a variety of fruit and berries, toucans eat insects, frogs, reptiles, and the eggs and hatchlings of other bird species. It prefers semi-open habitats such as dry woodlands, savannah, agricultural plantations, and forest edges. Toucans live in small groups. They are more likely to hop than to fly. They nest in tree cavities, where both parents incubate two to four eggs. The eggs hatch in about 17 days; both parents feed and protect the chicks.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yoqGQsYexg

Toco toucans are a species of Least Concern. They have a very broad geographic range and good breeding success. Threats include hunting and collection for the pet trade; they benefit from forest clearance because of their preference for more open environments. Toucans are very difficult to keep as a pet due to their nutritional needs, which are more easily met in their native habitat. They are successfully kept in zoos, and there is an international population plan to maintain a healthy zoo/aviary population.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74jb271PeCE

Toco toucans make a lot of different sounds:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KA4p7kVQCE

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