Joe Rogan Experience #2013 — Paul Rosolie Transcript

Transcript

0:00 The Joe Rogan Experience. They're like universally sweet dogs. It's the best way to describe them. How does this take me through the first seeds of the thoughts before they're gone i grew up with a lot of like environmental stress i really felt like this They think New Jersey is, like It's like people, for whatever reason, don't live around there. They think New Jersey is like some vast wasteland.

2:29 So you always had, like, a call to that kind of life. all my classes severely dyslexic all that and so i tried actually my wonderful there's all this incredible bustling life and it's all vanishing. And I was like, well, I want to see it before it's gone. The greatest show on earth. Like, and so how much of an understanding did you about. And then he just started, he was just like, you're funny. You really love this shit.

4:54 This is how you handle a snake. they'll be like gray ones hear stories about like who got bitten by a snake and this happened, who got, you know, And they're like, that's not it. hollywood hills people would always complain about coyotes yeah i'd say yeah yeah but how many rats No. they're originally persecuted by the gray wolves the gray wolves were extirpated and killed off by

7:52 With like any method. really, it's a really clever too. No, they're crazy. This one comes trotting across my front completely. did you plan on trying to find some sort of a job? And at the time I was like, well, that's, that sounds great. So I started bringing people, we started Tamandu expeditions. And so it was like small time, just bringing some

9:45 You can drive from like Rio all the way to Lima. the Amazon rainforest. There is no one, there's no help coming. Like these, these ecosystems are There's a lot of protected land. the forestry department you have whatever else the things around the city they can deal with but if nobody does anything. enforcement out there we have to bring them out there like we have to get the boat the gasoline

13:16 And it went viral. burning forest and the loss of habitat he's like i want to help what can we do what is what is what It's burning like this every day. let it happen every day. harvest the ancient hardwoods there and make millions off of it. You could use that forest to where it's just areas where you're supposed going to pay you to go protect, to go out into the wildest places on earth and protect these

16:52 And all of a sudden we could actually do it. just protect it, do nothing. Like spider monkeys, you go out with the local people and if you have something wrong with you there's a sap for that yeah yeah pretty wild like magic yeah it's like magic it's like a cheat code the gold mining areas where that's a whole other thing where they're clear cutting the rainforest

19:44 And so they have to use mercury to bind the gold out of the sand. over there and i was like yeah and he goes they just said your name and i was like oh and then uh yeah like a week later those guys pulled easy no consequences no no consequences a really good friend of mine on the river um his father war zone. And then, and then you have some of our, some of our guys now who are conservationists,

22:34 this is one of my rangers um ignacio he's he's local indigenous and uh and that's the scar on And so he's trying to push a boatload of bananas towards them. he's got worse stories than that too um one time he was he was at a remote guard post and the the Let's stick with unkind we just call them on contact fuck you man fuck you for making me remember all that shit

24:50 I guess. like all these like simple inventions like they've just they don't they don't work with metal and so These are the people that fought. These are the people that remained unconquered, It is really fascinating that there are still people living essentially the exact same way they were living thousands and thousands of years ago. You know, he would just very carefully because they can't speak.

27:09 So he had made some sort of contact with them. And that went on for a few years. I, like, ran downriver. wanted to see if i could experience living i wanted to know it's like it's like being told It's different out there. And the Amazon's friendly. the river rises 20 feet and there's entire trees this thick as school buses flying down river in I'm always like, okay, I got to document this. I got to document this. And so this tree is going

31:11 Like, it was out of control. Death Valley yeah but there's no people ever yeah it's just nothing what you're And they'd be like, you know, teach us about the snakes. And they're like, come with us. The first anaconda I ever caught. I ran in and I grabbed the snake by the head So I'm on my knees. And that's not even as big as I get. I mean, people have records of bigger ones. I've seen bigger ones. Um, this is, we named her Eleanor after

34:32 That's JJ, by the way. treetops. So there's a forest underneath the lake, but you're walking on the surface of it. And I was like, this can't be anaconda. One of them is so big that I would say I just didn't think about it. What? Your fingers couldn't touch. And I was like, no, that was how big the snake was. Her idea is just escape, you know, stay alive.

37:48 And JJ's just standing there and he turned completely white. Like 30, 40 feet. But yeah, it's basically exactly like this. J.J.'s like, there's an anaconda, there's an anaconda. do I really want to do this? And thankfully I have a good, yeah. We didn't have the head. And then I got the head. Yeah, so when people are like, why didn't you catch the 25-footer?

40:10 This girl was skinny. Look at it. Look at at what is that feeling like where you're holding on to the head of that thing yeah no it's completely completely wild and it was just i honestly in that moment it was like So she swallows it? Look at that. And so we measured her 18 feet, 6 inches. Just a little bit. What is the folklore? John Voight. But it's great.

42:28 the actual big anaconda look at the size of it the ones come by an ice cube the Wow It seems like when they get to a certain size, nothing's hunting them. it's like, so we learned that she moves around this swamp and has a home range. strategically target those places and so i've one time we saw an anaconda eating a peccary I've been dying to show you this.

45:09 they come out, um, and their food for like the Jabiru storks, for other caiman, for even fish. otters and like those are your like you know top contenders for apex predator in the amazon the Because up in that nest, 150 feet up up they're just dropping monkeys and sloths and vines, and it's all interconnected. And there's this whole network. The Amazon

47:35 It's, it's, it's insane. There's a leaf cutter. It's in the middle of the Amazon now. That's insane. Yeah. Yeah. in the east and you have like red apocalypse beautiful like mist coming off the jungle and And then there's like bullet ants fucking around being like, because otherwise you climb up on a rope and you're like holding onto a branch and you look around and you go down.

50:27 He put solar panels, hot water, a bathroom. Yeah. they work on a hunting reserve. got we got starlink up there we carried some starlink out there yeah so when you messaged me i was out there that's how There's like six people that want to do that so making it so that people can actually come and see the Amazon rainforest in a way that's, it's an amazing thing.

52:39 I think like, I would say 70. It's like a type of, what is it, a Greenland shark? They may live over 500 years it was just doing that still swimming I think I wouldn't be surprised if they're well into the 30s. yeah and there's no way to know there's so you're talking about so much territory The largest one is like 33 feet. It's still big. I mean people do get eaten by snakes.

55:29 It does happen. You gotta be doing something really stupid. There are insects in the water. One girl got bitten like 16 times Because the pain gave her some Benadryl and she slept it off. You don't even know what it is. And so like people say, But I found a, immediate like electroshock like pain waves way worse than a bullet ant way worse whatever this

58:07 That was, I was not laughing. This image? So is that an invasive species? It's a bee sting, only worse. And so that's the worst one that you've experienced. Really? Um, this i just i grabbed like a hind leg and i was like oh i'm gonna re she just came around went Now I'm more careful when I catch crocs. really oh yeah 18 feet long yeah oh yeah no like a black caiman skull is like oh my god they're

1:00:55 This is, again, one of those places where you're way past, like, the edge of civilization. realized a whole herd of pigs had tried to swim across this water and this monster ass godzilla Let's go. and I think you have spectacle caimans there. but we were on a boat trip and we were going down this river and you see him sliding into the in like florida is that that true i don't know that No, American crocodiles are like Costa Rican crocodiles.

1:03:24 No. The Florida thing is so goddamn crazy. They've found four since the 90s. Jesus Christ. I played a video on my Instagram that I found of one snapping a pig in half. It's 99% of all the raccoons, In some cases, in areas where pythons and other large invasive, large non-native constrictor snakes are known to be lurking that get introduced into a an ecosystem that an ecosystem that nothing's there to eat them, which is crazy.

1:06:10 it's wet. They're so in the system. They brought them in to kill off other things, They think they are doing that. you and you don't know it. in the leaf litter they're in the swamps they're like that we're never gonna get them out like We need to find someone to explain to the pythons what size alligator is, the proper size alligator to eat. Yeah.

1:08:40 Yeah. as thick as a pencil. Oh, It comes out. at night they wake you up cause they'll start, you got them all over your side and your arm. And it's like, So like I was, It's like He's like like there's a constant stream of mosquitoes and gnats and stuff, but it's really not that bad. Yeah. I wish I could remember this What other, like spiders? I'm always happy

1:11:38 eating a mouse one time right in its eyes. was like, and pulled it down into its hole. Wow. Swallowing it. pulled down did it i mean i was looking god did it? God damn it. Censorship. These motherfuckers. I found it, Jamie. Did you meet Slash? That's it. No teeth, just swallow. Slively in the poison or something. Yeah. When you see a tarantula eating a mouse

1:14:52 I mean, I guess not though because I guess you really appreciate that. there like you know what I mean you can live in Connecticut And it's like it is wild. I don't remember. You will you because it's all green. Like, it happens to JJ all the time. Even the trees are trying to trick you. So like I had gone out on this solo, gotten lost, gotten scared.

1:17:39 of that. And so I finally fall asleep and I wake up in the middle of the night and I hear breathing right next to my face. That's what you're not going to do. Like some of them are much darker. There's no animal that's a panther. In South India, they have the black leopards. No one. them really yeah yeah yeah well because people walk off into the jungle and they don't realize

1:20:12 It's like, and so like to these animals, like they know when you're coming, like a jag is just we had students at our research station at the time. And I heard like the leaves going, Oh Lord. He just walked by me and was like, yo, what's up? Second of all, it smells weird. I let other people take pictures. Right. Yeah. some sometimes the deer but then the jags do this thing where they move their head like this they're

1:23:41 what it doesn't sound like and so like every now and then you'll hear one that's you know they were mad with him like they were like why did you do that now there's going to be retaliation in the Amazon rainforest, which will encompass these uncontacted people. And they can stay All the animals have night vision. we see like groups of men on beaches. We see like that picture, that aerial picture where you see

1:27:17 coming to reality from a whole different perspective than we are wow and there's really and people have tried, anthropologists have tried, I don't know. they got, a picture of what the bodies looked like on like day six, I'm not going out. they need the Bible. There's only so much time and yeah. out of his mind. I'll show you this picture. I mean, I almost died from that.

1:29:45 I got to, what were you doing in Peru? He was like, go to the doctor. it looked bad. There was somebody, with, did he go out and eventually get killed? It's like, yeah, look at that. Who tells you to keep up. complex cities It's funny because somebody sent me a video of Graham Watkins. But in those areas, you see a higher prevalence of like like he's like he said, like they'll plant Brazil nut trees.

1:32:26 Brazil's president Jair Bolsonaro, who's no longer in office, but just being like, well, if we made One of my guys found a stone axe head. Wow. There are no rocks like that on our river. came from? It's lost technology that they don't understand anymore. built a whole other ship and sailed home. Like how many people can find your way anywhere without like your phone? Well, what is smart really?

1:35:45 I went last year, but it was really good last year, but not this one time. The one time that I went, which was at least 15 years ago, maybe 16 years ago, I couldn't stop staring at it. You see a star. It's incredible. It's everything. with the guys from VetPaw, Yeah, they're targeted for the big tusks. the humans were all going for the big tuskers.

1:39:09 How much more connected we'd be. power and energy and life. stationary it's literally spiraling through the universe and and that exact sort of wonder is what i feel when i wake up in the jungle and you you dip your hands in and you drink the river And it's all working together in this giant orchestra of the most complex life that's ever existed. It removes the cataracts of society from your eyes

1:41:47 to deal with the same reality. You got to survive. And that's where I feel good. That's the, the rules name right i think it's heinmo court and he lives like way way way up in alaska and he has some sort Back when Vice was edgy. But, I mean, you have to be a type of genius to live out in that. It's like these guys, they're like, can you drive a boat?

1:44:06 it's like, well, how long until you have to call someone for help? And I'm like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Just try and make rope. Do you find And so balsa, you can pretty much cut the, you know, take your machete and just like cut into the tree and it grows really quick. Oh yeah. It's strong. to a Cecropia tree and whack it with my machete and start trying to get the bark off. And the

1:46:20 Does it have holes in it where it's absorbing the water? of getting things done then what you do is what jj will do we'll go and we'll take you take a Oh, my God. Yeah. let's make fire. Find bait. there's no bait. You can't just go fishing. like I'll do it just to let them know. with your heel eventually starting with starting with your heel yes and Starting with your own skin. Starting with your heel. Yes.

1:49:42 We also just, you know, I mean, usually we had now, It's like, you just steal some chicken skin, throw that on the hook. like they have they have tiktok just like everybody else like tiktok yeah dude i told you gold miners but this is how the lore goes. put the nerve in it, went to doctors in New York. And for two months I was like in bed and I had no energy.

1:52:03 He cuts a tree, takes the sap, says drink some of this, not too much. He was like, one drop of this down your throat. Now think about how many thousands of years are needed, or at least infections. Like you, you can't get this bacteria to live with these saps. So like people use like And then JJ was like, just drown it in that stuff. You'll be fine and like you you won't get infections wow there's like miracle shit down there and is this widely known is this something that the scientific

1:54:04 out to a corporation and they'll take it, profit off of it, and then that's it. let me start with like what else you know it's like it's very very complex being at the edge of living in Well, some of my guys, some of the guys on my team that run Jungle Keepers like, so like these guys have, Roy came to New York City. party and I met David Go Good, who is that guy.

1:56:15 Wow. And he had to go on an expedition of a river and to the jungle Uh, thought it'd be easier to find out why we're so fucked up but yeah he's got a and then the the the realization on a daily basis that we're part of like this like this massive I feel like what's happening, so many people, it's just like, Like, they know what reality is because they're living in it every day.

1:59:51 Bald eagles, they're back. That's what I'm here to do. with took place in history. extinct. This incredible, ancient, monstrous, mega fauna animal that we have the privilege of take photos and we can have all this amazing technology. We can leave our planet now soon. Well, this podcast, I'm sure, will energize that even further. I don't, I don't know how these other organizations work. What I do know is that,

2:04:01 jobs as chefs and boat drivers and guides and taking a small, sustainable amount of people into a really beautiful place instead of ruining it with trails and people and garbage. And you're tapping into the mains. oh, this thing, this thing that I feel. And so when we go back out Which is removed from the experience tiled room the other day. Do you have a grand plan? Is this just your life now?

2:06:47 The fact that we in this tiny little place That's what gets people to understand what we're losing because you have to show them the beauty there the the loggers on the other hand i just make friends man these guys the last year there Now a few of them are working for me. Yeah, they're just they're just working. and that's the other thing that i'm in grand plan trying to look for it's like a way of first of all

2:09:23 And then make protected areas that are beautiful enough that we can bring people and then have them have jobs and it's like there's a And it's like people more and more and more through this storytelling, through social media, through all this stuff. slash because he's been he actually reached out to jungle keepers and he was like dude i want to Yeah.

2:11:09 I would love to. Did he just like point at you? They did a study of the wine vessels and they showed that they have ergot inside of them. and for the longest time it was dismissed. Brian comes back from the bathroom he's like hey Axl Rose is here and I'm like He was asking me about comedy. So she freaked out. There's something so comforting about that.

2:13:55 and then you're listening to all this stuff I'll find a song I love, and then I'll do go to radio. So anyway, the show was incredible and I didn't get to meet slash show I've been a fan of them since like the fucking 80s. They had this giant outdoor show. They were like, Chuck Berry died. of them died young. Happy birthday, Mick Jagger. day. Mick Jagger works out every day.

2:16:44 always talking about how rigorously you have to work out. And then what's the guy's name? He goes, but it would be one line. Yeah. Yeah, he's that wild man. I'm having that experience where I wish you didn't show me Fat fucks. Yeah. No, I mean, if I don't get that, Yeah, he loves to chase the ball, And they're like, yes! to like i'll be warm later you know i'll be comfortable later i'll be less wet later like

2:19:36 And took a wolf and turned it into like the least intimidating, most loving, no worries about it turning on you or anything. Yeah. other been around other dogs i've been around wolf dogs and they're impressive and they have Just a loving member of your family that is murderous to squirrels. Or a pit bull is. Right, right, right. Yeah. The only time that gets too much for me is when you get down to like those little bulldogs

2:21:56 They're really cute. Some of them are their fucking tongues hanging out and their eyes are sideways. this, this incredibly loyal loyal like i was just reading And they all started, they knew shit that we don't know. I see a non-human being. and and just because they're not changing their environment and typing things and we just have a basically like a mentally deranged elephant that's been kept in a box its whole life

2:24:43 You're not giving them an elephant problem to solve. He would stop the truck and then the other elephants would come and they would mug the banana guy. So by the time he got to where he was going, he wouldn't have any bananas. So the Indian forest department had to show up and they like shackled this poor elephant. That's elephant jail. Because it seems like you like it

2:26:15 I can't like threaten you when he did it uh my friend neithi had a hack for it she was the one who was really in charge of And the elephant's literally painting a trunk. A painting of an elephant by an elephant? These elephants take a paintbrush, Starts painting his girlfriend. wonder why the wonder why he dips the paint for him wow look at that you can already see it's

2:28:51 That's a better elephant than most people could draw. Which is so specific. It's very it's literally drawing itself. I So now it's doing flowers. There's published papers on this. But there's a plant that helps induce labor in some African tribes that they chew when mothers are like right on the cusp of giving birth. Yeah, that's what I was going to get into.

2:31:18 But like that to me is still a gimmick. there's water over here, come. And so the whole bottom of their foot, is that the sound of it so it says this is i mean there's obviously some other Wow. This is wonderful. Don't lose this link. Like I know vervet monkeys have different calls for aerial predator versus lion versus whatever. Why not? Oh, yeah.

2:34:23 This is his daughter, and she's six. Yeah. She's like in the tendons in the brain. If it's prepared okay. Like when you're hanging out with local people, We actually went with jungle keepers. And it had the foot of a yellow footed tortoise, which looks like Bowser's foot from Super Mario. actually able to use the foot like those those big scales like this claws at the end so you could actually kind of use it as like this giant spoon

2:37:19 to be seen yeah in with them respecting their way of life their local customers how many monkeys you just trying to eat her dinner and everyone freaked out and what is she eating there that's a turtle And I was like, let her eat? And she was like, why not? So then, of course, I ate like 10 grubs. She was just like, The worst thing about a grub is that if you don't cook them and you just like, or when you start to cook them, when the nematodes come out of them, when the parasites that are living in the grubs come out.

2:39:38 All these videos of her just eating them, they're hysterical. they're amazing yeah no and if you cook them they are delicious really yeah they're sweet uh no No, they're delicious. Oh, still alive. Wow. Oh, my pleasure. And I thank you for what you're doing. Listen, I think we could do this kind of show a bunch of times too. It's no need. No. Do they cook them? No. No. No. No. No. Oh, Jesus. Show me how tough you are. Yikes. Do they eat bot flies? No.

2:42:09 They cook tarantulas. Thank you so much for being here, and thank you for everything that you're doing. I'm listening to it on audio right now. Fireflame. being here man let's do it again thank you so much my pleasure all right