Welcome back to Animal Wonders.  We make a lot of food for the animals and sometimes it looks good enough to eat, so today, we're gonna test that and see if it tastes as good as it looks.

(Intro)

As you can see, we're in a different location today, and that's because we needed more space and thankfully, Crash Course is letting us use their sociology set.  We spend a lot of time preparing nutritionally complete diets for all the different species we care for, and just like we get bored eating the same thing every day, the animals can, too, so we like getting creative to make the meals as interesting as possible, and like I said before, sometimes the diets can look and smell good enough to eat so I was excited when one of our viewers, Ryan @Vernatia asked, "What and who gets the tastiest non-human food?" and to answer that, I'll need some taste testers.  Fair warning, we had some technical difficulties during this segment so the audio's going to be a little bit off.

This is Hank Green and Katherine Green.  Katherine started as a volunteer at Animal Wonders and is now on our Board of Directors and Hank Green is our Executive Producer for our channel.  So this is how it's going to go.  I'm gonna bring out some animal food and it's going to look pretty and it's all fresh and good.

Hank: Okay.

J: It's going to be good.  You're going to taste test and then you're going to decide if it's good enough to eat again, you can guess and see which animal you think it might go to and at the very end, we're going to vote on which one's the best, okay?

H: Alright.

J: Any questions?

Katherine: Nope.

J: For our starter course, we have an interesting blend of root vegetables and what keepers call lab chow, served on a bed of greens with a special garnish.  

H: Oh.  Well, this looks like, just like...that's just salad.  

K: Ehh, there's a stick on there.  

H: Well.  There is a stick.  Alright.  

J: Here you go.  Enjoy.  

H: So, I mean, this is just salad.  

K: Yup, yup.  Plain, plain lettuce.

H: Rad--is this a radish?

K: That's a turnip or a rutabaga.  Hard to tell. 

H: Ooh, it's pretty bitter.  

K: You usually don't eat those raw.

H: Yeah, that's my first raw beet of my life.  Also a stick.  I don't think I'm gonna eat that.  

K: Oh, yeah.

H: Ahh, smells like ground.  Like just ground.

J: Ground.  

K: Smells like gerbil food.  

H: It does.

K: It doesn't have much taste.

H: No.  I mean--

K: Aw, it's gritty.  

H: Gritty, yes.

K: Feels like eating sand.

H: I feel like the fact that there's a stick in it makes me think that this is beaver food.  

J: Well, good guess.

H: Wait, do beavers actually eat wood?

J: They do.  

H: Do they get nutrition out of it?

J: They do, and the most nutrition comes from like, right underneath the--

H: Right.

K: I can't even do it.

H: No, don't hurt yourself.  

J: That isn't a dead stick.  What do you guys think?

K: Um.

J: Eat again?  

K: Well, you know, apart from the stick.  

H: I mean, I wouldn't put all the same ingredients in.  Maybe minus two ingredients.

J: Which ones didn't you like?

H: The stick.

J: The stick.

K: Not a fan of the stick.

H: And the gerbil food was a little bit weird in texture, gritty flavors.  

J: Okay, okay.  Would you like to meet the animal that really really likes this?

K: I really would.

H: Sure.

J: Alright, guys.  

H: I can't believe this (?~3:08) is happening.

K: You sound like a baby.  Aww.  

J: This is Huckleberry, the baby beaver.  

K: Hello, Huckleberry.  

J: What do you mean?  Do you want some of this food?  

H: Yes, I will have the stick, please.

J: Yes, yes.  What did he go for?

K: The block, the block.

J: The block.  He loves his blocks, he does.  

H: They are so bad.  

J: Please don't take my food.

K: N, don't worry, I don't want it.  I already tasted it.  

J: That's a temper tantrum.  

H: Ooh, whoa.  

J: He's saying it's mine!  

K: Yeah.  There's even more over here, too.

J: You get two plates full.  Do you want to go hang out and eat your food for a little bit?

H: Yeah.

J: Yeah, and get rid of the strangers?  

K: Yeah, sorry, buddy.

H: Hank and Katherine are hungry and need to get to our next course.

J: Alright, ready?  Ready?  Oh, I know, this is gonna be the worst part.  Ahhh.  I know, you're gonna get more.  Here.  Here.  It's all good now.  Yeah.  

Next up is a warm and smooth mixture that's sure to leave your taste buds really confused.  

H: Oh.  Well.  

K: Okay.

H: I like eggs.  

K: Scrambled eggs.  

H: And then something nice goes on the eggs.  

K: Oh no.  Hm.  Okay.  

H: Jessie?

J: Yeah?

H: Did you just serve me bananas and eggs?

J: Yeah, I did.  

K: That is not a good smell.

H: Huuuuhh.

K: That combination is not a combination smell.  

J: I know.  

K: Nope.  

H: Mm, sulfer 'nanners.

J: This is this animal's favorite dish.  I mean, she eats a lot of things but--he's going for it.

H: Yeah, no, that's not how you should--

K: Well, you know what eggs taste like.  

H: You should not serve either of those things this way.  There's definitely a rebellion at the back of the throat that's like, don't swallow that.  

K: Nope.  Nope.

H: Definitely don't swallow that.  

K: What animal do you think eats this ?

J: Yeah.

K: I'm--I don't know either.  Oh.  Ooh, I was not gonna get there.

H: Oh, sure.  Yeah.  

K: Hey, Pearl.

H: I had never thought about that.  

J: This is Pearl the tegu.  She is a Colombian tegu.  This is her favorite, absolutely favorite dish.  I mean, she eats things like, she eats all kinds of bugs and she eats rats and--

K: Okay, yeah, thanks for not serving one of those up.

H: Thanks for not giving us (?~5:15) rats.

J: Do you want to try some? 

K: You're beautiful.  Would you like some banana?  

H: It's your favorite.  It's your favorite dish.  How did you discover that bananas on top of eggs were the--just the bee's knees?

J: The best thing?  Um, she--

H: Good job.

J: We rotate the protein all the time and so--are you gonna take it away?  So she was getting eggs and then every like, once a month, she gets some fruit as well.  Like, she just eats it faster, quicker and faster and we've tried other things like strawberry or grape or cucumber and she's like, ehh, she like, picks through.  She won't eat it, but she likes the--

H: Bananners.

J: But not right now.  What are you gonna do with it?

K: Just savin' it.

J: Alright.  I'm gonna let you eat this in peace, okay?  

H: Okay.  Thanks for uh--

J: Do you want to give her a little pet?

K: Bye bye.  You're so beautiful.  

H: Bye bye.  (?~6:03)

J: The next one is to keep you curious.

K: Ooh.  Whoa.  I mean--Something came out.  I just wanted to see if something--yeah.

J: Something did.

K: Something came out, so.  You know.

H: Oh, so you wanna to try to like--oh, mm--

K: Looks like a piece of cabbage, 'cause like, you know, an animal's not gonna be like, let me open this.  

H: (?~6:26) Katherine, 'cause there's also a bunch of paper, it would appear.

K: Ohh.  Okay.  

H: I'm just opening mine.  Oh.  What is this?

K: So somebody--

H: Is this--it's that same stuff again?

K: Is it?

H: But smaller, I think.  Yeah.  Flavorless grit.  Wash that down with some carrots.  

K: Now that has more flavor.  Tastes like bird food.  That's not food.  So the paper's in there to make it hard to get stuff out.  There's cauliflower and broccoli.  This looks like a bird toy.  

J: Do you think you would eat it again or not?  

H: I mean.

K: Yes.  

J: Okay.

K: This didn't even offend me that much. 

J: You said that--okay, let me go and get the animal.

K: Okay.  Oh, hey buddy.  

H: Oh.

J: Here is Snapper and Snapper wants to move on to your finger if you'd like.  

H: Hello.  

K: You want something else better?

H: She said this was your favorite food.

J: You know, that's a staple diet.  This is his like, uh, maintenance diet.  He has to eat this to make him healthy.  So this is a bird pellet and he loves safflower seeds.  

K: Ohh.  

J: Which, Katherine, you wanna try one?  They are awful.  

K: I mean--do I?  

H: Are they?  Is it bitter?

K: Aaah.  Blah.  Did I get that out of my mouth?

J: I have some more courses if you'd like to try those.  

K: Bring it on, no more safflower seeds.  

That's all I ask.  

H: Sharp little pokey--

J: Our next course is an exciting variety of vegetables, little brown things, something sweet, and something crunchy.  

K&H: Okay.  

K: Hm.  Oh, there's more--

H: Oh, there's a mealworm in there.

K: --unidentified pellets.  Okay, no thank you.  I will not be eating the mealworm.  Nope.

H: What is this?

J: Something sweet. 

H: It tastes a little like a bitter grapenut, but like, less flavor.

J: Grapenuts are bitter.  

K: Definitely bitter.  

H: Yeah.  

J: There's a sweet in there!  There's a sweet.

K: It tastes like real bad, bad dog food.

H: Real bad dog food.  Unlike all the good dog food I've had.  

K: I don't like it.  

H: No, I don't think I'm going to eat a worm.  

J: Yeah, okay.  Would you like to meet who--oh, you guys guess.  I'll go get the animal, you guys guess what eats this.

K: So, an insectivore. 

H: Yeah.  

K: That also eats fruits and it's trying to get away, it's trying to get away.  

H: It's like, I'm out.  I gotta go!  

K: Oh, it's tiny.  It's small.

H: Something little.  

K: Oh, it's one of them squirrels.

H: Is it one of them squirrels?  

K: It's one of them (?~9:06) squirrels.

J: There you are.  

H: Hey, you wanna--oh, you, I'm nocturnal.  

K: Oh, you smell like pee.  So much like pee.  

J: Here, put this on your arm--

(?~9:16)

K: There ya go.  

J: Who would like a treat?

H: Oh, I wanna (?~9:22)

J: You wanna treat?  Oh, oh, you are being christened, Katherine.  

K: Yeah, I mean, I can smell it.  

J: He is claiming you.  Here.

H: Mealworm.

K: So I'm going to have to take another shower.  

J: This is Gadget and Gizmo and Gadget--

H: Ooh, I wanna go home.

J: Gadget's done, and then Gizmo's our only one here.

K: It smells bad.  

H: Yeah, you look much better than you smell.  Oh, yeah, chew up that mealworm and drop it on my wife.  

J: He's so old.  He just likes the cushy insides, he doesn't like the crunchy outside, so I'll--

K: Oh, there's a crunchy outside on me?  

J: I mean, there was--Alright, I have one more.  Are you guys up for it?

K: Yes.

H: Yeah.  

J: Okay.  I promise, no mealworms.  

K: Okay.  I wondered if they were gonna show up.  

J: This is the dessert round and by round, I mean round balls of mystery.  

K: Mm-mm.  

H: You don't know if it's good or bad yet.  

K: Uhhhh, I got a pretty good idea.  

J: Because.

H: Oh!  I shouldn't have smelled it.  Okay.  That's not so, so bad.  

K: Um.  

H: I mean, it tastes a lot like gerbil food.

K: All that other stuff.  

H: Smells.  You gave me three of them, which is a questionable number.

K: Thanks.  Never gonna happen.  Nope.  That's plenty.  

H: I mean, if it was the apocalypse, I'd eat that all day long.  

J: I mean, this is what he eats.  

K: I don't think it would--ahh, so sandy.  

H: Alright, who eats it?  

J: Alright, let's see him.  

K: I know.  

H: I do, too.

K: Okay.  Is he gonna pee on me?

J: What do you think?  We're in a very new place, huh?  Would you like some (?~10:57)  Yeah.  This.  This is what I like.  So bananas are obviously his favorite, but he can't survive on just bananas, so he has to eat a mixture of rodent blocks and monkey biscuits.  Would you like some of that, too?  He does have trouble eating, and that's why we have to soften all his food for him.  

H: Roll it up into weird dusty truffles.  You're a very special weirdo.  Go back in your hole?

J: Hey buddy.  You're amazing.  Good job, bud.  

K: See you later.  

J: Okay, guys.  Where's that leave us?  Which one is the tastiest?  

H: Tastiest of all the foods?  

K: Um. 

H: I don't know.  

K: I mean, you know, the food ones, where food, the food-y parts.

H: Yeah, I liked--like, if, you know,--

K: That parrot food.  That, that parrot almond thing.  It was okay.  Didn't hate it.

H: Didn't hate that?  I felt the same way about these weird balls.

K: We'd also--I mean, the beaver plate was lovely.  

H: Yeah.

K: Apart from the stick.  

H: Yeah.  If you give me croutons instead of, you know, rodent blocks.  

K: Salad.

H: I'd be down for that one.  With a stick garnish.

J: Thank you guys so much for coming on.  I hope you didn't--don't hate me too much for making you eat all of the animal food.

H: It was great.  Super (?~12:14)

J: And thank you guys for joining us on this adventure and if you'd like to go on an adventure with us every week, subscribe to our YouTube channel, AnimalWondersMontana.  Bye, guys.  

(Endscreen/Credits)