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Mark Robers Crunchlabs S03E02 Episode 2 Engsub
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00:00This is a bird feeder and everything you see surrounding me in my yard is an attempt to protect it
00:05from four thieving squirrels
00:07If they want the bird seed and the lifetime supply of walnuts in this bank vault
00:10They'll first need to pass through my nine-part obstacle course. By design, it's extremely challenging
00:15It's meant to test their mental limits and their physical limits. I held back no punches
00:20But I have to admit in hindsight. I once again
00:24Completely underestimated my adversary and truthfully
00:26I never thought I'd be that crazy guy in the neighborhood obsessing over the squirrels
00:30But they started it first when they would constantly pillage the bird seed from any bird feeder
00:35I would put up about a year ago that led to me defending it with an obstacle course
00:38Which they handily defeated and so after a year of ruminating on how to avenge that L with a majorly
00:44improved version
00:45And then two months of planning my buddy John and I got together for a 20 second build montage
00:59Oh
01:11Here are the basic elements for starters
01:13Here's their favorite bird feeder at the end of the course and it's sitting atop Fort nuts the most secure
01:20walnut vault in the western United States
01:22Now since birds can fly they can come and go as they please and eat all the food they want
01:27But the only way for the squirrels to make it right here is by surviving my nine-part grueling obstacle
01:32course
01:32Which all starts right here climbing up this pole to this platform is the single gateway to enter the course
01:39Every other pull you see has some kind of countermeasure to keep the squirrel from just climbing up and then
01:44entering the course halfway through
01:45And so the first challenge is this casino which may seem like an odd choice until you realize that as
01:50we were building the course
01:51We also built them some cozy little squirrel houses
01:54So we put them up in a couple different trees and after a few days it looked like they'd actually
01:58made some renovations
01:59So I went to take a closer look and sure enough
02:02Here's the before and here's the after even on the inside
02:05They made some questionable decor updates
02:07So while it might look like they were just using the houses to relax or stretch or look out the
02:12window or like
02:13Um, Rassol, the satellite communications gear and the tactical mission planning and the mini vault to practice cracking a safe
02:20hold a completely different story
02:22This gang of four high-end professional birdseed thieves were secretly planning to pull off an honest-to-goodness mission
02:28impossible
02:28Oceans 11 style mega walnut heist
02:31Which is why I was gonna protect the bird seed and walnut vault with the most state-of-the-art
02:35security measures just like the casino did in Oceans 11
02:38So once in the casino you'll see the slot machine and the classic Vegas buffet
02:41But with a warning take more than an ounce and you're gonna have to deal with security
02:48Now that I got the squirrels on the run they'll naturally want to jump to this bar, but there's a
02:52twist
02:54Like it actually twists which I think is gonna give them some problems, but if they can figure this out
02:58They'll jump into this crate and the good news is that it's filled to the brim with their favorite food
03:02Which is walnuts and I know this because I tested a bunch of different options and they always went with
03:07the walnuts first
03:07But the bad news is that once you add a little weight to the system the helicopter starts moving just
03:13like the helicopter for mission impossible
03:15Oh, and we've got a baffle here at the top to stop a squirrel from just crawling along the wire
03:19from the fence
03:20The helicopter stops next to this wall which seems simple enough except that the bricks randomly move and adjust themselves
03:25in and out
03:26And of course at any time if they fall off
03:30They gotta go back and start over the whole course from the beginning after that we come to their hideout
03:35And this is when they'll switch from defense to offense because it's where they hang out and plan
03:39You can see it's sort of messy with their tools and their blueprints on the wall that show if they
03:43open the floor on the elevator
03:45The elevator shaft leads them underground and into the sewers then if they crawl through the sewers
03:50It will take them right to the control center for a second room that might look familiar and just like
03:54a mission impossible
03:55Their goal is to go up through the ceiling to access the air vents
03:59But there's no way to make it up there unless they type the password into the keyboard in the control
04:03room next door like this
04:12And at that point they can climb the ladder and they're in the vents and the vents are a total
04:16maze
04:17There's lots of different twists and turns they'll need to navigate up here
04:20So at any moment if they're too lost they can always exit the whole course by using the one-way
04:24squirrel emergency exits
04:26Which also exists for any enclosed room on the whole course and for the penultimate challenge
04:30It's back down from the air ducts through this laser maze where they'll have to harness their inner Catherine Zeta
04:36-Jones
04:36If they sufficiently touch any of the lasers the metal base contacts and completes the circuit which sends a signal
04:43from this microcontroller
04:44To a relay to a solenoid which causes this pneumatic piston to fire which slams this door shut for one
04:49minute
04:50And because I'm basically certain they'll try and get to this point by climbing from the roof on top of
04:54this tube
04:55I've placed a shield here with another enforcement squirrel to try and deter them and so finally if they made
05:00it through the laser maze and
05:01Everything that came before it they've made it to Fort nuts and as far as I'm concerned if they crack
05:06the safe by giving this handle a little turn
05:09They've earned every last walnut in this bank
05:13After the course was set up they could definitely smell the walnuts in the vault
05:17And then you could see them sort of working things out from the fence line
05:20And so after two months of prep work it was time to test our extensive security measures against this formidable
05:25set of 500-gram rodents
05:31And right out of the gate we got him with the buffet
05:36And as he sticks his entire face under the sneeze guard absentmindedly reading the sign you could see the exact
05:42moment he realizes he might have screwed up
05:47And the slow-mo shows Rick just really laying himself out
05:51Oh by the way that's Rick
05:53All four squirrels have names and more importantly like any crew looking to pull off a heist they all have
05:59specific roles to play
06:00Starting with everyone's favorite Fat Gus who of course is the mastermind of this operation
06:05On a heist this is the role of the Frank Ocean or an Ethan Hunt
06:09Now I just have to say for those who aren't familiar last year I named one of the squirrels Fat
06:13Gus
06:14Because he loved to eat and was a little on the hefty side
06:17But then halfway through I noticed he had nipples
06:19Which it turns out means he was actually a girl and a pregnant one at that
06:23So it was just a whole PR disaster
06:25And I switched the name to Fantastic Gus and rephrased a few other things
06:29But to be honest Fantastic Gus just doesn't roll off the tongue like Fat Gus
06:33So I asked permission to use my preferred phrasing and as you can see I got full consent
06:38Next up is Rick
06:39He's the acrobat
06:40The grease man
06:41The gutsy one
06:42He's the go-to for any task that is going to require some athletic abilities
06:46And then we've got Marty
06:48He's the hacker
06:48Anything with computers or bank safes and he's your guy
06:52While he's really smart he also scares pretty easy
06:54And finally we've got Frank with logistics
06:57A good heist starts with a good plan
06:59He's got the whole course memorized and he's mapped it out and provided blueprints for the team
07:03And so back to the course we've got Marty the hacker here
07:06Who again is a bit skittish so you can see he's coming in pretty cautious
07:09But who can resist a buffet?
07:13Once again the real magic is found in the slow-mo
07:22Eventually they realize security was just too tight at this casino
07:25And Rick goes straight to the twist bar
07:29Excellent
07:29Here's try two
07:38And with some motivation for the bird he's like
07:40I got this, I got this, I got this
07:43I don't think I got this
07:45The real-time replay on this one is great too
07:49And at this point Fat Gus is like
07:51I'm gonna need that crate of walnuts
07:53Let me show you how it's done
07:54Which turns out somewhat
07:56But
07:57Predictably
08:06Now really frustrated
08:07Acrobat Daredevil Rick tries a totally different route
08:11But you've got to admire that effort
08:20Logistics man Frank knows the wire connected to the fence leads to the helicopter crate
08:24So he tries sneaking in the back door
08:28And is also forced to retreat
08:30And finally Marty the hacker realizes if you're just scared and you run real fast
08:34The bar doesn't have time to spin on you
08:36And you can see Rick just replicating the strategy
08:39So after about two days
08:41All of them can cruise through the first part of this course about this fast
08:44And Fort Nuts was already feeling less and less secure
08:48Fat Gus is like, wait, is this thing moving?
08:51I'm good
08:52Here Rick hypothesizes if he doesn't sit in the crate it won't move
08:56And here he rejects that hypothesis with a legendary leap
09:01And now is a good time to remind ourselves that squirrels are one of the few mammals that can survive
09:05a fall from any height
09:06Because as you can see here they make their body super flat to increase drag
09:10Effectively becoming their own parachute
09:12But just in case, you okay Rick?
09:14Yup
09:15All good
09:16And Marty the hacker fraidy cat is just like
09:20Yeah, I'm super not down with this
09:25Eventually it's the fearless leader Fat Gus who demonstrates the ride is definitely worth it
09:31And soon you've got Frank and the rest of the gang following suit
09:35Which leads us to the wall of a thousand moving bricks
09:38And first up you got Fat Gus who kicks things right off with a pull of his parachute
09:45And Rick just barely misses
09:50Skittish Marty gets one taste of a moving brick and absolutely yeets himself into this tree
09:55And while there were plenty of instances where a moving brick did dump the squirrels causing him to start over
10:00from the beginning
10:00What was even better was Marty psyching himself out in the anticipation that a brick might move
10:05Even though the wall wasn't powered on for any of these clips
10:13And thanks in part to the dutiful supervision of Fat Gus
10:17Eventually like all the other challenges so far
10:19They got it down to a science where they can cruise by the wall fairly quickly
10:24And now's a good time to mention the squirrels weren't the only ones attempting the course
10:28This is splinter the rat and here he is with one of his buddies
10:31He liked to make the rounds to all the houses each night
10:33Which sometimes were vacant and sometimes they weren't
10:36There goes Frank to chase him off his lawn
10:38And you might have noticed the stuff in the house
10:40The squirrels would gather nesting materials from various sources
10:43Or somewhat hilariously just steal from each other
10:47Here's a bonus Santa Claus impression for all the Fat Gus fans out there
10:50So from splinter and his buddies to not at all creepy possums
10:54There's a surprisingly constant variety of wildlife that passes through a suburban backyard
10:58Including a dumb dog who for some reason is much less interested in squirrels
11:02Than he is my camera gear
11:04Which is a lovely segue back to the squirrel hideout
11:07Where the heist was really just picking up steam
11:09And here's the home game
11:23Could be the greatest of the home is.
11:24Here's the home is what we're talking about
11:29Here's the home is where the crianƧa is
11:30And here's the home is the home of aene
11:36The home is the home is the home
11:36He is the home is the home
11:37The home is the home.
12:10And after Hacker Marty had accessed the computer and lowered the ladder, Fat Gus followed behind and joined him in
12:15the vents.
12:16But in the process, a critical tool dropped down, which led to a lovely recreation of an iconic scene.
12:37And as a side note, they figured out the exit door pretty quickly, and they functioned as a one-way
12:41door exactly as intended.
12:44And now at the vents, it was Frank's time to shine.
12:46You can see here, he's just double-checking the actual air duct layouts to make sure they match the blueprints
12:51he's memorized.
12:52And once he's satisfied, he steps up, and as you can see, he nails it first try.
12:57You can just sense his confidence here.
13:02Contrast that with Marty, who's like, alright, I think it was a right, no, it's straight.
13:07Oh, was it left?
13:10Crap.
13:10I gotta go check the map again.
13:11And as a result, most of his runs would end up looking something like this.
13:17So here's Frank coaching him from the outside, and you can see Marty's a little defensive about it.
13:24So Frank hops in so they can work out their differences, and then with a little encouragement, he gets them
13:31going down the right way.
13:32All the while, Fat Gus continues to supervise.
13:36Focus, Marty.
13:37There you go.
13:41Which brings us to the laser maze.
13:44Here's Acrobat Rick's first approach, and he's like, mm, yeah, that's us.
13:48And just as expected, he climbs on top of the tube, and he's like, yeah, I totally got this.
13:55When in fact, he didn't have it.
13:59In real time, it happens so fast, it just looks like chaos.
14:03But if we slow down this second attempt, we can remind ourselves of how squirrels have mastered the laws of
14:09physics to always land on their feet.
14:11Did you catch it?
14:12The first is the locking of the head on a landing target in less than 300 milliseconds.
14:16If you go back and watch any jump from this video, that locking of their head is the first thing
14:21they always do.
14:23And the second is using conservation of angular momentum like an ice skater to pull their arms and legs in
14:28and out at the right times to rotate fast and then hold in the right orientation.
14:32Combine those two tricks with the flat body parachute and extending their legs at the last minute to absorb the
14:36shock, and they are perfectly adapted for living high in the trees.
14:40In fact, squirrels have been around for over 30 million years, and they've had to evolve relatively little in all
14:45that time.
14:46Then Rick's like, fine, I'll use the stupid tube like a normal squirrel.
14:50What is this?
14:51See, I knew this was sus.
14:56And here's Frank, who just watched what happened, and therefore is appropriately cautious.
15:06But he hops right back on the saddle, and this time he nails it.
15:10And in the end, it feels appropriate that the mastermind Fat Gus was the first one to make it successfully
15:17through the laser maze, and then to subsequently make it to Fort Nuts.
15:21I mean, how Fat Gus is this? Falling not just for one decoy nut, but for both of them.
15:27Which paves the way for Marty the Hacker to be the one to crack the safe, and as you can
15:32see here, he's pretty stoked about it.
15:40And first, he just checks it out, like, yep, mm-hmm, yep, yep, this is just like the schematic showed.
15:46And then, the big moment.
16:02Once the safe opened, these cargo nets unfurled, which just allowed better access to their loot.
16:07But interestingly, more often than not, after getting a walnut, instead of jumping off, they would go all the way
16:11back through the course.
16:12Here's Jumpy Marty exhibiting some real PTSD, even though I'd already turned off the whole system.
16:17So once again, the squirrels took the W, but as far as I'm concerned, they earned it.
16:21And I can't complain with how things turned out, because Rick buried all his extra nuts in the yard,
16:26Marty and Frank made up and rekindled their friendship,
16:29and Fat Gus got some long-sought quality time with the bird feeder.
16:32So everyone was happy.
16:34Well, almost everyone.
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