Minisode 18 - What's In the Walls? - Strange Woods Podcast

Hey, Strangers! This episode features some pretty unique ideas about insulating the walls of a house…with animal carcasses. One family found DOZENS of dead animals in the walls of what should have been their dream house. But, who put them there? And for the love of all things holy…why?? Check it out as we discuss!

STOP! INSIDE JOKES AHEAD!

If you haven’t gotten to listen to the episode yet, spoiler alert! This post contains lots of stuff that will make waaay more sense if you listen to the episode before or while reading. So if you haven’t already, pump the brakes and listen to the episode or just click above to play so that you can be in on all the shenanigans to follow!

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Produced by Peter Woodward

We begin with a family in Pennsylvania...

Unsettling insulation...

Let me take you to 2014: Auburn, Pennsylvania in lovely Schuykill County. The Bretzius family purchased a lovely farmhouse on a nice piece of property in 2012, thinking this was their dream house. In 2014, while attempting to do some renovations to their home–specifically insulating their walls–they made a startling and disgusting discovery…

They opened the walls were confronted with a horrible smell and mold. Upon investigation, the family discovered that the walls were filled with DOZENS of dead animal carcasses and half-used spices!

This included dogs, chickens, something with huge front teeth, probably a beaver. The carcasses were wrapped in newspapers that dated back to the 1930s and 1940s.

Apparently the presence of this morbid insulation had been missed during inspection. Unfortunately, the family’s insurance did not cover the work needed to fix the situation. The Bretzius’s had to pay around $20,000 out of pocket to fix it.

Even after all the work that had been done, the smell was not gone, and the presence of mold made them sick.

In the last report, there were still rooms with animals in the walls, but the family could not afford to keep renovating. It was reported they started a gofundme, but it is no longer active as of this post.

Here’s a quick news story about this whole thing!

But...why...animals in the walls...huh?

Understandably, the family wondered why. Why in the world would the walls be stuffed with dead animals? According to reports and interviews with the family, dozens of the items found in the walls were sent to an expert in nearby Kutztown for analysis. The family were told that most likely, the carcasses were part of pow-pow or Dutch magic.

What is pow-wow?

The Pennsylvania Dutch, also known as the Amish community in the United States, has a small portion of their population that practice a special type of folk healing. It was knick-named “pow-wowing”. This originates from their proximity to the native American tribes like the Algonquins. In the native culture, medicine men or healers in the tribe were referred to as “pow-wow” and the term transferred to these folk healers as a sort of derogatory or dismissive term.

Within the Amish community, these practitioners are known as brauchau. Officially, these practitioners are condemned by the Amish community. However, it is an “underground” practice that continues to thrive in spite of that.

An interesting cursory documentary called The Real Amish Witches gives a little insight into this taboo practice. As of this post, it is available to stream on Hulu.

A more in-depth and very interesting exploration of Pennsylvania Dutch Pow Wow can be found in this video from YouTube. The creator is a local historian and a descent of some practitioners of the craft.

WHAT ELSE DID WE TALK ABOUT?

Lotsa Bug Talk...

Cicada killer wasps

These things apparently burrow into the ground and retrieve sleeping cicadas to bring back to their nests to feed to their larvae…

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Japanese murder hornets

Otherwise known as the Asian giant hornet, this thing is the world’s largest hornet that is normally native to Asia and decided to make its way to the US. It’s stinger is 1/4 in long! Fun fact, it’s nests are considered a delicacy in some Japanese mountain villages. They also fry the full-grown adult hornets until “the body becomes crunchy” and pop them onto skewers for a snack.

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Mud dauber/dirt dauber

Mud daubers are wasps that build their nests out of dirt. They are much less aggressive than the others we talked about up there, and are unlikely to sting. They feed on plant nectar and they kill spiders…even black widows. Hmmm…I think I prefer these guys.

Though, still, not a bug fan…oh, at all.

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Louisiana Vocabulary Lesson

You may have heard us use the phrase “down the bayou” during the pod. This is a catch all term we use for the areas in deep, deep south LA, mostly for communities that border the Gulf of Mexico. They are in and around areas of “bayou”, essentially marsh land and slow-flowing waterways. There are several that branch out from our area including but not limited to Cocodrie, Dulac, Dularge, Montegut, Galliano, Larose, etc.

In general, its anywhere that is more south than we we are at a given moment. “Up the bayou” can be used, too, and it means just the opposite.

STRANGE WOODS PODCAST RECOMMENDS...

The Princess and the Frog (2009)

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Beautiful, funny, fun and, of course, filled with Disney magic. Check it out and have a good ol’ time…like Mama Odie do!

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Go the F*** to Sleep (2011)

This lovely bedtime tale is endlessly entertaining…provided you share the same sick sense of humor we do! Check out the audio version on YouTube read by Samuel L. Jackson.

Written by Adam Mansbach, this little gem is part of a trilogy! If you are so inclined, the other titles include You Have to F**king Eat and F**k, Now There Are Two of You.

Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971)

Yes. The original. Not the remakes. No offense, but they don’t even come close. Gene Wilder…that is all you know, and all you need to know. Watch it. It’s amazing.

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Game of Thrones (2011-2019)

Dude…I don’t even know what to say to you if you haven’t gotten on the GOT train yet. Like…what are you even doing? It’s epic and incredible. Seriously, one of the best television series of all time. Not kidding. Watch it.

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And there we go! Another one bites the dust.

We hope you enjoyed the show! Please continue to give feedback and suggestions so we can bring you content you love and adore. Awww.

Don’t forget to get a thorough home inspection that includes confirmation that your walls are NOT insulated with animal carcasses and as always, STAY STRANGE!

LATER, STRANGERS!