Harrison Ford reacts to new snake species named after him: ‘Humbling’

Why did it must be snakes?

Harrison Ford’s iconic character Indiana Jones would possibly concern and hate snakes, however the star was enthusiastic to be the namesake for a newly-discovered snake species.

“This discovery is humbling,” Ford, 81, told the Hollywood Reporter.

Ford was referring to a newly-discovered snake species that’s now referred to as “Tachymenoides harrisonfordi.” 

It was discovered within the Andes mountains in Peru, as a collaboration between researchers in Peru and the USA. Though it was found in Might 2022, the details about the snake’s title was not made public till at the moment, within the scientific journal Salamandra.

The snake is yellow, brown and copper in shade with stripes, and is 16 inches lengthy. It’s reportedly innocent to people however eats lizards and frogs.

The title is partly a hat-tip to Indiana Jones and his well-known concern of snakes, and partly a tribute to Ford’s environmental advocacy. Ford, who has been married to Calista Flockhart, 58, since 2010, is the vice chair of Conservation International, a corporation targeted on conservation information.

“The snake’s acquired eyes you’ll be able to drown in, and he spends a lot of the day sunning himself by a pool of soiled water — we most likely would’ve been pals within the early ‘60s,” Ford told the organization.

He additional joked, “These scientists hold naming critters after me, however it’s at all times those that terrify youngsters. I don’t perceive. I spend my free time cross-stitching. I sing lullabies to my basil crops, so that they received’t concern the evening,” referring to the truth that he additionally impressed the title of the ant “Pheidole harrisonfordi” and the spider “Calponia harrisonfordi.” 

The well-known Indiana Jones line “Snakes. Why did it must be snakes?” is within the 1984 blockbuster, “Raiders of the Misplaced Ark,” the place it’s revealed that the fearless whip-carrying Nazi-hunting daredevil solely fears one factor on this world: the slippery reptile. 

Though that film got here out over three a long time in the past, Ford remains to be going robust enjoying Indiana Jones, most not too long ago starring in “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Future,” which remains to be at present in theaters.

Ford can be at present within the AppleTV drama “Shrinking,” and the Paramount+ “Yellowstone” spinoff sequence, “1923” with Helen Mirren, however he was snubbed by the Emmys for each exhibits – though two of his “Shrinking” co-stars, Jason Segel and Jessica Williams, earned nominations this yr.

Concerning the brand new snake species,  Ford went on to say, “It’s a reminder that there’s nonetheless a lot to study our wild world — and that people are one small a part of an impossibly huge biosphere. On this planet, all fates are intertwined, and proper now, a million species are teetering on the sting of oblivion. We have now an existential mandate to fix our damaged relationship with nature and shield the locations that maintain life.”