what's in a name?

Harrison Ford Doesn’t Get Why They Keep Naming ‘Terrifying Critters’ After Him

He’s just a plant dad? Photo: Daniel Leal/AFP via Getty Images

Harrison Ford is so over his association with snakes. Researchers named a new species of snake found in Peru’s Andes after the man who plays Indiana Jones, who utters a famous line about the reptile in the 1981 film Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark. The snake’s new government name is Tachymenoides harrisonfordi. “These scientists keep naming critters after me, but it’s always the ones that terrify children. I don’t understand. I spend my free time cross-stitching. I sing lullabies to my basil plants, so they won’t fear the night,†said Ford, per The Hollywood Reporter. He previously lent his name to an ant species (Pheidole harrisonfordi) and a spider species (Calponia harrisonfordi). “In all seriousness, this discovery is humbling,†he continued. “It’s a reminder that there’s still so much to learn about our wild world — and that humans are one small part of an impossibly vast biosphere. On this planet, all fates are intertwined, and right now, one million species are teetering on the edge of oblivion. We have an existential mandate to mend our broken relationship with nature and protect the places that sustain life.†Ford might appreciate it if the powers that be name something after his gentle disposition. Maybe an herb species (not cannabis) or something cuddly, like his cross-stitched pillows.

Harrison Ford Isn’t Sure Why They Named a Snake After Him