Peregrine Falcon Deadly 60 Bites

On Deadly 60, I've had loads of incredible animal encounters.

Here's just one of my many favourites.

This is Deadly 60 Bites.

Over the years, the absolute bane of my life has been people

complaining about peregrines pooing on the ground while they're talking.

Thank you! You've just completely upstaged me!

< At least it didn't get the car!

Over the years, the absolute bane of my life

has been people complaining about British wildlife,

saying it's too tame and too boring

and where are the lions and great white sharks?

Well, in answer to that,

let me present you with the peregrine falcon.

Peregrines are resident British birds

found in mountainous, rugged parts of the country.

And they are the fastest creature that has ever lived.

Ever.

Full-stop.

They've been clocked at an incredible 180 mph

when they're going into a dive known as a stoop.

They hunt medium-sized birds such as water fowl,

but they're particularly partial to a pigeon supper.

Stooping to hit them with their clenched talons,

they knock the bird unconscious

and then weave around to catch the bird in flight.

It's all over in seconds.

A peregrine hunting is one of the most dramatic, explosive,

dynamic sights in the animal kingdom.

And in order to demonstrate that,

we've come up with a Deadly 60 experiment.

Peregrine falcons are absolute specialists,

totally designed for hunting other birds while they're on the wing.

So, for the purpose of this experiment,

you have to imagine that this big, black, shiny car is a big pigeon.

Basically, the peregrine is going to hunt us.

The handlers use bits of meat

and a bright yellow lure to get Lucy's attention.

So now she can see us. She can see the lure.

She's instantly really, really excited, really ready to go.

Full of energy, she's ready to hunt.

I must say, I'm quite excited, too.

I can feel the adrenaline surging already.

Time for the bird's handler, Lloyd,

to jump in with the lure in his hand.

The chase is on.

She can see us. The wings are spread.

Off she goes!

She's heading straight for us, I can see her in my rear view mirror.

OK, here we go, we're speeding up, speeding up.

We're getting faster, up to 40 mph, she's right in close to us!

Quicker, quicker, quicker, faster!

Whoa! Right over our heads.

This is unbelievable, she's keeping pace with us without even trying.

You can just see her coming side to side, like a jet plane.

She's absolutely extraordinary.

She's right alongside us! I can see her in my mirror.

She's just hanging, metres off the side of the car.

Wow, right in close! Across the back of the car, she's right in close.

She's up alongside Mark!

It's incredible, she's a foot away from the camera.

You can see that anchor shape, that distinctive falcon shape.

'Filming like this allows us to take a close look at how Lucy flies.

'Effortlessly keeping up with a sports car,

'but a moving pigeon would be even harder to tail.

'If I was a pigeon in the wild, the peregrine would attack from above,

'accelerating into a stoop to take me out.'

OK, we're coming to the end of the runway now, Lloyd.

We're out of space. Whooooa!

And up she goes.

That was out of this world.

That was so much fun, I think we might have to try it again.

OK, so while Lucy carries on exercising,

here's some more about the peregrine falcon.

In order to withstand speeds of 180mph,

peregrine falcons' bodies have some added pieces of kit.

At these speeds,

airflow rushes through the nostrils and would press on the brain.

This would make the peregrine just fall unconscious in flight.

So peregrines have small cones just inside their nostrils

to deflect the shockwaves of air. The pigeons they feed on

are some of the fastest birds around in straight flight -

but no match for this speed merchant.

Woah!

God, she nearly took my head off!

That's exactly what it would be like to be hit by a peregrine.

It's that moment where they fold their wings

and all of a sudden they hit maximum velocity,

travelling at as much as 180mph.

We're talking about an acceleration of 0-60 in about 0.6 seconds,

to make this car look like nothing.

Just hanging high, he's a good 20 metres above us.

Oh, my life!

That was too close.

Lloyd, you just nearly got me scalped by a peregrine falcon!

He nearly took my head off!

I don't know how that looked to you, but I felt his feathers,

just the wing tips flicked my ears

and saw this big pair of talons coming at my face.

He must have been an inch from me.

My goodness.

Argh!

You gave me the fright of my life!

I thought you were going to take my head off.

There's no doubt, though, as beautiful as she is,

as a high-speed hunter, the peregrine falcon has no equal.

The fastest creature on Earth. For that reason alone,

peregrine falcon is definitely on the Deadly 60.

The peregrine is the largest falcon in Britain.

It's the fastest animal on the planet ever,

and its beak, talons and raw speed

make it one of the deadliest predators we've had on my list.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd

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