Aye Aye

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0:00:02 > 0:00:07On Deadly 60, I've had loads of incredible animal encounters.

0:00:08 > 0:00:11Here is just one of my many favourites.

0:00:11 > 0:00:14This is Deadly 60 Bites!

0:00:16 > 0:00:19Madagascar is home to some real wildlife weirdos.

0:00:22 > 0:00:25And here in this zoo is one of the strangest-looking predators

0:00:25 > 0:00:26I've ever seen.

0:00:26 > 0:00:28It's the aye-aye.

0:00:28 > 0:00:32This is such a spooky experience.

0:00:32 > 0:00:35You could almost totally forget that you're in a zoo,

0:00:35 > 0:00:38with this crazy goblin.

0:00:41 > 0:00:42Crikey!

0:00:43 > 0:00:45I think she thought my finger was

0:00:45 > 0:00:48something edible, for a second there.

0:00:48 > 0:00:49When it comes down to it,

0:00:49 > 0:00:51they are pretty fierce.

0:00:56 > 0:00:59The first zoologists that ever discovered the aye-aye

0:00:59 > 0:01:02really didn't know what to do with it.

0:01:02 > 0:01:05It's such a mish-mash of animal parts.

0:01:05 > 0:01:08It's got a great big, long bushy tail,

0:01:08 > 0:01:10so they thought it might be a squirrel.

0:01:10 > 0:01:15It also has long incisor teeth, like a rodent, that never stop growing.

0:01:15 > 0:01:20So they kind of thought that it was like a very peculiar squirrel,

0:01:20 > 0:01:21but it's not at all.

0:01:21 > 0:01:24It is a lemur, it is a primate,

0:01:24 > 0:01:26but the strangest one I've ever seen.

0:01:26 > 0:01:29And if you think the aye-aye looks strange,

0:01:29 > 0:01:32the way it finds its dinner is even weirder.

0:01:32 > 0:01:36The aye-aye possesses one of the most specialised weapons

0:01:36 > 0:01:39in the natural world. That's what makes it deadly.

0:01:39 > 0:01:42But that's not a dagger it is carrying around with it,

0:01:42 > 0:01:45that's actually one of its fingers.

0:01:45 > 0:01:47TAPPING

0:01:47 > 0:01:50This skinny, twig-like finger drums against a tree trunk,

0:01:50 > 0:01:53while super-sensitive ears are tuned in to the rustlings

0:01:53 > 0:01:55of any potential prey hiding inside.

0:01:57 > 0:02:00If there is a meal to be had, the aye-aye will find it.

0:02:02 > 0:02:06Once locked on, it unleashes its awesome chisel-like teeth,

0:02:06 > 0:02:10that make short work of the bark, before poking in that deadly digit

0:02:10 > 0:02:12and hooking out a juicy meal.

0:02:19 > 0:02:21Look what he's doing right now. Look at that.

0:02:25 > 0:02:29Just using that finger to dig out

0:02:29 > 0:02:32little grubs that are beneath the bark.

0:02:32 > 0:02:35That is crazy!

0:02:42 > 0:02:47The aye-aye is truly one of the greatest, weirdest,

0:02:47 > 0:02:50insect hunters in the world.

0:02:50 > 0:02:54And the strangest animal on the Deadly 60.