Browse content similar to Weapons. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
Line | From | To | |
---|---|---|---|
My name's Steve Backshall. People call me Steve. | 0:00:02 | 0:00:06 | |
I'm on a mission to find the Deadly 60. | 0:00:09 | 0:00:12 | |
That's 60 deadly creatures from around the world. | 0:00:12 | 0:00:17 | |
You're coming with me every step of the way. | 0:00:17 | 0:00:20 | |
Ow! | 0:00:20 | 0:00:22 | |
'We've travelled across the world to find animals for my Deadly 60 list.' | 0:00:32 | 0:00:37 | |
Look, look, look. | 0:00:37 | 0:00:39 | |
'Most of these animals are armed and dangerous. | 0:00:39 | 0:00:42 | |
'And that's what this programme is all about - weapons. | 0:00:42 | 0:00:46 | |
'Claws, jaws, | 0:00:48 | 0:00:51 | |
'venom and speed. | 0:00:51 | 0:00:54 | |
'We went to South Africa to meet a monster | 0:00:54 | 0:00:58 | |
'with the most fearsome weapons of all - teeth. | 0:00:58 | 0:01:01 | |
'And there's no animal more bristling with terrifying gnashers | 0:01:01 | 0:01:06 | |
'than the great white shark. | 0:01:06 | 0:01:08 | |
'As much as six metres long | 0:01:08 | 0:01:11 | |
'and weighing up to two tonnes, | 0:01:11 | 0:01:14 | |
'this monster can rip apart seals... | 0:01:14 | 0:01:17 | |
'..and bite right through turtles.' | 0:01:18 | 0:01:21 | |
'Despite seriously stormy seas, we managed to get out | 0:01:31 | 0:01:35 | |
'in search of our great white shark.' | 0:01:35 | 0:01:38 | |
A shark! Great white shark! | 0:01:38 | 0:01:41 | |
Wow! Hey! | 0:01:43 | 0:01:45 | |
Well done, Mark! | 0:01:45 | 0:01:48 | |
She is big! | 0:01:48 | 0:01:50 | |
Coming right underneath the boat right now, look at this! | 0:01:50 | 0:01:53 | |
Mike, come round the other side now! | 0:01:53 | 0:01:56 | |
-How big do you think, Mark? -A good size. At least three and a half. | 0:01:56 | 0:02:00 | |
'Great whites can be almost twice as big as this one, | 0:02:00 | 0:02:04 | |
'but this is still a very big fish.' | 0:02:04 | 0:02:06 | |
She's come back round. She's here again. Look at that! | 0:02:06 | 0:02:10 | |
'3.5 metres of sleek killing machine, | 0:02:10 | 0:02:13 | |
'and using those fearsome teeth, | 0:02:13 | 0:02:15 | |
'she's ripped right through our bait.' | 0:02:15 | 0:02:18 | |
Look! She's shredded the rope on the buoy. | 0:02:18 | 0:02:21 | |
Look, just torn to shreds! | 0:02:21 | 0:02:23 | |
Those teeth have ripped the rope to bits. | 0:02:23 | 0:02:26 | |
That's all that's left of the giant fish that we had on there as bait. | 0:02:26 | 0:02:31 | |
She's come back round. She's here again. | 0:02:31 | 0:02:34 | |
She's going to come up and hit the boat any second. | 0:02:34 | 0:02:38 | |
Oh, yes, right out the water! | 0:02:38 | 0:02:41 | |
Oh, wow, she's right up next to me! Look at this! | 0:02:41 | 0:02:45 | |
Unbelievable! | 0:02:46 | 0:02:48 | |
This is a much smaller shark, a different one. | 0:02:48 | 0:02:51 | |
It's absolutely death-rolling over the bait. | 0:02:51 | 0:02:54 | |
I think I must have got a shot on the camera. She came right up close. | 0:02:54 | 0:02:59 | |
Despite all the evidence | 0:03:04 | 0:03:07 | |
about how little danger sharks actually pose to humans, | 0:03:07 | 0:03:12 | |
this is still the most feared animal in the world. | 0:03:12 | 0:03:16 | |
Wow! | 0:03:16 | 0:03:18 | |
'Sharks have rows of teeth that move forward in the jaw | 0:03:19 | 0:03:22 | |
'as other teeth are lost or broken, | 0:03:22 | 0:03:25 | |
'so the great white always has a face full of scalpel-sharp teeth. | 0:03:25 | 0:03:29 | |
'The serrated edge on every tooth helps cut through bone and blubber | 0:03:29 | 0:03:33 | |
'like a chainsaw through chocolate. | 0:03:33 | 0:03:35 | |
'The next animal who is armed with deadly teeth | 0:03:35 | 0:03:39 | |
'is the stuff of nightmares.' | 0:03:39 | 0:03:42 | |
The sun has just gone down | 0:03:43 | 0:03:46 | |
and the creatures of the night are out to hunt. | 0:03:46 | 0:03:50 | |
And I'm sat outside an old, abandoned gold mine | 0:03:50 | 0:03:53 | |
cos tonight we're on a ghost hunt. | 0:03:53 | 0:03:56 | |
CRACK OF THUNDER, SCREAMS | 0:03:59 | 0:04:02 | |
'Our spooky search starts in the depths of a disused goldmine | 0:04:02 | 0:04:07 | |
'in northern Australia.' | 0:04:07 | 0:04:09 | |
Oh, this is hideous. | 0:04:09 | 0:04:12 | |
I hate cockroaches. | 0:04:12 | 0:04:14 | |
'The animal we're after is a terrifying phantom hunter. | 0:04:18 | 0:04:23 | |
'It's called the ghost bat. | 0:04:23 | 0:04:25 | |
'And it's one of the largest carnivorous bats in the world.' | 0:04:25 | 0:04:30 | |
Kill the light. | 0:04:30 | 0:04:32 | |
We've just turned our lights out for a second | 0:04:33 | 0:04:36 | |
to let the bats settle down, so they're not freaked out. | 0:04:36 | 0:04:40 | |
I'm a little bit less worried about them being freaked out than me. | 0:04:40 | 0:04:45 | |
This place is Spook Central. | 0:04:47 | 0:04:50 | |
'We found a small chamber where Damian, our guide, | 0:04:51 | 0:04:54 | |
'thinks the ghost bats may be roosting.' | 0:04:54 | 0:04:57 | |
-When you're ready, shine your light up there. Are you ready? -Yeah. | 0:04:57 | 0:05:01 | |
Whoa! | 0:05:07 | 0:05:08 | |
Here they come. | 0:05:09 | 0:05:11 | |
Whoa! | 0:05:11 | 0:05:14 | |
They're absolutely huge. | 0:05:14 | 0:05:16 | |
'The only way to get a proper look at the ghost bat is to catch one, | 0:05:16 | 0:05:20 | |
'so Damian took us to a spot where the tunnel narrowed | 0:05:20 | 0:05:24 | |
'and we might have a chance to net one. | 0:05:24 | 0:05:27 | |
'Here they come.' | 0:05:28 | 0:05:31 | |
Got it, got one. Yeah, I got one. | 0:05:33 | 0:05:35 | |
That is the most remarkable-looking bat I've ever seen. | 0:05:39 | 0:05:44 | |
We're going to get bombarded by his cousins while we're doing this. | 0:05:47 | 0:05:51 | |
Quite a lot of bats of this kind of size | 0:05:51 | 0:05:55 | |
I would expect to be trying to eat through my arm. | 0:05:55 | 0:05:59 | |
When you're up close to it like this, | 0:05:59 | 0:06:02 | |
you can see first of all where it gets its name from. | 0:06:02 | 0:06:05 | |
I mean, he does look like a little phantom. | 0:06:05 | 0:06:09 | |
I want to show you these teeth | 0:06:09 | 0:06:12 | |
because they are really mean. Look at those incisors there! | 0:06:12 | 0:06:16 | |
If I can maybe show you the bottom jaw as well, | 0:06:16 | 0:06:20 | |
look at those! | 0:06:20 | 0:06:23 | |
-I can't believe you're not getting bitten when you do that. -I know. | 0:06:23 | 0:06:27 | |
That is a set of gnashers! | 0:06:27 | 0:06:30 | |
Teeth like that are what allow this remarkable creature | 0:06:30 | 0:06:34 | |
to feed not only on insects, | 0:06:34 | 0:06:37 | |
but on lizards, frogs, | 0:06:37 | 0:06:39 | |
other bats, birds, small mammals. | 0:06:39 | 0:06:42 | |
He really is a flying nightmare. | 0:06:42 | 0:06:45 | |
'Those long, needle-sharp teeth make short work of their prey. | 0:06:45 | 0:06:50 | |
'And the ghost bat's silent, Ninja-like attack means | 0:06:50 | 0:06:54 | |
'that if you're a frog or a lizard and you see a ghost bat, | 0:06:54 | 0:06:58 | |
'it'll already be too late. | 0:06:58 | 0:07:00 | |
'6,000 miles away, we met another critter with no teeth at all, | 0:07:01 | 0:07:06 | |
'but with, pound for pound, one of the most powerful jaws on Earth.' | 0:07:06 | 0:07:11 | |
We're here in Louisiana, USA. | 0:07:13 | 0:07:15 | |
Louisiana is in the heart of the Deep South. | 0:07:16 | 0:07:20 | |
It's hot, humid and very wet, | 0:07:20 | 0:07:23 | |
the perfect breeding ground for all sorts of incredible wildlife. | 0:07:23 | 0:07:28 | |
But our chomping hero is the proud owner | 0:07:29 | 0:07:32 | |
of one of the world's most fearsome jaws - | 0:07:32 | 0:07:36 | |
the alligator snapping turtle. | 0:07:36 | 0:07:38 | |
Most of our snapper's life is spent motionless looking just like a log. | 0:07:38 | 0:07:43 | |
The clever thing is they get their lunch to come to them. | 0:07:43 | 0:07:48 | |
On the inside of their open mouth, | 0:07:48 | 0:07:50 | |
a pink, fleshy growth wriggles like a tantalising worm. | 0:07:50 | 0:07:54 | |
Investigating the bait is the last mistake | 0:07:54 | 0:07:57 | |
this little fish will ever make. | 0:07:57 | 0:08:01 | |
'To help find one in the wild, | 0:08:11 | 0:08:13 | |
'I elicit the help of Mitch who is studying the turtles. | 0:08:13 | 0:08:17 | |
'We'd put out some net traps, | 0:08:18 | 0:08:21 | |
'giving us our only chance of seeing a wild one.' | 0:08:21 | 0:08:24 | |
Oh, wow! | 0:08:27 | 0:08:29 | |
Yes! | 0:08:33 | 0:08:36 | |
There's two in there! | 0:08:36 | 0:08:38 | |
Look at the size of it! | 0:08:39 | 0:08:42 | |
We actually have three. | 0:08:43 | 0:08:46 | |
I don't believe it! | 0:08:46 | 0:08:48 | |
Look at the size of the head on that one! | 0:08:48 | 0:08:51 | |
I cannot tell you how heavy this is. | 0:08:55 | 0:08:59 | |
-That is an absolute monster. -Two enormous males. | 0:09:01 | 0:09:05 | |
'That jaw looks like a medieval weapon of war.' | 0:09:06 | 0:09:10 | |
As we're moving in to the turtle, | 0:09:11 | 0:09:13 | |
we're going to keep our hands a lot further away from the head | 0:09:13 | 0:09:17 | |
than you would expect. | 0:09:17 | 0:09:20 | |
When it strikes, the head extends forward from the front of the shell. | 0:09:20 | 0:09:25 | |
Whereas with the small one here, I'd be in danger of losing a finger, | 0:09:25 | 0:09:30 | |
I think it's pretty safe to say | 0:09:30 | 0:09:32 | |
that if my hand or even my arm were to get too close to the jaws | 0:09:32 | 0:09:37 | |
of this big fella, then I'd probably lose it. | 0:09:37 | 0:09:40 | |
Just make sure your right hand doesn't stray from that spot. | 0:09:40 | 0:09:44 | |
OK... | 0:09:44 | 0:09:46 | |
-Right... -Good job, man. Good job. | 0:09:46 | 0:09:49 | |
-You got him. -Whoo-hoo-hoo! | 0:09:49 | 0:09:52 | |
That is a big turtle. | 0:09:52 | 0:09:55 | |
Probably the largest freshwater turtle in the world. | 0:09:55 | 0:09:59 | |
But that isn't really what's so impressive about him. | 0:09:59 | 0:10:03 | |
Look at the size of that head! | 0:10:03 | 0:10:05 | |
It's totally out of proportion to the whole of the rest of the body. | 0:10:05 | 0:10:10 | |
And most of that is just pure muscle power driving that jaw. | 0:10:10 | 0:10:14 | |
At the edge of it is... Well, it's incredibly sharp. | 0:10:14 | 0:10:19 | |
It doesn't have teeth cos it doesn't need them. | 0:10:19 | 0:10:22 | |
It's almost like a great, big, curved kitchen knife. | 0:10:22 | 0:10:26 | |
You can see the hooked snout at the end. | 0:10:26 | 0:10:28 | |
Oh, look at that! You can see I'm really straining to hold him. | 0:10:28 | 0:10:33 | |
But you can see how far the neck extends. | 0:10:33 | 0:10:36 | |
And that's how he hunts. | 0:10:36 | 0:10:39 | |
As soon as a fish gets too close, the head snaps out like that, | 0:10:39 | 0:10:43 | |
the jaws clamp shut incredibly quickly and the fish is history. | 0:10:43 | 0:10:48 | |
Capable of crushing my arm to pulp, | 0:10:50 | 0:10:53 | |
the alligator snapping turtle's jaw is a truly deadly weapon. | 0:10:53 | 0:10:58 | |
There's no doubt that jaws and teeth make for formidable weapons | 0:11:04 | 0:11:08 | |
when defending or attacking, | 0:11:08 | 0:11:11 | |
but check out the claws on this sloth bear. | 0:11:11 | 0:11:14 | |
Claws and talons are used by many animals | 0:11:14 | 0:11:18 | |
for protecting themselves or when out hunting. | 0:11:18 | 0:11:21 | |
The sloth bear's claws are so strong, | 0:11:21 | 0:11:24 | |
they can rip through earth baked as hard as concrete. | 0:11:24 | 0:11:28 | |
And this is Bono, a fish eagle who lives in South Africa. | 0:11:28 | 0:11:32 | |
Look at those. They are like razor blades. | 0:11:32 | 0:11:35 | |
But some of the most vicious weaponry belongs to insects. | 0:11:37 | 0:11:42 | |
These are praying mantises and they have barbs all over their arms | 0:11:42 | 0:11:45 | |
to help them catch and hold their unlucky victim. | 0:11:45 | 0:11:49 | |
It wields its weapons with such skill | 0:11:52 | 0:11:56 | |
that the praying mantis has inspired its own style of kung fu. | 0:11:56 | 0:12:00 | |
One...two, yeah! | 0:12:03 | 0:12:05 | |
If you were to scale a mantis up to human size, | 0:12:05 | 0:12:10 | |
it would take on any other Deadly 60 creature. | 0:12:10 | 0:12:14 | |
They are the perfect insect assassin. | 0:12:16 | 0:12:20 | |
There's no doubt that the praying mantis has vicious weaponry, | 0:12:23 | 0:12:27 | |
but they are also masters of disguise. | 0:12:27 | 0:12:31 | |
It's this combination that makes them such formidable predators. | 0:12:31 | 0:12:35 | |
After searching for nearly an hour, I've finally found one. | 0:12:35 | 0:12:39 | |
I'm guessing you still can't see it | 0:12:42 | 0:12:45 | |
because the camouflage and the colouring is so perfect | 0:12:45 | 0:12:48 | |
to blend in with these leaves. | 0:12:48 | 0:12:51 | |
If I get Johnny my cameraman to zoom in here and I get some light in... | 0:12:51 | 0:12:55 | |
..hopefully, you should see it. | 0:12:57 | 0:13:00 | |
Look at that! | 0:13:01 | 0:13:03 | |
It's like something out of a monster movie. | 0:13:03 | 0:13:06 | |
Look at those brutal spines! | 0:13:11 | 0:13:14 | |
Those are the mantis's chief way of catching its prey. | 0:13:14 | 0:13:18 | |
The forearms are drawn in to the side of the body, | 0:13:18 | 0:13:22 | |
ready to spring open like a steel trap and catch any insect close by. | 0:13:22 | 0:13:26 | |
I've caught these in the wild and had them draw blood from my fingers. | 0:13:27 | 0:13:31 | |
They're that strong. Obviously, if they can draw blood on me, | 0:13:31 | 0:13:36 | |
then there is no insect that is really a match for the mantis. | 0:13:36 | 0:13:40 | |
The praying mantis, a master of disguise, | 0:13:45 | 0:13:49 | |
absolute alien when you look at them close up | 0:13:49 | 0:13:53 | |
and to a flying insect, the equivalent of a great white shark. | 0:13:53 | 0:13:57 | |
Believe it or not, some giant mantids will even attack birds. | 0:13:59 | 0:14:04 | |
Now, that's what I call punching above your weight. | 0:14:04 | 0:14:08 | |
SCREAMS | 0:14:12 | 0:14:14 | |
'One of the finest Deadly 60 locations is Borneo | 0:14:16 | 0:14:20 | |
'in South East Asia where we met a namesake of the praying mantis. | 0:14:20 | 0:14:24 | |
'But this fabulous creature lurks in a deep burrow on the sea bed.' | 0:14:24 | 0:14:29 | |
I'm approaching very slowly, | 0:14:33 | 0:14:36 | |
very purposely, | 0:14:36 | 0:14:39 | |
because what lives in this hole here | 0:14:39 | 0:14:42 | |
is an animal I've been trying to find for many years. | 0:14:42 | 0:14:46 | |
'It's called a mantis shrimp.' | 0:14:47 | 0:14:50 | |
Let's see if we can get it out to play. | 0:14:51 | 0:14:55 | |
'With only its eyes and antenna on show, | 0:14:56 | 0:15:00 | |
'the mantis shrimp doesn't look like much, but...' | 0:15:00 | 0:15:03 | |
Ohh! | 0:15:03 | 0:15:05 | |
So fast! | 0:15:11 | 0:15:13 | |
I've heard it said that that strike can be as fast | 0:15:13 | 0:15:19 | |
and have as much power as a small-calibre bullet. | 0:15:19 | 0:15:23 | |
Wow! | 0:15:25 | 0:15:27 | |
They come out and catch that shrimp just like a praying mantis would. | 0:15:33 | 0:15:38 | |
'Tempted out by a tasty piece of prawn, | 0:15:38 | 0:15:42 | |
'the mantis shrimp's alien shape and hidden bulk is revealed. | 0:15:42 | 0:15:46 | |
'This one is about the size of my forearm. | 0:15:46 | 0:15:50 | |
'Much like the praying mantis, our shrimp's extendable arms are barbed | 0:15:52 | 0:15:57 | |
'and can fire out in the blink of an eye.' | 0:15:57 | 0:16:00 | |
Ohh! | 0:16:18 | 0:16:20 | |
The mantis shrimp - absolutely awe-inspiring! | 0:16:21 | 0:16:26 | |
'Before its prey has even seen the mantis shrimp, | 0:16:29 | 0:16:33 | |
'he's snapped, trapped and dragged into the darkness. | 0:16:33 | 0:16:37 | |
'Absolutely awesome! | 0:16:37 | 0:16:40 | |
'So we've seen how teeth and claws can be used as lethal weapons | 0:16:41 | 0:16:46 | |
'and have met some critters who can use them with awesome speed, | 0:16:46 | 0:16:50 | |
'but on our search around the planet, we also met some animals | 0:16:50 | 0:16:54 | |
'with something special to seal the deal - venom. | 0:16:54 | 0:16:58 | |
'And perhaps the creepiest venomous critter we met on Deadly 60 | 0:16:58 | 0:17:03 | |
'was deep inside a spooky cave system in Borneo. | 0:17:03 | 0:17:08 | |
'Not a place for anyone who is scared of heights.' | 0:17:08 | 0:17:12 | |
Wow! | 0:17:17 | 0:17:19 | |
What a place! | 0:17:19 | 0:17:22 | |
Look at that! | 0:17:28 | 0:17:30 | |
'These majestic caves are home to millions of bats and swiftlets.' | 0:17:32 | 0:17:36 | |
Up in the roof of the cave with the bats and birds circling around you, | 0:17:39 | 0:17:44 | |
it's kind of like paradise. | 0:17:44 | 0:17:46 | |
But all those birds and two million bats create an awful lot of poo. | 0:17:46 | 0:17:52 | |
'And a lot of poo attracts animals with filthy appetites. | 0:17:52 | 0:17:56 | |
'Cockroaches. | 0:17:56 | 0:17:59 | |
'Feeding on the cockroaches are some of the most scary, | 0:18:01 | 0:18:05 | |
'spine-chilling creatures that we've come across on our travels.' | 0:18:05 | 0:18:09 | |
Of all of the horrors | 0:18:11 | 0:18:14 | |
that live in this absolutely nightmarish place, | 0:18:14 | 0:18:18 | |
down here is perhaps the most frightening. | 0:18:18 | 0:18:22 | |
And it's the animal that I'm suggesting for the Deadly 60. | 0:18:22 | 0:18:26 | |
Oh! | 0:18:26 | 0:18:28 | |
Crumbs, I have to say I absolutely hate them! | 0:18:29 | 0:18:33 | |
There you go. Eugh! | 0:18:33 | 0:18:36 | |
That one just ran over my hand. | 0:18:37 | 0:18:39 | |
Right, I'll be more gutsy this time. | 0:18:39 | 0:18:42 | |
This is Scutigera, the long-legged centipede. | 0:18:42 | 0:18:46 | |
I think there's another one on the other side of the rock as well, | 0:18:46 | 0:18:50 | |
so I'm being careful about how I handle this. | 0:18:50 | 0:18:53 | |
It is quite venomous. | 0:18:53 | 0:18:55 | |
One of the guys living in the area here was bitten by one not long ago | 0:18:55 | 0:18:59 | |
and spent a week in hospital, so I'm taking care not to get bitten. | 0:18:59 | 0:19:04 | |
They have, like most centipedes... | 0:19:04 | 0:19:06 | |
Oh, just ran over my arm! | 0:19:06 | 0:19:09 | |
Eugh! | 0:19:09 | 0:19:11 | |
They really are such frightening creatures. | 0:19:11 | 0:19:14 | |
'There are no creatures better equipped for hunting in the dark. | 0:19:17 | 0:19:22 | |
'They can grow as long as a man's hand, have a mightily venomous bite | 0:19:22 | 0:19:26 | |
'and with those long legs, nothing down here can escape them.' | 0:19:26 | 0:19:30 | |
And nothing that's more guaranteed to give you nightmares. | 0:19:37 | 0:19:41 | |
So, Scutigera is going on the Deadly 60 | 0:19:41 | 0:19:44 | |
and I'm going somewhere else. | 0:19:44 | 0:19:47 | |
Their powerful venom goes straight to the nervous system of their prey, | 0:19:50 | 0:19:54 | |
causing intense pain and total physical shutdown. | 0:19:54 | 0:19:58 | |
The Scutigera's weapons make it a sure shot for the Deadly 60 list. | 0:19:58 | 0:20:02 | |
'South Africa is home to some of the deadliest snakes on the planet | 0:20:03 | 0:20:07 | |
'and this is where I came face to face with one - the rinkhals. | 0:20:07 | 0:20:11 | |
'Not only is this snake highly venomous, | 0:20:11 | 0:20:15 | |
'but it's also unusually clever.' | 0:20:15 | 0:20:17 | |
This is a fiery snake. | 0:20:17 | 0:20:19 | |
You can see he's rearing up towards me. | 0:20:19 | 0:20:22 | |
Oh, and just flicked venom all down my arm! | 0:20:22 | 0:20:26 | |
Now, look at that... Oh! Perfect. | 0:20:30 | 0:20:33 | |
He actually flicked venom straight at me. | 0:20:33 | 0:20:37 | |
A bit of it went into my mouth. | 0:20:37 | 0:20:39 | |
You can taste it. It has a rusty taste to it. | 0:20:39 | 0:20:43 | |
'The venom can't do me any harm unless it gets into my bloodstream.' | 0:20:43 | 0:20:47 | |
That actually went into my mouth. | 0:20:47 | 0:20:49 | |
What I'm trying to do is restrain the head, | 0:20:49 | 0:20:53 | |
so to give it an impression of what would happen | 0:20:53 | 0:20:56 | |
if an animal was to attack it, what it would do. | 0:20:56 | 0:21:00 | |
And he just spat straight at the camera. | 0:21:01 | 0:21:04 | |
I think there are a few flecks of venom | 0:21:04 | 0:21:07 | |
just on the outside of the lens hood here. | 0:21:07 | 0:21:10 | |
'This gentle pressure doesn't hurt the snake, | 0:21:10 | 0:21:13 | |
'but it will help show how cunning it can be.' | 0:21:13 | 0:21:17 | |
With the head restrained | 0:21:17 | 0:21:19 | |
and the snake really feeling like it has nowhere to go... | 0:21:19 | 0:21:23 | |
..the next thing that the rinkhals does... | 0:21:24 | 0:21:28 | |
..is play dead. | 0:21:29 | 0:21:31 | |
Look at that. | 0:21:32 | 0:21:34 | |
So this is the rinkhals' last line of defence. | 0:21:35 | 0:21:39 | |
It's been fast, it's been aggressive, it's spat venom at me | 0:21:39 | 0:21:43 | |
and now it's just playing dead. | 0:21:43 | 0:21:46 | |
No motion whatsoever. | 0:21:47 | 0:21:50 | |
And any animal that won't take dead prey, it's going to leave it alone. | 0:21:50 | 0:21:54 | |
Anything that will and gets too close | 0:21:54 | 0:21:57 | |
is going to get a nasty surprise and probably a bite. | 0:21:57 | 0:22:01 | |
That's what I call a clever snake. | 0:22:01 | 0:22:03 | |
Using not just venom, but sneaky tactics, | 0:22:08 | 0:22:12 | |
the rinkhals is a snake to be respected. | 0:22:12 | 0:22:15 | |
Teeth, claws and venom are all very well, | 0:22:19 | 0:22:23 | |
but they're not much good if you can't get close to your prey. | 0:22:23 | 0:22:27 | |
To do that, you need speed. These next animals are turbo-charged. | 0:22:27 | 0:22:32 | |
'One of the fastest in the ocean is the tuna fish | 0:22:37 | 0:22:41 | |
'which we encountered in the waters off south Australia. | 0:22:41 | 0:22:45 | |
'The tuna is built for speed. They're incredibly streamlined | 0:22:45 | 0:22:49 | |
'and can accelerate faster than a Ferrari. | 0:22:49 | 0:22:52 | |
'My attempt to travel at tuna speed lost me my dignity...' | 0:22:53 | 0:22:57 | |
Aaagh! | 0:22:57 | 0:22:59 | |
'And my shorts.' | 0:22:59 | 0:23:01 | |
He's lost his trunks! LAUGHTER | 0:23:02 | 0:23:06 | |
'More suitably attired, | 0:23:06 | 0:23:09 | |
'I went to meet the real masters of speed. | 0:23:09 | 0:23:12 | |
'Tuna come in many shapes and sizes. | 0:23:14 | 0:23:17 | |
'These bluefin tuna are about the same size as I am, | 0:23:17 | 0:23:20 | |
'but the biggest one ever was heavier than a horse. | 0:23:20 | 0:23:23 | |
'Luckily for me, they eat small fish like sardines. | 0:23:23 | 0:23:27 | |
'If I was a sardine, I wouldn't even have time to finish this sentence | 0:23:27 | 0:23:31 | |
'before I was lunch. | 0:23:31 | 0:23:33 | |
'When tuna corner a shoal of sardines, | 0:23:35 | 0:23:39 | |
'the result is one of the world's great wildlife spectacles.' | 0:23:39 | 0:23:43 | |
Yeeeow! | 0:24:09 | 0:24:11 | |
'Moving fast through water is actually incredibly hard, | 0:24:11 | 0:24:15 | |
'but these guys make it look easy. | 0:24:15 | 0:24:18 | |
'The ocean's most streamlined speedster is the tuna fish. | 0:24:18 | 0:24:22 | |
'The final animal right at the front of the grid | 0:24:22 | 0:24:26 | |
'is the peregrine falcon. | 0:24:26 | 0:24:29 | |
'Peregrines are resident British birds | 0:24:29 | 0:24:32 | |
'found in mountainous, rugged parts of the country | 0:24:32 | 0:24:36 | |
'and they are the fastest creature that has ever lived. | 0:24:36 | 0:24:39 | |
'Ever. Full stop. | 0:24:39 | 0:24:42 | |
'They have been clocked at an incredible 180 miles an hour | 0:24:42 | 0:24:47 | |
'when they are going into a dive known as a stoop. | 0:24:47 | 0:24:50 | |
'They hunt all medium-sized birds | 0:24:50 | 0:24:53 | |
'and there's nothing can out-fly them, even speeding pigeons.' | 0:24:53 | 0:24:58 | |
A peregrine hunting is one of the most dramatic, explosive, | 0:24:59 | 0:25:03 | |
dynamic sights in the animal kingdom | 0:25:03 | 0:25:05 | |
and to demonstrate that, we've come up with a Deadly 60 experiment. | 0:25:05 | 0:25:10 | |
'As I can't fly, the only way I can pretend to be a peregrine's prey | 0:25:10 | 0:25:15 | |
'is in this super-fast sports car. | 0:25:15 | 0:25:18 | |
'All being well, the peregrine will hunt us down. | 0:25:18 | 0:25:21 | |
'It's time for our peregrine's handler Lloyd | 0:25:24 | 0:25:28 | |
'to jump in with a lure in his hand and the chase is on.' | 0:25:28 | 0:25:31 | |
She can see us. The wings are spread. | 0:25:31 | 0:25:35 | |
-Hey! -There she goes! | 0:25:35 | 0:25:38 | |
She's heading straight for us. | 0:25:40 | 0:25:42 | |
We're getting faster, we're up to 30, 40 mph. | 0:25:42 | 0:25:45 | |
She's right alongside us. I can see her in my mirror. | 0:25:45 | 0:25:49 | |
-Faster, faster! -Whoa! Right over our heads! | 0:25:49 | 0:25:52 | |
-Here she comes. -This is unbelievable. | 0:25:52 | 0:25:55 | |
She's keeping pace with us without even trying. | 0:25:55 | 0:25:59 | |
Whoa! Big fly-by! | 0:26:01 | 0:26:05 | |
Right in close. She's up alongside Mark! | 0:26:05 | 0:26:08 | |
It's incredible. She's a foot away from the camera! | 0:26:08 | 0:26:11 | |
We're out of space. | 0:26:11 | 0:26:14 | |
Whoa-oa-oa! | 0:26:14 | 0:26:17 | |
That was so much fun, I think we might have to try it again. | 0:26:17 | 0:26:21 | |
'We were doing 60 miles an hour | 0:26:24 | 0:26:27 | |
'and she caught us like we were standing still. | 0:26:27 | 0:26:31 | |
'That's not surprising. In a stoop, she could easily triple that speed. | 0:26:31 | 0:26:35 | |
'My hi-tech sports car is totally put to shame by this winged wonder, | 0:26:35 | 0:26:40 | |
'one of the most beautiful | 0:26:40 | 0:26:42 | |
'and the most perfectly developed bird I've ever seen.' | 0:26:42 | 0:26:46 | |
Whoa! | 0:27:02 | 0:27:04 | |
Nearly took my head off! | 0:27:06 | 0:27:08 | |
Oh, my life! | 0:27:12 | 0:27:14 | |
That was too close! | 0:27:16 | 0:27:19 | |
I've just had a quick look at what it must feel like to be a pigeon | 0:27:20 | 0:27:24 | |
with a peregrine coming out of the sun towards you. | 0:27:24 | 0:27:28 | |
Absolutely terrifying! | 0:27:28 | 0:27:31 | |
Nothing is faster than the peregrine falcon and nothing ever has been. | 0:27:31 | 0:27:35 | |
When you're that fast, what other weapons do you need? | 0:27:35 | 0:27:40 | |
Join me next time for more deadly animal encounters. | 0:27:42 | 0:27:46 | |
Subtitles by Subtext for Red Bee Media Ltd 2009 | 0:27:59 | 0:28:03 | |
Email [email protected] | 0:28:03 | 0:28:06 |