Norway Deadly 60


Norway

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Transcript


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My name is Steve Backshall.

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And this is my search for the Deadly 60.

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Amazing! That's not just animals that are deadly to me,

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but that are deadly in their own world.

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My crew and I are travelling the planet

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and you're coming with me every step of the way.

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Agh!

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This time on Deadly 60, we're in Norway

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in the frozen north of Europe.

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All the deadly animals we'll be meeting here face serious challenges

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just to survive in this environment,

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from extreme sub-zero temperatures,

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not to mention hunting and just getting around in this stuff.

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But all of the animals we'll be looking for, lucky for us,

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leave their story behind in the snow.

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'Someone else who leaves more than a few clues in the snow

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'are my dedicated Deadly 60 crew.'

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-Steve, wait up!

-Steve, hold on!

-'Come on, boys!'

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Norway is in northern Europe

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and stretches right up into the Arctic Circle.

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It's a frozen world of snow and ice.

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My first target animal is going to be a full-on challenge.

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We're heading into the hills

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and we need to be ready for extreme conditions.

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This is the most work my crew have done in ages. Come on, you lot!

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LAUGHTER

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They've got poles to help them. I don't have any poles.

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Our mission is to find a wild cat that stalks these forests by night,

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but is impossibly hard to find. It's the lynx.

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Lynx spend most of their lives alone.

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Stalking these snowy northern forests,

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they're perfectly adapted to the cold,

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but heavy, sinking, thick snow can turn a dash into a dawdle.

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A sustained chase through the snow would be exhausting,

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so a lynx relies on ambush and a super-quick pounce to catch a meal,

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even prey as big as a reindeer.

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The only signs these shy creatures leave are their tracks in the snow.

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That's what we're following now.

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Well, there's certainly an enormous amount of activity

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that's been going on around here.

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And down in front of us...

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That there is the tell-tale paw print of a lynx.

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I'll show you a little bit more clearly.

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Those there are four big, broad, round toes,

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then there's another large, broad pad at the back.

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There's a lot of hair in between those, so as the pad spreads out,

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it keeps them floating on top of the snow.

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They run in a line down here, then hop over the fence

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and in the field in front of us,

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it just looks like they've been having an incredibly good time.

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We've been told that the lynx have made a kill further up the valley,

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so we keep stalking our predator's prints up into the forest.

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The tracks here are very different to before -

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deep in the snow and a big, long space between them,

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which means that the animal here is moving much, much faster.

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And the reason for that we can see up ahead of us in the snow.

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That is the kill that we've come up here to find.

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Wow! So this is the kill, exactly where we were told it would be.

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It's a young, female roe deer.

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And the flesh is still quite moveable.

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It hasn't frozen solid, so it's relatively fresh.

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The way this would have been killed is here, right at the throat.

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The lynx would come in, clamp its teeth around the windpipe

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and strangle the air out of it.

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Death would come really quickly, probably within a minute.

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Probably, after it killed this animal, it was frightened away,

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and it might come back and feed again tonight,

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so our best chance of getting a shot of a lynx

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is to put up a remote camera here focused down on this animal

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and hope it comes back in the night.

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It's a long shot, but it's our best chance.

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We leave the camera traps overnight and retreat to our tepee to warm up.

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Outside, the temperature plummets, but we're cosy and well-fed.

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Our lynx, though, has no escape from the elements.

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-Who's hungry?

-Me!

-Me!

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I just hope that hunger drives him back to his kill.

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Well, we've had a lot of snow overnight.

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Let's hope our camera trap hasn't frozen over.

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-It's got a sugar frosting over the top of it.

-I'm stuck.

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And my cameraman is stuck in the snow. Do you want a hand, Johnny?

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As we said, I'm not massively optimistic about this.

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Our carcass is completely covered in snow

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and there's no tracks through here that have been since the snow,

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so unless it happened early last night,

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I don't think we've got any luck.

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We've had no results on the camera trap.

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Fortunately, though, I do have a Plan B

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and we will get to see a lynx.

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We'll have another crack at seeing the lynx later on,

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but that will have to wait.

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First off, we're going to meet another snowy predator.

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It's the small, but formidable Arctic fox.

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In the Arctic summer, the fox has a brown coat to blend into the tundra.

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They brave snapping beaks to raid bird colonies for eggs and chicks,

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eating anything they can to fatten up for the winter.

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When the snow arrives, the Arctic fox has a makeover,

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growing a thick, white coat that allows them to blend

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into their snowy background.

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Hairy feet provide warm, slip-proof shoes on the ice

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and a thick tail acts like a scarf wrapped around its face.

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HIGH-PITCHED CRIES

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Yeaaghh!

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All of the animals that we've met up here in the frozen north

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have incredible coats to keep them warm. 'But we're not so lucky.

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'Time for a Deadly 60 demonstration.'

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OK, the first thing is the extremities.

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Most of the heat for us is lost through the head,

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so if I get rid of that and my gloves,

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already I'm going to start feeling the cold.

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OK, already starting to feel a little bit nippy.

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# You're as cold as ice... #

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OK, this is the bit I've been trying to put off as long as possible.

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OK, that's instantly painful.

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# You're willing to sacrifice

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# You're as cold as ice... #

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You can probably see I'm starting to shiver.

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My teeth are starting to shake and I can't feel my feet already.

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Last layer.

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OK, so because I don't have that warm layer of fur next to my skin,

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instantly, I'll start getting goose pimples and I'm starting to shiver.

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That's my instant response to the cold.

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An Arctic fox won't start to shiver until it's minus 50 degrees.

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OK, that's pretty unpleasant.

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I'll head inside and have a cup of hot chocolate.

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Aagh!

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The Arctic fox's coat is one of the warmest in the animal kingdom,

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but in the past, that has been something of a curse for the animal.

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Human beings have hunted them for generations

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and in some places they are rare.

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But in these enclosures at this breeding centre,

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they're breeding Arctic foxes and reintroducing them to the wild.

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The enclosures might look empty,

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but our stars are hiding in dens under the snow.

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During the summer, Arctic foxes are very resourceful, adaptable hunters.

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They'll take anything from birds and eggs through to fish,

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but in the winter, they are much more limited.

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Their main prey are lemming -

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small, furry mammals that tunnel around under the snow.

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These tiny rodents could be a fox's ideal scampering supper.

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But as lemmings mostly live buried underground,

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Arctic foxes have a special method of hunting which I'll show you now.

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Come on in, John Boy.

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But you're not coming in.

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These foxes are in for a treat.

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I've got a game of hide and squeak in mind.

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OK, so there's two Arctic foxes living inside this enclosure.

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You can see here where they've been digging for food

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and also quite a lot of yellow snow. Don't eat any of that, you guys!

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So what I'm going to do

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is I'm going to create a hole here

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and try and make our own set-up lemming.

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I'll show you how in a second. First, the digging.

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Arctic foxes are armed with tough, dog-like claws

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to scrabble through hard packed snow.

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OK, can you pass me that camera, Nick?

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All right, so what we've got here is a mini-cam,

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which we're going to partially bury

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and hopefully, that should give us a lemming's eye view

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of an Arctic fox hunting.

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Next thing, a little bit of meat, frozen absolutely rock-solid.

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It doesn't look very appetising to me.

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Put a couple of chunks in there.

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The next thing we need to do is to put our lemming into the hole.

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Obviously, we're not going to put a real lemming in.

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Instead, what I've got here

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is the sound that lemmings make when they're under the snow.

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Bring your boom in, Nick. See if you can hear that.

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SQUEAKING

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Can you hear that? Yeah?

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'Arctic foxes have fantastic, radar-like hearing

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'and should be able to pick up even tiny squeaks from our speakers here.

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'In the wild, they're always listening out for a meal.' Not bad.

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OK, so you can hear just below the surface of the snow

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our fake lemming.

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Now all we need to do is bid a hasty retreat,

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put ourselves back here somewhere

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and hope that our curious Arctic fox comes in to take a look. Let's go.

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'So we move back and get set up.

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'These mats will keep us insulated from the snow

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'as we wait for our predator to emerge.

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'And as the sun starts to go down and our faces start to freeze,

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'there's movement at the far side of the enclosure.'

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Johnny, look. Look at that.

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He's come up out of his den

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and is making little yapping, barking calls.

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He's perhaps a little bit anxious about our presence,

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but he's definitely curious.

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Come on, little fella. Come and investigate.

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He's definitely heard our artificial lemming call.

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He's just being cautious about us being here.

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He can pick up those lemming calls from a long, long way away,

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much further than the distance in this enclosure,

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and he's coming right in close now.

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He's just stood up, ears pricked up, listening to the sound.

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Look at this. Johnny, look.

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Those ears are expertly zeroing in on the squeaks.

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He's going to give it a try. He's going to go for it, look.

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Fantastic!

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He's gone right in to where the speakers are buried.

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He's looking down at our electronic lemming right now.

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Is he going to investigate?

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He's sniffing... Oh, he's having a wee on the camera! That's not good.

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He's just marking his territory, anything new in his territory.

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Now he's starting to dig. He's starting to bury down.

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He's going after the lemming he's heard from all that distance away.

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And...

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..there it is. He's pulled up our speakers.

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So fast when they dig. The paws are going at 100 miles an hour!

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Not even a super fast lemming could outrun those furry feet.

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Look at that.

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He's being led by his hearing, not his sense of smell,

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which is why he found the speakers before his reward.

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He's got it! He's got the piece of meat that I left for him.

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That is just incredible.

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Absolutely brilliant.

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He heard our electronic lemming from the other side of the enclosure.

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He came scampering over - bam! Dug down and had it in a second.

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If that was in the wild, the lemming just would not stand a chance.

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That's awesome.

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That's why the Arctic fox has got to go in the Deadly 60.

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Even though he weed all over our camera.

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An adaptable hunter, summer or winter,

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with phenomenal precision hearing

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and super scrabbling paws to nail their meal.

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Arctic foxes are on the Deadly 60.

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Usually on Deadly 60 we deal with predators,

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but every once in a while there's a herbivore - it eats only plants -

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that's worthy of special attention

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as they become deadly if protecting themselves or their family.

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This wonderful shaggy-looking beast behind me is a musk oxen.

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Might not look particularly scary, but looks can be deceiving.

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Throughout the Arctic Circle, male musk ox fight over females,

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smashing heads and inflicting deadly wounds.

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Musk oxen have very bad tempers and are built like tanks.

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Strong, muscular legs, huge shoulders

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and a horny sledgehammer for a head.

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Imagine a 300-kilo steam train accelerating to 30 miles an hour

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in just two seconds. That's faster than a sports car.

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Once winter approaches, they shield out even the worst Arctic weather.

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I've got one coming in behind me.

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'I should be safe sitting here, but that male's starting to show off.'

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This is completely natural behaviour. If you look at the trees,

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all the bark's stripped off where he rams them. They do it all the time.

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'I really hope this fence is good and strong.'

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OK.

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He's got quite an attitude, hasn't he?

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'Coming face-to-face with these guys behind a fence is one thing.

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'Out in the open, they're a totally different proposition.

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'Here in the Norwegian wilderness,

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'it's as cold as being inside a deep freeze.'

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You've seen what an angry musk oxen can do. It's a little bit scary.

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Our next step has to be to see them in their natural habitat.

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The mountains of Norway have hundreds of miles of wilderness

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and we've got an awful lot of area to cover.

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Best way to get around is on one of these.

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'Just getting about is a chilly challenge.

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'There's an enormous distance to cover - miles of empty snowiness.'

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Look at that!

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Absolutely stunning!

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There's one thing for sure -

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these musk oxen have chosen a superb place to live.

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'Somewhere out there are our musk oxen herds.'

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Hang on. I think I see something.

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Oh, yes! Yes, there they are!

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OK, I think it's probably best we stop here.

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'It seems really strange to find such big animals living out here

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'in the middle of nowhere.'

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The herd is about 200 metres in that direction.

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So from here on in we'll be going on foot.

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Here, I'll take that.

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'And this time there are no fences.'

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-Can you see those dark shapes, Johnny?

-Yeah.

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That's a herd of, wow, it looks about 20 animals, I'd say.

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There's no point in us whispering. They know we're here.

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We'll just go calmly and cautiously and just read the signs they give.

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Look at that. What an encounter.

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OK, there's a bit of movement going on. They're watching us.

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A couple sitting down on the outside have moved into the main herd.

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Yeah. I think this is as close as we want to go for the moment.

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Let's set up here.

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Musk oxen defences are not just about speed and a bad attitude.

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When they feel threatened by wolves or bears,

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they'll gather together as a herd with the calves on the inside,

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presenting a wall of horns.

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I've seen how quickly they charge

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and those horns would make a wolf think twice about attacking. Scary.

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Seems remarkable that an animal of this size can find enough

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to feed on up here. It's all covered with snow. It seems so barren.

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But in some spots you can see, just below the surface,

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these rocks covered with lichen. And that's enough for them to feed on.

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'It's incredible that big beasts lick scraps of food off rocks.

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'Reading the signs, they seem a little more relaxed now.'

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I'm probably about 70 metres away from them.

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At top speed, they could cover that distance

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in about 3 or 4 seconds.

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'Yeah, I think this is far enough.

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'I certainly don't want them to charge!'

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The musk oxen.

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With a short temper, super-fast acceleration

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and that huge helmeted head they use as a battering ram,

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they have to go on the Deadly 60.

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Crashing onto the list come the musk oxen.

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With a feisty short temper,

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top gear acceleration

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and a skull like a battering ram.

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That is one deadly vegetarian.

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'We never got to meet the lynx that made that kill.

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'I promised to show you them.'

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OK, we gave it our best shot, but we did well just to find tracks

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and signs of lynx. You could spend your entire life in lynx land

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and because they're so elusive, such shy, cunning creatures,

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you might never, ever see them. But here at Polar Zoo,

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we've got a perfect opportunity to get up close to some. Look.

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OK, Johnny. Come on in.

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Ooh...

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OK, this is a sight that you could never, ever get in the wild.

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First of all, these cats are mostly active by night.

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Secondly, they are so careful,

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so sensitive to the presence of humans

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that this would just never happen.

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To see a lynx at 100 metres

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would make you one of the luckiest wildlife watchers in the world.

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They look like big tabby cats,

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but they are absolutely formidable predators

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and I'm actually quite happy that they're this far away.

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However, being as we have this unique opportunity,

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we have to show you a little bit about what makes them so special.

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'First up, I'll need a ladder.

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'Lynx are awesome climbers.

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'Their retractable claws can work like crampons taking them up trees.'

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A little bit of...meat. Just up there.

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OK.

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'The presence of food switches on their hunting instincts.'

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She's thinking about it. Go on, girl.

0:24:050:24:09

Oh, there! Yes!

0:24:090:24:11

That was both incredibly elegant,

0:24:180:24:21

swift and merciless.

0:24:210:24:24

The last swipe of the paw was just so fast.

0:24:240:24:29

Magnificent.

0:24:300:24:31

'Being such good climbers, lynx are really at home in the trees.

0:24:350:24:40

'In fact, they'll hunt by jumping down from branches onto prey.

0:24:400:24:44

'She's not tame and definitely can't be trusted.'

0:24:440:24:49

I'd be lying...if I said I wasn't a little bit nervous.

0:24:490:24:53

Two lynx right above my head

0:24:550:24:57

and a big guy just stalking around in front of me.

0:24:570:25:02

Cats that can take on prey as big as deer.

0:25:030:25:08

They are awesome.

0:25:110:25:14

One of the lynx's deadly abilities is their capacity to spring

0:25:150:25:20

straight up from the ground potentially to catch a flying bird.

0:25:200:25:24

And...I'm going to try to show you that now.

0:25:240:25:29

Unfortunately, this one here has just got an elevated position.

0:25:290:25:33

That's a little bit freaky. I'm hoping she'll come down,

0:25:330:25:38

but not towards me.

0:25:380:25:40

No...

0:25:480:25:50

OK, all right. I'm going up.

0:25:520:25:55

Ah...

0:26:010:26:02

OK.

0:26:090:26:10

I'm hoping that's about the right height.

0:26:100:26:14

It's probably just over two metres.

0:26:140:26:17

So let's move the ladder away and move ourselves away.

0:26:170:26:21

And see our lynx in action.

0:26:210:26:24

OK.

0:26:310:26:33

All three of them are watching.

0:26:330:26:36

Are we going to see it? Oh!

0:26:370:26:39

That was extraordinary!

0:26:430:26:45

From a complete standing start, two metres straight up into the air.

0:26:450:26:51

That was magnificent.

0:26:510:26:53

Did you get that, Johnny?

0:26:530:26:56

Wow.

0:26:580:27:00

'The lynx.

0:27:020:27:04

'Prowling, pouncing predator of the frozen north.

0:27:060:27:11

'Definitely deadly.'

0:27:120:27:14

Lynx are Europe's largest cats.

0:27:150:27:17

They're secretive forest hunters,

0:27:170:27:20

expert tree climbers

0:27:210:27:23

with a muscular leap to take their prey by surprise.

0:27:240:27:28

And they're one of the most beautiful animals on the Deadly 60.

0:27:280:27:34

Next time:

0:27:350:27:37

Yes! Look at that!

0:27:370:27:40

You are utterly incredible!

0:27:420:27:45

Wow! Look at that! Yes!

0:27:460:27:50

Subtitles by Subtext for Red Bee Media Ltd - 2010

0:28:000:28:04

Email [email protected]

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