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My name is Steve Backshall! | 0:00:02 | 0:00:04 | |
Oooh! | 0:00:04 | 0:00:05 | |
This is a white shark! | 0:00:05 | 0:00:07 | |
These are the Deadly 60. | 0:00:07 | 0:00:10 | |
That's not just animals that are deadly to me, | 0:00:10 | 0:00:12 | |
but animals that are deadly in their own world. | 0:00:12 | 0:00:16 | |
My crew and I are travelling the planet. | 0:00:16 | 0:00:19 | |
Are you coming with me? | 0:00:19 | 0:00:21 | |
Every step of the way. | 0:00:21 | 0:00:23 | |
This time on Deadly 60, we are in Venezuela. | 0:00:34 | 0:00:36 | |
It's an absolute wonderland, at the wild crossroads | 0:00:36 | 0:00:39 | |
between Central America and the jungles of the Amazon. | 0:00:39 | 0:00:42 | |
But are there any deadly animals here? Well... | 0:00:42 | 0:00:46 | |
..One or two. | 0:00:48 | 0:00:50 | |
'We are travelling to the far north of the country | 0:00:51 | 0:00:54 | |
'and into a sinister cave system.' | 0:00:54 | 0:00:57 | |
Have a look at the cave above us. | 0:00:57 | 0:00:59 | |
How cool is that! | 0:00:59 | 0:01:00 | |
'To track down our most creepy contender yet. | 0:01:00 | 0:01:04 | |
'But we begin in the south.' | 0:01:05 | 0:01:07 | |
One third of Venezuela is covered | 0:01:08 | 0:01:11 | |
by the world's richest tropical grasslands, called the LLanos. | 0:01:11 | 0:01:15 | |
There are extraordinary amounts of predators here. | 0:01:15 | 0:01:18 | |
More crocodiles than anywhere I've seen. | 0:01:18 | 0:01:21 | |
And that's down to a robust food chain | 0:01:21 | 0:01:24 | |
with loads of wildlife at every level. | 0:01:24 | 0:01:28 | |
Put simply, it's an animal Eden. | 0:01:28 | 0:01:30 | |
For me, the Llanos is one of the finest wildlife destinations | 0:01:32 | 0:01:35 | |
in the whole world. | 0:01:35 | 0:01:37 | |
The colours of the bird life, | 0:01:37 | 0:01:38 | |
the diversity of the life here is just extraordinary. | 0:01:38 | 0:01:41 | |
And it is the best spot I know of to find | 0:01:41 | 0:01:43 | |
the world's largest, heaviest, strongest snake - | 0:01:43 | 0:01:47 | |
the green anaconda. | 0:01:47 | 0:01:48 | |
The green anaconda can grow up to nine metres in length | 0:01:51 | 0:01:56 | |
and weigh more than I do. | 0:01:56 | 0:01:58 | |
With all that bulk, they are sluggish on land. | 0:01:58 | 0:02:00 | |
But in the water, they are sleek and stealthy. | 0:02:00 | 0:02:04 | |
The eyes and nostrils are on top of the head, | 0:02:04 | 0:02:06 | |
allowing it to stay submerged in wait for prey. | 0:02:06 | 0:02:10 | |
And it can do that for days, | 0:02:10 | 0:02:12 | |
conserving its energy just waiting for an opportune moment. | 0:02:12 | 0:02:16 | |
When a prime sized animal gets too close, | 0:02:16 | 0:02:20 | |
the anaconda lunges forward, biting and then constricting. | 0:02:20 | 0:02:23 | |
They are so strong that they may kill simply | 0:02:23 | 0:02:26 | |
by bursting the internal organs of their prey before swallowing whole. | 0:02:26 | 0:02:31 | |
Right. This is a perfect place to start looking for anaconda. | 0:02:36 | 0:02:39 | |
But, before we do, | 0:02:39 | 0:02:41 | |
I thought I'd introduce you to what makes this animal so special. | 0:02:41 | 0:02:45 | |
This is the cast of a green anaconda skull. | 0:02:45 | 0:02:48 | |
It's from a quite decent-sized animal. Definitely a female, | 0:02:48 | 0:02:51 | |
the girls are much bigger than the boys. | 0:02:51 | 0:02:53 | |
And this one here, | 0:02:53 | 0:02:54 | |
I'm guesstimating, from the size of the skull, | 0:02:54 | 0:02:57 | |
was probably about four, maybe even five metres long. | 0:02:57 | 0:02:59 | |
But get a load of those gnashers. | 0:02:59 | 0:03:04 | |
So, on the upper jaw, | 0:03:04 | 0:03:06 | |
there are two rows of teeth - | 0:03:06 | 0:03:08 | |
in the upper roof of the mouth, | 0:03:08 | 0:03:10 | |
and two at the sides. | 0:03:10 | 0:03:11 | |
All of them are wickedly curved | 0:03:11 | 0:03:13 | |
and very, very pointed. | 0:03:13 | 0:03:15 | |
And these would actually draw the prey back towards the throat. | 0:03:15 | 0:03:19 | |
Once this animal has a hold of something, | 0:03:19 | 0:03:21 | |
there is simply no way it's letting go. | 0:03:21 | 0:03:24 | |
Look at that. | 0:03:24 | 0:03:26 | |
Now, it may not be venomous, | 0:03:26 | 0:03:28 | |
but it can deliver an absolutely ferocious bite. | 0:03:28 | 0:03:31 | |
There is certainly no way I'd want to get bitten by a snake like this. | 0:03:31 | 0:03:35 | |
To find an anaconda, we need to really put in the hours. | 0:03:38 | 0:03:41 | |
With as many eyes as possible, | 0:03:41 | 0:03:44 | |
scouring the landscape. | 0:03:44 | 0:03:46 | |
During the wet season, this entire area is flooded. | 0:03:46 | 0:03:49 | |
But now, it's the dry season. | 0:03:49 | 0:03:50 | |
The pools that are left behind are the best place | 0:03:50 | 0:03:53 | |
to start our anaconda search. | 0:03:53 | 0:03:56 | |
Really tricky. | 0:03:59 | 0:04:01 | |
You certainly can't see anything with your eyes here. | 0:04:01 | 0:04:04 | |
There's no visibility whatsoever, so you just have to feel your way. | 0:04:04 | 0:04:08 | |
This really is a particularly creepy way of going looking for wildlife. | 0:04:12 | 0:04:18 | |
Particularly because the last time | 0:04:18 | 0:04:20 | |
I went searching for anaconda like this, | 0:04:20 | 0:04:23 | |
I ended up in a hospital. | 0:04:23 | 0:04:25 | |
'Whether we see them or not, big predators are never far away.' | 0:04:26 | 0:04:30 | |
Aaah! | 0:04:32 | 0:04:33 | |
That was a caiman. | 0:04:33 | 0:04:35 | |
'Let's hope that doesn't happen again. | 0:04:37 | 0:04:41 | |
'Another animal keeping an eye out for big snakes | 0:04:41 | 0:04:44 | |
'is the largest rodent in the world - the capybara. | 0:04:44 | 0:04:48 | |
'Despite their size, these are a favourite food for anacondas, | 0:04:48 | 0:04:52 | |
'so they need to be always vigilant.' | 0:04:52 | 0:04:55 | |
You can see a bit of a line through the vegetation here. | 0:04:55 | 0:05:00 | |
That's a capybara highway. | 0:05:00 | 0:05:03 | |
It's somewhere where these enormous rodents | 0:05:03 | 0:05:05 | |
are moving through these ponds. | 0:05:05 | 0:05:07 | |
And, if I was an anaconda, | 0:05:07 | 0:05:09 | |
then I'd set up shop right next to one of those. | 0:05:09 | 0:05:12 | |
So around here is a really, really good spot. | 0:05:12 | 0:05:15 | |
'If we're going to find our big snake, | 0:05:16 | 0:05:18 | |
'it's going to be by learning to read the signs, | 0:05:18 | 0:05:21 | |
'by tracking them down. | 0:05:21 | 0:05:23 | |
'And some of our local friends have done just that.' | 0:05:27 | 0:05:30 | |
They've got something! Great, great! | 0:05:30 | 0:05:33 | |
Well done, well done, well done! | 0:05:36 | 0:05:38 | |
OK. | 0:05:38 | 0:05:40 | |
So there's the tail, and... | 0:05:40 | 0:05:44 | |
where is the head? | 0:05:44 | 0:05:47 | |
There he is. | 0:05:53 | 0:05:54 | |
OK. | 0:05:54 | 0:05:56 | |
At this size, it could be a male | 0:05:56 | 0:05:59 | |
or an immature female. | 0:05:59 | 0:06:01 | |
Fantastic! Well done, guys. | 0:06:07 | 0:06:11 | |
Very, very good job! | 0:06:11 | 0:06:12 | |
This is an absolutely beautiful... | 0:06:12 | 0:06:14 | |
There's another one here. | 0:06:14 | 0:06:16 | |
Oh! | 0:06:16 | 0:06:18 | |
And... | 0:06:19 | 0:06:21 | |
OK, so in this area here are several anacondas, | 0:06:21 | 0:06:25 | |
most of which seem to be this kind of size. | 0:06:25 | 0:06:29 | |
And the possibility is, | 0:06:29 | 0:06:31 | |
is that these are all males | 0:06:31 | 0:06:33 | |
and that they've come together around a female. | 0:06:33 | 0:06:37 | |
So right here is an absolute hotspot. | 0:06:37 | 0:06:40 | |
It's possible, because what happens is, is called a breeding ball. | 0:06:40 | 0:06:44 | |
The males would follow the scent of the female, | 0:06:44 | 0:06:46 | |
they'll all come together around her | 0:06:46 | 0:06:48 | |
to try and get the right to breed with her. | 0:06:48 | 0:06:50 | |
OK. Oh, that's a skinny one! | 0:06:52 | 0:06:56 | |
Really skinny, my goodness! | 0:06:56 | 0:06:58 | |
Well done, Jack! | 0:07:01 | 0:07:02 | |
OK. Now, look at the difference between these two animals. | 0:07:04 | 0:07:07 | |
So they are about the same length, | 0:07:07 | 0:07:10 | |
but, on this one, you can clearly make out the backbone, | 0:07:10 | 0:07:16 | |
the flesh is really, really slack. | 0:07:16 | 0:07:18 | |
This one hasn't eaten for a good while. | 0:07:18 | 0:07:22 | |
Whereas this one is very, very full and thick. | 0:07:22 | 0:07:25 | |
It has good fat reserves. | 0:07:25 | 0:07:26 | |
This has been eating very, very well. | 0:07:26 | 0:07:28 | |
I kind of wish that we had smellovision right now, | 0:07:28 | 0:07:31 | |
because one of the anaconda's best way of defending itself | 0:07:31 | 0:07:34 | |
is to release a whole bunch of kind of sticky paste from here, | 0:07:34 | 0:07:40 | |
essentially from the bottom. | 0:07:40 | 0:07:41 | |
And it has a smell that I just can't describe. | 0:07:41 | 0:07:45 | |
The last time I handled anacondas I had to throw all of my clothes away. | 0:07:45 | 0:07:48 | |
There was no way I was getting rid of it. | 0:07:48 | 0:07:50 | |
And, unfortunately, I'm getting covered with it right now. | 0:07:50 | 0:07:53 | |
And er...it's really, really horrid. | 0:07:53 | 0:07:58 | |
That stinks. | 0:07:58 | 0:08:01 | |
You see the tongue now, flicking out onto the air, | 0:08:01 | 0:08:04 | |
curling up at the end, | 0:08:04 | 0:08:06 | |
drawing in different wonderful tastes from the air | 0:08:06 | 0:08:10 | |
and processing them. | 0:08:10 | 0:08:11 | |
It's an absolutely wonderful snake, | 0:08:11 | 0:08:13 | |
but pretty diddy for an anaconda. | 0:08:13 | 0:08:16 | |
What I really want to do is to show you one of the mammoth females. | 0:08:16 | 0:08:19 | |
They are the ones that are most impressive. | 0:08:19 | 0:08:22 | |
'A glorious start, but I'm convinced we can do much better.' | 0:08:23 | 0:08:28 | |
And, in a couple of seconds, that is going to totally disappear. | 0:08:29 | 0:08:33 | |
And gone. | 0:08:36 | 0:08:38 | |
You'd never know it was there. | 0:08:38 | 0:08:40 | |
'And that, in a nutshell, it's why finding anacondas is so difficult. | 0:08:40 | 0:08:44 | |
'There are hundreds of species living here in the swamps. | 0:08:44 | 0:08:47 | |
'And a few genuine surprises.' | 0:08:47 | 0:08:49 | |
Oh, my goodness! It's that...? | 0:08:49 | 0:08:50 | |
That's not what I think it is, is it? | 0:08:50 | 0:08:52 | |
It is! Look at that! | 0:08:52 | 0:08:55 | |
I don't believe it. | 0:08:55 | 0:08:57 | |
It's a giant anteater wandering around by the shore. | 0:08:57 | 0:09:01 | |
Just there. Its nose is sticking up. | 0:09:01 | 0:09:04 | |
Out of the water hyacinth. | 0:09:04 | 0:09:07 | |
Oh, that is beautiful. | 0:09:07 | 0:09:09 | |
'We're walking around on mats of vegetation above boggy ground. | 0:09:09 | 0:09:13 | |
'No ant or termite mounds for miles around. | 0:09:13 | 0:09:15 | |
'What's he doing here!?' | 0:09:15 | 0:09:17 | |
This is truly one of the great animal oddities found in the world. | 0:09:19 | 0:09:24 | |
'Giant anteaters have featured on Deadly before. | 0:09:24 | 0:09:28 | |
'They are real specialist, using a long tongue covered in sticky mucous | 0:09:28 | 0:09:32 | |
'to slobber up as many as 35,000 ants and termites in a day. | 0:09:32 | 0:09:38 | |
'But, right now, I think he's just taking a nap.' | 0:09:38 | 0:09:40 | |
It looks like he's enjoying a quiet snooze. | 0:09:42 | 0:09:45 | |
And I still have an anaconda to find. | 0:09:45 | 0:09:48 | |
So let's just move around him. | 0:09:48 | 0:09:50 | |
'My next tactic is to use a truck, | 0:09:54 | 0:09:58 | |
'driving the sandy roads that crisscross the Llanos. | 0:09:58 | 0:10:01 | |
'When anacondas cross the roads, | 0:10:01 | 0:10:03 | |
'they leave distinctive tracks behind, | 0:10:03 | 0:10:05 | |
'like this.' | 0:10:05 | 0:10:07 | |
This has happened relatively recently. | 0:10:07 | 0:10:09 | |
It's crossing the road! | 0:10:11 | 0:10:13 | |
'And this is how those telltale tracks were made.' | 0:10:13 | 0:10:15 | |
Really quite beautiful motion. | 0:10:15 | 0:10:17 | |
You can see it's scrunching the body up | 0:10:17 | 0:10:19 | |
and then extending forwards, | 0:10:19 | 0:10:21 | |
anchoring itself again here. | 0:10:21 | 0:10:23 | |
And then, moving forwards again. | 0:10:23 | 0:10:25 | |
Isn't that wonderful? | 0:10:25 | 0:10:27 | |
'Anacondas everywhere but, so far, all males. | 0:10:27 | 0:10:31 | |
'The females are much bigger so they have reserves of fat to sustain them | 0:10:31 | 0:10:35 | |
'when they are bearing young. | 0:10:35 | 0:10:36 | |
'Let's hope the new day brings more luck.' | 0:10:36 | 0:10:39 | |
Jesus, donde? | 0:10:42 | 0:10:44 | |
'And, in the next morning, everything goes frantic.' | 0:10:45 | 0:10:49 | |
We've just had a shout from Jesus. | 0:10:49 | 0:10:52 | |
He's been out on the road and he's seen a big anaconda. | 0:10:52 | 0:10:54 | |
This is the moment we've been waiting for. | 0:10:54 | 0:10:56 | |
We have to mobilise, get there very, very quick. | 0:10:56 | 0:10:59 | |
Unfortunately, my Spanish isn't great, | 0:10:59 | 0:11:01 | |
so I haven't understood exactly what he's said. | 0:11:01 | 0:11:03 | |
Just that he's seen a BIG snake. | 0:11:03 | 0:11:05 | |
'And a big anaconda is the biggest snake on Earth. | 0:11:06 | 0:11:11 | |
'Here's hoping!' | 0:11:11 | 0:11:13 | |
So, finally, we have our anaconda. | 0:11:17 | 0:11:22 | |
And this is probably always going to be our best chance of finding one, | 0:11:22 | 0:11:25 | |
it was just pure luck. | 0:11:25 | 0:11:27 | |
The guys were out on the road, | 0:11:27 | 0:11:28 | |
and they saw this wonderful female at the waterside, | 0:11:28 | 0:11:32 | |
and that's really what we were hoping to find. | 0:11:32 | 0:11:34 | |
It's a good size. I'm guessing that it's probably | 0:11:34 | 0:11:36 | |
2,5 metres in length. | 0:11:36 | 0:11:39 | |
Possible even, actually, | 0:11:39 | 0:11:41 | |
getting on for three metres in length. | 0:11:41 | 0:11:44 | |
And an animal of this size can certainly take down | 0:11:44 | 0:11:46 | |
the largest birds that you'll find around here at the waterside. | 0:11:46 | 0:11:49 | |
It might even take on a baby capybara, | 0:11:49 | 0:11:52 | |
despite the fact that their head is so small, | 0:11:52 | 0:11:56 | |
it can swell to take in very decent-sized prey. | 0:11:56 | 0:11:59 | |
And look at the length of it. | 0:11:59 | 0:12:02 | |
It is really a mighty animal, | 0:12:02 | 0:12:03 | |
and incredibly strong. | 0:12:03 | 0:12:05 | |
But, even this one here | 0:12:05 | 0:12:07 | |
is a baby compared to the true monster anacondas. | 0:12:07 | 0:12:10 | |
The largest ones that have ever been found are for sure seven metres, | 0:12:10 | 0:12:14 | |
possibly even as much as nine metres, | 0:12:14 | 0:12:17 | |
which is as long as a bus. | 0:12:17 | 0:12:20 | |
And an animal like that is capable of eating a fully-grown capybara, | 0:12:20 | 0:12:24 | |
even a deer. | 0:12:24 | 0:12:26 | |
It's a great swimmer. | 0:12:26 | 0:12:27 | |
It moves with incredible ease through the water | 0:12:27 | 0:12:30 | |
with a beautiful serpentine motion. | 0:12:30 | 0:12:32 | |
And also, all of these wonderful colours give it perfect camouflage | 0:12:32 | 0:12:37 | |
down there in the vegetation from its prey, | 0:12:37 | 0:12:40 | |
and also from potential predators too. | 0:12:40 | 0:12:42 | |
Right, OK. | 0:12:42 | 0:12:43 | |
I'd quite like to show you the teeth, | 0:12:43 | 0:12:47 | |
and to do that, I need to get control of the head. | 0:12:47 | 0:12:51 | |
Right, OK. | 0:12:57 | 0:12:58 | |
Now, looking into the mouth of an anaconda, | 0:13:01 | 0:13:05 | |
you can see those incredibly sharp, pointed teeth. | 0:13:05 | 0:13:10 | |
They are covered up by a layer of skin. | 0:13:10 | 0:13:15 | |
There's two rows on the upper jaw | 0:13:15 | 0:13:18 | |
and one on the lower jaw. | 0:13:18 | 0:13:20 | |
And because they are so sharp, | 0:13:20 | 0:13:22 | |
once they've hooked into prey, | 0:13:22 | 0:13:24 | |
they is simply no way a prey animal is going to escape, | 0:13:24 | 0:13:28 | |
and it can be funnelled down into that throat. | 0:13:28 | 0:13:32 | |
'It takes a firm grip to restrain an anaconda. | 0:13:32 | 0:13:35 | |
'But these snakes are tough enough to constrict crocodiles to death, | 0:13:35 | 0:13:38 | |
'so this isn't going to hurt the snake one little bit.' | 0:13:38 | 0:13:41 | |
I'm kind of being wound at the moment | 0:13:43 | 0:13:45 | |
into a serpent straitjacket. | 0:13:45 | 0:13:46 | |
'The anaconda was doubtless crossing the road | 0:13:48 | 0:13:50 | |
'to head to a better hunting pond. | 0:13:50 | 0:13:52 | |
'So that's where I release it.' | 0:13:52 | 0:13:54 | |
This is its true environment. | 0:13:55 | 0:13:57 | |
This is the place where this animal absolutely rules. | 0:13:57 | 0:14:01 | |
Before I put it back though, | 0:14:01 | 0:14:03 | |
I just have to say that the green anaconda, | 0:14:03 | 0:14:05 | |
perhaps the most iconic, legendary snake in the whole world, | 0:14:05 | 0:14:09 | |
the heaviest, largest-bodied and strongest of all snakes. | 0:14:09 | 0:14:14 | |
Definitely going on my list. | 0:14:14 | 0:14:16 | |
This camouflage constrictor is formidably muscular, | 0:14:18 | 0:14:22 | |
using its bulk to squeeze | 0:14:22 | 0:14:23 | |
the life out of its prey | 0:14:23 | 0:14:25 | |
before swallowing it down in one mammoth mouthful. | 0:14:25 | 0:14:29 | |
The largest, heaviest, biggest-bodied snake on Earth. | 0:14:29 | 0:14:33 | |
'We're journeying to the north of Venezuela | 0:14:38 | 0:14:41 | |
'in search of an animal that put the creep in creepy crawling. | 0:14:41 | 0:14:45 | |
'Ever since I heard of their existence, over a decade ago, | 0:14:46 | 0:14:50 | |
'I've been dying to find one, | 0:14:50 | 0:14:51 | |
'so it'll take more than a bit of mud to put me off.' | 0:14:51 | 0:14:55 | |
We lost all brake power coming down there. | 0:14:55 | 0:14:57 | |
This could get a little bit messy. | 0:14:59 | 0:15:02 | |
It doesn't look like we're going anywhere at the moment. | 0:15:07 | 0:15:10 | |
I think we're walking. | 0:15:10 | 0:15:12 | |
Pretty sure we're walking. What do you reckon? | 0:15:12 | 0:15:14 | |
'Walking with all our filming kit, ropes, first aid - the works. | 0:15:16 | 0:15:20 | |
'It's going to be quite a hefty hike, | 0:15:20 | 0:15:22 | |
'even to get to the cave where our target lives.' | 0:15:22 | 0:15:26 | |
What lies ahead is hopefully going to be well worth | 0:15:34 | 0:15:39 | |
the mud and the sweat. | 0:15:39 | 0:15:41 | |
In the cave that we are heading to is a truly venomous monster. | 0:15:41 | 0:15:46 | |
It's one of the most sinister creatures we've ever featured. | 0:15:46 | 0:15:50 | |
It's called the giant scolopendra. | 0:15:50 | 0:15:53 | |
The largest species of centipede in the world, | 0:15:54 | 0:15:57 | |
reaching over 30 centimetres in length, | 0:15:57 | 0:16:00 | |
that's as long as my forearm. | 0:16:00 | 0:16:03 | |
The giant scolopendra has up to 23 body segments, | 0:16:03 | 0:16:06 | |
each with a pair of curved spiky legs. | 0:16:06 | 0:16:08 | |
And, at the business end, | 0:16:08 | 0:16:09 | |
a venomous bite with chemicals that cause paralysing pain. | 0:16:09 | 0:16:14 | |
If this doesn't scare you, well... | 0:16:14 | 0:16:16 | |
It should. | 0:16:16 | 0:16:18 | |
'Scolopendra centipedes are found throughout the tropics. | 0:16:20 | 0:16:23 | |
'They are all venomous and are particularly adept in the dark. | 0:16:23 | 0:16:26 | |
'But in a few caves in Venezuela, | 0:16:26 | 0:16:28 | |
'they've been witnessed doing something extraordinary - | 0:16:28 | 0:16:31 | |
'hunting bats, | 0:16:31 | 0:16:33 | |
'possibly even catching them midair as they fly past. | 0:16:33 | 0:16:36 | |
'And there are certainly plenty of bats in here. | 0:16:42 | 0:16:46 | |
'They've left their mark over hundred of years | 0:16:46 | 0:16:48 | |
'in piles and piles of stinking droppings known as guano.' | 0:16:48 | 0:16:52 | |
These cockroaches are feeding on this stuff. | 0:16:52 | 0:16:59 | |
This is guano. | 0:16:59 | 0:17:00 | |
It's one of the richest fertilisers in the world. | 0:17:00 | 0:17:03 | |
And it's also very, very good | 0:17:03 | 0:17:05 | |
for these horrible, great big cockroaches to feed on. | 0:17:05 | 0:17:07 | |
I don't like it in here. | 0:17:11 | 0:17:14 | |
HE LAUGHS | 0:17:14 | 0:17:15 | |
'It's smelly, humid and just plain horrid, | 0:17:17 | 0:17:20 | |
'but we've come here to find something special.' | 0:17:20 | 0:17:23 | |
Look at that - bats! | 0:17:23 | 0:17:25 | |
'And this is the first part of the puzzle. | 0:17:25 | 0:17:27 | |
'There's about ten species in here - bats that feed on fruit, | 0:17:29 | 0:17:32 | |
'on insects and on something a little more grisly.' | 0:17:32 | 0:17:36 | |
These droppings are all kind of black and slimy. | 0:17:36 | 0:17:41 | |
This is definitely... | 0:17:41 | 0:17:44 | |
bats roosting above | 0:17:44 | 0:17:46 | |
and I reckon that's vampire bats myself. | 0:17:46 | 0:17:51 | |
That kind of really greasy, slick black droppings. | 0:17:51 | 0:17:56 | |
It looks like the remains of... | 0:17:56 | 0:17:59 | |
blood. Mwahahaha! | 0:17:59 | 0:18:02 | |
Vampire bats are the only mammal to feed solely on blood. | 0:18:02 | 0:18:07 | |
They are pretty deadly in their own right. | 0:18:07 | 0:18:10 | |
But we are out looking for a centipede | 0:18:10 | 0:18:13 | |
that actually snatches, catches and eats bats. | 0:18:13 | 0:18:17 | |
Above us, you can see | 0:18:18 | 0:18:20 | |
the ceiling has actually caved in | 0:18:20 | 0:18:22 | |
and this is one of the largest exits out of this cave system. | 0:18:22 | 0:18:26 | |
Come dusk, the thousands of bats in here | 0:18:26 | 0:18:28 | |
are going to be heading out of there to hunt and, believe it or not, | 0:18:28 | 0:18:31 | |
this giant scolopendra, the largest centipede in the world, | 0:18:31 | 0:18:34 | |
that can be as long as my forearm, | 0:18:34 | 0:18:36 | |
climbs up into the roof of this cave | 0:18:36 | 0:18:39 | |
and tries to catch the bats as they fly out. | 0:18:39 | 0:18:41 | |
Now, I'd love to get up there obviously, | 0:18:41 | 0:18:43 | |
but these walls are overhanging | 0:18:43 | 0:18:45 | |
and much too steep and greasy for me to climb. | 0:18:45 | 0:18:48 | |
So I think the best thing to do is to get up high | 0:18:48 | 0:18:50 | |
and abseil down from up there. | 0:18:50 | 0:18:53 | |
And the best time to do that is when the bats start leaving. | 0:18:53 | 0:18:56 | |
BATS SCREECHING | 0:18:56 | 0:18:58 | |
'This skylight in the roof of the cave should allow us | 0:19:00 | 0:19:03 | |
'to abseil down to the ceilings where the centipedes hunt. | 0:19:03 | 0:19:06 | |
'As the light fades, the bats will start to emerge.' | 0:19:06 | 0:19:10 | |
Here we go! | 0:19:14 | 0:19:15 | |
Oh, that is incredible! Wow! | 0:19:19 | 0:19:24 | |
Well, I can see bats. | 0:19:24 | 0:19:27 | |
And lots and lots of cracks and crevices | 0:19:27 | 0:19:30 | |
that are perfect for our giant bat-eating monster. | 0:19:30 | 0:19:38 | |
The bats are starting to get active now. | 0:19:38 | 0:19:41 | |
And this is the time of day | 0:19:41 | 0:19:42 | |
when they are really at their most vulnerable, | 0:19:42 | 0:19:45 | |
because they are being funnelled out through this bottleneck here, | 0:19:45 | 0:19:48 | |
and also because they are predictable. | 0:19:48 | 0:19:50 | |
Any predator knows that this time of day | 0:19:50 | 0:19:52 | |
is when they are going to be heading out to hunt. | 0:19:52 | 0:19:55 | |
And its vantage points, like these cliff faces here, | 0:19:55 | 0:19:58 | |
they are exactly the sorts of positions that the scolopendra | 0:19:58 | 0:20:01 | |
would climb up to and actually hang out to try and catch a bat. | 0:20:01 | 0:20:06 | |
Just checking out every crack and crevice. | 0:20:06 | 0:20:10 | |
These are animals that like to cram themselves into little tiny gaps. | 0:20:12 | 0:20:17 | |
Right now tough, I can't see any. | 0:20:17 | 0:20:20 | |
Passed the cave around hanging, | 0:20:20 | 0:20:22 | |
so I think the best plan is to get down to the bottom | 0:20:22 | 0:20:24 | |
and try to find another exit | 0:20:24 | 0:20:26 | |
where more bats are being funnelled out of the cave. | 0:20:26 | 0:20:29 | |
We had no luck in the very roof of the cave. | 0:20:41 | 0:20:45 | |
There are still plenty more entrances and exits | 0:20:45 | 0:20:48 | |
where the centipedes could be lurking. | 0:20:48 | 0:20:51 | |
I think though, it's possible that our lights, | 0:20:51 | 0:20:53 | |
our bright white light might put them off. | 0:20:53 | 0:20:56 | |
So I think the next thing we should try is that just Graham, | 0:20:56 | 0:20:59 | |
the cameraman, and I should go searching for them | 0:20:59 | 0:21:02 | |
and get rid of the light and just film in infrared. | 0:21:02 | 0:21:05 | |
So if this place was spooky before, it's going to get even worse. | 0:21:05 | 0:21:09 | |
Let's go down into the darkness. | 0:21:17 | 0:21:20 | |
Of course the only problem is | 0:21:24 | 0:21:26 | |
that we can't see very much without our eyes, | 0:21:26 | 0:21:28 | |
so it makes everything around you even more creepy. | 0:21:28 | 0:21:31 | |
'Even with the special cameras, | 0:21:34 | 0:21:36 | |
'we can only see a suggestion of what's lurking out in the darkness. | 0:21:36 | 0:21:41 | |
'When you know that could be a highly venomous centipede, | 0:21:41 | 0:21:43 | |
'as long as my forearm, | 0:21:43 | 0:21:45 | |
'it gives you the shivers. | 0:21:45 | 0:21:46 | |
'And that's not all that's here.' | 0:21:46 | 0:21:48 | |
Look at that. | 0:21:48 | 0:21:50 | |
15 pairs of legs and it's off like a shot. | 0:21:50 | 0:21:55 | |
I have to admit there's something about this cave | 0:22:06 | 0:22:08 | |
that I really don't like. | 0:22:08 | 0:22:10 | |
Maybe is the fact that I'm being surrounded by vampire bats | 0:22:10 | 0:22:13 | |
and there could be, out there in the darkness somewhere, | 0:22:13 | 0:22:16 | |
this lethal venomous centipede. | 0:22:16 | 0:22:19 | |
Have a look at the cave above us. | 0:22:19 | 0:22:22 | |
How cool is that! | 0:22:22 | 0:22:23 | |
'Despite the fact that this cave is dark all the time, | 0:22:23 | 0:22:27 | |
'it still comes alive by night. | 0:22:27 | 0:22:30 | |
'Countless animals emerging from the cracks and crevices.' | 0:22:30 | 0:22:33 | |
Look at that, that's wonderful. | 0:22:33 | 0:22:35 | |
It's another centipede, | 0:22:44 | 0:22:46 | |
but not the one we're looking for. | 0:22:46 | 0:22:48 | |
Much, much smaller. | 0:22:48 | 0:22:50 | |
'We pretty much decided to give up for the night, when...' | 0:22:54 | 0:22:58 | |
Come here! | 0:22:58 | 0:23:00 | |
Wait, wait, wait, wait. Yeah, yeah, yeah. | 0:23:00 | 0:23:02 | |
OK. | 0:23:02 | 0:23:03 | |
Here it comes. It's coming out, it's coming out, Graham. | 0:23:06 | 0:23:09 | |
Oh, it's big. It is a big one, look at that! | 0:23:12 | 0:23:16 | |
Oh, my God! | 0:23:16 | 0:23:18 | |
OK. | 0:23:20 | 0:23:22 | |
Whoa! I've got to hold my nerve now, | 0:23:22 | 0:23:24 | |
cos these are very, very strong. | 0:23:24 | 0:23:27 | |
And it has a set of fangs | 0:23:27 | 0:23:30 | |
that can probably penetrate | 0:23:30 | 0:23:34 | |
some parts of the gloves. | 0:23:34 | 0:23:36 | |
But this is what we came here to find. | 0:23:38 | 0:23:41 | |
The giant scolopendra. | 0:23:43 | 0:23:44 | |
The largest species of centipede found on Earth. | 0:23:44 | 0:23:48 | |
OK, now, we were actually looking in infrared light, | 0:23:48 | 0:23:52 | |
because we didn't want to freak it out. | 0:23:52 | 0:23:53 | |
But now that I've got it, we can probably switch back to white light. | 0:23:53 | 0:23:57 | |
-Do you want to grab the other camera, Graham? -OK. | 0:23:57 | 0:23:59 | |
Eez! It's really trying to get stuck into my glove. | 0:24:01 | 0:24:06 | |
I'm a little bit nervous, because the fabric on the back of my hand | 0:24:06 | 0:24:09 | |
isn't actually strong enough to prevent a bite, | 0:24:09 | 0:24:12 | |
and if I did get bitten by this, | 0:24:12 | 0:24:14 | |
it probably wouldn't kill me, only probably. | 0:24:14 | 0:24:16 | |
What it'd certainly do is make sure that for the next couple of days, | 0:24:16 | 0:24:19 | |
there would be nothing in my world apart from pain. | 0:24:19 | 0:24:22 | |
The venom that this centipede has is very, very fast-acting. | 0:24:22 | 0:24:25 | |
It can take down a bat or a small rodent in a matter of minutes. | 0:24:25 | 0:24:29 | |
To a human being, it would just cause excruciating pain. | 0:24:29 | 0:24:34 | |
I guess now, for the first time, I can really see | 0:24:35 | 0:24:38 | |
how a centipede could be capable of catching a bat. | 0:24:38 | 0:24:42 | |
Scolopendra mostly feed on other invertebrates, | 0:24:43 | 0:24:47 | |
but will take rodents, frogs, lizards, even snakes. | 0:24:47 | 0:24:50 | |
In these caves though, they do something truly extraordinary. | 0:24:50 | 0:24:54 | |
They climb into parts of the cave where bats funnel through | 0:24:59 | 0:25:02 | |
on their way out to feed. | 0:25:02 | 0:25:05 | |
Then attach themselves to the ceiling | 0:25:05 | 0:25:07 | |
with the last five pairs of legs, | 0:25:07 | 0:25:09 | |
the other legs outstretched. | 0:25:09 | 0:25:12 | |
If a bat flies too close, | 0:25:12 | 0:25:16 | |
they grab it, | 0:25:16 | 0:25:17 | |
injecting a lethal venom that overcomes it in seconds. | 0:25:17 | 0:25:21 | |
This is pretty much the exact posture | 0:25:21 | 0:25:25 | |
that this animal would take up. | 0:25:25 | 0:25:26 | |
Hanging on to the wall with these back legs | 0:25:26 | 0:25:29 | |
and then the front part of the body | 0:25:29 | 0:25:30 | |
just up into the air, | 0:25:30 | 0:25:32 | |
feeling around with those antennae, | 0:25:32 | 0:25:34 | |
and those two claws | 0:25:34 | 0:25:36 | |
at the front of the head | 0:25:36 | 0:25:38 | |
open wide, just ready to bite. | 0:25:38 | 0:25:41 | |
Right now, it's sinking them right into my finger. | 0:25:41 | 0:25:44 | |
Those claws are actually the front pair of legs. | 0:25:44 | 0:25:48 | |
They become modified into a venom-injecting apparatus. | 0:25:48 | 0:25:52 | |
At the base of them, it's a massive, massive venom gland. | 0:25:52 | 0:25:55 | |
And it has a venom that is capable of overcoming things like bats | 0:25:55 | 0:26:01 | |
and rodents in a very, very quick time. | 0:26:01 | 0:26:04 | |
Look at that. | 0:26:04 | 0:26:06 | |
Those antennae are its primary means | 0:26:06 | 0:26:08 | |
of sensing the environment around it. | 0:26:08 | 0:26:10 | |
It has very, very poor eyesight. | 0:26:10 | 0:26:12 | |
The eyes are a little more | 0:26:12 | 0:26:14 | |
than a way of sensing the difference between light and dark, | 0:26:14 | 0:26:16 | |
but the antennae are incredibly acute. | 0:26:16 | 0:26:19 | |
They are almost like a nose, a tongue, they can pick up scents, | 0:26:19 | 0:26:22 | |
they can pick up different tastes from the world around them. | 0:26:22 | 0:26:25 | |
And they can also detect movement as well. | 0:26:25 | 0:26:28 | |
So that's what it's going to use to actually get a hold of bats. | 0:26:28 | 0:26:31 | |
It's going to sense their flight as they move past the centipede, | 0:26:31 | 0:26:34 | |
and then it's just going to grab them. | 0:26:34 | 0:26:36 | |
Absolutely phenomenal. | 0:26:36 | 0:26:38 | |
And, I have to admit, really kind of frightening. | 0:26:38 | 0:26:42 | |
The giant scolopendra - | 0:26:53 | 0:26:54 | |
the largest species of centipede found in the whole world. | 0:26:54 | 0:26:58 | |
There is no doubt that this animal is going on my Deadly 60. | 0:26:58 | 0:27:01 | |
The largest species of centipede | 0:27:04 | 0:27:06 | |
on Earth. | 0:27:06 | 0:27:07 | |
Injecting a fatal venom | 0:27:07 | 0:27:09 | |
into its prey, | 0:27:09 | 0:27:10 | |
which can kill a flying bat | 0:27:10 | 0:27:12 | |
in seconds. | 0:27:12 | 0:27:14 | |
And the strongest creature for its size I've ever handled. | 0:27:14 | 0:27:17 | |
Certainly puts a shiver | 0:27:17 | 0:27:18 | |
up the spine. | 0:27:18 | 0:27:20 | |
Could this get any creepier? | 0:27:25 | 0:27:27 | |
'Join me next time as I continue my search for the Deadly 60.' | 0:27:27 | 0:27:32 | |
Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd | 0:27:38 | 0:27:41 |