Trinidad Deadly Pole to Pole

My name's Steve Backshall.

And this is Deadly Pole To Pole.

Oh!

From the top of the world to the bottom.

Whoa!

Deadly places.

Deadly adventures.

And deadly animals.

And you're coming with me, every step of the way!

Argh!

This time on Deadly we've made our way to Trinidad.

A Caribbean island with an Amazonian flavour,

in search of wildcat wonders and cold-blooded killers.

This may be the Caribbean, but it's no beach holiday.

Argh, no!

We're in Trinidad's jungles, sweating it out to bring you

the best of Deadly.

Great find!

Don't move a muscle.

And on the hunt for a murderous-looking mouth.

Trinidad lies about ten miles off the coast of South America.

Its rich forests are blessed with every kind of predator.

It's deadly in paradise.

But we begin in the jungle sweatbox.

First up, it's a classic carnivore.

I've seen their kind in Africa.

And in India.

But we're here to find Trinidad's very own wildcat.

It's very rarely seen,

exquisitely beautiful, and it's called the ocelot.

Ocelots are the epitome of stealth and athleticism.

They hunt mostly at night,

bounding or clambering into the tree tops,

where they stalk monkeys and birds.

Their victims are dispatched with a bite to the neck.

Our local guide has seen ocelot tracks in this area.

They live somewhere in this region.

But finding one will be near-impossible.

They keep well clear of humans, and are pretty perceptive.

Our best chance is to set hidden cameras along the forest trails.

OK, there's a faint

but very real animal trail that's running through here.

So, in all probability,

small mammals are coming through on the ground

and the ocelots could well be following them.

So I'm going to place my first camera trap on this tree here.

These camera traps will be our eyes in the forest.

Their motion sensor will be

triggered by any animal that walks in front of them.

If ocelots are using this trail, we'll see them.

To maximise our chances we're spreading the cameras far and wide.

Ocelots can have a territory of 20 square miles.

It's tough-going, and my Deadly crew

aren't always as agile as an ocelot.

Argh!

This river should be an easier path.

Streams are like natural

highways through the forest, and not just for us,

probably for ocelots, too.

I can just see an animal coming down here

and walking around this corner to avoid the water.

This is our last camera trap.

So we head back to the main trail.

But we've only gone a few hundred metres

when I turn to a little Deadly detective work.

Ooh, look at this.

There's been a kill made here.

There are feathers here, from black-and-yellow birds,

and just up above us

are the beautiful nests of a black-and-yellow weaver bird.

And this, here, looks to me to have been taken by a mammal.

Looking at the end of each of these feathers, they've been neatly

bitten across.

If a bird of prey, like a hawk, had made this kill,

it would have plucked the feathers out whole

and there certainly wouldn't be any spit on them.

It's entirely possible that this animal has ended

up as prey of an ocelot.

No other predator fits the profile. It's a definite

clue, and hints that our feline

find may be stalking these trails.

-That's good.

-That IS good.

It'll be an all-night stakeout.

So the crew and I set up camp.

And we're not the only ones cuddling up to our campfire.

(That's fantastic.) These are lantern click beetles.

There are dozens of them brought in by our bonfire.

'Not a place to be if you don't like bugs.'

Look at those jaws.

'But perfect for us.'

Great find!

Yes, no, yes, no. Here we go.

Goodness it's really unusual that you see

a tarantula as mobile as this.

This is avicularia.

The pink-toed tarantula.

And it's about as hairy a spider as you'll ever see.

Kind of looks like it's wearing a blue woolly jumper.

And there's probably lots of arachnophobes at home

who are sitting there going, "What on earth are you doing?

"That's the most disgusting thing I've ever seen."

But actually I've had it running over my hands and it's

never at any stage come close to biting me.

Actually, it's a remarkably gentle beast.

'The next find is much smaller.'

Ah, look at that.

'But this one, I won't be taking into my hand.'

I was wandering around through these bushes,

using my ultra-violet torch to look for wildlife.

This has a very special quality. It makes scorpions glow in the dark.

There's over 1,000 different species of scorpion in the world

and very few of them are any danger to human beings at all.

This is one of the few.

This is a centruroides scorpion.

This is one of the only scorpions that could potentially kill a human

being and in this part of the world it causes an awful lot of damage.

Lots and lots of people get hurt by it, a lot of them

end up in hospital and every once in a while someone gets killed

by that tiny, little scorpion.

And it's no more than about ten metres away from where

we're sleeping. So tomorrow morning I'm going to be

shaking out my boots very, very carefully.

-It's been moving.

-Yeah, there he goes.

Next morning, after a good breakfast and thoroughly

checking our boots, we're back on the trail.

It's time to check our camera traps

and see if we've had an ocelot visitor.

And now I'm going to have a little look and see what we've got.

We have our first animal. It's a small rodent called a paca.

Just wandering right through the frame, having a little sniff around

and something's ears,

in the bottom of shot. What's that?

It's a possum!

Marsupials, big rodents, plenty of ocelot food.

But no trace of the animal itself.

But we're not going to move on till we've seen one with our own eyes.

This rescue centre is home to many ill,

rescued and orphaned animals, and inside here

we have an ocelot whose mother was injured, and now offers us

the best possible opportunity to get up close to this remarkable cat.

Ah, look at that.

-Shall we try, what do you think?

-Yeah.

They've allowed us to step inside the ocelot's enclosure

to meet this classy little carnivore.

The keeper's joining us to make sure we're safe.

The cat may not be that big,

but is a wild animal with sharp claws and teeth.

In the wild

it would just slink off into the shadows,

but here it's a different story.

OCELOT GROWLS

Ocelots are very vocal cats.

They have a whole range

and repertoire of different sounds they make.

This, though, is one to let us know

that we need to pay her some respect.

And you can see that as this young female is investigating us,

she's straining her neck forwards and very deliberately

drawing in smells into the nose, you can see the nose pulsing.

'Sense of smell is vital for ocelots.'

They use it to keep tabs on their prey, their territories,

and on each other.

Huge eyes help them see in very low light. At night

they have a huge advantage over sleeping monkeys and birds.

The long canine teeth deliver the killing bite.

Stouter teeth in the back of the jaw

slice through flesh, bone and gristle.

It may not rival the big cats in size,

but it's a perfectly formed jungle hunter.

Ocelots mostly feed on small mammals, but they'll also eat birds,

substantially larger mammals.

They'll even catch fish and amphibians.

I mean, really this is an animal that will make

the most of just about anything it can find in its habitat.

I'm going to get batted any second.

I mean, look at those teeth.

The ocelot. Climbing clambering cat of the rainforest nights.

Exquisitely beautiful and deadly.

'Agile hunters of the tree tops.'

Teeth as tools for different hunting tasks.

Using dark as a weapon against sleeping birds and monkeys.

Small cat, big attitude!

'Trinidad is an island, surrounded by Caribbean seas.

'So our next target is a titanic ocean voyager.'

Argh, no!

It's the largest marine reptile in the world, the colossal

leatherback turtle.

They can reach the size of a compact car

and travel thousands of miles

across open oceans. But even more impressive

is their diet - jellyfish, including THE most venomous animal in

the world, box jellyfish. A tiny touch of a tentacle could

stop a human heart, but leatherbacks

wouldn't think twice.

They chomp down jellyfish like they're...well, jelly.

This bay is one of the best places in the world to see these

ocean wanderers as they come ashore to breed.

'But getting close enough to film a swimming leatherback

'is going to be tough.

'My crew's boat engine will scare them away

'so I need to try the stealthy approach,

'in my paddle-powered kayak.'

My hope is to manoeuvre as close as I can in the kayak and then,

and this is a real long shot, I'd love to just quietly slip

over the side with the underwater camera and try

and get some footage of them underwater,

but that is a really big ask.

Turtles have to come to the surface to breathe,

so everyone on board is looking out for their football-sized head.

'But these waters are home to other wonders.'

Bottle-nosed dolphins!

There's a pod of maybe 30 of them

and they love nothing better than coming in

and surfing around the bow wave of a boat.

I reckon any day

where you've got dolphins dancing around your kayak

is definitely a good day.

Just minutes later my eagle-eyed crew spot a huge flipper,

it's just what we're after.

Steve, turtle.

-Turtle on the surface.

-Oh, there's one there!

I'll paddle over there.

-CREW MEMBER:

-I see, I see.

-CREW MEMBER:

-There, there, there.

CREW MEMBER: Dead ahead, dead ahead.

'I try to paddle in as quietly as possible, but...'

Can't see him any more he must have dived.

'Busted! It drops its head and dives.

'Leatherbacks are champion divers,

'they can dive almost a mile straight

'down and stay under for over an hour.'

We've been cruising around the bay for about an hour now

and seen several turtles at the surface.

Dead ahead, dead ahead.

But getting close to them is proving really, really tricky.

There, there, there, there, there.

They're up for such a short period of time.

He's gone back down, no, he's gone.

He's coming up.

No, lost him, he's gone.

And when they go,

they go at a remarkable speed for an animal of that size.

It's going to be a long day.

'We're close to giving up, when a leatherback

'surfaces just metres from our boat.'

There's one there!

'It's our best view yet of this prehistoric beast.'

Still there, Steve.

'But the really impressive bit is hidden below the waves.

'If I can just approach it with the underwater camera.'

Bobbing above the spray, I get as near as I dare.

With the sea as green and murky as cabbage soup,

I can barely make her out in the gloom.

The massive ridged shell isn't hard like other sea turtles,

but leathery,

that's where leatherbacks get their name.

It must be two metres end-to-end.

But before I can get a shot of her head, she dives.

I doubt my plan's going to win me wildlife filmmaker of the year!

'Luckily, there's

'always a plan B, if I can get in to shore without drowning.'

Argh, no!

That was a graceful landing(!)

We gave it our best shot and we're not done yet,

because a couple of hours after the sun goes down, things are going

to totally change and the turtles are going to come to us.

'After months at sea gorging on jellyfish,

'female leatherbacks come ashore at night to lay their eggs.

'Using night vision cameras so we don't disturb the nesting turtles,

'we see this sea monster emerging onto the land, as they have done

'for millions of years.'

Oh, look at that!

This animal coming ashore here is every inch a dinosaur

and they've been around since before the days of T-Rex

and all the other dinosaurs. Tens of millions of years.

We're surrounded by dozens of animals,

I can feel sand splashing up on

to me from one that's digging right behind me.

'There could be as many as 200 turtles visiting

'this beach tonight.'

They're about to get run over.

And you can also hear them breathing as well.

'Inside this bucket-sized mouth,

'is a leatherback's most lethal adaptation.

'It may look like something from another planet

'but those backward-facing barbs snag slippery jellyfish

'and prevent them escaping. You can't get this big

'without being a successful predator.

'Leatherbacks can eat my body weight in jellyfish in one go.'

The ocean-spanning, deep-diving,

jellyfish-munching leatherback turtle.

One of the largest reptiles on earth. Prehistoric and deadly.

'Weighing almost a metric tonne.

'With a big appetite for highly venomous jellyfish.

'Capable of diving almost a mile straight down.

'Lethal leatherbacks are turtley...'

(Deadly.)

But that's more than enough beach time.

Deadly is all about sweat, blisters and bug bites.

So it's back to the jungle,

to find some very different reptiles. Snakes.

It's getting towards the end of the day, light's fading fast

but that's going to act in our favour.

The majority of snakes will hunt under the cover of darkness.

So, as it starts getting dark, they're going to be most active

and most obvious to us.

'There are 47 different species of snake on this small

'island but we're hoping for one in particular.

'The venomous fer-de-lance.'

Within their range, the fer-de-lance's toxic bite puts more

people in hospital than any other snake.

So we need to be careful where we're walking.

And this place is snake central.

Where's Steve?

-Steve?

-Yep, coming.

Oh, yes, I do.

OK, so I've got red-and-white bands, which instantly tells me

to be careful, but it's not a coral snake.

That's cool. OK. Wow.

Well, there are lots and lots of snakes around this area that

exhibit this colouration

and the reason for that

is that they're mimicking highly venomous coral snakes.

The coral snakes have a potent venom,

even more toxic than the fer-de-lance.

'Unlike this little imposter, whose bite is no worse than a bee sting.'

The idea is that by looking like

a highly venomous snake, all the other animals learn

to leave you alone.

Right,

this is prime hunting time for this pretty little snake.

So I'm going to let it go on its way.

That's not bad, ten minutes, first snake. Good result.

Wakey-wakey, this place is snaky!

Dead leaf, katydid or bush cricket?

Is there any better camouflage in the world?

Whoa!

How about that? And look at how long those

antennae are.

Snake, guys.

'And this time, something more substantial.

'Dangling from a tree like a Christmas decoration.

(Ah!)

It's a tree boa.

I don't need my snake hook because it's not venomous.

'Boas are constrictors.

'They crush prey in coils of the body.

'No venom, but a nasty bite, so handle with care.'

Do you know, it's remarkable that a snake like this

could be so beautifully,

perfectly camouflaged in the tree that it's sitting on,

but when you get it out in the open, it has wonderful colours!

It's almost like it's been burnished in gold!

Usually with these snakes, once they figure

out that you don't mean them any harm

and they've got some of their body supported,

because that's when they feel most comfortable, they calm down.

There you go.

So this snake is arboreal, that means it lives in the trees

and you can see how well adapted it is for that.

It's very, very strong, it's quite long and thin

and it can hold its entire body length on the tiniest of boughs

and that enables it to get right up into the tree tops

where it can feast on things like birds

and bats, any small mammals that might be unwise enough to run

nearby.

OK, up you go.

'It's enough to fill me

'with confidence that a fer-de-lance is out there waiting.

'Time for sweat, blisters and bug bites.'

The forest has a very different feel this morning.

It rained quite heavily a few hours ago, everything's damp

and so all of the creatures that love the wet have come out,

particularly the frogs and you can hear lots

and lots of frog calls off in the distance

and when you get frogs out, you get the things that feed on frogs

and that means snakes.

'And they aren't the only animals that like things damp.

Great.

Look at that.

It's not really the kind of place you expect to find a whopping,

great, big mud crab.

These live in burrows but

they dig into sandy banks

and they'll spend most of the day in there unless, like now, it's good

and wet and they only come out to the edge of their burrows at night.

Look at those pincers. He could give you a really nasty nip.

Let's give it a try.

Quite glad I didn't put my little finger too close to that.

HE LAUGHS

The fer-de-lance's whole life, its hunting

and defence, relies on not being seen.

'To spot a green-brown snake in a green-brown world

'is nearly impossible.

Nearly!

Don't move a muscle.

'It's only months old,

'but the venom is just as strong as a two-metre adult.

'I must not get bitten.'

This beautiful little snake is the reason why you have to wear boots

when you're wandering through this part of the rainforest.

It's a fer-de-lance, or tropical lancehead.

Now this one's a hatchling. It's only very young, maybe

two or three months old, but it still has a venom

that's perfectly capable of harming a human being.

At this size it's going to be hunting for things like small

frogs and lizards,

but once it gets to be fully grown it could be longer than I am tall,

over two metres long, and it'll be feasting on mammals and birds.

And they are an animal that you have to be very wary of in this

part of the rainforest,

because they sit and they wait for their prey to come to them.

Now, that means if you step near to them they won't flee,

but if you step right on them they'll probably

strike at you in defence and when that happens it could be bad news.

Animals this size...

Oi, ya, ya.

That's cool. OK.

And you see there, the fangs, there you go.

Coming out, they're genuinely

needle-sharp, they're hollow

and they inject a venom which hits your circulatory system.

It leaves people that are bitten with

wounds that can fester and last for a very, very long time.

People even lose their limbs because of it.

Very beautiful but very, very deadly indeed.

A green-brown snake in a green-brown world.

Highly toxic venomous bite.

Strikes first, asks questions later.

A good reason to tread carefully in Trinidad's jungles.

Join me next time as I continue

my journey on Deadly Pole to Pole.

Whoa!