Peru 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!

HE SCREAMS

The long road south to Antarctica has brought us to northern Peru,

an area known as the Chaparri.

It's a dry forest with loads of cactus

and surrounded by mighty mountains.

These mountains form part of the longest mountain

range on the planet, the Andes.

They run down through Peru and beyond.

We're in the north of Peru,

6675 miles into my journey.

We witnessed the spine tingling ambush of a night-time killer...

Ohhh! My goodness.

That could give you nightmares.

..and stake out the biggest bird of prey on earth.

This is really going to kick off!

But first, we hit the trails

to look for some impressive ambush attackers.

This dry wilderness is a perfect place for deadly serpents

and the one I am searching for is a special snake that only

lives in this small part of the world

the Barnett's Lancehead.

The Barnett's Lancehead is a pit viper, a snake that can sense its

prey using heat sensitive pits on the side of its face.

These snakes have a venom which stops prey dead,

then it can be swallowed whole.

Pit vipers usually hide out under rocks, logs or other debris waiting

to ambush passing prey so that's where I am going to go looking.

Abandoned, deserted outbuildings like this and all the building

materials around them are a really good place to look for snakes.

Particularly this sort of stuff.

And it also seems to be a great place

to find other venomous critters.

Oh! I've got a big scorpion.

Yes. Up he comes!

Wow!

That...is one of the most beautiful scorpions I've ever seen.

So there are two species found in this area.

One of them is very small and has spots and then this one,

the Gold, which is much, much larger and much more impressive.

I am going to handle it quite carefully because it's got a thick

enough tail that I know it would hurt if I got stung.

The Peruvian Gold scorpion only occurs in this part of the world.

It can't be found anywhere else and it's quite unusual

really in having both sets of weapons being quite well-developed.

So usually with scorpions you have either the pincers being fat

and heavy, meaning they are good at mashing up their prey or

they have a thick, fat tail packed with venom which means

that's their primary weapon. This has both.

It means it is adapted for killing all different kinds of prey.

That could be other scorpions, it could be insects,

cockroaches, crickets

and most of its hunting is going to be done at night but you can

see in the daytime, it is a gorgeous, glorious golden colour.

I think it's absolutely beautiful.

'Beautiful, but not the venomous striker I am looking for.

'So, on with the search.'

This is really frustrating. I know there must be snakes here.

'We're beginning to give up hope,

'but then we hear that one has been found close to base.'

So everyone in the local area knows that we are on

the lookout for a particular snake and one has been found.

And it's been found very, very close to where we've been sleeping.

Hola. Hola! Es aqui?

-Yes.

-Si. Gracias!

OK, so it's in here. They've found it and kept it for us.

Let's have a look.

Oh! That's a beauty!

So this...

is the Barnett's Lancehead.

Or cascabel as it's known in the local region.

It is a pit viper that only occurs in Peru.

Oi-ya-ya!

I am paying this snake a lot of respect.

They have a reputation for being fiery, feisty

and quick to strike.

The Barnett's Lancehead is the most dangerous snake to human beings

in this part of the world and it doesn't bear human beings

any malice. It's just down to the fact that they are drawn into

buildings where human beings live because they are looking for rats

which are their main food.

Like all pit vipers, they have a special organ in the face able to

pick up even the tiniest amounts of warmth and when it does,

it lunges out in a strike towards it.

It's very, very quick, very, very fast

and it may react to any warm-blooded stimulus in the same

way that it would to potential prey

and that could be a person that is walking nearby.

So, every once in a while, someone gets bitten and trust me,

I really don't want that to happen to me today because the venom

is really unpleasant.

It has elements in it that actually rot flesh.

Such a stunning snake

and able to take down small mammals in a matter of minutes.

The Barnett's Lancehead, a pit viper that only occurs here in Peru.

Fast striking, fast-acting venom. Deadly.

With their incredible camouflage...

..toxic venom...

..and ability to pinpoint warm-blooded prey...

the Barnett's Lancehead is a true Andean ambush attacker.

These mountains are home to the biggest

bird of prey on the planet, the Andean Condor.

And that is the creature I'd like to find next.

Condors are simply breathtaking birds of prey.

They're giant-sized, with a wingspan of three metres.

These birds are scavengers so don't usually do their own hunting

but this doesn't mean they are weak.

They have a beak that can rip apart even the toughest of carcasses.

THEY SQUAWK

They also have incredible eyesight which means

they can spot potential meals from afar.

The only way to coax condors down from the mountains is with

the promise of free food which we have got.

We have a carcass over there which is reasonably fresh,

enough that I can smell it, anyway.

Our plan is to set up a few remove cameras around the carcass

to capture any scavengers that might wander by through the night.

And then come back tomorrow morning to wait in this well disguised hide

and see if any condors are attracted in.

Early the next day, we climb into position before dawn

and wait for the scavenging birds to be tempted down.

The sun's now come up and has fallen over the carcass.

There are a couple of turkey vultures that are showing

some interest in the carcass.

These are usually the first birds to turn up.

They have an extraordinary sense of smell, which is

very unusual for birds.

So the birds that are up in the sky will be able to smell

the food down below.

As the hours pass, more vultures are drawn close,

but not, as yet, the massive beasts we're hoping for.

And it's not just us who are getting frustrated by this.

The first animals to turn up at a carcass don't have the strength

in their beak to get through the tough hide to open it up.

They're going to have to wait for the arrival of the bigger birds.

King vulture, Andean condor.

Time ticks on and still no sign of our giant bird of prey.

We're beginning to give up hope.

I decide to check out what's on the camera traps

we placed around the carcass overnight to see

if anything interested strayed close after we left.

OK, this is still in the day. Yeah.

An elegant view of my bottom there.

As night falls, the animals start appearing.

There's a fox sniffing around. They're quite common round here.

It's standing no more than ten metres away from the camera trap.

Very, very close. And then we see something completely unexpected.

Oh, wow! It's a mountain lion.

The main predator that stalks these mountains

and it's come in to have a look at our carcass.

That's incredible!

Mountain lions, also known as pumas, are very shy elusive animals,

so it's really special to have captured one on camera.

That's fantastic!

Let's hope this is a sign of big things because we're hoping to see a

bird whose wingspan is maybe double the length of this fabulous big cat.

And if it can attract the attention of a puma, maybe, just maybe,

it can attract in an Andean condor.

After several hours of waiting, many birds have come down,

but not the giant that we're hoping for.

I would guess there's maybe 15 birds, but half of them

are turkey vultures and the other half are black vultures.

But certainly no sign of condor.

But there is another stunning scavenger on its way.

That's a king vulture. That is a king vulture.

Now, king vulture isn't the bird that we've come here to see,

but they are utterly spectacular.

Probably the most colourful vulture in the world.

These king vultures are giant birds with comical clown-like faces,

but like the condor, they have a large beak that can rip right

into the carcass, allowing the other smaller vultures to get stuck in.

But not for long.

Oh, no!

I'm not sure what just happened,

but all of the birds have just flown, every one of them.

Something spooked them.

And it wasn't us.

It'll take hours now before these birds will come back here

and I'm guessing that means the condors too.

So I think our time in the hide is done.

With the birds gone, we decide to head back to base and leave

the cameras running, in case a condor turns up after we've left.

As the hours pass, the remote cameras capture the birds returning.

And then finally, an Andean condor appears

and takes pride of place on top of the carcass.

This bird is only a juvenile,

but it still dwarfs all the other vultures around it.

And its powerful beak easily tears into the meat.

It's a real success to have captured this condor feeding with

the remote cameras, but now, I want to see one myself.

Condors are naturally incredibly wary birds.

It's just about impossible to approach them close in the wild.

Luckily, this aviary, which is part of the captive breeding project,

is going to give me the perfect opportunity to see one nose to beak.

Come on in.

Condor numbers have decreased dramatically in Peru.

There are now less than 500 left in the wild.

Captive breeding is a part of the solution.

This bird is fed regularly by its keepers

and is quite used to human beings.

So I'm hoping...that she'll come over

and we can get a closer look at her.

Fairly soon, hunger and curiosity will overcome her natural care.

Ah, here we go. Building up a bit more confidence now.

She can see that I don't mean her any harm.

The beak that right now is being used as a precision tool is

actually as tough as a pair of bolt cutters.

Now, we're really getting confident.

Even thinking about taking it from my fingers.

I don't really want that to happen because a beak that can get

through hide and bone could make a right mess of my fingers.

No, no. Look, I've not got anything.

Oh, dear!

All of a sudden, the fear has turned a little bit too much confidence.

Despite the fact that it's a scavenger,

it has all the tools of a big eagle.

It certainly has the ability to hunt, even if it doesn't use it.

And right now, it's showing its cheeky side.

Hey! Give us a bit of space. You're freaking me out.

Seriously.

Aye, aye, ah!

So this is actually exactly what I would

expect from the personality of a condor.

To begin with, it has to be really, really cautious because there could

be another predator around and now she's decided it's safe,

it's dinner time.

And she's not going to stop until all the food is gone.

A total change in character. Absolutely incredible.

And slightly unnerving.

She is very, very big.

So...

they're beautiful, they're the biggest bird of prey on Earth

and they're deadly.

With their giant wingspan, over three metres across,

strong beak for tearing apart carcasses,

and able to spot food from high in the sky,

Andean condors are mighty scavengers of the Peruvian Andes.

It's not just during the day that predators can be found

up in these mountains.

Out here, some of the most gruesome predators come out after dark.

One of the great things about staying out in the wilds like this

is that eventually, the wildlife starts to invade,

it actually starts coming in to your house.

So, this is where we're staying and there are bugs everywhere.

Oh, look at that!

But I'm looking for a specific ambush killer whose strike

means fear to many people.

The tarantula.

And there are absolutely dozens of them.

Normally, I would try and take this into my hand.

But right now, as you can see, they're hunting.

So if I put my fingers anywhere near that one, I'd get bitten.

And though the venom's not very strong, the fangs

themselves are long, curved and it would be a very, very painful bite.

So instead of trying to catch one, I've got a much better idea.

The underside of all of these steps has small holes in them

at almost every single one is occupied by a female tarantula.

What I'm going to try and do is set up night vision cameras

watching the spiders and leave them in place, running.

Hopefully, something is going to wander nearby

and we'll get a chance to see one of these spiders hunting.

That would be extraordinary.

OK.

So there she is, looking beautiful.

We'll collect the cameras later

and play back the footage to see what's happened.

This tarantula is sat right in the mouth of her burrow and you'll

just see there is some silk at the outside of that burrow, there.

They don't make webs, as such, apart from when they're mating,

but they will use silk to extend the area around the burrow where

they can feel vibrations from prey coming in close.

We just need to wait for something

to come in close enough to be noticed.

What's that in the corner of shot?

Oh, my goodness!

Absolutely nailed!

Oh, that could give you nightmares!

She grabs it, almost using that front pair of legs as

if they were hands, kind of gathering the food up

and bringing it back towards the fangs.

And there's just a little glistening drop of venom as she turns

her back and goes into the burrow.

That is horrid!

Right, this is camera two. It's a slightly smaller tarantula.

There's a little shadow there. What's that?

She can sense it.

Just moving... Yes!

So what she's doing now is pumping venom into the prey, which will

paralyse it, and then just covering it with digestive enzymes,

a kind of goo that turns it into a sort of liquid meat soup,

which she'll then suck down.

Oh! We've got a cricket.

A cricket with big long antenna coming in.

Argh!

One bite and it's all over.

I can understand, looking at these, why

so many people are so frightened of these spiders.

They're big, they're hairy, they're frightening looking,

they are absolutely no danger to human beings,

but looking at that, it's like a horror movie.

But we can go one better.

Because we're going in search of an insect that actually

hunts down these tarantulas.

It's a wasp that turns these tarantula predators into their prey.

Oh, good lord!

Quick, quick, quick!

Just look down there. It might be hunting.

In front of us at the base of this tree is the biggest wasp

in the world. It's called a pepsis wasp.

Otherwise known as the tarantula hawk.

This is, I reckon, the biggest one I have ever seen.

The reason I'm not dashing in and trying to catch it straightaway

is that right now, this female wasp is on the search for a tarantula.

These animals, as adults, don't feed on spiders.

Instead, what they do is they feed on nectar, but they go

and they catch and they paralyse tarantulas to feed their young.

And right now, that's what this wasp is trying to do.

I think the best thing is just to sit back and watch and see

if she has any success.

She is enormous!

Can you still see her?

It's landed...

right down there.

I think I see her. Come back.

OK. Eyes open, absolutely everyone.

There's the tarantula. There, there, there!

Oh, my goodness! I can't believe that this could

actually possibly happen. They're both on the same tree.

So, this little spider here is in enormous trouble.

It's being chased by its absolute mortal enemy.

And she is doing laps around the trunk, trying to find this spider.

Where's she gone? Where's she gone?

There she is, there she is, there she is!

She's getting closer and closer to it!

She is getting closer and closer to it!

It's going to be smelling the presence of the spider here.

That's why she's going round and round the tree, doing laps.

She knows there's a spider here.

She just hasn't quite managed to find out where.

And if she does, all hell is going to break loose!

This is one of the great mini confrontations in the whole

natural world.

Back off, just a touch.

Just a touch.

But despite the tense chase, she seems to have lost the scent

and has flown off to hunt down another victim.

This spider has had a very lucky escape.

The tarantula hawk wasp didn't sense it and carried on flying.

But I'm hoping this isn't the last tarantula hawk wasp we see

because they're one of the deadliest creatures on the planet.

Female pepsis wasps do battle with tarantulas to the death.

They don't do this to feed themselves though,

but to create a living host for their young.

This wasp's aim is to lay an egg onto the spider.

This egg will hatch out into a larvae that will eat

the tarantula from the inside out...

..while it's paralysed, but still alive.

Before she can do this,

the wasp has to inject the tarantula with a paralysing venom.

Then, after stinging,

she drags the tarantula into her lair where she'll lay her egg.

We didn't have to wait long to find another one though.

One's been spotted in a nearby tree.

Great, OK. You ready, Mike? Yeah?

OK. So, we've got her.

Now, this is the tricky bit.

Along with the bullet ant, the tarantula hawk wasp is said to have

the most painful sting of any insect on Earth, so getting her out without

getting stung and without damaging her is essential and really tricky.

OK, I've got her.

So, there she is, up close.

She has massive, massive mandibles. I'll see if I can show those to you.

But when she's battling with a tarantula,

it's the stinger that does the dirty work.

And that's here at the end of the abdomen.

This is what delivers the venomous strike that completely

paralyses tarantulas.

This animal is a parasite and as such,

is one of the most gruesome and grisly creatures on the planet,

but you have to admire their incredible strength

and the guts as well in taking on something as terrifying

as a tarantula, that is in many cases much bigger than she is.

And, of course, is armed with the famous tarantula fangs.

The tarantula hawk wasp.

The largest wasp in the world and with a sting powerful enough

to paralyse a spider many times its own size.

I think they're absolutely awesome. And without doubt, deadly.

With their paralysing venom...

..ability take down prey nearly twice their size...

..able to turn tarantulas into a living snack,

tarantula hawk wasps are stinging demons of the insect world.

Join me next time, as I continue my journey on Deadly Pole To Pole.

He could certainly do me some serious damage!

Oh, whoa!