Episode 6 Dick 'N' Dom Go Wild

Listen here, you lot, this show features highly trained professionals

working with potentially dangerous and unpredictable animals.

So do not - we repeat, do not - try this at home.

Did you know that now, right now, there's people all around the country who are

working their socks off to help wounded wildlife and poorly pets?

And we've managed to get VIP passes for some willing helpers who are going to get stuck in

at the busiest vets, wildlife sanctuaries, and rescue centres.

You're free!

On today's show,

Madihah and Jack go wild in Somerset as they help a lot of otters move house

and a swan drops out of the rescue centre for its first taste of freedom.

What a belly flop!

Katie and Abi help one of the rarest penguins on the planet,

and take on deep sea duties with this marine monster.

You're going to be touching the Japanese spider crab, Abigail.

She can do that. I'll take pictures.

And Dom smells trouble as I get a little horse and he has to handle gassy Cassie, the 16-hand giant.

Whoa, man. What's in its diet?

Is it like egg-fried rice with extra eggs? It's disgusting.

-It's tough and dirty work, but someone's got to do it.

-Aargh!

Hello and welcome to Secret World. See, I told you.

It's a place that's so secret that even the staff here can't find it.

Look, nobody here.

Ha-ha, what a joke! Everyone's busy working.

This is hospital and orphanage for wildlife that takes in

4000 sick, injured, and orphaned animals every single year, and it's run from Pauline Kidner's home.

They always welcome a bit of help, so meet Jack and Madihah.

These pals get a real kick out of all things active but have less time for all things furry and feathered.

They're too noisy.

The ones you can keep in a cage are not very cute,

and they're all disgusting and I wouldn't be bothered to clean the poo.

Jack's looking forward to getting a close-up view of wildlife.

I'd be excited to see some foxes because I haven't seen one before.

It'd be so different seeing more wildlife animals than just seeing pets.

So it could be a bit, like, "Watch out for them!"

But this pair are looking forward to getting a close-up sniff of wildlife.

The smells are going to be disgusting.

We'll definitely need something to block the smells.

It just makes my stomach turn, ugh, just "bleugh!"

I think the only thing that's going to smell nice is flowers,

and the presenters.

Thanks, I think.

Ah, Jack and Madihah, how are you doing?

Welcome to Secret World! Excited?

-Yes.

-Good. Now let's get a few things right.

Your name's Jack, you've got a pet, a Staffordshire bull terrier, you'd like more pets,

-you'd like to meet a fox but no badgers, right?

-Yes.

Good, OK. Your name's Madihah, you haven't got any pets, you are scared of dogs,

-you don't like badgers, and you hate foxes because they're from the dog family, right?

-Yes.

OK, Pauline, looks like we've got our work cut out?

Just a bit. Come on then, overalls on and let's start work.

First job of the day is to prepare lunch for the foxes that live here, and the ingredients have arrived.

Just lift up the piece of paper.

-Now this is what Jack and Madihah think of the food.

-Urgh!

Now in case you're eating, you're best not seeing the fox food, which is dead birds.

Obviously they're all dead. What are they going to be used for?

They're going to be the best part of lunch for quite a few animals.

They are not the only thing on the menu. Foxes have a varied diet.

When I say varied, I mean varied.

There's all sorts in the mix, first a bit of dog food, and a few custard creams?

It stinks.

-Do you fancy having this for your breakfast?

-No.

Maybe a single custard cream.

Then finally, those dead birds.

-And then we want five chicks on the top.

-Oh, I'll do one.

Good. Pick up the ice cream tub and we'll feed some animals.

You can take it.

This place is all about rescuing, patching up, and releasing animals back into the wild wherever possible.

Here we are at the fox enclosure.

Foxes.

But these red foxes are permanent residents.

Most of them were kept as pets and are too tame to be released.

It's time for Madihah and Jack to offer up their breakfast boxes.

They enter the foxes' fold later but will our pals be able to dish out the delicious handmade meals?

But before that, two keen helpers are about to handle one of the most unusual creatures in the world.

Don't worry though, Dick doesn't bite.

I'm at Sea Life in Scarborough. It's one amazing sea creature sanctuary.

If you want to meet a seal with its flippers in a flap,

a penguin who is in peril, then this is the place to come.

Set on the east coast of Yorkshire, this is a sea life centre and a marine sanctuary.

They help out injured aquatic animals and teach the visitors about life beneath the waves.

It's hard graft, but thankfully today they have a couple of extra helping hands.

Meet Katie and Abi,

two close friends who roll differently when it comes to animals.

Katie loves furry things but Abi would rather be kicking a ball around.

Not at the cameraman! Yes, it's fair to say that Katie likes every type of animal imaginable.

I like dogs, hamsters, horses, rabbits, camels, and a mouse.

Whereas Abi has a long list of creature discomforts.

I don't like spiders, ugh. I am scared of sharks.

Crabs and stuff they don't look that nice so I just wouldn't go near any.

Daddy longlegs...

Things like bees because they are just in your face and it gets on my nerves.

I hate thinking about them.

It's going to take somewhere special to turn Abi around.

And special is what they've got, privileged access behind the scenes at the Sea Life Centre.

Ah, Lindsay, this is Katie and this is Abigail.

-Hello, guys.

-And they're going to be helping you today.

Now Katie loves animals, Abigail is a little bit different in that respect.

-Right.

-What are you introducing them to today?

We are meeting a fantastic animal called a Japanese spider crab.

How do you feel about that? Katie's smiling. Abigail, you don't look very happy about that.

Yes, this is a rarer than a rare opportunity. The girls are going to

help a truly magnificent deep-sea creature.

I don't know, I don't like spiders or crabs.

Japanese spider crabs are the biggest in the world, in fact they can grow as big as a car.

Well, you'll be glad to know that this is a baby one, but he's still about this big.

Look at her face! So what are they going to be helping you with today then?

We'll look at one of their legs because we found a tiny little black spot

on one of their legs and we need to check him, and you guys are going to do some treatments

on him for me, and take photographs so I can keep an eye and make sure he is happy.

-You're going to touch a Japanese spider crab, Abigail.

-She can do that, I'll take pictures.

Right, I'm getting out of here before Lindsay manages to get that giant crab out of the tank.

-Ugh.

-There you go, girls.

-It's massive.

-It's ugly.

Katie and Abi may not look like they're up for crab cleaning

but fear not, no-one has to do anything on this show if they don't want to.

-He can't get you.

-What's his name?

-He's ugly.

He hasn't got a name, so you can name him if you like.

-Um... Splodge.

-Splodge.

-Hi, Splodge.

Looks like we have a little progress, a name for our monster crab.

And it's all hands to the pump later when we must check Splodge the spider crab for a pesky parasite.

Will He get the all clear from Abi and Katie?

Madihah and Jack's first wildlife warden shift is under way.

They've prepared breakfast for some of the animal residents, and it's now time to serve it up.

But foxes are not Madihah's favourite animal.

He's sniffing for his breakfast. Can you see him?

-OK, I'll just do...

-Will you do it?

If you're feeling a bit wobbly at any point, just let us know and we'll go out, OK?

Look, that's what they want. He can actually smell his breakfast. He's sniffing the chicks.

There are five foxes here and that's Foxy Loxy who is by all accounts

keen on the custard cream part of her breakfast.

OK, good luck. Let's go in.

The friendliest fox of the five is called Megan.

She was rescued after being found tied to a washing line along with two collie dogs.

She behaves more like a dog than a fox.

Like just about every wild animal, foxes are more scared of us

than we are of them so feeding them is harder than it looks.

Megan. Megsie.

It seems like today the foxes aren't coming really, really close up.

I think that's because there are too many of us in their enclosure.

If you just throw it, she'll come forward and get it.

Eventually breakfast is served.

Now we are with experts, never approach foxes yourselves.

-How was that? All right?

-I feel much better, actually. It's not as scary as I thought.

-Good.

-Let's get another one.

No stopping her now, Madihah seems to be warming to this.

-Do you think this will help you with your fear of dogs?

-Yes.

Now you've realised you can get this close to wild dogs.

-Then I can get close to normal dogs.

-Yes, exactly, there you go.

So now it's time for the next step, personal pudding delivery.

See there, their feeding platform?

Put the remainder of the food up there and they'll go up and help themselves.

But you guys are going to do it on your own without us, OK?

Good, off you go.

As soon as our wildlife assistants lay out the grub and give them a bit of distance,

Foxy Loxy, Megan and pals tuck right in.

What a perfect start!

Well done.

I would shake your hand but forget it...

Another time. At the beginning of the day you didn't like dogs

and you've just been walking on your own to feed some wild foxes.

I think that's a great achievement, isn't it?

-Yes.

-So you're starting to like British wildlife a bit more now?

-Yes.

-Are you ready to do some more?

-Yes!

-All right!

And it's otters on the move later, but will Madihah and Jack...

Ooh!

..and our cameraman, be able to keep a steady hand and finish the job?

At the Sea Life and Marine Sanctuary, Katie and Abi have

been introduced to a real-life sea monster.

Now it's time to see if they can help the baby Japanese spider crab.

These creatures can suffer from a disease called black spot,

it's a parasite that can eat away at their shell.

The girls need to take a photographic record of Splodge

who has a trace of black spot on one of his legs.

I think you might need to get a bit nearer to Splodge to get those close-up pictures, Abi.

Do you need to come this way?

Maybe not that close.

Which leg is it?

There we go.

It's your big moment, Splodge.

Work it, come on, work it! You're a spider! Now a crab! Now a giant spider crab!

Thankfully the disease hasn't spread,

just a little spot on the leg that's easily treated with medication.

OK, Katie, are you ready to help me because I'm going to have to hold it so you treat his leg for me.

It's feeling good.

You're touching a big spider crab. You didn't think you'd do that today.

Brilliant work.

-OK, girls, so are you happy that he's got no more black spots?

-Yes.

-Right, I think he needs to go back home now, doesn't he?

-Yes.

All right, let's go and put him back.

Later, a rare South American penguin needs our daring duo's help

but will Abi and Katie get to grips with the pongy fish poo hose down?

It's like dog mess.

-Poo.

-It's like dog poo.

It's like fish poo.

Before that bad smell, and even bigger bad smell.

Oh, love a bit of horseplay, me.

You see, I am the best at these animal challenges, really, aren't I?

Oh, oh, and how did you work this out?

Simple maths. And I'll prove it.

Three horses here need a good groom.

-Yes.

-So I'll do two of them, you do one, and I'll still beat you.

Oh, is that it, is it?

-Yeah, yeah, yeah.

-Oh!

HE LAUGH

Hey, little fella, don't mess with the best.

What are you talking about? We're cleaning horses. This isn't a cowboy movie.

Don't be too sure, kid.

Huh?

Urgh.

Time to meet our horses!

For me, it's Mickey and Donald, two adorable little Shetland ponies.

And for Dom...

-What's this?

-Meet big Cassie.

Yes, she's a bit of a handful I've been told, mate. She's a Percheron cross thoroughbred.

She's 16 hands tall and weighs 600 kg. Enjoy.

Whatever size horse you're dealing with, giving them a good groom from time to time is essential.

Ignore him.

As well as keeping their coats in tip-top condition, it's also

a great way of checking them for any nasty lumps, bumps, ticks or fleas.

Well, done. Now you might have thought that I chose Mickey and Donald because they're small.

Oh, no, no, no. It's because it's not actually Cassie's size that might get up Dom's nose.

That's right, my friends, because Cassie is a trumping thoroughbred.

HORSE FARTS

Oh, man!

What's in the diet? Is it like egg-fried rice with extra eggs?

It's disgusting.

In fact, this particular breed of horse is known for its flatulence

and when an animal this size lets one go, it produces a particularly potent pong.

See, told you I was top animal carer.

Yes, top animal cowboy carer, if you ask me.

Anyway I could've dealt with big Cassie, it was just big gassy I couldn't handle.

HORSE FARTS

HE LAUGHS

So there you have it, another informative, educational and very serious piece of television

brought to you by two very professional TV types.

Well, at least you've learnt one important lesson, which is never to

stand downwind of a Percheron cross thoroughbred horse.

Katie and Abi have been mending marine monsters at a sea life centre,

but now it's time to work with something a whole lot lovelier.

These rare Humboldt penguins need their nest boxes cleaning. Doesn't sound too tough a job, does it?

Except these particular penguins have a habit of filling their nest boxes with poo.

-Here we go, girls.

-Urgh.

And to be fair, that's really clean. It's normally worse than that.

-Oh, it's like dog mess.

-It's like dog poo.

It's like fish poo.

Now the reason that these guys actually poo in their nest boxes

is because they stick all the nesting materials together with their poo,

-and that's what they naturally do. It's great, isn't it?

-Urgh!

Is it a bit pongy?

-A little bit but I can smell the soap a little bit more,

-Ah that's all right.

I think the penguins are going to really appreciate this, girls. You've done a really good job in here.

The girls are helping seriously rare birds.

How many are left in the wild?

Well, we think there's about 10,000 breeding pairs left in the wild, so that's not very many at all.

10,000 breeding pairs is a very small wild population.

Humboldts can only be found on a tiny strip of coast in South America.

The great news is that these birds are part of a worldwide breeding

programme that might help save them from extinction in the wild.

What we would like is for each of these penguins to have their own boxes,

and what would be brilliant is if each box had some eggs in it.

And that's a whole main aim of the game of why these guys are here.

That's because there's not very many of them left in the wild

and we want to try to keep the population.

So hopefully, fingers crossed, one day we might be able to put them

back into the wild, which is what we'd really love to do.

Phew, pooey bird boxes put to bed at last.

Now the nice bit, Katie and Abi are given special permission

to feed the penguins tasty mackerel inside their enclosure.

Finally our girls dish out some nesting material, which the males collect for their female partners.

They'll be making brand-new stinky nests together in no time.

Good catch, and great work, girls!

And your reward is getting closer. How about an out of water experience with a 50 year old maritime marvel?

She's big and has a shell.

-More of a rough skin?

-Yes.

-Harder skin.

-Yes.

Madihah and Jack are on the move at the wildlife rescue centre in Somerset.

Now we've come to an enclosure that is so secret and mysterious even I don't know what's in it.

We're going to find out though.

Sara, why are we just staring at a load of gorse, brambles, and some muddy water?

There is a pair of otters in there and they are almost ready to be released.

So is this a regular thing you do here?

We do get quite a lot of cubs in to the centre

we've got another pair that are ready to move into a similar enclosure as this one today.

-So I don't know whether you want to give us a hand with that?

-Does that sound exciting?

-Yes.

Get some otters and release them into a lovely big pen?

-Yes.

-Right, let's do it.

And there they are,

Puddle and Tiny Tony, two otters who were orphaned as cubs and rescued eight months ago.

Now they're edging closer to freedom, but Puddle and Tiny Tony seem a little put out at being disturbed.

There's one. There they are. They're big, aren't they?

And they're a little bit grumpy.

And a big grumpy otter grunt is enough to make us all jump...

-Ooh!

-..cameraman included.

It's a real team effort this.

These are wild otters and we need to make the move as smooth as possible.

-So are we going to release them?

-Yes.

-Are you ready to do it?

-Yes.

This new gaff is a step up the property ladder for these two.

They've even got their own swimming pool.

Slowly but surely, Puddle and Tiny Tony pluck up the courage to come out.

Where else but poolside?

It's just incredible that they've not experienced this kind of thing before

but they're instinctively just doing it straight away.

The cubs can enjoy the safety of this enclosure for another five months,

then they'll be prepared for a final journey back to open water.

And Madihah and Jack can proudly say they've been part of their recovery.

And there's full-on animal releases later as our pair get this majestic giant ready to rejoin his family.

Hurray!

Oops! What a belly flop.

But first I get to grips with a rather big rodent,

and I don't like it.

I'm not happy about this, it's just not natural.

Dom, I've told you that not giant mice, your hands haven't shrunk,

these are called degus and they're completely natural.

Supernatural, more like.

I'm going to freak out, I mean they can grow up to 30cm long.

Degus are related to mice, they originate from South America, and are actually very, very intelligent.

Oh, yeah, in what way? Are they fluent in Spanish or something?

Well, some of the degus use their own language

and they can talk to each other using up to 15 different sounds.

They also have excellent eye to paw coordination, and some of them

were taught how to use very tiny tools in an experiment.

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, so let me just recap on something here.

-These are giant mice, can talk and also use tools. Sounds very natural.

-It is.

There you go. That's yours. Adios.

Well done! You are learning well, my child.

Here, have a seed.

Abi and Katie are having a whale of a day helping all things aquatic at the marine sanctuary.

It's time to turn their attention to towards the turtle enclosure with marine supremo Lindsay.

And this is Antiope, the loggerhead turtle, the world's largest hard-shelled turtle species.

They are named after that huge head with its powerful crushing jaws.

Is she dangerous?

She is dangerous, she's got an extremely sharp beak on her.

-So how old is she?

-Well, we think Antiope is roughly about 50 to 55 years of age.

We're not 100% sure because she is a rescue turtle.

The reason for her being with us is purely because she's actually brain-damaged.

She suffered a fractured skull in three different places.

-Right. What do we do?

-You guys can take it in turn.

You're going to use your pad again like you did with the little guys.

I'll hold on to Antiope and you're going to give her a nice scrub.

OK, so you can take it in turns. Remember, no fingers over the edges, no feet over the edges.

It's important work. It means Antiope will be free of algae that can grow on turtle shells.

How does it feel, Katie?

Good. She's big and has a harder shell.

-More of a rough skin?

-Yes.

-Harder skin?

-Yes.

Abi and Katie have been fully committed to their sea lifeshift from the off,

and remember, Abi had no real interest in animals at the beginning of the day.

-So, you two crazy cats, have you had a good day?

-Yes.

You've been very privileged to meet all those animals. Which one was your favourite?

-Penguins.

-Abigail, when you first started this morning you weren't too happy about being here,

you didn't really like wildlife. Have you connected to one of them today?

Yes, I liked the turtles, the penguins and most of it except for the Japanese spider crabs.

You see, Katie, we did it!

-Dick and Dom.

-I did it! I did it!

-And Katie.

-I did it.

..have made her go wild.

Well done, Abigail. Thank you. Show me how wild you both are.

-What do you mean?

-Show me how wild you are.

SHE YELPS

There you are. Wild.

Jack and Madihah have turned into top wildlife wardens in Somerset,

and there's a big bird of a job needing their helping hands now.

OK then, Sara, what are you going to get these guys to help with now?

Well, this is our water bird paddock. Loads of gulls come in, they fall out of nests and stuff.

So they're juveniles and they're just learning to swim and feed on their own.

We've got a few adults in between which are almost ready to go because they're flying.

This is one is ready to be released back into the wild today.

He's been recovering here for a week after he crashed into a power cable.

Ouch! It's something swans do a lot apparently.

It's been off its legs for a few days but it's fine now and he's ready to go.

-OK, we're going to release him?

-Yes.

Good luck, Sara.

Swans can weigh up to 13 kg and they're very, very strong.

Sara approaches with care.

Jack and Madihah are poised with the swan carrier.

No messing about, Sara quickly has him tagged.

There we go. OK, let's wrap him up.

Then Jack and Madihah get him bagged.

OK, the middle one.

Ah, looks like this baby herring gull is going to miss the big fellow.

What do you want?

-What's your problem?

-He wants to come too.

They are big birds, swans, so don't even think about trying to catch one yourself, all right?

-He's wriggling.

-Yes, he is trying to wriggle out, isn't he?

Don't forget, we know what we're going to do with this one but the swan has no idea,

so it might be feeling a little bit apprehensive and nervous.

In fact the swan is so jumpy he couldn't wait to use the toilet, but unfortunately there isn't one.

-Urgh!

-There's been a slight erm... dirty protest here from the swan.

That's me told.

Thankfully it's just a short ride in the now rather smelly animal ambulance

to the lake where the swan was first found injured.

So, only seconds away now, yes?

Yes, absolutely. Just pop him down here.

Great. I think he obviously knows about it as well.

Yes, he's seen the water.

Well, done, you two, you've done a sterling job.

-Are you ready to release it back?

-Yes.

There he goes.

Now, all that's remaining is for this beautiful, elegant creature to make a graceful return to the lake.

Hurray!

Oops! What a belly flop!

That's it, not necessarily graceful but a brilliant return all the same.

Good job, nicely done!

Well done, boys and girls.

Jack and Madihah have had a right good go at wildlife work, a great finishing touch to a top day.

-How has your day been?

-Great.

-Fantastic.

-Yes?

-I've learnt so much and I think I learnt really a lot more than I expected I would.

-Excellent.

From now on, will you be donning your wellies a lot more and getting out into the British wildlife?

-Yes.

-Very good.

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