UK Naomi's Nightmares of Nature


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-Welcome to my Nightmares of Nature.

-WOLF HOWLS

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-I'm Naomi Wilkinson.

-SHE SCREAMS

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'And I'm coming face-to-face with the nightmares of the animal world.

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'The ones that make your spine tingle,

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-'your heart beat faster...'

-SHE SCREAMS

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'..and your blood run cold.'

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Are they truly terrifying...

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or is there a twist in the tale?

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'Come with me as I shine a light on wildlife's deepest, darkest secrets,

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'and see if you can guess which will be my worst nightmare.'

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This time I'm searching for my Nightmares of Nature

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a little closer to home.

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Here in the UK we have a whole host of wonderful wildlife

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right on our doorstep, most of which you may think you know,

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but I'm going to reveal some of the hidden nightmare credentials

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of our much-loved inhabitants.

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Some may shock you, some may surprise you

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and some may really make your skin crawl.

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'Right here in the UK, we have our fair share of nightmare candidates,

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'and I'm going to be tracking some of them down.

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'I'll be delving deep underground to try and catch a glimpse

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'of an elusive subterranean mammal.'

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There, there, there!

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'Finding out some pretty revolting revelations about a critter

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'that might surprise you.

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'And relying on some thermal technology

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'to track down a hidden countryside resident.

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'But, first, I'm on the hunt for an invasive amphibian.'

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Here in the UK, our ponds are packed with watery wildlife,

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from tiny tadpoles to nimble newts.

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But there is one giant invader that overshadows them all.

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In fact, this voracious visitor is threatening our native species

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from thriving.

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Now that certainly sounds like a nightmare to me.

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'As its name suggests,

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'the North American bullfrog would be far more at home in America,

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'but populations started to pop up in the UK

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'when they arrived in the country hidden amongst shipments of plants

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'imported for garden ponds.

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'The question is, how can an innocent amphibian

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'be causing such a nightmare?

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'I'm teaming up with Jonathan Cranfield,

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'who has been keeping a beady eye on the bullfrog boom.'

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Right, Jon, what are we dealing with here, then?

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Well, to put things in perspective, I've brought along an example

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-of a common frog.

-Aaah, you're cute. Hello.

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OK, so he's quite little, he's quite cute.

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And are there any similarities between our common frog

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and the North American bullfrog?

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Well, basically, they are both frogs

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and this little guy is quite slimy and can jump,

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just like a North American bullfrog would.

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-Webbed feet.

-Very much webbed feet.

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-FROG CROAKS

-Oh, he's croaking.

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But also they hunt in a similar way.

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They sit and wait and they leap out at flies and other insects,

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but obviously they are much, much smaller scale.

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Yeah, the similarities end about there.

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-So is this our biggest frog?

-This is our, you know, largest native frog.

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They can get a bit bigger than this but the one we're looking for

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is probably four to five times bigger than that.

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Four to five times bigger than that?!

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OK, let's put him back.

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What's the best way of finding one of these mega frogs?

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-Well, we need to get into that pond over there...

-OK.

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..and you're going to need a pair of these.

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Ah, waders - fabulous!

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So how easy are these bullfrogs going to be to find?

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Well, sometimes you actually manage to hear them before you see them.

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-Is it quite a loud call?

-It's a very deep, resonating call

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-which is very much like a cow or a bull.

-Hence the name!

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-And I've got an example here.

-You do? Let's have a listen.

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LOUD CROAKING

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Yeah, it does sound like a cow, crossed with a sheep baa-ing.

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That's cool. OK, we might hear that. That might give it away.

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Right, what's my method, then?

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I'm basically disturbing the silt.

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So you just run it along the bottom...

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-Yep.

-..scoop it out and see what you've caught in your net.

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That's right.

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'And if these bullfrogs are making this pond their home,

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'it's crucial we find them.

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'These are one of the worst alien animal invaders in the world.

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'Growing up to 20cm in length,

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'they dwarf any of our own pond residents

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'and eat pretty much anything that fits in their mammoth mouths.

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'As if all that wasn't bad enough, these astronomical amphibians

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'have the ability to take over their territory.'

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How many babies can they have?

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Our native frog, they produce about 3,000 eggs.

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A female bullfrog, she lays 20,000 eggs.

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Ugh! 20,000?!

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-20,000. So if they all grew up...

-Into adult bullfrogs...

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-All it takes is two frogs.

-20,000 tadpoles.

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Big problems on our hands.

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In light of that, we need to find a bullfrog, because I have no idea

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what one looks like and we need to be on our guard

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and keep an eye out for this frog.

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I've got a good feeling about this. Ready?

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Told you.

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-Any joy, Jon?

-Not yet.

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-No. Shall we try another pond?

-We certainly can.

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Right, what's the best way to get into this one, do you think?

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Use your net, carefully ease yourself in.

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OK. Ooh!

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I'm getting deeper and deeper.

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And I'm still going down.

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You got it, you got it!

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Oh, well done.

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My goodness, that's huge. That is huge.

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I can see why that is going to cause a problem

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for our own smaller wildlife.

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So this is a bullfrog. And you think this is a fully grown...

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A fully grown female bullfrog, yeah.

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It has got really beautiful eyes, hasn't it?

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It is, it's a fantastic animal. It's really beautiful.

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It's just that it's in the wrong place.

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If it was in the right place, then it's not a problem.

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Yeah, it's a shame, isn't it?

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Poor little thing. Well, not little.

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Poor humungous thing!

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'There's no disputing, this is an incredible animal,

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'but unfortunately, in certain areas, these frogs are breeding

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'and there could be populations we don't yet know about.'

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Take a good look at that, everyone. This is a bullfrog.

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If we see one of these, what should we do?

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If you think you've seen one of these, it's important to report it,

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because the one problem that we have, we don't know where they are.

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So if you see one, if you can get a photograph of it or a recording,

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you can send that in by e-mail to your local wildlife trust

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or a wildlife society that's recording wildlife in your area.

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That way we can identify where individuals are

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and possibly other populations in the UK.

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'Now we've caught this giant girl,

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'it would be illegal for us to return her to the water,

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'as these bullfrogs are such an invasive animal.

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'Thankfully, though, she's off to a local zoo to educate others

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'about non-native species.'

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The mention of frogs might not initially fill us with fear,

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but this giant alien invader is wreaking havoc in our wetlands.

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By the time they're adults, they're cannibalistic carnivores

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and they are eating their way through our watery wildlife,

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so this colossal croaker

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could well leap straight up onto my nightmare podium.

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There is one animal that lives here in the UK

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which is extremely elusive.

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So elusive, in fact, that few people have actually seen it in the flesh.

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It's a solitary animal that spends almost its entire life underground

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in total darkness,

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so, as nightmares go, this one is off to a pretty good start!

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'Moles are the masters of moving mountains

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'and the ultimate digging machines.

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'Shifting serious sums of soil,

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'they excavate tunnels hundreds of metres long.

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'And these brilliantly busy bulldozers

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'seem to do it with no effort at all.

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'But how is this manic mammal deserving of a place

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'in my nightmares?

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'I've come to meet mammal expert Nick...

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'..where these elusive mammals are thought to be making their home.'

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Nick, we know that moles spend an awful lot of their time underground

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but here we've got some pretty clear signs that moles are in the area.

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Yeah, well, as moles are tunnelling under the ground,

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they have to move a lot of soil and a lot of that gets pushed

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to the surface and that's where we get mole hills.

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So is there a particular habitat or type of soil that they prefer?

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Yeah, they like quite deep soil, so the kinds of soil you find in

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woodlands, but also fields and farmlands and places like that.

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-This is perfect.

-And how many moles would have made all of these hills?

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Well, it could have been quite a few,

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or maybe all of these could have been made by one solitary mole.

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-Really?

-All of them, yeah.

-Talk about busy!

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So I'm guessing it's a very strong animal to be able to move

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this amount of earth from deep underground.

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-How big are moles exactly?

-It's a lot of soil to move

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and yet they're really small.

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We've got a skeleton, if you'd like to see it.

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-So...

-That's a mole? That big!

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They're not very big at all.

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But look at the size of that compared to a mole hill.

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I mean, how does it do that?

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They can move about their own body weight in soil

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pretty much every minute.

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They're really, really speedy, fast, strong critters.

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How do they do that, then?

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What's interesting about them is how big certain parts of the bodies are.

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So you see this really long bone here, on its back,

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that's their shoulder blade, and a huge amount of muscle is attached

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to that, so they're really, really strong.

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But there's something really important about their hands.

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They have a massive surface area so they can use them like spades

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-to move a lot.

-Shovelling the soil.

-Exactly.

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So they may be tiny but they are a mighty mammal.

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They are a mighty mammal.

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There's clear evidence that we've got moles right here, but they're

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not going to come out so we're going to bury some tiny cameras

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deep underground and see if we can catch a glimpse

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-of these elusive burrowers.

-Lovely.

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OK, all the cameras are in place

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and plugged into this - our mole control centre.

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Our live feed that's coming in right now.

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Great. We'll leave these cameras in place for a few hours

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and come back and see if we have any inquisitive moles.

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'And while we're waiting for our moles to show off to the cameras,

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'I'm heading into the city to find out about one of our creepiest

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'contenders yet.'

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I'm not looking forward to meeting my next Nightmare of Nature.

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It's our smallest contender yet, but that doesn't stop

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this miniature mite from having some serious nightmare potential.

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But before I meet it, I want to see if anyone knows

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what this creepy critter is.

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And see if they have any ideas where it might live?

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If you had to guess what that is, what would you say?

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A flea?

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-Is it a panda?

-A panda?

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A bear.

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Spider?

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-Where do you think it lives?

-In the forest.

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Underground, I would have thought.

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South Africa.

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-Hong Kong?

-Hong Kong?

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How big do you think it might be?

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Tinsy - like, really small.

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-Humungous.

-Humungous?

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Even though it looks big in the picture, I think quite small.

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-Would you like this anywhere near you?

-No.

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No.

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-Why?

-It doesn't look very nice.

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It might gobble you up.

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I would probably kill you.

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-Shall I tell you what it is?

-Yeah.

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This is an eyelash mite.

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Eww!

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An eyelash mite?

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Um, I'm not really sure what to think about that.

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That's gross!

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Any guesses what it might be doing on your eyelashes?

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Dancing or something?

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-Dancing on your face?

-Yeah.

-Having a disco in your eyelashes.

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-What sort of dancing do you think it might do?

-The Conga.

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What are they actually there for?

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I have no idea. I'm going to find out.

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'So I'm heading to the University of Cardiff

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'to meet up with Dr Sarah Perkins,

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'an expert in all things microscopic.'

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Sarah, I have had a slightly disturbing morning.

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-Is it true these eyelash mites live on our eyelashes?

-Yes, it is true.

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We refer to them as eyelash mites. Is that where they prefer to live?

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The eyelash is a great habitat for these mites

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but actually they are hair follicle mites,

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so they're follicle mites or face mites.

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-We may find them all over our face.

-On your head and...?

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Well, they're on our cheeks, on our chin, our nose,

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in our ears and even up our nose.

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-So you could have hundreds of them on you?

-Potentially, you could.

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I'm loath to ask, but do you think I've got some on me?

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I think there's a very good chance you're going to have mites on you.

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'So, begrudgingly, it's time to take a look.'

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Let's see what's living on my face.

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You've got to look on there, and will it come up on here?

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It will come up on here after a little while,

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once I've found something, hopefully.

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This is magnified lots and lots of times.

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-What's this?

-Mascara.

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Almighty amounts of mascara.

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Oops.

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It's quite hard to see actually

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because there's quite a lot of mascara.

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I've suffocated all my mites with mascara, haven't I?

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You may well have done.

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Looks like I may have got away with it.

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Crew, could you give us a couple of eyelashes, please?

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Now we're not going to know who's got the mites, are we?

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We're not going to know whose is whose.

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Crew's selection of eyelashes.

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Here we go.

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They're going to be absolutely crawling with mites, the crew ones.

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Let's see.

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OK, so I'm going to show you what I'm seeing down the microscope

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-on that screen over there.

-Have you found something?

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Maybe.

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Crew, you're covered in mites.

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OK, let's have a look.

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Oooh!

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It's like an alien, isn't it?

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So this is Steve, our cameraman's eyelash.

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How does it feel knowing that's living on your eyelash?

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Not good, not good.

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-It's a weird thing, isn't it?

-There they are.

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Oh, hang on, there's something... What's this in the front?

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Look!

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Oh, it makes me itchy.

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It's so active.

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Look!

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Look at its face! You can see its face!

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You can see those two eyes, you can see whatever those bits are.

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Oh, look, look. Something's moving on that.

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It's its mouth.

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-Have they got teeth?

-Well, a form of teeth.

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Mouth parts that actually munch at cells.

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What are they feeding on?

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So they're feeding on dead cells and they're feeding on sebum -

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the oil that your hair follicles naturally produce.

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Look, you can see all four legs really clearly there.

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It's a bit gross, isn't it, when you see it like that?

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Are they moving around like this all the time?

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No, they're not, actually, they are photophobic,

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so they don't like the light.

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They're only really moving around when it's dark.

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So at night-time, they'll come out and take a stroll across your face.

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-So they're nocturnal nightmares?

-Absolutely.

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And I'm getting a free facial while I'm asleep?

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-You could think of it like that, yes.

-Result.

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But they are absolutely tiny. This is blown up many, many times.

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They are absolutely tiny. I mean, they are microscopic.

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So they are less than a millimetre.

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They're not doing us any harm, are they?

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They're not doing us any harm at all, no.

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The reason you didn't know they were there is because they are not really

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doing anything other than eating dead cells

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so offering a cleaning service, really.

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-They're actually doing us good.

-Yeah.

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So these mites might be minuscule

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but where they choose to live is truly terrifying.

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They literally are making my skin crawl.

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But surprisingly, rather than being repulsed by them,

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I'm actually quite grateful that nature has come up with

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a free facial that I can't even feel.

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So it's a tough one.

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It's a cleaning critter crammed with creepy credentials.

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Could it be my worst nightmare?

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My next contender doesn't exactly conjure up images of nightmares.

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In fact, anything but.

0:18:420:18:44

It's cute, it's cuddly, it frolics in fields,

0:18:440:18:47

so I'm quite looking forward to this one.

0:18:470:18:49

'Brown hares are usually nocturnal, shy and solitary animals

0:18:500:18:56

'but in March, they spring into action.

0:18:560:19:00

'It's the perfect time to catch a glimpse of them

0:19:000:19:03

'as they show off their incredible agility and Olympic speeds.

0:19:030:19:07

'But what could possibly make them a frontrunner

0:19:090:19:12

'for my worst Nightmare of Nature?'

0:19:120:19:14

'I've teamed up with Russell,

0:19:190:19:22

'who is going to help us find these hyperactive hares

0:19:220:19:25

'with the aid of his camouflaged haremobile.'

0:19:250:19:28

What makes this a particularly good habitat for hares?

0:19:290:19:32

Well, it's a fair chunk of grass, a big grassy area,

0:19:320:19:35

and the grass of about the right length for them, really.

0:19:350:19:38

They don't like it too tall, they just sort of like to hunker down.

0:19:380:19:42

-So they don't live underground?

-They don't burrow like rabbits.

0:19:420:19:46

What they would do is make a very shallow indent

0:19:460:19:50

which they can then hunker down into

0:19:500:19:52

which takes them just below the level of the surface.

0:19:520:19:56

'And this disappearing act makes hares extremely difficult to spot,

0:19:580:20:02

'even in the shortest of grass.

0:20:020:20:05

'So finding them today could be a little trickier than I thought.'

0:20:060:20:10

So how are we going to find them?

0:20:100:20:13

Well, today, we're going to have a look and see if we can use

0:20:130:20:16

our thermal camera to see if we can find them.

0:20:160:20:19

-This?

-Yeah.

0:20:190:20:21

Let's hope this helps us find one.

0:20:210:20:23

'The thermal camera will show up any heat sources that may be

0:20:260:20:30

'hiding in the grass...

0:20:300:20:32

'and will hopefully help us find our hidden hares.'

0:20:330:20:37

Look, there, there, there. It's really hunkered down.

0:20:390:20:42

Oh, yes.

0:20:440:20:46

It's glowing like a beacon.

0:20:460:20:48

Wow, look at it just hidden in the grass.

0:20:490:20:52

It's some of the best camouflage I've ever seen.

0:20:530:20:56

-It blends in brilliantly.

-They are absolutely fantastic.

0:20:560:20:59

Masters of disguise for sure.

0:20:590:21:02

-What's it doing?

-It's eating.

0:21:020:21:04

It's eating. That'll be eating its poo, that'll be.

0:21:040:21:07

-They eat their own poo?

-They eat their own poo.

0:21:070:21:09

That's pretty disgusting, isn't it? Some serious nightmare potential.

0:21:090:21:13

I think so, yeah.

0:21:130:21:15

'With a diet mainly made up of grass,

0:21:160:21:18

'hares don't get much nutrition from their food

0:21:180:21:20

'the first time around, so they eat their poo

0:21:200:21:23

'to make sure they get the very best from what they've eaten.'

0:21:230:21:27

The lovely habits of the hare.

0:21:280:21:30

That's going to run in a minute.

0:21:310:21:33

Look at it go.

0:21:370:21:39

That really can pick up some speed.

0:21:390:21:42

'So much so, that hares are in fact the fastest land mammal

0:21:420:21:45

'we have here in the UK, clocking speeds of up to 45mph

0:21:450:21:50

'and pulling off some pretty harey moves

0:21:500:21:53

'in order to escape predators.'

0:21:530:21:56

It's very interesting in the morning,

0:21:570:22:00

they're a bit like our athletes, where our athletes have to stretch

0:22:000:22:03

and that sort of thing.

0:22:030:22:05

And you watch the hares when I come on here first thing in the morning,

0:22:050:22:09

-it can be quite chilly...

-They're doing a warm up?

0:22:090:22:11

They go through a whole stretch thing.

0:22:110:22:14

It's because they have to be like athletes when they go for a run.

0:22:140:22:17

They've got to warm them up, otherwise they damage their muscles.

0:22:170:22:20

-A bit of hare aerobics in the field.

-Absolutely.

0:22:200:22:23

And they really do extend themselves tremendously.

0:22:230:22:26

Hare Zumba class going on.

0:22:260:22:28

'And these workouts come in very handy in March.

0:22:300:22:33

'It's the height of the breeding season

0:22:330:22:36

'and the hares become extremely aggressive.

0:22:360:22:39

'Boxing becomes their favourite sport.

0:22:400:22:43

'These bouts are fought between males and females

0:22:430:22:46

'as she susses out her suitors

0:22:460:22:48

'to see which one is strong enough to win her over.

0:22:480:22:52

'And during these battles, fur can really fly.'

0:22:530:22:57

-Look at these two.

-There's another one. They're all popping up.

0:23:010:23:05

Ooh!

0:23:050:23:07

Springing, showing off.

0:23:070:23:09

Yes, it is, that's what it's all about. It's all about how good I am.

0:23:090:23:14

-It looks so harsh, doesn't it?

-They are, they are very brutal.

0:23:150:23:19

I'm so shocked that these cute, fluffy animals

0:23:190:23:22

can be that aggressive.

0:23:220:23:24

It is. They get right up onto their hind legs, they will box,

0:23:240:23:28

kick and indeed, when they really get going,

0:23:280:23:31

they will start to bite one another

0:23:310:23:33

and they will bite lumps of fur and they will bite their ears.

0:23:330:23:36

-It's not the best way to get a girlfriend, is it?

-No, it isn't.

0:23:360:23:39

Well, I never thought I would consider putting one of our

0:23:450:23:48

cutest countryside residents on my list of nightmare contenders

0:23:480:23:52

but behind this peaceful, calm, serene exterior,

0:23:520:23:56

the bare knuckle boxing bouts of these hyper hares

0:23:560:23:59

could certainly knock the other competitors

0:23:590:24:01

straight off the nightmare top spot. Pow!

0:24:010:24:04

'With three of four nightmare contenders pinned down,

0:24:070:24:10

'it's time for us to return to our mole cameras

0:24:100:24:13

'to see if we had any luck tracking down our elusive mammal.'

0:24:130:24:16

After you.

0:24:170:24:19

Right, exciting times.

0:24:200:24:22

Let's see what we've got.

0:24:220:24:25

Oh, just some earth being shifted.

0:24:270:24:30

-Yeah, there's definite...

-There's definitely something behind there

0:24:300:24:34

that doesn't want us to see it today.

0:24:340:24:36

There, there, there, oh!

0:24:360:24:38

I saw its nose completely poke through the soil.

0:24:380:24:41

It's just snuffling and sniffing and moving really fast all the time.

0:24:410:24:45

Constantly using that nose to find its way around

0:24:450:24:48

in complete darkness as well.

0:24:480:24:50

We can see this but that's using infra-red light at the moment

0:24:500:24:53

so it's pitch black down there.

0:24:530:24:55

'And because moles live in total darkness,

0:24:550:24:58

'they don't rely on their eyesight.

0:24:580:25:00

'Instead, they have a bare pink snout that's covered in

0:25:000:25:03

'super sensitive hairs for feeling their way around

0:25:030:25:06

'their underground world.'

0:25:060:25:07

Ha-ha! It's stopped to have a look at the camera.

0:25:090:25:13

You can really see the size of its hands there.

0:25:130:25:16

They just work like a bulldozer, don't they? They're like a machine.

0:25:170:25:20

Gosh, it moves so fast, I feel I need to watch it in slow motion.

0:25:220:25:26

It's looking for something, is it? Always looking for something.

0:25:260:25:29

They're always looking for food. They're active day and night,

0:25:290:25:32

so they sleep for about three hours, they're active for three hours,

0:25:320:25:36

they sleep for three hours and then they're active,

0:25:360:25:39

and as soon as they wake up, they're after food.

0:25:390:25:41

They tend to eat about half their body weight every single day.

0:25:410:25:45

Could you imagine being able to do that - eat half your body weight

0:25:450:25:49

of food? That would be great, but you'd have to move as fast

0:25:490:25:52

-to burn it all off.

-I don't think you'd want to eat the same things

0:25:520:25:55

that they eat. They eat insects and grubs

0:25:550:25:58

and also they're big fans of eating earthworms.

0:25:580:26:01

'But their insatiable love of worms means they have a deadly

0:26:020:26:05

'and disgusting secret.

0:26:050:26:08

'If a mole is not ready to devour its dinner immediately,

0:26:080:26:11

'it will bite off the heads of the unfortunate victims,

0:26:110:26:14

'keeping them alive but paralysed.'

0:26:140:26:17

No!

0:26:180:26:20

And they keep them in little larders

0:26:200:26:23

so they can go back when they're hungry

0:26:230:26:25

-and there's a whole load of earthworms.

-Paralysed and headless.

0:26:250:26:29

That's right.

0:26:290:26:31

Poor worm.

0:26:320:26:33

Moles may be seriously small and subterranean,

0:26:340:26:37

but they have bulging biceps and can move mountains.

0:26:370:26:41

Well, mole mountains!

0:26:410:26:43

And on top of that, their insatiable appetite never lets up,

0:26:430:26:46

chomping their way through oodles of earthworms,

0:26:460:26:49

even biting their heads off to save them for a rainy day.

0:26:490:26:52

So all of that means this mighty munching mammal

0:26:520:26:55

could be my worst nightmare.

0:26:550:26:56

Well, that's it. Our UK adventure has drawn to a close.

0:26:580:27:02

All that's left for me to do is name my nastiest nightmare.

0:27:020:27:05

Will it be the brutal boxing battles fought by those hyperactive hares?

0:27:050:27:10

The face frolicking of the miniature mite that only comes out at night?

0:27:100:27:15

Look! Look at its face! You can see its face!

0:27:150:27:18

Or the manic subterranean mammal that can paralyse its prey?

0:27:180:27:23

Well, they all have proven nightmare potential

0:27:290:27:32

but the one that's going to leap into first place

0:27:320:27:34

is the astronomical amphibian, that colossal croaker

0:27:340:27:38

that's munching its way through our pretty ponds.

0:27:380:27:40

My worst UK nightmare is the bulging bullfrog.

0:27:400:27:44

Pardon you, Steve!

0:27:540:27:56

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