Belize Temple Naomi's Nightmares of Nature

Welcome to my nightmares of nature.

I'm Naomi Wilkinson

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

The ones that make your spine tingle,

your heart beat faster and your blood run cold.

Are they truly terrifying? Or is there a twist in the tail?

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

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

Welcome to Belize!

This tiny tropical paradise is bursting at the seams with ancient

temples, mysterious jungles and I'm guessing a few nightmares of nature!

Tucked away on the shores of the Caribbean Sea,

the Central American nation of Belize is a wildlife treasure trove.

I'll meet a mini but mighty mammal... Oh!

Investigate some startlingly scary jungle screams...

I'm not sure I want to meet the animal that's making this sound!

And descend into the depths on the trail of a creepy cave dweller.

Ohhh! Oh, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry!

But I'm kicking off this quest at my very own temple of doom!

This spectacular pyramid is the Jaguar temple, built over 1,000

years ago by the Maya people here in the jungles of Belize.

The Maya have moved on, but plenty of animals still make their home

in these ruins, including one that really puts the creep

into creepy crawly.

The cockroach is generally considered a real bad boy

of the natural world.

The classic image of these formidable insects,

is a scurrying pest, overrunning our houses, spreading dirt, disease

and dismay wherever they go.

So, will the roaches here confirm their ruinous reputation?

Unlike the vultures soaring above, the cockroaches around here

are most active at night, so we need to wait for the sun to go down.

As if searching in the dark, surrounded by these ancient

ruins isn't spooky enough, I've heard that cockroaches

here in the tropics, tend to be much larger than ones in cold countries!

Marvellous!

Leading our bug hunt is local guide, Reuben.

And it turns out cockroaches aren't the only creepy

crawlies around here!

Oh! Look at that spider! Is that a...? Is that a tarantula?

Mexican Red Rum tarantula!

Oh, good! There's tarantulas everywhere too! Uh!

Sometimes you'll find them in the bark of the trees,

they like to hide in there.

If you start, like, ripping a little bit of the bark, they make

like a hissing sound, so that's how you can find them as well.

So, an insect is big enough to make a sound that you can hear!

They sure do. They're noisy!

How big are they!

Well, I'm about to find out.

Look.

Urrrggh! That is a very big cockroach! How big do they get?

I have seen them about, probably about twice the size of this one,

so I would say this is like a medium sized one.

-So it could be as big as my hand?

-About, yeah.

-Are they dangerous?

-No, they're not, you can, you know, pick them up,

you can... You have to be quick, though.

So can I try and hold him? Will it really scuttle away quickly?

There you go. You have a roach.

See what happens. It's just going to run all over me. Oh!

Hang on, let's catch it. Oh, look at it!

-You have to be quick.

-Ohhhh! Flew away!

Right, come on, Naomi, be brave.

Oh, it's too scuttly.

It gives me the shivers.

Right, come on, toughen up. Oh, I think this is really funny. Look.

-It's hiding.

-It's hiding its head, thinks we can't see it any more.

Kind of can, mate, you're really big. So what would these eat?

Almost anything, like, you know, fungi and plants and insects.

-So pretty much anything?

-Yes.

It's this unfussy appetite that makes our homes such an attractive

prospect to the cockroach, because they'll eat any old rubbish

we leave lying around, including soap, glue, even hair... Yuck!

But is that the whole story?

A lot of people think of cockroaches as living in your house,

or being in kitchens and places, is that true?

No. Most species live in the jungle like this one here.

They live in the trees here.

They'd much prefer to be here in the wild?

Yes. Much better to live out here, than around your house.

The truth is, that of around 4,500 species of cockroach,

only about 30 of them like to live in our homes.

The rest prefer the great outdoors.

-Another one up there.

-Oh, yeah.

-Got another one up there.

Yeah. You can see that's a lot bigger than this one.

So, cockroaches have a pretty bad reputation.

Do you think that's deserved?

No, I don't think so.

These creatures basically help a lot of the environment by eating

a lot of the fungus, you know a lot of the pests, bugs.

So they're just getting rid of all of those and doing us a favour.

Yes, they are.

So the roaches of the ruins seem to be painting a very different

picture of these much-maligned insects.

It turns out that the cockroach is the cleaner of the natural world,

gobbling up bugs, leaves and rubbish wherever it goes.

Now, if that happens to be in your house, then yes,

you might consider this a pest, but out in the wild,

this industrious insect is actually providing a very

useful recycling service, so can I really make it my worst nightmare?

I'll be returning to the temple ruins later on, for more

nocturnal nightmares.

But first, I've got an appointment at Belize Zoo.

Some animals seem scarier than others.

Snapping crocs or giant spiders always have plenty of fear factor,

but I'm here to meet a small furry animal that looks like a pig.

What's that doing on Nightmares Of Nature?

The peccary certainly is a curious creature.

With its flat, pig-like snout, it looks harmless enough,

but I have a feeling these diminutive forest dwellers

have a few surprises in store for me.

Making the introductions is zoo director, Sharon.

So, Sharon, who do we have here?

Naomi, you're going to meet one special fellow.

-This is Chanel, our beloved collared peccary.

-Ha! Chanel's a boy?

-Yes, he is.

-Look at your nose, it's fantastic.

-They look like they're pigs but they are...

-I was going to say,

-is it a pig?

-It's very distantly related to pigs.

In evolutionary senses, they split off from the pigs

-40 million years ago.

-Really?

-I know, they're in their own family.

And the interesting thing, the reason Chanel is named Chanel,

take a guess?

I don't know quite how to put it, but he's got a pretty unusual pong.

He does have an aroma that's unique.

Yeah, nasty!

Did you hear that, she didn't mean it!

No, I didn't, I didn't mean that, Chanel,

you're lovely but you do smell very funny.

He's forgiven you already.

That's because I've got food. Here you go.

What's that funny smell all about?

If you look at his back, the coat where it's a little bit darker,

that's where a scent gland is.

-These animals communicate through smell.

-OK.

And what they do, is they'll rub that thing on rocks and trees

and leaves in their territory and that's how the mums

know where the babies are, the babies know where their mothers are.

Now, I've heard that peccary can be dangerous

but looking at Chanel here, it's very hard to figure out how.

Well, you have to focus on his choppers, his teeth.

His canines are sharp and they're long. See that? Look at that.

So they could cause a serious injury.

Definitely cause a serious injury.

If you're walking through the jungle

and you run into a pack of peccaries, there could be a problem.

And if they have their youngsters, the mums are very, very protective.

First, they'll try to scare you with the teeth and if

you do not get out of the way,

they could possibly come right at you.

As if to illustrate Sharon's point, our the cameras seem to be

making Chanel a little bad-tempered.

All right.

OK, he's getting a bit cross with us.

Chanel has suddenly changed attitude completely.

That was quite alarming all of a sudden, though, wasn't it?

Wow, no uncertain terms. Leave me alone.

He seems to have taken a particular dislike to cameraman, Steve.

Don't get too close. Your foot is close.

He's going to bite your toe. Back a bit, Steve, back a bit.

Did you hear those teeth gnash?

-He's really shown you, he doesn't... like the cameras.

-It's OK, Chanel.

If one peccary on its own can be this ferocious...

OK, guys.

Then what's a whole herd of them going to be like?

I'm glad I'm behind this fence.

They're not the kind of animal that you would dash in there

and give them a pet now, would you?

No, it wouldn't be safe to go in there, would it?

No, it probably wouldn't be a good thing to do.

Oh, scrap!

Oh, so there's all sorts of squabbles happening.

This is pretty much what peccaries do in the wild.

What you're seeing now is mirrored out there in the jungle.

I know it looks horrendous, but it's all under control.

-Chanel is letting them all know...

-That he's boss.

That he's the boss. He keeps the herd in order.

He is what we call the alpha male.

It's OK, Chanel.

Sorry, Chanel, I'm not coming in your territory.

Don't worry, I would not want to wander in there for toffee.

That is quite a dangerous place to be, I should think, in that pen.

Steve, you need to go and stand over there, I think, on a long lens,

otherwise he's going to bite your legs off. Bye, stay safe.

It seems the peculiar peccary does have some nightmare pedigree.

After all, yes, they may be small, even cute, but when they team up,

they are a formidable force armed with seriously sharp tusks.

But is that enough to make them my worst nightmare?

I think they could be Steve's.

It's four o'clock in the morning and I'm back at the Jaguar temple,

to try and solve a nightmare riddle.

We're waiting for the sun to rise, because rumour has it that at

dawn, the jungle around these ruins is alive with the blood-curdling

cries of mysterious creatures and this being nature's nightmares,

little old me is off to investigate. Sounds like a total scream!

Wandering in the pitch black of the jungle certainly

qualifies as creepy.

But it's about to get a whole lot creepier.

GROWLING SOUNDS

There, there, there. Can you hear that?

GROWLING SOUNDS

What is that? What is making that sound?

It's up there somewhere, but it's so dark, I can't see it.

Sounds like it'll be absolutely enormous.

It's breaking branches, whatever it is.

There's some over there and some right behind me in this tree.

GROWLING SOUND

Are we sure that dinosaurs are extinct?

Because it sounds like there is a Tyrannosaurus Rex in that tree.

I'm not sure I want to meet the animal that's making this sound!

I'm very glad when dawn breaks and the sun starts to shed

a little light on the riddle of the roaring ruins.

ROARING

So, I don't know if you can see, but up in the trees is the animal

responsible for all of that racket - it's a monkey.

The rather appropriately named howler monkey.

And I think it's fair to say that this animal has a big gob.

The calls of this monkey are so loud,

they can be heard across the jungle from a distance of around

two miles, and I think you can believe that,

listening to this racket!

ROARING

They have a large pouch in their throat and a specially modified

voice box that allows them

to AMPLIFY THEIR VOICE...

VOICE ECHOES

Ahem! Not even sure how I did that.

ROARING

The level of the sound coming from just about five animals

up there is unbelievable.

So, what about the animal itself?

Is it as big and as terrible as its call?

Well, from this distance it's pretty hard to tell

and if I was even able to climb up that tree, the monkeys would all

just scatter, but there is a way that I can get a closer look.

'I've come to Wildtracks in Northern Belize,

'a primate rehab centre run by Paul Walker.

'Paul and his team are currently caring for over 20 howler monkeys

'and I've been granted a special audience with

'three of the youngest residents.'

What's the main reason you have these monkeys here?

Our main function is to rehabilitate monkeys,

usually ex-pet monkeys, they are an endangered species, their place

is in the forest, not in people's homes, so our job is to get them

back into good health and get them back to living back in the wild.

-That's fantastic.

-The ones we've released to date

are doing extremely well back in the forest.

Now, I've heard the call of the howler monkey out in the wild

and it's pretty terrifying, but they don't seem to be very scary animals.

Not at all, not at all.

Are they, eh? They're not an aggressive monkey,

at this age especially so,

but even the adults that we have ready for release are

very placid, calm, quiet animals.

So what do their calls mean?

ROARING AND HOWLING

The calls are how they defend their territories, rather than

getting involved in physical fights,

they actually stand in the trees, call and sound big

and scary to stop the others coming into their territory.

And they'll call at different times of the day,

typically early in the morning and

that's the time when a lot of people who haven't heard a howler monkey

call will get most scared because it sounds like a huge cat or something.

Yes, a very creepy sound.

HOWLING AND BARKING

It's the males that call loudest, but the females do a pretty

respectable call as well. So when the males are calling,

the females and even the babies will join in.

-Will they?

-When the older ones start calling,

-these little ones will start calling.

-Is it a higher call?

It's kind of "Whaaarr!" these little croaks,

-a froglike croak as they're trying...

-A bit pathetic?

It's also very entertaining, watching little guys like this

trying to be big monkeys and standing up -

-Raah! Raah!

-Making a rubbish little noise.

Instead of the full roar.

Oh, fantastic. You just want to be on camera.

I think you need to clean your lens.

Yeah, we might need to clean the camera.

We've just got a bit of monkey spit on there.

You can see where the term cheeky monkey comes from.

Yeah, no monkeying around, please.

She says, "Oh, there's got to be a button here somewhere..."

"There's got to be something here I can bite off."

But also, you see this kind of interaction

-and you start getting an insight into the level of intelligence.

-Yes.

Yeah, I'm going to be completely out of focus now,

because we've got a new operator.

Hey!

I think this is a classic case of the bark being worse than

the bite - while their calls may sound like something

straight from a horror story,

they are ultimately social, intelligent

and as babies, very, very sweet!

So, it's going to be very hard to call them my worst nightmare!

'For the final leg of our adventure, we're hitching a ride into the wilds

'of Central Belize.

'And when the road runs out, we just keep on going.'

Sometimes, to discover the very worst nightmares that nature has

to offer, you have to get a little off the beaten track.

And this particular track leads... straight down.

'This part of Belize is littered with spectacular caves and they're

'home to one of the creepiest creatures you're ever likely

'to lay your eyes on.

'It's fair to say the whip spider isn't going to be winning

'any top model contests. These carnivorous cave dwellers

'look like they've scuttled straight out of a Hollywood horror film.

'So when it comes to the race for worst nightmare, surely these

'barbed, multi-legged monstrosities are going to run away with it?'

'There's going to be nothing easy about this outing,

'including getting into the cave.'

Whoo!

Caves can be dangerous places, there can be little if any light,

and the terrain can be very difficult, sometimes vertical!

So I reckon the animals that live in them

need to be tough and resourceful.

'Waiting to introduce me to the cave's creepiest resident

'is local guide Abel.'

-Ready to go.

-This way.

Ready as I'll ever be.

Right, Abel, we are looking for an animal called a whip spider,

but it isn't actually a spider, is it?

It's not a spider, uh, the whip spider is actually

its own species, it's not a spider or a scorpion.

But it's closely related to a spider and a scorpion, is it?

It's closely related.

Whereabouts should I be looking to find them?

You'll find them up on the ceiling of the cave

-and also along the wall of the cave.

-All right, so, keep my eyes up.

Keep your eyes open, I would say, right?

Hope it doesn't fall on my back.

You can see a few crickets, a few of the cave crickets.

Oh, right, do the whip spiders eat them?

-That's what they eat, yeah.

-Oh, that's their main food.

So where there's lots of crickets, that's a good sign,

because the whip spiders like to eat them.

Oh, this is creeping me out!

So, they're all over the place here, hopefully we'll see one...

-Ohh!

-There's one, right there, see?

-That's really big!

-But look how high it is!

I didn't think it was going to be quite as big as that.

We'll find more up ahead,

that one is really high to get a good view of it.

That's all right, we could just leave it alone, couldn't we?

I don't mind if we don't find one we can reach. Ohh!

'Unfortunately, I don't have to wait long until our second find.'

Right here.

-Oh, you've got another one.

-Right there.

Ohhhh!

There it goes. Look at those long legs.

So this, this...these are legs at the front, are they?

They are legs, yes, but they're so long because they use them

as feelers as well.

So, that's how it's finding food?

That's the way they find food, yes, since it's so dark in here,

they don't use their eyes, they use their long legs.

'Just watching this mini monster sets my heartbeat racing.

'But Abel thinks I can get an even closer look!'

Shall I try and hold it?

He won't...he won't do anything.

Oh! Oh, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry. Compose myself.

'Let's give that another try.'

I'll put it in your hand.

Oh, I don't like it!

I do like you, I like spiders...

Oh, no, don't let it go up to my face!

Come on, Naomi, woman up!

Ohhh...it's creepy!

I mean, it's not a good-looking creature.

It looks menacing and like it should be dangerous.

-It looks very dangerous, but...

-Is it?

-They're not dangerous at all.

-No venom?

-No venom in them.

-Wow!

How does it hunt?

As you can see, they have little pinchers in front,

that's what they use to grab.

And crickets are quite fast, so they have to be fast too?

Very fast, that's the reason this spider is so fast,

when it's ready to grab, it just makes a fast move.

'Rather than venom, the whip spider relies

'on stealth and speed when hunting.

'Their wicked extendable claws are lined with gruesome barbs

'and when those front legs detect prey, the claws spring out,

'grab it and draw it back to a set of fearsome fangs.

'A grim way to go!'

Shall I give it back to you?

Ohhh!

Put him back, see if he wants to go back.

'Time to let this king of the cave creepers crawl away.'

And relax!

I have to say I'm in two minds about the whip spider -

on one hand, they pose no threat to us, it really doesn't bite,

sting or inject lethal venom. On the other hand,

if things that scurry and scuttle around in the dark make you nervous,

then this is going to give you a serious case of the heebie-jeebies!

So, what do you think, should the whip spider be my worst nightmare?

My nightmare quest is at an end

and the jungles and caves of Belize have delivered

a colourful cast of nightmare characters.

But which, for me, was the worst?

Was it the spooky ruins, crawling with cockroaches?

Oh! It's too scuttly, gives me the shivers!

Was it the shocking shriek of the howler monkey?

ROARING

Are we sure that dinosaurs are extinct?

Or was it the evil look of the wicked whip spider?

Oh, no, don't let it go up to my face!

Well, it may surprise you, but BELIZE it or not,

I think the peculiar peccary with its terrible tusks

and sheer strength in numbers is the biggest nightmare around here!

It's a bit of a bumpy road, this one.

You lot all right in the back?