Radical Relationships Wild & Weird

# Marauding mice and walls of ice

# And sharks on a golfing spree

# Cicada swarms and Martian storms

-# And fish walking out of the sea

-Really?

# Elks in trees and foaming seas

-# And giant mayfly moths

-Huh?

# Zombie snails and friendly whales

-# And completely frozen frogs

-You what?

# They're wild and weird wild and weird

# Really really wild and really really weird

# They're wild and weird wild and weird

# They're really really wild

# They're really really wild and weird. #

Coming up on today's show.

Some radical relationships.

A polar bear on a playdate?

A dolphin having a whale of a time.

And the baby ducklings who think they're kittens.

MUSIC: Girls Just Want To Have Fun

Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh.

Oh.

Ooh. Ooh.

W-w-w-what is it? What is it?

Oh, Tim, I can't decide what to wear on my date.

RECORD SCRATCHES TO A HALT Ah.

I've met this really lovely guy

but I'm just worried we're not compatible.

I'm a Virgo. He's a Taurus. So that means I'm forgetful and he...

Er? Oh.

Look. Look, look, look.

Don't worry. The world is full of mismatched relationships.

-Really?

-Yeah, yeah, yeah. Take a seat.

-Oh.

Have a look at this.

We're off to Churchill on the shores of the Hudson Bay

in the Canadian subarctic.

And let me tell you, when it comes to weird relationships,

they don't get much weirder than this.

Every autumn, starving polar bears roam around town

waiting for the sea to freeze so they can go out to hunt seals.

And sharing your home with a half tonne hunting machine can

certainly make life interesting.

As dog breeder and Churchill resident Brian Ladoon discovered.

He is a cool looking dude, isn't he?

Is he? Ah, I don't know. I hadn't really noticed.

Brian keeps 150 sled dogs on a spit of land jutting out into the sea.

Just like a complete city of dogs.

It's isolated and the best place to keep Eskimo dogs on earth.

These working sled dogs are tough enough to withstand

the freezing Arctic weather,

but compared to a polar bear they might as well be Chihuahuas.

Which is why Brian feared the worst, when one day

a starving polar bear strolled onto his land.

When I first seen things playing out I did have great concerns.

I was frightened and I wasn't sure what to do.

But what happened next was astonishing.

The bear began to close in on a helpless sled dog and...

Stop, stop, stop.

-What?

-I'm not watching any more

if this story ends up with a dog being eaten.

I'm building suspense here.

You know, making it exciting.

Does or does not a dog get eaten in this story?

SIGHS

(No.)

OK. Carry on.

As I was saying, the bear closed in on a helpless sled dog and...

the pair began to play.

No way!

I was not expecting that.

I thought it was going to eat it.

-But I told you what was g...

-Sh, sh.

It is extraordinary to see them play together.

Actually, you got a privileged position

when you're right in the front row seat and you're watching them

and they're only, like, metres away from you.

So, if polar bears normally eat dogs and that polar bear is hungry,

why isn't it eating the dog?

Ah.

Let's ask clinical psychiatrist, Dr Stuart Brown.

Ooh, he's a cool dude too.

Hm? Yeah, again, hadn't really noticed.

What was amazing to me was that the polar bear, as he approached

this female sled dog that was tethered, was in a predatory gait

with fixed eyes headed toward that sled dog, which anyone who's ever

seen a predatory animal recognises as a very powerful signal.

It says, I'm getting to kill you.

The dog went down into a play bow

and the bear immediately picked this up, changed his gait

and started dancing.

They looked up at each other

and they started into this wonderful ballet which went on for 20 minutes.

It was magical.

MUSIC: Swan Lake by Tchaikovsky

What are you doing?

I am in training for the next time I meet a polar bear.

Hello.

The smarter the animal, the more they play.

It's very important for survival

and for adaptation in a constantly changing environment and world.

Animals that are capable of play are also capable of innovation

and flexibility under unexpected circumstances.

And it seems that polar bears and dogs love to play so much it

can override a powerful force like hunger or, in the dog's case, fear.

It's true.

You know, I have seen an elephant and an earwig playing too.

-Really?

-Mm.

-What were they playing?

Squash. Ha-ha. Ba-dum-dum-tish.

Perhaps the most incredible thing, though, is that this exceptional

bear came back the following autumn and brought its friends with it.

And now up to seven bears come to play with Brian's dogs every year

and they've all become local celebrities.

First you thing that the dogs are being attacked and then you realise,

you know, he's holding his head in his mouth because he wants to.

-Who's that?

-No idea.

-MAN:

-You'd think that they'd be right in there eating the dogs

straightaway but, I don't know, they have some kind of companionship

going on. It's amazing. It's beautiful.

They're happy to see their buddy, you know.

I think the dogs get sad when they see the bears go in the fall.

They miss them.

But, you know, come a certain day the polar bears leave on the ice.

Leaving the dogs hopeful that they will return next year

to renew their friendship.

-Ah, that's quite sweet really.

-Yeah.

Well, hang on, I'm not sure I'd call making friends with

a half tonne carnivorous predator sweet.

Tell you what though, certainly a radical relationship.

Yes, but not as radical as making friends with a 50 tonne

carnivorous predator.

-No way.

-Yes way. Watch.

The Azores in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.

These remote islands are a real hot spot for whale watchers.

And one of the main attractions is the magnificent sperm whale.

A 20 metre predator with one of the largest jaws on earth.

Not generally the sort of animal you would think of cuddling up to.

But look at these images captured just at the Azores.

A pod of sperm whales with a very unusual companion in tow.

A dolphin.

The footage was filmed by marine biologist Dr Alexander Wilson.

Nice coat and scarf combo there.

The dolphin was a very unique animal.

He was a full-grown adult male in very good condition,

from what we could tell,

but he obviously had this very visible spinal malformation.

Despite its birth defect,

the dolphin was keeping pace with the whales and, remarkably,

it seemed to be deliberately interacting with them.

The dolphin tended to use its tail flukes,

its flippers and dorsal fin, as well as nuzzling with the sperm whales.

And the whales were responding.

So what on earth was going on?

I think I might be able to help you there.

How?

With this.

It's my latest invention. It's called the Tim's Animal Translator.

It's going to tell us exactly what the dolphin is saying to the whales.

Oh.

DOLPHIN CALL

DEVICE BEEPS

-DEVICE:

-'Oi, Trevor, where's my pen?'

Yeah, that needs some tweaking, actually.

Could the reason for this strange alliance be that the dolphin

was using the whales for protection?

After all, there are plenty of other examples of different species

cooperating in this way.

In India, chital deer often graze with langur monkeys

so there are more eyes looking out for danger.

The deer even recognise the monkeys' alarms calls...

MONKEY AND DEER CALLS

..helping them to make a quick getaway.

Naomi, allow me to translate.

MONKEY AND DEER CALLS

-DEVICE:

-'Oi, Trevor, where's my pen?'

Does this machine translate every animal call as,

"Oi, Trevor. Where's my pen"?

Pretty much, yeah.

Shall we carry on?

Although it's clear that different species do

use each other for protection, Dr Wilson is sceptical that this

is the reason for this unusual relationship.

Given that there's not very many predators

that are capable of feeding on such a large dolphin in the area,

this is unlikely to be a sole explanation.

But we did see them interacting in a very friendly way,

making a lot of physical contact and so it seems to suggest that

some kind of underlying social factor is involved.

So, Dr Wilson thinks the dolphin may simply have been after

some companionship.

But why was it with whales and not other dolphins?

It's highly probable that the fact that this dolphin did have

a very unique spinal malformation was part of the reason

for the this type of interaction.

In dolphin groups they exhibit a very strong hierarchy

and this dolphin, for some reason, might have been

lower on the totem pole than other members

and could have been picked on by group members.

So the sad truth is,

this particular dolphin may have been rejected by his group

and feeling isolated and lonely, he sought out companionship

with the whales.

MELANCHOLIC VIOLIN TUNE

Could you stop that, please?

And check this out. Whales aren't the only species

that dolphins have made friends with.

Because a few years ago in Ireland,

a dolphin forged a friendship with a local dog.

Ha. That is bonkers. What on earth is he doing?

Maybe he's looking for his pen.

Ha-ha. Very funny.

MONKEY SQUEAKING

Here it is. There you go. OK.

Who was that?

Trevor. Wanted his pen back.

Anyway, forget about whales and dolphins

because I have found the weirdest relationship of all time.

Ooh.

Cats.

They're sleek, swift, agile

and they stalk their prey with supreme stealth and deadly precision.

OK, so what's the last animal that you'd expect a cat to be

friends with them?

Oh, a dog.

Well, yeah, I mean obviously there's a dog.

but what animal does a cat like to eat?

-Er? Ooh! A mouse.

-No.

-A rat.

-No.

-Hamster?

-No. It's not a rodent.

-Er? Gerbil.

-That's a rodent.

-Oh.

-No.

-Think wings.

-Ooh! A dragon.

That's not even real!

It's a bird. It's a bird.

-Oh. I was going to say that next.

-I bet you were.

Cats like to eat birds and birds they like, well, not to be eaten by cats.

So how do you explain this?

Yeah, your eyes are not deceiving you.

This cat in Ireland really is rearing and caring for three baby ducklings.

Oh, my gosh. That is the cutest thing I've ever seen.

It's like the laws of nature have been turned on their head.

A duckling would normally be a tasty meal for this cat.

So what is going on?

Oh, that is so cute. Can we see it again?

Can we? Can we? Can we?

Don't you want me to explain what's going on?

-Only if it involves more pictures of cute baby animals.

-It does.

Then go ahead.

The key to this weird relationship is timing.

Birds that nest on the ground are vulnerable to predators

so it's vital that they follow their parents as soon as they hatch

and don't wander off into danger.

This is where something called imprinting comes in.

The ducklings' brains are programmed to follow the first

thing they see when they hatch.

Normally that would be their mum, but it could literally be anything.

An inanimate object like a watering can,

a human being like you or me

or, in this case, a cat.

Oh, I want a baby duckling to imprint on me.

Yeah, but don't you want to know why the cat doesn't eat them though?

-Does it involve more pictures...

-It does. Yeah.

Proceed.

Timing is also an important factor for the cat.

This particular moggy had recently had kittens of her own,

and when a mammal gives birth and suckles her young she's affected by

a powerful hormone called oxytocin,

which promotes feelings of love and bonding.

In short, she is primed to care for young animals. Any young animals.

As well as ducklings, cats have also been known to rear hedgehogs.

Ohhhh!

Yeah, even squirrels.

Oh, I think I'm going to burst.

Yeah, please don't.

MEOW So there you go.

The world is indeed filled with weird and wonderful relationships,

which means you don't have to worry about your big date.

What date?

The date that you said you're going on tonight.

Ah! Oh, no. I'm late! Oh!

Hang on a minute.

Naomi! Don't you want to get... dressed first?

# Wild and weird, wild and weird

# Really really wild and really really weird

# They're wild and weird wild and weird

# They're really really wild

# They're really really wild and weird

# Wild and weird. #