0:00:02 > 0:00:04# Wormy fish-killers Convoys of caterpillars
0:00:04 > 0:00:06- # Super-clever, brainless slime... # - Ugh!
0:00:06 > 0:00:08# Bunny rabbit swarms, raging storms
0:00:08 > 0:00:10# And pigs that swim at dinner time
0:00:10 > 0:00:13# Tornadoes of fire Starfish going haywire
0:00:13 > 0:00:15- # Algae balls from space! # - What?!
0:00:15 > 0:00:17# Prairie dogs that chat Birds going splat
0:00:17 > 0:00:19# And fish slapping in your face
0:00:19 > 0:00:21# They're wild and weird Wild and weird
0:00:21 > 0:00:23# Really, really wild and really, really weird
0:00:23 > 0:00:25# They're wild and weird Wild and weird
0:00:25 > 0:00:27# They're really, really wild
0:00:27 > 0:00:29# They're really, really wild and weird... #
0:00:29 > 0:00:31Coming up on today's show...
0:00:31 > 0:00:33Some strange sounds.
0:00:33 > 0:00:35The man who grunts for a living.
0:00:37 > 0:00:39A squeaky Mexican wave.
0:00:39 > 0:00:42And a bad case of underwater wind.
0:00:56 > 0:00:58SPLAT, SPLAT, SPLAT
0:00:58 > 0:01:01- What's that?- That?
0:01:01 > 0:01:04That is a pronoun used to identify a specific person or thing.
0:01:04 > 0:01:07No, not the word, that sound.
0:01:07 > 0:01:11Oh, you want me to tell you what that strange, unidentified sound is?
0:01:11 > 0:01:12Yes.
0:01:14 > 0:01:16It's a clown flicking jam on a mosquito.
0:01:16 > 0:01:20- Really?- No, if I knew what it was, it would be a strange,
0:01:20 > 0:01:22unidentified sound, would it?
0:01:22 > 0:01:24Hey, I do know all about another weird noise, though.
0:01:24 > 0:01:25Here you are.
0:01:25 > 0:01:28MOSQUITO BUZZING
0:01:29 > 0:01:30SPLAT
0:01:32 > 0:01:35Welcome to Florida, in the deep South of America,
0:01:35 > 0:01:38where among the mist-shroud trees...
0:01:38 > 0:01:39BURP
0:01:39 > 0:01:42- Oh, Tim!- No, that wasn't me.
0:01:42 > 0:01:44It's part of the story, look.
0:01:44 > 0:01:46Where among the mist-shroud trees,
0:01:46 > 0:01:49a strange sound breaks the tranquillity.
0:01:49 > 0:01:53GRUNTING
0:01:53 > 0:01:56It's being made by this man, Gary Revell,
0:01:56 > 0:01:59and he has a very peculiar job.
0:01:59 > 0:02:01I not only love what I do,
0:02:01 > 0:02:03I'm bonded to it.
0:02:03 > 0:02:05Oh, does he sell glue?
0:02:05 > 0:02:07It's in my blood to do this.
0:02:07 > 0:02:10He's a vampire. No, a haematologist.
0:02:10 > 0:02:13No, Gary is actually a musician of sorts.
0:02:13 > 0:02:16There is a technique to it, there is an art.
0:02:16 > 0:02:19It's like playing an instrument - either you can play it
0:02:19 > 0:02:20or you can't.
0:02:22 > 0:02:25And to a certain group of subterranean invertebrates,
0:02:25 > 0:02:29Gary's unusual melodies are the equivalent of a Justin Bieber gig.
0:02:30 > 0:02:32Because Gary is a worm grunter.
0:02:37 > 0:02:39A worm grunter?
0:02:39 > 0:02:41Yeah, when it comes to collecting worms,
0:02:41 > 0:02:44Gary is the best in the business.
0:02:45 > 0:02:48There is no other technique
0:02:48 > 0:02:52that I know of that can get these worms like this,
0:02:52 > 0:02:54but with this right here, it's simple.
0:02:54 > 0:02:56A wooden stub and a piece of iron.
0:02:56 > 0:02:58Well, that sounds easy enough.
0:03:00 > 0:03:02It seems that earthworms are irresistibly drawn
0:03:02 > 0:03:04to Gary's grunting.
0:03:04 > 0:03:08All his wife, Audrey, has to do is gather them up and sell them on to
0:03:08 > 0:03:10the local fishermen.
0:03:10 > 0:03:12GRUNTING
0:03:12 > 0:03:14Oh!
0:03:14 > 0:03:16- Look, I got one.- Really?
0:03:16 > 0:03:18Oh, no, it's just an old noodle.
0:03:25 > 0:03:29So, what makes the worms so drawn to Gary's good vibrations?
0:03:29 > 0:03:31Is it time for a scientist?
0:03:31 > 0:03:34Absolutely. Allow me to introduce Professor Ken Catania.
0:03:35 > 0:03:37Being on the surface of the soil,
0:03:37 > 0:03:39it's the last place you want to be if you're an earthworm.
0:03:39 > 0:03:43There's birds and snakes and lizards and ants and all kinds of things
0:03:43 > 0:03:45that can eat you, not to mention you're out in the sun.
0:03:45 > 0:03:49Why would an earthworm come up out of the ground when it senses
0:03:49 > 0:03:50vibrations?
0:03:50 > 0:03:53To find out, Ken hit the road and went to visit Gary and Audrey,
0:03:53 > 0:03:56and he was amazed by what he saw.
0:03:56 > 0:03:58Up came the earthworms, out of the ground.
0:03:58 > 0:04:01Audrey could go around and collect thousands of them.
0:04:01 > 0:04:03It was just really something to see.
0:04:03 > 0:04:06And they are huge earthworms, so it is really dramatic.
0:04:06 > 0:04:08So, what on earth?
0:04:09 > 0:04:11- Get it?- Yeah.- Earth, earthworms.
0:04:12 > 0:04:14- Yeah.- Never mind.
0:04:14 > 0:04:16What is going on, then?
0:04:16 > 0:04:20Well, Ken suspected that so many worms would only surface so quickly
0:04:20 > 0:04:22if they were running scared.
0:04:22 > 0:04:26If you're chasing your dinner, you don't want to risk your life.
0:04:26 > 0:04:28But if you are about to be dinner,
0:04:28 > 0:04:31you need to risk your life to escape.
0:04:31 > 0:04:35And his suspicions were confirmed with the help of an old friend.
0:04:35 > 0:04:37- Father Christmas? - No, that's Charles Darwin.
0:04:37 > 0:04:39Charles Darwin is Father Christmas?
0:04:39 > 0:04:43- Oh, just listen.- Darwin says that it has often been reported that when
0:04:43 > 0:04:47the ground is beaten or made to tremble that worms believe they're
0:04:47 > 0:04:51pursued by a mole and will exit their burrows to the surface.
0:04:51 > 0:04:54So Ken believed the vibration of Gary's grunting
0:04:54 > 0:04:59was mimicking the tunnelling of the worms' ultimate predator
0:04:59 > 0:05:00- the mole.
0:05:02 > 0:05:03But how to prove it?
0:05:03 > 0:05:06Gary had a bucket of worms
0:05:06 > 0:05:09and I had collected a mole and...
0:05:09 > 0:05:12Hang on, hang on. He collected a mole?
0:05:12 > 0:05:14Where from, Moles "R" Us?
0:05:15 > 0:05:18- That's good.- Moles And Spencer's.
0:05:19 > 0:05:21Moles-isons?
0:05:21 > 0:05:22Good.
0:05:22 > 0:05:23Mole...
0:05:23 > 0:05:25Uh, mole...
0:05:25 > 0:05:27I can't think of any more.
0:05:27 > 0:05:29Nor me.
0:05:29 > 0:05:33Well, anyway, Ken released his mole back into the ground and...
0:05:33 > 0:05:35Up came the worms, streaming up to the surface,
0:05:35 > 0:05:39and that was just great because the two of us sort of looked at each
0:05:39 > 0:05:42other and thought, "It's probably moles."
0:05:42 > 0:05:44So it turns out worm grunters
0:05:44 > 0:05:48are actually world-class mole impersonators.
0:05:48 > 0:05:53The sound that the worm grunters are making is like the giant mother of
0:05:53 > 0:05:54all moles.
0:05:54 > 0:05:59To an earthworm, that is a terrifying sound.
0:05:59 > 0:06:02That is what he told me, he said, "You're a giant mole."
0:06:02 > 0:06:05And I said, "That works for me."
0:06:07 > 0:06:09Why do all your stories
0:06:09 > 0:06:12have to be about things that are slimy and wriggly?
0:06:12 > 0:06:15Because cute, fluffy, little animals are boring, aren't they?
0:06:15 > 0:06:17Oh, I beg to differ!
0:06:17 > 0:06:18Watch this.
0:06:18 > 0:06:21Here's another odd auditory tale from North America,
0:06:21 > 0:06:23this time from the Great Plains.
0:06:23 > 0:06:27These giant expanses of open grasslands are home to some rather
0:06:27 > 0:06:29cute and cuddly inhabitants.
0:06:29 > 0:06:31- Meerkats.- No, prairie dogs.
0:06:31 > 0:06:33An animal famed for their...
0:06:33 > 0:06:38- Car insurance.- No, a spectacular network of underground burrows.
0:06:38 > 0:06:42They create vast subterranean tunnels where these fluffy rodents
0:06:42 > 0:06:44form complex social groups.
0:06:44 > 0:06:47But, recently, some prairie dogs have been spotted acting
0:06:47 > 0:06:49very oddly indeed.
0:06:49 > 0:06:52THEY SQUEAK
0:06:54 > 0:06:57Look at that. Brilliant, they're doing a Mexican wave!
0:07:04 > 0:07:06Naomi, it appears
0:07:06 > 0:07:09we have another curious sound-based conundrum to solve.
0:07:09 > 0:07:11It's time to call in the expert.
0:07:11 > 0:07:13Another scientist.
0:07:13 > 0:07:15No, me, Naomi.
0:07:15 > 0:07:17Me.
0:07:18 > 0:07:22These squeaky spasms are clearly courtship calls made by the males to
0:07:22 > 0:07:24impress their lady friends.
0:07:24 > 0:07:28Actually, all prairie dogs make these strange squeaks - young, old,
0:07:28 > 0:07:31male and female - so that's that theory in the bin.
0:07:31 > 0:07:34Well, what I really meant to say was they are alarm calls.
0:07:34 > 0:07:38After all, there are plenty of prairie dog predators around.
0:07:38 > 0:07:40Like that big-eared dog, yeah.
0:07:40 > 0:07:42And the worm thing.
0:07:42 > 0:07:44You mean foxes and rattlesnakes, Mr Expert?
0:07:44 > 0:07:47If you want to use the scientific term, yes.
0:07:48 > 0:07:51I think we should ask a proper expert.
0:07:51 > 0:07:53How about Professor Slobodchikoff?
0:07:53 > 0:07:56- Bless you.- Of Northern Arizona University.
0:07:56 > 0:07:59Sure, anyone can be an expert if they are from some fancy pants
0:07:59 > 0:08:01university.
0:08:01 > 0:08:04I bet he's got loads of hi-tech equipment and gadgetry to
0:08:04 > 0:08:05help him as well, hasn't it?
0:08:05 > 0:08:07Hm, not exactly.
0:08:10 > 0:08:13Using some rather unique research techniques.
0:08:13 > 0:08:14Whoa, whoa, whoa! What's that?
0:08:14 > 0:08:18It's a fake mounted badger being pulled across the grass by a small
0:08:18 > 0:08:19man hiding in a tent.
0:08:20 > 0:08:22OK.
0:08:22 > 0:08:26Con and his team have discovered that prairie dogs use a different
0:08:26 > 0:08:28alarm call for each predator,
0:08:28 > 0:08:31and these calls contain huge amount of information.
0:08:31 > 0:08:36We think that each one of these chirps contains a noun-like word
0:08:36 > 0:08:39and it also contains adjective-like words, so we might say,
0:08:39 > 0:08:44"tall, skinny, a coyote with yellow fur,"
0:08:44 > 0:08:49and the prairie dogs manage to put all of this into a single chirp.
0:08:49 > 0:08:52Wait, so prairie dogs can talk to one another?
0:08:52 > 0:08:56Yes, they can change the meaning of their calls by varying the harmonics
0:08:56 > 0:08:57within each chirp.
0:08:57 > 0:09:00So what does, "yip-yap" mean?
0:09:00 > 0:09:03Tim! I can't believe you just said that.
0:09:03 > 0:09:05Sorry.
0:09:05 > 0:09:08Some scientists now believe that, apart from us humans,
0:09:08 > 0:09:11prairie dogs may have the most complex language found anywhere in
0:09:11 > 0:09:13the animal kingdom.
0:09:13 > 0:09:15And rather than being alarm calls,
0:09:15 > 0:09:18Con and his team now think our squeaky Mexican waves are probably
0:09:18 > 0:09:22an all-clear signal or a way of reporting in for duty.
0:09:24 > 0:09:26So, hang on, they don't know for sure?
0:09:26 > 0:09:29No, not yet, but they're working on it.
0:09:29 > 0:09:32Well, I would call that Ward-one, Experts-nil.
0:09:32 > 0:09:34Why? You don't know what they mean either.
0:09:34 > 0:09:36Details, Naomi, details.
0:09:36 > 0:09:39Anyway, I've got another eerie ear-based mystery for us.
0:09:39 > 0:09:43And this time it involves travelling back to the 1980s.
0:09:45 > 0:09:46Perfect.
0:09:49 > 0:09:52Sweden. Or to be more precise, the waters around Sweden.
0:09:52 > 0:09:54And strange things are happening.
0:09:57 > 0:10:02Remember, this was the 1980s and the East and West are still engaged in
0:10:02 > 0:10:03the Cold War.
0:10:03 > 0:10:06Isn't that the one with the giant polar bear?
0:10:06 > 0:10:08No, you're thinking of The Golden Compass.
0:10:09 > 0:10:12- Oh.- The Cold War was between Russia and, well,
0:10:12 > 0:10:16pretty much everyone else, and Sweden was right on the front line.
0:10:16 > 0:10:19Russian submarines were regularly reported off the Swedish coast,
0:10:19 > 0:10:22so the canny Swedes came up with the idea of using
0:10:22 > 0:10:24underwater microphones.
0:10:24 > 0:10:26Oh, I love canny Swedes.
0:10:26 > 0:10:28- Do you?- Yeah.
0:10:28 > 0:10:31And canny peas and canny carrots.
0:10:33 > 0:10:34Terrible.
0:10:36 > 0:10:41The Swedish Navy use the microphones to detect the Russian submarines.
0:10:41 > 0:10:43And the sound the subs made was imaginatively labelled
0:10:43 > 0:10:45the typical sound.
0:10:45 > 0:10:47- Catchy.- Hm.
0:10:47 > 0:10:50But when the Cold War ended and the Russian submarines went home,
0:10:50 > 0:10:52something strange happened -
0:10:52 > 0:10:57the Swedish Navy could still hear the typical sound.
0:10:57 > 0:11:00So if it wasn't being made by submarines,
0:11:00 > 0:11:03what had they been listening to all these years?
0:11:04 > 0:11:06To solve this marine mystery,
0:11:06 > 0:11:09the Navy called in a team of ocean acoustic experts,
0:11:09 > 0:11:11including Magnus Wahlberg.
0:11:11 > 0:11:15We're all sitting quiet in this room, listening very carefully,
0:11:15 > 0:11:17and then they play the sound for us.
0:11:17 > 0:11:19RADIO STATIC
0:11:19 > 0:11:21It sounded like someone frying bacon.
0:11:24 > 0:11:27Magnus immediately realised the Navy had been fooled
0:11:27 > 0:11:29by a red herring.
0:11:31 > 0:11:32So, what was it then?
0:11:32 > 0:11:34I just told you, a herring.
0:11:34 > 0:11:36Oh.
0:11:36 > 0:11:38There's only one way to produce the typical sound,
0:11:38 > 0:11:40and that is to squeeze a herring.
0:11:41 > 0:11:44So there we go, that wraps that story up perfectly.
0:11:44 > 0:11:47Whoa, whoa, whoa, did he just say squeeze a herring?
0:11:47 > 0:11:49Why would you do that?
0:11:49 > 0:11:52I can't tell you any more, it's a classified military secret.
0:11:52 > 0:11:55- What?- Hm. Interrogate me all you like, I will not break.
0:11:58 > 0:11:59- Go on.- OK.
0:12:01 > 0:12:03So herring is a very interesting fish.
0:12:03 > 0:12:04It has a swim bladder.
0:12:04 > 0:12:08The herring will pump in air to its swim bladder to sort of keep afloat.
0:12:08 > 0:12:12The funny thing with herring is it has a canal from the swim bladder
0:12:12 > 0:12:14and out to the anal opening.
0:12:16 > 0:12:19So they can sort of fart, if you want.
0:12:19 > 0:12:21BUBBLING
0:12:21 > 0:12:26And each time they release this bubble, that will cause sound.
0:12:28 > 0:12:30So you can have millions and millions of herring.
0:12:30 > 0:12:33One school can be like several square miles.
0:12:33 > 0:12:35You'll have this cacophony of...
0:12:35 > 0:12:39farts coming and you will hear this, it's like
0:12:39 > 0:12:41a roar of farts coming
0:12:41 > 0:12:44and it can actually sound quite impressive.
0:12:44 > 0:12:47Never mind about the sound, what about the smell?
0:12:48 > 0:12:52They use this as what we call an anti-predator defence,
0:12:52 > 0:12:56so you have a killer whale or a dolphin chasing a herring school,
0:12:56 > 0:12:59they can release a lot of air, and the dolphin is like, "Hey,
0:12:59 > 0:13:02"where did the herring go? I can just see bubbles now."
0:13:02 > 0:13:05If you think about this guy moving through the water,
0:13:05 > 0:13:08all of the herring will sort of be scared and probably release
0:13:08 > 0:13:09all these bubbles.
0:13:09 > 0:13:12And the sonar operator inside here, he will be like,
0:13:12 > 0:13:15"I can hear the Soviet submarine, it's just next to us!"
0:13:15 > 0:13:19So the Swedish Navy had been mistaking a school of flatulent fish
0:13:19 > 0:13:20for Soviet subs all along...
0:13:22 > 0:13:25..making this a rather embarrassing case
0:13:25 > 0:13:26of mistaken identity.
0:13:31 > 0:13:34Well, I think we got to the bottom of that one.
0:13:34 > 0:13:37Great, does that mean we can get out of these ridiculous clothes now?
0:13:37 > 0:13:41Yeah, because I tell you what, these cowboy boots are really comfortable.
0:13:41 > 0:13:42HE FARTS
0:13:45 > 0:13:47Uh, there is a herring at the door, I think.
0:13:47 > 0:13:52I'm just going to go and check to see. Uh...
0:13:52 > 0:13:54# They're wild and weird Wild and weird
0:13:54 > 0:13:56# Really, really wild and really, really weird
0:13:56 > 0:13:59# They're wild and weird Wild and weird
0:13:59 > 0:14:00# They're really, really wild
0:14:00 > 0:14:02# They're really, really wild and weird
0:14:06 > 0:14:09# Wild and weird. #