Peculiar Pets Wild & Weird

# Wormy fish-killers Convoys of caterpillars

-# Super-clever, brainless slime... #

-Ugh!

# Bunny rabbit swarms, raging storms

# And pigs that swim at dinner time

# Tornadoes of fire Starfish going haywire

-# Algae balls from space! #

-What?!

# Prairie dogs that chat Birds going splat

# And fish slapping in your face

# 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... #

On today's show, we meet the monster

that could be living in your fish tank...

While, that thing is massive.

..an island infested with bunny rabbits...

HE LAUGHS

..and rats with a death wish.

# You will have a fishy on a little dishy

# You will have a fishy on... #

Mr Tibbles! Come out, come out, wherever you are.

-Talking to yourself again, Tim?

-No. Strangest thing, though.

-I've lost my fish.

-What are you talking about?

Well, he was in there are swimming around all happy as a clam

and now Mr Tibbles has vanished.

-What are you eating?

-Fish and chips.

HE GASPS

You monster!

Tim, I'm not eating your fish.

-Oh, phew!

-Eurgh.

-I wonder where he's gone, then.

-Yeah, it's a bit of a mystery.

And not for the first time, by all accounts.

To America!

STAR-SPANGLED BANNER PLAYS

Miami, in the USA.

Where an invisible killer is on the loose.

-What, him?

-No, that's Brian.

He's the owner of a tropical fish and living coral aquarium shop

and he's seen a lot of strange things in his time.

We've had fish give birth, a shark hatch out of an egg,

blue-ringed octopus,

but I've never seen anything as mind-blowing as this.

In January of 2013, Brian noticed something pretty unusual.

I noticed when I came in in the morning,

all the corals were pulled to the middle of the rocks.

So I put them all back out and I explained to everybody,

if you're going to clean the glass,

to please move the corals back when you're done.

Everybody had kind of denied it and said they didn't do it.

The finger of blame pointed at some of Brian's colleagues,

so he really wasn't happy when it happened again.

The following day we got a coral shipment in.

There's a coral called the Finger of Leather,

which is a soft coral.

I put it in, came back the next morning

and it was only about a half-inch on each tentacle.

Something had eaten about 3 to 4 inches.

So Brian's fish shop staff were eating the coral?

OH! I don't see the appeal myself.

No, the staff weren't eating them but something else was.

And not just coral but entire fish eaten alive!

No, no!

THEY GASP

Fishy!

Brian decided to investigate.

Oh, I can't look!

I decided to take all the rock out of the aquarium

and out of nowhere, this giant thing

just started swimming around the tank.

The reaction was crazy.

"Oh, my God, get a net! What is that?"

And this is what Brian caught. It's a bobbit worm.

This bizarre-looking creature usually lives in the waters

of the Indo-Pacific ocean.

In the wild, they hide in the sediment on the ocean floor

using their highly tuned antennae to sense prey.

When an unfortunate fish comes by,

it strikes in a split second as if from nowhere.

Ouch!

Hmm. This is a job for Sherlock.

It is. But not you.

-Who then?

-Emma Sherlock.

She's the curator of invertebrates

at the Natural History Museum in London.

Ah. Good choice.

They are really, really powerful animals.

They will attack with their jaws and it can be so fast

and so vicious, they can actually snap fish in two.

Definitely wouldn't want to get your fingers too close to these guys.

This is a highly weaponised worm, not to be messed with.

But there's still one thing that doesn't add up.

It's something that's been in this aquarium

for a very long time that we'd never noticed

and we're in and out of the aquarium probably about 30 times a day,

-20 times a day.

-Make your mind up, Brian.

Shockingly, other people are finding them in their fish tanks too.

Wow! That thing's massive!

-It is quite revolting.

-It's huge!

I can't believe I've never seen him, though.

Believe it or not, this mega-worm can grow up to 3 metres in length.

Here, hold this.

So... Oh, no. Keep going, that's one. Yeah, that's one.

Oh, hang on. 1.6, yeah, keep going. Keep going. Oh, there you go.

How does something that big fit in my fish tank?

I don't know, let's find out.

Ow!

It seems staggering to people but actually what's happening,

is that when these animals are very small, they can fit

very easily into little crevices in rocks and corals

and when you're making up your aquarium,

you put in these bits of coral unknowing of what's lurking inside.

As the bobbit worm grows, it hides under the sand and rocks.

The only sign of its presence is the ever-increasing list

of missing aquarium animals.

Do you reckon that's where my fishy's gone?

Probably not.

Uh, Tim? We see that castle there?

Mm. It's fancy, isn't it?

You don't suppose your fish has gone in there, do you?

-Oh, yeah! Oh, there he is!

-HE LAUGHS

Oh, fishy, fishy, fishy!

Tim, why don't you just get yourself a proper pet?

You know, one that does something interesting. Like a rabbit!

No, not a rabbit! Anything but!

What are you talking about, Tim?

SCREAMING

Naomi! Naomi!

No, no! Not a rabbit!

They are too hellbent on world domination.

Don't be daft, rabbits are amazing and super cuddly. Look at this!

WOMAN SCREAMS

-what was that?

-Nothing. Where's the rewind button on this thing?

We head to Okunoshima.

A small island off the coast of Japan.

But, visitors are not coming here for the scenery

or for the sea air.

Oh, no. They've come for this.

SHE SCREAMS

Welcome to Rabbit Island.

# Rabbit, Rabbit, rabbit, rabbit, rabbit, rabbit, rabbit,

# rabbit, rabbit, rabbit, rabbit, rabbit, rabbit, rabbit... #

Okunoshima is home to hundreds of extraordinary rabbits.

Those don't look like the shy bunnies of childhood stories.

They're fearless. They're an army.

Oh! A bunny rabbit army!

That would be adorable. All their little ears!

-Aw!

-But aren't rabbits supposed to be scared of everything?

I'll let wildlife expert Dr Sasha Norris explain.

A wild rabbit is a classic prey animal.

So it's a muscular,

highly nutritious sort of parcel of meat, really.

I can relate to that.

Hey!

As a result, they're top of every predator's hit list.

By contrast, rabbits on the island seemed to fear nothing.

They're completely chilled out above the ground with

no sign of that legendary vigilance.

In fact, they're relaxed to the point of idiocy.

Ah! Brilliant!

Let's watch that again.

HE LAUGHS

-OOP!

-Tim!

And rather than fleeing at the first sight of an intruder,

these rabbits actually chase visitors.

I knew it.

-Murderous and violent, the whole lot of them.

-How can you say that?

-Just look at their adorable little faces.

-Where did that come from?

She just wandered in from outside. She's so fluffy!

So why is the island filled with loads of rabbits, then?

Well...

During World War II, the island was used by the military

so for secrecy and safety, the civilian population

and their pets and livestock were evacuated.

After the war, the island remained uninhabited and has done ever since.

The theory is that during the 1970s,

pet rabbits were released here by schoolchildren

and it's those that are the ancestors of this brood.

Kids today!

Well, yesterday.

Wherever the rabbits came from, one thing is true,

today there isn't a single predator on the island

so these bunnies live completely without fear

and a lack of predators hasn't just made them bold.

A female rabbit can produce a new litter every month.

In theory, one female and her offspring

could produce over 50,000 rabbits in just three years.

-50,000?

-I know, isn't it amazing?

It's terrifying!

Oh, for goodness' sake, will you keep that creature under control!

You can't just let her run riot all over the place.

What are you on about, Tim?

HE GASPS

Naomi! Naomi!

Those of you that haven't passed out are probably wondering,

"Why are these rabbits chasing down the visitors?"

Well, with so many rabbits on the island,

edible vegetation can get pretty scarce.

Luckily for the bunnies, part of the Rabbit Island experience

is feeding these cuddly critters.

So when the rabbits spot people, they know there's food to be had

and they "hare" off in pursuit!

SHE LAUGHS

Oi, you! Wake up. You're missing my jokes.

What follows is a very gentle fluffy mugging.

HE LAUGHS

-Naomi, Naomi?

-What?

-Look!

-Oh!

Look, Tim. There's nothing to worry about.

The only come near you if you've food. Check your pockets.

Ah...

I might have something.

-Why?

-Well you never know when you're going to need some spare cabbage.

RABBITS: MMM...

Oh, phew!

Phew.

You know, Naomi, when it comes to small, fluffy animals,

there are loads that are better than rabbits.

-For example?

-Rats.

-Ew! No.

Rats are grosser.

Oh, whatever, you're wronger. I mean, wrong.

Rats just have a bad reputation.

They're clean, they're clever, they fight cats...

What, no? I think you're getting confused, Tim. Cats catch rats.

Oh, do they? Have a look at this.

# You better leave my kitten alone... #

-What?

-I told you. Go on, get him!

This behaviour defies all the rules of nature

and it's not a one-off case.

This is not a new species of uber-aggressive, biting rodent.

These rats weren't born with a death wish. Oh, no.

Scientists think that this bizarre behaviour

might be brought about by a parasite.

Ohh!

Toxoplasma gondii to be precise.

A tiny single-celled organism that lives in the rodent's brain.

Here, it meddles with the neurons

to render the rat completely fearless.

But why would a parasite want to give a rat a death wish?

-Well, this parasite doesn't care too much for rats.

-I know the feeling.

Rats are purely a means to an end.

You see, for the Toxoplasma, ultimate aim is to get into cats.

I am well into cats.

No, no, no. In to cats.

What's unique about this parasite is that it can only reproduce

inside the gut of a cat.

What it needs to do, its life cycle, its evolutionary pressure,

its need is to get from one cat to another cat.

And the question is, how does a tiny parasite with no legs,

no means of moving on its own,

how does it get all the way from one cat to another cat?

I don't know. How does a tiny parasite with no legs

and no means of moving on its own get from one cat to another?

-It's not a joke.

-Oh.

-No, Toxoplasma makes rats its rodent slaves.

-Ew!

Here's how it works.

Toxoplasmosis offspring exit the cat in its poo.

The rat or mouse then eats that poo.

-Eurgh!

-I know, yeah!

Once inside the rat,

the parasite moves to the rodent's brain,

lowering the rat's inhibitions,

making it less cautious and more likely to get eaten.

Et voila.

The life cycle is complete.

Look at that rat! How about that? He's chasing a cat.

-Why are you talking in rhyme?

-I'm not. At least not a lot.

Yes, you are. And it's gone too far.

Oh, now I'm doing it too.

-Oh, get you.

-Seriously. Let's stop now.

-Yeah, OK.

-What have we learnt this week?

-Oh, uh...pets are weird.

-Very good. Anything else?

Yeah, you don't like light-hearted rhymes.

-That's true.

-Yeah.

-What else?

-I can't think of anything else.

Well I've learned the best way to get rid of you

-if I want a bit of peace and quiet.

-Oh, go on.

Here, bunny, bunny, bunny!

HE GASPS

# Rabbit, rabbit, rabbit, rabbit... #

See you next time!

# 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 and really, really wild

# And weird! #

Wild and weird!