Menagerie QI


Menagerie

Similar Content

Browse content similar to Menagerie. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!

Transcript


LineFromTo

APPLAUSE

0:00:220:00:24

STEPHEN WAILS

0:00:290:00:32

Good evening, good evening, good evening, good evening.

0:00:320:00:34

Welcome to Qi which, tonight,

0:00:340:00:37

is a menagerie of animals beginning with M.

0:00:370:00:40

Let's meet our man children.

0:00:400:00:42

The mammalian Romesh Ranganathan...

0:00:420:00:46

APPLAUSE

0:00:460:00:47

..the marsupial Bill Bailey...

0:00:510:00:54

APPLAUSE

0:00:540:00:55

..the microscopic Sue Perkins...

0:00:570:00:59

APPLAUSE

0:00:590:01:01

..and the missing mink Alan Davies.

0:01:020:01:05

APPLAUSE

0:01:050:01:07

So, let's hear it for the monkeys, please. Sue goes...

0:01:100:01:14

MONKEY SCREECHES

0:01:140:01:16

Stop, stop.

0:01:160:01:18

..Romesh goes... MONKEY GIBBERS

0:01:180:01:21

LAUGHTER

0:01:210:01:22

..Bill goes...

0:01:220:01:23

MONKEY SHRIEKS

0:01:230:01:26

-Which, you do, actually, don't you?

-I do, yeah.

0:01:260:01:29

..and Alan goes...

0:01:290:01:30

# Hey hey, we're the Monkees

0:01:300:01:33

# People say we monkey around... #

0:01:330:01:36

So, it's a menagerie.

0:01:360:01:37

Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager

0:01:370:01:39

managing an imaginary menagerie.

0:01:390:01:40

-Very good, well done.

-Thank you very much.

0:01:400:01:43

What's...? What...? What just happened?

0:01:430:01:45

LAUGHTER

0:01:450:01:46

We're imagining an imaginary menagerie manager

0:01:460:01:48

-managing an imaginary menagerie.

-Boom!

-Wow.

0:01:480:01:51

-APPLAUSE

-That certainly is impressive.

0:01:510:01:55

It's a menagerie. Animal collections.

0:01:570:02:00

That monkey's really staring you out, Stephen.

0:02:000:02:02

LAUGHTER

0:02:020:02:04

All right. Now, do an impression,

0:02:040:02:05

if you can, of a moose on the pull.

0:02:050:02:08

LAUGHTER

0:02:080:02:10

A moose on the pull? OK.

0:02:100:02:12

ROMESH ROARS

0:02:120:02:13

-Very good.

-Probably. That will enter into it.

-When it goes...

0:02:130:02:17

"Are you a parking ticket

0:02:170:02:19

"cos you got fine written all over you-ooh?"

0:02:190:02:21

LAUGHTER

0:02:210:02:23

-Is that a genuine pick-up line? I love it.

-I think it might be.

0:02:250:02:29

-"Fine written all over you."

-I'm not actually sure what...

0:02:290:02:31

It's not really the sound. It's actually a physical...maybe.

0:02:310:02:34

-It's a physical impression.

-Did you do that?

0:02:340:02:36

A male moose would do that...?

0:02:360:02:38

Does it go up...?

0:02:380:02:40

Does it go up on its rear legs and... Eh?

0:02:400:02:42

LAUGHTER

0:02:420:02:44

Eh? See anything you like, moose lady?

0:02:440:02:48

LAUGHTER

0:02:480:02:50

-Or moose gentleman.

-LAUGHTER

0:02:500:02:53

So, what order of mammal is a moose?

0:02:530:02:56

It is elk, isn't it? Or a deer?

0:02:560:02:58

Well, an elk is simply the European name for what Americans call a moose.

0:02:580:03:01

-I've seen one.

-I've seen one.

0:03:010:03:03

LAUGHTER

0:03:030:03:05

-I went to Canada and I was staying in a cabin...

-Yeah?

0:03:050:03:08

..and I woke up in the morning, and I looked out the window,

0:03:080:03:10

and it was right outside the window. They're almost entirely silent.

0:03:100:03:13

-Yes.

-They're so stealthy, you wouldn't think...

0:03:130:03:16

-I mean, they're huge - they're like a horse...

-Oh, right.

0:03:160:03:18

..but they hardly make any sound at all, and they creep about.

0:03:180:03:21

Frankly, they're unnerving. They're surreptitious.

0:03:210:03:23

-Surreptitious.

-I'm amazed it makes any noise...

0:03:230:03:25

Would be more like this, then? Would be more like sort of...?

0:03:250:03:28

Don't look. Look away. Pretend you're a moose

0:03:280:03:30

-at a disco or something.

-LAUGHTER

0:03:300:03:34

-Fancy a bunk up?

-LAUGHTER

0:03:340:03:40

Is it something like that?

0:03:400:03:41

APPLAUSE

0:03:410:03:44

"Fancy a bunk up?"

0:03:440:03:46

-It's a moose.

-He said, "Fancy a bunk up?"

0:03:460:03:49

You haven't chatted anyone up since the '70s, have you?

0:03:490:03:51

LAUGHTER

0:03:510:03:53

I sort of feel sorry for animals...

0:03:530:03:55

Like, well, moose. ..because they haven't got... How do you...?

0:03:550:03:58

If you're going on the pull, as a moose,

0:03:580:04:00

how do you stick out from the herd?

0:04:000:04:02

If you're a human and you're struggling on the pull,

0:04:020:04:05

you can get, like, a snazzy haircut or, like, a cool jacket.

0:04:050:04:07

-Do you know what I mean?

-LAUGHTER

0:04:070:04:10

So, the moose does something else.

0:04:100:04:12

-BILL:

-Ah! It goes on Tinder, is that right?

0:04:120:04:14

LAUGHTER

0:04:140:04:15

There's an equivalent of tundra... Tinder.

0:04:180:04:21

Is there? Tundra Tinder, I like it. Tindra.

0:04:210:04:25

What are they, as an order of mammal?

0:04:250:04:27

-They are...

-Deer.

-Deer, they are deer.

0:04:270:04:28

What the deer's mating season?

0:04:280:04:30

-The males called it...

-Rut.

-They rut.

0:04:300:04:33

One of the things they do in their rut, the males,

0:04:330:04:36

is they dig a hole...

0:04:360:04:38

-It's the equivalent of wearing a smart jacket.

-OK.

0:04:380:04:42

..and they urinate into the hole,

0:04:420:04:45

and then they pull all the...

0:04:450:04:48

-pissy mud, let's call it...

-Sexy times.

-Yup.

0:04:480:04:51

..all around their legs and all around their bodies.

0:04:510:04:53

-They cover themselves in urine-soaked mud.

-Dirty.

0:04:530:04:56

And they go a little distance from the hole and they sit down.

0:04:560:04:59

They wait for the female to come -

0:04:590:05:01

who, as a female would, would go,

0:05:010:05:02

"I like the smell of this."

0:05:020:05:04

LAUGHTER

0:05:040:05:06

-It's muddy and it's...

-Pissy!

-..slightly pissy.

0:05:060:05:08

Just a little touch of piss.

0:05:080:05:09

And they get in there and cover themselves in that mixture

0:05:090:05:13

-and then mating happens.

-And then he says, "Fancy a bunk up?"

0:05:130:05:15

LAUGHTER Yeah.

0:05:150:05:18

But before that, they've got to go through the other rutting procedure,

0:05:180:05:21

which is why they've got the antlers, and that's fighting with other males.

0:05:210:05:24

Are there any female moose that aren't necessarily drawn in

0:05:240:05:27

by the toxic, heady brew of urine,

0:05:270:05:29

mud and some slightly wonky antlers?

0:05:290:05:32

If there are, unfortunately they'll probably die out

0:05:320:05:35

because the only ones that mate are the ones that go in for this,

0:05:350:05:39

-and they pass on their genes.

-What does it smell like?

0:05:390:05:42

As bad as it sounds, I fear.

0:05:420:05:44

Are you moose-curious now?

0:05:440:05:46

LAUGHTER

0:05:460:05:49

I am moose-curious.

0:05:490:05:51

I want to smell your mud...moosey boy.

0:05:510:05:54

LAUGHTER

0:05:540:05:56

Anyway, to impress the females, a moose on the pull

0:05:560:05:59

really has to splash out a bit.

0:05:590:06:01

Where would you find the world's most dangerous moustache?

0:06:010:06:05

LAUGHTER

0:06:050:06:06

Oh, look at Selleck there.

0:06:060:06:08

Can I just point out that this bit of Hitler's moustache, is that...?

0:06:080:06:13

It is a shadow.

0:06:130:06:15

Did he cut a bit off there or is that a shadow?

0:06:150:06:17

LAUGHTER

0:06:170:06:19

-That's what tipped him over the edge.

-It was, yes.

0:06:190:06:22

-He was shaving and...

-So, we're criticising Hitler now, are we?

0:06:220:06:24

-Yes.

-LAUGHTER

0:06:240:06:26

The more I hear about him,

0:06:260:06:28

the less I like him.

0:06:280:06:30

Of course, we're in a menagerie world here

0:06:300:06:32

so this moustache is not belonging to a human being.

0:06:320:06:36

-A shark.

-Is it a horse?

0:06:360:06:37

A moustache on a shark, that's dangerous.

0:06:370:06:39

Is it the moustached lizard?

0:06:390:06:41

-LAUGHTER No.

-Is it the Terry-Thomas gecko?

0:06:410:06:43

Komodo dragon.

0:06:430:06:45

You could go dragon. It's not a dragon, it's not an iguana.

0:06:450:06:47

-It's actually...

-The KOMODO dragon.

0:06:470:06:49

Badoing, badoing.

0:06:490:06:50

A gecko. A leaping lizard.

0:06:500:06:52

-ROMESH:

-The Selleck frog.

0:06:520:06:54

Amphibious.

0:06:540:06:55

-The trampolining, amphibious...

-Frog!

0:06:550:06:58

-Other one.

-Toad!

0:06:580:06:59

-Is the right answer.

-It's a toad?!

0:06:590:07:01

It's a toad. It's the moustachioed toad.

0:07:010:07:03

-Moustachioed toad.

-The Emei.

0:07:030:07:04

-Wow.

-Look at that, that is seriously dangerous.

0:07:040:07:07

Look how he's done it, he's gelled it up.

0:07:070:07:09

LAUGHTER

0:07:090:07:11

Those studs... Again, we're back in the rutting world.

0:07:110:07:14

-Oh, God, look at that.

-..tear into fellow males

0:07:140:07:16

so that you can get the right mate.

0:07:160:07:18

And then give the worst snog of all time.

0:07:180:07:20

LAUGHTER

0:07:200:07:22

Well, it lives in China,

0:07:220:07:24

and in the mating season, it builds up its forearms...

0:07:240:07:27

-Oh, yeah?

-Right.

0:07:270:07:29

..but also for mating -

0:07:290:07:31

for the grasping the female.

0:07:310:07:34

And then it grows this moustache

0:07:340:07:36

and then they fight a male rival

0:07:360:07:38

at the bottom of the river stream

0:07:380:07:40

over a particular female -

0:07:400:07:41

and they aim for each other's stomachs to rip at them.

0:07:410:07:44

Really, it's nasty business.

0:07:440:07:47

90% of toads involved in this kind of combat are injured,

0:07:470:07:50

so it's a really pretty...

0:07:500:07:52

God, it make you grateful to be a human, doesn't it, sometimes?

0:07:520:07:55

Yeah.

0:07:550:07:56

Really? That's your life?

0:07:560:07:58

Underwater stomach ripping?

0:07:580:08:00

Being intestinally jarred by someone's weird, pointy moustache.

0:08:000:08:04

-Not for me.

-When they then get the female,

0:08:040:08:06

they fertilise the eggs that the female has laid.

0:08:060:08:08

They get a little rock and they have to stay on the rock

0:08:080:08:11

or another male might challenge them for the rock and

0:08:110:08:13

fertilise the spare eggs and then, when they are hatched...

0:08:130:08:16

-It sheds its horns.

-..it sheds its moustache...

0:08:160:08:18

-Its love horns.

-..and goes around clean-shaven.

0:08:180:08:20

Oh, wow.

0:08:200:08:22

-Wow.

-The Emei. E-M-E-I.

0:08:220:08:24

-Emei.

-Yeah.

0:08:240:08:27

Now, we all know there are perfectly good reasons for shaving a toad,

0:08:270:08:31

but why would you want to shave the monkey?

0:08:310:08:33

MONKEY SHRIEKS

0:08:330:08:35

LAUGHTER

0:08:350:08:37

Do you know it?

0:08:370:08:39

To find out if it was the Antichrist.

0:08:390:08:41

LAUGHTER

0:08:410:08:43

Have the 666 or related number, according to...

0:08:430:08:46

Is it some sort of, like, monkey stag do?

0:08:460:08:49

-Well...

-He goes to sleep and they shave him completely.

0:08:510:08:54

-And then he'll wake up and go, "Ha-ha-ha(!)"

-It's not that.

0:08:540:08:57

SLOWLY: It's like this with extreme slowness and laziness...

0:08:570:09:01

-Sloth.

-Are you a lazy monkey?

0:09:010:09:03

I would be languid...

0:09:030:09:04

-A langur.

-A langur.

0:09:040:09:07

-Oh, hello.

-Where do you find langur monkeys?

0:09:070:09:11

That one in the middle does not look lazy.

0:09:110:09:13

LAUGHTER

0:09:130:09:14

Psychotic? Yes.

0:09:140:09:17

-It's langur.

-Oh, right, OK.

-That's what they're called.

0:09:170:09:19

Do they like Madagascar? Do they go there?

0:09:190:09:21

I don't think so. It's all lemurs, I think.

0:09:210:09:23

They're India. There's a lot of them.

0:09:230:09:25

Such a lot that there's a real problem.

0:09:250:09:27

They're considered an infestation

0:09:270:09:30

and so Indian authorities decided they would try something,

0:09:300:09:34

which is...

0:09:340:09:36

-You shave the leader of a particular troop of langurs...

-Yes.

0:09:360:09:40

-..the alpha male...

-Yup.

0:09:400:09:41

..and rather than him being expelled and another male taking his place,

0:09:410:09:46

-the group disbands.

-Oh.

0:09:460:09:48

And that sort of solves the problem of the infestation

0:09:480:09:51

because they're a damn nuisance.

0:09:510:09:53

Pests, they're considered. I mean...

0:09:530:09:55

In their own place, the jungle...

0:09:550:09:58

-They can be quite scary.

-..fantastic.

0:09:580:10:00

It's amazing, leaping through trees.

0:10:000:10:01

Once they get habituated to humans, they pull your hair, they bite...

0:10:010:10:04

I've got a howler monkey bite here that still aggravates me.

0:10:040:10:07

"Oh, poor Stephen." LAUGHTER

0:10:070:10:09

-Were you trying to shave it?

-LAUGHTER

0:10:090:10:12

For your own wicked purposes?

0:10:120:10:14

LAUGHTER

0:10:140:10:18

Just horrible.

0:10:180:10:19

I like a smooth monkey myself.

0:10:190:10:21

Take it away, take it away. This monkey's too hairy.

0:10:210:10:23

Oh, yes, bring him to me. I will shave him.

0:10:230:10:26

No, um...

0:10:260:10:28

-Oh!

-MONKEY SHRIEKS

0:10:280:10:30

ALAN JOINS IN

0:10:300:10:31

In 2001, several large langurs were employed by the Indian government.

0:10:310:10:36

They were paid, in the form of bananas,

0:10:360:10:39

and they basically had to police the defence centre

0:10:390:10:41

where rhesus macaques were stealing food and paperwork,

0:10:410:10:44

-they were pulling women's saris off...

-Paperwork?

-Yes.

0:10:440:10:47

-Very anti-bureaucracy monkeys.

-It was the Ministry of Defence complex.

0:10:470:10:51

And so...they were small.

0:10:510:10:53

So they got the big langurs to police them, essentially,

0:10:530:10:55

and they did.

0:10:550:10:57

They pushed them out to the post office.

0:10:570:10:59

LAUGHTER

0:10:590:11:00

And they've worked there ever since.

0:11:000:11:03

Doing paperwork.

0:11:030:11:05

The thing is, the baboons in Cape Town,

0:11:050:11:07

they have to have monitors because they're protected,

0:11:070:11:10

so they can't actually take them out and put them on a perch.

0:11:100:11:13

No, it's illegal to kill them.

0:11:130:11:15

It's like killing a cow, they are sacred...

0:11:150:11:18

in the Hindu religion.

0:11:180:11:19

The God, Lord Hanuman,

0:11:190:11:21

apparently, is the monkey god.

0:11:210:11:23

But they're a damn nuisance, so it's very difficult to know what to do

0:11:230:11:26

but shaving seems a good answer.

0:11:260:11:27

Well, there you are! Now then,

0:11:270:11:29

how do you titillate this ocelot?

0:11:290:11:31

-Aww!

-AUDIENCE: Aww!

0:11:310:11:33

Oh, you can't, surely... Do you?

0:11:330:11:35

It's probably vicious, though, isn't it?

0:11:350:11:37

I mean, these things will have your arm off, won't they?

0:11:370:11:39

Well done for not saying the famous thing of

0:11:390:11:41

-"How do you titillate an ocelot?"

-Which is to...?

0:11:410:11:43

Oscillate its tits a lot. LAUGHTER

0:11:430:11:47

You didn't do that.

0:11:470:11:49

This is tree ocelot,

0:11:490:11:50

which actually is better known by another name

0:11:500:11:53

which begins with our themed letter.

0:11:530:11:55

There it is. Beautiful animal.

0:11:550:11:56

-Oh.

-Oh.

-I've played with one...

0:11:560:11:58

A kitten one.

0:11:580:12:00

..they're absolutely extraordinary.

0:12:000:12:01

-You know what they're called? Margays.

-Margays.

0:12:010:12:04

Margay. M-A-R-G-A-Y. Margay.

0:12:040:12:06

-HUSKILY:

-Margay.

0:12:060:12:07

And they are a tree ocelot because, as you can see from that photo,

0:12:070:12:10

they are tree-dwelling.

0:12:100:12:12

Have you shaved it, Stephen?

0:12:120:12:14

LAUGHTER

0:12:140:12:15

They are almost unique amongst the cat family in that,

0:12:150:12:18

not only can they climb trees headfirst...

0:12:180:12:22

They can fell them...

0:12:220:12:23

LAUGHTER

0:12:230:12:25

They can descend trees headfirst -

0:12:250:12:27

which no other cat, except the cloud leopard, can do.

0:12:270:12:30

-God, look at that.

-There they are.

-He's rappelling.

0:12:300:12:32

-He's rappelling down...

-He is, isn't he?

-Look at that.

0:12:320:12:34

And they do this by revolving their ankles 180 degrees.

0:12:340:12:38

-It's astonishing.

-Oh, that is fascinating.

0:12:380:12:40

They really are extraordinary and so poised in balance,

0:12:400:12:42

but there are not many tree-living cats.

0:12:420:12:45

-Are their ankles...?

-Margays, they're called?

-Yep.

0:12:450:12:47

And the fact that other cats can't is the reason...

0:12:470:12:49

The cat stuck in the tree business.

0:12:490:12:51

They are stunning.

0:12:510:12:53

They live in central and southern America.

0:12:530:12:56

They can imitate...

0:12:560:12:57

The really rare thing about them, no other cat can do this,

0:12:570:13:00

they can imitate...

0:13:000:13:01

-Paul Daniels.

-LAUGHTER

0:13:010:13:03

-They can imitate...

-All the characters from Coronation Street.

0:13:030:13:06

They can imitate Bruce Forsyth.

0:13:060:13:08

HE IMITATES BRUCE FORSYTH

0:13:080:13:10

They imitate the calls of wild monkeys.

0:13:100:13:12

Jimmy Carr laughing.

0:13:120:13:14

LAUGHTER

0:13:140:13:15

The pied tamarin is the famous one there.

0:13:150:13:18

-Look at that.

-What is that?

0:13:180:13:20

Head...submerged in fur.

0:13:200:13:23

That's a really cute body

0:13:230:13:26

attached to the most hideous head I've ever seen.

0:13:260:13:28

LAUGHTER

0:13:280:13:30

It's a pied tamarin. I don't think it usually looks quite as...

0:13:300:13:33

Well, odd as that.

0:13:330:13:34

A small little... Like a tree monkey?

0:13:340:13:36

Yep, exactly.

0:13:360:13:38

Now, for a question about migration,

0:13:380:13:41

I'm going to ask you all to take out a map

0:13:410:13:43

that you should find beneath your desks.

0:13:430:13:44

-Oh, yeah.

-There you are.

0:13:440:13:46

And you've got some drawing to do on the map.

0:13:460:13:49

I want you to draw the extraordinary

0:13:490:13:51

annual migration of the North American blue grouse

0:13:510:13:56

-as accurately as you can.

-Right. North America. OK, so anywhere...?

0:13:560:14:01

Not Alaska, then? Is it Alaska? Could be Alaska?

0:14:010:14:03

The point is that I don't tell you until...

0:14:030:14:05

LAUGHTER

0:14:050:14:07

I've got a feeling...

0:14:070:14:09

that they want to get to another bit of North America,

0:14:090:14:11

-but they go the wrong way...

-LAUGHTER

0:14:110:14:14

..and they end up going all the way around the world

0:14:150:14:17

-and landing on the other kind of...

-OK, there you go.

0:14:170:14:20

Florida for the sun

0:14:200:14:21

and then to the Carnival in Rio

0:14:210:14:24

and then to Sydney...

0:14:240:14:25

And then Cape Town, is it?

0:14:250:14:27

So they go to all the Mardi Gras?

0:14:270:14:29

Well, they go to all the Mardi Gras.

0:14:290:14:32

They're just mad for it.

0:14:320:14:33

And then up here, where there's, like,

0:14:330:14:35

a cheese-rolling in Britain, they like that.

0:14:350:14:38

LAUGHTER

0:14:380:14:39

And then they're just knackered.

0:14:390:14:41

and the ones that are still alive, back home.

0:14:410:14:43

It's a fantastic route.

0:14:430:14:45

I just think that sort of

0:14:450:14:47

they go... just on a trip round South America

0:14:470:14:50

just to have a look - might as well make a day of it.

0:14:500:14:52

-I reckon they go about a mile to the next village.

-Yeah.

0:14:520:14:56

Well, I think what happens is they start off

0:14:560:14:59

and they overshoot, and they end up going completely round,

0:14:590:15:02

not hitting any landmass at all, and they think,

0:15:020:15:04

"We'll give it one more go," and they end up in Colchester.

0:15:040:15:06

They've no idea but, for millennia,

0:15:060:15:08

they've ended up in Colchester.

0:15:080:15:10

Alan, yours... Show the ladies and gentlemen.

0:15:100:15:13

LAUGHTER

0:15:130:15:14

APPLAUSE

0:15:160:15:18

Oh, dear.

0:15:250:15:27

Well, wouldn't it be funny if you were right?

0:15:270:15:29

You're trying not to smile.

0:15:290:15:31

-You're trying not to.

-I don't want to look at it.

0:15:310:15:33

-You like it.

-I don't like it. I don't like it.

0:15:330:15:36

"Do I like these? I don't like these."

0:15:360:15:38

-It's funny.

-I don't like it.

0:15:380:15:42

-OK...

-I don't like it!

0:15:420:15:43

Stop that. OK.

0:15:430:15:46

Incredibly,

0:15:460:15:48

closest to the truth was Alan.

0:15:480:15:50

LAUGHTER

0:15:500:15:53

APPLAUSE

0:15:530:15:54

Hold on.

0:15:560:15:58

Not in your drawing

0:15:580:16:01

-but in the remark you...

-My first idea that they leave America

0:16:010:16:03

and go right around the world and land in America again?

0:16:030:16:06

-No. In the remark you just made to Bill.

-What?

0:16:060:16:09

"I reckon they just..."

0:16:090:16:10

Go about a mile to the next village.

0:16:100:16:12

Yes!

0:16:120:16:14

It's even less than that.

0:16:140:16:15

It's extraordinary migration is 300 yards.

0:16:150:16:18

LAUGHTER

0:16:180:16:20

APPLAUSE

0:16:200:16:21

My kind of bird.

0:16:250:16:28

I love the thought of them packing their cases...

0:16:280:16:31

-Leaving a note for the milkman.

-Are we there yet? Are we there yet?

0:16:310:16:33

"Unplug the telly!"

0:16:330:16:34

Every spring, it goes down to its breeding grounds

0:16:340:16:37

and then, in the autumn,

0:16:370:16:39

it schleps all the way back up the hill again.

0:16:390:16:41

That's...

0:16:410:16:42

Does it take a long time?

0:16:420:16:44

On foot, by the way. Not even flying.

0:16:440:16:46

I mean, they are massive, aren't they? Based on those footprints.

0:16:460:16:49

LAUGHTER

0:16:490:16:51

Enormous.

0:16:510:16:53

Yes. The name for the insatiable urge to migrate is Zugunruhe.

0:16:530:16:58

It's German for movement and restlessness.

0:16:580:17:01

-GERMAN ACCENT:

-Zugunruhe!

-LAUGHTER

0:17:010:17:04

But anyway, where does a marsh warbler go for singing lessons?

0:17:040:17:09

-A marsh warbler...?

-Marsh warbler.

-Do they copy other birds' songs?

0:17:090:17:13

Is it one of those?

0:17:130:17:15

-Take a lot of points.

-Come on, points.

0:17:150:17:16

APPLAUSE You're absolutely right.

0:17:160:17:19

Mimicry.

0:17:240:17:25

Usually, you think bird learns its musical repertoire from its parents

0:17:250:17:29

and almost all birds do.

0:17:290:17:31

The marsh warbler doesn't,

0:17:310:17:33

because its parents stop singing before it hatches.

0:17:330:17:35

They've got 31 European

0:17:350:17:37

and 45 African species

0:17:370:17:39

in their repertoire.

0:17:390:17:41

So, they sound like all the birds of Africa and Europe to us.

0:17:410:17:44

And they can switch from one to another...?

0:17:440:17:46

Yeah, because they're just imitating all the different ones around them.

0:17:460:17:49

Do they have the own distinctive one, or is just a composite?

0:17:490:17:52

No. You can never tell it's a marsh warbler by listening.

0:17:520:17:55

We can hear one.

0:17:550:17:57

MARSH WARBLER SINGS

0:17:570:18:01

We might have a bird expert in saying, "Ah, it is imitating the..."

0:18:010:18:04

If you got a marsh warbler and you just played it...

0:18:040:18:08

Taylor Swift or something, would it start...?

0:18:080:18:11

LAUGHTER

0:18:110:18:12

Because that's your go-to thing, is it?

0:18:120:18:14

I've got a marsh warbler, I want to see what this can do.

0:18:140:18:16

-Let's get some Taylor Swift...

-LAUGHTER

0:18:160:18:19

Swift, oddly enough, great birdies.

0:18:190:18:23

Taylor Swallow.

0:18:230:18:25

BILL CHUCKLES

0:18:250:18:26

LAUGHTER

0:18:260:18:29

No, you're going into dangerous territory there.

0:18:290:18:33

Dear, oh, dear.

0:18:330:18:35

That's excellent.

0:18:350:18:37

"Taylor Swallow."

0:18:370:18:39

LAUGHTER

0:18:390:18:40

I'm going to play you a bird song right now...

0:18:400:18:43

I had a dream about that the other night.

0:18:430:18:45

LAUGHTER

0:18:450:18:49

-No need.

-I'm going to play you a bird song.

0:18:490:18:52

-BILL:

-No need for that.

0:18:520:18:53

BIRD SONG What's this?

0:18:530:18:56

BIRD SONG

0:18:560:18:58

"Help me. Help me."

0:18:580:19:01

"He's shaving me again."

0:19:010:19:03

LAUGHTER

0:19:030:19:05

So, we've got it over there.

0:19:050:19:06

"You can't park here."

0:19:060:19:07

That quite close, "Can't park."

0:19:070:19:09

-Illegal item in the bagging area.

-Morepork!

0:19:090:19:11

-Wahey, got it. Morepork.

-Morepork.

-Morepork.

0:19:110:19:14

There it is on the left.

0:19:140:19:16

It's also a Tasmanian owl but it's called a morepork.

0:19:160:19:19

-I thought you had just translated what that meant.

-Yeah.

0:19:190:19:22

LAUGHTER

0:19:220:19:24

He said, "More pork." Correct. He's asking for more pork.

0:19:240:19:27

-He's asking for more pork. Yes.

-LAUGHTER

0:19:270:19:29

And we've heard the marsh warbler.

0:19:290:19:31

The monotonous lark is so-called cos it's monotonous.

0:19:310:19:34

A monotonous lark.

0:19:340:19:37

"Come on, we're going on a monotonous lark."

0:19:370:19:39

LAUGHTER

0:19:390:19:40

We're going on a narrow boat holiday.

0:19:400:19:42

LAUGHTER

0:19:420:19:44

THAT is a monotonous lark.

0:19:440:19:47

I went on one of those.

0:19:470:19:49

"Oh, that'll will be fun. Let's go on a narrow boat holiday,"

0:19:490:19:52

and everyone was taking turns doing the engine.

0:19:520:19:55

Cut to a couple of miles later,

0:19:550:19:56

everyone downstairs drinking wine.

0:19:560:19:58

-Me upstairs...

-HE MIMICS ENGINE

0:19:580:20:01

..for three days.

0:20:030:20:04

Three days like that...

0:20:040:20:06

HE MIMICS ENGINE

0:20:060:20:09

"Do you want a glass of wine, Bill?"

0:20:090:20:10

"No, no, I'm fine up here. I'll be fine."

0:20:100:20:12

HE MIMICS ENGINE

0:20:120:20:13

Worst weekend of my life.

0:20:130:20:15

I just want you to know that nothing involving Norfolk is ever monotonous.

0:20:160:20:20

LAUGHTER

0:20:200:20:21

-The marabou stork...

-Oh, yeah.

0:20:210:20:23

..is often given the label,

0:20:230:20:25

"The ugliest bird in the animal kingdom..."

0:20:250:20:28

That's not fair.

0:20:280:20:29

OK, name an uglier one.

0:20:290:20:31

-All right.

-Don't make me say it.

0:20:310:20:33

No! LAUGHTER

0:20:330:20:37

-Edwina Currie.

-Oh!

0:20:370:20:38

Avian...

0:20:400:20:42

One of the reasons it's considered so ugly is...

0:20:420:20:44

SUE LAUGHS

0:20:440:20:45

Edwina Currie, really? I wouldn't have gone straight there.

0:20:450:20:50

-It was a good choice, wasn't it? I went through a couple.

-It was safer.

0:20:500:20:54

It was like you had it...

0:20:540:20:55

"Don't make me say it - Edwina Currie."

0:20:550:20:57

And I DIDN'T make you say that.

0:20:590:21:01

The reason the marabou stork is considered so ugly, perhaps,

0:21:010:21:04

is not just its appearance.

0:21:040:21:06

It's because of its behaviour.

0:21:060:21:07

It's peevish.

0:21:070:21:09

Well, it squirts its excrement onto its legs,

0:21:090:21:12

such that... They are black,

0:21:120:21:14

but they become white because they get dried on, caked on...

0:21:140:21:17

That's laziness, isn't it?

0:21:170:21:19

If Montgomery Burns, from The Simpsons, was a bird...

0:21:190:21:22

-That would be! You're right.

-That would be it, yeah.

0:21:220:21:25

It dumps on its own leg...

0:21:250:21:26

-AS MR BURNS:

-Poo on my legs, excellent.

0:21:260:21:29

LAUGHTER

0:21:290:21:31

They'll eat just about any creature living or dead -

0:21:310:21:33

along with faeces, scraps, carrion, human rubbish -

0:21:330:21:36

including shoes and pieces of metal.

0:21:360:21:37

They're pretty dodgy creatures.

0:21:370:21:39

LAUGHTER

0:21:390:21:41

Marsh warblers just make it up as they go along.

0:21:410:21:43

ALAN LAUGHS UNCONTROLLABLY

0:21:430:21:45

Now for a question about metamor...

0:21:450:21:46

LAUGHTER

0:21:460:21:48

What happened while I was reading...?

0:21:480:21:50

I had my back turned to you and I was looking at the blackboard.

0:21:500:21:53

Honestly, sir. Nothing, sir.

0:21:530:21:55

No, sir, Davies showed me a picture of a penis, sir.

0:21:550:21:58

LAUGHTER

0:21:580:22:01

-He showed me that, sir.

-Sir, sir.

0:22:010:22:03

-That is not a penis.

-Sir, sir, look at Bailey's drawing of a penis, sir.

0:22:030:22:06

I never drew such thing, sir.

0:22:060:22:07

What's wrong with his penis if he draws one like that, sir?!

0:22:070:22:10

He drew a penis on the world.

0:22:100:22:11

He drew a penis on the world!

0:22:110:22:14

That's got... That's illegal, isn't it?

0:22:140:22:16

LAUGHTER

0:22:160:22:17

Oh, Lord.

0:22:170:22:18

LAUGHTER

0:22:180:22:21

Now it's time to stumble blindly into the morass of General Ignorance.

0:22:210:22:24

Fingers on buzzers. All right.

0:22:240:22:26

Where does a mosquito go to concentrate?

0:22:260:22:31

-A blood bank.

-LAUGHTER

0:22:310:22:34

Very good. APPLAUSE

0:22:340:22:37

-Library.

-Library? Oh, no, Sue!

0:22:370:22:38

KLAXON BLARES

0:22:380:22:42

Of course, the word "concentrate" can mean different things

0:22:430:22:46

and we mean a concentrate...

0:22:460:22:48

-Where's the greatest concentration...

-Oh, I see.

0:22:480:22:50

..of mozzies? Where?

0:22:500:22:52

-A marsh.

-Near rivers and things.

0:22:520:22:54

-Yeah, well.

-Swamps.

-Where?

0:22:540:22:57

-Africa?

-KLAXON BLARES

0:22:570:23:00

Not Africa?

0:23:000:23:01

Scotland. Mediterranean.

0:23:040:23:06

Loads of midges in Scotland.

0:23:060:23:07

Midges, yes, but these are mosquitoes.

0:23:070:23:09

-Specifically mosquitoes.

-Portugal.

0:23:090:23:11

It's that quantity, you don't get that in Africa,

0:23:110:23:13

-you don't get that in...

-Where's that?

-..Panama,

0:23:130:23:15

you don't get that in south-east Asia.

0:23:150:23:17

You get that only in the Arctic.

0:23:170:23:18

Oh. The Arctic. Oh.

0:23:180:23:20

In Alaska and Manitoba.

0:23:200:23:22

Where there's virtually nothing alive with no blood anywhere.

0:23:220:23:25

I've never seen... I've been to Alaska lots

0:23:250:23:27

and never seen a mosquito.

0:23:270:23:28

-Well, you have to be there at...

-The right time.

0:23:280:23:30

Or wrong time, really, yeah.

0:23:300:23:32

There's the beauty that is Alaska,

0:23:320:23:33

and the standing pools of water

0:23:330:23:35

are perfect for mosquito breeding.

0:23:350:23:37

Yes, the densest concentrations of mosquitoes in the world

0:23:370:23:40

are in the Arctic.

0:23:400:23:42

Including all the animals,

0:23:420:23:44

on average, how many legs does an animal have?

0:23:440:23:47

What's the average number of legs that animals have?

0:23:470:23:49

-Oh, you... That's tough...

-All living things.

0:23:490:23:51

-..because you've got to balance...

-Three!

0:23:510:23:53

-..a millipede...

-KLAXON BLARES

0:23:530:23:55

LAUGHTER

0:23:550:23:57

My guess is that most numbers will be in the system.

0:23:570:24:00

LAUGHTER

0:24:000:24:02

APPLAUSE

0:24:030:24:05

I mean, there are billions of things like ants, aren't there?

0:24:100:24:14

There are. Insects. Gigantic. They have six.

0:24:140:24:17

That must bump the average right up.

0:24:170:24:18

There are huge numbers of mites and they all have eight.

0:24:180:24:21

And then you got millipedes and centipedes.

0:24:210:24:23

-But lots of them have none.

-Worms have got none.

0:24:230:24:25

-Stick with that thought.

-So, worms have got no legs.

-Slugs have none.

0:24:250:24:28

One! One leg!

0:24:280:24:29

-That's it.

-That the closest we've got.

0:24:290:24:31

I'm afraid it's not... KLAXON BLARES

0:24:310:24:33

LAUGHTER

0:24:330:24:35

Is it no legs?

0:24:350:24:36

Well, it's... 0.01 is the average.

0:24:360:24:38

Because there's that many worms.

0:24:380:24:40

-Because...

-Is this cos of fish?

0:24:400:24:42

No, it's because nematodes.

0:24:420:24:45

ALL: Oh.

0:24:450:24:46

Yeah, they're a sort of worm.

0:24:460:24:47

There are ten to the power of 22,

0:24:470:24:49

which is a vast number, on Earth.

0:24:490:24:50

What is that?!

0:24:500:24:52

100 times more than there are mites

0:24:520:24:53

and 1,000 times more than there are insects.

0:24:530:24:56

There's a parasitic nematode that lives in the human eye...

0:24:560:24:59

Oh! My God.

0:24:590:25:00

..and it can grow to seven centimetres long,

0:25:000:25:02

-which is...

-What?!

-..serious.

0:25:020:25:04

AUDIENCE GROAN Wahey!

0:25:040:25:06

-No, we don't want to see that.

-Come on.

0:25:060:25:08

How can you tell if you've got a nematode in your eye?

0:25:080:25:11

Would you feel it wriggling around?

0:25:110:25:12

Would it be wiggling...? Would you see it moving, for example?

0:25:120:25:15

-You'd hear it talking.

-If it's like that, a friend would see it.

0:25:150:25:19

A friend would say, "Oh, just a sec till I get the corner of my hanky,

0:25:190:25:22

"you've got an... enormous worm in your eye!"

0:25:220:25:24

LAUGHTER

0:25:270:25:28

-Yes. Hypocrite. First cast out the nematode in your eye.

-Yes.

0:25:310:25:36

Judge not and you'll be not judged.

0:25:360:25:39

Yes, so many animals are completely legless

0:25:390:25:41

that the overall average is about 100th of a leg each.

0:25:410:25:44

Finally, a question about macropods.

0:25:440:25:46

How many legs does a kangaroo have?

0:25:460:25:49

Oh, don't say any numbers.

0:25:490:25:50

Don't say any numbers.

0:25:500:25:52

LAUGHTER

0:25:520:25:55

Do you know my favourite bit in Toy Story?

0:25:550:25:58

Go on.

0:25:580:25:59

-It's the dinosaur that's got little arms, right?

-Yeah.

0:25:590:26:02

And he doesn't want to see something -

0:26:020:26:04

something terrible is happening - and he goes,

0:26:040:26:06

"Somebody cover my eyes!"

0:26:060:26:08

LAUGHTER

0:26:080:26:10

That is a brilliant moment.

0:26:100:26:13

I love that bit.

0:26:130:26:15

Two. Two.

0:26:150:26:18

KLAXON BLARES

0:26:180:26:19

LAUGHTER

0:26:190:26:21

It won't be nought or four either.

0:26:210:26:23

"How many legs...?"

0:26:230:26:26

How many LEGS has it got?

0:26:260:26:28

2.5.

0:26:280:26:31

Well, you won't like this answer but...

0:26:310:26:33

Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, Canada,

0:26:330:26:36

corralled red kangaroos through a chamber

0:26:360:26:39

which measured the downward forces.

0:26:390:26:41

They discovered that kangaroos put their front legs on the ground

0:26:410:26:44

and move their back legs forwards

0:26:440:26:46

at the same time as they push their tail onto the floor

0:26:460:26:48

and use it to propel themselves forward.

0:26:480:26:51

The team found that the amount of force from the tail

0:26:510:26:53

was as great as that from the other four limbs combined...

0:26:530:26:55

-So, it's five?

-..making it effectively a fifth leg,

0:26:550:26:58

so not just a fifth leg, but the most important of the five.

0:26:580:27:01

Yeah.

0:27:010:27:02

It's a tail, though, isn't it?

0:27:020:27:03

It is a tail, but it's a kind of limb.

0:27:030:27:06

Well, if you'd said limbs...

0:27:060:27:08

# Hey hey, we're the Monkees. #

0:27:080:27:10

-Yes, sir?

-Five.

0:27:100:27:12

LAUGHTER

0:27:120:27:14

-No, no, you can't have that.

-No, he can't. He can't.

0:27:140:27:17

He can't have that.

0:27:170:27:21

Minus 5 for rank standing impertinence.

0:27:210:27:24

The point is, you could cut off... Obviously, you shouldn't.

0:27:240:27:27

..a kangaroo's forearms or arms...

0:27:270:27:29

and it could get around perfectly happily

0:27:290:27:31

and you could cut off one of its rear legs and even

0:27:310:27:33

it could still hop and get around -

0:27:330:27:35

but if you cut off its tail, it couldn't...

0:27:350:27:36

You'd be a sadistic bastard. LAUGHTER

0:27:360:27:39

Which scientist conducted that experiment?

0:27:390:27:41

LAUGHTER

0:27:410:27:42

Kangaroos have almost five legs above average,

0:27:420:27:45

which brings me to, miraculously, the scores.

0:27:450:27:49

-BILL:

-Oh, no.

-Oh, dear.

0:27:490:27:51

Oh, my, good night.

0:27:510:27:52

Well, nobody managed to push through into a positive number, I'm afraid.

0:27:520:27:57

But our least successful on minus 28...

0:27:570:28:00

I know why, and it's... Oh, Sue Perkins.

0:28:010:28:04

-SHE LAUGHS

-"I know why."

0:28:040:28:07

APPLAUSE

0:28:070:28:08

In third place, on minus 8, is Romesh.

0:28:120:28:14

Oh, yes! APPLAUSE

0:28:140:28:17

APPLAUSE DROWNS SPEECH

0:28:170:28:20

And please don't fall off these dizzy heights.

0:28:200:28:23

Alan Davies on minus 3. CHEERING

0:28:230:28:26

-APPLAUSE

-Pretty pleased with that.

0:28:260:28:29

And our super soaraway winner on minus 1 is Bill Bailey.

0:28:290:28:34

CHEERING

0:28:340:28:36

APPLAUSE

0:28:360:28:37

So, it's good night from Romesh, Sue, Bill, Alan and me.

0:28:430:28:47

You have been magnificent and I want you to stay that way.

0:28:470:28:49

Many thanks and good night.

0:28:490:28:51

APPLAUSE

0:28:510:28:53

Download Subtitles

SRT

ASS