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My name's Steve Backshall. | 0:00:02 | 0:00:03 | |
And this is Deadly 60 On A Mission. | 0:00:05 | 0:00:09 | |
My team and I are travelling the world | 0:00:10 | 0:00:13 | |
in search of the planet's deadliest animals. | 0:00:13 | 0:00:16 | |
Ho ho! | 0:00:16 | 0:00:17 | |
I want to find out what makes them so deadly. | 0:00:17 | 0:00:20 | |
That means getting close to them in the wild. | 0:00:20 | 0:00:22 | |
Wow! | 0:00:22 | 0:00:23 | |
Only the most lethal will make my list and in this series, | 0:00:23 | 0:00:27 | |
we're going to show you my most extreme animal encounters. | 0:00:27 | 0:00:30 | |
And you're coming with me every step of the way. | 0:00:30 | 0:00:33 | |
This time on Deadly 60, we're in Costa Rica in Central America. | 0:00:40 | 0:00:44 | |
This is one of the most biodiverse places on the planet. | 0:00:47 | 0:00:50 | |
That means there's more species of plants and animals | 0:00:50 | 0:00:53 | |
living here than anywhere else. | 0:00:53 | 0:00:55 | |
We're going to be on the Pacific Coast. | 0:00:55 | 0:00:58 | |
Where we're going is so remote, there's no roads at all. | 0:00:58 | 0:01:01 | |
I think it's going to get a little bit bumpy. | 0:01:01 | 0:01:03 | |
Getting there is half the fun, of course. | 0:01:05 | 0:01:08 | |
But personally, I can't wait to get unloaded, into the forest and on the hunt for the Deadly 60. | 0:01:08 | 0:01:14 | |
Located in the heart of Central America, Costa Rica has more | 0:01:16 | 0:01:20 | |
than a third of its land covered in forest. | 0:01:20 | 0:01:23 | |
It's home to hundreds of thousands of different species of plants | 0:01:24 | 0:01:28 | |
and animals so my hopes of finding something really exciting are seriously high. | 0:01:28 | 0:01:33 | |
But of course, it's the deadly ones that I'm after. | 0:01:35 | 0:01:39 | |
If you've seen Deadly 60 before, | 0:01:42 | 0:01:43 | |
you'll know I've got a thing for snakes | 0:01:43 | 0:01:46 | |
so I've assembled a hit-list of Costa Rica's most incredible snakes. | 0:01:46 | 0:01:50 | |
They're complex, they're fascinating and very, very different. | 0:01:50 | 0:01:53 | |
All we need is to figure out which ones make it onto the Deadly 60. | 0:01:53 | 0:01:58 | |
The first contender in our Costa Rican snake contest | 0:01:59 | 0:02:02 | |
is the mighty boa constrictor. | 0:02:02 | 0:02:04 | |
The largest snake in Central America, | 0:02:05 | 0:02:08 | |
they can grow up to four metres in length. | 0:02:08 | 0:02:10 | |
They kill their prey using constriction, | 0:02:10 | 0:02:13 | |
crushing the life out of their victims. | 0:02:13 | 0:02:16 | |
I'm hoping to show you just how that works. | 0:02:16 | 0:02:18 | |
This three-metre snake had slithered into a local farmer's backyard. | 0:02:23 | 0:02:28 | |
And unsurprisingly, he wanted it back in the wild. | 0:02:28 | 0:02:31 | |
But before I release it, I want to experience first-hand | 0:02:31 | 0:02:35 | |
the formidable power of this deadly predator. | 0:02:35 | 0:02:38 | |
Snakes have to eat their prey whole, | 0:02:39 | 0:02:41 | |
so a boa the size of this one couldn't eat me | 0:02:41 | 0:02:44 | |
but it could still choke the life out of me. | 0:02:44 | 0:02:47 | |
This magnificent creature... | 0:02:48 | 0:02:50 | |
-SNAKE HISSES -0oh! | 0:02:50 | 0:02:53 | |
..is a boa constrictor. | 0:02:53 | 0:02:55 | |
"Boa" refers to the group of snakes this belongs to. | 0:02:55 | 0:02:59 | |
They're thick, heavy-bodied snakes. | 0:02:59 | 0:03:02 | |
What I'd really like to do is to show you how it hunts. | 0:03:02 | 0:03:05 | |
That's the constrictor bit. To do that, I'm going to need to get control of it. | 0:03:05 | 0:03:10 | |
SNAKE HISSES | 0:03:10 | 0:03:12 | |
Wow, listen to that hiss. | 0:03:12 | 0:03:13 | |
You can see that it's not actually trying to bite me. | 0:03:16 | 0:03:18 | |
Those strikes are just to try to frighten me away, | 0:03:18 | 0:03:21 | |
as is the hissing sound. | 0:03:21 | 0:03:23 | |
'Believe me, with all that solid muscle, | 0:03:23 | 0:03:26 | |
'this isn't going to hurt the snake at all.' | 0:03:26 | 0:03:29 | |
Right. | 0:03:29 | 0:03:31 | |
So, if you look into the mouth, at those thin, needle-shaped, | 0:03:31 | 0:03:36 | |
backward-pointing teeth, they're really vicious, | 0:03:36 | 0:03:40 | |
designed for hooking into their prey. | 0:03:40 | 0:03:43 | |
Right. | 0:03:47 | 0:03:48 | |
Let's see if I can show you a little bit more about how this snake hunts. | 0:03:48 | 0:03:53 | |
So now you can see quite a lot of the snake's bulk | 0:03:53 | 0:03:57 | |
has gone straight around my neck. | 0:03:57 | 0:04:00 | |
Around here is where my windpipe is, | 0:04:00 | 0:04:03 | |
where air comes in and out of my lungs | 0:04:03 | 0:04:06 | |
and also where the arteries are that carry blood to my brain. | 0:04:06 | 0:04:11 | |
Now, as I breathe out... | 0:04:11 | 0:04:13 | |
..the snake is very subtly | 0:04:19 | 0:04:22 | |
increasing the pressure around my throat, as you can see. | 0:04:22 | 0:04:28 | |
That's making it more and more difficult for me to breathe. | 0:04:29 | 0:04:33 | |
And every time I breathe out, it just tightens a little bit more. | 0:04:33 | 0:04:38 | |
Until eventually, I can't get any air | 0:04:38 | 0:04:41 | |
in or out of my lungs and already at this stage, | 0:04:41 | 0:04:46 | |
if I wasn't just to ease the pressure, | 0:04:46 | 0:04:51 | |
I would be finding breathing very difficult indeed. | 0:04:51 | 0:04:54 | |
This is what constricting means. | 0:04:54 | 0:04:57 | |
If you see me starting to go blue or purple in the face, | 0:04:57 | 0:05:01 | |
then I might need a little bit of help. | 0:05:01 | 0:05:03 | |
Constructing basically means to strangle, | 0:05:03 | 0:05:08 | |
to suffocate the life out of prey. | 0:05:08 | 0:05:10 | |
And that's how this magnificent animal... | 0:05:10 | 0:05:14 | |
HISSING | 0:05:14 | 0:05:16 | |
..manages to kill the mammals it's feeding on. | 0:05:16 | 0:05:20 | |
Its tail's going round the back of my neck now, it's just finding | 0:05:20 | 0:05:25 | |
places and ways of getting purchase | 0:05:25 | 0:05:29 | |
to use its really strong muscles in choking me. | 0:05:29 | 0:05:33 | |
Now, we've only got quite a short time that I can show you this | 0:05:33 | 0:05:38 | |
before I'll have to release myself. | 0:05:38 | 0:05:41 | |
The amazing thing that happens next is that the boa constrictor | 0:05:41 | 0:05:46 | |
will actually start to swallow its prey whole | 0:05:46 | 0:05:49 | |
and to do that, it can open this mouth incredibly wide. | 0:05:49 | 0:05:55 | |
GROANING Are you all right, Steve? | 0:05:56 | 0:05:58 | |
Actually... | 0:06:00 | 0:06:01 | |
Yeah... | 0:06:01 | 0:06:03 | |
It's amazing how strong it is. | 0:06:03 | 0:06:05 | |
I mean, this snake is only actually feeding on mammals | 0:06:07 | 0:06:12 | |
about that sort of size, maximum, | 0:06:12 | 0:06:14 | |
and it has the strength to choke the life out of me. | 0:06:14 | 0:06:18 | |
I mean, I must be 10 times, 20 times the size of its normal prey | 0:06:18 | 0:06:23 | |
and he easily has enough strength to choke me. | 0:06:23 | 0:06:27 | |
There's no doubting this is an incredibly strong predator. | 0:06:30 | 0:06:35 | |
I don't know, I think it's going to be very hard to beat. | 0:06:37 | 0:06:41 | |
Can I take this off now, please? | 0:06:41 | 0:06:43 | |
If I can get her off my neck. | 0:06:43 | 0:06:46 | |
Wow. | 0:06:53 | 0:06:54 | |
So, the boa constrictor is the muscle man | 0:06:58 | 0:07:01 | |
of the snake world here in Costa Rica. | 0:07:01 | 0:07:05 | |
Our next contender could not be more different. | 0:07:05 | 0:07:09 | |
This is the wonderful eyelash pit viper. | 0:07:09 | 0:07:13 | |
Even if you're someone who absolutely hates snakes, | 0:07:15 | 0:07:18 | |
you'd have to admit that that is a really beautiful animal. | 0:07:18 | 0:07:23 | |
But they're also very highly adapted hunters, | 0:07:23 | 0:07:26 | |
and the clue to that is in their name - pit vipers. | 0:07:26 | 0:07:30 | |
That doesn't mean, as I thought when I was a kid, that they live in pits. | 0:07:30 | 0:07:34 | |
Actually what it's talking about is a tiny pit | 0:07:34 | 0:07:37 | |
that they have between their nostril and their eye | 0:07:37 | 0:07:39 | |
which is incredibly sensitive at picking up heat. | 0:07:39 | 0:07:42 | |
I've got a special camera here, a nice little toy, | 0:07:42 | 0:07:49 | |
which, hopefully, I can get close enough to show you that pit. | 0:07:49 | 0:07:54 | |
Move carefully here. | 0:07:56 | 0:07:58 | |
I don't want to have it strike at me. | 0:07:58 | 0:08:04 | |
That's looking right down the heat-sensitive pit | 0:08:04 | 0:08:07 | |
of the eyelash pit viper. | 0:08:07 | 0:08:10 | |
Now, that pit works like a kind of sixth sense. | 0:08:10 | 0:08:16 | |
It can actually pick up heat, | 0:08:16 | 0:08:18 | |
and how that helps it hunting is that | 0:08:18 | 0:08:21 | |
most of the animals it will feed on actually generate warmth | 0:08:21 | 0:08:25 | |
in their muscles as they move, so even if it's completely dark | 0:08:25 | 0:08:28 | |
it can build up a three-dimensional picture | 0:08:28 | 0:08:31 | |
of anything it wants to hunt, | 0:08:31 | 0:08:33 | |
just using those incredible heat-sensitive pits. | 0:08:33 | 0:08:38 | |
Now, I've got a little Deadly 60 experiment, | 0:08:38 | 0:08:42 | |
that I'm hoping will show you how those pits work. | 0:08:42 | 0:08:46 | |
I've been dying to give this a go. | 0:08:46 | 0:08:48 | |
Typical food for the eyelash pit viper | 0:08:50 | 0:08:52 | |
would be something like a small mouse, perhaps a bat, | 0:08:52 | 0:08:55 | |
they'll even catch hummingbirds on the wing. | 0:08:55 | 0:08:58 | |
The core body temperature of a bird or a small mammal | 0:08:58 | 0:09:01 | |
is around about 38 degrees, so what I have here is a balloon | 0:09:01 | 0:09:05 | |
filled with hot water that's almost exactly that temperature. | 0:09:05 | 0:09:08 | |
I'm going to move it in close to the viper, | 0:09:08 | 0:09:11 | |
and, hopefully, I'll get it to strike towards the balloon. | 0:09:11 | 0:09:15 | |
Here we've got our mini-cam set up and ready to record at high speed. | 0:09:15 | 0:09:18 | |
That means that we should see the strike slowed right down | 0:09:18 | 0:09:22 | |
and be able to really appreciate quite how awesome it is. | 0:09:22 | 0:09:26 | |
Let's see what happens. | 0:09:26 | 0:09:28 | |
That was amazing! | 0:09:36 | 0:09:38 | |
What do you reckon, Nick, do you think you got it? | 0:09:38 | 0:09:41 | |
Let's see. | 0:09:41 | 0:09:43 | |
Incredible. | 0:09:50 | 0:09:51 | |
Absolutely incredible. | 0:09:51 | 0:09:53 | |
Saw the mouth open almost so it was fully wide like that, | 0:09:53 | 0:09:57 | |
almost as if it was creating a stabbing kind of shape | 0:09:57 | 0:10:00 | |
rather than a downward strike, | 0:10:00 | 0:10:03 | |
and the fangs are almost used like daggers | 0:10:03 | 0:10:06 | |
to pierce into the balloon. | 0:10:06 | 0:10:08 | |
That was amazing. | 0:10:08 | 0:10:10 | |
Can I have another go? Is that all right? I could do this all day long. | 0:10:11 | 0:10:15 | |
The eyelash pit viper's venom is hemotoxic | 0:10:16 | 0:10:19 | |
which means that it affects the blood and circulatory system | 0:10:19 | 0:10:23 | |
causing almost instant death to small prey | 0:10:23 | 0:10:26 | |
and severe pain, swelling and tissue damage in humans. | 0:10:26 | 0:10:30 | |
Worryingly, these snakes occasionally end up | 0:10:30 | 0:10:33 | |
in shipments of bananas to the UK. | 0:10:33 | 0:10:36 | |
That's so perfect. You can see it resetting itself at the end. | 0:10:36 | 0:10:41 | |
Letting the fang come back into position. | 0:10:41 | 0:10:45 | |
Absolutely incredible. | 0:10:45 | 0:10:46 | |
So two sublime undoubtedly deadly snakes so far. | 0:10:46 | 0:10:51 | |
But Costa Rica is snake central so before I make my final decision, | 0:10:51 | 0:10:55 | |
I have one more contender I have to include. | 0:10:55 | 0:10:58 | |
The most feared snake in Central America. | 0:10:58 | 0:11:01 | |
It's called the bushmaster | 0:11:02 | 0:11:05 | |
and because of the sheer quantity of toxin it injects, | 0:11:05 | 0:11:08 | |
it's considered to be the most venomous snake in the New World. | 0:11:08 | 0:11:12 | |
The venom works so fast, it can stop a rat in seconds | 0:11:14 | 0:11:17 | |
and could kill a man in minutes. | 0:11:17 | 0:11:19 | |
But what makes the snake so intimidating is its camouflage. | 0:11:19 | 0:11:22 | |
It's so good, you just wouldn't see it until it was too late. | 0:11:22 | 0:11:28 | |
To prove it, a local snake expert is going to hide one | 0:11:28 | 0:11:32 | |
and I'm going to try and find it before it finds me. | 0:11:32 | 0:11:36 | |
I'm going to start looking around about here. | 0:11:39 | 0:11:42 | |
The snake expert said that he's not going to put it | 0:11:42 | 0:11:45 | |
too far off the side of the trail, it's going to be very close. | 0:11:45 | 0:11:48 | |
So... | 0:11:48 | 0:11:49 | |
Big heavy-bodied snake, they don't climb | 0:11:50 | 0:11:53 | |
like the eyelash pit viper, | 0:11:53 | 0:11:54 | |
they're always down on the ground. | 0:11:54 | 0:11:57 | |
OK. | 0:12:03 | 0:12:05 | |
Ah! I have it. | 0:12:12 | 0:12:15 | |
OK. | 0:12:15 | 0:12:16 | |
Oh, that is just amazing! | 0:12:16 | 0:12:20 | |
OK. | 0:12:20 | 0:12:21 | |
Now, I'm going to go in quietly and carefully so it doesn't move. | 0:12:21 | 0:12:25 | |
And I think you'll have a lot of trouble spotting it. | 0:12:25 | 0:12:30 | |
Right. | 0:12:33 | 0:12:35 | |
OK. | 0:12:35 | 0:12:36 | |
So, follow the end of my stick. | 0:12:36 | 0:12:39 | |
That is its head. | 0:12:42 | 0:12:44 | |
-Can you see that? -Yeah. | 0:12:45 | 0:12:47 | |
Yeah? | 0:12:47 | 0:12:48 | |
Just remarkable, the way that all those diamond patterns | 0:12:51 | 0:12:54 | |
down the back and the stripe down the neck | 0:12:54 | 0:12:56 | |
completely break up its outline and make it almost invisible. | 0:12:56 | 0:13:00 | |
And this is exactly the kind of position | 0:13:00 | 0:13:02 | |
the snake would just hang in, | 0:13:02 | 0:13:04 | |
perhaps for days on end, waiting for a meal to come past. | 0:13:04 | 0:13:08 | |
Right, let's get him out so I can show you him properly. | 0:13:09 | 0:13:13 | |
Such a heavy-bodied, thick snake. | 0:13:21 | 0:13:25 | |
And all of that weight is used to anchor it down as it strikes. | 0:13:25 | 0:13:29 | |
Really heavily, what's called, keeled scales. | 0:13:31 | 0:13:35 | |
Very dinosaur-like. | 0:13:36 | 0:13:38 | |
And absolutely magnificent. | 0:13:38 | 0:13:40 | |
Well, I have to say, I'm a little bit undecided. | 0:13:42 | 0:13:46 | |
I think all three have been utterly magnificent. | 0:13:46 | 0:13:49 | |
This is really tough. | 0:13:50 | 0:13:51 | |
There's no doubt all three snakes deserve a place in the Deadly 60. | 0:13:51 | 0:13:55 | |
The boa is by far the most powerful. | 0:13:55 | 0:13:58 | |
The eyelash viper is accurate enough to catch hummingbirds on the wing. | 0:13:58 | 0:14:01 | |
And the bushmaster has enough venom to bring down a buffalo. | 0:14:01 | 0:14:05 | |
Three wondrous snakes. | 0:14:05 | 0:14:06 | |
But on the day, it's the eyelash pit viper | 0:14:06 | 0:14:09 | |
with the speed of its strike which has impressed me most. | 0:14:09 | 0:14:13 | |
So fast they can catch a humming bird on the wing. | 0:14:14 | 0:14:18 | |
With fierce hemotoxic venom | 0:14:18 | 0:14:21 | |
and heat sensitive pits to enable it to hunt in pitch darkness. | 0:14:21 | 0:14:26 | |
Eyelash pit viper could be the most striking snake | 0:14:26 | 0:14:29 | |
on the Deadly 60. | 0:14:29 | 0:14:31 | |
It's the perfect start. Now in our search | 0:14:31 | 0:14:34 | |
for Costa Rica's deadliest, | 0:14:34 | 0:14:36 | |
we're going to take a break from the jungle | 0:14:36 | 0:14:38 | |
and head to an area used by cattle farmers. | 0:14:38 | 0:14:41 | |
Locals report their livestock are under nightly attack. | 0:14:43 | 0:14:46 | |
This is one of the cows | 0:14:48 | 0:14:50 | |
that's been being preyed on by our deadly predator. | 0:14:50 | 0:14:54 | |
You can just see here the evidence of the presence | 0:14:54 | 0:14:58 | |
of our next deadly animal. | 0:14:58 | 0:15:01 | |
This is all dried blood. | 0:15:01 | 0:15:03 | |
It's been lapped up and then spilled down on to the fur. | 0:15:03 | 0:15:07 | |
So, to find to the bloodthirsty creature responsible, | 0:15:11 | 0:15:15 | |
we're going to enter a twilight world | 0:15:15 | 0:15:17 | |
where few would choose to tread. | 0:15:17 | 0:15:18 | |
So, just there ahead of us, | 0:15:20 | 0:15:24 | |
that dark hole is a cave. | 0:15:24 | 0:15:26 | |
And that's where we're heading. | 0:15:26 | 0:15:28 | |
Watch your step, it's slippery. | 0:15:28 | 0:15:30 | |
We're going underground to find a creature | 0:15:31 | 0:15:34 | |
whose feeding habits strike fear deep in the human psyche. | 0:15:34 | 0:15:39 | |
The cave is the perfect hiding hole | 0:15:40 | 0:15:42 | |
for a particularly intimidating species of bat | 0:15:42 | 0:15:45 | |
and is knee deep with the hundreds of years of their droppings. | 0:15:45 | 0:15:48 | |
In the darkest corners of the cave, fluttering shapes catch my eye. | 0:15:55 | 0:16:00 | |
Oh, lord, look at that! | 0:16:00 | 0:16:02 | |
BATS SQUEAK | 0:16:04 | 0:16:06 | |
Got one then? | 0:16:09 | 0:16:11 | |
Yep, got one. | 0:16:11 | 0:16:12 | |
So, what I have in this bag is an animal that's probably | 0:16:15 | 0:16:20 | |
inspired more myth and legend than any other animal in the world. | 0:16:20 | 0:16:25 | |
It's a vampire bat. | 0:16:25 | 0:16:27 | |
They have also, possibly the sharpest teeth of any animal. | 0:16:27 | 0:16:31 | |
Which explains why I'm wearing these thick gardening gloves | 0:16:31 | 0:16:34 | |
before I think about trying to get it out. | 0:16:34 | 0:16:36 | |
Last time I tried to do this it bit clean through the glove | 0:16:36 | 0:16:40 | |
and into my finger. | 0:16:40 | 0:16:42 | |
BAT SQUEAKS | 0:16:44 | 0:16:46 | |
Oh! | 0:16:46 | 0:16:48 | |
Right. | 0:16:51 | 0:16:54 | |
OK, let's get you into a good position. | 0:16:54 | 0:16:56 | |
BAT SQUEALS | 0:16:56 | 0:16:59 | |
Whoa! Look at him whirling around | 0:16:59 | 0:17:00 | |
to try and get his huge canine teeth into my fingers. | 0:17:00 | 0:17:04 | |
OK. | 0:17:07 | 0:17:09 | |
So, that is the face that all the fuss is about. | 0:17:09 | 0:17:14 | |
The vampire bat. | 0:17:14 | 0:17:16 | |
So, up above me now is a roost of about 30 or 40 vampire bats. | 0:17:17 | 0:17:22 | |
And at night, they'll take wing | 0:17:22 | 0:17:26 | |
using that remarkable wing membrane | 0:17:28 | 0:17:33 | |
and fly out in search of a warm blood meal. | 0:17:33 | 0:17:37 | |
They use the ridiculously sharp teeth | 0:17:44 | 0:17:47 | |
at the front of the mouth here. | 0:17:47 | 0:17:49 | |
I don't my finger too close | 0:17:49 | 0:17:51 | |
cos I know I'm going to get bitten on camera! | 0:17:51 | 0:17:53 | |
But they shave away a portion of hair from the animal | 0:17:53 | 0:17:57 | |
that they're going to be feeding on | 0:17:57 | 0:17:59 | |
and then bite a tiny hole | 0:17:59 | 0:18:01 | |
and lap away at the blood that leaks out. | 0:18:01 | 0:18:03 | |
Their saliva keeps the blood flowing, | 0:18:03 | 0:18:06 | |
it's what is called an anti-coagulant. | 0:18:06 | 0:18:08 | |
They know exactly where to bite, using their sensitive noses | 0:18:09 | 0:18:13 | |
to pinpoint where the blood flows closest to the surface of the skin. | 0:18:13 | 0:18:18 | |
They take in about a soup spoon of blood, | 0:18:18 | 0:18:20 | |
which doesn't sound like much | 0:18:20 | 0:18:22 | |
but when you look at the size of this tiny bat, | 0:18:22 | 0:18:25 | |
actually, for its body weight, that's an enormous meal. | 0:18:25 | 0:18:29 | |
While it might seem everything about vampire bats | 0:18:31 | 0:18:34 | |
is just a bit grim and grotesque, | 0:18:34 | 0:18:36 | |
amongst themselves, they're really quite thoughtful creatures. | 0:18:36 | 0:18:39 | |
In fact, if they come back from having got a really good meal | 0:18:39 | 0:18:42 | |
and there's another bat that hasn't managed to feed, | 0:18:42 | 0:18:45 | |
one of these guys will actually regurgitate their blood meal | 0:18:45 | 0:18:49 | |
and give some to the other bat. | 0:18:49 | 0:18:52 | |
They look after each other. | 0:18:52 | 0:18:53 | |
So, vampire bats they may be the creature of nightmares | 0:18:55 | 0:18:59 | |
but with possibly the sharpest teeth in the whole animal kingdom, | 0:18:59 | 0:19:02 | |
I reckon they're worth a place on the Deadly 60. | 0:19:02 | 0:19:06 | |
He's not on my back, is he? | 0:19:09 | 0:19:11 | |
With the sharpest teeth in the world, | 0:19:13 | 0:19:16 | |
centres in their nose help them pick the best place to bite, | 0:19:16 | 0:19:19 | |
they consume a third of their body weight in blood at every meal. | 0:19:19 | 0:19:25 | |
Vampire bats are on my deadly list. | 0:19:25 | 0:19:29 | |
We're heading back into the jungle for my next deadly creature. | 0:19:32 | 0:19:36 | |
In some parts of Costa Rica | 0:19:36 | 0:19:38 | |
they get four metres of rain a year. | 0:19:38 | 0:19:40 | |
Which creates the perfect conditions for something tiny | 0:19:40 | 0:19:43 | |
but utterly and completely lethal. | 0:19:43 | 0:19:46 | |
In fact, just one could kill the entire crew. | 0:19:46 | 0:19:50 | |
But its identity might surprise you. | 0:19:50 | 0:19:52 | |
The most poisonous creature in the world by some distance | 0:19:54 | 0:19:58 | |
is a tiny frog no bigger than the end of my thumb. | 0:19:58 | 0:20:01 | |
They're called poison dart frogs | 0:20:01 | 0:20:03 | |
and a particularly beautiful variety is found right here. | 0:20:03 | 0:20:06 | |
Poison dart frogs secrete poison onto their skins. | 0:20:07 | 0:20:10 | |
When Colombian Indians are hunting, | 0:20:10 | 0:20:12 | |
they wipe their blowpipe darts on the back of the frog. | 0:20:12 | 0:20:16 | |
Any animal they hit with their dart will be dead within minutes. | 0:20:16 | 0:20:19 | |
These technicoloured amphibians | 0:20:19 | 0:20:22 | |
come in an array of different bright colours, warning how dangerous they are. | 0:20:22 | 0:20:26 | |
No, there's three - there's three in there. | 0:20:30 | 0:20:33 | |
Now, I've made sure that I've washed my hands, | 0:20:36 | 0:20:38 | |
because these frogs are very, very sensitive in the skin... | 0:20:38 | 0:20:43 | |
..and you don't want any insect repellent or anything hurting them. | 0:20:46 | 0:20:51 | |
Most people are absolutely blown away, the first time they see a dart frog, about how small they are. | 0:20:52 | 0:20:58 | |
It's incredible to think that an animal this size can be the most poisonous on the planet. | 0:20:58 | 0:21:05 | |
Those bright, bright colours are part of the reason that this frog | 0:21:05 | 0:21:08 | |
is actually found active during the day. | 0:21:08 | 0:21:10 | |
Every other frog around here comes out at night. | 0:21:10 | 0:21:13 | |
It's deafening with the calls of frogs. | 0:21:13 | 0:21:16 | |
But these dart frogs can be active during the day | 0:21:16 | 0:21:18 | |
and they're brightly coloured because they know that predators | 0:21:18 | 0:21:22 | |
are going to see these colours and know it means just one thing - this is highly poisonous | 0:21:22 | 0:21:27 | |
and certainly not going to be good to eat. | 0:21:27 | 0:21:29 | |
So the poisons that are created by this little frog | 0:21:29 | 0:21:34 | |
are one of the absolute miracles of nature. | 0:21:34 | 0:21:37 | |
They start off in the leaves of plants. | 0:21:37 | 0:21:39 | |
Ants eat the leaves, frogs eat the ants, | 0:21:39 | 0:21:42 | |
and then they almost sweat the poison out on their skin. | 0:21:42 | 0:21:46 | |
There's one particular species of dart frog, | 0:21:46 | 0:21:48 | |
about the same size as this. It's found in Colombia | 0:21:48 | 0:21:51 | |
and it has enough poison in its body to kill ten people. | 0:21:51 | 0:21:55 | |
That's pretty incredible. | 0:21:55 | 0:21:58 | |
This tiny little animal is a living chemical weapons factory | 0:21:59 | 0:22:03 | |
and for that reason alone, it's got to go on the Deadly 60. | 0:22:03 | 0:22:07 | |
The dart frog produces the world's most powerful poison. | 0:22:07 | 0:22:12 | |
It's vibrant colours warn off predators | 0:22:12 | 0:22:14 | |
and just one frog could kill ten humans. | 0:22:14 | 0:22:18 | |
Small but utterly deadly. | 0:22:18 | 0:22:20 | |
Before I leave Costa Rica, | 0:22:25 | 0:22:27 | |
there's one final creature I want to put on my list | 0:22:27 | 0:22:30 | |
and...it's a bit of a monster. | 0:22:30 | 0:22:33 | |
It can grow up to six metres long and weigh in at a staggering 1,000kg. | 0:22:35 | 0:22:40 | |
This area is infested with them. | 0:22:42 | 0:22:45 | |
They're most active at night | 0:22:48 | 0:22:50 | |
and I'm starting my search on a beach near our camp. | 0:22:50 | 0:22:53 | |
Wow! | 0:23:02 | 0:23:05 | |
Look at that! | 0:23:05 | 0:23:07 | |
Wow! What a magnificent creature. | 0:23:10 | 0:23:14 | |
Right down at the surf. | 0:23:14 | 0:23:17 | |
This is an American crocodile. | 0:23:17 | 0:23:20 | |
Isn't it wonderful? | 0:23:20 | 0:23:22 | |
Still comparatively young. | 0:23:22 | 0:23:23 | |
It's probably only about... I guess, two years old. | 0:23:23 | 0:23:26 | |
But still you can see the power that makes it such a formidable predator. | 0:23:26 | 0:23:33 | |
Look at those teeth! | 0:23:33 | 0:23:35 | |
They actually...overlap the jaw so that it can't actually completely shut its mouth and hide its teeth. | 0:23:35 | 0:23:42 | |
You still see them bristling from the mouth. | 0:23:42 | 0:23:44 | |
And those are used almost like a trap for catching fish. | 0:23:44 | 0:23:48 | |
And when it gets bigger they'll also catch large mammals, | 0:23:48 | 0:23:51 | |
even things as big as deer. | 0:23:51 | 0:23:53 | |
And every once in a while, big American crocs have been known to take people. | 0:23:53 | 0:23:58 | |
But at this size...well, I don't think he's any danger to me. | 0:23:58 | 0:24:03 | |
But absolutely glorious. | 0:24:03 | 0:24:06 | |
I would love to put American crocodiles onto the Deadly 60 | 0:24:07 | 0:24:11 | |
but to do that, I think I'm going to have to find something | 0:24:11 | 0:24:14 | |
a little bit bigger. | 0:24:14 | 0:24:16 | |
Come on, fella. | 0:24:16 | 0:24:18 | |
There are definitely some bigger ones around, so the hunt is on. | 0:24:27 | 0:24:32 | |
What makes these crocs so capable is that they're adaptable, | 0:24:32 | 0:24:35 | |
at home exploiting both freshwater and sea. | 0:24:35 | 0:24:38 | |
I have a plan to entice what I hope will be a large adult | 0:24:42 | 0:24:45 | |
out of hiding and onto my Deadly 60 list. | 0:24:45 | 0:24:50 | |
Did you see that lightning? | 0:24:52 | 0:24:56 | |
Crocs have well-developed senses of hearing and smell | 0:24:56 | 0:24:59 | |
and can also pick up vibrations of struggling prey in the water. | 0:24:59 | 0:25:03 | |
Let's see if they'll sense my fish bait. | 0:25:03 | 0:25:05 | |
This is absolutely extraordinary. | 0:25:05 | 0:25:08 | |
There's a massive American crocodile... | 0:25:08 | 0:25:12 | |
just zeroing in on my bait. | 0:25:12 | 0:25:15 | |
I should explain that there's no hook on this line. | 0:25:18 | 0:25:20 | |
It's just a piece of fish tied onto a rope, | 0:25:20 | 0:25:23 | |
so there's no way that it can hurt the croc if it decides to go for it. | 0:25:23 | 0:25:26 | |
In actual fact, all he's going to get is a free meal. | 0:25:26 | 0:25:31 | |
He's just there. | 0:25:31 | 0:25:33 | |
He's got it! He's got the fish! | 0:25:33 | 0:25:35 | |
He's got the fish. | 0:25:35 | 0:25:36 | |
Come on then, big fella. | 0:25:36 | 0:25:38 | |
Come on. | 0:25:38 | 0:25:40 | |
Let's get a look at you. | 0:25:40 | 0:25:42 | |
Whoa! That's some strength! | 0:25:46 | 0:25:49 | |
Look at that. | 0:25:49 | 0:25:51 | |
Ah-ha-ha-ha! | 0:25:51 | 0:25:54 | |
Oh! | 0:25:54 | 0:25:56 | |
Slipping around in the riverside mud, | 0:25:56 | 0:25:58 | |
you can see why crocs are so deadly. | 0:25:58 | 0:26:00 | |
Even when I'm out of the water on the riverbank, | 0:26:00 | 0:26:03 | |
he still has the upper hand. | 0:26:03 | 0:26:06 | |
Just when I think my job can't get any weirder, | 0:26:06 | 0:26:09 | |
I end up fishing for crocs in an electrical storm. | 0:26:09 | 0:26:12 | |
Madness. | 0:26:12 | 0:26:14 | |
He is the master of these murky waters | 0:26:18 | 0:26:21 | |
and I certainly wouldn't fancy swimming in there. | 0:26:21 | 0:26:25 | |
Crocodiles probably have the most powerful bite in the world, | 0:26:25 | 0:26:28 | |
12 times stronger than a great white shark. | 0:26:28 | 0:26:31 | |
Oh, that's strong. That is so strong. | 0:26:33 | 0:26:38 | |
Because the tail is paddle shaped, | 0:26:41 | 0:26:45 | |
it gives them great power through the water when they need it. | 0:26:45 | 0:26:49 | |
Which isn't often, because most of the time is spent almost motionless. | 0:26:50 | 0:26:57 | |
Our last fish. | 0:26:57 | 0:26:59 | |
This is our last chance for an encounter with this magnificent living dinosaur. | 0:26:59 | 0:27:04 | |
There he is. | 0:27:07 | 0:27:11 | |
Though the American crocodile is primarily a fish feeder, | 0:27:11 | 0:27:15 | |
a big croc like this could easily take decent-sized mammal prey. | 0:27:15 | 0:27:21 | |
Or chug back a huge fish in one gulp. | 0:27:23 | 0:27:26 | |
Effortless. Just effortless. | 0:27:28 | 0:27:31 | |
That's not just one of the most deadly predators in Costa Rica - | 0:27:33 | 0:27:37 | |
that's one of the most deadly predators in the world. | 0:27:37 | 0:27:41 | |
They've been around since before the dinosaurs, | 0:27:43 | 0:27:46 | |
they grow and replace up to 3,000 teeth in their lifetime, | 0:27:46 | 0:27:51 | |
reach an enormous six metres in length. | 0:27:51 | 0:27:54 | |
American crocodiles are definitely... | 0:27:54 | 0:27:57 | |
WHISPER: Deadly! | 0:27:57 | 0:27:58 | |
So my trip has given us a huge haul | 0:28:01 | 0:28:03 | |
of fascinating and formidable creatures, | 0:28:03 | 0:28:06 | |
from but hugely powerful croc... | 0:28:06 | 0:28:09 | |
to the lethally-fast eyelash pit viper. | 0:28:09 | 0:28:12 | |
And from the phenomenally-toxic poison dart frog | 0:28:12 | 0:28:15 | |
to the sharp-toothed vampire bat. | 0:28:15 | 0:28:18 | |
Costa Rica has certainly lived up to expectations. | 0:28:19 | 0:28:22 | |
So join me next time for some more of the planet's Deadly 60. | 0:28:22 | 0:28:26 | |
Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd | 0:28:36 | 0:28:39 | |
E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk | 0:28:39 | 0:28:42 |