Episode 8 Curious Creatures

Hello, I'm Kate Humble, and this is Curious Creatures,

a quiz all about the wonders of the natural world.

So get ready for a joyous half hour

in the company of some of the world's cutest, strangest,

most fascinating and sometimes most ferocious creatures.

Let's meet them. On my left,

the walking encyclopaedia that is Chris Packham,

who is joined today by his Springwatch Unsprung colleague,

Lindsey Chapman.

APPLAUSE

And facing them, zoologist and writer Lucy Cooke,

who today is joined by veterinary ophthalmologist

and co-presenter of Trust me, I'm a Vet,

Vim Kamaratunga.

APPLAUSE

Now, then, how does this all work?

Well, each team will be building up

their own curious creature during the game,

and the more parts they win,

the more points they can score at the end of the show.

So we start as we mean to go on with some stupendous nuggets from the

animal kingdom in our first round, Yay or Neigh.

So teams, I am going to read each of you a statement about an animal,

and all you have to do is to decide whether it's a fabulous fact,

that's a Yay...

ELEPHANT TRUMPETING

..or a beastly fiction, a Neigh.

HORSE NEIGHS

So, Chris, we'll start with you.

-OK.

-The tongue of one of these,

a blue whale, weighs more than the entire body of one of these,

a Black Rhino.

I'm looking at the rhino,

I'm thinking that animal weighs in the region of a tonne or a

-tonne-and-a-half...

-Will the rhino fit inside the whale's mouth?

-That's not the question.

-That's not the question, but could it?

-Yes, it could, easily.

-There you go.

So you think the tongue of a blue whale

weighs more than an entire black rhino.

Well, how many rhinos could you get in there, do you think?

How many rhinos do you want to get in there?

I'm thinking about the weight!

I mean from the rhino's point of view, it's not an ideal habitat, is it?

It's a good way to think about this, surely, don't you think?

I'm thinking this is nothing to do with rhinos,

this is everything to do with water.

It's the weight of the water in its mouth.

You know the plates that run down.

When one of these baleen whales opens its mouth,

the entire front of its body is swollen up

into an enormous spherical structure filled with water,

and then it uses its immensely powerful tongue

to push that water out,

so it strains through its baleen plates and removes the food.

It's about the weight of water, not the weight of the rhino.

So it's what I said, it's about the weight of the water,

-not the weight of the rhino, yep?

-It's exactly what you said.

And we are concurring when we say that "yes",

the blue whale's tongue weighs more than the rhinoceros.

So I'm going to say Yay for that.

ELEPHANT TRUMPETING

Are they right?

The answer is a resounding, Yay!

APPLAUSE

Any ideas how much the weight of a blue whale's tongue might be?

-Lindsey, do you want to have a shot at this?

-Six tonnes.

It's actually 2.7 metric tonnes, approximately.

However, and this is my favourite blue whale fact,

because of the shape of its throat, it can only swallow,

something no bigger than...

A human head, isn't it, or something like that?

In your words, perhaps.

I was going say beach ball, as a friendlier analogy.

Well, what I was thinking was that Jonah could have never gotten in to the stomach of the whale.

-No, he couldn't, unless he was beach ball sized.

-His head could.

So, very well done.

You are correct. Which means that

Chris and Lindsey get their very first part

of their curious creature.

And there it is.

-OK.

-Now, no guesses yet, you're going to be identifying, hopefully,

these bits at the end of the programme to get your points.

Now, Lucy, your fabulous fact is:

Vampire bats are native to Transylvania.

Look at that beautiful, beautiful creature, with a face that, frankly,

only its mother could love. What do you say to that?

I'd say it sounds a little bit too convenient, doesn't it, really?

I think that is incorrect, actually.

Because vampire bats were first discovered by the South American

explorers, the early south,

so they'd have to be rather off course

if they'd found them in Transylvania.

What do you think, do you agree?

-I agree.

-Yeah. It's a tropical beast.

-Yep.

-It's not from, Transylvania, where is Transylvania?

-In Romania.

-Yeah, and there are 1,100 species of bats,

so you probably get lots of them in Transylvania but not the vampire.

They're tiny, and they don't actually go for the neck,

they'll go for nostrils and anuses.

Nice.

You might actually prefer to be

-attacked on your neck, knowing that, actually.

-You might, yes.

Anyway, we should get back to the fact of whether you are right.

So we're going Neigh, we think that this fact is not true.

HORSE NEIGHS

And I can tell you that you are absolutely right.

APPLAUSE

So, you two have won your first part of your curious creature.

Let's have a look.

Oh, what a lovely little face that is.

Now, Lindsey,

I put it to you that under its fur a tiger's skin is striped?

Um, I...

When was the last time you shaved a tiger?

Ah, well, we'll come to that in a minute.

I think I've heard about this before, Chris.

I think they are. I think the markings are individual

to each animal, and I think that underneath that fur

is a beautiful striped skin as well.

So you're going, Yay?

I'm going, Yay.

ELEPHANT TRUMPETING

She's right.

Now you said, "Who would be crazy enough to shave a tiger?"

I have shaved a tiger.

Well, you'll be delighted to know that

you have something in common with our lovely friends

at Dallas Zoo in Texas,

who also shaved a tiger and this is what it looked like.

There we are. So the stripes are very much there.

So congratulations to you, Lindsey,

you win another part of our curious creature.

-Thank you.

-Oh.

-Oh, whoa!

Do you know what? I was reading about those last night.

I seriously was!

-Were you?

-I read a whole paper about that particular thing last night.

What a coincidence that is.

What a fortunate coincidence that is!

Have you been sneaking in on my scripts?

No, not at all, that's just a real coincidence.

Well, we shall wait to find out what it is later in the programme.

In the meantime, Vim.

Yay or Neigh to this.

A giraffe has more bones in its neck than a human?

The question is are there more bones, or are they larger bones?

-I'm doing the vet-y thing here.

-Yes, OK.

-I think it's the same.

-It's a trick question.

Because I think that the only mammal

that has more neck bones than a human is a sloth, in fact.

So you are going Neigh?

I'm going Neigh.

HORSE NEIGHS

Is he right, ladies and gentlemen?

Yes, he is. He is absolutely right.

Virtually all mammals, including humans, have seven neck bones.

Now, Lucy, you were absolutely right about your sloth fact.

Sloths are the only land mammal to have more than seven neck vertebrae.

Well done both of you, you have won another part

of your glorious, curious, creature.

There we are.

Nice furry little body to add to your handsome head.

Now, we move on to round two, which today is - What on Earth?

So I'm going to play each team a clip.

I'm going to start with you, Chris and Lindsey, and the question is,

what on earth is this bird imitating?

BIRD SQUAWKS

-Can we see it again?

-Yeah, can we see it again?

You can see it again, yep.

BIRD SQUAWKS

So shall we start first of all with what bird that is?

-It's a liar bird, isn't it?

-It is absolutely a liar bird.

What is it imitating?

Can they imitate more than one call, then?

Oh, yeah. And often they imitate human sounds,

they will do mobile phones,

car alarms, they will do all those sorts of things.

This is an Australian species and I think it's mimicking another

Australian species of bird,

and I think that this liar bird is mimicking the kookaburra.

That would be my wild stab in the dark.

He doesn't do wild stab in the dark, does he? It's Chris Packham.

He is absolutely right.

APPLAUSE

Now, as you said, Chris,

these birds are absolutely the masters of mimicry,

and we've got a lovely bit of film

that shows you just how remarkable they can be.

IT CHIRPS

IT IMITATES CAMERA

IT IMITATES ALARM

IT CHIRPS

I like one of the first ones there

was an old fashioned camera with the motor drive,

so you hear it taking the picture and then as it

winds the film on.

Probably gives you an idea of how to age the bird as well?

-Probably, yeah.

-Well, well done,

you have won yourselves another part of your curious creature.

APPLAUSE

There we are.

Now, then, Lucy and Vim.

Your turn. What on earth made this

amazing undersea pattern?

Jellyfish.

Jellyfish. Come on, talk us through that.

-I was talking about the circular shape.

-Yeah.

The tentacles,

the central body part, the mouth part.

So you have concentric rings.

And are you thinking that that's just effectively

the jellyfish footprint, if a jellyfish can have a footprint.

It can't be. I don't think that they hit the bottom of the seabed.

No. No.

It's a very,

very clever thought but I think that

it's a fish that's created that pattern.

Why would it create a pattern like that, Lucy,

-do you think?

-I think it's done it to attract a mate.

A mate, yep.

I think it's a wild fishy seduction technique.

-Do you?

-Things can get pretty crazy on the seabed.

Yeah.

I think we're going to go with some kind of fish.

I'd like you to be a little bit more specific.

-Puffer fish.

-Puffer fish?

You're going puffer fish...

She's right, you know.

APPLAUSE

And just to prove she's right,

we have got some incredible footage of a Japanese puffer fish.

-Look at that.

-I mean I'd be impressed by that.

-Would you?

-Yeah, I would.

-Any idea how long it takes a puffer fish to make

those beautiful sand sculptures.

-I would have said hours.

-I reckon even more than that.

-What a whole day?

-Look, he's only tiny, though.

Yeah, I reckon that's a day.

-A day's work.

-Yes.

-A day?

-No. No. No. When these fish want a girl,

-they work for a week, 24 hours a day!

-Wow.

Obviously with the current it will get blown away,

so they've got to keep working at it.

When the circles are finished,

females come to view them, as you said, Lucy,

and if they like what they see, they reproduce with the males.

Now, any idea what happens after they reproduce?

They lay eggs. Just a wild guess?

Do I get an extra point for that?

Yes, definitely. And it's a slightly sad thing,

because they do lay eggs and those fertilised eggs

are deposited in the sand, and the male will then spend several days

fanning those eggs with his fins

to keep them oxygenated,

and that fanning actually destroys his work of art.

But you were absolutely right - it is a puffer fish and you have won

another part of your curious creature.

APPLAUSE

So there you are, a nice little pair of perky ears for you.

And now it's time to play our mystery animal round, called -

Is It Bigger Than A Chicken?

Yes, we'll be taking a detailed look

at one particularly interesting creature,

and the team's first job is to work out what it is.

To do that, they ask me questions

to which I must be able to answer only yes or no.

Each time they get a "yes",

a small part of our mystery animal is revealed, and if they wish,

they can then guess what it is.

But beware, teams, if you guess it wrong, you're out of the round.

Oh, and there is just one other rule,

the first question must always be, audience?

AUDIENCE: Is it bigger than a chicken?

Thank you very much. Vim, we are going to start with you,

what question would you like to ask me?

Is it bigger than a chicken?

I'm delighted that you asked me that and the answer is, yes.

-OK.

-So you get your very first

revealing square of our mystery animal.

There it is.

OK, so we shall shrink it back.

Lindsey? A question from you?

Has it got fur on any part of its body?

-Yes.

-Excellent.

So you have got another little clue.

And here it is. Very beady.

It's also put in a position that gives you

a rough idea of the shape and size

of the creature we're talking about.

I still have absolutely no idea.

OK, Lucy, what question would you like to ask?

I would like to ask if it digs burrows?

Yes, it does.

So you have won yourself another piece of our animal puzzle.

Oh, yes.

There it is. Now, you're looking very confident and a little glittery

around the eyes, if I may say so.

-Smug.

-Yep, smug would be a word.

-What are we looking at?

-It's an Aardvark.

-Do you think he's right?

-I think he is right, yeah.

I think the ear is distinctive and the small eye is...

-It's from the eye.

-It's from the eye, of course.

The ophthalmologist, the eye man.

Is the eye man right?

FANFARE

And is there anything in particular about an Aardvark eye

that sets it apart from perhaps something else?

It's hairlessness around the eye.

Quite hairless skin and it looked like it was a mammal.

Well, congratulations, Vim,

you have won another part of your curious creature.

There we are, a fine pair of twinkle toes.

So well done to both Lucy and Vim.

Chris and Lindsey,

you have the chance to also win an extra bit of your curious creature

if you can answer this bonus question.

Do you know what the name Aardvark literally means?

Do you know? I do know this. But I've forgotten it.

-Aardvark.

-Have a think about what it does?

Well, it digs. It burrows, it feeds on ants.

It's nocturnal. It gets eaten by things

that are a lot more interesting than it.

It's a...

-You don't know the answer, do you?

-No, go on.

-He doesn't know.

The literal translation of Aardvark

is earth pig or ground hog,

and it is a South African, Dutch name.

However I can't give you a curious creature part

-because you didn't know what Aardvark meant.

-I'd forgotten.

Ground pig. I'll never forget it now, though, will I?

No, you won't. Never mind.

Now round four today is a personal favourite of mine

and it is called Whose Poo?

Yes, we have a sample of animal excreta

for each team to try and identify.

They've been kindly provided by the

National Poo Museum on the Isle of Wight.

Now a small health and safety message -

Please do not try this at home.

All animal poo is potentially harmful,

and our expert teams are examining their samples

under strictly controlled conditions.

There is your delightful little dome of joy.

-Can I reveal the poo?

-You can reveal the poo.

-Go ahead. Ta-da.

-Wonderful.

The main thing we need to know, as Charles Darwin said,

was the origin of the faeces.

Would you like to smell it, Chris?

Yeah. Yeah. Give me a wifter.

Mmm. No. No. It's not bad. It's actually quite sweet.

I'm looking in it, it's got berries in it,

and it's got other grassy material in it.

We don't want to break all of them open but these ones here.

Yeah, it has a stone in it.

It's almost like a hawthorn.

And there's a small piece of wood which I imagine has been ingested

accidentally, so it's maybe been

snuffling around on the ground and it's picked up some wood.

So it could be a ground-feeding herbivore.

It's eating those berries, I would imagine, deliberately.

Is this a native poo?

I don't think it is a native species, to be honest with you.

I've never found anything like this in my wanders.

This does look as if it is a little bit fibrous, that could be bambooey.

Yes, it's very stringy, that, isn't it?

Look, that could be bambooey.

I'm going to stick my neck out here,

and what I'm going to go for,

because of the vegetation and the stringy nature of the vegetation,

and the diameter of the poo, I'm going to say that this is possibly

red panda poo.

Red panda poo?

So not giant?

No, I think it's red panda poo.

Mr Packham is absolutely right.

APPLAUSE

Now you said that the evidence there

was that this is mainly a vegetarian diet, that they scrabble around on the ground.

Absolutely right about that.

Congratulations, you have won another part

of your curious creature.

Excellent.

So there you are. A fine pair of pins there.

Now, Lucy and Vim.

Here is your curious little bit of excreta.

-Are you ready, Vim?

-I'm ready.

-OK.

Phoar, it's so smelly.

Oh, my God.

Wow!

-Dare we...

-You haven't given us much to work with?

Well, I don't know, I think there's quite a lot you can have fun with,

with that. Anything else that strikes you in particular about it?

-Gee, thanks.

-That's, that's, we are not dealing with a vegetarian.

This may be one for the gloves.

-I think so. I think so.

-Would you like the sugar tongs?

I'll wear the gloves.

I mean, it's got to be done.

Yeah, now, I'd like to see a little veterinary skill here, Vim.

What is that?

Hold on, it's part of a skull, isn't it?

-A skull?

-Oh, how fantastic.

Yep.

I can see...

-We've got some bigger bits in here.

-I can see some little teeth there.

Those would be the upper canines. Tiny, tiny little eyes.

So, what would eat something like that, do you think?

A bird of prey, I think, possibly.

I've got a skull.

You're got another skull. An even bigger one.

Look at this! This has got eye orbits and the whole...

You see now you've forgotten what it smelled like, haven't you?

It's quite a treasure-trove in there.

I'm actually quite intoxicated.

So bird of prey, then.

Any thoughts beyond bird of prey,

can you get more specific, do you think?

It depends on where this has come from in terms of country, continent.

What about thinking where it's come from in terms of

which part of the animal it came out of?

You see that's the thing. I think it didn't come out of its bum.

It could be a tricabezoa, that's a good word.

That is a very good word.

Would you like to explain it to us, non-veterinary types.

A tricabezoa is like a fur ball, basically.

-Right.

-It's a glorified word for a fur ball,

so it could be regurgitated material, rather than the other end.

Well if you remember, I very carefully described it as excreta,

so it could indeed have come from that end rather than the back end.

-Yep.

-So now that you've dug deeper, as it were,

any thoughts?

Owl.

-Some sort of big owl.

-Some sort of big owl.

I can see Chris looking at me.

I mean, we're species specific over here, you know.

-Shall we go with tawny?

-Tawny, yeah.

-You're going tawny owl.

-Tawny owl.

You are absolutely right that it is indeed an owl pellet that was

regurgitated, so it's not poo.

We are going to give you your curious creature part - however,

the owl that is responsible is in fact one of these utter beauties.

Oh, it's a barn owl.

It is a barn owl.

So another British species but, yeah, not a tawny.

And you now get your curious creature part.

APPLAUSE

And now we are almost at the end of the show,

which means it's time to see how many bits

of their curious creatures our teams can identify.

Now, Lucy and Vim,

you have completed your curious creature with all five body parts.

Chris and Lindsey, you just managed to gather four,

so now is the time to identify them.

You'll get two points for each part you correctly identify.

We're going to start with the head,

so let's have a look at that - any guesses?

Some kind of lynx?

You're absolutely right it is a lynx.

To be specific, an Iberian lynx,

so that's two points.

Now what about this lovely nose?

You said you were reading about these only last night, Chris?

Yes, a curious coincidence,

this is the appendage which fronts the star-nosed mole.

You're absolutely right.

And it is a remarkable organ.

There are 11 pairs of extensions here, tentacles, almost.

The two most sensitive are those which are in the lower centre there,

with are situated over the mouth,

and they act more like an eye than a tactile thing.

So, basically, those around the edge of it

are for sort of seeing in a peripheral way, and then

they focus on these two above the mouth and they identify the

prey and consume it. And these are remarkable little animals,

they live not only beneath the soil where they feed on worms,

but they'll also swim under water

and take aquatic animals from under water.

North-eastern, United States, amazing.

Now, what about this lovely little furry body?

I think there are some quite strong hind legs

that you can just begin to see in the picture there.

Mmm, and possibly a pouch.

We're going to go wallaby or tree kangaroo on this one.

-It can't be both.

-Oh, sorry. OK.

-Oh, come on! It's got to be one of them.

-Come on, Linds.

-I think we go with the kangaroo, the tree kangaroo.

-You'll go tree kangaroo?

-Yeah.

-It's a wallaby.

-Oh, no!

It's a wallaby- it's in fact a yellow-footed rock wallaby.

Of course. Of course!

Any fool would know that!

Any fool would know that!

So, no points for that one

and let's see if you can claw back a little bit

of self-respect and identify those perky pins for us?

Are these the legs of a tawny owl?

Is that your final answer?

No!

-We think we know this one.

-Yes.

-Elephant.

Elephant. Do you want to be a little more specific.

I think that's two legs from an elephant.

I'm going to give you that, an African elephant,

if you want to be picky, but two more points there.

However, you have the chance of getting one extra point if you can

identify the body part that you didn't win - and here it is.

-It looks like a leaf.

-Indeed, it's does.

-That's all I'm going to give you on that.

-OK!

-It looks like a leaf?

-It does look like a leaf.

So something it needs to disguise?

I think we should go, it's the tail of a leaf-tailed gecko.

-Happy with that, Linds?

-Yeah, happy with that.

Well, you'll get an extra point in that case.

You're absolutely right it is the tail of a leaf-tailed gecko.

So, Chris and Lindsey have seven points,

Vim and Lucy, can you do any better?

Now you of course did manage to get all your curious creature parts.

You could still win very easily, Chris, I think.

Because we've... the face is easy, isn't it? Because it's so distinctive.

Really lovely, distinctive indigo blue face

and we think that's a mandrill.

You're absolutely right. Two points for that.

What about this lovely furry body, what do you think about that?

We're also feeling bullish about that, aren't we?

We think it's an otter.

Yes, your hunch is right, it is an otter,

it's a Eurasian otter to be exact.

Two points, taking you to four points.

Now how about those perky little ears?

-What do we think?

-That's tricky.

-Very difficult.

-We thought it might have been a red panda,

and then very helpfully...

There was a red panda earlier in the quiz and we ruled that out.

Maybe a fox.

Yeah, it's definitely not feline, as far as I'm concerned.

OK, so you're going canid, rather than feline?

We think so. It could very well be a common or garden fox, I think?

Common or garden fox?

-Mmm.

-I'm afraid not. It is a grey wolf.

So you were right with the canid, but not the fox.

So no points there.

How about these rather splendid feet?

Well, I think they can only belong to one thing, don't you?

Yes. A blue-footed booby.

Absolutely right. They are indeed. So six points.

Now if you can get this next one right, you will be the winners,

it is a very emblematic piece of a very emblematic animal,

what do you reckon?

Well, it's tricky this.

So, Chris, you may well win.

It's a sea creature.

-It's aquatic.

-It's aquatic, it's a tail, it's a shark.

I am going to have to ask you to be specific for this one.

Are we allowed to get a clue, Kate?

There's an awful lot of...

HE COUGHS

Of animal missing.

I can just say you're doing quite well with your surmising.

Well, I'm thinking mako but I don't know.

-I think we'll go with that.

-You're going mako shark?

I'm afraid, I can give you one point for shark,

but it is a thresher shark.

-That wonderful threshing tail.

-Yep.

So, that means you too have seven points at the end of the round.

APPLAUSE

Which means that it is a draw between our teams.

Congratulations to Chris and Lindsey, to Lucy and Vim.

So, thank you to our four curious creatures for playing.

Thank you all. And to all of you at home, our marvellous mammals,

who've been watching, and we'll see you next time. Goodbye.