Episode 2 Just So Darwin

A long time ago, Darwin came to our island.

The stories that he told filled my grandad with wonder

and he told me so that I could tell you.

..98, 99, 100! Ready or not, here I come!

Oh, Sam. You have a thing or two to learn about camouflage.

Camo what?

Camouflage, Sam.

It's what some animals use to disappear into the background.

Stick insects are very good at it.

What's a stick insect?

Stick insects are long thin animals that look like...well, a stick.

They're amazing. And I have a great story for you.

Welcome to this year's World Hide And Seek Contest!

Without further ado, let me introduce you

to this year's finalists.

Chameleon, Moon Moth, Flying Gecko and last, but not least,

Stick Insect!

And this year's seeker is last year's winner

the great, the brilliantly-camouflaged,

Clouded Leopard! Are you feeling confident today, Leopard?

Nobody is as good as me at camouflage.

I won't be fooled by Chameleon, Moon Moth or Flying Gecko

and most definitely not by a walking stick.

Humph! You wait and see, smarty-pants!

Everyone ready?

Remember the rule -

once you've been found, you have to help the seeker

look for the others. Leopard, turn your back to the audience,

close your eyes and count to 20!

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven...

..17, 18, 19, 20. Ready or not, here I come.

So, let me find somewhere perfect to hide.

Right on top of this twig. Ah-ha!

He won't find me here.

Phew!

-Ha. I found you.

-Oh.

I found Flying Gecko. I caught him mid-air.

HE SIGHS Double trouble!

Both Leopard and Flying Gecko are searching for me now!

Stick insects always hide amongst sticks. So, let's look there.

-There are hundreds of sticks. Where would you like to start?

-Ha, look at that. I found Chameleon.

-Bother.

My greedy tummy always lets me down.

With only two left in the competition,

Stick Insect did something very special.

She moved with the wind and the other sticks

to make her camouflage better.

Stick Insect and Moon Moth stayed hidden for a long, long time.

But when the moon came out...

Moon Moth. There she is. I found you.

Moon Moth adores moonlight.

So, as soon as the moon appeared, so did she.

So, Stick Insect won!

This year's hide and seek champion is Stick Insect!

Come out, come out wherever you are.

I'm over here.

Where?

-Right here.

-Ladies and gentlemen, she's so well camouflaged

-nobody can see her.

-Here I am!

How do you feel being a winner?

Over the moon. Oh, sorry, Moon Moth. I love being camouflaged.

Is there any animal that can find a stick insect?

Oh, yes, Sam. It's a very clever animal called a bat

and it doesn't use its eyes to find food.

So, how does he do it if he doesn't use his eyes?

That is an interesting question.

The next story is about a bird that can't fly.

BIRD SQUAWKS Wow! What was that, Grandad?

A bird, Sam. A big one.

I bet that was the biggest bird in the world.

No, I don't think so, Sam.

Really? How do you know?

Well, the biggest bird in the world doesn't fly.

But all birds can fly.

Not the ostrich.

Not so long ago, a mummy ostrich had a nest full of eggs

when disaster happened!

Ah... Oh!

Ha-ha. Well, you're going to be a big fellow!

The ostrich egg landed in the nest of the guinea fowl

and when it was ready to hatch, Mummy guinea fowl

was in for a big surprise!

BOTH: Mama.

-DEEP VOICE:

-Mama.

SHE LAUGHS

Well, it wouldn't do if we were all exactly the same.

A few weeks later, Ollie had grown a lot more.

You look different. Why are your feathers so messy?

And you have a really long neck!

Right, my little ones. Who's ready for a flying lesson?

-Me! Me!

-Oh, me! Me!

Um, OK.

Now, watch carefully. See what I do.

-SHE PANTS

-Ha-ha.

Me first!

HE PANTS Weee!

Ha-ha! Well done, Freddy.

-SHE PANTS

-Wooo!

Lovely, Freya. Now it's your turn, Ollie.

Oh.

HE PANTS

It takes a little practice, Ollie.

And I'm very proud to see how fast you can run!

-'Why can't he fly?

-His wings are too small for his size.

'But Ollie does have brilliant eye sight.

'And one day, when Ollie, Freya and Freddy were playing,

'Ollie spotted something in the distance.'

-Gulp.

-'Ollie laid his neck flat on the floor as camouflage.'

Head down, stand still - there's a lion!

There's no lion. Come on Freya, let's go and play.

'As the lion got closer, Ollie started to run.'

-HE PANTS

-Watch out! A lion!

Fly, Freya! Fly, Freddy!

-'And did they get away?

-Just in the nick of time.'

Ollie was amazing, Mama!

He was taking huge steps and going so fast,

there was no way the lion could have caught him!

-I'm very proud of you, Ollie.

-Really?

-Oh, yes.

Have you noticed that you're a bit different

-to your brother and sister?

-Um, kind of.

Well, you may be an ostrich.

-Oh.

-So, if you're an ostrich, I'm not your mummy.

-So, where's my mummy?

-She lives with a group of other ostriches.

I look just like them! I am an ostrich!

That's why you're different from us.

Um, I need to go.

-HE PANTS

-Mummy! Mummy!

-Why don't we fly, Mummy?

-Well, a long, long, long time ago,

we could fly, Ollie. But after a long, long, long time,

we got bigger and bigger until we were too heavy

to get off the ground. But we don't need to fly because...

-We can run SO fast.

-Ha, exactly!

So, if ostriches stopped flying, could we start flying?

Ha - a flying tortoise! Now, that would be a sight.

It's Sam's favourite story, next.

He knows it so well he can tell it himself.

-HE YAWNS

-Been a long day, Sam. Good night.

Grandad, have you forgotten?

Forgotten what?

Forgotten our story. We can't go to sleep without our story.

-HE YAWNS

-Oh, yes. Of course not, Sam.

What story do you want?

I want Elephant Nose!

Sam, it's not Elephant Nose, it's called a trunk.

I know! Let me begin.

In a land far, far away, there lived a herd of elephants.

-There was a big Papa elephant...

-And a little elephant,

who wanted to know about everything.

Herd, halt!

-Oomph!

-THEY LAUGH

Good gracious me. A bumped trunk?

Yes. Why do I have to have a trunk, Papa?

It's always getting in the way.

Come on, little one. Hold on to my tail.

You can walk with me until you feel better.

'He couldn't do that without his trunk.

'Elephants use their trunks for all sorts of things.

'Like when they came to the trees, remember?'

Halt! At ease. Dinner time!

Not hungry.

Look at those delicious new leaves. Look at those soft twigs.

Ip, dip, sky blue, pull down those leaves and start to chew!

Mmmm... Why don't you try?

HE PANTS AND SIGHS

Did it! Mmmm.

'But elephants don't just use their trunks for eating.

'They also use their trunks for making noises.'

ELEPHANT TRUMPETS

'And fighting.'

-HE LAUGHS

-Be careful, you two!

BIRD SQUAWKS

-HE SNIFFS

-I smell danger.

And I see danger!

Form a circle!

ELEPHANTS TRUMPET AND LIONS ROAR

'And they also use it for threatening.

'..Hooray! The trunks did it! They're so handy.

'But there's a lot more they can do.'

-HE GASPS

-Water!

-THEY TRUMPET

-Can we play now?

Not until you've had a wash.

HE SLURPS

HE LAUGHS

-Oh, me too!

-HE SLURPS

Now we're cool.

And we'll get even cooler. Is your trunk ready?

Snorkel time!

'And the sun went down and the moon came up

'and Junior started thinking about all the things

'that his trunk could do.'

Breathing, greeting, smelling, eating, reaching,

holding tight,

threatening, wrestling, tic-scratching, showering in dust...

..drinking, washing, swimming, sploshing, snorkelling right under.

Grandad, how did the elephants get their trunks?

HE SNORES

I'll ask you tomorrow.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd

E-mail [email protected]