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03:35That bird actually caught an adult kittiwake in midair.
03:59The skewers go first for the liver.
04:03The skewers go first for the liver.
04:17The skewers go first for the liver.
04:19The skewers go first for the liver.
04:21And if they're full, they will be able to feed their chicks today.
04:25Many different kinds of birds, having spent most of the year out at sea, come to these cliffs
04:38in the spring to nest.
04:39Each has its own favoured territory.
04:41In parts where there is turf and soil, puffins dig their nest holes.
04:47Sitting beside them, they're relatively safe, for if danger threatens, they can duck inside their hole.
04:53It's when they're in the air that they're really vulnerable.
05:03Here, the greater blackback gull is on patrol.
05:07It's a huge bird, substantially bigger than the commonly seen lesser blackback.
05:15It has a wingspan of over five feet and the manoeuvrability of a fighter aircraft.
05:23The puffins, with wings and feet that must also serve in swimming and diving, are much less agile in the air.
05:41Flying in flocks reduces an individual's risk.
05:57But that's not always possible.
06:11With everyone's sacrifice.
06:12That sends a questionnaire to take place.
06:16That'ssted family looks to the sea-
06:23To the sea-
06:36That one has chosen a new storm.
06:40Oh, my God.
07:10With the puffin almost swallowed, the gull has at last got a meal.
07:32Or has it?
07:40The murdering robber has been robbed.
07:53There are other animals which spend most of their life at sea but come to land for a few
08:01weeks each year, seals and sea lions.
08:12These are South American sea lions off the coast of Patagonia.
08:16They can't give birth to their babies while they're swimming, as whales and dolphins do.
08:21Instead, they have to come ashore to do so.
08:23And here, in dense groups, moving awkwardly between land and sea, they're a great temptation
08:29to any hunter that can reach them.
08:36Their nursery beach seems secure.
08:38On the landward side, there are steep cliffs, and on the other side, the beach is protected
08:43by the sea.
08:44But the sea itself can harbour enemies.
08:47A killer whale, 30 feet long, eight tonnes in weight.
09:01Every year, the same group of about a dozen of them assemble off the sea lion nursery to
09:06hunt.
09:07For sea lions to venture into deep water here is very dangerous indeed.
09:13It's much safer to stay in the shallows if they can.
09:37In one or two places, channels enable the whales to get really close to the beach.
09:51Those are the danger spots.
10:07To get off the beach, the killer has to thrash its body.
10:30No other whale deliberately beaches itself in this way, or has perfected this method of
10:36getting back to the sea.
10:54As long as the sea lions stay well up the beach, you might think they would be safe.
10:59But the hungry whales are very daring.
11:06Now, several of the whales are hunting in a group.
11:36That sea lion was keeping just ahead of one of the whales, but was caught by another it probably
11:46hadn't seen.
12:06America needs to be safe sort of.
12:08There's.
12:08There's.
12:09There's other whales that have fished in near that super war.
12:13We're just going to allow him to be safe.
12:24So we're feeding us.
12:27This savage beating may be to separate Hyde
12:57from flesh.
13:03But very often the successful hunter takes its victim straight out to sea without even
13:08killing it.
13:14And there it plays with its catch as if it were exulting in triumph.
13:27And there it goes.
13:34And there it goes.
13:39And there it goes.
13:46To get all the food it needs, a killer whale must catch at least three sea lion pups a day.
14:08And every day throughout the breeding season, this group of skilled, highly intelligent
14:13hunters do just that.
14:15And there it goes.
14:44The Indian fishing cat hunts at night.
14:47It's a little larger than a domestic cat, and it feeds on all kinds of prey, from mice
14:53and rabbits to frogs and birds.
14:56But its speciality is fish.
14:59This pair have found an ideal opportunity.
15:11A drying river where the fish have been concentrated by the shrinking water into a pool.
15:16Even so, it's not easy.
15:20It requires stealth, lightning reflexes, endless patience, and perfect coordination between
15:27eye and paw.
15:29But these cats have brought such skills to perfection.
15:36What's the boat?
15:37It's highlyalta지는 the lake in which the fish can be developed for fish.
15:39It's a great game.
15:40This cannot be adapted for fish.
15:41It's not easy in the sea.
15:45After you've got some fish out of fish, it's a good thing.
15:52That's my favorite fish.
16:55This hunting technique is simplicity itself.
16:58The slug's slime, which makes it so unappetising to most predators, provides the trail which the thirst snake follows.
17:05The slug's slime, which makes it so unappetised to most predators.
17:35But swallowing such a slimy mouthful is not easy.
17:45The snake manages it by dislocating its lower jaw and twisting it forward so that it snags the slug with its teeth.
17:52Then a yawn puts the lower jaw back into its position.
18:03Not all the hunted give in so easily.
18:08Many have ways of deterring hunters that try to make a meal of them.
18:12An American opossum may think this frog is going to make an easy mouthful.
18:27It's quite wrong.
18:28First, the frog inflates its lungs so that it looks as big and as formidable as possible.
18:36And then it lets off a most surprising alarm.
18:38The whole performance is more than enough to put off the possum.
19:03In Australia, dingoes too can be put off by bluff.
19:09A frilled lizard.
19:10The frill is nothing but skin, but it disconcerts the dingo long enough to allow the lizard to make its escape.
19:34This, however, is no bluff.
19:47Poison is carried by all kinds of animals.
19:50Hunters, like this viper, use it to kill their prey.
19:54And the hunted use it too as a deterrent.
19:57The tomato frog, when it's threatened, exudes a milky poison from glands in its skin
20:03that would make any aggressor that swallowed it very ill indeed.
20:07The problem about having poison as a defence is that if you're not very careful,
20:18by the time you've convinced your attacker that you're not worth eating,
20:21it has either mauled you or killed you.
20:24So many animals that have poison advertise the fact long before it's necessary to use it.
20:30Look, for example, at this little creature.
20:32It's a spotted skunk.
20:38Like the bigger striped skunk that also lives here in the southern United States,
20:43it has glands beneath its tail which can squirt a jet of liquid with a smell so appalling
20:48that it can make you sick.
20:50So you should treat it with caution.
20:53And now I'm going to press my luck a bit.
20:55It doesn't want to waste its ammunition by squirting unnecessarily,
21:03so it gives fair warning.
21:08It's as eloquent a display of gymnastics as you could imagine
21:11with which to back up its warning spots and stripes.
21:14How better could you call attention to the spray gun beneath your tail?
21:21I'm not going to get any closer because if I do, I'll probably get sprayed
21:25and I don't want to risk that.
21:26Salamanders also put on gymnastic displays to declare that they have chemical weapons.
21:38In their case, it's in their skin.
21:43Having jerked convulsively into an extraordinary contortion,
21:47they stay there, transfixed.
21:49This one's warning colours are on its belly only,
21:55so when danger threatens, it throws itself on its back.
22:05And this one has its poison in a line of sacs along its flanks,
22:10which it can release by the somewhat drastic method
22:12of sticking its ribs through its skin, tearing them open.
22:19Some poisonous bugs carry their keep-off signs like banners on their legs.
22:26And these add an additional trick.
22:28They keep together in a swarm.
22:34If a bird misguidedly takes one,
22:37it won't peck at the others
22:38while that nasty taste is still fresh in its mouth.
22:41Black and yellow is a colour code for poison that is widely understood.
22:51It's used not only by wasps,
22:53but by salamanders and snakes and caterpillars like this one.
22:57Here, the poison is in the yellow spines themselves.
23:02These long hairs are also poisonous,
23:05and the caterpillar walks around with the confidence of one
23:07who knows that he's well-armed.
23:09But some pretend to be well-armed when they're not.
23:14This may look like an ant with a sting,
23:17but the ant body is a mask,
23:19an outgrowth from the back of a harmless and edible plant hopper.
23:24This little creature looks like a spider,
23:27and so does this.
23:28In fact, both are fruit flies.
23:31They have neither poison fangs nor stings,
23:33and they could make a good meal for a spider.
23:38And here is a real one.
23:41It signals with its black and white palps and legs
23:43as it would to another spider.
23:45And the fly responds by waving its black and white wings
23:58in a similar way.
23:59It's mimicking the spider keep away sign.
24:04And it works.
24:07Instead of being conspicuous,
24:10you can protect yourself by doing the reverse,
24:12by concealing yourself.
24:14And insects are the great masters at doing this.
24:17A stick, no, an insect.
24:22This is its head,
24:23with the front legs stretched up beside it.
24:27You really only have a chance of recognising it
24:29for what it is when it walks.
24:31A band of moss, perhaps.
24:49No, another insect,
24:51but lying so flat against a twig
24:53that it seems to be almost a part of it.
25:01Only its antennae lifted above the twig
25:07and a slight adjustment of its position
25:09gives the game away.
25:16Dead leaves lie all over a forest floor,
25:19so an insect mimicking them
25:21can wander undetected over a wide area.
25:28It's a kind of bush cricket.
25:31And this insect mimics living leaves.
25:37Its vivid green wing covers
25:38are veined like real leaves.
25:43Green flanges sprout from its legs.
25:47Few of those that are hunted among leaves
25:49can have a better or more elaborate concealment than this.
25:52Thorn bugs.
26:02Like many bugs,
26:04they produce excretions that are collected by ants.
26:07And ants are one of the few creatures
26:08that seem to know which are thorns
26:10and which are bugs.
26:12But two can play at that game.
26:23What could look more innocent
26:25than this orchid blooming in the half-light
26:28of the Malaysian rainforest?
26:30Its white flowers are bright
26:32and proclaim the sweetness of the nectar
26:34that lies deep within them
26:35and attract a lot of insects.
26:37But even in such a lovely thing as this,
26:40danger can lurk.
26:42Sitting on it,
26:43exactly matching the colour and texture
26:45of the orchid petals,
26:47is a mantis.
26:49It's facing left,
26:50with its abdomen cocked up on the right,
26:52and it's waiting motionless for a butterfly.
26:55Where am I?
26:55Where am I?
27:25Beside the entrance of a termite hill,
27:35a pile of refuse,
27:37tipped out from the nest by the termite workers.
27:40And on it,
27:41another hunter lurking in disguise.
27:43It's an assassin bug.
27:51It throws particles of refuse
27:53onto its spiny body,
27:54not to conceal itself
27:56from its prey, termites,
27:57for they're blind,
27:59but to hide from birds
28:00and other creatures
28:01that might eat it.
28:12Its cloak of droppings, however,
28:14may help to conceal it from the termites
28:16by giving it a protective smell.
28:21Certainly,
28:21the industrious workers
28:23are unaware
28:23aware that there's an enemy there
28:25until it's too late.
28:45Mimicry doesn't always deflect attention.
28:47Sometimes it attracts it.
28:51A death adder
28:52from northern Australia.
28:56And this could be its next meal,
28:58a skink
28:59searching for worms.
29:06Perhaps this
29:07is what it's looking for.
29:09in fact,
29:23it's the tip
29:24of the death adder's tail.
29:25That was a near-miss.
29:47lures.
29:48lures can also be used in defence.
29:48lures can also be used in defence.
29:53A blue tit hunting for food
29:55may overlook a hawk moth
29:57concealed by its camouflage.
30:00But if it investigates,
30:02then the moth
30:03suddenly exposes its hind wings.
30:07Eye spots don't alarm this blue tit,
30:10but they induce an attack.
30:11So the moth,
30:13instead of getting a lethal peck
30:14on its head,
30:15is struck on the hind wing,
30:17where no real damage is done.
30:20Eye spots give this caterpillar
30:22an almost snake-like appearance.
30:24And these tentacles,
30:25which release a nasty smell,
30:27heighten that resemblance.
30:28But could this really be
30:36an imitation of a snake's forked tongue?
30:39Could the caterpillar
30:39be mistaken for a snake
30:41when it's only a couple of inches long?
30:44We don't know
30:45and can only guess.
30:47And this
30:48is an even greater mystery.
30:52It's a frog,
30:53and one that,
30:54like most frogs,
30:55is hunted by snakes.
30:58The centres of these eye spots
31:18carry poison glands,
31:20but it could hardly have been
31:21the sight of them
31:22that deterred the snake.
31:23It couldn't have seen them
31:25from the front.
31:26So just how does having
31:27a face on its bottom
31:28protect the frog?
31:30No one knows.
31:34Big eyes undoubtedly
31:36attract attacks.
31:38And as this frog has real ones,
31:40it needs not to display them,
31:42but to conceal them.
31:45It lives in bromeliad plants,
31:47a favourite hunting ground
31:49for small snakes.
31:50by reversing into the heart
31:58of the plant,
31:59it conceals everything
32:00except the top of its head,
32:02which is protected
32:03by a special helmet,
32:05a bony shield.
32:06So many animals have developed
32:30a multitude of techniques
32:31for preventing other animals
32:33from making meals of them.
32:35High-speed sprints,
32:37drinking runs,
32:38distraction displays,
32:39near-perfect camouflage,
32:41even taking on disguises
32:43that make them look
32:44as though they are hunters themselves.
32:47But there is one animal
32:49against which none of these techniques
32:51is any defence.
32:52One hunter
32:53which is invariably successful.
32:56This one.
32:57Beneath this log
33:01is an immense ball of ants.
33:04Its outer surface
33:05is a lacy veil
33:06formed by individuals
33:08clinging to one another's legs.
33:10In the whole ball,
33:11there are about
33:12three quarters of a million of them.
33:14They are army ants
33:15and this is their bivouac.
33:18In the morning,
33:20a raiding force of workers
33:21escorted by a guard
33:22of bigger soldiers
33:23leaves the bivouac.
33:25They are almost blind
33:28but they are following
33:29a scent trail
33:30laid down by scouts
33:31who are foraging ahead.
33:44Few things are safe from them.
33:46Not even a giant spider.
33:55The sting of a scorpion
34:15is useless
34:16against such tinier grasses.
34:18They are too small to hit
34:19and too numerous.
34:34A wasp's nest
34:36is a major prize.
34:38The adult wasps,
34:39even though they have
34:40powerful stings,
34:41can't repel the ants
34:43and they watch helplessly
34:44as their colony is pillaged.
34:57The fat grubs
34:58are hauled from their cells,
35:01butchered and carried off.
35:02The bigger victims
35:10are cut up
35:11for easier transport
35:12and then carried back
35:13to the queen
35:14and the workers
35:15waiting in the bivouac.
35:16A caterpillar's camouflage
35:35didn't save it.
35:36A ring-shaped segment
35:47from a millipede
35:48has got caught
35:49on a spike.
35:55In some places,
35:57the soldiers form
35:58living bridges
35:59across which
36:00the porters run.
36:04The bite of the jaws
36:05and the sting
36:06in the tail
36:06of these ants
36:07is so painful
36:08that it makes
36:09getting close to them
36:09almost impossible.
36:11And as a result,
36:12studying them
36:13is very difficult indeed.
36:14So we really know
36:15very little
36:16of what goes on
36:17in the heart
36:18of a bivouac
36:19like this.
36:20But this optical probe
36:22may help us find out.
36:31The bivouac
36:32has an internal structure
36:33with walls
36:34made by the ants
36:35themselves clinging together.
36:38You have to be careful.
36:40Even though the probe
36:41has been greased,
36:42some soldiers managed
36:43to run up it.
36:47Here is the nursery,
36:48full of young,
36:50developing grubs.
36:50after two weeks
37:04or so in camp,
37:06the eggs
37:06that the queen
37:07has been laying
37:07in such numbers
37:08are hatching.
37:09The grubs need feeding
37:11and the entire army
37:12once more
37:13starts to march.
37:14The workers
37:25carry the baby grubs.
37:27soldiers' huge jaws
37:46agape guard the sides
37:47of the route.
37:48The army marches
37:50across new hunting grounds,
37:52making temporary camps
37:53each night
37:54until after about
37:55two weeks
37:56it bivouacs
37:57and repeats
37:57the whole cycle.
37:58The most powerful hunters
38:03in the bird world
38:04are, of course,
38:06hawks and eagles.
38:07But the Harris hawk
38:08in the deserts
38:09of New Mexico
38:10has a particular
38:11and unusual skill.
38:13It hunts in groups.
38:15The team of half a dozen
38:28or so
38:28assembles in the morning
38:30and begins to search
38:31the countryside.
38:35Their lookout posts
38:37are the great pillars
38:38of the saguaro cactus.
38:45The cacti are certainly
39:10splendidly tall
39:12but they don't appear
39:13to be the most comfortable
39:14of perches.
39:22And the prickly pear
39:23is hardly any better.
39:42A pack rat
39:43In this thorny tangle
39:56it's difficult
39:57to get a clear sight
39:58for long enough
39:58to pounce.
40:00Some of the hawks
40:00go down
40:01to try and chase
40:02the rat
40:02into the open.
40:06Since the rat
40:07is so much quicker
40:08on the ground
40:09than they are
40:09they will only manage
40:10to catch it
40:11if there are several
40:12of them.
40:12They've lost the rat
40:40but found bigger prey
40:42but found bigger prey
40:42a cottontail rabbit.
40:47The two on the ground
40:48chase it out.
40:50Those perching
40:51can now get a clear sight.
40:53Once the kill is made
41:06the entire team
41:08gathers
41:08and each bird
41:09tears off a share.
41:12One bird by itself
41:14is unlikely
41:14to have made
41:15such a kill
41:16in such country
41:17as this.
41:18Hunting together
41:19has paid off.
41:19But were the birds
41:21working in a team
41:22with a plan?
41:23Probably not.
41:25Individual birds
41:26do not regularly
41:26play the same role.
41:28Each simply reacted
41:29individually
41:30to the movements
41:31of the rabbit
41:31and each benefited
41:33from the fact
41:34that its companions
41:34were doing the same.
41:39Here in the thick
41:40forests of the ivory coast
41:42in West Africa
41:43live animals
41:44that are our closest relatives.
41:47Chimpanzees.
41:48A peaceful scene
41:50of jungle harmony.
42:06We don't normally
42:07think of them
42:08as hunters
42:09more as
42:11gentle vegetarians
42:13munching fruit
42:14and picking leaves.
42:15but if you follow
42:18them for any length
42:19of time
42:19in their true home
42:20these forests
42:21in West Africa
42:22you discover
42:24that they are hunters
42:25once more
42:26they hunt in teams
42:28and have a more
42:30complex strategy
42:31than any other
42:33hunting animal
42:34except
42:35except of course
42:39man.
42:41and one of the
42:44hunters
42:45the experienced male
42:47is sitting right there.
42:49this is the time
43:01they hunt
43:02the wet season
43:03their regular prey
43:05are monkeys
43:06but they're very selective
43:08a Diana monkey
43:11a big species
43:12and one
43:13they seldom tackle
43:14a spot
43:34nose monkey
43:34red colliders
43:41they're much better
43:42jumpers than chimps
43:43and being half their weight
43:44they can go on to
43:45much thinner branches
43:46so in theory
43:47a chimp can't catch them
43:48the only way they can do so
43:50is by working as a team
43:51and there are half a dozen
43:52experienced males
43:53in this scattered group
43:55of about 60
43:55who regularly do so
43:57this is one of them
44:09from the purposeful way
44:11in which he's walking
44:11it's clear that the search
44:12for prey has started
44:13the other members
44:14of the team
44:15are not far away
44:16they've been steadily
44:23following the monkeys
44:24for about 20 minutes
44:25looking for an opportunity
44:27the technique
44:33they'll almost certainly use
44:36is that one of them
44:38will be driving
44:39the collibus ahead of him
44:41then there will be others
44:42that go up
44:43on either side
44:43who are the blockers
44:45who won't make any attempt
44:46to catch the monkeys
44:47and then there are chasers
44:48who go and grab
44:50at the monkey
44:50if they can
44:51and finally
44:52there's one male
44:53who will go up ahead
44:54and ambush it
44:56so bringing the whole
44:58trap close
45:00the monkeys are now
45:04getting alarmed
45:05a driver's going up
45:10to prevent the group
45:10from settling
45:11and to drive them
45:12towards an area
45:12where they're more
45:13easily trapped
45:14that's one of the blockers
45:37that's now
45:37quietly come ahead
45:39the collibus
45:39and he's halfway
45:40up the tree now
45:41he's deliberately
45:43making himself
45:44conspicuous
45:45now it looks as though
45:52they're all in position
45:53the driver's gone up
45:54the blockers have gone up
45:55and now
45:56the one who's going to
45:57make the ambush
45:58and close the ring
45:59he's gone up
46:00he's gone up too
46:00the collibus
46:01will be very lucky
46:02if they escape now
46:03they've got one
46:18the hunters
46:29are tearing it apart
46:30everyone
46:32the hunters in the trees
46:33and the spectators
46:34on the ground
46:35are screaming
46:36with excitement
46:36and now
46:56the kill is brought down
46:58so that the females
46:59and others
47:00can share it
47:02and there's the reward
47:20for that long chase
47:22the divided body
47:24of a collibus monkey
47:25these
47:27blood-stained faces
47:29may well horrify us
47:32but we might also
47:34see in them
47:35the face
47:36of our
47:37long distant
47:38hunting ancestors
47:39and if we are
47:42appalled
47:43by that
47:45mob violence
47:46blood-lust
47:47we might also
47:48see in that too
47:49perhaps
47:50the origins
47:51of the teamwork
47:53that have
47:54in the end
47:55brought human beings
47:57many of their
47:59greatest triumphs
48:29in the end
48:31and some
48:32of their
48:33who
48:33and
48:34who
48:34are
48:36in the end
48:37of the
48:37other
48:38they
48:39can't
48:39support
48:39and
48:40they
48:40they
48:40might
48:41be
48:41a
48:42or
48:42they
48:43could
48:44and
48:45they
48:45can't
48:46but
48:47they
48:47can't
48:47they
48:48have
48:48their
48:48and
48:49they
48:49can't
48:50it
48:51they
48:52can't
48:53they
48:54can't
48:55anything
48:55they
48:56can't
48:57they
48:57can't
48:57THE END