01x06 - Animal Senses

[bunniefuu]

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welcome to the world of amazing animal

senses

senses of the way animals get

information about the world around them

it's how they know where they are and

where they're going henry open your eyes

henry you've got to use your senses

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excuse me

i sure felt that knock any sense into

you henry and speaking of senses what's

that smell

no

oh

the nose nose

was it bad i'll never sniff again

come on henry we need all our senses to

get information about the world around

us really whoa so what are the senses

well there's taste

i'm sure you know the others henry think

hard um hearing that's true uh-huh try

another hmm i'm beginning to smell

something right three down two to go

whoa touch touch oh and sight that's

five yes henry you've made it

i guess we do all need senses that's

right henry senses don't lie

animals use sight and smell tell me

about it hearing taste and touch

they're not touching many animals use

their whiskers to feel the world around

them

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sure can't hide those lion eyes

henry

animal sense organs are specially

adapted for their lifestyle and habitat

for lions excellent eyesight is the key

to their survival we may see the world

like this but lions see the world like

this

excuse me that's amazing i always

thought every animal saw the world just

like i do

lions see best in a broad strip straight

in front of them their sight is

concentrated there it's easier for them

to pick up the movement of prey animals

on the african plains

look the female lion has seen something

she's starting to stalk

uh-oh

but the zebras use sight too

their eyes on the sides of their heads

give great all-around vision if they see

the lion early enough they can escape

so it's eyes versus eyes and the

sharpest sight gives you the edge

i see

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huh

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hey who turned out the lights oh i hope

there's a good reason for this blindfold

we're going to test your sense of smell

henry

ah that smells good i like that just

like a summer meadow what do you think

of this one

oh

reminds me of my cousin rex's socks

unreal

okay try over here my sense of smell is

really good i bet i always get it right

hmm not much aroma here

excuse me

wait a minute

that's disgusting

actually it's not pigs are very clean

animals with a specially adapted nose

that can smell even better than yours

can many other animals have amazing

noses the tapir can use his as a snorkel

to breathe underwater down periscope

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here in costa rica there's an animal

with an amazing nose and an amazing

sense of smell

this is the kawati and its nose is so

well developed it's sensitive enough to

detect even the faintest smell of food

oh i sure wish i could do that

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the kawati can smell turtle eggs one of

its favorite foods buried in the sand it

can

he can smell eggs right through sand

excuse me that's amazing

but who are his dinner companions these

buzzards can see he's sniffed out a meal

the kawati does the hard work and these

buzzards try to steal any turtle eggs he

may find

run kawati run enjoy your omelette

fortunately lots of turtle eggs do hatch

and the turtles make it safely to the

sea that's good

sniff you later

a sense of smell is very important in

the insect world even without a nose

insects can still have a great sense of

smell

moths use their feathery antennae to

collect smells so their antennae are

like their noses

right

but their amazing sense of smell can be

their downfall

the bola spider knows just how to take

advantage

he's going fishing for moths

i've heard of fly fishing but this is

something else

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the spider creates a great sticky ball

that smells just like the scent a female

moth makes to attract a male and it uses

this as bait sneaky

the male moth is fooled into thinking

it's a real female moth

here muffy muppy

and he snags him

reel him in that'll look great mounted

over the fireplace in the spider's

parlor

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all right henry

time for your eye test

what for

there's nothing wrong with my eyesight

come on whoops

sight is the most important sense for

many animals now which is clearer this

or this

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too close too long what about this

how many birds do you see henry

no

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calm down henry give your eyes a rest oh

i bet buzzards snack on lizards

you might be right

excuse me

oh henry

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as you can see animals have different

types of eyes and they all see the world

a little differently

let's take a vulture's eye look at the

world

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hey i didn't know they could see so far

this really is amazing

not only can they see a long way they

can also see in great detail what might

look just like a shadow to you or me

from thousands of feet up in the air a

vulture can see is actually a dead

animal in other words

dinner

of course the easiest way to find food

is to keep an eye on the other vultures

and let them lead you to the feast only

problem is you have to share

you mean share a rotting carcass

it's a dirty job henry but somebody's

got to do it

i'm just glad it ain't me

the next best thing to having a bird's

eye view is having a giraffe's eye view

a giraffe can see well because it has

huge eyes and a head that sits on top of

a great long neck it's as high as a

telephone pole and the higher you are

the further you can see

and these tall creatures can see for

miles and miles

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but what about the cheetah he's so short

where can he spot his lunch

get it spot

oh henry

he knows that by climbing to the top of

these rocks he'll be head and shoulders

above the rest of the pack and can

eyeball a meal that's miles away

what a cheetah

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aha

i wouldn't touch that if i were you

henry ah

but touch is a sense too

how else will i know what's in here you

can ask

hey this is soft and cuddly

it's a rabbit

you were lucky this time

another you want to risk it all on

what's in box number two

it's something hairy and small and

spidery it's a tarantula

you know i'm scared of spiders

i'll just see what's

my hand you sure got the point that time

the porcupine point

your hands aren't the only sensitive

ones around henry this raccoon has an

excellent sense of touch too which he

uses to find food

always wash your hands before supper he

may look like he's washing his hands but

he's actually fishing using sensitive

pads on his paws he searches for a fish

in the muddy water the raccoon's eyes

may not be able to see it but his hands

can feel it

raccoon that's a funny name it comes

from the native american word arakun or

he who scratches with his hands

now you can see why

hey he really caught a fish excuse me

but that's amazing

it's amazing all right

but to him it's just day-to-day living

using the sense of touch

seals need a special sense of touch too

they use their long sensitive whiskers

to do their feeling as they race around

deep underwater

with so little light they can't rely on

sight

so touch is the thing down here what's

on the menu for lunch not seafood again

well it's sure not going to be

hamburgers is it

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and this

excuse me but i know what this is you do

it

down in a cave where there's no light at

all so the animals are pale and haven't

even bothered to develop eyes because

there's nothing to see they just you

touch

all the time

how did you know that i try to keep in

touch with the facts of life i'm

impressed so you should be

i may be a lizard but i'm a pretty smart

lizard

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so

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what

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henry time for your special report

henry it's time for your report

come here you are ready aren't you

we're waiting for your report on the

electric eel you are prepared aren't you

oh sure

ever stop to wonder how the electric eel

got its name up in lights that's your

report yes well it's because they are

electric as in charge as in glows in the

dark really henry and that's pretty

useful underwater where it's so dark a

fish can't see its fins in front of its

face fish were always bumping into each

other until someone had the bright idea

of electric eels result enlightenment oh

sunglasses time

now fish could see to read their

newspapers everyone was happy as a clam

when they needed more light for an

underwater sporting event they just

asked a group of eels to cuddle together

and swam

heels are better than your average light

bulb they don't break and there's no

electricity bill ever henry it was such

a stroke of genius perhaps we should fix

them up around here why should fish get

all the fun

all you need is an aquarium full of

water toss in a few eels and wait for

the glow to show

at parties they can put on colored suits

and hey presto instant disco don't delay

be the first one on your street to make

a change to eel power

and don't forget that henry told you so

so it's straight from the lizard's mouth

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do you really think anybody's going to

believe that yeah

well i don't the real fact is that eels

use electricity in order to navigate and

to eat they create an electric current

by rippling their muscles which can help

them find their way in the south

american rivers where they live

but they can also direct the current and

use it to stun fish making them easy to

catch and swallow they can produce up to

650 volts which is enough of a charge to

cause people to pass out and could even

k*ll them

excuse me that's amazing

and a bit scary

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[Laughter]

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i'm so thirsty i could drain a fishbowl

but i'd rather have something really

sweet and

tasty i wouldn't suck too hard henry

that wasn't very sweet was it

no it's sour

okay try this

much better that tasted really sweet

your tongue senses what is sweet and

what is sour get out of here really

really

and it looks like this skink wants to

use its tongue to taste you

or you

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sometimes animals use taste for hunting

this is a banana slug

and this giant pacific salamander is

tracking it down using taste by licking

its slime trail does the slime taste

like bananas i don't know but i do know

a neat fact about the salamander

if it loses a limb a tail or even an eye

it can grow a brand new one how about

that that's amazing

imagine never having to worry about

getting your tail caught in a door ever

again

and as you'll see

the trail licking pacific salamander

always gets its slug

yikes shark

just when you thought it was safe to go

back into the bathroom

this is a blue shark and it can detect

even the smallest trace of certain

things in the water certain things like

blood

exactly and it races in for a meal no

except this time it's not blood it's a

whole bunch of shrimp-like creatures

called krill

it's not blood so i don't have to faint

no

i'd rather you told us who's won the

golden gecko award

okay

and now henry's amazing golden gecko

award for the all-time best animal since

third place friends meadow goes to the

elephant knows fish it senses prey with

an electric pulse second place in the

battle of the senses goes to the green

tree python with its heat taking vision

i feel hot watch out that's just how the

snake sees you

but in first place my golden gecko award

for all-time best animal scents is the

bat-eared fox

this cunning little vixen lives in

africa and has such great hearing that

it can hear the tramping of thousands of

termites as they tippy toe through their

tiny tunnels

the bat-eared box can then burrow on

down and eat its fill

and it needs to eat a lot of these

little fellas to keep itself from

needing to snack between meals

in fact up to 70 of its diet is termites

with the odd dung beetle thrown in for

dessert

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termites

tummy ticklingly tasty

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me

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quack

[Applause]

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hearing

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i was just getting into that it's a band

called heavy metal lizard you ever heard

of them no but listen up

hearing is one of our five main senses

hey wait up where are her ears

snakes don't have ears henry but they

can feel sound as vibrations

huh

now those are what i call ears

elephant ears aren't just for hearing

though these huge ears contain lots of

blood vessels and when the elephant

flaps them or the wind flows over them

heat radiates away and cools the animal

down it's important to be able to lose

heat when you're so big and live in a

hot country

i always wondered how they managed to

stay together in a herd don't they ever

get lost after all africa is a big place

i should know i went there on vacation

once and boy was it ever

big

elephants keep in touch with a secret

sound called infrasound a strange

rumbling that's mostly too deep for

humans to hear but other elephants in

their family or group can hear it over

three miles away

that's amazing only the herd heard get

it

we got it henry

and i always thought that hearing was

just well hearing hearing is a whole

world in itself

look at these boto dolphins they live in

rivers and the water there is full of

tree roots and all kinds of things they

could bump into but they don't guess why

hearing right they produce a

high-pitched clicking sound from an

organ called a melon on their forehead

whales have them too and they can

project the sound out in front of them

like a flashlight like a sound

flashlight it hits things and bounces

back at them so they can draw a mental

map of what's around them a sound map

every bit as good as a paper one

dolphins had sonar long before

submarines were invented

excuse me am i hearing right that's

amazing i think you've got the picture

henry

i certainly know a lot more about

amazing animal senses now

remember if animals have something

strange about their appearance it's

often for a sensible reason

usually it's because one of their senses

is especially well-developed

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i've got them all

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all except a sense of balance very funny

you're lucky i have a sense of humor

never mind henry at least you know about

animal senses and how they can be used

in some amazing ways

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you