01x03 - Protecting Yourself

[bunniefuu]

[Bonneville] Experience a
world beyond imagination

where fish can fly...

lizards walk on water,

apes master tools

and frogs disappear
in plain sight.

Animals do the
smartest things...

through every stage
of their lives.

[meerkat barks]

From leaving home...

to raising a family.

From finding food...

to making friends.

[elephant trumpets]

They find ingenious
ways to survive

against all odds.

[bellows]

Welcome to The Secret
Lives of Animals.

[Bonneville] The
rainforests of Panama.

This frog, the size
of a thumbnail,

faces danger at every turn.

A keen-eyed parrot snake,

a frog-hunting specialist,

searching for the
telltale silhouette...

of prey.

Once it's locked onto a target,

it rarely goes hungry.

The frog must escape and fast...

but he doesn't run away.

He sits tight and does
something magical.

He packs 90% of his blood
cells into his liver,

hiding them away, and starts
to become transparent.

Then he shrinks
many of his organs

to a third of their
original size.

So he all but disappears.

But even one move would
reveal his presence.

He must stay still.

The snake moves on.

He's one of the only animals on
Earth that can disappear like this.

No wonder he's known
as a glass frog.

Protecting yourself is not
always about how well you fight,

but how well you avoid one.

The open sand flats of Indonesia

are a treacherous
place for an octopus.

Their soft bodies
make them vulnerable.

To survive here,

this mimic octopus has
developed an unusual talent.

With color-changing
cells all over her body,

she can alter her
appearance in an instant.

She's a master of disguise.

One moment imitating
a flatfish...

the next, morphing
into the seafloor.

She can even
impersonate a sea snake.

But this veined octopus
can't mimic her neighbors.

Instead, she survives
on her wits alone.

A hungry flounder.

It couldn't swallow her whole,

but any one of those arms
would make a bite-size snack.

And even the smallest injury
can be life-threatening.

With nine brains,

octopuses are the most intelligent
invertebrates in the world.

If anyone can think
of a way out of this,

she can.

She scans the seafloor for
anything that might help.

Not quite the safety
blanket she's after.

A coconut shell
could do the trick.

Her very own suit of armor.

The problem is, it's
only doing half the job.

She needs protection
on all sides.

An empty scallop shell,

if she can get to it in time.

With more than a
thousand suckers,

she closes the door.

Now she has a shield,
and somewhere to hide.

While the flounder is left,

well, floundering.

With danger nipping
at your heels,

you need to find ingenious
ways to protect yourself.

But there are times in life
when you have to take a risk

and stand out from the crowd.

In Costa Rica,

it's mating season for
this Anolis lizard.

To attract a female,
he must put on a show.

Unfortunately, his
eye-catching moves...

draw unwanted attention.

- [motmot hoots]
- A motmot with a taste for lizards.

Trapped.

He can't stay put, and lizards
can't survive underwater.

Or can they?

This may be a fatal mistake.

Coming up for air would
mean certain death.

But this is no ordinary lizard.

His special
water-repellent scales

trap a silvery layer of
air against his body...

which acts like his
very own scuba tank.

And he can stay submerged
for almost 18 minutes.

Long enough for this
bird brain to get bored.

He's one of the only
lizards in the world

that's able to do this.

But not all animals
can run away or hide.

Sometimes you have
to stand your ground.

- Even when you're being hunted...
- [purrs]

by the most adaptable
big cat on the planet.

A leopard.

Able to prey on over


They will eat almost
anything they can catch.

Even porcupines.

Armed with thousands
of needle-sharp quills.

But with short stubby legs...

they can't outrun the leopard.

Cornered, the porcupines
first rattle out a warning.

[rattling]

Enough to deter
almost every predator.

But not leopards.

They target a weakness in
the porcupine's defense.

Their softer underbelly.

But the porcupines up their game

and keep their backs turned.

Leopards don't give up easily.

So the porcupines take
things to the next level.

Turning defense into attack.

And driving their point home.

Their perfectly designed
quills break off...

- and stick within the enemy.
- [groans]

Quills are a great way
to protect yourself.

But they only work
in close combat.

Here, on the African savanna

where large predators roam,

it's smarter to keep your
enemies at a distance.

And find safety in numbers.

Vervet monkeys form
tight-knit troops.

Living on the ground
and in the trees,

they face dangers
at every level.

A southern African python.

Twelve feet long.

One of the largest
snakes in the world.

Capable of swallowing
this monkey whole...

if it can get close enough.

But this family has
someone on lookout.

[chattering]

And when they spot a threat...

they use a unique language to
tell the group exactly what to do.

Stand tall to spot the snake
and keep your distance.

[chattering continues]

Pythons are ambush hunters.

And if their cover is
blown, they give up.

These monkeys have learned
that communication saves lives.

And they know it's not
how loud you shout.

It's what you say
that really matters.

Because vervets are on the menu
for many different predators...

they've developed a
sophisticated alarm system

to identify a
range of threats...

including one familiar big cat.

A leopard triggers another
specific alarm call.

[chattering]

And, critically, a
different response.

[chattering continues]

The troop heads for the trees.

Leopards can climb.

So these clever monkeys run to the
ends of the thinnest branches...

where the heavyweight
hunter can't follow.

They also know how to
dodge danger from above...

[eagle cries]

using a call that means
there's an attack from the air.

[chattering]

A martial eagle.

Without even looking,
they know just what to do.

Diving for cover
under the canopy.

- [chattering continues]
- When every second counts,

knowing which predator is
approaching and how to avoid them

makes the difference
between life and death.

- [chattering]
- [leaves rustling]

Vervets have three
different alarm calls.

Each triggering a different
life-saving reaction.

It's a highly-developed
communication system.

But most animals can't talk
their way out of trouble.

And the smaller you are...

the more creative
you have to be.

For a cyclosa spider,

the size of a grain of rice...

even a raindrop
can be devastating.

And in the Amazon rainforest...

they have much larger
threats to deal with.

[chirping]

Hummingbirds.

Known for their
thirst for nectar.

But, in fact, up to 80%
of their diet is insects

and bite-size spiders.

A cyclosa would make
the perfect meal.

At just four millimeters long

and without a strong
venom, she's defenseless.

But she has a surprising solution
that's never been filmed before.

She builds a special web
designed to trap prey.

And it also collects debris
falling from the canopy above.

And she uses it to do
something remarkable

that's just recently
been discovered.

First, she gathers only
the best materials.

And starts to assemble an
extraordinary creation.

Piece by piece,

her sculpture begins
to take shape.

A large body.

Followed by long
protruding legs.

In just one night,

she finishes her masterpiece.

What looks like a
giant self-portrait.

Thought to intimidate
her predators.

And to complete her illusion...

she hits the web
with her abdomen.

Bringing her beast to life.

And scares off a predator


The lengths animals go
to to protect themselves

are truly mind-blowing.

They know when to
stand their ground

or when to run and hide.

- When to use brain over brawn.
- [chattering]

If your life is on the line,

it takes great intelligence
to outsmart the enemy

and survive.

Rainforests are a treasure
trove of life on Earth.

But they're also difficult places
for a film crew to work in.

[shrieks] Soldier ant. [screams]

[Bonneville] Hostile, hot...

[thunder rumbling]

and unbelievably wet.

In the Peruvian Amazon,

the team were on the trail
of a recent discovery.

Their ambition was to
be the first to film

the ingenious model building
of the cyclosa spider.

A personal dream

for one of the most experienced
wildlife cameramen in the world.

I first came across this
story about five years ago,

and I just thought what an
amazing piece of evolution

for a spider to... [stammers] to
actually know what itself looks like

and to build a model of itself.

I mean, that is something that
I've always wanted to film.

[Bonneville] But there's no
published science to guide them.

It's terrifying because nobody
knows anything about this spider

or anything about
their behavior.

So we're definitely gonna
make a lot of mistakes

and we're gonna have
to learn pretty quickly

in order to capture
what they do.

[Bonneville] The crew suspect
model building happens overnight,

as this is when spiders
are most active.

As the sun sets, the
team get to work.

Searching for a tiny
spider in a dark rainforest

teeming with eight-legged beasts
is not for the fainthearted.

[Baxter] Oh, look at that one.

- [crew 1] Wow.
- [crew 2] Look at that color.

- [Baxter] There's another one here.
- [Kirby] Oh, wow.

- Yeah, they're all over this place.
- [Baxter chuckles]

[Bonneville] Not everyone
shares Simon's enthusiasm.

[Baxter] Richard, what do you
actually think of spiders?

- Like, do you really not like them?
- No, I don't.

- This is particularly gross.
- [Baxter chuckles]

[Bonneville] He might
not be their biggest fan,

but they have his respect.

- You can't help but be in awe of them.
- [Baxter] Mm-hmm.

Interesting, really.

But the one we're here to
film is gonna be just tiny.

[Bonneville] The
search continues.

Eventually, the crew find
what they're looking for.

Oh, wow. Look at that.

- [crew 1] Is that the one?
- Yeah, it is.

- [Kirby] Mm-hmm. Yeah.
- [Baxter] That's the cyclosa.

[Bonneville] A tiny spider building
a supersized self-portrait.

[Baxter] Look at that.

Wow.

[Bonneville] It's
a promising find

and confirms the cyclosa
are building overnight.

- But this model is almost complete.
- [chattering]

The crew want to film
the entire process.

[Baxter] Oh, there's
another one here.

[Bonneville] With its empty
web, this cyclosa fits the bill.

[Baxter] It is so small.

This could be pretty
tough. [chuckles]

[Bonneville] No one knows how
long it takes cyclosa spiders

to build their decoys.

So the team decide to
use a time-lapse camera.

[shutter clicks]

With it set to record
every ten seconds,

they can film the spider through the
night in a single continuous shot.

For it to work, the spider
needs to be continually lit.

And in the rainforest, at
night, that is an issue.

We need the lights to be
able to film the spider,

but the lights are
attracting all of the bugs.

Oh, moth, don't you dare. No!

They just fly around the
lights and through the web,

and trash it as we're
trying to film it.

[Baxter] We might have to rethink
the way we are lighting our subjects.

[Bonneville] Inspired by the
spider, Richard has an idea.

I'm gonna set up a decoy light,

um, which is brighter
than the filming lights.

And, hopefully, they'll go for
that instead. But no guarantees.

[Bonneville] With the
decoy light in position,

Richard resets the
time-lapse camera.

Yeah, we're covered
in moths already.

- Should we back out and give it a chance?
- Yeah.

[Bonneville] It will be an anxious wait
until morning to see if it's worked.

It's the moment of truth.

Well, she's done something.

[camera beeps]

[Bonneville] Overnight, the spider
has constructed an impressive model.

There she is.
There she is. Look.

[Bonneville] Eureka.

It's fascinating viewing as
they witness for the first time

how the spider builds
its masterpiece.

- [Kirby] Yeah.
- [Baxter] She's gone straight out.

Collecting all of her trash and bringing
it straight back into the middle.

[Kirby] Yeah.

[Bonneville] Every detail captured
is a precious new discovery

that will contribute to the scientific
study of these little spiders.

[Kirby] She works
incredibly quickly.

It is incredible to think
that this tiny little spider,

which is like what,
half the size of a pea,

is able to do all
of this behavior.

- Really quite intricate detail...
- Hmm.

- In just a few hours.
- Yeah.

[Bonneville] Thanks
to Richard and Simon,

and with a little inspiration
from a very special spider,

the model-making
mysteries of the cyclosa

have been revealed on camera
for the very first time.

Next time...

Everyone needs a safe
place to call home.

But they can be hard to find

and tricky to build.

It takes creative vision

and a lot of effort

to withstand the
forces of nature

and create your
very own dream home.