01x03 - Eat or Be Eaten

[bunniefuu]

Enter a world just beyond your perception.

A world of extraordinary animals,

with hidden powers, and super senses.

If you think you know nature

think again.

It's the punch you don't see coming

that hits the hardest.

Coral reefs are swimming

with so many predators.

Sometimes, it pays

to hide in plain sight.

Blending into the background

comes naturally

to a stonefish.

Good looks

not so much.

No matter,

when things get ugly

on a coral reef,

skill beats beauty every time,

and the deceptive stonefish

has many hidden talents.

Thirteen spines on its dorsal fin,

loaded with the most deadly venom

of any fish,

protect it from attack.

But still,

it chooses to hide.

Burying itself into the sand,

in a disappearing act so effective,

it's scary.

The stonefish is almost impossible

to spot,

and to avoid.

One of the fastest moves

in the animal kingdom,

it creates an inescapable suction field,

gone

in 16 milliseconds.

Whether predator or prey,

when life hangs in the balance,

only the most potent superpowers

will save the day.

The hothouse conditions

of the Costa Rican rainforest,

fuel an intense evolutionary arms race

between hunter

and hunted.

As prey get better at escaping,

predators get ever more deadly.

Motmots have a taste for reptiles.

These visual hunters

scan for prey

with acute vision,

highly attuned to movement.

So this anole lizard

better tread carefully.

Whenever she freezes,

the motmot can't see her,

but she can see him.

Her sight has special properties, too.

Side-oriented eyes

give almost a 360 degree surveillance,

and they're sensitive

to the ultraviolet spectrum,

intensifying the contrast and color

of the motmot's plumage.

But she can't stand still forever.

She needs to eat, too.

So when the motmot looks away,

the lizard moves

just a little.

Nothing to see here.

It's like they're playing red light,

green light,

only this is no game.

One wrong step

could be fatal.

As the motmot closes in,

the lizard moves just out of range.

But now, there's nowhere left to run.

The motmot is a sit-and-wait predator.

Surely, there's only so long

that a lizard can stay underwater.

But this is clearly no ordinary lizard.

She has an unbelievable escape strategy

so recently discovered,

that it's never been filmed before now.

When submerged,

tiny bubbles

trapped between water-repellent scales

join up

and rise towards her head.

A secret scuba system,

allowing her to breathe

underwater.

This ingenious lizard can stay submerged

for over 18 minutes.

Long enough for even

the most patient motmot

to concede defeat.

And for the little lizard

to emerge victorious.

Most hunts aren't successful.

Even the most superpowered predators

struggle to make a catch.

Hyper carnivores have a diet

of 70% meat.

This one is the largest to walk the Earth.

And one of the very few animals

known to actively hunt humans.

But a polar bear's preferred prey

is seal.

To survive a life below zero,

she must eat more than 50 a year.

But catching them is tough,

even for such a specialized seal stalker.

Orienting tail to the wind,

a seal uses its sense of smell

to detect predators approaching

from behind

while keeping a lookout for any attack

from the front.

UV intensifying eyesight

helps see through

the bear's snow white disguise,

and a smart seal always keeps

an emergency exit close by.

Out here, it takes more

than brute strength to make a k*ll.

With fewer than two seals

every square mile,

tracking them down

is a challenge.

And now there's less sea ice

due to climate change.

Her search for food is even harder.

Thankfully, she has

an extraordinary super-sense on her side.

Her sense of smell,

the most powerful nose

in the animal kingdom.

She can even sniff out

a seal under the ice.

From over a mile away,

she picks up a scent carried on the wind.

Locked onto her target,

approaching from downwind,

she closes in.

Securing enough food just

to stay alive is hard enough.

Providing for a growing family,

even harder.

Only a third of cubs

reach their second year.

Raising the next generation of hunters

can be a relentless pursuit,

especially in extreme environments.

The eat-or-be-eaten world

of the Arizona desert.

This roadrunner dad

is run ragged,

providing food for three ravenous chicks.

One meal delivered,

and he's on to the next.

Racing around at 25 miles an hour,

hunting pretty much anything

he can get his beak on.

But each time Dad leaves,

the nest is exposed.

Seventy percent of chicks

get taken by predators.

A hognose snake detects scent molecules

on each tip of its forked tongue

sensing in stereo to determine

the exact direction of its prey.

Another meal secured,

Dad heads home

just in time.

With lightning reactions,

and a sharp two-inch beak

roadrunners are known

as "snake K*llers" for good reason.

Dad just turned danger

into dinner.

But now, this snake

doesn't smell so appetizing.

Roadrunners aren't picky eaters,

but when it comes to rotten flesh,

it's a pass.

At least his chicks are safe.

Or are they?

A zombie resurrection,

or just playing dead to save his skin?

The hognose snake can even emit a smell

like decomposing carrion,

faking his own death,

so he can live to die another day.

Some defense strategies

are so extraordinary,

they're phenomenal.

A murmuration of starlings,

moving as one mesmerizing super organism.

Exactly how and why they make

these mind-blowing patterns in the sky

has remained a mystery.

But recent discoveries reveal

that the motivation behind such beauty,

is destruction.

Local peregrine falcons know

that during the European winter,

starlings flock in their millions.

And in the open countryside,

they're vulnerable to attack.

So, at dusk,

they gather

for safety in numbers.

Flocking like this, helps them hide

in the crowd,

but it makes a tempting target.

Flying low to avoid detection,

the Peregrine makes its approach.

Then it climbs

high above the flock,

turns

and dives.

With near aerodynamic perfection,

it plummets at 250 miles an hour

making it the fastest animal

on the planet.

Starlings barely reach 50 miles an hour,

but they have a more subtle secret weapon.

A single magical number,

each bird tracks

its six closest neighbors.

Precision matching distance and speed.

As this rule of six multiplies

across the flock,

it creates a dazzling display.

Each twist and turn ripples

through the formation

at 65 feet per second.

Confusing to the eye, hard to predict,

almost impossible to penetrate.

The falcon struggles

to pick off an individual.

In horizontal flight,

its speed advantage is vastly diminished.

Starlings process visual cues

much quicker than humans

and counter a peregrine's agility

with their own aerobatics.

And thanks to incredible synchronicity,

even the planet's fastest predator

is outmaneuvered.

Eighty percent of the time,

the peregrine is unsuccessful.

All it can do is watch this spectacular

show of strength in numbers.

Ingenious examples

of how to avoid attack

can be found hiding everywhere,

even in an English country garden.

Look a little closer,

because plants have predators, too.

A death's-head Hawkmoth's favorite food

is nectar,

but her offspring emerge

as voracious tomato plant K*llers.

In just three weeks,

these very hungry caterpillars

grow 16 times bigger.

Now, finger length,

and armed with scissor-like mandibles,

one caterpillar can devour

an entire plant.

An army of them will decimate

the whole crop.

But tomato plants

have an invisible defense.

Injured leaves release

an airborne distress call.

Volatile chemicals

that warn neighboring plants

to prepare for w*r.

This call to arms rallies nearby leaves

to produce powerful toxins,

rendering them inedible.

And because these caterpillars

only feed on plants in the tomato family,

they begin to starve.

A recent discovery reveals this tale

has a sinister twist.

With nothing left to eat

they eat

each other.

Cannibal caterpillars,

a gruesome method of pest control.

When the k*ller tomatoes strike back.

In nature, who's most deadly

is all a matter of perspective.

Beneath a European Meadow

an Etruscan shrew

just waking,

but it's no slow start.

Her pulse rockets

to over a thousand beats per minute.

Time to get up, get out, and get hunting.

With the fastest metabolism

of any mammal,

this frenzied k*ller must consume

six times her body weight a day,

or she'll starve.

It's finding prey that's the trick.

Those big ears actually

don't hear so well,

and with pin-sized eyes,

she's almost hunting blind.

Thankfully, another sense

is superpowered.

Shrews feel their world with whiskers.

A quarter of the length of her body,

she uses them to scan her surroundings.

Her sense of touch is so acute,

the slightest vibration

triggers instant attack.

25 milliseconds,

12 times faster

than the blink of an eye.

And a little larva is just for starters,

as her k*lling spree begins.

Only the size of an almond,

she's the smallest mammal on Earth.

But not much is out of her reach.

Even a locust twice her size is fair game.

Feeding frenzy over,

it's time to retire

and recharge.

Just a quick seven-minute power nap

and this voracious little terror

is at large again.

Above the same European meadows,

another tiny predator is also on the hunt.

A mouse-eared bat

has such sensitive hearing,

it can eavesdrop on insects

from 130 feet away

to determine the direction, size,

and shape of a target.

When the bat is patrolling,

any insect that moves or makes a sound

is flirting with death.

But a conehead bush cricket

has other things on his tiny mind.

On Summer evenings,

the meadow is full of males,

all singing as loud as they can

to attract a mate.

And this male is determined

to be heard above the competition.

Bush crickets hear pretty well, too,

with ears on their legs.

So he knows the bat is above,

but still, he won't be silenced,

he blasts out his song as loud

as a power drill.

When the bat closes in,

rather than shut up, he cranks it up.

It sounds like the desire

to mate could be the death

of this little bush cricket.

But an astonishing new discovery

reveals his powers of attraction

also have the power to repel.

He sings so loudly,

it's painful to the bat's sensitive ears.

The bush cricket turns

the bat's superpower into a weakness,

creating a 3-foot, no-fly zone

all around him.

And as he's not the only one

singing for a mate,

the whole meadow is protected

by a deafening blanket of sound.

Turns out what drives bats away,

drives female coneheads wild.

The noisier, the better.

Often the best defense

is the best offense.

In the Caribbean, it helps one animal

snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.

Nightfall,

a dangerous time

to be a small fish on a big reef.

Only one inch long, this cardinal fish

needs to avoid becoming next

on the lion fish menu.

But he must to catch dinner, too.

Huge light-sensitive eyes

help pinpoint small prey in the dark.

Ostracods, crustaceans the size

of a grain of sand

should make a manageable meal.

But he's bitten off more

than he can chew.

Ostracods store a volatile c*ck

of chemicals inside their bodies.

If attacked t

the compounds mix,

igniting an expl*si*n of bioluminescence

brighter than a flashlight

and leaving such a bad taste

that the cardinalfish

spits it out unharmed.

Ostracods store enough

of these chemicals

to detonate ten times in a row.

And this crustacean's escape plan

is even more brilliant.

The flash is so bright,

it not only blinds

it also betrays.

Leaving the poor cardinalfish

temporarily unable to see,

but easily seen.

In the ocean,

there's always a bigger fish.

The ultimate hunter,

the most widespread predator of all

in every corner of every ocean,

orca adapt their hunting technique

in extraordinary ways.

In arctic fjords,

they stun the fish with their fins

and pick them off their school.

In the open ocean,

they use combined force

to chase down blue whales,

the largest animal that's ever lived.

But the most impressive orca hunters

of all

are found here.

Patagonia's Peninsula Valdez

is patrolled by a pod

with a hunting technique so difficult,

so dangerous,

it takes years to learn how it's done.

It's the matriarchs job to pass

her secrets down the generations.

The rest of the family learn from

the four decades of hunting experience

of this seasoned pro.

Every spring, sea lions come

to breed on these Patagonian beaches.

And young pups learn to swim

in the shallows,

out of reach of the hunters.

Almost.

The matriarch is teaching

her family how to target them.

Following the same route almost everyday,

she guides her pod

on a coastline charting course.

With remarkable brain power

and communication skills,

she motions to her family

pointing out landmarks.

It helps youngster build a mental map

of the best hunting beaches.

Along the way, she also teaches them

how to push beyond their comfort zone.

Before an orca can begin

catching its prey,

they must first learn

how to operate

in shallow water.

But the risk of stranding is very real.

A six-ton orca will quickly crush itself

under its own weight,

but if they struggle to refloat

themselves,

the matriarch is by their side

to help them back to sea.

Even so,

an orca is only ready

to attempt hunting

for real after six long years.

The master at work.

Approaching the hunting beach,

the matriarch stops vocalizing.

She listens

She knows exactly when

and where to strike.

High tide,

a steep beach

and round pebbles

to help her roll back to sea

with plenty of unsuspecting prey.

She waits till the pups

are in prime position.

Right in the surf,

too shallow to swim to safety

too turbulent to see her coming.

These masterclasses

in predatory perfection

are vital to passing on her skills.

So when they're ready to hunt for real,

the next generation

is fully prepared

for the battle between predator and prey.

Life is a mission.

Survival.

Animals have evolved secret weapons

and hidden skills

to outsmart their enemies.

So in those life or death moments,

it takes the most extraordinary

super powers to prevail.

If you think you know nature,

think again.