1
00:01:07,247 --> 00:01:09,966
(L0W-PITCHED CRIES)

2
00:01:39,207 --> 00:01:42,404
These great skuas...

3
00:01:43,087 --> 00:01:45,555
bonxies here in Shetland,

4
00:01:45,727 --> 00:01:49,515
are among the most aggressive
and ferocious of birds.

5
00:01:51,287 --> 00:01:53,403
They're attacking me now

6
00:01:53,567 --> 00:01:57,355
because I'm approaching one of their nests
where there are chicks,

7
00:01:57,527 --> 00:02:03,238
but they are pirates that will rob other birds
of their food actually in the air

8
00:02:03,407 --> 00:02:07,036
and they are also extremely skilful hunters.

9
00:02:07,207 --> 00:02:09,198
They're killers.

10
00:02:16,007 --> 00:02:21,127
Their hungry chicks waiting in the nest for food
make them specially determined

11
00:02:21,287 --> 00:02:26,361
and they seek their prey in the huge colony
of seabirds nesting on the cliffs nearby.

12
00:02:35,447 --> 00:02:40,396
Few creatures are not all their lives caught up
in duels between hunters and hunted

13
00:02:40,567 --> 00:02:43,035
like these being fought out here,

14
00:02:43,207 --> 00:02:47,723
duels that have shaped their bodies
and govern their daily behaviour.

15
00:02:49,727 --> 00:02:53,242
The skua's tactic is to cruise so close to the cliff

16
00:02:53,407 --> 00:02:58,401
that the kittiwake parents are frightened
off their nests, leaving the chicks unprotected.

17
00:03:00,407 --> 00:03:03,205
The kittiwake chicks are almost full-grown

18
00:03:03,367 --> 00:03:06,518
and the skuas want them
to feed to THEIR young.

19
00:03:34,767 --> 00:03:37,281
(AGITATED SCREECHING)

20
00:03:56,207 --> 00:03:59,995
That bird actually caught
an adult kittiwake in mid-air.

21
00:04:17,887 --> 00:04:20,276
The skuas go first for the liver.

22
00:04:20,447 --> 00:04:25,123
With crops stuffed full,
they will be able to feed their chicks today.

23
00:04:33,367 --> 00:04:37,599
Many different kinds of birds,
having spent most of the year out at sea,

24
00:04:37,767 --> 00:04:40,281
come to these cliffs in the spring to nest.

25
00:04:40,447 --> 00:04:42,915
Each has its own favoured territory.

26
00:04:43,087 --> 00:04:47,524
In parts where there is turf and soil,
puffins dig their nest holes.

27
00:04:48,327 --> 00:04:51,046
Sitting beside them, they're relatively safe,

28
00:04:51,207 --> 00:04:55,519
for if danger threatens,
they can duck inside their hole.

29
00:04:57,127 --> 00:05:00,961
It's when they're in the air
that they're really vulnerable.

30
00:05:04,327 --> 00:05:07,717
Here the greater black-backed gull is on patrol.

31
00:05:07,887 --> 00:05:12,915
It's a huge bird, substantially bigger
than the lesser black-back.

32
00:05:16,327 --> 00:05:19,399
It has a wingspan of over five feet

33
00:05:19,567 --> 00:05:22,843
and the manoeuvrability of a fighter aircraft.

34
00:05:23,807 --> 00:05:27,880
The puffins, whose wings and feet
also serve in swimming and diving,

35
00:05:28,047 --> 00:05:30,959
are much less agile in the air.

36
00:05:54,327 --> 00:05:59,401
Flying in flocks reduces an individual's risk,
but that's not always possible.

37
00:07:20,967 --> 00:07:26,439
With the puffin almost swallowed,
the gull has at last got a meal.

38
00:07:33,447 --> 00:07:35,438
0r has it?

39
00:07:46,847 --> 00:07:49,680
The murdering robber has been robbed.

40
00:07:56,727 --> 00:08:00,242
There are other animals
which spend most of their life at sea,

41
00:08:00,407 --> 00:08:05,037
but come to land for a few weeks each year:
seals and sea lions.

42
00:08:12,167 --> 00:08:16,524
These are South American sea lions
off the coast of Patagonia.

43
00:08:16,687 --> 00:08:21,158
They can't give birth while they're swimming
as whales and dolphins do.

44
00:08:21,327 --> 00:08:23,636
Instead, they have to come ashore,

45
00:08:23,807 --> 00:08:28,358
and here, in dense groups,
moving awkwardly between land and sea,

46
00:08:28,527 --> 00:08:32,884
they're a great temptation
to any hunter that can reach them.

47
00:08:36,367 --> 00:08:38,676
Their nursery beach seems secure.

48
00:08:38,847 --> 00:08:41,156
The landward side has steep cliffs.

49
00:08:41,327 --> 00:08:44,842
0n the other side
the beach is protected by the sea.

50
00:08:45,007 --> 00:08:48,079
But the sea itself can harbour enemies.

51
00:08:57,527 --> 00:09:01,486
A killer whale, thirty feet long,
eight tons in weight.

52
00:09:01,647 --> 00:09:08,439
Every year the same group of a dozen of them
assemble off the sea lion nursery to hunt.

53
00:09:09,207 --> 00:09:13,280
For sea lions to venture
into deep water here is very dangerous.

54
00:09:13,447 --> 00:09:17,360
It's much safer to stay in the shallows
if they can.

55
00:09:46,007 --> 00:09:51,365
In one or two places, channels enable
the whales to get really close to the beach.

56
00:09:51,527 --> 00:09:53,995
Those are the danger spots.

57
00:10:22,407 --> 00:10:26,366
To get off the beach,
the killer has to thrash its body.

58
00:10:31,207 --> 00:10:34,517
No other whale
deliberately beaches itself like this

59
00:10:34,687 --> 00:10:39,078
or has perfected this method
of getting back to the sea.

60
00:10:55,087 --> 00:10:59,478
As long as the sea lions stay up the beach,
you might think they'd be safe,

61
00:10:59,647 --> 00:11:02,480
but the hungry whales are very daring.

62
00:11:16,487 --> 00:11:20,002
Now several of the whales
are hunting in a group.

63
00:11:40,967 --> 00:11:44,482
That sea lion was keeping
just ahead of one of the whales,

64
00:11:44,647 --> 00:11:47,639
but was caught by another
it probably hadn't seen.

65
00:12:54,167 --> 00:12:58,160
This savage beating may be
to separate hide from flesh.

66
00:13:03,167 --> 00:13:09,720
But very often the successful hunter takes
its victim out to sea without even killing it.

67
00:13:14,767 --> 00:13:19,795
And there, it plays with its catch
as if it were exalting in triumph.

68
00:14:02,567 --> 00:14:04,762
To get all the food it needs,

69
00:14:04,927 --> 00:14:08,761
a killer whale must catch
at least three sea lion pups a day.

70
00:14:08,927 --> 00:14:11,316
And every day in the breeding season,

71
00:14:11,487 --> 00:14:15,719
this group of skilled,
highly intelligent hunters do just that.

72
00:14:44,607 --> 00:14:47,201
The Indian fishing cat hunts at night.

73
00:14:47,807 --> 00:14:52,358
It's a little larger than a domestic cat,
but it feeds on all kinds of prey

74
00:14:52,527 --> 00:14:55,519
from mice and rabbits to frogs and birds.

75
00:14:56,127 --> 00:14:58,766
But its speciality is fish.

76
00:15:08,527 --> 00:15:11,599
This pair have found an ideal opportunity,

77
00:15:11,767 --> 00:15:17,080
a drying river where the fish have been
concentrated by the shrinking water into a pool.

78
00:15:17,247 --> 00:15:19,477
Even so, it's not easy.

79
00:15:20,487 --> 00:15:25,356
It requires stealth,
lightning reflexes, endless patience

80
00:15:25,527 --> 00:15:28,678
and perfect coordination between eye and paw.

81
00:15:29,527 --> 00:15:33,440
But these cats have brought
such skills to perfection.

82
00:16:44,367 --> 00:16:48,155
Slugs, you might think,
are hardly a challenge to a hunter,

83
00:16:48,327 --> 00:16:51,046
but few things want to hunt them.

84
00:16:51,207 --> 00:16:54,802
This, however, is one: the thirst snake.

85
00:16:54,967 --> 00:16:58,676
Its hunting technique is simplicity itself.

86
00:16:58,847 --> 00:17:02,920
The slug's slime, which makes it
so unappetising to most predators,

87
00:17:03,087 --> 00:17:07,638
provides the trail which the thirst snake follows.

88
00:17:41,407 --> 00:17:45,320
But swallowing such a slimy mouthful is not easy.

89
00:17:45,487 --> 00:17:48,763
The snake manages it by dislocating its lower jaw

90
00:17:48,927 --> 00:17:53,717
and twisting it forward
so that it snags the slug with its teeth.

91
00:17:59,847 --> 00:18:04,921
Then a yawn puts the lower jaw
back into its position.

92
00:18:05,687 --> 00:18:07,882
Not all the hunted give in so easily.

93
00:18:08,047 --> 00:18:13,679
Many have ways of deterring hunters
that try to make a meal of them.

94
00:18:22,567 --> 00:18:27,322
An American opossum may think
this frog will make an easy mouthful.

95
00:18:27,487 --> 00:18:29,284
It's quite wrong.

96
00:18:30,447 --> 00:18:32,722
First, the frog inflates its lungs

97
00:18:32,887 --> 00:18:36,197
so it looks as big and formidable as possible.

98
00:18:36,367 --> 00:18:39,086
Then it lets off a most surprising alarm.

99
00:18:40,247 --> 00:18:42,886
(L0UD WAILING SCREECH)

100
00:19:00,287 --> 00:19:05,361
The whole performance is more
than enough to put off the opossum.

101
00:19:05,527 --> 00:19:09,042
In Australia, dingoes too
can be put off by bluff.

102
00:19:09,727 --> 00:19:12,719
A frilled lizard.

103
00:19:28,087 --> 00:19:30,647
The frill is nothing but skin,

104
00:19:30,807 --> 00:19:35,323
but it disconcerts the dingo long enough
to allow the lizard to make its escape.

105
00:19:44,607 --> 00:19:47,201
This, however, is no bluff.

106
00:19:47,367 --> 00:19:50,006
Poison is carried by all kinds of animals.

107
00:19:50,167 --> 00:19:53,603
Hunters like this viper, use it to kill their prey.

108
00:19:54,767 --> 00:19:57,679
And the hunted use it, too, as a deterrent.

109
00:19:58,287 --> 00:20:03,600
The tomato frog, when it's threatened,
exudes a milky poison from glands in its skin

110
00:20:03,767 --> 00:20:08,045
that would make any aggressor
that swallowed it very ill indeed.

111
00:20:13,527 --> 00:20:17,964
The problem about having poison
as a defence is, if you're not careful,

112
00:20:18,127 --> 00:20:21,676
by the time you've convinced
your attacker you're not worth eating,

113
00:20:21,847 --> 00:20:24,236
it has either mauled you or killed you.

114
00:20:24,407 --> 00:20:30,323
So many animals that have poison advertise
the fact long before it's necessary to use it.

115
00:20:30,487 --> 00:20:33,763
Look, for example, at this little creature.

116
00:20:36,847 --> 00:20:38,963
It's a spotted skunk.

117
00:20:39,127 --> 00:20:43,279
Like the bigger striped skunk
that also lives in the southern USA,

118
00:20:43,447 --> 00:20:48,840
its has glands beneath its tail which can squirt
a jet of liquid with a smell so appalling

119
00:20:49,007 --> 00:20:53,398
that it can make you sick,
so you should treat it with caution.

120
00:20:53,567 --> 00:20:56,365
Now I'm going to press my luck a bit...

121
00:20:59,567 --> 00:21:04,083
It doesn't want to waste
its ammunition by squirting unnecessarily,

122
00:21:04,247 --> 00:21:07,080
so it gives fair warning.

123
00:21:08,407 --> 00:21:11,877
It's as eloquent a display of gymnastics
as you could imagine

124
00:21:12,047 --> 00:21:15,801
with which to back up
its warning spots and stripes.

125
00:21:16,567 --> 00:21:21,357
How better could you call attention
to the spray gun beneath your tail?

126
00:21:21,527 --> 00:21:25,679
I'm not going to get any closer,
because I'll get sprayed.

127
00:21:25,847 --> 00:21:28,645
And I don't want to risk that!

128
00:21:32,647 --> 00:21:38,643
Salamanders also put on gymnastic displays
to declare that they have chemical weapons.

129
00:21:38,807 --> 00:21:41,844
In their case, it's in their skin.

130
00:21:44,007 --> 00:21:47,602
Having jerked convulsively
into an extraordinary contortion,

131
00:21:47,767 --> 00:21:50,327
they stay there, transfixed.

132
00:21:52,967 --> 00:21:55,640
Its warning colours are on its belly only,

133
00:21:55,807 --> 00:22:00,323
so when danger threatens
it throws itself on its back.

134
00:22:05,647 --> 00:22:10,277
And this one has its poison
in a line of sacs along its flanks,

135
00:22:10,447 --> 00:22:14,963
released by the drastic method
of sticking its ribs through its skin,

136
00:22:15,127 --> 00:22:17,118
tearing them open.

137
00:22:19,647 --> 00:22:24,960
Some poisonous bugs carry their
''keep off'' signs like banners on their legs.

138
00:22:26,487 --> 00:22:28,955
And these add an additional trick.

139
00:22:29,127 --> 00:22:31,595
They keep together in a swarm.

140
00:22:34,807 --> 00:22:39,005
If a bird misguidedly takes one,
it won't peck at the others

141
00:22:39,167 --> 00:22:42,557
while that nasty taste
is still fresh in its mouth.

142
00:22:47,047 --> 00:22:51,438
Black and yellow is a colour code for poison
that is widely understood.

143
00:22:51,607 --> 00:22:57,125
It's used not only by wasps, but by salamanders
and snakes and caterpillars like this one.

144
00:22:57,287 --> 00:23:00,518
Here the poison is
in the yellow spines themselves.

145
00:23:02,527 --> 00:23:04,995
These long hairs are also poisonous

146
00:23:05,167 --> 00:23:10,161
and the caterpillar walks around with the
confidence of one who knows he's well-armed.

147
00:23:10,327 --> 00:23:13,637
But some pretend to be well-armed
when they're not.

148
00:23:14,407 --> 00:23:17,240
This may look like an ant with a sting,

149
00:23:17,407 --> 00:23:19,637
but the ant body is a mask,

150
00:23:19,807 --> 00:23:23,846
an outgrowth from the back
of a harmless and edible plant hopper.

151
00:23:24,607 --> 00:23:28,600
This little creature looks like a spider
and so does this.

152
00:23:28,767 --> 00:23:31,327
In fact, both are fruit flies.

153
00:23:31,487 --> 00:23:37,039
They have neither poison fangs nor stings
and they could make a good meal for a spider.

154
00:23:39,207 --> 00:23:41,562
And here is a real one.

155
00:23:41,727 --> 00:23:46,721
It signals with its black and white palps
and legs as it would to another spider.

156
00:23:55,247 --> 00:23:59,763
And the fly responds by waving
its black and white wings in a similar way.

157
00:23:59,927 --> 00:24:02,919
It's mimicking the spider ''keep away'' sign.

158
00:24:04,727 --> 00:24:07,195
And it works.

159
00:24:08,327 --> 00:24:12,400
Instead of being conspicuous,
you can protect yourself by doing the reverse,

160
00:24:12,567 --> 00:24:14,558
by concealing yourself.

161
00:24:14,727 --> 00:24:17,719
And insects are the great masters at doing this.

162
00:24:18,447 --> 00:24:21,405
A stick? No, an insect.

163
00:24:22,567 --> 00:24:27,357
This is its head with the front legs
stretched up beside it.

164
00:24:27,527 --> 00:24:32,760
You really only have a chance
of recognising it for what it is when it walks.

165
00:24:46,887 --> 00:24:49,196
A band of moss, perhaps?

166
00:24:49,367 --> 00:24:51,323
No, another insect.

167
00:24:51,487 --> 00:24:56,925
But lying so flat against the twig
that it seems to be almost a part of it.

168
00:25:04,527 --> 00:25:07,519
0nly its antenna, lifted above the twig,

169
00:25:07,687 --> 00:25:11,999
and a slight adjustment of its position,
gives the game away.

170
00:25:16,607 --> 00:25:19,758
Dead leaves lie all over a forest floor,

171
00:25:19,927 --> 00:25:24,478
so an insect mimicking them
can wander undetected over a wide area.

172
00:25:29,207 --> 00:25:31,721
It's a kind of bush cricket.

173
00:25:33,247 --> 00:25:36,398
And this insect mimics living leaves.

174
00:25:37,327 --> 00:25:41,559
Its vivid green wing covers
are veined like real leaves.

175
00:25:44,007 --> 00:25:47,079
Green flanges sprout from its legs.

176
00:25:47,687 --> 00:25:53,159
Few of those hunted among leaves can have
a better or more elaborate concealment.

177
00:26:01,207 --> 00:26:06,759
Thorn bugs. Like many bugs, they produce
excretions that are collected by ants,

178
00:26:06,927 --> 00:26:12,399
and ants are one of the few creatures that seem
to know which are thorns and which are bugs.

179
00:26:21,607 --> 00:26:23,802
But two can play at that game.

180
00:26:23,967 --> 00:26:26,686
What could look more innocent than this orchid,

181
00:26:26,847 --> 00:26:30,157
blooming in the half-light
of the Malaysian rainforest?

182
00:26:30,327 --> 00:26:35,401
Its white flowers are bright
and proclaim the sweetness of its nectar,

183
00:26:35,567 --> 00:26:37,603
attracting a lot of insects.

184
00:26:37,767 --> 00:26:42,045
But even in such a lovely thing as this
danger can lurk.

185
00:26:42,207 --> 00:26:47,122
Sitting on it, exactly matching
the colour and texture of the petals,

186
00:26:47,287 --> 00:26:49,198
is a mantis.

187
00:26:49,367 --> 00:26:52,757
It's facing left,
with its abdomen up on the right,

188
00:26:52,927 --> 00:26:55,839
and it's waiting motionless for the butterfly.

189
00:27:33,367 --> 00:27:35,835
Beside the entrance of a termite hill,

190
00:27:36,007 --> 00:27:40,603
a pile of refuse tipped out from the nest
by the termite workers,

191
00:27:40,767 --> 00:27:43,486
and on it, another hunter lurking in disguise.

192
00:27:44,087 --> 00:27:46,157
It's an assassin bug.

193
00:27:51,927 --> 00:27:54,919
It throws particles of refuse
on to its spiny body

194
00:27:55,087 --> 00:27:59,000
not to conceal itself from its prey, termites,
for they're blind,

195
00:27:59,167 --> 00:28:02,921
but to hide from birds and other creatures
that might eat it.

196
00:28:12,927 --> 00:28:17,478
Its cloak of droppings, however,
may help to conceal it from the termites

197
00:28:17,647 --> 00:28:20,605
by giving it a protective smell.

198
00:28:20,767 --> 00:28:26,683
Certainly, the industrious workers are unaware
that there's an enemy there until it's too late.

199
00:28:45,367 --> 00:28:50,395
Mimicry doesn't always deflect attention.
Sometimes it attracts it.

200
00:28:52,127 --> 00:28:54,641
A death adder from Northern Australia.

201
00:28:56,767 --> 00:29:01,363
And this could be its next meal -
a skink searching for worms.

202
00:29:07,007 --> 00:29:09,601
Perhaps this is what it's looking for.

203
00:29:22,567 --> 00:29:25,798
In fact, it's the tip of the death adder's tail.

204
00:29:45,567 --> 00:29:47,762
That was a near miss.

205
00:29:51,767 --> 00:29:54,406
Lures can also be used in defence.

206
00:29:54,567 --> 00:30:00,324
A blue tit hunting for food may overlook
a hawk moth concealed by its camouflage.

207
00:30:00,487 --> 00:30:06,403
But if it investigates,
then the moth suddenly exposes its hind wings.

208
00:30:07,647 --> 00:30:13,244
Eyespots don't alarm this blue tit,
but they induce an attack, so the moth,

209
00:30:13,407 --> 00:30:19,516
instead of getting a lethal peck on its head,
is struck on the hind wing and no damage is done.

210
00:30:20,647 --> 00:30:24,640
Eyespots give this caterpillar
an almost snake-like appearance

211
00:30:24,807 --> 00:30:29,119
and these tentacles which release a nasty smell
heighten that resemblance.

212
00:30:34,927 --> 00:30:38,966
But could this really be an imitation
of a snake's forked tongue?

213
00:30:39,127 --> 00:30:44,565
Could the caterpillar be mistaken for a snake
when it's only a couple of inches long?

214
00:30:44,727 --> 00:30:47,446
We don't know and can only guess.

215
00:30:47,607 --> 00:30:51,202
And this is an even greater mystery.

216
00:30:52,967 --> 00:30:58,325
It's a frog, and one that like most frogs
is hunted by snakes.

217
00:31:17,247 --> 00:31:20,717
The centres of these eyespots
carry poison glands,

218
00:31:20,887 --> 00:31:23,799
but they could hardly have deterred the snake.

219
00:31:23,967 --> 00:31:26,003
It can't see them from the front.

220
00:31:26,167 --> 00:31:30,683
So just how does having a face
on its bottom protect the frog?

221
00:31:30,847 --> 00:31:32,838
No one knows.

222
00:31:34,687 --> 00:31:38,043
Big eyes undoubtedly attract attacks,

223
00:31:38,207 --> 00:31:43,759
and as this frog has real ones, it needs
not to display them, but to conceal them.

224
00:31:45,647 --> 00:31:50,482
It lives in bromeliad plants,
a favourite hunting ground for small snakes.

225
00:31:56,447 --> 00:32:02,477
By reversing into the heart of the plant,
it conceals everything except the top of its head,

226
00:32:02,647 --> 00:32:06,481
which is protected by a special helmet,
a bony shield.

227
00:32:27,967 --> 00:32:32,199
So, many animals have developed
a multitude of techniques

228
00:32:32,367 --> 00:32:35,564
for preventing other animals
from making meals of them -

229
00:32:35,727 --> 00:32:41,438
high-speed sprints, jinking runs,
distraction displays, near-perfect camouflage,

230
00:32:41,607 --> 00:32:46,601
even taking on disguises that make them look
as though they are hunters themselves.

231
00:32:47,647 --> 00:32:52,516
But there is one animal against which
none of these techniques works,

232
00:32:52,687 --> 00:32:56,566
one hunter which is invariably successful.

233
00:32:56,727 --> 00:32:58,638
This one.

234
00:33:00,487 --> 00:33:04,605
Beneath this log is an immense ball of ants.

235
00:33:04,767 --> 00:33:06,803
Its surface is a lacy veil,

236
00:33:06,967 --> 00:33:10,437
formed by individuals
clinging to one another's legs.

237
00:33:10,607 --> 00:33:14,566
There are about
three quarters of a million of them.

238
00:33:14,727 --> 00:33:18,117
They are army ants, and this is their bivouac.

239
00:33:19,287 --> 00:33:24,077
In the morning, a raiding force of workers
escorted by bigger soldiers

240
00:33:24,247 --> 00:33:26,477
leaves the bivouac.

241
00:33:27,247 --> 00:33:29,238
They're almost blind,

242
00:33:29,407 --> 00:33:33,878
but they follow a scent trail
laid down by scouts who are foraging ahead.

243
00:33:44,567 --> 00:33:46,762
Few things are safe from them.

244
00:33:46,927 --> 00:33:49,043
Not even a giant spider.

245
00:34:14,007 --> 00:34:18,683
The sting of a scorpion
is useless against such tiny aggressors.

246
00:34:18,847 --> 00:34:22,362
They're too small to hit and too numerous.

247
00:34:34,967 --> 00:34:38,437
A wasps' nest is a major prize.

248
00:34:38,607 --> 00:34:43,362
The adult wasps, even though they have
powerful stings, can't repel them,

249
00:34:43,527 --> 00:34:47,918
and they watch helplessly
as their colony is pillaged.

250
00:34:57,847 --> 00:35:02,921
The fat grubs are hauled from their cells,
butchered and carried off.

251
00:35:09,007 --> 00:35:12,283
The bigger victims
are cut up for easier transport,

252
00:35:12,447 --> 00:35:16,963
and carried back to the queen
and the workers waiting in the bivouac.

253
00:35:34,047 --> 00:35:36,959
A caterpillar's camouflage didn't save it.

254
00:35:46,087 --> 00:35:50,365
A ring-shaped segment from a millipede
has got caught on a spike.

255
00:35:56,207 --> 00:36:02,123
In some places, the soldiers form living bridges
across which the porters run.

256
00:36:04,807 --> 00:36:09,278
The bite of the jaws and the sting
in the tail of these ants is so painful

257
00:36:09,447 --> 00:36:14,885
that getting close to them is almost impossible
and so studying them is very difficult indeed.

258
00:36:15,047 --> 00:36:20,246
So we really know very little of what goes on
in the heart of a bivouac like this,

259
00:36:20,407 --> 00:36:23,717
but this optical probe may help us find out.

260
00:36:31,647 --> 00:36:34,161
The bivouac has an internal structure,

261
00:36:34,327 --> 00:36:37,842
with walls made by the ants themselves
clinging together.

262
00:36:38,767 --> 00:36:40,883
You have to be careful.

263
00:36:41,047 --> 00:36:45,996
Even though the probe has been greased,
some soldiers manage to run up it.

264
00:36:47,407 --> 00:36:51,116
Here is the nursery,
full of young, developing grubs.

265
00:37:04,047 --> 00:37:06,083
After two weeks in camp,

266
00:37:06,247 --> 00:37:09,876
the numerous eggs the queen
has been laying are hatching.

267
00:37:10,047 --> 00:37:14,837
The grubs need feeding
and the entire army once more starts to march.

268
00:37:24,887 --> 00:37:27,685
The workers carry the baby grubs.

269
00:37:44,087 --> 00:37:48,763
Soldiers, huge jaws agape,
guard the sides of the route.

270
00:37:49,447 --> 00:37:54,441
The army marches across new hunting grounds,
making temporary camps each night,

271
00:37:54,607 --> 00:37:59,681
until, after about two weeks,
it bivouacs and repeats the whole cycle.

272
00:38:02,807 --> 00:38:07,801
The most powerful hunters in the bird world
are, of course, hawks and eagles.

273
00:38:07,967 --> 00:38:13,724
The Harris hawk in the deserts of New Mexico
has a particular and unusual skill.

274
00:38:13,887 --> 00:38:15,878
It hunts in groups.

275
00:38:26,647 --> 00:38:30,481
The team of half a dozen or so
assembles in the morning

276
00:38:30,647 --> 00:38:33,115
and begins to search the countryside.

277
00:38:36,327 --> 00:38:40,240
Their lookout posts are the great pillars
of the saguaro cactus.

278
00:39:09,167 --> 00:39:12,079
The cacti are certainly splendidly tall,

279
00:39:12,247 --> 00:39:16,365
but they don't appear to be
the most comfortable of perches.

280
00:39:22,247 --> 00:39:25,239
And the prickly pear is hardly any better.

281
00:39:42,687 --> 00:39:44,996
A pack rat.

282
00:39:55,167 --> 00:40:00,161
In this thorny tangle, it's difficult to get
a clear sight for long enough to pounce.

283
00:40:00,327 --> 00:40:04,684
Some of the hawks go down
to try and chase the rat into the open.

284
00:40:07,287 --> 00:40:10,757
Since the rat is so much quicker on the ground
than they are,

285
00:40:10,927 --> 00:40:15,159
they will only manage to catch it
if there are several of them.

286
00:40:39,527 --> 00:40:42,519
They've lost the rat, but found bigger prey.

287
00:40:43,967 --> 00:40:45,923
A cottontail rabbit.

288
00:40:48,327 --> 00:40:53,765
The two on the ground chase it out.
Those perching can now get a clear sight.

289
00:41:05,407 --> 00:41:10,800
0nce the kill is made, the entire team gathers
and each bird tears off a share.

290
00:41:12,767 --> 00:41:18,239
0ne bird by itself is unlikely to have made
such a kill in such country as this.

291
00:41:18,407 --> 00:41:23,845
Hunting together has paid off, but were
the birds working in a team with a plan?

292
00:41:24,007 --> 00:41:28,478
Probably not. Individual birds
do not regularly play the same role.

293
00:41:28,647 --> 00:41:32,640
Each simply reacted individually
to the movements of the rabbit

294
00:41:32,807 --> 00:41:37,278
and each benefited from the fact
that its companions were doing the same.

295
00:41:39,487 --> 00:41:43,480
Here in the thick forests
of the Ivory Coast in West Africa

296
00:41:43,647 --> 00:41:46,525
live animals that are our closest relatives.

297
00:41:47,207 --> 00:41:49,118
Chimpanzees.

298
00:41:49,287 --> 00:41:51,960
A peaceful scene of jungle harmony.

299
00:42:06,767 --> 00:42:10,123
(WHISPERING)
You don't normally think of them as hunters.

300
00:42:10,887 --> 00:42:13,640
More as gentle vegetarians,

301
00:42:13,807 --> 00:42:16,401
munching fruit and picking leaves.

302
00:42:17,287 --> 00:42:20,597
But if you follow them in their true home,

303
00:42:20,767 --> 00:42:23,520
these forests in West Africa,

304
00:42:23,687 --> 00:42:26,326
you discover that they are hunters.

305
00:42:26,487 --> 00:42:29,001
What's more, they hunt in teams,

306
00:42:29,167 --> 00:42:35,163
and have a more complex strategy
than any other hunting animal,

307
00:42:35,327 --> 00:42:36,760
except...

308
00:42:38,367 --> 00:42:41,404
except, of course...man.

309
00:42:43,447 --> 00:42:46,041
And one of the hunters,

310
00:42:46,207 --> 00:42:48,641
the experienced male,

311
00:42:48,807 --> 00:42:51,162
is sitting right there.

312
00:43:00,407 --> 00:43:03,843
This is the time they hunt: the wet season.

313
00:43:04,727 --> 00:43:09,243
Their regular prey are monkeys,
but they're very selective.

314
00:43:10,327 --> 00:43:13,160
A Diana monkey, a big species,

315
00:43:13,327 --> 00:43:16,125
and one they seldom tackle.

316
00:43:33,687 --> 00:43:36,440
A spot-nosed monkey.

317
00:43:40,167 --> 00:43:42,158
Red colobus.

318
00:43:42,327 --> 00:43:46,843
They're better jumpers than chimps
and can go onto thinner branches.

319
00:43:47,007 --> 00:43:49,521
So in theory a chimp can't catch them.

320
00:43:49,687 --> 00:43:52,076
The only way is to work as a team,

321
00:43:52,247 --> 00:43:56,240
and there are six experienced males
in this group of about sixty

322
00:43:56,407 --> 00:43:58,841
who regularly do so.

323
00:44:08,407 --> 00:44:10,398
This is one of them.

324
00:44:10,567 --> 00:44:14,560
From his purposeful walk,
it's clear the search for prey has started.

325
00:44:14,727 --> 00:44:17,924
The other members of the team
are not far away.

326
00:44:22,967 --> 00:44:26,084
They've been following the monkeys
for twenty minutes,

327
00:44:26,247 --> 00:44:28,556
looking for an opportunity.

328
00:44:33,087 --> 00:44:36,762
The technique they'll almost certainly use

329
00:44:36,927 --> 00:44:41,443
is that one of them will be driving
the colobus ahead of them.

330
00:44:41,607 --> 00:44:45,282
Then there'll be others up
on either side, the blockers,

331
00:44:45,447 --> 00:44:47,836
who make no attempt to catch them.

332
00:44:48,007 --> 00:44:51,795
Then there are chasers,
who try to grab the monkey.

333
00:44:51,967 --> 00:44:56,961
Finally, there's one male
who will go up ahead and ambush it,

334
00:44:57,127 --> 00:44:59,960
so bringing the whole trap closed.

335
00:45:03,887 --> 00:45:06,401
The monkeys are now getting alarmed.

336
00:45:09,087 --> 00:45:12,079
A driver's going up
to prevent the group from settling

337
00:45:12,247 --> 00:45:16,206
and to drive them towards an area
where they're more easily trapped.

338
00:45:35,447 --> 00:45:40,316
That's one of the blockers
that's quietly come ahead of the colobus.

339
00:45:40,487 --> 00:45:43,206
He's halfway up the tree now.

340
00:45:43,367 --> 00:45:46,200
He's deliberately making himself conspicuous.

341
00:45:51,247 --> 00:45:53,841
Now it looks like they're all in position.

342
00:45:54,007 --> 00:45:56,885
The drivers and blockers have gone up,

343
00:45:57,047 --> 00:46:01,245
and the one who'll make the ambush
and close the ring has gone up, too.

344
00:46:01,407 --> 00:46:05,320
The colobus will be very lucky
if they escape now.

345
00:46:09,127 --> 00:46:11,561
(DIN 0F SCREECHING)

346
00:46:17,687 --> 00:46:20,121
They've got one!

347
00:46:28,527 --> 00:46:31,280
The hunters are tearing it apart.

348
00:46:31,967 --> 00:46:37,678
Everyone, the hunters in the trees and
the spectators, are screaming with excitement.

349
00:46:56,567 --> 00:46:59,127
Now the kill is brought down,

350
00:46:59,287 --> 00:47:02,245
so that the females and others can share it.

351
00:47:19,727 --> 00:47:23,003
And there's the reward for that long chase,

352
00:47:23,167 --> 00:47:25,965
the divided body of a colobus monkey.

353
00:47:26,967 --> 00:47:30,164
These bloodstained faces...

354
00:47:31,167 --> 00:47:33,476
..may well horrify us,

355
00:47:33,647 --> 00:47:36,161
but we might also see in them

356
00:47:36,327 --> 00:47:40,479
the face of our long-distant hunting ancestors.

357
00:47:41,367 --> 00:47:47,442
And if we are appalled
by that mob violence and bloodlust...

358
00:47:48,167 --> 00:47:50,965
we might also see in that, too, perhaps,

359
00:47:51,127 --> 00:47:56,440
the origins of the teamwork
that have, in the end,

360
00:47:56,607 --> 00:48:01,044
brought human beings
many of their greatest triumphs.

