Nature (1982–…): Season 38, Episode 12 - The Mighty Weasel - full transcript

An intimate look into the weasel family which includes the adventures of a first-time weasel mom, a tiny orphan weasel and the fearless honey badger.

A weasel.



How we might describe
an untrustworthy person.

It conjures up images
of deceit and betrayal.

Members of the weasel family
are often portrayed as villains

and associated with
somewhat unsavory behavior.

We "badger" people,

"ferret" out the enemy,

"weasel" out of things.

But do they deserve
this bad reputation?

Now, with
ground-breaking science...



And by following the
adventures of a wild stoat family...

We'll step into the
world of weasels...

And finally reveal
their true nature.









The weasel family is also
known as the mustelids.

It's one of the most varied
animal groups in the world.

The 65 different
species are found

almost everywhere from
the arctic to the tropics.

From the biggest... the
six-foot giant river otter

that's adapted to life
below the surface...

To the smallest... the tiny
two-ounce least weasel



that gives this animal
family its name.



They may look different,

but they're united by
a special set of skills.

It seems they can
conquer anything,

from the tallest trees, to
snow-topped mountains

and raging waters.

They have to survive in a world

where predators and
prey outsize them.

But whether they're a stoat...

ferret...

honey badger...

weasel...

or a wolverine...

They don't let anything
hold them back.



Stoats and weasels
are native to Britain,

and nearly a million
roam the countryside.

But to get more than a glimpse
of one would be exceptional,

because these animals
like all of their kind

are amongst the most
secretive on Earth.

That's what makes this corner
of Yorkshire so extraordinary.

It's spring.

A young female stoat is looking
for a place to start her family.

This is Bandita.

She will give us a unique chance

to follow one of these
elusive animals in the wild.

Because even
when she disappears,

we can still see her.

Bandita lives in a
garden unlike any other.



This may look like
an ordinary garden,

but it's designed
and built all around

the lives of stoats and weasels.



We've got all sorts
of different habitats.

And not only have
we got the habitats,

we've actually got
nearly 50 cameras

covering their secret lives.



This is wildlife artist
and photographer

Robert Fuller.



His passion for stoat
surveillance knows no bounds.



He's spent years creating
a whole world for them.



So the main area of
the garden is Stoat City.

Lots of dry stone walling...

secret tunnels leading
to nests and chambers,

and this is a great area
for them to run around

and explore in.

Rob has also catered for
the stoat's smaller cousin,

the weasel.

The back garden's Weasel Town,

and it's all on miniature scale

'cause the weasels
are so much smaller.

They've got hidden nests

and even ponds
just for the weasels.

Rob's even built his
own underground tunnel

so he can watch the stoats
without disturbing them.





This stoat and weasel wonderland
will reveal the hidden lives

of these intriguing animals.

Bandita was born
here two years ago.

As one of eight kits,

she spent her first few
weeks with her siblings,

cuddled up for
warmth in their nest.

As they fed from their mother's
rich milk, they grew quickly.

And after just 12 weeks,

were able to live independently.

Now, two years later,
Bandita is pregnant

and she's come
back to Stoat City

to start her own family.

The body shape changes
really significantly.

The pregnancy goes really
low down between the back legs.

So she's almost engaged
ready to give birth.

Rob leaves food out

for all the wild
animals in his garden.

To prepare for her new arrivals,

Bandita must stock
up on these offerings

and find somewhere safe to nest.

Bandita is about to have

the toughest few
months of her life.

This first-time mother
will have to draw on

all of the skills the mustelid
family are famous for.

One of these is the
unflinching ability

to take on anything and
everything around them.

The boldest of the family
takes that to extremes...

The honey badger.

Living in the African bush,

they cause havoc
wherever they go.

Daring and dangerous,
they'll face up to lions...

hyenas...

even venomous snakes.



But they don't
just have brawn...

They also have surprisingly
large brains for their size.

It's even thought that
honey badgers might be

some of the most intelligent
animals on the planet.

But just how clever are they?



South Africa, home to

the Moholoholo Wildlife
Rehabilitation Centre...

And a remarkable rescued
honey badger called Stoffel.

He became notorious for
his ingenious escape antics.



You really wanna
know what Stoffel's like?

You want to bring back
memories and nightmares?

Brian Jones runs the center

and couldn't believe
the extraordinary lengths

Stoffel would go to.









This certainly
suggests brain power

but how does it
stand up scientifically?



Dr. Natalia Borrego
studies animal intelligence.

Honey badgers are really cool.

They have these really
complex ecological lives,

these very broad diets,
so they need to climb,

they need to dig, they
do these behaviors

that indicates a high
level of intelligence

but we haven't
actually tested that yet.

Stoffel's more
obliging son, Stompie,

and another rescued
honey badger, Julius,

are taking on the challenge.

This is a specially
designed puzzle.

Inside the box will be
food covered in honey...

Their favorite treat.

To open the door, they
must lift the wooden bar.

This tests their
problem-solving skills.



It might look simple,

but this is something they
would never see in the wild,

so they must be innovative

and use their imagination
to figure this out.



He's trying a bit of
everything to try and get in.



Well, there you go.

There you are, he's got it.

Good for you.

Well, I'll be blowed, aye,
he's actually done it, aye.

Yeah.

Well done, sir.



Both Julius and Stompie

solve this first challenge.

But what happens when it
becomes more complicated?



A lot of animals have difficulty

once they figure out how
to achieve a goal in one way,

they get kind of
stuck on that solution,

so we're gonna see if
honey badgers are able

to change their thinking and
not get stuck on that bar solution.



This second challenge tests

how adaptable
their brains can be.

There is a clear container

inside that the food will be in

but it's out of reach
of the honey badger

so they have to figure out to
pull the string to get the food.

Do you think they'll be able
to solve this one as well?



In the wild, honey
badgers eat up to

60 different species.

To hunt this range of food,
they have to think flexibly.

Ah!

He's worked that out.

Isn't that wonderful that.

Ah, you can't help
but love these things,

doesn't matter
what they do to you.

So far, the honey
badgers have shown

problem solving
skills and adaptability.

But in the third and final test,

can they do something
that would mark them

as one of the most intelligent
animals on the planet...

Use tools?

We've hung the box from a tree

so the honey badger
can't reach it from the top,

they can't reach
it from the bottom,

the only way they can reach
it is by dragging either a tire

or their cage under it so that

they can then step up and
reach the food that is inside.



If in fact honey badgers can
use tools this puts them up there

with some of the smartest
animals in the animal kingdom,

like chimpanzees or elephants,

so it would be really exciting.

Every single one has
had that ability to escape,

to take an object to the
side of the wall and climb out,

so definitely the
potential is there.



So he seems to be just jumping

and trying to get to the box
but not making that connection

that he needs to bring
the crate or the tire over.

He really wants it but he
just can't seem to figure out

how to get to it.

You see, he knows
there's something there.

Mm. He's looking at it.



He pushed his crate
closer to the box,

so that he could then
climb on top of the crate

and get to the box,
which indicates tool use,

and it's really exciting.

Stunning. That is pretty cool.

Yeah, I must say.



Giving them this puzzle box

is confirming what
we've long suspected,

that honey badgers are
very good at solving problems,

that they're very
exploratory and adaptable.

From what we've
seen, they're up there

with the top innovators
in the animal kingdom.

It's this intelligence,

often misread as
calculated and cunning,

that gives these animals
an edge in the wild.



Back in Stoat City, it's May.

Bandita has given birth but
her kits have remained hidden.

Until one morning, when she
gave Rob the surprise of his life.

I'll never forget the day

when we first got the
footage of the kits emerging.



One by one the kits came out

and then we realized
there was four kits,

and incredible things,

'cause they were actually
really strange color,

they were white mottled-y color.

This is really rare.

There's very few
records of this,

right the way across the world.

So we're absolutely delighted

that we've got extra-special
stoat kits to watch.

Some stoats turn white
or ermine in the winter,

to camouflage themselves
against the snow.

These kits were
born in a cold spell,

which could be the cause
of their unusual color.

But their first outing
doesn't go according to plan.

Inexperienced mom Bandita

quickly loses
control of her kits.

One falls over the edge of
a wall, followed by another.



Bandita appears to panic.



And instinctively moves her
kits away from this danger.



She leaves Stoat City,

and Rob spots her running
into an elm tree down the valley.



For now the kits seem okay.

But this move has unwittingly
led her into further peril.

This nest site could jeopardize

the safety of her
vulnerable youngsters.

She's got problems here.

She's next to the road and
this is also the favorite tree

for a family of tawny owls.

The kits are in real
danger here of predation.

Not so much her...
She's quite feisty.

But the little kits walking
around, they're quite pale

and they really
stand out in the dark.

This is the road just here,

so instead of running
up the dale side

which is the
sensible thing to do

she actually goes
out onto the road,

which is really dangerous.

To hunt in her usual territory,

Bandita risks everything,

traveling over 300
feet along the road.





I've watched her
coming up the hill

and a van comes
down and you're just like,

aw, it's just, you're
just hoping she spots it,

you know hoping
they're all gonna be okay.



Will Bandita be able
to keep her kits safe

in this hazardous location?

Moving kits from nest to nest

is one of the mustelids'
survival strategies,

but it can involve risks.

During the journey kits can
become separated from their mom.

Weasels, the smallest
of all mustelids

and a close
relative of the stoat,

are particularly vulnerable.

A baby weasel that was
lost during a nest move

has been spotted and rescued.

She's now in Rob's care.

This is quite incredible here,

we've got a tiny little female,
this is about three weeks old.

Tiny little tail, which
obviously tells us

it's a weasel
rather than a stoat.

At this stage we
call them fingerlings,

'cause they are literally
the size of your finger.

By following this
orphaned weasel,

we can see how she grows up
to be a tiny but mighty predator.

Rob names the weasel Twiz.

The actual name weasel is
to weasel out of a situation.

It has such negative
connotations

but when you see such a
sweet little baby weasel like this

it's hard to imagine why you
would be negative in anyway,

they're absolutely
stunning little mammals.



A week has passed.

In these early days,
weight gain is vital...

And last week, Twiz
weighed just half an ounce.



These tiny animals have
an extremely high metabolism

and have to feed
every few hours.

That's incredible,

she's more than double
her weight in one week.

Her fur's grown, her eyes are
just about to open any day now.

Her feet are
getting more useful,

she's able to move
around a lot more.

Teeth are coming through
now and she's eating meat

so she's on a high protein diet,

so she's gonna grow
really quickly now.

Even though her
eyes are still closed,

her senses are
absolutely astonishing.

She's able to use her sense
of smell and find the food.

This incredible smelling ability

is one of this animal
family's most valued skills.



And one uses this
to its fullest potential...

The wolverine.





These tough animals

are the largest of
all land mustelids,

and their attitude
is even bigger.



Found across the arctic regions
of the Northern Hemisphere,

wolverines are built
to survive in the cold.





Their large padded
feet act as snowshoes

when traveling up to 20
miles a day across the ice.

Their fur is thick
and frost-proof,

so they can stay warm and
dry in sub-zero temperatures.

But it's their supersensitive
nose that is crucial

to their survival in these
extreme environments.

Even sniffing out prey
from deep under the snow.

Research suggests that this
phenomenal smelling ability

is linked to a
structure in their skull

known as the cribriform plate.

The cribriform plate is located

between the nasal
cavity and the brain.

It's a bony sieve-like
structure with holes,

for nerve fibers
to pass through.

These nerve fibers
carry scent signals

from the air to the brain.

The bigger the cribriform
plate, and the bigger the holes,

the more scent information
can travel to the brain.

In wolverines, their cribriform
plate is relatively large,

which could be the
answer to their heightened

scenting ability.





They've also been
known to blow out air

to warm and disturb
odor particles,

causing smells to
become stronger

and helping them to locate prey.



Once they've found the food,

their strong jaws
and powerful bite

enables them to break
through a frozen carcass

and stash it away
from other carnivores.





This incredible smelling ability

means that wolverines
and other mustelids

can find the food they need
to survive, wherever it is.

That's key to their
success in the wild.



Orphaned weasel Twiz
is now five weeks old.

Her eyes have opened,

her hearing is
becoming more acute,

and she's much more active.

In the wild, Twiz
would be playing

with the rest of her litter,

so Rob takes over this role.

Play is how a weasel would
learn how to fight, and to hunt.

They use all four limbs
to grip the prey items,

deliver a real powerful bite

then to the back of the neck,
but very gentle at this stage,

she's only small
still, so it's fabulous

to see that she's got
this instinct in her already.

The little chittering,
this is like a contact call.

I've heard this in the wild
with wild weasels lots of times

and it's, to me it's one of
the most beautiful sounds

that there actually is.

Twiz must start
strengthening her muscles

to improve her agility.

And this needs to
be done indoors.

We're gonna test her strength,

agility in a safe environment.



Rob wants to see

if Twiz is brave
enough to explore,

but also cautious enough
to hide from any danger.

Gotta be always close to cover

because they're vulnerable
from attack from other predators.

She's heading for cover
when she's really unsure,

which is a great sign

'cause she needs to
be absolutely on the ball

when she's out in the wild.



At this age, wild
weasel kits would go on

day trips with their mom,

who would show
them how to hunt prey

and Rob's got just
the thing to help Twiz.



It'll be an easy target.

In a matter of weeks they'll
actually be independent

and hunting for themselves.

Weasels eat anything
from birds to voles,

so they need to
climb and tunnel.

She's just coming back
for a little bit of reassurance,

that's what they'll
be doing in the wild,

going back to their mother
and she'll go off again,

adventuring.

She's showing great signs.

Yeah, it's great to see.



Stoats and weasels are
at their most vulnerable

when they are young.

Their early weeks
are full of challenges

and important life lessons

It's now June.

Bandita has brought all
four kits back to Stoat City...

and they've made their
home in one of Rob's

specially rigged nests.

The kits are nine weeks old,

but worryingly, one
clearly isn't thriving.



Having a runt in
the litter is common.

If they are born smaller,
they struggle to compete

with their bigger and
stronger siblings for food.

And sometimes, the
struggle proves too much.

Unfortunately it passed away.

It's a difficult thing to watch.

It was quite a sad day
really that you realize

we've lost one of these
really special little stoats.



Despite this sad loss,

Bandita still has
three kits to care for.

Their appetites are enormous,

she has to feed them half
their bodyweight every day.

It's a demanding job,

so Bandita has to
be able to find food

in all sorts of places.





Her tail is half the
length of her body...

Great for balance

when maneuvering
around obstacles.



For such a small animal,

her jumping
ability is incredible.

She can leap up to 10
times her body length.





The saying "to weasel out
of something" owes its origin

to this animal family's
extraordinary agility.

Many of the mustelids are
known for their acrobatics.

The Rocky Mountains...

Home to one of the most
arboreal and agile mustelids of all:

the American pine marten.

They're built entirely
for life in the trees.

Their long bushy tail
keeps them balanced

when jumping from
branch to branch,

and their razor-sharp claws
grip tightly into the bark of trees.

They have to hunt up here too,

moving swiftly
through the branches

in pursuit of their prey.

In the springtime they
raid birds' nests for eggs.

An easy job with
this stationary target.

But for the rest of the year,

their prey is on the move.

Their claws are
their secret weapon.

Not only do they help
them latch on to tree trunks,

but they can also
partially retract,

so the marten can move
easily on the ground

when an appetizing
meal turns up.

Mustelids are so versatile

that they can use their
agility in many environments.

One species is particularly
adept at maneuvers

below the ground... the ferret.



They were domesticated
from the European polecat

over 2,000 years ago.

In the wild these animals
hunt in tight and twisty burrows

and their entire body can bend
one hundred and eighty degrees

both vertically
and horizontally.

But how are they
able to do this?



Ohio.



Dr. Angela Horner is
the world's leading expert

in ferret locomotion.



Ferrets are really neat.

It's almost as though you
have an animal in liquid form.

They have a really well
adapted body design to move

rapidly through a tunnel
and change direction quickly,

and it has to be small
enough to enter a tunnel

but large and powerful
enough to overpower something

when it encounters
that in the tunnel.

This unique body shape
is crucial for an animal

that spends ninety percent
of its time underground.

But being subterranean
makes studying ferrets hard.

This Plexiglass tunnel
will allow Angela to see

how their bodies transform
as they enter a burrow.

So what I'm looking at here

is a special setup designed

to let me see what's
happening during the transition

from above ground conditions
to below ground conditions.

We haven't really seen
yet how this is happening

from the animals' perspective,

so that I'm really
excited to try this out.

By filming the
ferret in slow motion,

Angela can see exactly
what the ferret is doing.



When they're moving
around above ground

they have an
arched back posture.

And as they enter a tunnel,

they seamlessly lower
that posture in their back

until their spine
is stretched out.

This flexibility in their spine

is due to a unique
set of back vertebrae.

In other animals, protrusions,
known as processes,

on each segment of the spine
stop it from moving too far.

In ferrets, these
processes are thinner,

creating flexibility
and movement.

So their spine can stretch
out when they go underground,

making their body
thirty percent longer.



This footage shows
how easily the ferrets

can transition from
above to below ground.

But these animals are predators,

so what impact does
this maneuver have

on the ferret's speed?

The black and white backdrop
helps Angela determine how fast

the ferrets are traveling
across a set distance.

When the footage is lined up,

it reveals something
completely unexpected.

The ferret barely
loses any speed at all

when running underground.



Their shorter than
average limbs allow them

to still be able
to move very well

and they aren't restricted
in the limb movement

in that position.



In most carnivores,

the legs and body are
about the same length.

But in burrowing
mustelids, like the ferret,

their legs are only half
the length of their body.



This means they can
run in enclosed spaces

without tripping
over their own limbs.



Their limbs have to
become more crouched

to get into that position

but they can
manage it just fine.

In fact they do it so well that
they barely decrease speed

when they're making that
transition from above ground

to underground,
and that's incredible.



The ability to
shift so seamlessly

between these environments,

is just one of the
remarkable ways

that mustelids have refined
their agility to catch prey.



Back at Rob's house,

Bandita's kits are
now 10 weeks old.

So far, most of their days have
been spent safely hidden away.

But now they're ready
for a trip into Stoat City.

I've named them
Snap, Crackle and Pop.

Snap's the one, he seems to be

a little bit more
adventurous on his own.

Pop's the one with the
little panda looking eyes,

he is a little bit of
a mummy's boy,

he's always close to Bandita.

Crackle's the female and
she's substantially smaller

but she's got some
real attitude about her,

she really holds her own
against the boys, fighting,

rolling, playing.

Bandita will need
to watch over the kits

every moment of this day trip...

It's a big garden and
they could get lost.

So to keep them close,

she makes a special
chitter contact call.



It's time for a tour
of her territory.



She shows them the key
places they can sleep and hunt.



Over the next few weeks,
they move on to the next lesson.

Bandita needs to teach
them how to hone their chasing

and fighting skills.

This is really important

'cause this is teaching
the kits how to hunt,

and they will be hunting
dangerous animals.





And it looks like these lessons

are also lots of fun.



The trampoline's a
great area for the stoats,

they're loving being on there.



So they're learning new
tricks on there, pouncing,

and they also just love the
texture of the trampoline,

they climb on and
they just slide on,

pulling themselves
along with their front legs.

After six weeks of
intensive training,

Bandita's biggest kit, Snap,

is ready to go on a
special hunting mission.

But Rob's garden is also
home to other predators.

They compete with
the stoats for food

but they could also
prey on the young kits.





As darkness falls,
owls come out to hunt.



Bandita and Snap
need to fight for their turf.



These owls are
three times their size,

so the feisty stoats

are punching well
above their weight.





Their courage and tenacity

means Bandita and
Snap are victorious.

They've secured the territory
and food for the family.



To be truly independent,

the kits have one more test...

They need to hunt
for their own food.

Fortunately, all stoats
have a secret weapon...

An exceptionally
strong killing bite.

They can take down a rabbit,
an animal five times their size,

with one deadly strike.

But the strongest
bite, pound for pound,

is thought to come
from the stoat's cousin...

The least weasel.



At only six inches long,
the length of a dollar bill

they are the smallest
carnivore on earth.



So could they really have
the most powerful bite?





In North Carolina,
Dr. Adam Hartstone-Rose

studies the bite
force of carnivores.



Bite force is actually a
combination of three factors.

The first is the
length of the jaws,

and then the second
factor is the amount of force

that the muscles can actually
put into closing the jaws,

and the third factor is
the placement of the teeth

along those jaws.

The weasel has a
relatively short jaw

on a relatively long skull.

The jaw is about 50 percent
of the length of the skull,

and that means that it's able
to more efficiently transmit

the force into a
higher bite force.

If an animal has a long jaw,

the force it produces is lost

over the distance
it has to travel.



When an animal has a short jaw,

the force has less distance
to travel and to decrease.



The shorter the jaw,
the greater the force.

But the weasel also has
another unique adaptation.

For its body size,

the weasel has
a really long skull

and that leaves a
really large surface area

for the attachment of one of
the muscles that closes the jaw

and that means that they
can produce a lot of bite force

for such a little guy.

Bigger muscles...
Or bigger springs...

Have a huge impact on
the damage a bite can do.



The main muscle which
closes the jaw is known

as the temporal muscle.

It travels from the top
of the skull right down

to the jaws themselves.

But there's one final factor
in the weasel's killer bite.

For such a small animal,

it actually has
really amazing teeth.

So, the canine tooth is really
long and sharp and pointy

which means that the bite force

that is transmitted
into these killing teeth

is transmitted very powerfully.



As a force disperses
across a surface,

the pressure at each
individual point is shared around.

Concentrate all that same
force into a smaller area

and the pressure
becomes much greater.

This is why the weasel's pointy
teeth give them such an edge-

all their muscle
force is focused

into a razor-sharp point.

Combining all three parts,

the shorter jaws
creating better leverage,

the large springs representing
more powerful muscles,

and the sharp teeth to really
concentrate all of that force,

this really creates
the ultimate bite.





Adam's research now
reveals that the weasel's bite,

pound for pound is
stronger than a lion,

a tiger, a hyena,
or any of the bears.

If we were to take this weasel

and scale it up to the
body size of this huge tiger

then what we would
find is that the skull

would actually be 40 percent
longer than the tiger skull,

and 20 percent wider.

Their muscles would
be much bigger,

and their teeth
longer and sharper.

And so that would
really make this

essentially a super-predator.

Imagine what it would
be like to be chased

by one of these
fearsome predators.



This amazing bite force
is what makes weasels

one of the most unparalleled
predators on the planet.





In Weasel Town, rescued
weasel Twiz is showing all the signs

that she too could be
a successful hunter.

She's now ready to move
into an outdoor enclosure

and become more independent.

It's really crucial for
her that we get her

thinking she's a weasel rather
than part of a human family.



This will be one of the
last times I handle her.

Fabulous little animal.

A real character.



I'm gonna miss her you know.

It is gonna be
difficult to let her go.



She looks quite happy

so I think we'll just leave her
now to explore her new area.



After a few weeks
of independence,

Rob feels Twiz is ready
for the next milestone.

She's an excellent
climber, she tunnels,

so I think she's
really at the stage now

where she's ready to
be released into the wild.



There we go, the door's
open, so we'll wait and see.

Twiz takes some cautious
steps towards freedom.

She's, uh, going really slowly,

investigating
everywhere, sniffing.

For now at least,

she joins the other
weasels of Weasel Town.



I've done my best to teach Twiz

everything I can to
become a wild weasel,

and it's really exciting to
see how she's getting on.





Across the garden in
Stoat City, Bandita's kits

are also ready to leave home.



Bandita has done whatever
it took to keep her kits safe.



This first-time mother
has nurtured them,

and fought to keep them fed.



She's taught them
everything she knows.

And they've had some
fun along the way.

Rob's garden has revealed a
unique insight into their lives

but more than anything,

it's been a safe-haven
for this family to thrive.

I'm really proud of Bandita.

She's raised these three really
strong, independent stoats,

ready to go forth and
find new territories.

As the kits reach adulthood,

they will seek out
new areas to live alone.



It's been a
challenging few months

but Bandita's
job is finally done.

She can now enjoy
some well-earned rest

in Stoat City.