Weird Nature (2002–…): Season 1, Episode 4 - Devious Defences - full transcript
There was a time when myth
and science were entwined
When mermaids and unicorns
could mysteriously appear
Nature was weird
When science revealed the truth
behind these imaginary creatures
it found real animals
lay behind the legends
Today, science still makes
astonishing discoveries
but nature seems just as weird
It's just that fact
has broken free from fiction
In nature, a good defence
is key to survival
but humans have no
natural defences at all
Even our most magical camouflage
is no match for the real thing
Vine snakes freeze motionless
for hours as they mimic
the creepers that hide them
In turn, snakes are impersonated
by the snake-head caterpillar
Insects become leaves,
finessed with details of damage
A hunter's spotted coat
conjures up dappled shade
but in the arms race
between predator and prey,
even the eyes of a killer are mimicked
These false faces complete with eyes
and nose belong to eyespot frogs
They frighten real predators
Poison arrow frogs really are lethal
so rather than hide,
they use vivid colors to warn
against being eaten by mistake
Their toxic secretions
lace tribal darts
The poison from just one frog
can kill a man
Weird nature uses imaginary settings
to showcase real animal behavior
This weird journey reveals the strange
ways animals protect themselves
Full body armour is often
the first-line of defence
The three-banded armadillos
of Argentina are the masters
Like medieval knights
they use articulated armour
Their protective shields made from
a double layer of horn and bone
are hinged with leathery skin
The plates cope with most of
what nature throws out
but a polo match is exceptional
This imaginary scene showcases
the armadillos' extraordinary behavior
Its first defence is to run,
but heavy armour slows it down
Its second defence is to roll up
interlocking its plates
into a sealed ball
the strongest shape in nature
It can open just an chink
to check what's happening
Even we ball up for protection
But helmets and padding can't
compete with full body armour
The only soft part of the armadillo
is its face and underbelly
Otherwise it's a walking armoured tank
It takes the knocks of real life
just as easily in its stride
This fantasy wreck displays
the inventive defences of sea creatures
The pufferfish has its own
version of armour
Instead of scales,
its leathery skin is armed with spines
The spines erect to
form a lethal pin cushion
when the fish sucks in water
With elasticated skin and no ribs
to stop its body expanding
it balloons to five times
its normal size
too big for most mouths to swallow
The puffer's ultimate weapon
is poison,
enough to kill 30 people
There is no known antidote
This wreck also shows
how animal defences can adapt
through extraordinary circumstances
For dresser crabs,
the right dress code is everything
They decorate their shells
to fit in wherever they go
They select material
from whatever is around
A dressing room full of
treasure is paradise
They first chew their finds
to make them frayed and fiberous
They then attach the prepared fabrics
to Velcro-like hooks
on their legs and shell
The dresser crab uses
its keen attention to detail
to fashion a camouflage suit
It usually adorns its costume
with sponges and seaweed
as these are most often to hand
But given the chance, it improvises
a trait that helps the dresser crab
maintain perfect camouflage
Their eclectic dress sense
means they blend in anywhere
safe from the eyes of predators
like pufferfish
To vanish, they freeze
Making yourself bigger
is not only a defence,
it can also send a massage
The spotted skunk is famed
for its offensive body odor
Bold markings warn that
it carries a concealed weapon
If the skunk isn't shown respect,
it ups the ante
Handstanding exaggerates its size
and shows off its markings
It's a dance of defiance
Foot stamping drives home the threat
If the message is missed,
the skunk reveals its weapon
Like an aerosol,
anal glands spray sulphurous chemical
through nozzles aim at the eyes
They cause temporary
blindness and nausea
Some defensive sprays
are even deadlier
Most give cobras a wide berth
But they say curiosity kills the cat
Snakes prefer to conserve their venom
so it sprays its hood as warning
The spitting cobra aims for the eyes
glands squeeze venom
through hypodermic fangs
The spray jets three metres
A direct hit
could have blinded it for life
Most animals fear snakes
The horned frog of Central America
is no exception
A look like snake provokes
the same bizarre reaction
If puffing up and screaming
like a banshie fails
it fights back
It pays to have a wide repertoire,
danger is never far away
A horned owl would soon
make a meal of a frog
even one with an inflated ego
But owls are equally fooled
by a snake in the grass
They clip their beaks and hiss
and arch their wings
to puff themselves up
If this bluff fails, they turn tail
Changing shape has been perfected
by many sea creatures
The octopus is soft,
malleable body helps it
change shape easily
but the price of having no skeleton
is vulnerability
One defence is to change texture
to mimic its surroundings
another is reactive camouflage
Its near instantaneous color change
is under nervous control
Pigment cells expand and
contract in waves of emotion
The color cells react quicker
than those of any other animal
But this quick change artiste
has a rival
The peacock flounder's skin can
make a near-perfect facsimile
of its surroundings
A paper-thin profile helps
its vanishing trick
But how does it fare
on a less familiar background?
Its stocked eyes have feature detectors
primed to pick out patterns
It does a quick survey
and then it makes a match
The eyes pass data to the brain
which adjusts the size and
contrast of pigment cells
for the best possible copy
Incredibly it has to assume
how the pattern would continue
if its body wasn't there
On familiar ground,
the match is perfect
If the octopus' camouflage fails,
it has other tactics
Throwing sand in the face is one
so is whipping up a smoke screen
The ink is made of
the black pigment melanin
It escapes under the cover of darkness
The octopus' last trick is
that of a contortionist
It can squeeze through a hole,
1/10 its body width
Its shrink-to-fit routine is limited
only by the size of its beak
Once these hard mouth parts
are through, the rest is easy
But the best shape shifting act
belongs to another of its kind
This is the amazing vampire squid
This rare deep sea octopus
has an equally rare defence
it turns itself inside out
The armoury of spines
makes it seem impregnable
But its spines are soft as jelly
it seems this is just
an amazing bluff
Other creatures of the depth
have equally odd defences
In the cold fjords of Sweden,
crab fishermen occasionally dredge up
more than they bargained for
These are hagfish,
relics from before
the age of dinosaurs
Their peculiar miracle
is turning seawater into slime
Glands that lie in their body
fire out protein pellets that
swell on contact with water
other glands fire explosive threads
Together they form
an impenetrable slime barrier,
that suffocates predators
To avoid the same vile fate,
the hagfish can slip off
its slimy coat
by passing a knot down its body
One hagfish oozes enough gunge
to turn a whole bucket
of water into slime
As well as deterring predators,
this gloopy mucus keeps
rival hagfish away
as they scavenge on rotted carcasses
Even hungry birds find this
slippery fish too slimy to swallow
In Scandinavia,
fieldfare use equally
foul play on intruders
Fieldfares nest together,
so one alarm call
rallies the whole colony
All who trespass are dealt
the same dirty trick
Even though humans have
little natural protection,
we've made up for it
with some deadly inventions
But these birds have their own firepower
The whole squadron is scrambled
The hunter gets his come-uppance
but on birds of prey,
the droppings can be fatal
destroying the waterproofing
of their plumage
The fulmar's defence tactics
are even more repulsive
Its frontline defence
is a molten fortress
that keeps land predators
from the breeding colony
The young are left for hours
on these sea stacks
as their parents make
long fishing trips far offshore
Wise climbers avoid nesting cliffs
They know that chicks
left home alone have a secret weapon
But what happens if a climber
takes the wrong route
Chicks brew up an oily concoction
in their stomachs
from the fish they eat
They save this vile soup
for the times they are left alone
The chick's usual threat
is predatory birds
But anything within spitting distance
becomes a target
It fires a warning shot,
followed by a blast
The vomit is made from fish oils
separated in the stomach
from other food
what repels a climber
could kill a bird
vomit also damages plumage,
causing hyperthermia or drowning
Birds that use projectile vomiting
may seem bizarre
But humans are weirder
We evolved to have no
natural defences at all
Our safety net is our technology
and a brain that quickly
learns from mistakes
Few animals are so poorly equipped
to defend themselves
In nature's terms,
it is we who are weird
Other animals even employ
acting skills as a defence
This is not what it seems
These animals are far from dead
They are putting on
a remarkable performance
Only a hint of movement
gives the game away
Birds enter this trance-like state
quite readily
Frogs appear to have died
have turned on their backs
but it's just a bluff
The hognosed snake lowers
its tongue to fake death throes
and gives off the stench of decay
The opossum gave death feigning a name
As it plays possum,
anal secretions make it
smell like a rotten corpse
This behavior is easily triggered
by harmless hypnosis techniques
Strangely, the animals
often wake up together
Playing dead works because most
predators won't touch carrion
Danger gone,
they quietly leave the stage
Among nature's devious feats
of deception,
playing possum must be
as weird as it gets
and science were entwined
When mermaids and unicorns
could mysteriously appear
Nature was weird
When science revealed the truth
behind these imaginary creatures
it found real animals
lay behind the legends
Today, science still makes
astonishing discoveries
but nature seems just as weird
It's just that fact
has broken free from fiction
In nature, a good defence
is key to survival
but humans have no
natural defences at all
Even our most magical camouflage
is no match for the real thing
Vine snakes freeze motionless
for hours as they mimic
the creepers that hide them
In turn, snakes are impersonated
by the snake-head caterpillar
Insects become leaves,
finessed with details of damage
A hunter's spotted coat
conjures up dappled shade
but in the arms race
between predator and prey,
even the eyes of a killer are mimicked
These false faces complete with eyes
and nose belong to eyespot frogs
They frighten real predators
Poison arrow frogs really are lethal
so rather than hide,
they use vivid colors to warn
against being eaten by mistake
Their toxic secretions
lace tribal darts
The poison from just one frog
can kill a man
Weird nature uses imaginary settings
to showcase real animal behavior
This weird journey reveals the strange
ways animals protect themselves
Full body armour is often
the first-line of defence
The three-banded armadillos
of Argentina are the masters
Like medieval knights
they use articulated armour
Their protective shields made from
a double layer of horn and bone
are hinged with leathery skin
The plates cope with most of
what nature throws out
but a polo match is exceptional
This imaginary scene showcases
the armadillos' extraordinary behavior
Its first defence is to run,
but heavy armour slows it down
Its second defence is to roll up
interlocking its plates
into a sealed ball
the strongest shape in nature
It can open just an chink
to check what's happening
Even we ball up for protection
But helmets and padding can't
compete with full body armour
The only soft part of the armadillo
is its face and underbelly
Otherwise it's a walking armoured tank
It takes the knocks of real life
just as easily in its stride
This fantasy wreck displays
the inventive defences of sea creatures
The pufferfish has its own
version of armour
Instead of scales,
its leathery skin is armed with spines
The spines erect to
form a lethal pin cushion
when the fish sucks in water
With elasticated skin and no ribs
to stop its body expanding
it balloons to five times
its normal size
too big for most mouths to swallow
The puffer's ultimate weapon
is poison,
enough to kill 30 people
There is no known antidote
This wreck also shows
how animal defences can adapt
through extraordinary circumstances
For dresser crabs,
the right dress code is everything
They decorate their shells
to fit in wherever they go
They select material
from whatever is around
A dressing room full of
treasure is paradise
They first chew their finds
to make them frayed and fiberous
They then attach the prepared fabrics
to Velcro-like hooks
on their legs and shell
The dresser crab uses
its keen attention to detail
to fashion a camouflage suit
It usually adorns its costume
with sponges and seaweed
as these are most often to hand
But given the chance, it improvises
a trait that helps the dresser crab
maintain perfect camouflage
Their eclectic dress sense
means they blend in anywhere
safe from the eyes of predators
like pufferfish
To vanish, they freeze
Making yourself bigger
is not only a defence,
it can also send a massage
The spotted skunk is famed
for its offensive body odor
Bold markings warn that
it carries a concealed weapon
If the skunk isn't shown respect,
it ups the ante
Handstanding exaggerates its size
and shows off its markings
It's a dance of defiance
Foot stamping drives home the threat
If the message is missed,
the skunk reveals its weapon
Like an aerosol,
anal glands spray sulphurous chemical
through nozzles aim at the eyes
They cause temporary
blindness and nausea
Some defensive sprays
are even deadlier
Most give cobras a wide berth
But they say curiosity kills the cat
Snakes prefer to conserve their venom
so it sprays its hood as warning
The spitting cobra aims for the eyes
glands squeeze venom
through hypodermic fangs
The spray jets three metres
A direct hit
could have blinded it for life
Most animals fear snakes
The horned frog of Central America
is no exception
A look like snake provokes
the same bizarre reaction
If puffing up and screaming
like a banshie fails
it fights back
It pays to have a wide repertoire,
danger is never far away
A horned owl would soon
make a meal of a frog
even one with an inflated ego
But owls are equally fooled
by a snake in the grass
They clip their beaks and hiss
and arch their wings
to puff themselves up
If this bluff fails, they turn tail
Changing shape has been perfected
by many sea creatures
The octopus is soft,
malleable body helps it
change shape easily
but the price of having no skeleton
is vulnerability
One defence is to change texture
to mimic its surroundings
another is reactive camouflage
Its near instantaneous color change
is under nervous control
Pigment cells expand and
contract in waves of emotion
The color cells react quicker
than those of any other animal
But this quick change artiste
has a rival
The peacock flounder's skin can
make a near-perfect facsimile
of its surroundings
A paper-thin profile helps
its vanishing trick
But how does it fare
on a less familiar background?
Its stocked eyes have feature detectors
primed to pick out patterns
It does a quick survey
and then it makes a match
The eyes pass data to the brain
which adjusts the size and
contrast of pigment cells
for the best possible copy
Incredibly it has to assume
how the pattern would continue
if its body wasn't there
On familiar ground,
the match is perfect
If the octopus' camouflage fails,
it has other tactics
Throwing sand in the face is one
so is whipping up a smoke screen
The ink is made of
the black pigment melanin
It escapes under the cover of darkness
The octopus' last trick is
that of a contortionist
It can squeeze through a hole,
1/10 its body width
Its shrink-to-fit routine is limited
only by the size of its beak
Once these hard mouth parts
are through, the rest is easy
But the best shape shifting act
belongs to another of its kind
This is the amazing vampire squid
This rare deep sea octopus
has an equally rare defence
it turns itself inside out
The armoury of spines
makes it seem impregnable
But its spines are soft as jelly
it seems this is just
an amazing bluff
Other creatures of the depth
have equally odd defences
In the cold fjords of Sweden,
crab fishermen occasionally dredge up
more than they bargained for
These are hagfish,
relics from before
the age of dinosaurs
Their peculiar miracle
is turning seawater into slime
Glands that lie in their body
fire out protein pellets that
swell on contact with water
other glands fire explosive threads
Together they form
an impenetrable slime barrier,
that suffocates predators
To avoid the same vile fate,
the hagfish can slip off
its slimy coat
by passing a knot down its body
One hagfish oozes enough gunge
to turn a whole bucket
of water into slime
As well as deterring predators,
this gloopy mucus keeps
rival hagfish away
as they scavenge on rotted carcasses
Even hungry birds find this
slippery fish too slimy to swallow
In Scandinavia,
fieldfare use equally
foul play on intruders
Fieldfares nest together,
so one alarm call
rallies the whole colony
All who trespass are dealt
the same dirty trick
Even though humans have
little natural protection,
we've made up for it
with some deadly inventions
But these birds have their own firepower
The whole squadron is scrambled
The hunter gets his come-uppance
but on birds of prey,
the droppings can be fatal
destroying the waterproofing
of their plumage
The fulmar's defence tactics
are even more repulsive
Its frontline defence
is a molten fortress
that keeps land predators
from the breeding colony
The young are left for hours
on these sea stacks
as their parents make
long fishing trips far offshore
Wise climbers avoid nesting cliffs
They know that chicks
left home alone have a secret weapon
But what happens if a climber
takes the wrong route
Chicks brew up an oily concoction
in their stomachs
from the fish they eat
They save this vile soup
for the times they are left alone
The chick's usual threat
is predatory birds
But anything within spitting distance
becomes a target
It fires a warning shot,
followed by a blast
The vomit is made from fish oils
separated in the stomach
from other food
what repels a climber
could kill a bird
vomit also damages plumage,
causing hyperthermia or drowning
Birds that use projectile vomiting
may seem bizarre
But humans are weirder
We evolved to have no
natural defences at all
Our safety net is our technology
and a brain that quickly
learns from mistakes
Few animals are so poorly equipped
to defend themselves
In nature's terms,
it is we who are weird
Other animals even employ
acting skills as a defence
This is not what it seems
These animals are far from dead
They are putting on
a remarkable performance
Only a hint of movement
gives the game away
Birds enter this trance-like state
quite readily
Frogs appear to have died
have turned on their backs
but it's just a bluff
The hognosed snake lowers
its tongue to fake death throes
and gives off the stench of decay
The opossum gave death feigning a name
As it plays possum,
anal secretions make it
smell like a rotten corpse
This behavior is easily triggered
by harmless hypnosis techniques
Strangely, the animals
often wake up together
Playing dead works because most
predators won't touch carrion
Danger gone,
they quietly leave the stage
Among nature's devious feats
of deception,
playing possum must be
as weird as it gets