(Southwest USA, northern Mexico)
The hot desert sand, combined with a lack of water and hiding places, calls for special survival techniques.
Besides the Gila monster, the only other lizard that is venomous is the beaded lizard.
Gila monsters chew venom into their victims to render them helpless.
The colours yellow and black often signal that an animal carries venom.
The sandfish has all the equipment necessary for living in the desert.
The presence of scorpions, rattlesnakes and female jewel wasps contributes to making the desert a dangerous place to live.
Video: Gila monsters are not exactly quick. So they don’t attack fast-moving prey. An egg moves at about the right speed for this lizard.
Advice: Most Gila monster bites have occurred when the Gila monster was being abused. These lizards are not known for their sense of humour. So don’t tease a Gila.
Next: A Gila monster is a fairly big lizard. But it’s tiny in comparison to the giant Komodo dragon.
(North, Central and South America)
It’s hard to tell which snakes are venomous. Especially when they look so much alike.
Just imagine. One thousand rattlesnakes, all curled up for a long winter’s hibernation.
To each his own. King snakes from Mexico and California find the rattlesnake a tasty meal.
The rattlesnake has long, slender organs for its long, slender body.
With a mouth that can stretch wide, and specialised fangs for pumping venom, the rattlesnake is well equipped.
That buzzing noise is meant as a warning. So if you hear it, look out for a rattlesnake.
Ever find a whole snakeskin? A snake grows out of its skin and leaves it behind. A lizard leaves behind pieces.
Video: Rattlesnakes save their venom for their prey. When two of these snakes decide to fight, they don’t bite, they wrestle. The rattlesnake that forces its opponent’s head to the ground is the winner.
Advice: When a rattlesnake rattles, that means, “You’re too close! Back off!” Heed the snake’s warning, and you’ll part company without getting bitten. Personally, I wish all snakes were as thoughtful as rattlers.
Next: A rattlesnake is only one of many venomous snakes. But what about venomous lizards? There are only two: the beaded lizard and the Gila monster.
(Africa, India, Southeast Asia)
An elephant’s foot is something like ours. Except that it’s standing on big, flat, shock-absorbing toes.
When taking hold of something, an African elephant uses the lips at the end of its trunk, whereas an Indian elephant rolls its trunk around the object.
All elephants have tusks – which are really special teeth. But some tusks are much bigger than others.
So many elephants have been killed for the ivory in their tusks that hunters are now required to have special licences to shoot them.
The oldest female leads her group of females and babies. The males usually drift from family to family.
Elephants do have relatives. But there is actually very little family resemblance.
For centuries, people have captured and trained elephants to do their heavy work.
Elephants take between ten and fifteen years to grow up. When they do, the females stay with the group, but the males leave.
Video 1: It’s very handy to have a hose for a nose! Elephants use their trunks to drink, to shower, to touch each other, and to signal when it’s time to move on.
Video 2: A charging elephant spreads its ears to make itself seem even larger and fiercer than it is. Most charges are bluffs. But unless you’re another elephant, it’s best not to wait around to find out!
Advice: Threatened elephants spread out their ears shortly before they charge. That’s your signal to back off. When they are really serious, they fold back their ears and run straight for you. That’s your signal to RUN! Actually, I would suggest that you retreat if an elephant is even looking intently at you.
Following this in the program is an activity called Animal Audio: Elephants sometimes make sounds so low-pitched that they are impossible for humans to hear. The variety of sounds that animals make is truly amazing. Try your hand at guessing which animals make which sounds.
What's coming tomorrow follows that: If you do a lot of hiking in North America, an important sound to recognise is the buzzing of a rattlesnake.
High tide, low tide. Some creatures can deal with both.
Just about everything in the ocean is somebody’s dinner.
Seaweed. Food and shelter all in one. What more could you ask for?
Coral reefs can only grow where there’s a lot of light.
Living with no light requires special talents. Just look at how dragonfish and viperfish have adapted to their situation!
When you have a special job to do, you need special tools. And catsharks have them, built-in.
Which water areas do you think have the most life? You might be surprised.
Video: This female mantis shrimp keeps a sharp eye – or rather two sharp eyes – out for intruders. If one comes along, she’ll fight to defend her nest and her eggs.
Advice: There is a whole different world beneath the surface of the ocean. It’s fascinating, it’s beautiful… and sometimes it’s a little scary.
Following this in the program is an activity called Super Senses: Many fish can detect tiny vibrations in the water, or the electric impulses of creatures around them. These are two of the super senses that some wild animals have.
Well, this ends the longest chain of screens from Dangerous Creatures. (Super Senses is followed by a game that pops up more appropriately in another chain.) So tomorrow, the elephant begins a brand new one.
Today I finished reading Henry James's The Turn of the Screw. It's one of the most famous ghost stories of all time, so I'm sure I'm going to get quite a bit of flak for this. I didn't like it.
Personally, I'm not a fan of that nineteenth-century prose. That's why, when I studied it for my Leaving Cert, I needed a junior retelling just to make head or tail of Wuthering Heights! It's really something when Shakespeare is actually easier to understand!
The maddening thing is that, with Turn of the Screw, I saw brief glimpses of how impactive this story could have been. The whole idea of the children being led astray and corrupted had a lot of potential. But, again, that old-fashioned text did not convey it effectively to me at all.
So I'm generally not scared by ghost stories anyway, and the way this one was written certainly did nothing to help.
I never thought I'd say this, but I'll probably just stick to the film adaptation, The Innocents.
My rating: 50%.
(Sub-Arctic and Sub-Antarctic seas)
The orca is actually a dolphin.
Orcas lurk in the water to hunt. They sometimes even lunge onto a beach or an ice floe to catch their prey.
Here’s some of what might be served on an orca’s seafood platter: mackerel, squid, dolphins and sea lions.
What a way for a killer whale to send a message! It’s known as “breaching”.
Ichthyosaurs. Here’s an idea of what squids had to avoid during prehistoric times.
As many as fifty orcas live in one pod. They travel and hunt together, bound together for life.
Video: An orca stalks its prey not only at sea, but sometimes on the shore. After catching a seal, an orca may play with it like a cat with a mouse.
Advice: Killer whales (orcas) rarely attack people. So unless you spend a lot of time swimming with salmon, penguins or seals, you’re safe.
Next: Orcas may look like fish, but they’re actually mammals. Isn’t it amazing to think that there are some warm-blooded, air-breathing animals that live their entire lives in the oceans?
(Alaska, Canada, Greenland, Eurasian Arctic coasts)
What a swimmer! The polar bear can swim far and fast. And it’s practically unsinkable.
That wintry cold takes a little getting used to, even for baby polar bears.
Too close to civilisation? Hand-outs and garbage are not good for a bear.
A polar bear waits for dinner to appear at a seal’s air hole.
Always on the lookout for leftovers, the Arctic fox will trail after both wolves and polar bears.
Fancy footwork is needed to navigate the ice floes. But the polar bear is up to it.
Video: The Arctic. A world of ice, snow and bone-chilling water. The environment that would kill a person is only a wintry playground for young polar bears.
Advice: Polar bears can run faster than you can, and they have been known to track their prey for days. But unless you’re planning on exploring the Arctic alone, you’ll never need to outrun a polar bear.
Next: Polar bears can paddle around in icy waters. Another mammal that you might see swimming among the ice floes is the killer whale.
