Deadly Top 10s (2009) s02e04 Episode Script

1 STEVE BACKSHALL: Welcome to my Deadly Top 10.
Whoa! A chance to choose the most extreme, mass-attacking, defending, airborne and super-sensing animals on the planet! Quick, quick, quick! All deadly in their own world, and occasionally deadly to me.
Argh! Who do you think will be number 1 of the Deadly Top 10? Wish me luck, guys.
In this countdown, I'm choosing my top 10 mass attacks.
Ten animals that join forces to survive.
Colossal armies, tactical teams and synchronised swarms of assassins Oh, you forget how much they hurt! who all rely on the power of numbers to succeed.
Where one alone might fail, the hordes will conquer.
But which is the best mass attack of all? Time to kick off my top 10 countdown.
Smashing in at number 10 is a snap-happy squadron of toothy torpedoes - the blacktip shark.
I'm in South Africa, heading out to find these really special sharks, who are one of only a handful of species that hunt together in packs.
They're like the wolves of the sea.
Sharks can scent blood from over half a mile away, and when it's time for tea, they rock up in a matter of minutes.
STEVE: Shark! MAN: One.
Two.
STEVE: Five, six MAN: I think this side This is fantastic! We've been here, we've baited the water for no more than three or four minutes, and already we are absolutely surrounded with sharks.
Whoa! I'm not that sure I want to get in there, really.
With their killer sense of smell and full-throttle speed, these guys are top-gun team players.
But they need to be.
Their prey is lightning-quick shoals of tight-turning fish.
Working together, they sniff out their victims and corral them into a tight ball.
Now the sharks corkscrew through the fishy feast, snatching with razor-sharp teeth.
If a fish escapes one shark, it rockets straight into the path of another.
Making mincemeat of entire shoals of fish, these blacktip sharks have perfected the act of hunting and feeding en masse.
MAN: Go! So, it's time to kit up and join the feast.
Amazing! Wow! They are so manoeuvrable, snapping up fish with real skill and precision.
(LAUGHS) Oh, dear, that was too close! I know they know what they're doing, but when they snatch like that in front of your face, it's really scary.
This really is a superbly coordinated attack, and dinnertime has never looked more deadly.
So, what's next in this mass-attack fest? How's about a flock of dive-bombing dancers? The blue-footed booby.
These comical seabirds are famous for their disco-diva courtship dance, and the Smurf boots also make excellent air brakes.
But don't be fooled by the blue-toed ballerina moves, because when these guys get together, they launch a devastating mass attack.
Each morning, the high-flying boobies leave their cliff-face colony and head out to sea.
They're searching for one thing - massive shoals of fish.
Piercing calls coordinate the boobies' assault.
Like a finely tuned aerial display team, they begin their descent.
As the boobies dive, they draw back their wings to take aim, and only fully retract seconds before they hit the water.
It's a superb synchronised assault, which confuses the fish and ensures each booby has the best possible chance of catching a meal.
As they chase the shoal towards the shore, they risk torturous surf and lethal undercurrents.
But the boobies are true professionals at this game and can dive in waters just a metre deep.
A high-flying, wave-smashing attack from a band of boogying boobies.
Snuffling in to slot number 8 is a whole bunch of bushy-tailed gluttons - the coati.
In Costa Rica, my crew and I stumbled upon an entire platoon of these marching, munching, furry foot soldiers.
They're generally quite bold, confident animals, so I think if we move with them, just kind of carefully, then hopefully we shouldn't spook them too much.
Coatis are seriously resourceful, guzzling anything from birds' eggs to beetles.
This big group here, it's probably about 30 animals, will all be made up of females and young males.
I just love the way that they're always on the move, they're always out searching for something new to eat, testing things out, seeing if they're any good to eat.
By patrolling together, they form a living net.
Nothing escapes.
Experienced females position themselves around the edge, where they can steer the group towards good hunting grounds.
But how do they keep their net in tight formation in such dense vegetation? Well, it's all to do with that bushy flagpole.
You notice, as they're moving around, that they've all got their tails held stiffly up in the air.
That's a really good way for all of them to keep an eye out on where the rest of their fellows are.
Joining forces also gives the added advantage of safety, and the first to spot danger will warn the entire group.
On the move again.
Coming this way.
Oh! One of my noisy camera crew just trod on a twig and they all scarpered.
Resourceful, sociable and vigilant, these snuffling, snouted trailblazers have the power of numbers nailed.
So, we've had a gang of snappy sharks, a flock of dive-bombing boobies and a snuffling squadron of coati.
Can you guess what's up next as we march en masse towards number 1? It's a bone-crunching gang of girls - the spotted hyena.
Spotted hyenas live in close-knit clans, and while this scrum may look like social chaos, there's actually a strict hierarchy in place.
Females reign supreme.
If you're a male, forget it! You're at the bottom of the pile.
I don't wanna be a boy I wanna be a girl These ladies can be formidable predators, but they also know that stealing a meal is easier than catching one.
And it's their strength-in-numbers approach that's vital for this to work.
The more of them there are, the cockier they get.
Using sheer intimidation, this brutal mob can even push lions off a kill.
With their sledgehammer teeth and fiery, acidic stomachs, hyenas are superbly engineered to tear hide and smash bone.
The thought of meeting this fearless rabble is really exciting, and a tiny bit scary.
This is Yusuf.
He's been feeding hyenas here for about 17 years, and his family for many generations before that.
We're sat just outside his house, and the walls of the city are maybe 15, 20 metres behind me.
And when he wants to call the hyenas in, all he does is whistle.
(WHISTLES) (CALLS IN OWN LANGUAGE) OK.
We've got our first shape lumbering out of the darkness now.
Graham, over there.
These girls love nothing more than to hang out together, and tonight, the entire sisterhood has come to check us out.
- I just can't get used to this at all.
- (YUSUF CALLS OUT) Can you imagine any other situation where you could come nose to nose with a predator this powerful and not get savaged? - (HYENA CRUNCHES) - Listen to that crunching! So, just one hyena is a formidable force.
But the combined power of the clan is unstoppable.
This is real girl power, and a mass attack not to be messed with.
Thundering in at number 6 is a biblical plague of munching tyrants - the desert locust.
Locusts gather together in swarms and cause devastation.
Everyone's always wondered why they do this, and the answer is a bit of a shocker.
Desert locusts actually spend much of their lives as harmless, solitary creepy-crawlies who actively avoid other locusts.
So, what makes this shy and retiring gentle green hopper transform into a fiery, red-and-yellow, crowd-loving thug? Scientists have discovered it's all in the power of touch.
By rubbing this green locust repeatedly on its leg, after a few hours, the makeover is complete.
(GROWLING) So, why does this happen? Well, in the wild, when food runs short, lonely locusts are slowly forced to gather together in the search for food.
Jostling as they feed, messages are sent around the body, and they transform into social monsters.
Now the swarm has assembled, together they take to the air in the search of fresh, luscious vegetation.
As they fly, swarms join up with other swarms to form a gigantic plague of 50 billion individuals, 40 miles wide.
It's a chilling sight for farmers in many of the world's poorest countries.
Fields are literally stripped bare.
This can cause famine and total devastation.
In a single day, a swarm this size will consume four times as much food as the people living in London.
So, despite being vegetarians, locusts can cause the deaths of many people and animals.
A seriously deadly mass attack on a monstrous scale.
So, where are we? It's time for a quick mass-attack recap.
We've had a terrifying team of sharks Oh, that was too close! a diving mob of boobies, a super squad of coatis, a gang of giggling hyena and a crazy cloud of locusts.
Five slots gone, but five even mightier mass attacks to come.
And next, we have a decision to make.
Battling out for slot number 5 are two grizzly gangs of spiders - the South American social spider and the black lace-weaver spider.
But which team's tactics will secure a place in my Deadly Top 10? First up are the South American social spiders.
Social by name, and by nature, these little spiders have taken team building to the next level.
It's taken tens of thousands of them to work together and construct this gigantic palace made of silk.
They cooperate with one another, working together to repair and extend their huge, sparkly trap.
At 20 metres tall, it's a major obstacle in the airways of the forest.
Alone, a single tiny spider wouldn't have a hope.
But together, they can catch good-sized prey.
This cricket weighs several hundred times as much as one of these teeny spiders.
The more it wriggles, the worse it gets.
Hundreds of these little, leggy, red jelly beans swarm over their quarry.
Now they sink their jaws into its joints and inject their venom.
What a way to go! Working together has paid off, and this horde of tiny victors can share their super-sized meal.
Wow, that's just unbelievable! But if you think that lot were impressive, just wait till you meet our next contenders.
You can find these black lace-weaver spiders in your own back garden.
And this one is mother to 100 tiny spiderlings.
But don't be fooled - these monster babies may be teeny, but they have a massive plan of attack.
For now, they must bide their time, as their mother lays a special sac of food eggs for them to eat, which is nutritious and full of energy.
As they grow, they shed their skins, and this first moult is the signal for the devoted mother to begin her part in the team strategy.
By drumming on the web, she arouses a killer instinct in her own offspring.
They climb onto her - slowly at first, but soon, they're swarming.
She's flicked their predatory switch, and now she will be their first prey.
Together, they overwhelm her, sucking fluid from her limbs.
By offering her own body as food, this yummy mummy spider takes one for the team ensuring her brutal bunch of cannibal babies survive to live another day.
So, which do you think should get a place in my top 10? Titanic trap spinners or mini monster babies? For me, even though the black lace-weaver family was an awesome team, it's the South American social spider's ability to work closely with one another to build their colossal fortress of fear that gets my mass-attack vote and so pips the post, but only just.
So, what can beat this lot? How's about my number 4, a party pack of growling, howling heroes, the grey wolf? So, wolves are one of the hardest animals in the whole world to encounter in the wild, but I do have a trick up my sleeve.
We're actually now in the Arctic Circle in Norway, and behind this fence is a group of wolves that's kind of used to people.
I've also got Tess here, who's going to watch my back.
She's going to be my bodyguard, aren't you, Tess? - Hello.
- Hi.
- Are you ready? - Yes, absolutely.
I think so.
Let's go on in.
As they're approaching, they're kind of chatting to each other.
(WOLVES WHINE AND HOWL) The fighting and the nipping and the scratching and the biting, it all has a real function of keeping the team together and keeping everyone in their right positions.
As individuals, wolves are awesome predators, but it's when they come together as a pack that they are really deadly.
The way they bring themselves together, particularly before a hunt, is using a howl.
I'm going to try that now and see if we can get these guys to join in.
- Shall we give it a go? - TESS: Give it a go.
(STEVE HOWLS) (WOLVES HOWL) It's working.
This eerie call can be heard by other wolves up to six miles away.
It's the perfect way of keeping in touch with friends and warning rival packs to stay away.
It's the wolf equivalent of sending a text.
Now that the troops are gathered and in position, the hunt can begin.
Only as a team can the pack have a hope of bringing down one of these heavyweights.
Elk can weigh up to five times more than a wolf, and are well armed with sharp hooves.
The pack search the herd for weakness and injury, old age or youth.
Now they're locked onto a target, they really mean business.
With incredible stamina, the pack can run for miles.
Together, they close in, and seal the deal with coordinated powerful jaws and aggressive bites.
Strong, sociable and smart, it's a winning team combination.
- (HOWLING) - The wolf.
The voice of the wilderness and the ultimate team hunter.
We're really turning up the heat now.
My number 3 is a scorching swarm of assassins - the Japanese honey bee.
Japanese bees are hard-working, buzzy bundles of flower-lovers, collecting nectar and raising their babies.
But they share their neighbourhood with an archenemy the giant hornet.
Enormous, voracious carnivores, hornets will attack hives, steal honey, and can butcher most bees for breakfast.
Japanese bees, however, have a trick up their stripy sleeves.
They know the only way to deal with this nasty neighbour is to deploy a sizzling mass attack.
When the bees hear the hornet approaching their hive, they fan an alarm pheromone through the air.
This alerts the whole hive to the hornet's presence.
If the hornet detects bee grubs, it will mark a spot with scent and return later with reinforcements.
The bees can't afford to let this happen.
The scout advances, but the Japanese bees don't attack.
Instead, they lure the hornet inside.
Still, the bees hang fire.
Then one is caught.
It's the signal the others have been waiting for.
Surrounded by vibrating bodies, the giant hornet at the core of the bee ball begins to overheat.
With the aid of a thermal camera, we can see what's happening inside the scrum.
Hundreds of buzzing bees are vibrating their muscles and the temperature is rocketing.
The centre begins to sizzle, and at 45 degrees centigrade, the hornet is history.
These toasting, roasting bees can survive just a few degrees more.
It's a tiny, but crucial, advantage.
These are the only bees that can fight off hornets.
What a seriously sweltering mass-attack strategy! Only two places left.
Time to unleash the big guns.
Snatching second place, it's a superstar squad of cunning mudslingers - the bottlenose dolphin.
Literally five minutes out of the dock, and already a whole bunch of bottlenose dolphins have popped up right alongside the boat.
Look at this.
There's about six or seven animals, and they are so close.
These ones are right up at the bow.
Their streamlined bodies and powerful tails mean they're incredibly fast.
They can easily outstrip a boat like this.
And they can jump 16 feet out of the water.
That's as high as our soundman's boom pole.
It's time to go overboard and get a closer look.
Since they're moving so fast, we'll need our motorised sledges to have a hope of keeping up.
They love to play and have a bit of fun.
But they're also deadly predators, who combine their brain power with their incredible agility to outmanoeuvre their victims.
This pod in Florida has come up with an astonishing killer tactic.
Like a race car round a track, the lead dolphin swims in a fast, tight circle, creating a ring of mushrooming mud around the shoal of fish.
The contracting loop traps the prey just like a net.
Panicked, fish rocket into the air in an attempt to escape.
The other dolphins assume their attack positions and their dinner jumps right into their open mouths.
Again and again, one dolphin creates a circle, before they all line up, with perfect timing.
The most extraordinary thing is that they all take turns to churn up the mud, so everyone gets a chance to feed and have a bit of fun as well.
These dolphins are the only ones on the planet known to have developed the mass-attack strategy, and it gives them the edge in a very competitive world, making them a premier league team of anglers, and my marvellously muddy mass-attack number 2.
So, if the smarty-pants dolphins aren't number 1 then who is? Time for the top 10 mass-attack countdown.
it's a blacktip shark bonanza.
Dive-bombing 9, these blue-footed boobies.
Netting number 8, it's the munching coatis.
Scary 7, a gang of spotted hyenas.
Swarming in at 6, a plague of desert locusts.
Fearsome 5, a mob of sociable spiders.
Paws at 4, the pack-hunting grey wolves.
Toasting, roasting 3, those Japanese honey bees.
Tactical 2, a pod of brainy bottlenose dolphins.
So, who's won this battle of the bands? Any ideas? It's the army ant.
My monstrously mass-attacking champion.
Together, they form one of the most-feared and famous insect armies on the planet.
And, deep in the Brazilian jungle, we find ourselves on the army ant front line.
Oh, my goodness! That's amazing.
MAN: We've got to get out of them, they will eat you alive.
This busy trail in front of me is one of the genuine wonders of the rainforest.
These are army ants, and absolutely nothing gets in their way.
But what I can see is only the tip of the iceberg.
The rest of the army is back at base.
This five-foot-tall bivouac is made entirely of ants.
Millions of legs with special hooks linked together to make paths, bridges and even lifts.
It functions like one enormous living ant castle, providing shelter for hundreds of thousands of ravenous larvae who demand fresh meat, and lots of it.
So, each morning, a raiding party of soldiers, armed with powerful jaws and a venomous sting, leave their fortress and follow a scent trail laid by scouts who are foraging ahead.
The front line stampedes through the forest at 12 metres per hour, and they'll take anything they can overpower, from the smallest insect up to lizards, small mammals and even snakes.
Reinforcements constantly move to the front, while victims' body parts are fed back to base.
The sting of a scorpion is useless against such aggressors.
They're too small, and there's just too many.
These busy ant motorways are crammed with traffic from dawn till dusk.
Because the ants have such insatiable appetites, the forest around their castle soon becomes an arid wasteland.
Now they have to break camp and march to a pristine part of the jungle to begin again.
A mighty, marching, forest-floor-swallowing, half a million super-strong organism, with the ultimate, mammoth-sized mass attack.
That's top 10 mass attacks done.
Don't forget to join me next time for more Deadly Top 10s.
Who's going to be the next deadly number 1?