"Calls of the Wild " premiered April 1. 2003.

				Songs of Love and Betrayal Biologists monitor the mating songs of the chestnut-sided warbler. Females prefer males with unwaivering songs, but don't always remain loyal.
		Select text to jump ahead in the clip: ( birds chirping ) ALDA: It's one of nature's most sublime symphonies. Today, almost no one hears it. But Bruce Byers wouldn't miss it for the world. It's Tuesday, May 19, at 5:05 a.m., recording a bird singing on the territory... ALDA: Bruce is listening to the dawn chorus-- the wakening calls of songbirds in the Berkshire Hills of western Massachusetts. He's here most mornings from May through July, recording the songs of one bird in particular-- the chestnut-sided warbler. ( singing ) It's the male birds that are singing. Most of the female chestnut-sided warblers are still en route from Central America-- an arduous 3,000-mile migration these males have just completed. Right now, the brief twittering song the males are singing is characteristic of these last moments before dawn. But with sunrise, the song changes. ( singing ) More and more males begin a new song, described in birding guides as, "Pleased, pleased, pleased to meetcha!" And why did you choose this to work? ALDA: We wondered what it was about the songs of the chestnut-sided warbler that makes Bruce Byers get up so early. So one day in early June, we arranged to meet him here in the Savoy State Forest. Is this where you do most of the observations? Yep, this is where the chestnut-sided warblers live, out here in the power line cut. They like this shrubby habitat, and this kind of habitat's becoming increasingly... ALDA: We had arrived here at about 4:00 a.m. and then spent several hours wait?ing out a cold, drenching rain. It's now 10:00 ?and very, very quiet. ALDA: You know, I don't hear any birds. BYERS: Yep, it's getting to be the quiet time of day after the early-morning burst of singing. But in this unusually cold and wet weather, they sing even less than they normally would at this time, presumably because they have to work harder at replenishing their energy and spend more time feeding and less time singing in this kind of weather. Now, if they spend the day without much singing, and the day goes pretty well, why do they come back the next day and sing again? ( chuckling ): What's the spur to all this singing? Yeah, that's a good question. Only the males sing in this species, and they sing only during the breeding season. And so presumably, that means that singing is connected somehow with successfully defending a territory and successfully acquiring a mate. So, while they might be able to get by for a few hours or even a day without singing, if they failed to sing at all, they would not be able to breed successfully, because they wouldn't have a territory or a mate. ALDA: How big would one bird's territory be? BYERS: This territory that we're on now is among the largest territories on the study site this year. It extends from just about down... almost down to that wooden power line pole there up to this one-- so almost the whole distance between the two power line poles. And from this aqpline of trees to those trees over there? Yep, the birds do not go very far back into the woods. They like the open country. And so they pretty much restrict their territory to this open area. ALDA: While we've been talking, Bruce's colleagues have been setting up a net to try to catch one of the birds that live here. Is it the right bird? It's the chestnut- sided warbler. Oh, great! Let's go take a look. ALDA: A net like this is designed to catch a bird without harming it, provided it's rescued before it becomes too entangled. BYERS: Okay, so now the bird's out of the net. And we're going to weigh him and measure him and put some color bands on him so that we can identify him as an individual. Hmm... beautiful bird. Yeah, they are beautiful. ALDA: Beautiful he may be, but also, it was to turn out, not quite what he seems. This territory we're standing on-- is that the territory of this bird? Is that why he came in here? Yes, in all likelihood. There is a very, very high likelihood that the bird we captured here is the resident male on this territory. ALDA: The male-female pair that lives here should be settling into domesticity about now, building a nest for its new family. So it's not surprising that Bruce is assuming that this is the resident male. So then we'll put a dark green band on his right leg, and he will be forever known to us as dark blue over X, left, dark green, right. We'll always be able to tell who he is when we record his songs. And also when we measure his reproductive success. Now we're going to let him go. He's all banded-- there he goes. ALDA: But as the male flies off, we all hear the "pleased, pleased, pleased to meetcha" of another male, only a few feet away. ALDA: What was that? Was that the guy who lives here or was that somebody else? That suggests birds pretty much sing only on their own territory. So that suggests very much that the resident bird was not the bird we captured. And that we captured an intruding male that was wandering around in here. You get a lot of stories in this little shrubby place here. Each territory has its own little story, that's for sure. Who would know, out here among all these power lines, life is throbbing with interest? MAN: I think I found the nest over here. ALDA: And it vas about to become more interesting yet. Bruce's colleague, @<"wElijú÷ah Goodwin,>"> ÷had spotted a female flitting back and forth carrying twigs and grass to build her nest and hanging around with the male we'd just released. GOODWIN: So she's still >gbuilding that nest. ALDA: Would she have been the female that was interested in the male you caught? Quite possibly, because I've seen her flying around in these bushes in this area, so it was probably the same female we saw with that other male. ( faint chirping ) ALDA: In the hope this time of catching the resident male, Bruce's team has set up a speaker to play back the soft chirps of a female. Instead, it was a female that turned up in their net. You think this is the female from this nest that we were looking at? Yep, this is almost certainly the resident female, the one building the nest we saw a few minutes ago. Oh, oh, so this was not uonly the femalec who was building the nest; she was also looking to fool around with the guy you caught in the net before. Yes... yep. And then she heard what she thought was another female maybe coming in to mate... to fool around with her hubby, and she got upset and came over. She fell into the same trap as her lover. Don't you think that's kind of a double standard you have there? ALDA: This little love triangle we've intruded upon turns out to be only the beginning of the soap opera that's the warblers' hectic summer. Most pairs end up raising three or four chicks. But when Bruce Byers checks the chicks' paternity with a blood test, typically half the baby warblers in a nest weren't fathered by the male that's helping rear them. So while a female chestnut-sided warbler bonds to one male as her chicks' provider, she's open to others when it comes to providing her chicks with their genes. BYERS: So is there a way that a female could look at or listen to all of the males in her area and make some kind of determination which male would have the genes that would give her offspring the greatest advantage? And so we think that songs are probably one of those things. ( singing ) ALDA: And here's the puzzle Bruce is trying to solve. Every male in the neighborhood is singing the same song-- that same "pleased, pleased, pleased to meetcha!" So how is a female to choose? This is one call? Yep, this is a sonogram, a spectrographic display of an accented ending or mate-attraction song-- "pleased, pleased, pleased to meetcha." ( bird calls go up and down to reflect sonogram ) ALDA: By comparing these pictures of the songs, Bruce thinks he's now discovered the key to a male's attractiveness. Because while some males sing with very slight variations, others are solidly, stolidly predictable. ( singing "pleased, pleased, pleased to meetcha" song ) If the male can keep rendering a good version of the song-- a good strong version of it-- then she... and she sees another guy faltering a little bit on the second chorus, then she would go for the first one, huh? Right, exactly, the male that performs best. And in this case, we think that best means most consistently, most rhythmically, with the least amount of variation. ALDA: This show is all about listening to the calls of the wild and trying to decipher them, always with the assumption that the sounds, in fact, have a meaning, a purpose, in the animals' lives. But before we go on... ALDA: Is it all utilitarian? I mean, is any of it, you think, because it just feels good? Yeah, well, it's a... If you are asking me úoff the scientific record, I would say yes, of course. That's at least part of why birds sing, because they enjoy it. But, of course, we can't know, as humans, what's in a bird's mind. And those kinds of questions are kind of outside the bounds of what science can reach. ( sings shrilly ) And so, uh... those kinds of conjectures have to remain speculative and not scientifically demonstrated. It doesn't mean I don't believe them. Right.

				Elephant Rumbles Researchers uncover copious communication among elephants below the range of human hearing. Do they stomp their feet to make long-distance calls?
		Select text to jump ahead in the clip: ALDA: This may look like Africa, but it's all-- tree included-- a carefully crafted illusion. The elephant, though, is real-- one of a small herd of African elephants here at Disney's AnimaHl Kingdom (Pin Florida, where their voices are being recorded by research biologist Anne Savage. SAVAGE: When most individuals think about elephant vocalizations, they're oftentimes thinking of those loud vocalizations you typically hear: the trumpets and yells and things like that. But the majority of vocalizations they give are rumbles-- these low-frequency calls. ( low rumbling ) ALDA: The rumbles-- some too low in pitch for our ears to detect-- are recorded by immense microphones slung beneath the animals' throats. SAVAGE: In order to really understand what these vocalizations mean, we've got a study where we go out, and we have individuals filming the elephants while we're recording their vocalizations. And then what we do is take all that information back into the laboratory and match vocalizations and behavior together. After we've filmed them, it seems like it's been a very quiet day, we'll come back into the lab and find out they've just been chatting up a storm. It's amazing what they're saying to one another. ALDA: Eavesdropping on elephants is a brand-new science. It's still at the stage of simply trying to categorize the calls. WOMAN: They start at the very high frequency end of the spectrum with the trumpets that most people are more familiar with. And then there are snorts, croaks and revs which are two new vocalizations that nobody's ever described before. And then going sort of down the frequency scale, there are chuffs, which sound a lot like an exhalation, noisy rumbles, loud rumbles and then rumbles. And those three at the low end of the spectrum are all the calls that include infrasound. ALDA: We can't hear the infrasound, but the rumbles also include higher frequency harmonics that sound to our ears like a growl. ( low growling sound ) LEONG: So this was the noisy rumble from Infiki... ( loud rumbling ) followed by the rumble, loud rumble, from Tondia. ALDA: Each strip on the chart is a different elephant. The infrasound bands run along the bottom of the strips. LEONG: These bands are very close together. These are a little bit more widely spaced, and that's the difference between a noisy rumble and a loud rumble. But also, if you look... These are synchronized in time, and the ends of them overlap a little bit. And so that's pretty common with elephants. They often overlap or sort of interrupt each other, which we also call chorusing. ( rumbling ) SAVAGE: There's some type of social interaction going on between these two animals. And what that interaction truly is and what these calls mean in relation to that interaction is the $50,000 question. It's like studying any animal language or human language. When you go to another country and you don't speak the language, you will oftentimes have to sit and watch and watch and watch for hours and hours until all of a sudden you'll start to see relationships starting to happen. ALDA: In elephant society, most relationships are between females, which live together in groups. Here at Animal Kingdom, some elephants grew up together while others are relative strangers. The Disney researchers have found that rumbles are exchanged more often between the strangers than between old friends. SAVAGE It's sort of like, you know, when I walk into a room with friends I might just kind of sit down and say, "Hey, how's it going?" but I don't need to really announce anything. But for animals that aren't as familiar, we find that oftentimes they will announce or at least vocalize that, "Hey," you know, "I'm coming." ALDA: Anne Savage's most notable discovery has been that female elephants-- which only ovulate every four years or so-- rumble more when they are nearly ready to mate. SAVAGE: Our data suggests that females will vocalize about 21 days prior %÷5to ovulation, as if... sort of a little calling card to the males to say, "Hey, in 21 days, I'll be ready." And so the males then can figure out how they're going to enter the group, fight amongst themselves to figure out which male will be allowed into the group, and then hopefully breed with the female and she'll become pregnant. ALDA: Infrasound has one very useful property that would make it the perfect calling card to males outside the group-- it can travel much farther than regular sound. SAVAGE: So if I'm standing here, chatting up a storm, someone could be listening to my conversation three to five miles away to try and determine... "Hmm," maybe they should try to invade my territory, determine whether I'm in estrus. Maybe I've found something that they really want or maybe I'm communicating something about what's going on with my group. I mean, eavesdropping is something we all do, and it's not surprising that it's found in the animal world as well. ALDA: Eavesdropping opportunities at Animal Kingdom are limited, with the whole of Africa reduced to a few square miles. But in the real Africa, where elephants can roam over hundreds of miles, eavesdropping may be possible far I beyond the range even of infrasound. This research team from Stanford University is in Etosha National Park in Namibia, setting up a seismic detector of the sort usually used for earthquakes. Directed by Caitlin O'Connell, this is part of an ambitious project to see if elephants signal to each other not only through the air, but also through the ground. So far, Caitlin's research has suggested that the very low frequency infrasonic rumbles do indeed set up seismic tremors nearby-- and that the signals could in principle travel up to 30 or 40 miles. Here in Namibia, Caitlin's team is not only recording seismic signals from elephant rumbles... WOMAN: Playback starts in 15 seconds. ALDA: It's also trying something more ambitious: playing back the rumbles though the ground to see if the elephants respond. Start playback. ( no audio ) ALDA: The problem is that at this stage in her research, Caitlin's not at all sure what response to look for. What's more, she hasn't even proved that elephants can detect the seismic signals, let alone interpret them as something meaningful... Which is why when we caught up with her, she was preparing for an experiment much closer to home; among the elephants at Oakland Zoo. ALDA: So the elephants are going crazy now, over in the other pen, right? ( O'Connell laughing ) ALDA: My seismic signals are about to be replaced by a device called a shaker. It actually creates vibrations in the ground. And these were actually made to sit under your car seat to shake the car seat to the beat of the music. ALDA: What?! People sell these things for that? To shake their car seats? ALDA: There it goes. ALDA: The shakers vibrate in the same range as infrasonic elephant rumbles. The vibration goes down that pipe into the ground. O'CONNELL: Into the ground, yes. And we've got three of them lined up. ALDA: The shakers are set up a hundred feet away from a fence... Here you are, Donna. ALDA: And a friendly elephant named Donna. It's got a lot of strength in it. That's like a really firm grasp. MAN: No, Donna. Probably the sooner we can start, Caitlin, the better. Signal. TECHNICIAN: Start... rumble. ( recording of rumble playing ) ALDA: Donna has already been trained to raise a foot at the sound of a rumble. TRAINER: Good girl, hon, good girl. ALDA: After which she gets a bite of apple. Good, Donna, good girl. I'm going to wait for her to put her foot down. ALDA: Kind of casual there. O'CONNELL: Yup. There it goes. Okay... signal. Start... rumble. And... there goes the other foot. ALDA: Right now, Donna is still getting the rumble through the air as well as through the ground. Start negative. ALDA: Now comes a control. This time there's no signal at all-- through the air or through the ground. ALDA: Okay, she didn't raise her foot. Now she's getting a reward for not raising her foot when there was no rumble. O'CONNELL: Okay, start. TECHNICIAN: Start. ( recording of rumble playing ) ALDA: So far, so good. But now comes the real test. TRAINER: Good, Donna. Okay, so we unplug the speaker... So now the only thing that's coming out of the tape recorder is the shakers. So the speakers now... So the tape recorder just goes under the ground now. O'CONNELL: Yes. Now we'll start positive. You know, I think I can feel it through my shoe. Yeah. Yeah... I... I almost lifted my foot. ( laughing ) ALDA: I felt the earth move, but apparently Donna didn't. O'CONNELL: So close. ALDA: Almost... almost. O'CONNELL: Start positive. TECHNICIAN: Start positive. End. ( sighs ) Oh..ô. Well, she shifted her feet, but... No, that was definitely not... Didn't look like she was moving toward a lift. ( laughing ): û???zNo>, no. ALDA: So to see if Donna ?is still pôaying attention, Caitlin adds back the rumble sound-- with unexpected results. O'CONNELL: She's lifting her trunk now. Oh, she did it! ALDA: Yeah, she lifted her trunk and... And her foot. And then she lifted her foot. She said, "Can't we do the trunk thing now? I'm bored with this foot stuff." O'CONNELL: Come on, Donna, do it, do it. Oh, it's her trunk. ( Alda laughing ) See, I think... I think... The trunk and sort of her leg. You got to reward her now for the trunk thing, because that's what she thinks it is. ALDA: With Donna apparently now very confused, Caitlin reluctantly decides to end the trial. O'CONNELL: The longer we do this with her, doing the trunk and the foot, the more confused it'll be next time. TRAINER: You can't let one bad training d@ay bother you, because that's just the way it is. ALDA: But just as we're all about to leave, Donna heads back to her workstation. Start positive. Start positive. ALDA: And this time Caitlin goes for it-- no rumble sound; just the shakers. O'CONNELL: She did it. TECHNICIAN: That was good, thanks. She's doing it, isn't she? Yes. Wow! What's fascinating about this is that she didn't start to do it until she came back on her own... In her... on her own... And volunteered a session. And decided, "Okay, I know what you guys want. I'll just show you that I know what's going on here." That's really interesting, about the effect of... that this has apparently on research, of letting the animals... choose... Come at their own will. Come at their own time and their own way. That's what's really nice about this environment here at the Oakland Zoo, yeah. It's... fantastic. ALDA: But our excitement is short-lived. O'CONNELL: Start negative. TECHNICIAN: Start negative. ALDA: Donna gets no signal at all, but still lifts her foot. Oh... it was looking so good. TECHNICIAN: Start negative. ALDA: So, another control. Donna hesitates... O'CONNELL: That's good, she put it back down. Okay, start positive... TECHNICIAN: Start positive. ALDA: Oh, wow. O'CONNELL: That's great. That is... isn't that...? That's gorgeous. Isn't that great? TRAINER: Good girl, Donna. Wow... I can't believe it. ( all laughing ) ALDA: Of course, it will take much more than one or two apparent successes for Caitlin O'Connell to prove her hypothesis-- that elephants can communicate through the ground of their native Africa for distances of many miles. Meanwhile, the elephants transplanted to their own miniature Africa at Disney's Animal Kingdom are already demonstrating that there are some calls of the wild we humans simply cannot experience. SAVAGE: I think that the idea that they're able to communicate and we can't hear it, and it's trying to understand the big puzzle, trying to figure out what this means, for me, is very, very exciting. They have strategies that are so unique to their own species that makes this discovery every day a new adventure.

				Echoes in the Night A scientist in Panama listens in on bats' echolocation, using technology to match different calls to different behavior.
		Select text to jump ahead in the clip: ALDA: While elephant voices are too low for us to hear, the night sky over Barro Colorado Island in Panama is full of voices too high for us to hear... Unless you're lucky enough to be here with Elisabeth Kalko. Okay. This good? That's good. ALDA: Elisabeth calls this her bat detector-- a high-tech box that instantly lowers the pitch of the bat sound so we can listen in. Ooh! And we have a bat already flying above us. I didn't hear anything. Yeah, it was very brief and active. Let's see what I can track down... Yes, yes, yes! ( chirping ) ( chirping continuing ) KALKO: These are the bats that live under the roofs of the houses here. Can you tell from that sound what it's doing? Yeah-- right now-- beautiful, beautiful-- we hear a lot of different things, but it's very fast, unfortunately. What you hear now, these are search calls, they are searching for insects, and when you hear... ( imitates clicking ) that is a terminal phase, when they home in on insects. ( rapid clicking ) That...? ( imitates rapid clicking ) Right, that was a terminal phase again. What I find so fascinating about it is when you walk out here usually you wouldn't get any of the life above us, and you wouldn't know even that bats are here, and now the forest comes alive. The acoustic world comes alive and there's a lot of action going on. What? What? You're hearing something great-- what? Well, they are just feeding like crazy right now. You went into ecstasy when this sound happened-- I can't... That's my question. How many years did it take before you could interpret these sounds so acutely? I mean, you can tell everything they're doing. How long did it take you? I'm working with this system here with echolocation, I think... Well, let's see, it was almost ten years. ALDA: We brought a special night- vision system out to the island to help us see what Elisabeth already sees in her mind. The night sky in the forest is filled with action. ( chirping and clicking ) The bats are hunting. ( chirping and clicking continue ) All those clicks and squeaks are different kinds of echolocating sounds used to bounce off and find the prey. It's mainly insect eaters that are out right now. ( Kalko exclaims ) The zipping noise is the final burst of sound as the bat swoops in for the kill. Excellent sound recording. ALDA: Elisabeth's latest work is figuring out exactly how bats use all these different sounds. The white-lined bat, Saccopteryx Bilineata catching an insect about three meters above ground. ALDA: So her nights are spent out in the forest, making recordings for analysis later. Searching for the insect. ALDA: Here's a typical hunting sequence. Now... speeding up the calls, right? ALDA: And then in for the kill. ( chirping becomes rapid clicking ) A gorgeous terminal phase. ALDA: For Elisabeth, it's like some kind of air show up there. ( chirping and clicking continue ) I hear the naked-backed bat. Then I hear Saccopteryx Bilineata, the white-lined bat. In the background, I hear a free-tailed bat. So it's a whole symphony of bat calls that surrounds us right now. ALDA: The edge of the lake is a favorite hunting ground for bats. Every night, insect eaters and the big fish eaters swoop out of the forest in a spectacular aerial display. ALDA: Are the bigger ones one species and the smaller ones another? Yes, the big one is the fishing bat Noctilio leporinus, and that's a bat that is specialized in catching small fish and also insects from the water surface. The smaller one is Noctilio albiventris, a purely insect-eating bat and taking prey from the water surface. I'm now connecting the synchronization unit with my sound recording equipment. so that we can actually later on release... this whole system. ALDA: To understand exactly how different bats hunt Elisabeth invented this multi-flash picture system. So let's see whether the flashes are working. Uh-huh. Ready, go. ALDA: the bats' echolocation sounds are recorded at the same time. ( camera shutter clicking ) ( bats chirping, clicking ) Watch this bat delicately plucking fish from the water surface. Are they zeroing in on the water and the prey at the same time and each other, all those things? Actually, what they do is they echolocate individual targets. They know exactly which spot they want to go to. For example, for the fishing bat when the little fish breaks the water surface the echolocation calls that the bats emit give an echo back that indicate very clearly there's a fish breaking the water surface so the bat goes specifically for the spot. There were almost 300 nights that I was out there listening to bats, making multi-flash recordings and trying to decipher a little bit of their mysterious lives. ALDA: Elisabeth keeps an exhausting schedule-- nights in the forest, then days in her lab. Yes, I have a print here from a picture that we took last night and it shows the bat approaching a little fish that broke the water surface. and the bat approaches this water disturbance and hits the water with its claws tries to get the fish out of the water takes the fish out and then carries it away. When the bat senses the fish coming out of the water, by the time the bat gets there, the fish is back in the water. Exactly. So the bat has to know where it would be at the right time. Right, right, and this is visible here because we see the disturbance here in the water but where the bat hits the water surface is different. ALDA: In the split second the fish breaks the surface the bat measures its speed and direction using a rapid burst of calls. Here they're slowed down 50 times. ( slow, then rapid chirping ) So how many of these little beeps is the bat making in a second? in the terminal phase of this is where they make most calls. They may make about 150 to 170 calls per second, so that's a lot. It is. What kind of a mechanism does the bat have to make such rapid sounds? How does it do it? It does it... like we talk, bats produce their calls with their vocal cords so it's like talking, but of course, they have special muscles that allow them to get the tension up to produce these calls at such a fast rate. ALDA: Now look at insect eaters. First they use a special call, which actually tells them what kind of insect is out there. ( chirping, clicking ) Then they track the insect-- it's the lower set of dots in the picture-- with a different call until the moment they snatch it out of the air. So here's the first call, used to identify the prey. ( bat calling ) It's a series of steady notes that bounce off the insect's wings and come back wobbly. ( imitating bat call ) It gets modulations back that tell the bat there is an insect, and not only that, it can also determine the wingbeat rate; it knows this is a beetle, this is a moth; it knows the direction the insect is flying. It's a real sound picture of these wings beating. Yeah, but the bat has great difficulties with this call type to determine how far away is the insect. ALDA: Now the bat changes to rapid calls like the fish eater. Elisabeth discovered that each of these is a falling call like a series of piano notes. They're a super-accurate way to measure the distance. ( bat calling ) ALDA: It's going... ( imitating bat calling ) and from the other end of the room, it's coming back... ( imitating bat call echo ) but it's measuring the time of each of those notes as it comes back. ( bat chirping ) ALDA: Thanks to Elisabeth Kalko's bat detector and, more importantly, her boundless enthusiasm, bat squeaks are now among the best understood of all the calls of the wild.

				Bee Lines Scientists use trained bees and other tricks to determine if and how bees convey distance, height and geographical direction of food sources to each other.
		Select text to jump ahead in the clip: ( insects buzzing ) Now, these are stingless bees? Yeah, these bees are user-friendly. ALDA: Like Elisabeth Kalko, David Roubik works at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama. They have all the same problems that any other bee that makes honey and has a big, luscious nest to eat would have, but they're very selective about where they build a nest. It's usually only in a standing tree. And they do have defenses: Some of them bite very well. Oh, oh, oh. So it's a combination. They're not fools, you understand, but they've found alternative... We're being surrounded by them-- we don't have to worry? Yeah, coming and going here, it's an active colony. ALDA: Actually, inside his lab, David keeps an entire colony of one of the many stingless bee species. ( buzzing ) ALDA: They make honey; so what do they make it out of? Well, out in this forest they have about 1,000 species of different flowering plants they can go to. They might use 200 or 300 kinds during the course of a year. So constantly, every day of the year, all during the daylight hours, they're foraging. Bees are going out maybe as far as two, three kilometers, and bringing back food. ALDA: The bees have to make hundreds of trips each day back and forth between forest and hive. What the researchers have found is that the bees can tell each other exactly where to go in the forest. How accurately can the bee communicate to the others where this good source of food is? Finding how well they could communicate was really what shocked us because they're not just kind of giving a general cue of "There's some good food out there; fly around and maybe you'll find it." They're saying how far away, how high up and in what direction, so three dimensions. ALDA: The story of this remarkable discovery begins with David's specially arranged bee colony. Where are they, here? ALDA: A pipe running through the wall channels the bees into an observation hive where you can watch and listen to the bees in action. ( buzzing ) So this is what it looks like inside a normal hive, huh? ALDA: These are foragers entering and leaving the hive. Here on the left is where other workers store honey. ( buzzing ) This is the queen, mother of all worker bees, who lays her eggs in rows of cells. There's also one other thing about these bees. ALDA: And they have little numbers on them. ROUBIK: This is a sign we've been here before. Let me make a guess: You put them there, right? You're exactly right. ALDA: How on earth do you put a number on a bee? MAN: How we do it is we just grab a bee. They're quite docile when they're feeding, and also, they're stingless, so that helps. Okay, and here, I'll let you try and label it. ALDA: Biologist James Nieh works with David on bee communication research. ALDA: Now what do I do? and then you smear a little bit of it onto her thorax. Her thorax is right after her head, right? Right, exactly-- that little furry spot. ALDA: Being able to tell one bee from another is crucial for doing communication experiments. Seventy-eight. Now, we've numbered a bee. Number 78 is my bee. When this bee makes a great scientific discovery and we all go to Sweden to get the prize number 78 is mine. ( laughing ) ALDA: After the bees are numbered, they're trained. Sugar water is injected into the hive to excite the bees' interest. Next, a feeder with the same sugar water is placed at the hive entrance. In just a few seconds, the bees discover the feeder and there's no doubt they like what's there. Once a few bees have had a good drink, the feeder is moved away from the hive. As long as it stays within smelling distance of where it was before the bees can easily find it again after making deliveries to the hive. James steadily leads the bees into the forest advancing 20 feet at a time-- about the maximum distance the bees can smell. So they can train bees to forage anywhere in the forest... even at the top of a 120-foot tower, which simulates a tall flowering tree. You really have to love bees to make this climb. The question they're asking here is whether bees can communicate the height of a food source to their fellow workers back in the hive. Of course, some bees already know where the food is, because they've been trained. That's why you have to know their numbers, so they can be discounted. Here's 3... 34... 5... 26. They're all trained bees. Wait a minute, here's one without a number. Well, that's a complication. New workers are born every day so there are always a few like this. They have to be marked as they show up. ( buzzing ) Now, as the bees fly between the tower and the hive, James looks for new recruits-- ones he hasn't trained to come here. Meanwhile, down at the base of the tower, David watches a second, identical feeder. Maybe new recruits will find this one. Okay, James, now you have it set up here now. Let me know if you get any new recruits. Over. No recruits here yet, James. Haven't seen a bee. ALDA: If the bees can communicate how high the food is, then no new recruits should show up at the ground-level feeder. They should all head out of the hive straight to the top of the tower. And that, in fact, is what happens. These are all new recruits. NIEH: Looks like I just caught my ninth recruit and so that means about nine to zero, correct? You haven't had any recruits down there? Over. They're making a beeline to you, it seems to me. It's been pretty dull down here. ALDA: When the experiment is reversed and the bees are trained to the base of the tower all new recruits show up there. So the bees do somehow communicate height. Next, bees are trained to a feeder north of the hive and the new recruits show up there not at a feeder to the south. So the bees can also communicate direction. And it's the same for distance. Even when two feeders are set up only about 30 feet apart new recruits always went to the feeder where their hivemates were trained. So how do the bees do it? Maybe the new recruits simply follow the trained bees. So James repeated the experiments this time capturing all bees leaving the hive and keeping those which had been to the feeder, but new recruits still found the correct place. So simple following can't be the explanation. Is it possible that recruits follow some kind of scent trail in the forest? After all, biologists know that bees often deposit a mysterious liquid on leaves. To rule out this possibility, feeders were taken across a lagoon where no scent trail could be left, and the recruits still went to the right feeder. So looking for some form of communication, James began videotaping bees as they returned from feeders, and he found the secret world of bee talk. This red-marked bee has just returned from the feeder. As it hands over food to other workers it makes a series of pulsing buzzes. ( pulsing buzzing ) Then it does a brief dance accompanied by another series of buzzes. By comparing bees that came in from different feeders James managed to decipher the buzzing code. This is a bee that's foraging at the base of the canopy tower. We also have another group of bees that's foraging at the top of the canopy, and what you should notice here is that... The pulses are shorter. Exactly, right. So from here to here, the bee's unloading food, and if you compare the pulses, they're definitely shorter. ALDA: Short buzzes made while unloading food mean that the food comes from near the ground, and the longer the pulses, the higher the food source. For sound made during the dance, the longer the buzz, the farther away the food. ( long buzzing ) It's, like, "The Bee Book." It's like... If they weren't at home, you could leave this around, they could walk across it and read it and see how far to go. Exactly-- it's a bee sentence. ALDA: As for how the bees communicate direction, that's still a mystery. Maybe number 78 will show them how it's done. ( buzzing )

				A New Way to Hear Researchers discover the novel ear of a parasitic fly, and used the lessons learned to build a better hearing aid.
		Select text to jump ahead in the clip: ALDA: In the desert mountains of Arizona, Damian Elias is out hunting creatures whose calls no one has ever heard before-- not because, like elephants', they're too low, or because, like bats', Nthey're too high, but simply because no one ever thought to listen. Jumping spiders have spectacular looks, and the eyes to appreciate their species' finery, which, as usual in nature, is critical to the successful courting of a mate. What even ardent arachnophiles had never appreciated until Damian began his work is that some jumping spiders also murmur sweet nothings during courtship... sweet nothings that are actually sweet somethings if we listen right. ALDA: You have this set up so you can hear him easily with this thing? How does this work? So how it works is we have a phonograph needle placed right underneath the female. So, as the animal is vibrating, it'll be vibrating the surface and we can hear it as sound. So you're really hearing what she's hearing as she hears through her legs? Yes, exactly. ALDA: Most of the sounds I can hear through earphones are a cacophony of pattering footsteps and paintbrush dabs as Damian tries to wrangle the male spider into position. ELIAS: He has to basically face her in the right position, and then he'll go, "Oh, it's a female," and then he'll start going. But when you dump him on this, it's like, "Oh, look at this, I'm going to run away." "Oh, there's a big paintbrush coming at me, I'd better run away." So you basically have to wrangle him until he sees the female, and then it works great. ( spiders humming with rapid rattling ) ALDA: The male makes its sounds by rattling its abdomen, conducting his song with his expressive front legs. ( spider rattle hits strong note ) ALDA: Bump, bump. ALDA: This species even adds in a lovesick moan. ( rattling accompanied by low, soft moan ) ALDA: Damian Elias' discovery that his Arizona jumping spiders sing while they dance while they court was made in a laboratory at Cornell University that is dedicated to understanding the sounds of bugs, and how they use those sounds to communicate. But spiders are newcomers here. The lab's workhorse is an insect whose love songs we all can share on a soft summer's night. ( cricket chirping ) A male cricket's chirps have evolved to attract female crickets. But potential mates aren't the only females listening. This is a female fly of the species Ormia ochracea, and when she hears a cricket in the dark, she'll land nearby and lay hundreds of minute larvae, each less than a millimeter long. Now, this next part gets a little gruesome, but stick with it, you'll be rewarded not only by a tale of the impossible-- there's no way a fly should even be able to hear a cricket, let alone locate it from its chirps-- but also by an unexpected payoff for people like me who find it hard to converse in a noisy room. By now, Ormia larvae have crawled all over the unfortunate cricket looking for a spot to burrow through. Just ten days later, having eaten the cricket from the inside out, they're ready-- like creatures from a science fiction movie-- to emerge, leaving the cricket behind, a dying shell. Who cares that a fly can hear a cricket? Well, Ron Hoy, for one. MAN: All right, so these are the host crickets. And they're quite easy to capture. ALDA: I've joined Ron Hoy in his lab at Cornell University, where he rears crickets by the hundreds, so he can raise flies to find out how they hear. HOY: A cricket. ( chuckles ) You're interested in the flies because of how they hear, just... What was your interest in crickets? My interest in crickets was to understand their communication system. I've always been interested in their communication. Now, my father, who came from China, was very concerned about this, because in China, crickets are used for fighting. And when he heard that I was studying crickets, he was concerned that this was going to be... this was a euphemism for gambling. Oh, he thought you were getting into gambling. Oh, that's funny. But interestingly, you got led from communication in crickets to hearing in flies. It's really interesting, because flies are not at all related to crickets, so how flies, essentially, got to play the game of cricket by hearing is a deep and compelling question, because most flies don't have ears that can hear crickets. In fact, 99.999% of flies cannot hear crickets. So this is a very unusual phenomenon. What's that high-pitched noise I hear? MAN: That is a simulated cricket chirp. So, this is a small speaker sitting in front of this fly. What's that ball you have there? Well, it's actually a Ping-Pong ball. All right, and you drew little dots on it? Yes, with a Magic Marker. And we built this from a computer track ball, just like this one. So this is what we... This is the same type of device. This even has little dots on it. ALDA: This ingenious little fly treadmill clearly shows the fly responding to the cricket call-- darting forward, or trying to, at every chirp. ( cricket chirping intermittently ) But the Cornell researchers also used the track ball to explore the fly's extraordinary ability to locate the exact source of the sound. Every time Andrew Mason moves the speaker, the fly changes direction. In fact, the fly is able to detect and respond to changes in the direction of the speaker as small as two degrees-- about the same accuracy you or I have in locating a sound. MAN: There are two ways to do this: One is to detect a time difference of when the sound arrives at each ear-- so this obviously depends on how far apart your ears are-- and the other is to detect a difference in the loudness of the sound at the two ears. And this generally depends on having some relatively large body structure-- such as a head-- in-between your ears, so that sound coming from one side is blocked a little bit. So the flies are too small to block any of the sound between their two ears, so there's no difference in loudness. And they're so small, that their ears are so close together, that the time difference of when it arrives is... So it must be that they can't hear it. He's just got really good eyes. How does he know? How does he hear it if the both of those ways of hearing are prevented? The loudness difference is prevented. There is no loudness difference, but the time difference is there, but it's infinitesimally small. ALDA: Amazingly, Ormia can detect a difference of only a few billionths of a second between the time a sound first arrives at one ear, and then the other. It wears its ears on its chest under its head. WOMAN: So after popping up the head, you can see the ear. That's this large structure here. ALDA: It's interesting that we need ears that are separated to get a sense of directionality. These ears are jammed right up next to one another. That's one of those fantastic things about this fly, and one of the great mysteries, which... ALDA: How does that work? Well, it's pretty amazing that you can get directionality out of something that small. But basically the way it works is these ears... Rather than being isolated like most ears on big animals, like us, these ears are connected together. ALDA: Connected together like a teeter-totter. It's able not only to pivot about the center; the whole thing can also flap like a bird. When a sound arrives, say, from the left, the pitching and the flapping combine to exaggerate the motion on the left and suppress it on the right, giving a signal big enough for the fly's brain to pick up. A simple mechanical trick. ALDA: It's like that thing we used to do as kids, with this... going up and down. But somehow the fly knows that that means that there's a cricket over there. That's pretty smart! HOY: Yeah, yeah. MILES: It's a lot smarter than we are. ALDA: Ron Hoy, the biologist, and Ron Miles, the engineer, have now teamed up to, in effect, construct a mechanical replica of Ormia's ear. The idea is to make a new kind of hearing aid for people like me. MILES: A lot of folks wkwho are hearing-impaired have a lot of trouble understanding speech when they get in a noisy place, and... Yeah, that's certainly y??my experience. You know, I... In a room where people are standing around chattering before dinner-- you know, if there's a lot of people-- I can't hear those sounds like "f" and "s" and "sh". I can't distinguish those sounds. Now, how will hearing like this fly? How will a hearing aid made like this fly's ear help me hear better? Well, what we're working on is a way to make an actual Gomicrophone that operates in a similar way to the way the fly's ear works. And what that'll accomplish is, inside a hearing aid, we can have the hearing aid respond more to sound, say, from the front of the person that's wearing it than from the back. So that the microphone itself in the hearing aid? xwill be directional, and it will filter out ÷?those unwanted sounds for you. It's kind of ?hard to see, but we've fabricated some prototypes. ALDA: On this tiny chip of silicon, only a millimeter long, Ron Miles has already constructed a microphone that responds to sound just as Ormia's ears do-- by both pitching and flapping. And so it should allow its wearers not only to locate crickets, but also to hear the person in front of them. That'll go inside this thing. So you literally have borrowed from the fly, I mean... We'll be hearing with ears the same size as a fly's ear. So... how long do you think I have to wait for this? Well, it depends on money, basically. I'llow give yo?t?tu $50 ?right now. ( laughing ): Fifty dollars? On the spot. oThank you! ALDA: There can be few research projects that so beautifully illuminate the value of a curious scientist simply asking the question: "How?" In this case, how does a fly find its victim? In answering it, Ron Hoy and his colleagues discovered a whole new way of hearing-- and maybe they'll one day help my dinner conversations make sense. HOY: It's always a humbling experience to realize that, hey, this is a bug, but it can do all these really cool things. And, given that we only understand... that we only know about a quarter of all of the insects that are out there... there are really a lot more... I think there are more ears to be discovered, there are more eyes to be discovered, more noses. And I hope that I'll just... you know, be around long enough to keep after them, because it really is fun.

Take a look at these related stories from the Frontiers Archive:

				Figure That One Out Tamarin monkeys and young ravens show a remarkable level of logical thinking and creative problem solving.
		Select text to jump ahead in the clip: " ( caws ) Alda: BERND HEINRICH HAS A PASSION FOR BIRDS. WHEN HE'S NOT TEACHING, YOU'LL FIND HIM OUT BEHIND HIS HOUSE WHERE HE KEEPS AN AVIARY FILLED WITH RAVENS THE LARGEST TYPE OF CROW. Heinrich: OKAY, YEAH... OKAY, LET'S OPEN UP THE DOOR HERE, HUH? COME ON, YOU. Alda: WHEN IT COMES TO BRAINS, CROWS HAVE AN A-PLUS REPUTATION. Heinrich: THE CROW FAMILY HAS ALWAYS BEEN THOUGHT TO BE EXTREMELY INTELLIGENT ALTHOUGH THE INTERESTING PART IS, YOU KNOW WHY DO PEOPLE THINK THEY'RE SO INTELLIGENT WHEN IN FACT THERE AREN'T ANY REAL TESTS THAT HAVE EXAMINED THAT? AND SO THAT'S THE CHALLENGING PART IS TO FIND OUT, YOU KNOW HOW INTELLIGENT ARE THEY? AND HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT THEY'RE INTELLIGENT? Alda: ONE EFFECTIVE WAY TO TEST AN ANIMAL'S INTELLIGENCE IS TO SEE HOW IT HANDLES A DIFFICULT SITUATION FOR THE FIRST TIME. AND TODAY, THIS TEN-MONTH-OLD RAVEN IS IN FOR A SURPRISE. WHAT WILL THE BIRD DO WHEN DINNER IS TIED TO A STRING AND THE STRING TIED TO A BRANCH? STRING IS SOMETHING THE RAVEN HAS NEVER SEEN BEFORE AND AT FIRST THE BIRD IS TOO CAUTIOUS TO GO NEAR IT. BERND LURES THE RAVEN UP TO THE BRANCH TO GET IT FOCUSED ON THE MEAT. TAKE IT... Alda: THE FACT THAT THE RAVEN TRIES TO FLY AWAY WITH THE MEAT SHOWS IT DOESN'T UNDERSTAND THAT STRING JOINS THINGS TOGETHER. YEAH... Alda: BUT ONCE IT'S HAD A TASTE IT'S DETERMINED TO GET ANOTHER BITE. OKAY, NOW THAT WE SAW THAT YOU'VE TRIED TO FLY OFF WITH IT. Alda: WELL, THAT DOESN'T GET THE MEAT. SO NOW WHAT? WITH THIS NEW STRATEGY, THE MEAT'S MOVING BUT IT'S NOT GETTING ANY CLOSER TO THE RAVEN'S MOUTH. THEN THERE'S A BREAKTHROUGH. IT'S A TOTALLY CREATIVE SOLUTION-- RAISE THE MEAT STEP BY STEP. BUT STILL NOT PERFECT. NOW THE BIRD KNOWS IT'S ON THE RIGHT TRACK. THEN, AS A TEST, BERND SHOOS THE RAVEN AWAY. SEE, HE'S NOT GOING TO FLY OFF WITH IT NOW. HE KNOWS IT'S ATTACHED. Alda: BERND HAS FOUND THAT INDIVIDUAL RAVENS COME UP WITH DIFFERENT SOLUTIONS AND SOME FAIL ENTIRELY. SO IT'S UNLIKELY THAT THE SOLUTION IS GENETICALLY PROGRAMMED INTO THE BIRDS. BERND CONCLUDES THAT THE SUCCESSFUL BIRDS MUST THINK THE PROBLEM THROUGH. Heinrich: THERE WASN'T ANY VERY LONG TRIAL-AND-ERROR LEARNING. IF THERE WAS ANY LEARNING, IT WAS EXTREMELY QUICKLY. AND I COULD ONLY EXPLAIN THAT HE HAD SOME CONCEPT OF WHAT WAS HAPPENING, OF WHAT HE WAS DOING. Alda: NEXT STOP-- HARVARD, WHERE BEFORE WE CAN FILM THE ANIMALS HAVE TO GET USED TO ME AND THE CAMERA. THEY'RE LITTLE SOUTH AMERICAN MONKEYS CALLED COTTON-TOP TAMARINS. ( tamarins squeaking, chirping ) ARE THEY GETTING USED TO ME HERE? THE ANIMALS STARTED OFF GIVING WHAT WE THINK OF AS ALARM CHIRPS. THEY'RE CHIRPS THAT ARE VERY EVOCATIVE OF BEING A LITTLE BIT AFRAID, CURIOUS, INVESTIGATIVE. AND NOW THEY'RE GIVING BASICALLY SORT OF LOW-LEVEL CHIRPS. THEY'RE JUST CURIOUS NOW. SO THEY'VE REALLY GOTTEN USED TO THE FACT THAT YOU'RE IN THE ROOM. MY RATINGS HAVE GONE DOWN IN JUST A MINUTE OR TWO. Alda: MARC HAUSER, LIKE BERND HEINRICH WITH HIS RAVENS, ALSO DREAMS UP INGENIOUS EXPERIMENTS TO PROBE HOW ANIMALS THINK. Alda: THIS IS THE GRAVITY EXPERIMENT? HOW DOES THIS WORK? THAT'S RIGHT. THIS IS AN EXPERIMENT WHICH IS GOING TO DETERMINE WHAT KINDS OF EXPECTATIONS THE ANIMALS FORM WHEN SOMETHING DROPS. AND THE WAY WE'RE GOING TO TEST THAT IS WE'RE GOING TO SHOW THEM THAT THESE ENDING PIPES ARE EMPTY-- THERE'S NOTHING INSIDE OF THEM. AND THEN WE'RE GOING TO CLOSE THE DOORS. AND THEN WE'RE GOING TO INSERT AN OPAQUE TUBE UP HERE. AND WE'RE GOING TO TAKE A PIECE OF FOOD. WE'RE GOING TO WAVE IT IN FRONT OF THEM SO THEY TRACK IT. AND THEN WE'RE GOING TO DROP IT. AND WE'RE GOING TO LET THEM SEARCH. Alda: WHICH DOOR THE TAMARINS OPEN UP FIRST SHOULD REVEAL WHERE THEY EXPECTED THE FOOD TO DROP. HERE'S OUR SUBJECT. FIRST HE GETS A CHANCE TO LOOK BEHIND ALL THE DOORS. HE'S CHECKING TO SEE THAT THEY'RE EMPTY? EXACTLY, HE KNOWS THEY'RE EMPTY. WE'RE GOING TO CLOSE THE DOORS. AND NOW WE'RE GOING TO GIVE HIM A TRACK. Alda: THE MONKEYS LOVE FROOT LOOPS. "GIVING HIM A TRACK" MEANS WAVING A PIECE IN FRONT SO THE TAMARIN FOLLOWS IT. THAT WAS QUICK-- LET'S SEE IT AGAIN. THE TAMARIN GOES FOR THE DOOR DIRECTLY BELOW WHERE THE FROOT LOOP WAS DROPPED. SO HE EXPECTED GRAVITY TO APPLY. SO LET'S TRY THIS AGAIN NOW. SAME CONFIGURATION. ( Hauser clicking tongue ) SAME ERROR. WRONG ONE, THE GRAVITY ONE. Alda: EVEN AFTER 20 TRIALS THE TAMARIN STILL MAKES THE SAME ERROR. IT WENT RIGHT FOR IT. HE DOESN'T LEARN ANYTHING ABOUT THE TUBE. ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. AND THIS REINFORCES THE VIEW THAT HE'S GOT SUCH A STRONG IDEA IN HIS HEAD THAT THIS IS WHERE IT'S GOT TO FALL. EVEN THOUGH HE'S NEVER GETTING REINFORCED THERE HE'S NOT GOING TO SWITCH HIS STRATEGY. Alda: NEXT MARC TRIES TO TEACH THE TAMARIN ABOUT THE TUBE BY USING A TRANSPARENT ONE. THIS TIME WHEN THE FROOT LOOP FALLS, ITS PATH WILL BE VISIBLE. NOW HE GETS IT. NOW THE CRITICAL QUESTION IS: HAVING HAD THAT EXPERIENCE AND BEING REINFORCED CORRECTLY NOW ON THE FIRST GO WILL HE NOW TAKE THAT EXPERIENCE AND GENERALIZE IT TO THIS NEW EXPERIENCE? Alda: THE NEW EXPERIENCE IS ACTUALLY THE ORIGINAL SETUP WITH THE OPAQUE TUBE. THE TAMARIN FAILS AGAIN. HE'S LEARNED NOTHING. BUT TAKE A LOOK AT WHAT HAPPENS WITH ANOTHER VARIATION OF THE EXPERIMENT. THIS TIME THE TUBE APPARATUS IS ON ITS SIDE. THE TAMARIN GETS THE CORRECT ANSWER ON THE FIRST TRY. WITHOUT THE DISTRACTION OF GRAVITY IT WAS ABLE TO THINK ABOUT THE TUBE. WHEN WE SAY "THINKING" DO WE MEAN THINKING, CONSCIOUS, ALMOST CONSCIOUS... FULLY CONSCIOUS THINKING? SHOWING THAT THEY CAN TRACK OBJECTS AND EITHER FAIL IN THAT TASK OR PASS THAT TASK SHOWS THEY CAN MAKE AN ESTIMATION OF WHAT HAPPENS WHEN SOMETHING DISAPPEARS OUT OF SIGHT. NOW, IN ONE SENSE, THAT SHOWS THAT THEY'RE ABLE TO MAINTAIN AN OBJECT THAT'S GONE IN THEIR MIND, SO AT SOME LEVEL THAT MEANS THEY'RE FORMING SOME KIND OF REPRESENTATION SOME KIND OF IMAGE OF WHAT'S THAT OBJECT LIKE IN THEIR HEAD. Alda: MARC'S EXPERIMENT IS A FASCINATING ONE BECAUSE IT SHOWS THE LIMITS OF TAMARIN THINKING. WHEN GRAVITY'S INVOLVED THEY GET OVERWHELMED BY HOW THEY KNOW IT WORKS. BUT STRIP GRAVITY AWAY AND UNDERNEATH LIES LOGICAL THINKING JUST LIKE WITH THE RAVENS. Alda:

				If Only They Could Speak Research with sea lions, parrots and chimps shows that many species can be taught some type of language that allows limited communication.
		Select text to jump ahead in the clip: NO, WE'RE NOT. GOOD HEAVENS! Alda: IT TOOK HIGH-TECH MODELS AND BANKS OF COMPUTERS TO MAKE BUT AT ITS CORE BABE EXPRESSES AN AGE-OLD HUMAN FANTASY: TALKING ANIMALS. OUR MOM CALLED US ALL THE SAME. AND WHAT WAS THAT, DEAR? SHE CALLED US ALL "BABE. " Alda: MEET HAMLET. HE'S A COUCH- POTATO PIG. AREN'T YOU, HUH? HE'S "HAMMY" TO HIS FRIENDS. AND MEET HAMMY'S BEST FRIEND PSYCHOLOGY PROFESSOR SALLY BOYSEN. HAMLET, YOU WANT A DOG BISCUIT? HAMMY... SIT. NO, FURTHER DOWN THAN THAT. FURTHER DOWN TO SIT. Boysen: THERE'S SO MUCH LORE AND ANECDOTES AROUND ABOUT HOW PIGS ARE SMART, AND I DON'T KNOW THAT WE HAVE MUCH EMPIRICAL OR SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE TO SUPPORT THAT. Alda: FOUR YEARS AGO, SALLY SET OUT TO SEE HOW SMART HAMLET IS. SHE USED THREE DIFFERENT OBJECTS, EACH WITH ITS OWN SIGN. BALL! BALL, HAMMY. BALL! WHERE'S THE BALL? GOOD BOY, HAMLET! Alda: EVENTUALLY HAMLET LEARNED TO ASSOCIATE SIGNS WITH OBJECTS BUT IT TOOK A LABORIOUS TWO YEARS OF TRAINING. BY THE WAY, DURING THE ORIGINAL RESEARCH SALLY WAS ALWAYS CAREFUL TO AVOID THE "CLEVER HANS" EFFECT-- NO EYE MOVEMENTS OR NODS OR GESTURES THAT MIGHT TIP HAMLET OFF. ( munching ) FRISBEE! FRISBEE! Alda: HAMLET'S MEMORY'S PRETTY GOOD; SALLY HASN'T TESTED HIM FOR THREE YEARS. BUT SIMPLE ASSOCIATIONS LIKE THESE ARE HIS LIMIT. HE CAN'T USE THE SIGNS IN ANY OTHER WAY AND WE CAN'T SEE HIS MIND AT WORK. VERY GOOD. THERE'S A WHOLE LOT MORE TO NAMING THAN JUST ASSOCIATING EVEN AN ABSTRACT SYMBOL OF SOME SORT OR A GESTURE WITH AN OBJECT. HE'D NEED TO BE ABLE TO USE THAT NAME OR THAT SYMBOL IN A LOT OF DIFFERENT WAYS TO SHOW US THAT HE HAD A DIFFERENT UNDERSTANDING THAT WAS BEYOND A MERE ASSOCIATION. ( grunting ) Alda: WE'RE ON THE CALIFORNIA COAST AT SANTA CRUZ. HERE THE ANIMALS HAVE A LITTLE MORE TO SAY THAN HAMLET. Alda: HOW MANY TANKS DO YOU HAVE HERE? WELL, WE HAVE TWO RIGHT HERE AND THEN THERE ARE SEVERAL BACK THERE. WE'RE GOING TO HAVE TO USE THIS ANTISEPTIC HERE-- THIS LITTLE FOOTBATH-- BEFORE WE GO ON DECK. OKAY. THESE ARE THE OBJECTS SHE'LL BE WORKING WITH. Alda: I'M HERE TO HAVE A CONVERSATION WITH ROCKY A VERY FRIENDLY SEA LION. Woman: DO YOU WANT A KISS? OH, ALL RIGHT, GIVE ME A KISS. GIVE ME... OH, GOD. ( others laughing ) ( whining ) WANT ANOTHER ONE? YEAH, YEAH. SHE'S KIND OF A SLOPPY KISSER, ISN'T SHE? THAT'S VERY NICE-- THAT FEELS GOOD, ROCKY. AS SOON AS YOU GET THE OKAY TO START "BALL" YOU TURN THEM UP LIKE THIS. Alda: FIRST I HAVE TO LEARN ROCKY'S LANGUAGE-- 24 SIGNS. YOU GO UP AND DOWN? RIGHT. Alda: NEXT THE SIGN "TOUCH WITH FLIPPER" FOLLOWED BY "GO DO IT" WHEN I DROP MY FOOT. DROP THE FOOT. OKAY. ( laughing ) ( all laughing ) I ALMOST WENT IN! Alda: NOW HERE'S "CUBE. " OKAY. ALL RIGHT. AND SO WE'RE GOING TO MERGE THAT WITH THE ACTION SIGNS. SO GIVE ME A "FLIPPER TOUCH. " OKAY, THAT'S GOOD. AND "TAIL TOUCH. " I THINK THAT'S ABOUT IT. THEY LOOK DECENT FOR A FIRST-TIMER. DECENT? GOT A HIGH STANDARD. WELL, I PROBABLY HAVE SOME KIND OF AN ACCENT. I HOPE SHE RECOGNIZES MY ACCENT. Alda: OKAY, LET'S TALK. GRAB A COUPLE OF PIECES OF FISH AND JUST TOSS THEM IN. SHE KNOWS YOU'RE GOING TO FEED HER. THERE YOU GO. OKAY. OKAY, NOW POINT TO YOUR FOOT. OH, THERE YOU GO. NOW WE'RE GOING TO GIVE HER "CUBE, FLIPPER TOUCH. " READY? Trainer: OKAY, "CUBE... " "FLIPPER TOUCH. " OKAY, SHE WASN'T QUITE SURE ABOUT THAT. Schusterman: THAT WAS VERY... SHE SURE LOOKS CUTE. Alda: ROCKY'S NOT HAPPY. ( Rocky barking ) SHE DOESN'T KNOW WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT. LET'S DO A "BALL, TAIL TOUCH. " "BALL, TAIL TOUCH," OKAY. Trainer: OKAY... Alda: OKAY, "BALL"-- LOOKING GOOD. ROCKY CHECKS FOR THE BALL-- AND "TAIL TOUCH. " OH, NO, SHE DOES "BALL, FETCH. " ( light laughter ) NOW, WHAT, IS THIS MY ACCENT THAT'S GETTING HER CONFUSED, OR WHAT? Alda: ALL RIGHT, LET'S TRY AGAIN, IN MY BEST SIGNING. OKAY. Alda: "BALL... " OKAY. Alda: "TAIL-TOUCH. " THERE SHE GOES. OKAY, WHOA, FAR OUT, BRAVO, TERRIFIC! Alda: IT'S AN EXHILARATING FEELING TO REALLY GET THROUGH TO AN ANIMAL. GOOD, HUH? DO A "CUBE, FLIPPER. " REMEMBER "FLIPPER TOUCH"? Trainer: OKAY. Alda: "CUBE... " OKAY. Alda: "FLIPPER TOUCH. " OKAY, VERY GOOD. Alda: NOW I'M GOING TO ASK A QUESTION. OKAY. Alda: "FOOTBALL... " Trainer: OKAY. Alda: "IS IT HERE? " ROCKY HEADS RIGHT FOR THE "YES" BUTTON. HEY, BRAVO. IT'S GREAT IN SHOW BUSINESS, ISN'T IT? Alda: ONCE ROCKY GETS USED TO MY ACCENT IT'S OBVIOUS SHE REALLY DOES GET IT. SHE KNOWS, AT SOME LEVEL AT LEAST, WHAT MY SIGNS MEAN AND UNLIKE HAMLET THE PIG, SHE CAN USE THEM IN DIFFERENT WAYS. SO WITH ROCKY THERE'S AT LEAST A BRIEF GLIMPSE INTO AN ANIMAL MIND. SHE CLIPPED IT WITH HER FOOT. Alda: IN FACT OVER THE YEARS THERE HAVE BEEN SEVERAL EXAMPLES OF SIMPLE COMMUNICATION WITH ANIMALS. GIVE ME A KISS. Alda: THIS IS WASHOE THE CHIMP IN THE LATE 1960s. WATCH WASHOE MAKE A SIGN MEANING "OPEN. " WASHOE WAS RAISED FROM INFANCY BY RESEARCHERS ALLEN AND BEATRIX GARDNER WHO TREATED WASHOE AS IF SHE WERE A HUMAN CHILD. WASHOE LEARNED TO USE OVER 130 AMERICAN SIGN LANGUAGE SIGNS BY THE TIME SHE WAS FIVE YEARS OLD. FOR INSTANCE, THESE SIGNS MEAN "ME WASHOE. " IT WAS A TREMENDOUS BREAKTHROUGH AND THE GARDNERS LATER REPEATED AND EXTENDED THEIR SUCCESS WITH FOUR OTHER CHIMPS. THESE EXPERIMENTS SHOWED THAT ANIMALS AND HUMANS COULD COMMUNICATE USING A HUMAN LANGUAGE, OPENING UP THE POSSIBILITY OF OUR PROBING OTHER ANIMALS' THOUGHTS BY SIMPLY TALKING. Man: COME ON, WHAT IS IT? Parrot: KEY CHAIN. GOOD BOY! Alda: THE PAYOFF OF EASY TWO-WAY HUMAN-ANIMAL COMMUNICATION CAN BE SEEN WITH ALEX THE PARROT. WHAT IS IT? ROCK. GOOD BOY. Alda: ALEX CAN DISTINGUISH AND NAME DIFFERENT OBJECTS. NAIL. Woman: NAIL, THAT'S RIGHT. YOU'RE A GOOD BIRDIE. Alda: AND DIFFERENT COLORS. WHAT COLOR? YELLOW. YELLOW, THAT'S RIGHT. Alda HE CAN IDENTIFY DIFFERENT MATERIALS. Man: WHAT MATTER? WOOD. YEAH, THAT'S RIGHT, VERY GOOD. Alda: ALEX CAN COUNT. HOW MANY? GOOD BOY, HOW MANY? TWO. GOOD PARROT, GOOD BOY. ONE, TWO. Alda: AND HE CAN ALSO GRASP ABSTRACT CONCEPTS. OKAY, CAN YOU TELL ME WHAT'S DIFFERENT? WHAT'S DIFFERENT? COLOR. Alda: IN CASE YOU'RE WONDERING, THESE RESEARCHERS ARE ALSO CONVINCED THEY'RE NOT FALLING INTO ANY CLEVER HANS TYPE OF TRAPS THAT MIGHT TIP ALEX OFF. GOOD BOY. Alda: ALEX CAN JUGGLE CONCEPTS IN AN ASTONISHING WAY. YOU KNOW-- WHAT COLOR BIGGER? YELLOW. GOOD BOY! GOOD BIRDIE. Alda: AND TAKE A LOOK AT THIS: OH, YEAH... LOOK. WHAT MATTER FOUR-CORNER BLUE? Alda: IN ALEX'S PERSONAL LANGUAGE THAT MEANS, "WHAT IS THE FOUR- CORNERED BLUE OBJECT MADE OF? " HE'S NEVER BEEN ASKED THIS QUESTION BEFORE SO THIS IS NOT A CIRCUS TRICK. THERE ARE SEVERAL FOUR-CORNERED OBJECTS AND SEVERAL BLUE OBJECTS BUT ONLY ONE THAT COMBINES FOUR CORNERS AND BLUE COLOR. WHAT MATTER FOUR-CORNER BLUE? WOOD. WOOD, THAT'S RIGHT. I'VE GOT TO GO EAT DINNER, OKAY? Alda: ALEX IS ONE OF THE MOST SUCCESSFUL EXAMPLES OF AN ANIMAL USING HUMAN LANGUAGE. YOU BE GOOD. Alex: YOU BE GOOD. Alda: THROUGH THAT LANGUAGE, HE SHOWS A GRASP OF ABSTRACT CONCEPTS LIKE SAMENESS, OR THE IDEA OF COMBINING QUALITIES. BUT TEACHING LANGUAGE TO ANIMALS IS NOT THE ONLY WAY TO STUDY HOW AND WHAT THEY THINK. I'M SORRY. YOU'RE A GOOD BOY. ( chirping ) I LOVE YOU. Alda: THE FACT IS, MOST SPECIES SIMPLY CAN'T HANDLE A HUMAN LANGUAGE; NEITHER THEIR BRAINS NOR BODIES ARE ORGANIZED THAT WAY. AND IF ANIMALS DO LEARN A HUMAN LANGUAGE THE VOCABULARY'S LIMITED. IT CAN ONLY COVER A FRACTION OF WHAT THE ANIMAL MIGHT THINK. ( hooting ) SO THE CHALLENGE FOR RESEARCHERS IS TO PROBE ANIMALS' MINDS WITHOUT THE AID OF LANGUAGE. ( howling ) TO SEE IF SOMEWHERE IN THERE COULD BE IDEAS AND CONCEPTS. THAT'S WHAT WE'LL EXPLORE FOR THE REST OF THE PROGRAM. ( whistle blows ) THIS IS RIO, THE STAR PUPIL OF RON SCHUSTERMAN AT SANTA CRUZ.

				Nasty Critters Biologists study how rattlesnakes and scorpions fit into the desert ecology of Arizona.
		Select text to jump ahead in the clip: WELL, IN THIS MORNING'S NEWSPAPER HERE IN ARIZONA THE ROLE OF THE HEAVY WITH THE STARE AND THE QUICK DRAW IS PLAYED BY THE RATTLESNAKE. SO WE'VE COME OUT HERE ABOUT 30 MILES FROM PHOENIX TO FIND OUT IF THE RATTLER'S VILLAINOUS REPUTATION IS REALLY DESERVED. Alda: STEVE BEAUPRE AND HIS COLLEAGUES FROM ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY KNOW EVERY INCH OF THIS HALF SQUARE MILE OF DESERT AND MOST OF THE THOUSAND OR MORE WESTERN DIAMONDBACK RATTLESNAKES THAT CALL IT HOME. HOW DO I KNOW I'M NOT WALKING THROUGH A BUNCH OF RATTLESNAKES DOWN HERE? WHY DON'T YOU LET ME CHECK HERE FOR YOU FIRST? EH, IT LOOKS CLEAR. OF COURSE, I'VE BEEN WRONG BEFORE. HELLO? Alda: MY JOB IS TO LOCATE A RADIO TRANSMITTER THAT STEVE HAS SURGICALLY IMPLANTED INTO THE BELLY OF ONE OF THE SNAKES. YOU KNOW, I NOT ONLY FEEL DOPEY DOING THIS, BUT I FEEL STUPID. I'M TRYING TO FIND A RATTLESNAKE WITH ALL OF THIS STUFF. ( laughs ) WELL... IMAGINE HOW I FEEL. I DO THIS EVERY DAY. ( machine beeping ) THERE HE IS. DO YOU SEE HIM? THAT'S INCREDIBLE. MY EYE CAUGHT THAT FOUR TIMES. HE'S GOT A LITTLE SUNLIGHT ON HIM AND I THOUGHT IT WAS A STICK. I THOUGHT IT WAS, LIKE, AN OLD FALLEN BRANCH. YEAH, THEY'RE REALLY CAMOUFLAGED. A LITTLE GENERAL RULE WE HAVE IS THAT FOR EVERY ONE SNAKE WE SEE WE WALK BY TEN OR 15. Alda: MY FIRST LESSON IN RATTLESNAKE BIOLOGY: THEY DO EVERYTHING THEY CAN TO AVOID HUMAN CONTACT WHICH UNFORTUNATELY CAN'T BE SAID OF OTHER DESERT WILDLIFE. OW! OH, YEAH. BETTER FAST THAN SLOW. MM-HMM! SHOULDN'T I HAVE A BULLET AND A GLASS OF WHISKEY HERE? SORRY, THAT'S ONLY IF YOU'RE SNAKEBIT BUT THAT MAY BE COMING NEXT. ( laughs ) Alda: SPRINGTIME IN ARIZONA IS WHEN RATTLESNAKES WAKE UP FROM A WINTER OF SNOOZING IN DENS ALONG ROCKY BLUFFS LIKE THIS AND BEGIN LOOKING FOR MATES AND FOR MEALS. SO RIGHT OVER HERE AT... FOLLOW THE EDGE OF THIS ROCK DOWN... COME ON, GUY. Alda: HUNDREDS OF THE SNAKES HERE SPORT BRIGHTLY PAINTED RATTLES. OH, YEAH, IT'S ORANGE, YELLOW, ORANGE. ( rattling loudly ) Alda: THE COLORS IDENTIFY THE SNAKE AS ONE IN STEVE BEAUPRE'S STUDY. IS THIS WHERE YOU FOUND HIM? THIS ANIMAL WAS CAPTURED... Alda: HE'S RETURNING TO THEIR HOMES SEVERAL SNAKES HE CAPTURED HERE A FEW DAYS AGO. AND, LUCKY US, THIS ANIMAL'S RIGHT ON THE TOP OF THE BUCKET. AND YOU CAN SEE THE PAINT MARK-- LIGHT BLUE, BLACK, GREEN. DO TEND TO HOP OUT OF THE BUCKET? OCCASIONALLY THEY DO BUT I THINK WE'RE OKAY. "OCCASIONALLY THEY DO... BUT I THINK WE'RE OKAY. " ( loud rattling ) OKAY, HONEY. ( rattling loudly ) Alda: SURPRISINGLY TO ME, RATTLESNAKES ARE DEAF WHICH LEFT ME WONDERING WHAT THAT VERY NOISY RATTLE IS ALL ABOUT. THAT'S A CLASSIC DEFENSIVE, UH... INDICATION. THE RATTLESNAKE IS A LITTLE BIT AGITATED AND HE'S SHAKING IT, MAKING NOISE TO LET YOU KNOW THAT HE KNOWS YOU'RE THERE AND HE'S NOT PLEASED WITH YOU PRESENCE. IS IT... IS IT INTERESTING TO YOU-- IT IS TO ME-- THAT A SNAKE THAT'S DEAF DEVELOPS A DEFENSIVE MECHANISM THAT RELIES ON SOUND? IT TELLS YOU ALMOST IMMEDIATELY THAT IT HAS VERY LITTLE TO DO WITH COMMUNICATION AMONG SNAKES WHICH FOR A LONG TIME WAS ONE OF THE HYPOTHESES THAT WAS USED TO TRY TO EXPLAIN THE DEVELOPMENT OF A RATTLE. IT HAS A LOT TO DO WITH OTHER ANIMALS. IT'S A DEFENSIVE THING. LET ME GET HER BACK UP INTO HER DEN SITE. Alda: STEVE HAS NEVER BEEN BITTEN BY ONE OF HIS SNAKES. EIGHT YEARS OF EXPERIENCE KEEPS HIM JUST OUT OF STRIKING RANGE. THESE SNAKES, NOW THAT SPRING HAS COME START MOVING FROM THEIR DENS TO STAKE OUT AMBUSH SITES IN BUSHES AND UNDER TREES WHERE THEY WAIT, STILL AND SILENT FOR HOURS FOR A PASSING MOUSE OR PACK RAT. Beaupre: LOOKS LIKE A GOOD-SIZED MALE. Alda: BY CHECKING LIKELY AMBUSH SPOTS, STEVE CAN TRACK THE MOVEMENT OF SNAKES HE'S CAPTURED AND MARKED BEFORE. IT'S A RECAP. OUTSTANDING. Alda: SNAKES SPOT THEIR PREY THROUGH SIGHT AND SMELL AS WELL AS SENSORY SYSTEMS WE HUMANS DON'T POSSESS. Beaupre: IT'S GOING TO INVESTIGATE ME. NO, I DON'T WANT YOU GOING THAT WAY. OKAY, HANG TIGHT. Alda: THAT FLICKING FORKED TONGUE, FOR INSTANCE IS SAMPLING THE AIR. WHAT HE'S DOING IS PICKING UP FRAGMENTS OR PARTICLES FROM THE AIR-- SOME RIGHT OFF OF YOU. YOU HAD TO MENTION ME. AND, UH... HE'S, LIKE, GETTING A SMELL? IT'S MUCH MORE SENSITIVE THAN A SENSE OF SMELL. HOW ELSE DOES HE SENSE WHAT'S AROUND HIM? THEY'RE PIT VIPERS. WHAT THAT REFERS TO IS HEAT-SENSING PITS THEY HAVE IN FRONT OF THEIR FACE AND THEY'RE FOCUSED FORWARD IN MUCH THE SAME WAY AS YOUR EYES DO WHICH SUGGESTS PROBABLY THAT THEY HAVE, UH... THREE-DIMENSIONAL HEAT VISION AS WELL AS LIGHT VISION. AND THEY'RE IN A VERY DIFFERENT SENSORY WORLD THAN WE ARE AND IT'S VERY DIFFICULT TO SAY EXACTLY WHAT THAT'S LIKE. I CAN'T EVEN IMAGINE WHAT IT WOULD BE LIKE MYSELF. Alda: THIS SNAKE IS DUE FOR A CHECKUP AT STEVE'S LAB WHERE IT IMMEDIATELY TOOK OFFENSE AT OUR MICROPHONE. ( rattling loudly ) THIS DID NOT INSPIRE CONFIDENCE. MAYBE YOU SHOULD TELL ME EVERY TIME YOU LIFT THE LID. Alda: WORSE WAS TO COME. NOW, THE NEXT TRICK IS TO GET THE TAIL OF THE SNAKE OUT OF THIS LITTLE HOLE DOWN HERE. ( rattling ) GRAB THAT TAIL FOR ME? GRAB THE TAIL? YOU HAVE THE HEAD? OH, OH, THE TAIL IS SHAKING! THE TAIL IS SHAKING. UHH... I'M HOLDING THE TAIL OF A RATTLESNAKE HERE. UHH... YEAH, OKAY. THIS THING IS ALIVE, YOU KNOW? MM-HMM. DO YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT I MEAN? I CAN FEEL ITS MUSCLES... I CAN FEEL THE RATTLE GOING B-B-R-R-R LIKE AN ALARM CLOCK. OH, MAN! I DON'T WANT TO DO THAT AGAIN. WHAT CAN YOU TELL FROM THE NUMBER OF RATTLES HERE? SINCE WE HAD IT IN THE LAB WHEN WE PAINTED THIS BOTTOM SECTION GOLD UH... PROBABLY AT LEAST A YEAR AGO THAT SECTION WAS ACTUALLY HERE AT THAT POINT. AND SINCE WE LAST CAPTURED THIS ANIMAL IT'S SHED ITS SKIN TWICE AND ADDED THESE TWO, UH... SEGMENTS-- THIS ONE AND THAT ONE. WHEN THEY SHED THEIR SKIN I COULD SEE HOW THAT MAKES THE OUTSIDE BUT WHAT MAKES THE THING THAT SHAKES AROUND INSIDE THE RATTLE? WELL, ACTUALLY, THERE'S NOTHING IN THERE. WHAT THE RATTLE IS IS A SERIES OF BONY RINGS OF... LIKE THE SAME MATERIAL AS YOUR... YOUR FINGERNAILS AND THEY LOCK TOGETHER AND RATTLE AGAINST EACH OTHER HMM. AND IT'S LOOSE ENOUGH THAT WHEN THE SNAKE VIBRATES THE TAIL AT A VERY HIGH RATE OF SPEED... ( rattling ) THE SEGMENTS RATTLE AGAINST EACH OTHER. SO IT'S LIKE CLICKING YOUR FINGERNAILS? Alda: FINALLY, OUR RATTLER GETS A NEW PAINT JOB. VERY TASTEFUL COLOR. YEAH... KIND OF REGAL. THERE WE GO. Alda: AND THE RATTLER'S LAB VISIT IS OVER. BYE, VERONICA. ( rattling loudly ) THERE'S ANOTHER LITTLE MALE, SMALL GUY... Alda: STEVE DOES HIS RESEARCH TO ANSWER QUESTIONS ABOUT HOW RATTLESNAKES FIT INTO THE DESERT ECOLOGY. WHAT DO THEY EAT? HOW FAST DO THEY GROW? WHEN DO THEY REPRODUCE? BUT SCIENCE ISN'T HIS ONLY MOTIVATION. YOU HANDLE THEM ALL THE TIME. WHAT ARE YOUR FEELINGS WHEN YOU DO THAT? I FIND THEM TO BE, UH... BEAUTIFUL AND, UH... FASCINATING CREATURES. AND I GUESS THAT MAY NOT BE A POPULAR OPINION BUT IT'S ENOUGH FOR ME. Alda: BUT IF THE RATTLESNAKE DOESN'T QUITE DESERVE ITS VILLAINOUS REPUTATION THERE'S ANOTHER DESERT CREATURE-- ONE THAT ALL BUT OWNS THE DESERT BY NIGHT-- THAT MORE THAN LIVES UP TO ITS EVIL IMAGE. THIS IS THE MOJAVE DESERT OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. IT'S PRETTY CLOSE TO A NEW MOON SO IT'LL BE DARK AND IT'S WARM SO I THINK WE'LL FIND A LOT OF ANIMALS. Alda: BIOLOGIST GARY POLIS AND HIS BROTHER DAN ARE TRACKING ONE OF THE WILD WEST'S MOST VICIOUS PREDATORS. THEIR ULTRAVIOLET LAMPS GIVE THEIR QUARRY, THE SCORPION AN OTHERWORLDLY GLOW. THIS IS A GREAT TRAIT FOR... TO STUDY THESE ANIMALS BECAUSE IF THEY'RE OUT THERE, YOU CAN SEE THEM. I'VE SEEN UP TO 700 ANIMALS A NIGHT. I'M USING THESE FORCEPS INSTEAD OF MY FINGERS BECAUSE I REALLY DON'T WANT TO GET STUNG. THESE GUYS HURT; THEY'RE NOT TOO BAD. THEY'RE LIKE A HONEYBEE. IN FACT, MOST SCORPIONS ARE NOT DEADLY. THERE'S ONLY ABOUT 25 DEADLY SPECIES IN THE WORLD OUT OF... OUT OF OVER 2,000 SPECIES OF SCORPIONS. Alda: SCORPIONS MAY NOT BE DEADLY TO HUMANS BUT AS THEY EMERGE FROM THEIR DAYTIME LAIRS SCORPIONS TAKE OVER THE DESERT. THIS CRICKET, LIKE ALMOST ANYTHING ELSE SMALLER THAN THE SCORPION QUICKLY FALLS PREY TO THE PARALYZING TOXIN IN ITS STINGER. Gary Polis: THEIR RULE OF THUMB ON THEIR DIET IS THAT ANYTHING SMALLER THAN THEM ANYTHING THAT THEY CAN SUBDUE IS FOOD AND THEY'LL EAT IT IF THEY CAN GET IT. Alda: AND THAT INCLUDES THEIR OWN. YOUNG SAND SCORPIONS ARE A MAJOR PART OF THE OLDER SAND SCORPIONS' DIET. IN THIS TYPICAL BATTLE THE LARGER SAND SCORPION ON THE RIGHT IS ABLE TO INJECT ITS VENOM WHILE STAYING JUST OUT OF REACH OF THE OTHER'S STINGER. BUT IN THIS FIGHT THE BIGGER SCORPION ALMOST MAKES A FATAL ERROR. AS THE VICTOR BEGINS ITS MEAL THE LOSER'S STINGER STABS INTO ITS OPEN MOUTH... BUT IN VAIN. A FINAL TWIST OF ITS OWN STINGER SECURES THE LARGER SCORPION'S VICTORY AND ITS SUPPER. FOR DESERT SCORPIONS, CANNIBALISM IS A WAY OF LIFE. CANNIBALISM IS IMPORTANT IN A LOT OF ENVIRONMENTS BUT IN THE DESERT, IT'S PARTICULARLY IMPORTANT. THERE'S VERY LITTLE FOOD AVAILABLE, SO THE CANNIBALISM-- EATING AN INDIVIDUAL OF THE SAME SPECIES NOT ONLY REPRESENTS A BIG FOOD ITEM YOU'RE EATING BUT ALSO IT REDUCES COMPETITION FOR WHAT LITTLE FOOD IS OUT HERE. Alda: THE SAND SCORPION MAY RULE THE DESERT NIGHT BUT EVEN THOUGH BIGGER IS USUALLY BETTER IN SCORPION COMBAT THE SAND SCORPION IS NOT THE DESERT'S LARGEST. A COUPLE OF DESERT HAIRIES. Alda: THAT DISTINCTION BELONGS TO THE HAIRY SCORPION-- THE BIGGEST IN NORTH AMERICA. THAT'S REALLY A BIG FEMALE. Alda: IT'S BIG BUT IT'S RARE, AND GARY HAS DISCOVERED WHY. Gary Polis: THE REASON IT'S SO RARE IS THAT ALMOST ALL OF ITS YOUNG DIE BEFORE THEY GET TO THIS SIZE AND THE REASON MOST OF THEM DIE IS BECAUSE THEY'RE EATEN BY OTHER SCORPIONS PARTICULARLY THE SAND SCORPION. Alda: WHEN YOUNG, THE HAIRY SCORPION IS ONE OF THE ADULT SAND SCORPION'S FAVORITE SNACKS. BUT THE LUCKY FEW HAIRIES THAT ESCAPE THE SAND SCORPIONS' CONSTANT ATTACKS-- MOSTLY BY TAKING OFF FOR ENVIRONMENTS WHERE THE FOOD IS SCARCER-- EVENTUALLY GROW TO BE BIG ENOUGH TO TURN THE TABLES ON THEIR FORMER PREDATORS. Gary Polis: THIS ONE HAS GONE THROUGH PROBABLY THREE OR FOUR YEARS OF VULNERABILITY TO SAND SCORPIONS AND NOW IT'S BIGGER THAN ANY SAND SCORPION AND IT CAN EAT ANY SCORPION HERE IN THIS SYSTEM AND IT'S KING OF THE HEAP RIGHT NOW. Alda: RATTLESNAKES MAY BE SCARIER BUT FOR SHEER NASTINESS THE SCORPION WINS HANDS DOWN-- A POINT EVEN GARY POLIS CONCEDES. Polis: THEIR SUCCESS AND THEIR NASTINESS ACTUALLY MAY BE CORRELATED WITH EACH OTHER. IT'S A TOUGH WORLD OUT IN NATURE PARTICULARLY IN THE DESERT-- IT'S EAT OR BE EATEN-- AND SO THEY'VE EARNED THEIR REPUTATION AND IT'S PROBABLY MADE THEM VERY SUCCESSFUL.