No snakes! Where were the snakes?
No slithering chaser snakes, just cute Bobcats, Grizzlies and Snow Leopards.
Considering the difficulty of glimpsing a Snow Leopard (I’m told), the cameraperson who got four of them in shot at once (a mother and her daughter with two randy males) must have thought that all their Christmases had come at once. Fantastic stuff! Quite amazing – but it says something about our expectations that I was left slightly disappointed that we weren’t treated to the sight of full-on Snow Leopard mating – we just saw the female limping away afterwards.
And then that nice Sir David played a little trick on us all, didn’t he? He said something like ‘And the mother and daughter weren’t seen again’….long, long, long pause, ‘…until on a distant ridge…’ and they all lived happily every afterwards.
I like the fact (is it a fact? It must be – this is the BBC) that bears have their favourite trees for scratching their backs and that they will travel miles to have a good scratch. Quite enthusiastic and skillful they were at scratching too, weren’t they? What rhythm, what concentration, what expressions of concentration on their faces! It reminded me of another amazing natural sight – that of Ed Balls doing the salsa gangnam style and then escaping, in one bound he was free, just like a rodent scurrying away from a Bobcat. How long will he continue to ride a wave of popularity? Well, I voted for him – but only about a dozen times! But then I’m accustomed to voting Labour.
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They were ‘Racer’ – not chaser – snakes. Saying that they did do a lot of chasing.
Aren’t those camera traps good, much better than pole traps. I’d love to show you the Snow Leopards that inhabit the high hills around where I live but, unfortunately, the cameras are likely to get pinched by two-legged creatures.
The PE II series really does give one a new insight into how nature survives on our planet. It also highlights the fragility of many species and habitats throughout the world.
It hurts one to know how poorly we treat many of our own habitats in the UK; humans rule ok and wildlife will just have to put up, and those who speak up for wildlife will just have to shut up.
Andy, “those who speak up for wildlife will just have to shut up.”
Tell me about it!!
Yes, it hurts. But at least we have Planet Earth of the 3rd encounter.
Check: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b082hfw9
Prof. Lynne Boddy on fungi, BBC R4, Life Scientific; brilliant. Plus no music.
I think I may flip to labour for the next election. My wife will probably disown me. . .
Fact is if I don’t then the snakes will be buried under a rank of coal fired power stations, and the snow leopards will have no snow to leopard in!
Such is the Tory “commitment” to the environment. Also Bexit. Its been a bad year.
If they can strap a sat tag onto an ant, can they strap a sat tag AND a 360 deg camera onto a Hen Harrier?