Let’s hear it for lizards
4th February 2008
The final instalment of Sir David Attenborough’s romp through the animal kingdom – Life in Cold Blood – begins on BBC1 at 9pm this evening. And it promises to be a cracker.
“Reptiles are a group that have been comparatively neglected,” Attenborough told us, “so there are lots of new things – things nobody’s seen – which is great!”
Tonight, for instance, you can watch the bizarre behaviour of Madagascan chameleons and witness a snake swallow a deer – whole.
It was the little-known worm-like caecilian that most surprised Attenborough, however: “It builds a little chamber in the ground and produces about 20 young. In the nest they stay around their mum. Then suddenly there is a frenzy of activity and these things appear to be attacking their mother. What they are actually doing is tearing strips of skin off and eating it. Then she regenerates her skin, which is very fatty. They strip it off and eat it! Nobody has seen it before.”
To find out what other amphibians and reptiles impressed Attenborough, check out our interview in the next issue of Wanderlust (out on 14 February)