There was a time when myth and science were entwined
When mermaids and unicorns could mysteriously appear
Nature was weird
When science revealed the truth behind these imaginary creatures
it found real animals lay behind the legends
Today, science still makes astonishing discoveries
but nature seems just as weird
It's just that fact has broken free from fiction
Even familiar animals indulge in strange activities
Cats from far and wide are irresistibly drawn to a seemingly insignificant plant
In the presence of catnip, they do the unexpected
They not only eat its flowers,
they rub, sniff and chew its leaves
Cats are strangely addicted to this fragrant herb
They return for a fix of its heady scent again and again
Its aromatic oils make them frisky and playful
As they fall deeper under its influence,
their mood changes in other odd ways
As well as rolling around apparently in ecstasy
they chase imaginary mice
This odd behavior is triggered by chemicals resembling those in tomcat urine
Courting females writhe in this provocative way
but strangely, catnip affects both sexes
Cats even inherit this sensitivity
Three quarters are affected in some way
This weird journey shows how natural chemicals influence animal behavior
and reveals much about ourselves
Aromatherapy is now more popular than ever
but we are in surprising company
Starlings use aromatic herbs to decorate their nests
As science studies the human benefits of aromatherapy,
starling research shows that herbs help their chick's immune system
Their herbs contain the same essential oils as those we use
In starlings the oils are absorbed through the shell
They boost the embryo's white blood cells that fight infection
Chicks reared with herbs grow faster and cope better with stress when they leave the nest
Twice as many birds from herbal nests survive the first year
In a dangerous world, the smallest variation in fitness makes the difference between life and death
Many birds of prey also bring vegetation back to the nest
The black eagle returns with garlands of aromatic leaves throughout its three-month nesting season
Like the oil in herbs, leaf oils are the planet's natural defence against insects
In the nest, they seem to act as bug busters
tackling infestations of flies, ticks and mites
Local people use the same leaves as insect repellents in their homes
Perhaps like starlings, eagles also gain other health benefits
Whatever the truth, birds clearly know what's good for them
so do chimpanzees
Chimps use over 30 different plants to treat stomach complaints
This is Aspilia
Their young learn about self-medication by watching their elders
Aspilia leaves need special handling
They must be rolled, not chewed
This preserves hairs which trap intestinal worms
The leaves are also dosed with antiparasitic chemicals giving a double whammy
Many chimp remedies are also used by local people as herbal medicines
A growing knowledge of animal pharmacy is giving science insights into human treatment
There is much that nature can teach us
The axolotl has miraculous powers of regeneration
It dwells in a few lakes near Mexico City
This salamander tadpole never grows up
Adults keep their gills and spend their whole lives submerged
Lake Xochimilco is a tough place to live
It is the most popular boating spot in Mexico
The way the axolotl copes with the hazards has made it the focus of scientific study
Limbs lost in accidents mysteriously regrow
Their process of regeneration is providing insights into the repair systems of our own bodies
They take just three months to replace a severed leg
If we can unlock the axolotl's secrets,
we too might regrow lost limbs
Such studies into the weird side of nature may unlock the key to our future health
Nature can even tackle its own environmental health problems
Many birds like the rook employ pest controllers
They enlist the unwitting help of ants
It surrenders to the frenzy of bites with out-stretched wings
The ants also squirt formic acid, a natural insecticide
This vinegary acid keeps down feather mites and seems to double as a plumage conditioner
Smoke triggers the same odd contortions
so it probably acts as pesticides too
It must fumigate their plumage
The rook's posture resembles the mythical phoenix
a bird reborn from fire
Did a bird indulge in pest control spawn the phoenix legend?
Other familiar animals perform equally strange rituals
Hedgehogs are immune to many poisons
and even have a taste for noxious substances, like creosote
Their substance abuse is harmless,
but it provokes a peculiar reaction
They contort their body and lick saliva onto their spines
Discarded cigarets are another popular stimulant
They induce the same effect
Why hedgehogs perform this bizarre ritual is a mystery
but self-annoiting is triggered by any pungent taste
Perhaps this spit will clear spines that are impossible to groom
And when mixed with the noxious stimulant it might also deter parasites
Nicotine is the tobacco plant's natural insecticide
Human addiction is an accidental effect of this powerful chemical
But the link between addiction and insecticides may not be purely accidental
Millipedes are extremely poisonous
but in Madagascar they are gathered with enthusiasm
These black lemurs don't eat their finds
they just annoy them by biting them gently
The millipede sprays out defensive of chemicals, including cyanide
The lemur spreads these toxins over its fur
Lemurs crave these dangerous substances and grab every millipede within reach
There is reason behind their addiction
the poisons repel insects and keep malaria carrying mosquitoes at bay
As the self-annoiting ritual continues, something strange happens
The lemurs enter a blissful state
The secretion seem to act as a narcotic, giving the lemur pleasure as a reward
Their drug habit must be harmful
but its benefits as insecticide must outweigh the risks
Millipedes usually survive the experience relatively unscathed
The lemur takes a little longer to recover
Our own liking for intoxication has its roots in the natural world
We even have similarities with bees
Hives are complex societies with each bee assigned a role
Visitors are identity checked by guard bee
Workers gather nectar and pollen
They are especially partial to the sugary sap of limetrees
But the sap soon ferments into an alcoholic drink
Alcohol affects bees much as it affects us
Their bee line back to the hive soon takes a few turns for the worse
As well as losing coordination,
they lose their sense of direction
Those that stagger back not only have to land successfully
they have to pass the security check
Like bouncers, the guards evict drunk and disorderly bees from the premises
Their role is to stop behavior that disrupts the smooth running of the hive
Bee bouncers give all drunks the same rough treatment
Persistent offenders may even have their legs bitten off
They literally end up legless
Similarities with her own behavior may be purely coincidental,
but true insights into our love affair with alcohol can be found in nature
This is the sleepy island of St. Kitts in the Caribbean
300 years ago,
vervet monkeys were brought here from west Africa along with slaves serving the rum industry
Escaped monkeys acquired a taste for alcohol by eating fermented sugar cane left in the fields
Today they satisfy their thirst by raiding local bars
They have learnt to be sneaky
Picking the right moment is everything
For years, the monkeys have been studied for insight into our own drinking habits
Just as we vary in our taste for alcohol
so do the monkeys
Some'd do anything for an alcoholic cocktail
But just as some people are teetotal
so are some monkeys
These reject alcohol in favor of softdrink
Significantly, the percentage of teetotal monkeys matches the none drinkers in the human population
In line with human habits, most drink in moderation,
12% are steady drinkers and 5% drink to the last drop
The similarity between us shows that a liking for alcohol is determined mainly by our genes
After each daily raid,
other human parallel soon appear
But unlike us, monkeys that are heavy drinkers make better leaders, respected by other monkeys
They seem to tolerate leaders that monkey around
Like monkeys, our taste for alcohol began when we scour the forest for ripe fermenting fruit
Food and alcohol became linked with intoxicating effect
In Peru, spider monkeys have the equivalent of a detox program
They come to this muddy spa to eat dirt
The mud contains kaolin, a neutralizing clay used to treat our own stomach upsets
Peccaries, a kind of pig,
visit these jungle pharmacy for the same medicinal treatment
so do parrots
The leaves and fruits of rainforest trees are poisonous
a daily dose of clay detoxifies these meals
A full health spa attracts hunters
Cats have their own tastes in medicines
Just as petcats eat grass,
large cats like jaguars eat leaves
when regurgitated, they cleanse their digestive system
But like catnip, some plants induce other effects
Yaje is one of the commonest rainforest vines
It seems to cause playful kittenish behavior
But could something deeper be happening?
The vines are used by forest people in their hallucinogenic rituals
They take them to enhance their senses and gain the jaguar's hunting power
They believe that jaguar also take yaje to heighten its senses when it hunts
Like so much of weird nature, there is still so much to know
In the Arctic Circle, this fungus also has magical associations with animal
Fly agaric contains hallucinogenic chemicals and is a favorite food of reindeer
For thousands of years, the lives of reindeer and Sami people have been entwined
Fly agaric was important to both of them
In autumn, reindeer seek out the mushrooms, even under an early fall of snow
No one knows whether the reindeer are affected,
but in the past, Sami shamans took fly agaric in their visionary rituals
They even drank urine from reindeer believed to be under the influence
Entranced, they contacted the great reindeer spirit
On humans, the drug heightens senses and creates visions of flying
Some believe the greatest of all modern myths arose in a Sami's visionary flights of fancy
Perhaps early 19th century ideas drew on these stories to create a Christmas legend
Weird nature explores strange animals behavior against settings of modern myths and human lives
It began by revealing the odd ways that some animals move
But compared with nature's movements
our two-legged walking is one of the oddest on the planet
Animals have many devious defences
But we have no natural defences at all
Some animals have fantastic ways to catch prey
but we need artificial help to catch ours
Creatures all strike up strange partnerships
but we depend on more animal partners than any other
There are fish that change sex
and males that give birth
but biologically, most of our breeding habits are strange
All in all, we are one of the nature's strangest animals
We are weird nature
There is another way that we are unique
Our imagination can conjure up the most fanciful creatures
But science has shown us that even these have roots in reality
Giant octopus have been found with tentacles that span over 30 feet
When science separated myth from reality
it found that real creatures had fed our fertile imagination
But whatever our minds dream up
science is stranger than myth
Subtitles by Andrew and Hattie www.mvgroup.org