29.4.10

Spot the Rattlesnake!

From www.ironammonite.com

Can you spot the timber rattlesnake Crotalus horridus in the photograph below?

This rattlesnake's excellent camouflage is one reason why it’s a good idea to wear gators and tread carefully when visiting the woods of upstate New York. Timber Rattlesnakes are potentially one of the most dangerous snakes in North America with enough venom to kill a person. Fortunately they have a relatively mild disposition and before striking, will hold their tails high and rattle like mad to try and scare you off. If you do get too close they may strike in defence.

Rattlesnakes are sit-and-wait predators - they wait for prey to come to them. They find a suitable place, which might be alongside a track rich with the scent of mouse urine, and then they coil up like a spring. They are capable of waiting, silent and still, for several days until a mouse comes along, at which point they have enough pounce in their coils to strike up to two thirds of their body length. Instantly injecting enough venom the mouse is dead before it hits the ground.

Thankfully most snakes tend to only inject venom when they are feeling peckish. Otherwise it's a bit of a waste. So if you are bitten by a timber rattlesnake the bite is usually 'dry'... but still painful, and definitely a reason to go straight to hospital.

To reveal the location of the rattlesnake in the photo click the image below. You can see the sequence from 'Life in Cold Blood' below. This is the first time a wild rattlesnake strike has ever been caught on film.





Photograph taken by James Brickell on a shoot for 'Life in Cold Blood'

Timber Rattlesnake sequence from Life in Cold Blood

14.4.10

Open Music Archive - Music in the Public Domain

Open Music Archive is a collaborative project to source, digitise and distribute out-of-copyright sound recordings. The archive is open for anyone to use and contribute to. A useful resource if you are looking for public domain music for your films. Public Domain means that all intellectual property rights have expired and that the work may be used by anyone for any purpose.

8.4.10

Big Fat Bloodsucking Leech

From www.ironammonite.com

I was quite surprised when this swollen beast dropped out from between my toes!
Filmed during our 'Chasing the Monsoon' expedition in South India, 2009.

With thanks to my good friends Kalyan Varma, Mandanna Dilan & David Heath.

Sir David Attenborough to present 'Flying Monsters' 3D

Sir David Attenborough is about to take his career into a whole new dimension, by making Europe's first programme specifically for 3D TV. The legendary broadcaster has signed up to write and present Flying Monsters 3D. The programme will be broadcast later this year on Sky 3D, a new channel available to existing Sky subscribers through their current HD set-top box. Read more here

1.4.10

Wildlife Wind-Ups on BBC Wildlife Finder

'It's not only humans that like a good joke, animals play all kinds of tricks on one another in their attempts to gain an advantage. Based around the April Fool tradition, this collection of videos features the weirder side of nature where it's not always easy to tell what's real and what's not. Watch animals play practical jokes on each other and on us, and look back at some real gems from the archives where we've tried to fool you in a wildlife world that's often stranger than fiction.'

Visit the BBC Wildlife Wind-Ups collection

(BBC Wildlife Finder clips are only viewable inside the UK but other information and images can be seen)




Remember this one? Flying Penguins!

Wonders of the Solar System: Aliens

This week, Professor Brian Cox descends to the bottom of the Pacific in a submarine to witness the extraordinary life forms that survive in the cold, black waters. All life on Earth needs water so the search for aliens in the Solar System has followed the search for water.

Soaring above the dramatic Scablands of the United States, Brian discovers how the same landscape has been found on Mars. And it was all carved out in a geological heart-beat by a monumental flood.

Armed with a gas mask, Brian enters a cave in Mexico where bacteria breath toxic gas and leak concentrated acid. Yet relatives of these creatures could be surviving in newly-discovered caves on Mars.

But Brian’s 6th Wonder isn’t a planet at all. Jupiter’s moon Europa is a dazzling ball of ice etched with strange cracks. The patterns in the ice reveal that, far below, there is an ocean with more potentially life-giving water than all the oceans on Earth.

Of all the Wonders of the Solar System forged by the laws of nature, there is one that stands out. In the final episode of this series, Brian reveals the greatest Wonder of them all.

Written & Produced by Michael Lachmann
Assistant Producer: Laura Mulholland
Series Producer: Danielle Peck
Exec Producer: Andrew Cohen

for further details, please visit programme link below
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00rtg5k

Here's a hilarious spoof of the opening titles to the series... (contains swearing)