4:29
This far into the Outback, we need to set up camp every night. We're a long way from civilization. It's time for all of us to relax for a while. Baby Bindi can stretch her legs with some walking practice, and the emus, those huge flightless birds of the plains, can get in for a closer look at us. Right now, they're curious, but just try to catch one. They're 5 ft tall, can see you coming, and can run faster than 30 mph. This vast desert may look completely devoid of life, but Steve has a gift, an uncanny ability to read nature, to be able to find animals even under rocks, in the crevices of the ground, where you'd least expect it.
It's almost like the force. Ooh, look at this one. Fierce snake. Look at the way he slides across THE HEY, HEY. WOO! HERE we go. He's going to bite. He's like really grumpy now. Let me just see if I can grab him. Ooh, he's lively. He's rip Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hey. No, he's not stopping. He's big. He knows the venom he's got. I'm going to have to be so careful here. I can't afford to make a mistake out here. All I want TO DO IS SHOW YOU the beauty of this animal. He doesn't understand that. He thinks I want to
kill him. Oh. When he turns and faces me like that, that's danger. Extreme danger. He means business and he'll bite, no doubt about it. This is the fierce snake, the most venomous snake in the world. One of the most toxic ANIMALS ON THE FACE OF THE EARTH. AND IT'S MY JOB, IT'S MY ambition to show you this snake. NOT SO YOU'RE SCARED, NOT SO YOU fear this animal, BUT SO YOU'RE PASSIONATE AND ENTHUSIASTIC about all of our wildlife. Come on, mate. He's settling down. My dad taught me from a very early age, "Be at one with the snake. Feel it, son." And I am.
Woo! Okay, he's settled. I've got time. I got time. I've made mistakes with fierce snakes in my life. I've had him come up to my face. I've had him near bite me on the legs, near bite me on the hands, and it's been my fault, it's been my mistake every single step of the way. The trick to deal with venomous snakes, as I learnt at a very young age, is give them space. This is his territory. This is his terrain, his environment. He's the biggest predator out here. Nothing, but nothing would touch this snake, not even the biggest goanna. They would not have a go at an animal this size. Too big. VENOM JUST TOO POTENT.
WOO! He's settling right down now. Isn't this wonderful? That initial rush when you come onto a fierce snake is awesome. But I just had to turn him, get him away, otherwise he would have bolted straight back down a hole and we wouldn't have been able to see and this is just such a special moment. This is what I want to share with you. Look at him. Beautiful animal. The most venomous snake in the world. Fascinating. How dad nurtured my instincts. He taught me if they can just feel that you mean them no harm, once you get your hands on them and you're gentle and caressing, then they'll just carry on like you weren't even there.
Now, this country is a little different. Stony ground, a few hills and rocky outcrops. Choice spot for a few Australian monitor lizards, the goannas. What we really want is a perentie, the giant goanna of the arid zone, the biggest lizard in Australia and one of the largest in the world. You really have to move to catch these guys. There's a thousand places to run and hide, and the one Steve spotted has disappeared. Life out here in the far western outback is like a giant learning curve. Even the lizard that avoids me, I learn from it.
Once you get out of the sand, you don't see tracks. But what you do see is another very obvious sign of large predatory animals. And here it is. Look at this. This is exactly what I've got to keep an eye out for. This is a perentie poo. Woo! You can tell so much from a perentie poo. See this here? Look at this. That claw there, that's the claw of another goanna species. More claws. Fantastic. Look at the information that I can gather from this one poo. Incredible. How's [clears throat] this king brown scale? LOOK AT THE SIZE OF THEM. These are dorsal scales and they're big.
Oh, here's a rib. There you go. That'll give you an idea of the size of the snake. Okay, so there's a rib. Which is almost as fat as my finger, which means the snake would be almost as thick as two thumbs, which puts it out over 5 ft in length. Woo! This is a fair whack of a perentie that's done this poo. I got to collect this. I've been working with perenties the majority of my life and this is a part of my study area. On the escarpment. Check him out. Have a look at him. What a spectacular animal. The thing I've learned many, many years ago is how keen their eyesight is. So, what we'll have to do is I'm not going to look him right in the eye. Let's just see if we can sneak
over. Just get over there. He's big enough that I won't represent a predator as long as I don't look him in the eye. Just keep my profile low. We should be able to get nice and close. Getting close to wildlife is an art form. He's onto me. You can see him tongue flicking and he's looking straight at me. Yep, he's onto me. He's curling his tail up. He's big enough that I don't represent too much of a problem. He start to move away. I'm close enough.
I'm getting real close. This is great. Here's the king. Here's the king of the Outback, the largest predator out here. Have a look at his legs. Big, powerful legs. They can run across the escarpments, out into the sand dunes, and hit reptiles like they're going out of fashion. With all the poo that Terry and I have collected, we've noticed that they are virtually a reptile specialist. Have a look at this. Have a look on his back. Right there, look. Just there. You can see that cut, that laceration? That's from fighting with other male lizards. The other ones, have a look towards the base of his tail there.
Just down there, look. You can see distinct bite marks. Oh, sorry, mate. I overstepped it, and he tail whipped me. Which is fair enough. You're all right, mate. You're all right. This is his territory and his domain. And uh if he wants to tail whip me, that's just fine. I just want to look at your scar tissue, buddy. He'd be around about 5 ft in length. These goannas are known to grow up and over 8 ft in length. And in the old days, I used to think that they'd bite like a land crocodile. However, I've learned, and only recently, that they don't. Even though they'll grab a
reptile and lacerate it so hard and fast that a snake's dead in an instant, they don't bite people. If I try and touch him, he'll just tail whip me. Here, mate. Just like that. Spectacular. How good is this? He's going home. Straight into his cave. Perfect. Ooh, you're hissing. How's the way he's turned and facing me? Listen to this. Are you upset? Isn't he cocky? Hasn't he got a sense of arrogance about him?
They're an incredible animal. WOO! YES, THE PERENTIE. Largest predator out here. You little beauty.
