All language subtitles for The Beauty of Snakes 2005 1080p BluRay

NARRATOR: Snakes.

They inspire fear
and loathing...

-l Hisses l
-...fascination and awe.

To some cultures,
they are pure evil.

Öthers worship them as gods.

The snake is a creature
like no other --

a spellbinding seductress,
a killing machine.

Now high-definition cameras

capture the breathtaking
spectacle of snakes in action

like never before.

This is "The Beauty of Snakes."

Snakes are perhaps the most
mesmerizing creatures on Earth.

Beneath a mosaic
of shimmering scales,

their slim, supple bodies
move with elegance.

They glide over the planet
with speed and stealth.

Their sleek,
powerful curves are dressed

in some of nature's most
magnificent colors and patterns.

We will explore every aspect
of their mysterious lives --

how they mate, give birth,
hunt and feed,

move and sense
the world around them --

all in startling detail.

Snakes live almost everywhere
on the planet.

They thrive on land,
in trees, and in water --

almost 3,000 different species.

And all of them
natural-born killers.

( Hisses l

From a newly hatched
garter snake just 6 inches long

to the 30-foot anaconda,
they all must kill to survive.

Their hunger satisfied, most
snakes prefer peace and solitude

until it's time to mate.

( Birds chirping l

Deep in the rainforest
of Latin America,

the female rainbow boa
is ready to breed.

But first,
she needs to shed her skin.

Unlike most animals,
snakes grow until they die.

Their skin does not grow
with them.

Uncomfortable in a coat
that has grown tight and dry,

the boa moves restlessiy,
trying to release her old skin.

İf's a process she'll go through
three or four times a year.

To ease shedding, snakes secrete
a highiy scented oiİl

between the old skin
and the new one.

Still moist, the boa's scales
glimmer and shine.

Here the clarity
of high-definition video

shows how the rainbow boa
got its name.

Each scale acts like a prism,

refracting light
in a colorful glow.

But it is the smell
of her new skin,

rather than the color,
that will attract a mate.

Aroused by her scent,
the male boa

follows the female's trail
in the night air.

When he finaliy reaches her,

he coils around her
and begins his seduction.

( Birds chirping l

Garter snakes have one of
the most dramatic mating rituals

in the world.

Iİn eastern Canada,
the female red-sided garter

emerges from six months
of winter hibernation.

Soon after leaving her den, she
emits a scent through her skin.

This potent perfume
attracts the attention

of male garters
up to 20 miles away.

Öne by one, they come.

The larger female
is soon inundated with suitors

driven to frenzy by her smell.

In an hour,
she is lost beneath a tangle

of over 100 sguirming bodies
known as a "mating ball."

Within the writhing mass,
each of the males

pushes and shoves
his rivals out of the way,

trying to be the first to mate
with the female.

Önly one of them will succeed.

The struggle can go on
for a week.

After mating,
the victorious male

inserts a plug
inside the female,

preventing other males
from breeding with her.

Eventualiy, the exhausted males
unscramble themselves

and go their separate ways.

Three months later, the female
will be ready to give birth.

( Birds chirping l

This checkered garter snake
is feeling restless,

and no wonder.

She is about to give birth
to 30 wriggling babies.

Each tiny snake
takes only seconds

to break through
its transparent egg sac.

The babies must emerge guickliy
in order to breathe.

The entire brood
is born within half an hour.

Then, mothering duties over,
the newborns are on their own.

Önly two of these babies
will make it to maturity.

The rest will fall victim
to predators,

starvation, and the elements.

To survive, they must hunt.

Tiny, curved teeth clamp
onto prey like this earthworm

with a fierce grip.

Swallowed alive,
the worm will die

from acids
in the snake's stomach.

Barely 30 minutes old and
already an instinctive killer.

Not all snakes have live births.

Most species lay eggs.

In the American Midwest,

the corn snake lives close
to farmyards and crops,

where it feasts on
a plentiful supply of rodents.

This female mated a week ago
and has just laid eight eggs

in a nest of rotting leaves.

Parenting is now over.

She will not be back.

Three months later,

the unborn snakes twist
and wriggle in their shells.

A tiny tooth
on the end of their snouts

helps them slit an opening
in the surface.

After breaking through,
they often retreat

back into their shells
for several hours' rest.

I£ may be two days before
they leave the shell for good.

Slipping away from their nest,

the odds are
stacked against the hatchlings.

Like all snakes,
they will have to rely

on a powerful array of senses
to survive.

Snakes sense the world
differently from humans.

Eyes on either side of her head

gives this eyelash pit viper
a wide field of vision.

Lashlike scales protect her eyes

from pointy branches
in the dense rainforest.

Snakes have no eyelids.

Itf's impossible to know
if they're sleeping

or just İying in wait.

The viper's unblinking stare
may seem ominous,

but she has
relatively poor vision.

Snakes are best
at detecting motion.

They have difficulty
focusing on still objects.

She can understand her world
better by using her tongue.

Snakes use their tongues
to smell.

When a snake wants to
investigate its surroundings,

it flicks its tongue, collecting
scent particles from the air.

This tiny instrument
is 10,000 times more sensitive

than the human nose.

Forked tongues allow snakes
to smell in stereo,

picking up different scents
from different directions.

As this mouse moves,

it leaves behind
a trail of scent particles.

As scent particles
are collected,

the snake presses
the tips of its tongue

into an organ in the roof
of its mouth.

There particles
are identified and analyzed,

translating the matrix of smells
into a precise image.

This allows the snake
to pinpoint the location

and size Of its prey,
even in total darkness.

With such an extraordinary
tracking device,

snakes rarely miss.

In the unforgiving desert
of Arizona,

a Western diamondback
rattlesnake

must use all his senses
to survive.

This male has just emerged
from winter hibernation

and has not eaten
in five months.

But as a cold-blooded reptile,
he needs to warm his body

in the sunshine before
he'li have the energy to hunt.

A mouse would make a good meal.

The rattlesnake's hearing won't
help him locate his target.

He has no external ear,
nor any eardrums.

Like all snakes,
he is deaf to airborne sounds.

But he can hear sounds
that come through the ground.

His long, slack belly, in
constant contact with the Earth,

picks up
even the smallest vibrations.

When hunting,
the snake adds this information

to the smellis gathered
by his flickering tongue.

As the mouse comes closer,

yet another extraordinary sense
comes into play.

Certain snakes,
like this rattler,

have deep pits
beneath their eyes.

These pits are lined
with heat-sensitive cells

that can detect
a temperature change

as little as 2/1,000
of a degree Fahrenheit.

This thermal image represents
what the snake senses.

Warm-blooded creatures
make easy targets,

even on the darkest of nights.

Keep his distance, and
the unsuspecting mouse İs safe.

Step any closer,

and he'll be in striking range
of a heat-seeking missile.

The strike is so guick that the
mouse doesn't know what hit it.

Though the rattlesnake can
draw on venom to kill 300 mice,

he injects just enough
for a lethal dose.

Önce the mouse
has stopped moving,

the rattlesnake
slowiy swallows his meal.

İt will take 15 minutes for
the mouse, still emitting heat,

to disappear into the cold body
of the snake.

İt will take several days

for the snake
to fully digest his meal.

Then he will be back
on the move,

sliding over the rocky landscape
with ease.

A snake in motion
is a thing of wonder --

a limbless body
surging with power and agility.

Without arms or legs,

snakes have adapted
to a wider range of environments

than any other species
on the planet.

The most common way
for a snake to move

is the serpentine method,

in which the body
follows a series of "S" curves.

The snake uses
the lower back edges of its body

to push off against
any roughness on the ground.

Viewed from beneath,

each beliy scale
is seen moving and sliding.

With up to 500 vertebrae
in their spines,

snakes are the most flexible
creatures in the world.

There are few obstacles
they can't navigate,

few hiding places
they can't wriggle into.

A camera mounted
on the back of a Cape cobra

shows how the snake
undulates through its domain.

İf's a way of moving

that has taken
millions of years to perfect.

Snakes are believed to have
evolved from prehistoric lizards

at least 100 million years ago.

Theory has it
that these ancient reptiles

sought safety
by burrowing in the soll.

To move through the earth
in a more streamlined fashion,

they gradually lost their limbs.

Their eyesight diminished

since İit served
no purpose underground.

Önce they reemerged
above the ground,

snakes developed different ways
of moving over varying terrains.

The desert sands of Namibia
are searing hot,

but this sidewinder has adapted
to the harsh environment.

There are two parts
to the sidewinding motion.

First, the snake lifts his head
and front half of his body

off the ground
and throws them sideways.

Then he repeats the motion
with his back half.

Seen from underneath
and in slow-motion,

his body makes a continuous
series of thrusts.

Very little skin
is left in contact

with the hot sand at any time.

This effective technigue
allows sidewinders

to cover large distances
and climb the world's

largest sand dunes --
1,000 feet high.

( Wind howling l

Snakes move most elegantiy
in water.

The Cape cobra,
like many snakes,

flourishes near human beings.

In South Africa, they are
often found in ponds and pools,

where they can show off
their graceful swimming skills.

Using serpentine motion,

the cobra's body
sweeps from side to side.

She slices through
the swimming pool unnoticed.

Some species spend
their whole lives in the water.

In the Amazon rainforest,

this green anaconda makes
his home in river shallows.

He can remain completely
submerged for 10 minutes.

Reaching weights
of over 500 pounds,

anacondas are the heaviest
snakes in the world.

They can grow up to 30 feet
in length, 3 feet in girth.

Despite his bulk, the anaconda
is an agile swimmer.

Buoyed by the water, he moves
in a serpentine pattern.

On land, the anaconda
and other big-bodied snakes,

like this puff adder, are too
thick for serpentine curves.

Instead,
they move in a straight path,

using their belliy scales
like bulldozer treads.

Seen from underneath,

the belliy skin
contacts the ground in waves,

inching the body forwards,
much like a caterpillar.

A snake-mounted camera shows the
puff adder's remarkable control.

And smooth pace.

The caterpillar motion helps the
adder make a stealthy approach.

Before ambushing its prey.

This 12-foot bushmaster also
uses the caterpillar motion

to slink through
the South American jungle.

He is the deadliest snake
on the continent.

Antidote to his venom is
unreliable and hard to come by.

These caterpillar movers
have a triangular-shaped body

with a wide, flat belly
that hugs the ground.

When he has chosen
the position for his ambush,

the bushmaster curls up
at the base of a tree,

waiting for prey to pass.

Snakes are masters of the kill.

Victims rarely hear them coming.

Öne of the most feared
and respected species

is Africa's black mamba.

Long and slender,

the black mamba is
the fastest snake in the world.

İt is also
one of the most aggressive.

When disturbed,

this short-tempered creature
will often attack.

It can outrace
a human in the bush,

striking swiftly and accurately
in any direction,

even when moving at top speed.

I£t can launch itself
from up to six feet away.

The mamba's venom almost always
delivers a speedy death.

In short bursts, black mambas
can reach 12 miles per hour,

nearly the speed
of a cantering horse.

( Hisses l

(I Neighs l

As it gives chase,
the black mamba holds

up to a third of its
12-foot body above the ground.

It likes to face
its enemies eye to eye.

( Neighs, snorts l

( Hisses l

With its coffin-shaped head
and jet-black mouth,

it's no wonder
that Africans call this creature

"the shadow of death."

(I Neighs l

Unlike most snakes,
it bites repeatediy.

Just two drops can kill a human
within 20 minutes.

Deep in the Amazon River basin,

another notorious killer
is on the hunt --

the anaconda.

He doesn't poison his victims.

He kills by constricting.

Unlike
the impulsive black mamba,

the anaconda is a methodical
and deliberate stalker.

He slips into the shallow water
to hunt.

He surveys the surface for prey,
then retreats underwater.

( Ducks guacking l

His principal weapon
is surprise.

The ducks are unaware
of what lies beneath.

( Guacking l

( Guacking l

The anaconda's powerful jaws
snatch the duck,

dragging it underwater.

With each outward breath,

the duck is sgueezed
just a little bit more.

Suffocation does not take long.

Like all snakes,
anacondas unhinge their jaws

to swallow meals several times
larger than their heads.

A big anaconda is capable
of consuming a crocodile.

Legend has it, they can
even kill and swallow a human.

( Singing in native language l

Where humans go, snakes follow.

Human food attracts rodents,
which in turn attract snakes.

Farm animals
are also a temptation.

In the late afternoon, this
African village comes to life.

The cobra moves in unnoticed.

( Clucking l

A chicken
would satisfy his hunger.

( Speaking native language l

He cautiousily makes his way
deeper into the village.

( Laughter l

( Indistinct conversations l

But his sneak attack
has been foiled.

( Dogs barking l

With sharp claws
and powerful teeth,

the dogs are formidable enemies.

The snake spreads his hood

to look bigger
and more intimidating.

( Dogs barking l

The dogs are undaunted.

But this cobra
has a secret weapon.

As a last resort,
he spits venom from his fangs

directiy into his enemy's eyes.

The pain is instant.

If not treated,
blindness could follow.

The venom must be washed
from the dog's eyes right away.

Iİn the ensuing panic,
the snake slips away,

hungry but unscathed.

( Dog barks l

Snakes will always avoid humans,
if possible.

But if confronted
or accidentaliy stumbled upon,

they can be aggressive.

And in defense,
they will always strike out.

In Central and South America,
the fer-de-lance

kills more people
than any other snake --

over 2,000 deaths a year.

Camouflaged
in earthen-toned skin,

they lie across walking trails,

where they often
catch people off guard.

They are also attracted
to bulildings

where the sun has warmed
the floor during the day.

( Bird caws l

( Dog barking l

If the mother or child
puts a foot down now,

they could be dead within hours.

She has enough venom
to kill both of them twice over.

She can sense the presence
of warm-blooded creatures.

She knows
they are much bigger than her.

( Bird cawing l

She flicks her tail --
a warning.

Rattlesnakes
sound a more blatant alarm

when people get too close.

( Rattling l

The older the rattlesnake gets,
the longer its rattle.

Each time the snake sheds,
a small part of its skin

is left behind
on the base of the tail,

hardening into a new band
of the rattle.

( Rattling l

Another fierce snake
intimidates its enemies

with a loud hiss of exhaled air.

This is how the puff adder
got its name.

L Puff adder breathing heavily l

The saw-scaled viper
rubs its scales together

in a dramatic warning.

( Scales scraping l

I Motorcycles pass l

Bright colors are a signal
to stay away.

They also keep some species
hidden from human eyes.

But sometimes
the camouflage is too good.

( Bicycle bell rings l

Eyelash pit vipers
have been known

to fall asleep in a banana tree,

oniy to wake up in a fruit stand
halfway around the world.

Yeah, yeah, yeah!

Since snakes and humans

are the two most adaptable
creatures on the planet,

they increasingliy
come into contact.

The African house snake
likes the food, shelter,

and comfort
that a home can provide.

Humans are often unaware
of their silent houseguests.

( Indistinct talking l

( Crickets chirping l

NARRATOR: As night falls
and humans go to sleep,

the snake
has the house to himself.

( Snake hisses l

He repays his hosts by ridding
the home of unwanted pests.

But for the presence of snakes,

humankind would be overwhelmed
by rats and mice.

I Sgueaking l

Rodents would wreak havoc
on agğricultural land

and raid homes for food.

Soon, the whole world
would be infested.

( Rattling l

Though snakes may inspire dread
in many people,

the world cannot do without
these magnificent creatures.

And from a safe distance, we can
truly admire the elegance,

prowess, and mystigue
that is the beauty of snakes.