Original subtitles

NARRATOR: In the desert...

nothing is as it seems.

♪

In the dark of night

killers conceal themselves in plain sight.

♪

In the endless sea of sand...

♪

Death comes from every direction.

♪

[screech]

♪

The Arabian Desert.

♪

A land of sand, rocks, and violent extremes.

♪

During the day temperatures can reach a blistering 130 degrees.

♪

[bellows]

Few animals can survive for long,

exposed in the open.

♪

♪

But as the sun sets

and the heat dissipates,

new dangers emerge,

because night is when the desert's deadliest inhabitants

come out to feed.

♪

♪

♪

[animal shrieks]

♪

[shriek]

♪

[squeaking]

♪

♪

♪

The Ruüppell's fox, a predator adapted to an environment

where there is often more to hear than see.

♪

♪

His large ears scan for sounds of prey,

and they are so sensitive

that they can detect objects moving under the sand.

[rustling]

[rustling]

[squeaking]

♪

[squeaking]

Cheesman's gerbils, the busybodies of the desert.

♪

These energetic rodents spend the day in protective burrows,

hiding from the deadly sun,

but at night they emerge to new dangers.

[squeaking]

Growing to only five inches long, not including their tail,

they are more vulnerable than most.

But at night their instincts to dig is overwhelming.

Some do it to uncover the entrance to their homes,

while others do it to scavenge for food.

[squeaking]

♪

But digging makes a lot of noise,

and noise invites danger.

[squeaking]

The Ruüppell's fox is virtually silent.

Each little noise from the gerbils

helps him narrow in on his target.

But these little diggers have attracted another hunter.

♪

♪

A killer even the fox decides to avoid.

♪

♪

♪

The Arabian horned viper.

A snake with venom that causes you to bleed out

from the inside.

♪

♪

♪

♪

She's an ambush hunter,

and she's searching for the perfect place to lay her trap.

♪

♪

In an open chase with a gerbil, she doesn't stand a chance.

♪

Instead, she finds a hiding place directly in their path.

♪

She entombs herself in the sand,

becoming a living landmine

as she waits for the gerbil to come just close enough.

[squeaking]

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

It's over in a blink of an eye,

and the viper releases her victim

after delivering a deadly payload.

[squeaking]

[hiss]

The venom works by dissolving blood vessels,

causing a rush of internal bleeding,

inducing fatal shock.

[squeaking]

♪

♪

♪

♪

Even though snakes have one of the most advanced

chemical weapons in the animal kingdom,

her venom doesn't help

when it's time to actually swallow her kill.

♪

♪

♪

This is when she's most vulnerable.

♪

Having to swallow her prey whole

prevents her from using her only defense mechanism:

her fangs.

♪

♪

♪

It's all over in a matter of minutes,

and with her belly full,

she heads off to find a quiet place to digest.

♪

♪

Sand geckos keep their distance.

♪

The coast looks clear,

but it's hard to be sure,

especially when you're a creature without any eyelids

in a world of sand.

♪

[cricket chirping]

[chirp]

♪

[chirp]

[chirping]

♪

♪

♪

This arachnid doesn't have venom,

but she doesn't need it.

She has the largest jaws for her size

of any arachnid on the planet.

♪

She's a camel spider,

and she's ready to kill.

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

NARRATOR: Something horrifying stalks a gecko

in the Arabian Desert.

♪

A camel spider.

♪

This eastern sand gecko holds his ground.

♪

But he's no match for a camel spider.

She clenches him in a death grip

while eviscerating him with powerful, vise-like fangs.

As she eats, she spits up digestive juices,

liquefying her prey.

♪

The Ruüppell's fox has seen enough

and returns to his own hunt.

♪

♪

[rustling]

But some prey is stranger than others,

and even with his excellent hearing,

the fox struggles to track a target

that's always on the move.

♪

♪

♪

[squeaking]

♪

♪

♪

The jerboa.

A small rodent that navigates the dunes

by hopping around on two long back legs.

[squeaking]

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

As swift as a fox might be,

out on the dunes

the jerboa's two legs outmaneuver his four.

♪

♪

But the threat of death is not limited to the ground.

[shriek]

♪

[shriek]

♪

A pharaoh eagle-owl,

ruler of the desert skies.

[peeping]

He scans his surroundings for an easy target,

and with advanced night vision

he can practically see in the dark,

and he detects something.

[shriek]

♪

Striped hyenas.

[roaring]

Not what he was hoping for.

He has to keep looking.

[chattering]

A spiny mouse:

one of his favorite things to eat.

[squeaking]

♪

♪

NARRATOR: In the Arabian Desert,

a spiny mouse is under attack from an airborne killer.

♪

♪

♪

[distant howl]

With scavenging striped hyenas patrolling nearby,

the owl has to make quick work of his midnight snack.

♪

♪

[shriek]

♪

♪

♪

A view from the air provides a reminder,

this desert is a graveyard,

and scavengers, like these darkling beetles,

survive by consuming the flesh of the dead.

♪

♪

This corpse-eater searches for another pile of remains,

but he's not the only one stalking the land of the dead.

♪

♪

The desert hedgehog,

one of the sharpest predators in Arabia.

♪

But the beetle has a nasty trick up his sleeve.

When threatened, he raises his abdomen

and expels a foul-smelling liquid.

♪

The beetle makes a run for it.

But it takes more than a noxious defense

to keep a desert hedgehog away.

She routinely hunts venomous prey

and has developed a resistance to snake and insect toxins.

The graveyard attracts beetles for miles

and provides the hedgehog

with an all-you-can-eat beetle buffet.

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

This Slevin's sand gecko eyes another crunchy desert snack:

crickets.

♪

[crunch]

♪

♪

In this arid terrain the crickets are not only food;

their bodily fluids are his only source of hydration.

♪

[chirp]

[crunch]

♪

♪

In a world of little cover, some predators have learned

that the best way to sneak up on your prey

is to swim beneath the sand.

[crunch]

[rustling]

[rustling]

♪

♪

But luckily for the gecko,

this predator is not after reptiles.

This is a sandfish,

a lizard who swims beneath the dunes

to sneak up on insects like these crickets.

The gecko has found some competition.

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

In tonight's race the gecko comes out on top.

♪

♪

♪

But his victory might be short-lived.

Unknown to him,

a master of the sand has been watching and waiting.

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

NARRATOR: In a hostile Arabian Desert,

a hidden danger emerges from the sand.

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

The Arabian sand boa, a hunter few see until it's too late.

♪

But by surfacing to feed,

he exposes himself to a fearless snake huntress.

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

She might look like a kitten, but she's a lethal hunter,

and the sand boa knows it.

♪

♪

She's a sand cat and is not to be taken lightly.

Her target disappears beneath the dunes,

but she won't go hungry.

♪

She's such a successful hunter

that she stores surplus kills for lean times.

♪

♪

But this fearless little feline hears something on the move,

and she rarely passes up a chance to kill.

♪

Even a desert locust.

♪

But with its wings and powerful legs,

it can quickly spring away from threats.

♪

♪

To catch a locust, it's best to go unseen.

♪

♪

♪

♪

One of the greatest locust hunters in the desert

knows how to hide in plain sight.

♪

♪

♪

The world of the fat-tailed scorpion

is better viewed in UV light.

Researchers believe scorpions use ultraviolet light

to hunt prey in the glow of the moon.

♪

♪

♪

With a venomous stinger

powerful enough to kill a human,

she's more than a match for a locust...

...if she can catch up.

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

[chirp]

Close, but not close enough.

With a heavily armored exoskeleton,

she's not built for the chase.

It's time for a change of strategy.

♪

She tucks into the shadows of a camel bone,

waiting for the perfect moment

to ambush an unsuspecting passerby.

♪

♪

To the scorpion,

few targets are as choice as the web-footed gecko.

♪

But without the element of surprise,

there is no use attacking.

♪

[cricket chirping]

A cricket;

not as fast as a locust, but just as delicious.

♪

[crunch]

♪

♪

A scorpion's eating habits are as extreme as their habitat.

♪

In one night she can devour up to a third of her body weight

and not eat again for up to 12 months.

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

Despite her deadly reputation,

she has no idea what she's about to face.

♪

♪

♪

♪

She walks right into the crosshairs

of a saw-scaled viper...

♪

[hissing]

♪

[hissing]

♪

...and only one is going to come out alive.

♪

NARRATOR: Two violent assassins prepare to clash.

♪

Only one will survive.

♪

♪

♪

♪

With sunrise only two hours away,

some creatures struggle to survive till the morning light.

Others hurry to take advantage of the remaining darkness,

eager to kill.

♪

♪

[screech]

♪

♪

♪

The still-hungry Ruüppell's fox

returns to familiar hunting grounds.

♪

At dawn, these Cheesman gerbils

will retreat back to their burrows,

giving the fox the moment he's been waiting for.

♪

[growl]

[squish]

Success at last.

♪

But his work is not done.

He stores his catch beneath the sand...

[squeaking]

...so he can continue the slaughter.

[squeaking]

♪

♪

[squeaking]

♪

♪

[squeaking]

[crunch]

♪

♪

[squeaking]

♪

♪

♪

[squeaking]

♪

♪

Others watch as the fox adds body after body

to this desert mass grave...

[distant howling]

...including a few who would happily rob it.

[chattering]

♪

♪

The fox smells a nearby wonder gecko,

who would provide a nice bit of variety to his gerbil feast.

♪

♪

[growl]

♪

♪

♪

Following his nose closer and closer.

♪

Exposed in the open,

this slow-moving gecko doesn't stand a chance

against the swift-footed fox.

♪

♪

His desperation drives him into a territory so dangerous

that even the fox won't follow.

♪

A place populated by the deadliest predators

on the planet.

♪

NARRATOR: On the hot sands of the Arabian Desert,

a Ruüppell's fox chases a gecko

into the lair of the world's most dangerous animal.

♪

With half an hour to sunrise,

they've wandered into the terrain

of a strange new species that is encroaching on the desert.

♪

[car approaching]

♪

♪

♪

These are the deadliest predators on the planet:

humans.

♪

The wonder gecko has to choose:

turn back and face the fox, or cross this desert highway.

♪

[car approaching]

♪

♪

[car approaching]

♪

[cars passing]

♪

The gecko's not the first to face this deadly crossing.

♪

♪

[music playing on car stereo]

♪

[bass thumping]

[changing stations]

♪

♪

His luck holds out,

and it looks like he'll live to see another dawn.

♪

♪

♪

For many of the creatures of the Arabian Desert,

the final challenge of the night

is finding shelter from the oncoming sun.

♪

A danger almost none can escape from in the open.

♪

♪

This Arabian web-footed sand gecko

heads for a fallen log...

♪

unaware what lies in wait.

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

The log the gecko hoped would provide safety from the sun

is now his grave,

as he falls victim to a centipede.

♪

♪

With the rising of the sun,

another deadly night comes to its end.

♪

♪

But for those who survive until dawn,

it's nothing compared to the heat they're about to face.

A killer you cannot escape.

Captioned by Side Door Media Services

Repair and Synchronization by Easy Subtitles Synchronizer 1.0.0.0