Behind the scenes: programme four
A dramatic waterbirth
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To film a yellow anaconda giving birth, the Life In Cold Blood team joined forces with scientists researching anaconda motherhood in the Iberia Marshes of Northern Argentina. They collect wild snakes and monitor them until they give birth. Then, mother and babies are released back into a suitable location.
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There were a number of expectant snake mothers and the scientists needed to make sure they didn't miss any of the births. The rather unusual solution was to take several of the most pregnant snakes to the local maternity hospital and scan them in the same way you would a human.
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The resulting ultrasound revealed that one of the snakes was clearly more advanced in her pregnancy, so it was decided to concentrate on her. Twelve hours later, she gave birth to 15 live baby snakes and the intimate moment was captured on film.
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A fishy encounter
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While filming the yellow anacondas, producer James Brickell had a close encounter with a much smaller, but probably more dangerous, local inhabitant.
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On his first day's recce, James was travelling by boat across the Iberia marshes and briefly trailed his fingers through the water as they approached a suitable looking sand bar. He felt a sharp tug on his middle finger, and, as he pulled it out of the water, a trickle of blood appeared.
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The cameraman spotted a small piranha, about the size of a goldfish, shooting back and forth just under the surface – apparently surprised that its lunch had disappeared. James held up his arm and blood ran down to his elbow. Closer inspection revealed that the plucky little fish had tried to take a chunk out of his finger.
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Spitting cobra
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Spitting cobras are very dangerous animals, but the Life In Cold Blood team were working with experienced South African snake handler Donald Strydom, and had a very extensive set of safety guidelines in place.
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This was especially important since they planned to film a cobra actually spitting at David's face to demonstrate the sophisticated nature of the snake's defence.
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Before the snake was placed in position, Donald gave a safety briefing. Firstly, all involved would be required to wear safety goggles, an eye wash station had been arranged and an emergency evacuation plan included standby doctors at local hospitals – should anyone get bitten.
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During the briefing, Donald stressed that speed was of the essence – the journey to hospital would take about 45 minutes over rough tracks, so no time could be wasted. "Are there any questions?" Donald asked. The normally chatty crew were all sitting in absolute silence. "I have one," said David. "Exactly whose idea was this?"
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Luckily, all went to plan – the only casualties being a few of the crew, including David, who turned pink! In order to see the venom on David's goggles, they had been dusted with a very fine indicator powder that reacted by turning bright pink in response to venom. The wind gently wafted the powder onto the sweaty crew, who became covered in pink blotches.
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