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If you think you╒re sneaky, just wait till you see the dirtiest, rotten
scoundrels in the natural world.
We╒re counting down the top 10 most extreme cheats in the animal kingdom,
and seeing how they compare to human cons, crooks and swindlers.
You╒ll discover that for some animals, crime really does pay when it╒s taken
to the most extreme.
Earth is a planet of extremes, extreme places, and extreme animals.
But some animals are more extreme than others.
Join us as we countdown to find the most unusual and the most
extraordinary, The Most Extreme.
In mountains of South America, the fox has to be sneaky because around here,
the birds are big.
The rhea is a flightless bird that╒s more than a match for even the
hungriest fox, so it can╒t use a frontal attack.
By waiting for the rhea family to move on, the fox is free to make an omelet
out of the eggs that failed to hatch.
The only trouble is that big birds lay big eggs.
It╒s more than a mouthful, but the fox is number 10 in the countdown because
it has a reputation for coming up with sneaky solutions to difficult
problems.
If you can╒t bite it, kick it.
A sharp blow against a stone is enough to break the shell.
With the cunning fox around, it╒s no wonder that most birds keep their eggs
in nests far from the ground.
Not even the wiliest fox could reach eggs up here or could they?
But even the wily fox can╒t escape the fact that it╒s only number 10 in the
countdown.
If you live in garbage, you╒ve got to expect people to talk trash about you.
That╒s why the rat creeps in at number nine in our countdown.
Rats have a reputation for cheating everything including death.
We hate rats because they╒re such extreme cheats.
They cheat us out of food and they cheat us out of money.
Each year, in the United States alone, damage caused by rats cost an
estimated 19 billion dollars.
No wonder a group of rats is called a mischief.
So why do we think rats are so sneaky?
Well, for a start, they╒re stealing from right under our noses.
It╒s estimated that there are 70 million rats in New York.
That╒s almost 10 rats for every person in the city, but it╒s the rats speed
and agility that makes this cheat hard to beat.
After all, it takes rat-like cunning to be able to solve the problem of how
to steal food suspended from a bird feeder.
Rats will go to extreme lengths for a free meal, but then that╒s why some
people love the clever little rodents.
Meet Larry, the hairless rat, and his devoted owner, Debbie Ducommun.
As founder of California╒s rat fan club, it╒s not surprising that Debbie
is the champion of all things ratty.
Rats have a bad reputation but, you know, wild rats are just like any
other wild animal.
They╒re just trying to survive and it╒s not like they╒re trying to hurt
us.
It╒s just that they are smart enough and brave enough to figure out that
they can live off of, you know, food that we leave laying around.
Debbie is determined to clean up the rat╒s rotten reputation.
We╒re here.
We╒ve done a lot of traveling especially this year.
We go to pet fairs or pet expos where we have a booth where we educate
people about rats, tell them about rats so that they learn how, you know,
how they really are instead of how they imagine them to be especially
what╒s shown in television and movies.
Well, rats are very social animals, which means that they form strong
social bonds.
So they really bond to people.
They really know who you are and have a relationship with you.
So that╒s the main reason why I like them so much.
The much maligned dirty rat may actually be closer to humans than we╒d
like to think.
Deception comes naturally to all living things including humans.
Chances are, according to one psychologist that you are lied to
about 200 times a day.
That╒s roughly one untruth every 5 minutes.
So why do we cheat?
Well, nature rewards successful cheats by allowing them to survive long
enough to reproduce.
So just like the rest of the animal kingdom, humans cheat either to avoid
trouble or to get something we can╒t have by other means.
And for some people, the thing they want most is money.
More than 150 million people visit U.S. casinos each year, and some
resort to cheating to beat the odds.
A common con is to try to place a bet on a winner after the game is over.
The cheat waits until the dealer is distracted, and then makes his move.
If the pit boss suspects a cheat is at work, he can call for video evidence.
The biggest casinos have literally thousands of security cameras waiting
to catch a cheat in the act.
This cheat was caught trying to place a bet on the winning number 26 after
the result was known.
He thought he could get away with it by blocking the dealer╒s view of his
cheating hand, but this is one rat fink who couldn╒t cheat the system.
Perhaps, if we took a closer look at rats, we may discover that they too
can beat the odds and win their way into our affections.
Don╒t be fooled by our first two contenders, for coming up are animals
that can teach us a thing or two, for there╒s no escaping these clever cons.
That╒s next on The Most Extreme.
In parts of Africa, people are afraid of number eight in the countdown.
They just don╒t trust the chameleon.
In some languages, the word for chameleon and liar is the same thing,
and like all good liars, you can hardly believe what comes out of its
mouth.
How do you like a tongue that╒s twice as long as your body?
It╒s like an elastic harpoon tipped with sticky chewing gum.
But most people distrust chameleons because they╒re masters of disguise.
Here, in this Los Angeles classroom, biological educator, Dave Reichert is
conducting an experiment to see if the chameleon really can change color to
match even the most extreme background.
Do you think he╒ll turn this color? All different colors?
Okay. Let╒s see if he turns to match his shirt.
Let╒s see if we put him on a green shirt and see if he turns green
because that╒s usually where they╒re found.
They╒re found in the trees with all those green leaves.
So that might be where he╒s best able to change colors.
Is he green yet?
No.
All green?
No.
Well, let me explain.
That is a common myth that chameleons can change colors to match their
background.
They can change slightly, but it╒s usually to express a mood.
When the mood is good, the chameleon is a camouflage green.
But if two males get together, they really see red.
It╒s easy to spot an angry chameleon.
It╒s written all over its body.
That╒s because its skin has special expandable cells full of color
pigments.
It╒s a shame human cheats don╒t send out such obvious warning signals.
A good liar will never turn red, but there are subtle ways of seeing past
even the best poker face.
If you╒re looking for a human cheat, watch out for symptoms of anxiety like
an increased heart rate, sweating, fidgeting, or nervous touches to the
face.
But scientific research shows the greatest giveaway maybe in your voice.
Anxiety causes muscle tension and reduces blood flow to the vocal
chords.
This produces a distinctive pattern of sound waves that can give away even
the best cheats.
Unfortunately, it often takes sophisticated voice analysis equipment
to detect good liars, which is why so many people get away with cheating.
Imagine if we were like chameleons and could use people╒s skin color to tell
what they were really thinking.
That I welcome this kind of examination because people have got to
know whether or not their president is a crook.
Well, I╒m not a crook.
I╒ve earned everything I╒ve got.
Contrary to popular opinion, it seems the chameleon is not a crook either,
but even this legendary liar has to keep its eyes on the next contender.
Already, we╒ve been conned by chameleons, ratted on by rodents, and
fooled by foxes, but don╒t let appearances fool you.
Our next cheat is hard to beat and even harder to eat.
That╒s next on The Most Extreme.
At number seven in the countdown is a master of disguise.
Even entomologist, Ruud Kleinpaste has to work hard to see through the
incredible camouflage of the caterpillar.
It╒s not easy being a caterpillar.
You╒re soft, you╒re juicy and you╒re a
nice one bite cracker for anything that loves caterpillars.
That╒s why caterpillars are masters of disguise.
They look like anything but food.
And that╒s why if you╒re on the bottom of the food chain, it pays to look
like something that comes out of a bird╒s bottom.
This is the bird dropping caterpillar.
It avoids being eaten by disguising itself as something that a bird has
already eaten.
Caterpillars are number seven in the countdown because of the vast array of
tricks they use to fool hungry eyes.
Other caterpillars are thieves.
They steal poisons from the plants they eat and use them to tip their
spines with toxins.
And if the going gets really tough, some caterpillars pretend to be much
tougher than they really are.
After all, a bird may not be so hungry if it thinks it╒s attacking a tiny
snake.
But the most extreme caterpillar on the planet lives in Hawaii.
It cheats death by becoming a killer.
These are the only caterpillars in the world that eat flesh.
Now, their cunning camouflage lets the hunted become the hunter.
It╒s amazing the scary things you can do with a good disguise.
This is the caterpillar of the air.
A stealth aircraft is so well disguised that it has the radar
signature of a small bird rather than an airplane.
That╒s how it can launch such devastating attacks.
Stealth technology means that the airplane╒s shape and skin materials
are designed to minimize radar reflections, but this state of the art
technology is nothing new for one adult caterpillar.
The tiger moth has its own stealth technology on its wings.
A covering of fuzzy scales absorbs not radar, but sonar signals used by
hunting bats.
Just like a stealth bomber, the tiger moth is able to fly through the night
sky, securing the knowledge that it╒s almost invisible to the hungry bat╒s
sonar signals.
Thanks to cunning camouflage, moths and caterpillars may be able to stay
off the menu.
So why would our next contender disguise its tongue, not as a
caterpillar, but a worm?
Every fisherman is a cheat.
He just wants to fool a fish into taking the bait.
But some cheats are better than others, which is why this turtle is
number six in the countdown as St. Louis zookeeper, Peter Taylor
explains.
This is a 5-year-old alligator snapping turtle.
He╒s a bit threatened having to come out of the water here, so he╒s gaping.
You can see the wonderful profile of those rapture-like jaws.
As a demonstration of the fast reflexes of this turtle, I╒m going to
take a soft object which is just a rubber tube here, and we╒ll see what
happens when I just touch the inside of the jaws.
You can see the speed of that.
If I were to put my soft yielding flesh in there, a finger, he could
probably cut me rather deeply, and an adult turtle could certainly remove a
finger.
The tricky part is getting a fish to swim between these lethal jaws, and
that╒s where this little pink worm comes in handy.
The alligator snapping turtle is number six in the countdown because it
really does speak with a forked tongue.
Fish are easily fooled into believing that the turtle is just another log in
the pond, but this log is armed and dangerous.
To increase the chances of a fish swimming into the trap, the tip of the
snapper╒s tongue does a remarkable impersonation of a worm-like tasty
treat. Then, it╒s just a matter of time before the worm turns.
Some human criminals went one step further and used not only the worm,
but the whole snapping turtle to go fishing for money.
In Balch Springs, Texas, a pizza delivery guy was robbed of $50.
Two crooks cornered him in a phone booth and threatened him with a loaded
alligator snapping turtle.
So be careful the next time you find a turtle.
These animals are experts at deception and will get you when you least expect
it.
The alligator snapping turtle may have a mouth full of trouble, but coming up
is a flashy female who tells lies to get a free meal.
And we╒ll meet a group of monkeys that will steal your heart and anything
else they can get their hands on.
That╒s next on The Most Extreme.
At number five in the countdown is a story of sex and greed, for as Jane
Stevens of the St. Louis Zoo explains, the firefly knows it pays to
advertise.
It╒s sort of like the female sits quietly.
She usually doesn╒t have wings, but she blinks from a leaf or branch.
It╒s like saying, ╥Hey, sailor. I╒m over here.╙
And then, the males go, ╥Oh, hi. How are you?╙ and they come over to visit.
That╒s a wonderful way to communicate and not one that╒s found very often in
the insect world.
The glow itself is a wonderful thing because if you think about it, there
are about 136 species of fireflies within North America, and all of those
species have their own individual glow, but it╒s not just the glowing
that╒s an important part of that.
It╒s also the shape of the glow.
Sometimes, they actually acquire a shape like writing your name in the
sky with a sparkler at night on the 4th of July, and also the ability to
measure the intervals between when the lights glow.
For anybody who can crack the code of the firefly, suddenly catching these
bugs gets really easy.
All you have to do is mimic their flashing signals and males will fly
right into your hands.
Unfortunately for the males, there╒s one deadly female that uses a little
trickery of her own.
This female firefly has discovered how to mimic the flashing code of other
species.
So she╒s able to send out a glowing invitation to any males that might be
passing.
The firefly femme fatale is number five in the countdown because having
responded to her call, the male doesn╒t get lucky, he gets eaten.
She fools the male into thinking he╒s on a hot date when he╒s actually just
a hot meal.
But fireflies are not the only animals that use visual signals to attract
their mate.
Putting on makeup is just one way that human females highlight their best
features to enhance their attractiveness to the opposite sex.
Fortunately, few women will eat the males they attract; however, that
doesn╒t mean that we haven╒t been using a little trickery of our own.
For centuries, we╒ve been using artificial chemicals to help us win in
the dating game.
Perfumes not only smell nice, but they╒re thought to contain molecules
that mimic human sex pheromones, odorless chemicals that make us
attractive to the opposite sex.
Some scientists believe that it╒s not love at first sight, but first smell.
Catching a whiff of someone╒s pheromones may be the reason why we
find them attractive.
And now, it╒s possible to cheat a little.
Researchers in Britain have come up with a state of the art preparation of
human pheromones that you can use to increase your sex appeal.
All you do is apply one of the pheromone wipes called Xcite.
Manufacturers claim it will boost your sex pheromones and give you an
undetectable edge on the dance floor.
At least, scientists haven╒t been tempted to copy the firefly and
suggest that we too should flash our bottoms on the dance floor.
Number four in the countdown once lived in the jungles of Southeast
Asia, but then humans came along and good monkeys went bad.
This temple is devoted to Hanuman, the monkey god, and these are Hanuman
monkeys.
They have a charmed life because their namesake is worshiped by millions of
people.
Hanuman is a powerful god and wouldn╒t take kindly to anybody hurting the
animals that carry his name.
Unfortunately, some monkeys have taken advantage of their divine protection
and get up to all kinds of monkey business.
These privileged primates are number four in the countdown because they╒ve
become terrible thieves.
Tourists love watching the monkey╒s antics, until they discover they╒ve
lost not only their water and their lunch, but also handbags, sunglasses
and cameras.
Locals are terrorized by street gangs of hungry monkeys, and yet their
religious beliefs mean they can╒t harm even the worst offenders.
But some monkeys have even learned to get food by extortion.
They╒ll wait for people to hang their laundry out to dry, then they pounce.
If you try to scare the monkey to get your clothes back, it╒ll run away and
your clothes are gone forever.
It╒s only when you throw the monkey food that you get your laundry back,
more or less, undamaged.
Of course, using threats to get what you want is nothing new, and some
people made a career of it.
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance kid were perhaps the most legendary
thieves in the world.
With the rest of the wild bunch, they specialized in holding up trains,
although sometimes things didn╒t go quite as planned.
In 1899, they stopped a train in the wilds of Wyoming.
They boarded the train carrying more than enough dynamite to blow up the
safe in the express carriage.
The blast destroyed the carriage, but the safe was unharmed, so they used
more dynamite.
This time it worked so well that $30,000 were blown into the sky.
Perhaps, it╒s fortunate that monkeys don╒t have access to dynamite, but
some humans are training monkeys in the fine art of stealing.
They╒ve taken the monkey╒s natural talent for mischief and taught them to
steal for their trainers.
Forget Butch and Sundance, these monkeys are top banana when it comes
to thievery.
We╒ve seen monkeys on the make, bugs that bamboozle, and a turtle that
cheats for its supper, but coming up is the great pretender.
That╒s next on The Most Extreme.
Dogs can be taught to do just about anything.
They can even learn to play dead.
A trick that was inspired by the animal coming in at number three in
the countdown, for to play dead is to play possum.
And this is the possum.
The Virginia opossum is America╒s only native marsupial.
It╒s not much bigger than a house cat and it╒s a slow mover.
So when a possum thinks it╒s in trouble, it usually heads for the
trees.
But sometimes even that can be dangerous.
Possums will generally try to keep out of everybody╒s way.
But if they╒re cornered, possums will play possum.
Imagine if you could play dead like a possum.
If you were like a possum, you╒d have no trouble winning the Academy Award
for Best Performance as a dead person.
That╒s because possums don╒t play dead at all.
If you were a possum and you were in a dangerous situation, you╒d go into a
voluntary coma.
First of all, you drool a little saliva and even excrete a greenish
foul smelling mucus, but the possum is not just pretending to be dead.
It really does go into a catatonic state.
So if you were a possum, it would look as if you╒ve been frightened into
cardiac arrest.
You╒d feel no pain no matter how much you were poked or prodded.
One theory is that most predators like fresh meat.
So if you╒re already dead, maybe you╒re rotten and full of nasty
diseases, so predators leave you to die another day.
Humans can cheat each other by playing possum because we╒re so gullible.
We╒ll believe anything, which is why traveling medicine men were so
successful.
They╒d claim to have invented a miracle cure for any ailment even
though they had no medical training.
But one such inventor did go on to make the most extreme medicine in the
world.
In 1886, John Pemberton was working on a cure for soreheads.
It didn╒t cure many headaches, but when mixed with soda water, he╒d found
the recipe for Coca-Cola.
Possums have also invented a way of fooling even the hungriest predator.
Their brand of deception has let them survive more or less unchanged for 70
million years.
But unfortunately, ancient tricks don╒t always work so well in the
modern world.
That╒s because playing possum with a car can be deadly.
The orangutan gets its name from two Malay words that mean old man of the
forest, and just like us, this old man is smart enough to know how to get out
of the rain.
Orangs are primates and like us, use tools to solve problems.
In fact, it╒s because of this intelligence that orangs are number
two in our countdown of extreme deceivers.
Spend any time with an orang and you╒ll quickly discover just how
clever it is.
Just ask keeper at the Pittsburgh Zoo, Michelle Farmery.
Orangutans are excellent problem solvers.
I╒ve seen them on many occasions work through a problem.
One occasion that I can think of is when one of our female orangs got a
piece of rock and she used that rock to break free of the metal-grated
drain cover at the bottom of their exhibit, which is a very heavy piece
of metal, and she then used that drain cover, brought it up to the exhibit
windows to work with the very heavy bolts on the exhibit windows to try to
knock them loose.
We have to be very mindful of what we give to orangs because of their
intelligence and their ability to manipulate their environment.
For example, when we give them browse, like pieces of bamboo, we have to make
sure that the pieces aren╒t too long or too strong because they will put it
through their holding mesh downstairs and manipulate the ductwork and spin
their lights around and utilize it in ways for which it wasn╒t intended.
That╒s why many zookeepers use orangs to test new enclosures.
If an orang can╒t get out, nothing can.
A few years ago, at the Omaha Zoo, one orang became so famous for opening
locked doors that he became an honorary member of the Greater
Philadelphia Locksmiths Association.
That╒s because for an orang called Fu Manchu, escaping from his enclosure
became an exciting game he regularly played with his keepers.
Fu Manchu had secretly made himself a wire lock pick and kept it hidden by
storing it between his lip and gum.
He╒d used it to open his door and then he╒d go let all his friends out.
While they ran around the zoo causing trouble, Fu would head back to his
room and sit innocently waiting for the keepers to find him.
But not even the sneaky Fu Manchu could match the most extreme human
escape artist of all time.
Nothing could contain the incredible Harry Houdini.
The greatest magician the world has ever known, a man who thrills,
baffles, and amazed the public and scientists with equal ease.
The name Houdini meant startling, bewildering, impossible feats similar
to this.
Houdini claimed he could escape from anything.
He even offered rewards to anyone who could successfully restrain him, which
is how he ended up escaping from such things as a burglar proof safe, a
piano, a coffin, a cask of beer, and even a preserved giant squid.
The orangutan is the Harry Houdini of the animal world, although we╒ll
probably never find out for sure if an orang can escape from a preserved
giant squid.
But even these masters of deception are still not the greatest tricksters
in the countdown.
We╒ve seen the nine contenders.
They╒re the worst of the worst, only one animal is a bigger cheat.
It╒s number one and it╒s coming up next on The Most Extreme.
Imagine if your family was duped by the most extreme cheat on the planet.
How╒d you like it if your baby was swapped for an infant that grows much,
much bigger?
If you were conned by the number one cheat in the countdown, you╒d be left
raising a baby that grows 10 times bigger than you are, for that╒s
exactly what happens if you╒re conned by the cuckoo.
The scam begins when a female cuckoo raids the nest of a poor little reed
warbler.
First, she has to get rid of the warbler egg. Then, she replaces the
warbler egg by laying one of her own.
One reason the cuckoo is number one in the countdown is that it╒s a master of
disguise.
Its egg, sitting at the front of the nest, is so well disguised that it
fools the reed warbler into believing it╒s one of her own.
But the con doesn╒t end there, for baby cuckoos are nasty.
As soon as it hatches, the cuckoo chick will get rid of all competition,
and it does it right under its foster mom╒s nose and then it literally eats
its parents out of house and home.
The poor reed warblers end up feeding a baby that╒s 10 times heavier than
they are, but warblers have no choice because this baby is part of the mob.
Mobsters were big in Chicago in the 1920's.
His business card may have read ╥Secondhand furniture dealer,╙ but in
reality, Al Capone was a gangster.
He ruled Chicago because if you messed with Capone, he messed with you.
Scientists discovered that cuckoos are the Capones of the bird world.
When researchers removed cuckoo eggs from magpie nests, a few days later,
they returned to find that more than half the nests have been completely
destroyed by the cuckoo mafia.
It seems that cuckoos make birds an offer they can╒t refuse, take care of
my baby or suffer the consequences.
No wonder then when it comes to treachery, the cuckoo Capones really
are The Most Extreme.