>> "jack hanna's into the wild" is brought to you by nationwide insurance and the columbus zoo, partners in conservation for over 30 years. >> hi, everybody, i'm jungle jack hanna, coming to you from my home, the columbus zoo. today, we're on the lookout for bears. the question is, will we find them? we'll trek into the woods, follow expert researchers. >> look at this, man! this is unbelievable! >> and who knows what we'll see along the way. >> that was a stupi idea. >> grizzly bears and more all coming up when we go "into the wild."

>> i've been in montana probably 26 years and northern montana for 13 years. we have a lot of beautiful wildlife in montana but the first question everybody asks me is about the grizzly bear, not just the black bear, but the grizzly bear. they think a grizzly bear will come after them when they're hiking or look for them. you'll be hit by lightning before you encounter a grizzly bear while hiking. towards fall, the bears are fattening up for winter. some bears can go their entire lifetimes without eating meat, but sometimes we have a problem with grizzly bears if people leave out cat food for cats or

dog food. that's what happened at this farm. two nights before, the grizzly smelled chicken feed and came down here to check it out. the bear came down to eat the chicken feed, not the chickens. he was getting ready to eat the feed and he swatted the chicken and tasted the chicken and thought, man, i like the chickens! but the bear didn't know that the family was ready for his return because they'd called the montana department of fish, wildlife and parks that put them in touch with tim manly. tim is known all over the country for relocating bears and tim immediately called me saying that they'd gotten a grizzly bear in a trap the night before. sure enough, in that big shiny barrel, there was a 5-00-pound grizzly. >> the thing with these types of bears is they don't want to be

discovered by people so they tend to come in at night. this bear came in last night they think about 10:30. after it got dark, they heard the door go down on the trap and that's probably when it got caught. >> can i look at him? >> definitely. >> that was a stupid idea. >> adult male grizzly bear in his prime. when we caught him a couple of years ago, he was 6. he's 8 years old now. probably 400 to 500 pounds. >> what's he saying? >> let me out! >> we're taking you to another place right now. there won't be any chickens, but there will be bears. you're going to release him where? >> more into his home range. the berries are good in that area and he's familiar with that country. we'll release him down there and see how he does. >> it's great to tell this story

because it's a true story. it's not a setup, it's a true story of a family living their normal life that loved their surroundings and nature and wildlife. not like it could have been some people who say, that bear's got to get out of here, these bears have to be killed. i hate to say, this but the bears were here for thousands of years, way before we were. as we encroach on the area, the bears have to come in and eat. they understood that. i asked the woman, aren't you upset? >> no, we have numerous bears around here every year. make some noise, they don't bother anything. this is the first time we've been bothered by a bear. >> i'm amazed at this bear, i've seen the power of the bears. the bear knows you're in there. this bear, he gets up there with his claws are that long and dantily peels back the chicken wire, eats the chickens and no

one notices. if the bear smashed it, he knows there would be too much noise. >> it's good to have people like tim to give the bear another chance. >> i'm glad. i looked at him. he looks so sad. he's got his head down. he looks like a dog that got in trouble. place for him to go to. >> i'm sure he will. >> with that, tim started on the long drive to return the grizzly to his home range. we'll meet up with him a little later. coming up -- >> how does the door work? >> holy mackerel sweetie, you have to scrub it first. no you don't, honey. yes, you do! don't! i've washed a few cupcake tins in my day... oh, so you're a tin expert now. is that... whoa nelly! hi, kitchen counselor here. he's actually right... with cascade complete. see cascade complete pacs work like thousands of micro-scrubbing brushes to help power away tough foods even in corners and edges.

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to get their lives back on track. the wounded warrior project was created to help and support these injured heroes through programs that deliver needed supplies to their hospital bedsides, and through services that bring together veterans who have faced similar injuries and issues, to support each other during their recovery. the wounded warrior project's motto is, "the greatest casualty is being forgotten." regardless of your position on the war, these brave men and women deserve our support. please consider the many ways that you could get involved. to learn more, call... or visit woundedwarriorproject.org. we're in northern montana going face-to-face with one of north america's most misunderstood mammals, the grizzly bear. tim manly who captured a grizzly at a home is on his way to

release the bear in his home range. first, i'm off to meet two other trappers who work with tim and the montana fish and wildlife foundation. >> i got a call saying, jack, we're checking traps and we want to show you how we do this with cameras and equipment the columbus zoo bought for them for their research. we're excited about seeing what we bought to help save the bears there. >> hi, jack. >> god to see you. >> the scared me, man! >> hi, there. >> we're just checking our site today. we had a visitor but nothing got caught. >> a mountain lion came in here, pulled all the meat and everything and we have it all on your cameras. i don't believe it. >> you never know what we're going to find on these things. >> i hope it's not a squirrel. i see something. >> there's our cat. >> no, it doesn't.

knock it off. >> he was sitting there on the deck. >> magnificent footage! wait until people at the zoo see this. a mountain lion. look at this. doesn't this excite you? >> oh, yeah! we've not had cats in a trap before. this is unusual. we're trying to trap bears, not cats. >> what's really great about this, jack, is, if we didn't have this camera system, we wouldn't know exactly what was coming into this site but since we have the camera system, we can see this is a mountain lion and nothing we want to trap. >> what makes the camera go off? >> that cat triggered it. he triggered the camera. >> of course, he triggered it. >> the animals are actually the photographers. he was at 8:17 p.m. last night. he doesn't know he's being photographed. let me show you the motion sensor. the animal is triggering the camera by his movement. the sensor will pick up heat and

motion, has to have both. animals emit body temperature, body heat, and their motion, the combination of those will trigger the camera to start. i can program this to be specific to the size of an animal. so i have it programmed for something big. we want bears so we have it programmed for something big. these lights will come on only during nighttime. we use red filters because the red light doesn't affect the animal night vision. the animal triggers this, this turns on the camera. let's go look at the camera. >> you can imagine, over the years, what they've gotten on video cameras in the wild. you never know what's going to be on those cameras. >> we had amazing footage we've never had before of a grizzly bear and a wolf feeding on a moose carcass next to each

other. >> the cameras allow us to see behaviors we've never seen before. since there's no humans involved, the animals are at ease. >> how does the door work? >> we've got tied in the front some deer, which is what we want the bears to come in on, and it's tied to this pin on the back. all the bear has to do is pull on that and the way it works is, maggically, the pin gets pulled out and the door drops. go see that. >> the smell about blew my nose off. road kill, that's powerful! >> ew, holy mackerel! >> how are you doing, jack? >> it's lunchtime, i got to get going. >> we'll be back in a little while. >> open up the door, everybody, game's over with, okay?

don't tell me it's broken! >> oh, no. >> please tell me it's not broken. >> all right. if you were a bear, we'd be yelling at you, get out of here, bear, go on! >> let me tell you something, that thing slammed down, i almost jumped out of my pants. >> we've now got on tape a number of times a bear able to stick his foot out of the trap while he grabs the bait, triggering the door, but was able to push the door up with his back foot and get out. never seen that happen before but now we have it on tape. >> once i had gotten out of the trap, i really appreciated what derrick and heather were doing to make sure the bear's safety was the first in mind. no tranquilization, no darts or

anything else, and the safety for the bear and for themselves is the number one priority. they have it all covered. i know we work with tim and help with problem bears, that's one thing. but up here, it may be a problem up here because there's nobody up here. why are you so adamant about getting these bears? >> we're trying to find a female bear, she can't have cubs and can't be like the bear we met that's a problem bear. we're in a healthy population of grizzlies where we're standing but we have a mountain range to the west that has a population of grizzlies that isn't doing very well. so we're trying to find female bears to take over and help that population out. >> what's this for here, this one? >> this one's kind of fun. this camera is pointed at a bear bath, a naturally occurring small body of water, so it will tell us what animals might be moving through the area. we're not far from our trap so

we might be able to tell if there are animals that have been in the area but haven't been to the trap yet. >> have you looked at this yet? i'd like to be the first. >> you got something? >> we got a bear. >> holy mackerel! this is unbelievable! >> look at him in there. >> no wonder you love this. the bear comes in, jumps in the water, rolls around. i don't believe this. no wonder you get excited. these cameras the zoo provided, i'm going to tell you something. >> jack, there is so much neat stuff we see on these cameras. >> i'm so proud that the columbus zoo supports projects like this around the world. thanks to derrick and heather, we know what some of these animals are doing. now we can learn about the animals more in the wild. coming up on "into the wild" -- >> you're going to pull the rope up and the bear will ♪ i'd do anything for you, dear ♪ ♪ anything, yes, i'd do anything ♪

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the non-habit forming sleep-aid from the makers of nyquil. >> we're driving off the beaten path here in northwestern montana. inside this bear trap is a 500-pound grizzly captured last night 30 yards from a family farmhouse. our bear experts are traveling 60 bumpy miles to release the bear into his home range. i'll actual one thing, it's a long way to the middle of nowhere. and we drove and we drove and we drove. tim said, we got to get away

from people. turned off the main road, the swan highway, and went into the swan range. tim already knew from the radio collar and the number of the bear, where the bear had to return to. this looked pretty good, blueberries up there, everything a bear would like to eat. so we arrive and tim tells us what needs to be done. >> i'm going to rig this up so we can pull the door up with a pulley. right now, it's locked shut so there's no way for it to come up until everybody's in a vehicle. >> so we have our camera crew with three cameras and i think derrick and heather had four or five cameras. every route we thought the bear would take, we tried to put a camera. >> that's okay, buddy. you'll be home soon. man, he is big. another the thing the bear was doing, he would go -- he's too

real loud like that and that isn't good. if the trap wasn't there, and he's going -- that means -- but that would have been my fault, obviously. at that point, tim ties a strong rope to it and pulls the rope over the barrel, over the truck pulling the barrel, and back down over another truck. >> man, i don't want to screw this up. i'll tell you that right now. it attaches it to a door, underneath the door. >> you close it on the door of the truck and pull forward and pull the door up and we need to leave in a hurry, i can open the door of the truck and it will release the rope. if we tied it on the truck, we'd be stuck. >> the ropes and pulleys were attached. all the cameras were set up and loaded and we were just about ready to go. first, derrick and heather brought along a couple of assistants. these are bear dogs. >> they scare the bears, they'll help us track the bears if we need to track the bears. they help us on the trap line to

let us know if a bear is in the area. these are puppies, they're learning the tricks of the trade right now. >> where's the bear? >> now, i know what this is going to look like, but trust me, what these dogs are about to do may save this grizzly's life. i guess the question you would ask is, oh, that's just cruel. but they don't understand one thing, these dogs, by doing that, are saving the bear. >> they are. >> can you explain how that happens? >> the bear is not enjoying this at all, being barked at. ideally, if this bear goes down to other neighborhoods or other people's houses, if he hairs barking dogs, he'll be scared and run away. this is training the bear. >> ideally, the next time he hears a dog barking, he's going to go the other way. >> after the bear was trained

from the dogs, tim showed us what to do. they run around, turn their cameras on, get inside their vehicles. tim says, is everybody okay? it's checked out. he gets in his vehicle. what's amazing, you don't know if it's going to be one second, 10 seconds or an hour. this only took seconds. >> are you ready? okay. >> so right now, the front vehicle is where your truck is pulling the door off, correct? >> yes. he's going to pull the rope up. the trap is attached to my truck. the door will go up and the bear should come running out. >> that bear shot out of there like a cannon. immediately, tim and derrick jumped out of their trucks. >> go on! go on, bear! >> pow, pow, pow, that kind of stuff. they said they want the bear to learn, this is not the place to

be, get away from human beings. sure enough, several cameras got the bear being released. it was beautiful, not just to see what we'd caught on film, but the joy i had seeing that bear free again on its homeland. thank you for educating us and helping to save the bears' lives. >> you're welcome. we're glad you were able to come out with us. the whole idea is to keep the bears alive and in the wild. >> the important thing about bear conservation is the fact that the grizzly bear is an icon species. this has to succeed. what derrick, heather and tim manly are doing, they're doing a great job. without the work they do, these animals would not have a chance. >> polar bears rely heavily on ice for everything they do. the biggest threat to them right now is the decrease in ice. jen's car wasn't handling well.

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[ female announcer ] pampers. peaceful nights. playful days. >> "jack hanna's into the wild" is brought to you by nationwide insurance and the columbus zoo, partners in conservation for over 30 years. grizzly bears may not be at risk today, but there are other bears that aren't so fortunate. the columbus zoo is on a mission to help. the columbus zoo has forged a strong partnership with polar bears international, a non-profit organization looking to save polar bears. the work they're doing is bringing insight into the challenges these magnificent animals face. >> polar bears rely heavily -

ice for everything they do, for breeding, for feeding and maternity denz. the ice is melting at a rapid rate. they're losing about three weeks of ice in the last 15 years. the biggest threat to them right now is the decrease in ice. they're not having enough time to do the hunting, they need to hunt to get through the harsh arctic winters. >> by becoming an arctic ambassador, the columbus zoo and polar bears international hope to bring real-life solutions closer to home. >> there are many little things you can do. unplug things at home you're not using all the time. you can buy recycled, and planting trees is a huge thing. we're going to challenge each person who comes to the zoo to become an arctic ambassador and it's like a chain effect. my son says little hands can make a difference all the time. it really is true. even when you feel like it's overwhelming, if each of us does our part, we can make a huge

difference for the bears. >> thanks for joining us today in our search for bears. i'm fine with this view of them from right here. at the columbus zoo, i'm jack hanna. there's a natural resource that exists everywhere on the planet that could improve conditions and help end poverty. yet it's been largely ignored. that resource is women. in many of the world's poorest communities, women are denied a significant role, so often, their talent and potential remain untapped.

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jarod: i'm jarod miller. all my life, i've been exploring the animal kingdom. sometimes it's tense, sometimes funny, but always amazing. now i want you to join me, because when it comes to exploration, it's best just to jump right in. [laughs]. [monkey screeching]. today on animal exploration, we're going to meet some amazing animals found throughout the deserts of the world, so stick around. here we are at the california living museum in bakersfield, california. inside is an array of amazing animals and plants that are

native to the state of california. let's go check it out. all right, here we are at the california living museum. i'm here with my buddy lloyd, and we have a chuckwalla, which is a local lizard -- you said one of the largest lizards found right here in california and native to the mojave region, where we are right now. lloyd: and if you notice how wrinkly his skin? jarod: right. lloyd: i don't know if you can see on this side how he's puffing up? jarod: yeah. lloyd: well, what this lizard does for protection from its enemies is it crawls into a crack, and that's why they like the lava rock. lava rock is black, and you can see his color will blend very good with a... jarod: oh, yeah, with a lava rock. he looks just like a lava rock. if he were to crawl into a crack of a rock, he could inflate himself to make it harder to pull out. lloyd: right, he plumps himself up. and if he gets in there, you aren't pulling him out. [jarod laughs]. and that's his main protection. it's not to look big to his enemies that are trying to kill him. it's so nothing can pull him out of the crack. jarod: i have a question, too, about his tail. a lot of lizards can drop their

tail and then regenerate a new one. can this drop his tail in the same way? lloyd: he can, but they don't do it very much. you'll see some lizards where their tails have been regenerated. this one one's never been broken, so he's got a full length of tail. and it does break occasionally, but it's not easily broken like the other lizards are. jarod: now, what are some animals that prey upon the chuckwalla? lloyd: all birds of prey -- hawks, owls, coyotes, foxes. these are the animals that are mainly going to prey on this guy. jarod: the chuckwalla, a substantial-sized lizard found right here in the mojave region. but you know what? he's not the biggest. we're going to meet the biggest lizard found in all of california, and it just so happens to be venomous. lloyd, here, has the largest lizard found right here in california, and it's the banded gila monster. and you were saying, lloyd, that gila monsters are only native to a certain area of southern california. lloyd: yeah, they just barely get into california, close to the arizona border, and san bernardino county. gila monsters are carnivores. and strange to believe, but

their diet is primarily mice, and birds, snake eggs, lizard eggs. jarod: bird eggs? lloyd: yeah, bird eggs. and people often wonder, how do these guys catch birds? because they're not really real fast lizards. jarod: right. lloyd: what they do is most desert birds nest on the ground. they'll go take the baby birds out of the nest -- and the same with the mammals. they can't catch a mouse that's running around, but the baby mice in the burrows, they crawl down in the burrows and eat the baby mice. jarod: right. lloyd: this guy spends about 75 percent of his life underground, and he doesn't eat during this time. he stays down there and sleeps. he's only found out at a short period of time in his life; and, again, it's during the breeding season when the birds are having the baby birds, and the food that he eats is plentiful. jarod: now, lloyd, both beaded lizards and gila monsters, they have this really unique skin. and what's great, if you can touch a gila monster -- which i wouldn't recommend doing, because of their venomous bite -- but a gila monster actually has these little osteoderm

plates, which are almost like little bone fragments underneath the skin. lloyd: right. but we talked about it being a venomous lizard -- a gila monster's venom glands are right here in their lower jaw. it's not in the other -- it's not like the rattlesnakes or some of the snakes that inject venom through fangs. this guy actually has to bite you and chew. jarod: right, and then hold on. lloyd: right, in order to put the venom in, when they bite, they hang on. they don't let go. the more you try to tug out, the tighter they grip. they don't generate any body temperature, so when they're in hibernation, they don't have to do anything that creates heat to warm their bodies, and their body temperatures are all absorbed from the sun. so, consequently, they can go long, long periods of time without eating, because they're not using lots of energy. jarod: now, that's amazing. like, in the reptile world, he's pretty much using the same sort of technology or the same physiology as another desert animal, the camel, because the camel has that fat stored up to keep them going, when food and water just isn't available.

gila monster, beautiful desert animal found right here in the mojave. lloyd, thank you so much for showing us. and let's go check out some more desert dwellers. next on animal exploration, the most endangered wolf in the world and later, a tale of two tortoises. sweetie, you have to scrub it first. no you don't, honey. yes, you do! don't! i've washed a few cupcake tins in my day... oh, so you're a tin expert now. is that... whoa nelly! hi, kitchen counselor here. he's actually right... with cascade complete. see cascade complete pacs work like thousands of micro-scrubbing brushes to help power away tough foods even in corners and edges. so, i was right, right? i've gotta run. more households use cascade dishwashing detergent than any other brand. did you know when heartburn, it's too late to take prilosec because... but it's

but zantac® works differently. it relieves heartburn in as little as 30 minutes. in fact, so, when heartburn strikes, try zantac® this has been medifacts for zantac® so, when heartburn strikes, try zantac® [ male announcer ] if you think all batteries are the same... consider this: when the unexpected happens, there's one brand of battery more emergency workers trust in their maglites: duracell. one reason: duralock power preserve. it locks in power for up to 10 years in storage. guaranteed. so, whether it's 10 years' of life's sunny days... or... the occasional stormy one... trust goes a long way. duracell with duralock. trusted everywhere. ♪ [ snoring ] [ male announcer ] introducing zzzquil sleep-aid. [ snoring ] [ snoring ]

[ male announcer ] it's not for colds, it's not for pain, it's just for sleep. [ snoring ] [ male announcer ] because sleep is a beautiful thing. [ birds chirping ] introducing zzzquil, the non-habit forming sleep-aid from the makers of nyquil. ♪ today, we're in palm desert, california, at the living desert, the place to see and experience desert life. let's get inside. the collared peccary has a lifespan of ten years in the wild and weighs 35 to 60 pounds. on our search for the most amazing desert creatures, we came all the way to palm desert, california. i'm here with my friend liz, who's the animal curator here at the living desert zoo and gardens. and we have a phenomenal animal right behind us. and we're talking to liz a little bit about -- you know, this guy looks like a pig, and they're native to the united states. they go by a couple of different names -- the collared peccary --

and most people throughout the nation, often we call these javelina hogs, right? liz: mm-hm. jarod: that's cool. now, this little guy that's going back and forth here, we were talking before, and when you look at one of these collared peccary, they do look just like a pig. and i was asking you, are they in the porcine family? liz: no, they're not. they're not actually a pig. suidaes, or pigs, are old world animals, and they come from africa, and these guys are native north america, and they have a different number of toes. they have a different digestive system. they have a different social structure, and they eat slightly different things. jarod: it always existed here. it's been here for hundreds of years and has adapted to desert life. and you said not only do they have interesting diets, but you said their social structure is pretty unique among animals like this. liz: yeah, most pigs are actually kind of solitary. they don't go too far from water, and they do congregate, but not the way these guys do. these guys live in big herds. when they're attacked, they will actually display altruism, and one of them will actually take on a predator. jarod: and just give themselves up? liz: basically, sacrifice himself so the other guys can

get away. jarod: wow. now, what are some of their natural predators? like, there's a lot of carnivores that live in the desert. you have your puma, you have coyote, you have wolf. what are some other animals that would prey on a full-grown peccary? liz: that's probably about the list, because it has to be big enough to take on those incisor teeth that can slash. jarod: inflict a pretty good injury? liz: oh, yeah, they can slash a hunk of flesh out pretty easily. jarod: pretty easily? [laughs]. liz: yeah. jarod: and when they're born, are they kind of different in coloration? life if you look at... liz: they're striped. jarod: they're striped, right. so they're just like some of the other feral pigs that you see throughout the united states that a lot of people consider like a javelina. so would it be safe to say it's difficult to gauge their intelligence, because people don't have one-to-one contacts with these animals? but looking at their social structure, looking at the fact that they live in a group, and you said they're altruistic, those are all behaviors that, i think, signify a pretty... liz: and your intelligence is geared towards your survival. jarod: right. liz: and finding food. so they have to be intelligent just to survive in the desert. jarod: now, liz, collared peccary, amazing animal -- not really a pig at all.

what else do you have to show us? liz: well, you came to the right place, because we have lots to show you. jarod: all right, let's go. the mexican wolf weighs 60 to 80 pounds and can live up to 15 years in captivity. so, liz, we're still looking for more desert animals. and when people think of wolves, you think of them, arctic wolves up in the tundras. you think of them like the big, bad wolf. you think of them in these dark forests and everything. but i think a lot of the kids at home don't even realize that wolves can exist very well in the desert. right here at the living desert zoo, you have mexican wolves, which are not only adapted to desert life in the southwest united states and in mexico, but, really, one of the most endangered canids and really the most endangered wolf in the world, right? liz: well, they are the most endangered wolf in the world. jarod: now, desert life is pretty rough, and a wolf is a really large predator, and a lot of areas in the country and in the world, they're an apex predator. so how does an animal like that find food under those conditions? liz: they have to have a lot of space, and that's part of the

reason they're so endangered, because the fewer the resources are -- and in a desert environment, where you don't have a lot of rain, you don't have a lot of animal life, you don't have a lot to choose from, they have to spread out and travel farther and have more space. the carrying capacity on land is less, so you have less animals on more space. and that's part of the problem. i mean, part of the problem is that we're invading, and we're moving into the desert, because we think it's a great place to retire and things like that, and we're pushing them out of that space, and they have less to choose from. jarod: now, the living desert zoo, they're extremely involved in protecting, and preserving, and educating about all desert life. why is the mexican wolf such a priority for breeding, especially among the zoos in the united states? liz: because there are so few of them, and we need a lot of help from facilities that exist in the environmental conditions that they belong in to help us out and help us breed, because there aren't very many of them left. jarod: right, because ultimately, i mean, a lot of endangered species, i mean, it really comes down to habitat

loss and all these other factors, but that's the essential part of zoos like the living desert zoo, because you can keep these captive populations. you monitor the genetics. you make sure -- you almost set up these dating services, like the species survival plan, where all these animals are just far enough unrelated, so they have viable genetics. and then, ultimately, you guys are releasing these wolves. so that means that every wolf that you see in a zoo, whether it's here at living desert or some of the other zoos throughout the united states, especially in the southwest, they're all intended to eventually either foster or maybe their babies are going to be sent back to mexico. liz: right. they're all on a release program. jarod: liz, thank you very much. mexican wolf, it's an animal that you really never get to see. and we learned so much about it, and let's move on to something else. liz: super. jarod: all right, let's go. [wolf howling]. coming up on animal exploration, was it slow and steady wins the race or small and steady wins the race? guess we'll have to find out. and later, this cat's got character. ♪ i'd do anything for you, dear ♪

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ahh, i've been crawling around this desert all day. it's hot, my throat is dry. i need water! water! oh, thanks. let's go check out some more animals. we're here in the colorado desert with my friend liz, who's the animal curator at the living desert zoo and botanical gardens. and we've come across a really interesting and an easy animal to really approach in the desert, because they don't move very fast. and, liz, this is a california desert tortoise, right? liz: right. jarod: now, this particular desert tortoise, this is probably one of the most ultimately adapted animals of all. i mean, they've been around for millions of years. turtles and tortoises are -- i mean, there are so many adaptations, but this particular specie of desert tortoise has really adapted to kind of take it to the next level and really handle some extreme conditions. liz: yes. jarod: what are some characteristics that they have that make them even a little bit

more different than some of the tropical tortoises? liz: well, they exist in the desert, so they conserve their water. they get most of their water from what they eat, and they don't eliminate a lot of water. any desert animal conserves as much water as they can. jarod: is this a male or a female? liz: this is a male, and you can tell this is a male, because, for one thing, he's concave underneath. jarod: oh, i see. liz: so he fits on top of the female's shell. jarod: so this would be your carapace, which would mean the top shell of the turtle, and then the bottom is the plastron. liz: is the plastron. jarod: is the plastron. and this would be your carapace. the carapace is the small part of the turtle's shell covering the head and thorax. jarod: and then the bottom is the plastron. liz: is the plastron. jarod: the plastron is the nearly flat part of the shell structure. now, what is this scoop up here that's coming out of the plastron or the bottom of our desert tortoise? liz: this is called a gular, and the males use it when they're in a territorial dispute with another tortoise. they sometimes can flip each other. jarod: so that's the best way, if you're going to be in a fight with a tortoise, if you can --

you know, this size might be easy, but some of these tortoises, a galapagos tortoise can be well over 1,000 pounds, correct? liz: mm-hm. and you can see he can actually pull his head way back in, and so it protects him, too. jarod: we all know that tortoises vary in size, depending on what geographic region throughout the world, and they're found not only here in the deserts of the u.s., but africa, and asia, australia, as well. wow. now, again, this is a real treat, because, you know, this could be a 100-year-old tortoise, easily. this is a guy that's only about three months old. liz: right. jarod: the one thing i love about working with any type of reptile is that, especially when they're babies, they are exact replicas of their adult form, but just miniaturized. liz: you can compare. you can see there are lines here, and there aren't any lines here. jarod: exactly. and that's why, looking at these things, it might lead you to believe that you could determine the age that way. look at this. this is great. and, boy, he is like an active little guy. and this little guy, it's a little too young to tell, but not a concave, so this could be a female? liz: could be a female.

jarod: now, diet-wise, obviously, they need to find food items that are going to give them as much moisture -- this tortoise pretty much eats vegetation, correct? liz: right? jarod: will they ever eat something like a cactus? liz: mm-hm. jarod: so they could actually have... liz: cactus have a lot of moisture in them. jarod: right, and then in the desert, that's pretty much the only -- that's your best water source, because, you know, they actually have water reserves within a cactus. liz: right. jarod: so they're made in such a way that not only can they break through the hard exterior of the cactus, but obviously, deal with those spines. liz: mm-hm, and they eat a lot of other things, too, that are drier, but cactus is one of them. jarod: how about flowers, and fruits, and things like that? liz: yep, they eat flowers and fruits. jarod: that's amazing. so not only are they very well adapted to handle desert life, the heat, the terrain, the lack of water, but they've developed over millions of years to be, again, one of the most adapted animals in the world. liz, thank you. the desert tortoise, a beautiful highly-adaptive and really prehistoric desert creature. do you remember the phrase that if red touches black, it's a friend to jack, and if red touches yellow, it'll kill a

fellow? well, that's an easy way to figure out if this snake is okay. he's a milk snake, and milk snakes closely resemble coral snakes, which are one of about 20 venomous snakes throughout the united states, and this guy mimics him, and that actually helps ward off potential predators. but you can't just rely on color. venomous snakes can also be identified by just looking at the shape of their head. most venomous snakes have a triangular-shaped head, which allows space for their venom glands, which lead to their fangs, which, if you get injected by those, you're going to be in serious trouble. now, remember, there's a big difference between poisonous and venomous. if they're poisonous, you need to be ingested, like in the case of a frog. if you were to eat a frog, you'd get sick. in the case of being venomous, like a snack, or a spider, or even other types of insects, they would actually need to inject that venom into you. and all venom really is, is specialized saliva. now, if you want to avoid a very serious bite, you want to make sure that you make a lot of noise when you're walking through the forest. don't walk through tall grass and areas where you know venomous snakes may live, and avoid getting anywhere near them. some snakes, like rattlesnakes,

give you the best warning, because they make a sound. so if you hear a rattling, stay still or walk slowly, so you avoid getting a very venomous, a very painful and potentially deadly strike to the leg. announcer: need more animal excitement? check out our website at animalexploration.com. jarod: when animal exploration returns, we get to meet the spectacular and very rare desert cat. [ female announcer ] with swiffer dusters, a great clean doesn't have to take longer. i'm done. i'm gonna read one of these. i'm gonna read one of these! [ female announcer ] unlike sprays and dust rags, swiffer 360 duster's extender gets into hard-to-reach places without the hassle. so you can get unbelievable dust pickup in less time without missing a thing. i love that book. can you believe the twin did it? ♪ swiffer. great clean in less time. or your money back.

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here we are in the beautiful high desert of southern california at the exotic feline breeding compound's feline conservation center. let's go meet some endangered big cats. here kitty, kitty, kitty. a jaguarundi has a lifespan of 16 to 22 years in captivity and can weigh 8 to 16 pounds. well, here we are at the exotic feline breeding compound with my friend sandy again. and talking about desert dwellers, and there's many

desert animals that come to mind when you think of that harsh environment. so, sandy, who do we have behind us? sandy: this is aztec, and aztec is a jaguarundi. jarod: wow, jaguarundi. sandy: mm-hm. jarod: now, this is a cool cat, because when you look at him, he almost looks more like a mustelidae or something like you'd see in the weasel family. he almost looks like an otter, i would say. but jaguarundis, they're a small wild cat that lives right -- you know, used to be found right here in the united states. sandy: yeah, they used to range all through north america. now they're mostly down in the mexican area, but they are coming up periodically in arizona and texas. jarod: great. now, is this a full-grown jaguarundi? sandy: this is a full-grown adult. jarod: wow. so they don't get very big at all. sandy: no, no, this is about as big as they get, and they do have a couple of variations on their coloring. jarod: mm-hm. sandy: aztec, here, she's a dark one, and her sister maya has a lot more of the reddish tones. jarod: oh, so they can have different coloration, even within the same litter then. sandy: exactly. jarod: wow. now, look at this. just like any cat, especially your cats at home, this jaguarundi, even though he's pretty weasel-like, he still has

all those same cat behaviors. and what sandy is trying to do is lure him over with the one thing that cats love most, and that's motion. sandy: that's right. jarod: and this is a cat. now, a cat this size doesn't seem -- you know, compared to jaguars, or mountain lions, or even bobcats for that matter -- doesn't seem like a very big predator. so what kind of food items would a little cat like this eat in the wild? sandy: they mainly survive on small rodents. jarod: so just like your cat at home, a cat like this could pretty much eat just mice and rats and sustain their entire size, right? sandy: mm-hm. jarod: they're endangered in the desert habitats of north america, but if you go into the rain forests, you can find these cats, as well, where they're a lot more populace. sandy: actually, if you go through even the desert areas and the mountainous areas of central and south america, you'll find quite a few of the jaguarundi. jarod: very cool. i think aztec's getting interested in what's going on over here. now, how dangerous of a cat is this? i mean, he's a little guy, but if we were to just reach over and try to pick him up, what would happen? sandy: well, she's got very sharp teeth and very sharp claws, so she could do quite a bit of damage. she's not going to kill you like one of the bigger cats, but she could do a lot of damage.

jarod: that's amazing. so a cat like this, living in the desert, used to be found through the southwest united states -- now more into mexico, where they are endangered. a cat like this seems like he would be, actually, a very effective desert predator. he would eat small mammals. he would eat probably scorpions. do you think something like this could eat something like a rattlesnake? sandy: they don't actually go after rattlesnakes, but they will go after other types of species of snakes. jarod: oh, cool. the jaguarundi, awesome cat specie, beautiful desert dweller, and this is an awesome opportunity to meet one. thank you so much, sandy. sandy: you're very welcome. jarod: and thank you to aztec, one of the only remaining jaguarundis here in north america. [cat growling]. today we visited some great locations. today, we're in palm desert, california, at the living desert -- the beautiful high desert of southern california -- bakersfield, california. we saw some incredible animals, but there's no substitute for seeing them in person. if you can't get to these locations, here's some other places you can visit.

today's show was really hot. it's a good thing all of these animals have special adaptations that allow them to thrive in some of the most deadly environments on earth. thank you for watching. and remember, every day is an exploration. announcer: closed captioning provided by... jen's car wasn't handling well. so i brought it to mike at meineke. we gave her car a free road handling check. i like free. free is good. my money. my choice. my meineke. and less saturated fat? easy. it's eb. eggland's best. better eggs. it's eb. trust icy hot for powerful relief. [ male announcer ] the icy hot patch. goes on icy to dull pain, hot to relax it away. so you're back to full speed. [ male announcer ] icy hot. power past pain.

sandy: however, now they're classified as extinct, but they are well-represented in mexico and south america. jarod: sandy, there's one right there. they're not extinct. i'll bet i just discovered a new specie. sandy: did i say extinct? [laughter]. jarod: so, sandy, tell me... [sandy laughs]. sandy: cut! [laughs]. okay. jarod: are you ready? sandy: uh-huh. jarod: you got the giggles out? sandy: i'm cool. [laughter]. jarod: driving betsy off, right? [sandy laughs].