Category
🐳
AnimalsTranscript
00:00 This hardened bully feeds on the dead and the dying.
00:07 Few species would challenge the freshwater crab.
00:12 Its armour protects soft tissue
00:21 and even its eyes can be retracted when threatened.
00:28 Its claws are weapons for attack.
00:32 However, the crab shares the river with an unlikely rival.
00:44 A leech. A tiger leech.
00:49 No armour, no obvious weapons, yet this leech is deadly.
00:55 At just two inches long, it lives up to its name.
01:00 The leech is stealthy,
01:09 seeking out the chemical trails of potential prey.
01:14 The crab sees movement amongst the detritus.
01:22 A would-be victim.
01:25 The leech seems wary
01:31 and keeps its distance from the well-armed aggressor.
01:36 It watches and waits as other leeches gather nearby.
01:50 The crab moves in to attack.
01:54 But a second leech arrives, seeking the crab's juicy insides.
02:04 The crab decides that attack is the best form of defence.
02:10 Its claws could do serious damage to a leech's soft body.
02:16 But the leeches are slippery customers, covered in mucus.
02:22 The leeches pause their attack.
02:29 Only for a moment.
02:34 This leech is hungry.
02:37 It manoeuvres behind the deadly claws and tries to latch on.
02:45 The crab attempts to shake off its attacker.
02:51 A master at breaking and entering, the leech has found a chink in the crab's armour.
03:02 Once it strikes soft tissue, it tears into the flesh, injecting an anticoagulant.
03:14 The leech begins to suck out the crab's vital fluids.
03:19 The crab's struggle is futile.
03:23 Its life is literally being sucked away.
03:36 The leech will gorge itself, consuming up to five times its original body weight.
03:43 All that remains of the crab is its armour and the weapons that proved useless against the aquatic vampire.
03:56 The leech won't need to feed again for months, even a year.
04:05 [Music]
04:14 [Music]