Chisellers

Season 1Episode 460 minDec 11, 2002
Chisellers

Rodents like rats, mice and squirrels are the most numerous mammals on the planet. This programme reveals how, with their constantly growing, chisel-sharp front teeth, they are specialists in breaking intoseeds. It also shows how they have adapted this talent to help them make their homes and even live underground, as well as revealing their ability to store food - and their ability to breed prolifically.

In Panama, David Attenborough fails to smash open a tropical nut with a large rock. Yet the terrier-sized agouti can easily gnaw through the concrete-hard casing to get at the nutritious kernel inside.

Like several rodents, the desert kangaroo rat stuffs seeds into its cheek pouches to take back to its burrow for safer eating, while the strange-looking naked molerat lives its entire life underground, using its massive incisors for digging tunnels and ripping apart buried tubers for food. Beavers can even cut down trees with their front teeth, using the logs for building their dams and lodges. A tiny infrared camera inserted into a beaver's lodge shows how they stay active during winter, feeding on the leaves and branches they stored under the ice in autumn. But unknown visitors also reveal themselves on camera - a family of muskrats sharing the lodge, tolerated perhaps in exchange for a regular supply of fresh bedding for the beavers.

Rodents are known for being prolific breeders. In Australia, this can cause such plagues that farmlands and homes are literally overrun by carpets of running mice. The largest rodent in the world, the capybara, also occurs in huge numbers, but they live in the vast swampy grasslands of South America so there is plenty of room to graze in great herds.

Chisellers has aired on Dec 11, 2002 at 8:00 PM
Previous EpisodeNext Episode

Trailer

We do not have any trailers for this episode

Recently Updated Shows

Recently updated shows that might be of your interest.
The Repair Shop
Running

The Repair Shop

The Repair Shop is a workshop of dreams, where broken or damaged cherished family heirlooms are brought back to life.

Furniture restorers, horologists, metal workers, ceramicists, upholsterers and all manner of skilled craftsmen and women have been brought together to work in one extraordinary space, restoring much-loved possessions to their former glory.

Many of these items have incredible stories behind them and a unique place in history: from an accordion played in the Blitz by a woman who is now in her 90s, to a beautifully crafted clock made by a father who was completely blind; a Pinball machine that is currently being used as a kitchen counter, and a Davenport desk with its trademark fake drawers which fooled burglars - and their crowbar.

The Repair Shop is an antidote to our throwaway culture and shines a light on the wonderful treasures to be found in homes across the country.

Jimmy Kimmel Live
Running

Jimmy Kimmel Live

Jimmy Kimmel Live features a diverse lineup of guests that include celebrities, athletes, musical acts, comedians and human-interest subjects, along with comedy bits and a house band.

GenreComedy
Crime Nation
Running

Crime Nation

Redefining the true crime genre, each thrilling two-hour episode delves deep into a riveting true crime sensation that has captured the attention of the nation. Each episode reveals new details about these stories through expert analysis, exclusive reporting and never-before-seen interviews. Also dives into the world of social media by talking to crime enthusiasts, social media sleuths, podcasters and digital detectives who in some instances have used their network to help solve cases.

GenreCrime
The Crow Girl
Running

The Crow Girl

The Crow Girl begins with the gruesome discovery of a teenage boy's body discarded in plain sight. Determined to find who is responsible, DCI Jeanette Kilburn joins forces with psychotherapist Sophia Craven to hunt the killer despite opposition from her superiors including confidant DI Lou Stanley.

The investigation takes them into a dangerous world of historic abuse and murder. Together they uncover a chain of shocking events involving the disappearance of children that have gone overlooked for decades, as well as evidence of police corruption.  As the body count rises and the two women are dragged into the depths of the murders, an intimacy starts to form between them, and so begins a complex, twisted love story. All the while, the killer is inching ever closer to home.

Expedition X
Running

Expedition X

In Expedition X, Josh Gates joined by scientist Phil Torres and paranormal researcher Heather Amaro to investigate reports of supernatural encounters, mysterious creatures, and astonishing extraterrestrial phenomena. Whether trekking through the remote jungles of Cambodia in search of a legendary ape-man or exploring the secrets of the world's largest cave system right here in the United States, the Expedition X team is taking viewers to the stranger side of the unknown.

Making her debut in Expedition X Season 8 is third-generation paranormal investigator Heather Amaro. Amaro notably replaced former host Jessica Chobot, who was one of the main stars of Expedition X for its first seven seasons.