Planet Earth 2 – Episode 2 (Mountains) – Aoibhe McCarron
Planet Earth 2 – Episode 2 (Mountains)
Guest Blog by: Aoibhe McCarron
This episode of Planet Earth II was all about mountains and the animals that make their lives there. We start off in the Arabian Peninsula where we follow the ibex family. The ibex choose to live the majority of their lives and raise their young on the steepest cliffs where predators have no access. The ibex are specially adapted to be able to find their footing on the steepest mountain sides, however this comes with consequences. It’s hard to access food and they must go down the mountain to do so, where they are faced with predators and the risk of falling. Because of this the ibex only descend when essential. Once the ibex descend, they are immediately met with a predator; a fox. The ibex split up and run different directions making it hard for the fox to pick a target, and they run back up the mountain where it’s simply too steep for the fox to follow. This reflects humans in isolation, we take the risk of venturing out for food very rarely and stay in isolation (like the steep cliff tops) where the virus,( like the predator in a way), can’t find us.
In the Alps, the golden eagle scans the mountains with its specialised vision for food, food is scarce in the snowy mountains so the eagles are adapted to spot it from very far away and dive for prey at up to 150 miles an hour. This speed, second only to the osprey, helps them out-fly any other predators that might have spotted their meal. Once the eagle has found her prey, it isn’t long until other eagles start to gather. She must fight them off for her share, and eventually leaves the rest of the carcass for the other eagles. This is not dissimilar to people fighting over resources during the lockdown, perhaps like the eagle, we need to realise when we’ve had our share so that there are enough resources for others as well.
In North America, we meet the bobcat. His mountain habitat is covered in a thick layer of snow, so most of his prey is not where it normally is. The environment has changed overnight, so the bobcat must come up with new strategies to find prey and survive. First he uses his highly adapted sense of hearing to detect the sound of movement bouncing off boulders under the snow, this is a special adaptation to the snowy landscape. The bobcat catches a mouse this way, but it isn’t enough. He then tries out hunting in the water, which isn’t the bobcat’s forte, in this he is unsuccessful, but he comes up with something ingenious. He travels down the river to where the steam rises and heats the trees attracting all kinds of animals, and successfully catches a squirrel. As he’s adapted to the pine forest, he can quickly shoot up the tree and catch his prey. I think what we humans can take from this, is that we need to think outside the box and adapt quickly to new ways of living to combat the ongoing situation.
