BBC is well known for some fantastic documentaries. Life in Cold Blood is a five part series that features both reptiles and amphibians. If you manage to catch this on TV, or find it at your local movie store, I recommend watching it! It’s split into hour long segments that feature different groups, such as one for snakes and one for lizards, so you can watch them all or just the ones most interesting to you.
The depth and detail of the documentary beats any book or internet source you can pick up, simply because it shows you some things a book just can’t cover comprehensively. You have the chance to see some absolutely amazing bits of behavior in a wide variety of species, probably some you’ve never even heard of. The film quality is astounding, and it’s like sitting back and watching a stunning photographer’s snapshot-just in motion!
The DVD also features ‘under the skin’, which goes even more in depth and behind the scenes by showing you how they filmed some things, or introducing you to some of the scientists they worked with.
Some highlights of the show were some of the complex and warm behaviors that are not often associated with reptiles, such as the Australian shingleback. Scientists have been following the shinglebacks, and have discovered that they appear to mate for life. The same male and female will spend several months of each year together before parting ways, only to find each other again the next year. One of the pairs they’ve been researching have been together for over 20 years! They are so dedicated, even if one is hit by a car, the other will stay by its side for several weeks. This behavior is only one of many incredible ones you’ll see if you watch the series.
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