A Hungry Snake Finds a Whole Colony of Sociable Weavers

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Transcript

00:00 (chickens clucking)

00:02 The beginning of summer is a hive of activity

00:04 in the camelthorn tree.

00:06 Days are longer and mornings warmer.

00:09 At daybreak, sociable weavers are already on the move.

00:18 They leave in the morning to forage

00:23 and come back to feed their chicks.

00:26 (gentle music)

00:28 But this time, there is a nasty surprise.

00:33 A boom slung has found the nest.

00:39 A three to five foot long venomous snake

00:41 with an Afrikaans name that means tree snake.

00:44 It systematically goes from nest chamber to nest chamber

00:49 and eats the chicks and eggs whole.

00:55 The snake takes its time.

00:57 It's threatened by nothing.

00:58 The parent birds watch helplessly.

01:03 Living in a large colony has many advantages,

01:09 but when a predator finds the nest, it's a tragedy.

01:12 The boom slung can kill the entire colony's brood in hours.

01:18 (chickens clucking)

01:21 The chicks are gone, but the adults are safe.

01:32 The sociable weaver's life strategy

01:35 is to invest their energy into the survival of the adults.

01:38 They will soon produce another brood

01:41 to replace the eaten one.

01:43 Life goes on.

01:46 (birds chirping)

01:48 (upbeat music)

01:51 (upbeat music)