
Although these lizards may be found in a variety of habitats they are most common in flatwoods and around wetlands in sandy habitats. Range and Habitat: Eastern glass lizards are found throughout the southern and eastern portions of Georgia and South Carolina but are most common in sandy areas of the Coastal Plain. Older individuals are less boldly patterned than younger individuals, often developing a greenish or speckled coloration. This species is best distinguished from other glass lizards by the absence of a dark dorsal stripe or dark markings below the lateral groove and the presence of several vertical whitish bars just behind the head. The eastern glass lizard is the longest and heaviest glass lizard in our region and is generally light brown or yellowish to greenish in coloration. They differ from snakes, though, in that they have moveable eyelids, external ear openings, and inflexible jaws. Glass lizards are long, slender, legless lizards that superficially resemble snakes. Willson unless otherwise notedĭescription: 18 - 43 in (46 - 108 cm). So, has the BBC betrayed its viewers? Maybe, but not in the ways that people are so angry about.Eastern Glass Lizard ( Ophisaurus ventralis) On average, they killed just 16 percent of their targets.” “They didn’t coordinate their attacks, and they never showed signs of teamwork. “The data revealed that the dogs chased almost all of their prey over short runs rather than long pursuits,” wrote Yong. Yong contests that the BBC’s depiction, in which the dogs hunt as a coordinated unit, pursuing prey relentlessly over long distances with a high rate of success, is not backed up by scientific evidence. Specifically, in 2016, science reporter Ed Yong wrote in National Geographic that the BBC’s depiction of African hunting dogs in Planet Earth’s first season portrayed the animals’ habits incorrectly. While the BBC may be honest about its filmmaking tricks, some critics claim that it is not as forthcoming about its lack of scientific accuracy. We’re not embarrassed about it, we’re absolutely proud of it.” “We know that the audience wants to know, and we don’t have a problem with it.
Lizard snake escape series#
“What’s important to us is to be able to share great moments of animal nature, and some controlled filming allows us to do that,” said series producer James Honeybourne of the decision to be more transparent in the future. In that case, as in the most recent one, there was no conspiracy to deceive the viewer. As reported by Daily Mail in 2012, fans got upset about “controlled filming” in a BBC nature documentary in which captive animals were portrayed as wild animals, including a polar bear giving birth. The iguana chase scandal isn’t the first time the BBC has been called out for faking its portrayal of nature. Besides, can you imagine a boom mic operator sticking recording equipment between two ibexes while they fight?

Even the best microphones couldn’t isolate the target sound from all the noise across the necessary distance.

To some people, this may sound like even more of a betrayal than some spliced footage, but if you think about it, it’s simply impossible to capture animal audio in the wild.

As explained on the podcast 99% Invisible, nature documentaries use the talents of foley artists to fill in the sounds that nature photographers are too far away to capture. Nature documentaries have a long history of subtle deception, mostly in the form of sound. Now, if this feels like a betrayal, you might want to brace yourself - this is not a new thing.

The way the 2-minute sequence was edited certainly led viewers to believe that it depicted a single iguana. “Unfortunately lizards, snakes and iguanas aren’t good at ‘takes,’” said White, according to Daily Mail. Elizabeth White, the producer behind the “Islands” episode of the nature documentary’s second season, shattered the illusions of all in attendance when she explained that the famous scene, which had won the 2017 BAFTA Award for TV’s Must-See Moment, didn’t actually reflect the raw, unedited drama of nature. This paradigm-shattering news came to light on Tuesday at the Media Production Show in London. You know the breathtakingly beautiful footage from nature documentaries that seems almost too good to be true? Well, guess what? In a revelation that, for many people, will seem more devastating than the combined effect of finding out the Tooth Fairy, Easter Bunny, and Santa Claus were all made up, a producer for Planet Earth II revealed that the thrilling viral iguana chase scene, in which a lone marine iguana hatchling narrowly escapes a swarm of hungry snakes, was actually spliced together from footage of multiple iguanas.
