Lucy Cooke is a zoologist and animal explorer on a worldwide quest to crack the animal code. Lucy meets up with the scientists across the planet who are breaking new ground in the study of animal communication. In programme one Lucy finds out how animals communicate in their own social groups and looks at one-on-one communication with creatures that are looking for the perfect mate. First stop for Lucy is Uganda in East Africa where she meets a clan of banded mongooses; she quickly learns just how chatty and social these little animals are. Lucy learns that there's a lot of information contained in one tiny mongoose squeak, not only do they issue each other with instructions, they constantly update each other on who they are and what they're doing. It's social networking mongoose style. Next, Lucy meets a pod of hippos and listens in on their underwater chat. By playing a recording of a stranger hippo across the Nile she encourages submerged hippos to come up and say hello. Staying in Africa, Lucy joins a ground-breaking research project studying chimp communication, she treks through the rain forest and observes groups of chimps and sees first-hand how important body language is to their interaction. Lucy then swaps Africa for a meadow in Massachusetts where she sees how North American fireflies attract their mates using the language of light. In a Panama swamp Lucy meets the tungara frog and discovers how female frogs match the voice they fancy to the right frog. Last but not least, Lucy is introduced to a jumping spider who performs a courtship dance just for her. She listens in to his secret love song and learns just how important seismic communication is to tiny animals.
Lucy Cooke is a zoologist and animal explorer on a worldwide quest to crack the animal code. In programme two Lucy meets up with scientists who are finding out how animals communicate with their friends and enemies and even what they say to the neighbours. First stop is Africa to meet the spotted hyena and Lucy discovers just how complex their calls are, she learns that they call for help when they're outnumbered and can count how many adversaries they face just by listening to their enemies' calls. Next, Lucy says hello to the chippy chickadee in California - Lucy learns that this little bird has a sophisticated alarm system that rates the level of threat depending on the predator they face. In Kenya Lucy uses an ornamental leopard, a wooden snake and hawk-shaped kite to trick some vervet monkeys into warning each other of danger. When the monkeys' calls and behaviours are different for each fake predator it's clear they can identify the threat and issue each other with detailed escape plans. Lucy is introduced to the only bat in the world that can eavesdrop on frogs and she witnesses the first recorded instance of animals communicating using infra-red; it's a heated discussion between a Californian ground squirrel and a rattlesnake. Next Lucy wants to explore how animals communicate with their friends - she learns that horses recognise their friends and that dolphins not only greet each other, they all have unique signatures or names. For the final leg of her journey Lucy meets two incredible birds who talk to their neighbours - the fork-tailed drongo mimics other species to trick nearby meerkats into giving up their food. But it's the greater honey guide's conversation with its human neigbours that Lucy finds particularly profound and moving.
