Broadcast: News items

'One Show' presenter Miranda Krestovnikoff imitates the roar of red deer

When the BBC's popular teatime programme 'The One Show' went looking for help with a series of wildlife films about animal communication, they called on scientific expertise at the University of Sussex.

The results of their efforts can be seen on 'The One Show' next week, at 7pm on Thursday (12 November) and Friday (13 November) on BBC One, as part of a week-long sequence of special wildlife reports for the programme.

Presenters Miranda Krestovnikoff and Mike Dilger will be competing during the week to see who can best communicate with different animals (bees, wrens, toads, woodpeckers and deer).

Bee biologists in the Laboratory of Apiculture and Social Insects (LASI) will feature on Thursday's programme, showing how bees share information about where to find the best nectar and pollen.

Presenter and naturalist Mike Dilger and a film crew spent a day at LASI. Mike learnt about how honey bees communicate with each other and how to trace where bees forage.  

Dr Karin Alton, who is a member of the LASI team, says: "'We're always pleased to act as an interface between science and the public."

On Friday, psychologist Dr David Reby's advice forms the basis of an experiment to attract the attention of red deer males by mimicking their calls through a special instrument.

David, who specialises in the origin, structure and function of vocal signals in mammals, was called on to help with the design of an instrument that would mimic the sound of male deer. He gave advice on the construction and dimensions of a pipe that Miranda could blow down to imitate the roar of red deer.

A 'One Show' spokesperson said: "It sounded amazing. We put Miranda up a tree in a deer park and the sound she made produced a definite reaction from a nearby stag."

David has conducted research into the ability of red deer males to compete via sound cues that advertise the size and strength of any individual to other males and to females.