David Attenborough Answers Why People Fear Snakes | The Dick Cavett Show

David Attenborough discusses why some people fear certain animals, such as snakes, above others and his experiences with filming bats in Borneo.
Date aired - November 12th 1981 - David Attenborough
For clip licensing opportunities please visit www.globalimag...
Subscribe for more Dick Cavett Show: bit.ly/3ao6ZNy
More from David Attenborough:
David Attenborough on Meeting Mountain Gorillas: • David Attenborough on ...
David Attenborough on Dangerous Experiences: • David Attenborough's B...
Dick Cavett has been nominated for eleven Emmy awards (the most recent in 2012 for the HBO special, Mel Brooks and Dick Cavett Together Again), and won three. Spanning five decades, Dick Cavett’s television career has defined excellence in the interview format. He started at ABC in 1968, and also enjoyed success on PBS, USA, and CNBC.

His most recent television successes were the September 2014 PBS special, Dick Cavett’s Watergate, followed April 2015 by Dick Cavett’s Vietnam. He has appeared in movies, tv specials, tv commercials, and several Broadway plays. He starred in an off-Broadway production ofHellman v. McCarthy in 2014 and reprised the role at Theatre 40 in LA February 2015.

Cavett has published four books beginning with Cavett (1974) and Eye on Cavett (1983), co-authored with Christopher Porterfield. His two recent books -- Talk Show: Confrontations, Pointed Commentary, and Off-Screen Secrets (2010) and Brief Encounters: Conversations, Magic moments, and Assorted Hijinks(October 2014) are both collections of his online opinion column, written for The New York Times since 2007. Additionally, he has written for The New Yorker, TV Guide, Vanity Fair, and elsewhere.
#thedickcavettshow #DavidAttenborough #wildlife

[@lexvonghoul6996]

A national treasure. I could listen to him speak all day

[@jamesdrynan]

Attenborough's description of the bat cave and its guano goulash is something Spielberg could have devised for Indiana Jones! His observation on the unpredictability of spiders, snakes and people is interesting, too.

[@bendover9663]

Released the same year as this interview

[@handebarlas6248]

David Attenborough is simply superb. And just look at his outfit- soo classy!!!

[@zitherzon2121]

0:40 Steve Irwin might have missed this lecture by Sir David here

[@hywelgething4943]

He's nearly 100 and going strong! Caution is not cowardice, it's the first rule of survival. An Aussie called Steve should have taken a leaf out of his book instead of being bitten countless times by snakes and riding crocodiles. Strange that a Thornback ray got him in the end.

[@EJK2099]

Imagine learning about your fear from a late night circuit conversation

[@evilpandakillabzonattkoccu4879]

That's how I learned about my phobia of bad comedy, late night shows.

[@freddiem8801]

What an interesting, intelligent man.

[@krisc2535]

I get a weird drumming sensation in my ears when I see a snake, pretty sure it's some evolutionary warning function we still have.

[@kimjungboom4524]

It would be cool to see these two reconnect now

[@78625amginE]

Good idea. Better happen soon

[@MS-zt2ho]

it may seem like a sinificant, but I cant help wonder how superficial talk show host meetings are. Dick Cavett is brilliant though. I do not watch present talk shows, but im addicted to his show

[@Ngamotu83]

"An almost universal fear of snakes." The 'almost' is important, because some people, like myself, absolutely live snakes. 😁

[@classycassi20]

I share the same sentiment. Although, I was raised around many amphibious creatures thanks to my dad. It’s all about knowing the nature of the beast. When you do, you can add a sprinkle of caution and enjoy yourself.

[@phillipecook3227]

Attenborough could've taken a completely different road - he was the first Controller of the brand new BBC2 channel in 1965.

[@likeasambud9817]

One day i wish I could tell just 1% of the amount of stories this man can recite.

[@user-op6ig1dr3l]

Legend !

[@miamitten1123]

2:26 Attenborough first to rock the Yeezy

[@Appregator]

Ammoniacal - is that a new real word I learned?

[@WapellaSean]

Good looking Clarks he’s wearing (I think they’re Clarks...some such desert boots.)

[@peterd788]

The man who gave the green light to Monty Python.

[@Mikey-no1tz]

And oversaw the first colour TV broadcasts in Europe.

[@UmBungo]

Attenborough is king of nature documentaries. A million and a quarter bats? Jesus, that’s a lot. Quite a precise count, though... I wonder what happened to the quarter bat. Poor fella 🥲 😝😂

[@steprob8692]

Bats and snakes and rats OH MY!

[@patrickjenkins6383]

(SIR) David Attenborough is one of the most fascinating people that I'd feel so honored to meet ! 😎💙

[@mtbass3413]

If it weren’t for the late George Page, Sir David would be my all time favorite naturist. Both have contributed so much to our education and sense of wonder about exotic places and animals and their history and preservation. 🙏

[@nathanbellamy3308]

You mean sir David you muppet hahaha. Yep real naturalist fan. What about Simon Darwin hahaha.

[@mtbass3413]

@@nathanbellamy3308 yep, what a silly mistake 🤣

[@funkymunky]

Fascinating.

[@EVRYMANaKING]

Very polite way to avoid an elephant or a rhino 🦏😛🐘

[@marinamore6072]

Hello! When we can watch an interview with Rudolf Nureyev ? on your channel

[@ecat7750]

He has bat droppings on his tie!

[@UrDomb]

Please just upload these videos in 4:3. KZbin can handle adding black bars on the side itself for people with wide screens, and the video will then be full screen for people with academy ratio screens like myself.

[@cuckmasterflex9106]

Might be the original recording?

[@UrDomb]

@@cuckmasterflex9106 4:3 is the original aspect ratio of the show, and how it would have been recorded. This channel has chosen to add black bars to the sides of the 4:3 image so it fits a now standard hdtv 16:9 frame. But this is completely unnecessary as youtube would automatically add those black bars on the side for any 16:9 screen using code instead of baking those bars directly into the footage. So now as an unintended side-effect, when you watch this 4:3 tv show on a 4:3 screen the whole thing is windowed inside a black frame. They did more work to get a worse product.

[@vaclav_fejt]

Kinda sorta. When I upload a 4:3 video, it stays 4:3 (and of course, those black bars appear). Still, adding those bars is better than cropping (the horror!) to 16:9.

[@simeonorive145]

I believe our instinct to flinch to the presence of spiders and snakes goes back to our pre historic ancestors creeping out over them and not imediatley dying from the encounter. Where as Lions, Tigers, Bears etc imediatley killed and are just stupid scary to begin with.

[@DasAntiNaziBroetchen]

Evidence does not really support this theory.

[@nataliacaetano6326]

Is he Richard Attenborough's brother??they're similar ...🤔🤔

[@J3TF1RE]

Yes, they’re brothers.

[@nataliacaetano6326]

@@J3TF1RE thank you!!🙋🏻‍♀️

[@guyguy8321]

Attenborough's brother is Jon Voight !

[@WaterShowsProd]

I saw an interview with Richard Attenborough, I don't remember if it was with Dick Cavett or not, where he mentioned going on family holidays as children and David would go off and come back covered in dirt and mud.

[@ip5799]

@@nataliacaetano6326 do you not know who david attenborough is 😂

[@reenalprasad4612]

Fijians are nicest people you’ll ever meet.

[@Gannooch]

have nothing against the other celebs that were on this show but is this channel ever going to show the Dick Cavett shows where he interviews Jackie Gleason or Art Carney? How about any Honeymooners actors that were a part of the main cast?

[@kmotch]

Bible: Beware of serpents Me: Will do Jesus

[@PC24800]

NO, NO, NO! You must have turned two pages at the same time. What it says is "Beware of Donald. The serpent thing comes later when they pray for serpents to be visited upon the rotting flesh of the Donald!

[@kmotch]

@@PC24800 do you mean the God Emperor Trump?

[@belltopcone]

Its in our DNA to be wary of snakes and spiders for obvious reasons.

[@conslin1147]

Is it because they both cheat at scrabble?

[@dilanrajapaksha]

8:28 before it was cockroaches it was rats

[@deans0209]

I'm no expert but i think its from them stabbing you in the back Snakes everywhere

[@thomaszampino6369]

Before he was knighted

[@annahaener]

I an not afraid of snakes at all:)

[@CarlGoldmam]

Snakes....Satan’s Hand Puppets🐍🐍🐍🐍

[@Vlad65WFPReviews]

interesting - but didn't really live up to the tag line

[@billhicks4246]

Misleading tag #climatechange

[@sandysneed9967]

Adam Eve and the serpent

[@jackcade68]

Goes back further than that.

[@globalgulag5586]

The serpent’s analog is Draco, coiled round the wheel of seven pole stars. The stars of the northern celestial dome are the fruits of the tree of knowledge, the opposing tree is the tree of life, the earth.

[@RepublicIcon]

It's a real shame he destroyed his legacy by selling his soul to klaus schwab and the World Economic Forum

[@zerocool3650]

Reptilians?

[@bulletproofguy5112]

rats are seriously nice, rats are cute and harmless. They are like big hamsters, why the hate?.

[@conslin1147]

The Black Death didn't do their PR any favours... Killing a third of the human population tends to make people a bit tetchy.

[@bulletproofguy5112]

@@conslin1147 but we haven’t got the Black Death anymore and haven’t had for hundreds of years. And rats help keep the country clean.

[@conslin1147]

@@bulletproofguy5112 You're so right.... Without a rat infestation the country would be a disgrace... And don't even get me started on cockroaches.... Beautiful wee creatures! There's nothing quite like that warm snuggly feeling you get curled up in bed with a couple of rats nibbling nonchalantly at one´s toes and a few playful cockroaches romping through one´s hair. Sublime!

[@montemccarty6512]

What does this guy know...lol😕😒

[@nationalallianceforprogres3136]

Long live democratic socialism and freedom

[@clemfandango619]

I used to like his shows. Now he's pushing climate nonsense. So sad to see.

[@brucer9572]

Who is this David Attenborough guy? He's a self-confessed coward. I'm not afraid of snakes. Or rats. Or churches. But I'll tell you this, I thank God for the Dick Cavett Show.

[@nhmooytis7058]

Ever hear of Google, dolt?

[@brucer9572]

There, there my dear. I obviously failed with my facetiousness. I could put you to sleep with what I know about David Attenborough. Just to put a finer point on it, I admire him.

[@nhmooytis7058]

@@brucer9572 you deleted the comment I replied to, and bragging about being an expert on him is beyond pathetic. Get lost.

[@ip5799]

u seem like quite a deranged person

[@nancyklatt6086]

I am a huge David Attenborough fan of many years, loving films about animals and the natural world. His documentaries, with great close-ups, his fascinating commentary and descriptions, are regularly shown now on BBCA. I’m also a Dick Cavett fan, watched him every night during his years and am now happy that some reruns are now shown on a local.channel. Glad to find some of them here.