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A View Through a Lens

Factual: Science & Nature

Wildlife cameraman John Aitchison on human experience and the beauty of nature

Wildlife cameraman John Aitchison combines location recordings with personal narratives which highlight the uniqueness of human experience and the beauty of nature

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A View Through a Lens: Series 2

A View Through a Lens: Series 2: Episode 5

Episode 5

Series 2

BBC Radio 4 - A View Through a Lens, Series 2, Episode 5

Wildlife cameraman John Aitchison goes in search of lynx in North West Canada.

Wildlife cameraman John Aitchison highlights the beauty of nature. John goes in search of lynx in North West Canada.

Wildlife cameraman John Aitchison often finds himself in isolated and even dangerous locations across the globe filming wildlife, and in this series he reflects on the uniqueness of human experience, the beauty of nature, the fragility of life and the connections which unite society and nature across the globe.  

5/5. The Invisible Cat.  Wildlife cameraman John Aitchison travels to North West Canada in search of lynx.  Lynx are wild cats which spend most of their time in forests, so it's rare to see them at all, but with the help of a local tracker, John and his colleagues hope to get close enough to film a lynx for the BBC Natural History television series LIFE. Tracking lynx involves looking for their prints in the snow. Of course lynx prints aren't the only prints found in the snow - and even when you find lynx prints, you have to work out how old they are to know if the owner is nearby. The lynx proves exceptionally elusive, and the team and their tracker try every trick in the book - even smearing smelly stuff on twigs to lure the lynx. But nothing works. Finally a lynx is spotted and John films it. The initial excitement however is somewhat dampened when they realize the lynx is too far away and there just aren't enough shots. Their last hope lies with a local man from the First Nations, called Thomas Joe. John follows this calm and knowledgeable man into the forest, where he fixes a sack of dried pike to a tree trunk. Thomas Joe explains that the lynx will turn up at about 4 o'clock, when the snow is not so crunchy "harder for the rabbit to hear him coming", he says. John follows Thomas Joe as he examines tracks in the snow and they settle down to wait in the snow, hoping for the arrival of the 'invisible cat'.

Presented by John Aitchison
Produced by Sarah Blunt.

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