Going Where the Wild Things Are

Dominic Monaghan took on more than a hobbit role in the Lord of the Rings.

"I was a major weta picker-upper," says the actor, referring to the grasshopper-like insects endemic to New Zealand, where the film trilogy was shot.

Whenever one of the horned and spiky-legged creatures was spotted crawling about, he was asked to extricate it from the set. Monaghan, who adores critters big and small, did as much to protect the insects from the cast and crew as the other way around.

"I find them important and beautiful and significant on our planet," says the former star of ABC's Lost, who pursues his fascination for exotic creatures in Wild Things with Dominic Monaghan. For the Travel Channel series, he's been criss-crossing the earth in search of the most amazing, elusive and dangerous animals and insects he can find.

In the third season, now airing, he pats a majestic whale shark while diving off the coast of Mozambique. He searches Japan for the animal that inspired Godzilla. And in the Philippines he comes face to face with a dragon-like creature known as a flying lizard.

"It's exciting. It's fun," says Monaghan, who prepares for any unpredictable encounters by practicing multi-dexterous activities like hopping on one foot while throwing a tennis ball at a wall.

"You have to do it straight or you might lose a hand or something." The payoff? "Being close to them."