(THEME MUSIC PLAYING)
NARRATOR: Welcome to North America.
The most diverse continent on Earth.
The only place where you can find every landscape, from polar ice cap...
to baking desert, and everything in between.
Whatever the neighborhood, there's a hero who can make it a home.
Smart, tough, brave, you name it.
They all have what it takes to thrive...
in the wildest, most beautiful continent on Earth.
SINGER: Patchwork quilt of life
Wildness never dies
Beauty always thrives
Under these spacious skies
(MUSIC CONCLUDES)
(INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC PLAYING)
NARRATOR: The American Southwest, from Texas to California,
is a spectacular world of desert and rock.
An arid wonderland where water, when it comes,
shapes the land and the lives of all that live here.
(MUSIC INTENSIFIES)
NARRATOR: The Grand Canyon.
Three hundred miles long and 6,000 feet deep.
An inaccessible place that's pretty good at keeping secrets.
That's why the animal that rules this world has been shrouded in mystery...
until now.
(BIRDS CHIRPING)
NARRATOR: A mountain lion.
Filmed in the Grand Canyon for the very first time.
Two hundred pounds of muscle.
He's on a quest to keep out rivals...
and father the next generation of big cats in his kingdom.
But his success, and that of all life here,
will ultimately depend on events 500 miles away,
where the Southwest desert meets the Pacific Ocean.
It's springtime, and off the coast of Baja California,
a new life is just beginning.
(WATER SPLASHING)
(INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC CONTINUES)
NARRATOR: A baby gray whale.
Birthweight, a healthy 2000 pounds.
-(WATER SPURTS) -(WHALE GROANS)
NARRATOR: This proud mom travelled for months without food
to give birth in this sheltered lagoon...
a safe haven from predators.
Now, she's building a bond with her son and feeding him 50-percent-fat milk.
One problem, though. There's no food here for Mom.
(WATER SPURTS)
NARRATOR: So she's about to lead her calf, just eight weeks old,
on the longest mammal migration on Earth.
But they're not alone.
Ninety-nine percent of the world gray whale population
sets off from here each year,
to swim 6,000 miles back to their Arctic feeding grounds.
The calf has been putting on 200 pounds a day.
He's raring to go.
(WHALE GRUNTS)
-(WATER CRASHES) -(MUSIC INTENSIFIES)
NARRATOR: Only Mom knows the challenges that lie ahead
as they journey the length of our continent's West Coast.
This is truly America's whale.
(MUSIC CONCLUDES)
NARRATOR: All along this coastline, the Pacific is a life-giver.
(MAJESTIC MUSIC PLAYING)
NARRATOR: Off California, the sun's heat draws water from the cold ocean...
creating a fog bank, which blows inland on the sea breeze.
This coastline is bathed in fog for 60 days a year,
providing much of the water for the world's tallest trees.
(BIRD CAWING)
NARRATOR: Three-hundred-foot coastal redwoods
drink the droplets through their leaves.
(BIRDS CAWING, SINGING)
(MAJESTIC MUSIC CONCLUDES)
NARRATOR: The fog also supports less-celebrated trees.
(WOODPECKER DRUMMING)
-(BIRDS CHIRPING) -(GENTLE MUSIC PLAYING)
NARRATOR: This oak is the storehouse for a family of acorn woodpeckers.
(RHYTHMIC MUSIC PLAYING)
NARRATOR: They live to stash acorns.
All day, every day.
(DRUMMING)
NARRATOR: Almost to the point of... obsession?
But 50,000 acorns stored in the bark of one oak?
That's bound to attract thieves.
-(MUSIC TURNS DRAMATIC) -(WOODPECKER CALLING)
(TENSE MUSIC PLAYING)
NARRATOR: One woodpecker is always on lookout.
-(MUSIC INTENSIFIES) -(WOODPECKER CAWS)
(MUSIC FALLS)
(TENSE MUSIC BUILDS)
(WOODPECKER CAWS)
(SHRIEKING)
(MUSIC FALLS)
NARRATOR: Looks like a win for the squirrels.
But the lookout's called in backup.
(WOODPECKERS CAWING)
NARRATOR: By working together, they keep their stash safe.
But not for long.
(DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING)
(BRANCHES SNAPPING)
NARRATOR: This thief has his own power tools
to break into the family vault.
Even the most committed teamwork is no defense
against a raider a thousand times your size.
All that hard work, undone in minutes.
These hoarding heroes don't let a little setback get them down.
(DRUMMING)
NARRATOR: The new collection begins straightaway.
(BIRDS CAWING)
NARRATOR: The woodpeckers' oak is watered by Pacific fog.
Travel away from the coast, and that water supply evaporates.
(MAJESTIC MUSIC PLAYING)
NARRATOR: A hundred and fifty miles inland,
the Sierra Nevada Mountains capture the Pacific clouds.
(WIND HOWLING)
NARRATOR: These mountains are a wall, up to 14,000 feet high,
blocking water from blowing further inland.
(MAJESTIC MUSIC FADES)
(DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING)
NARRATOR: Beyond is the ultimate desert world.
The hottest place on Earth.
(MUSIC INTENSIFIES)
NARRATOR: Death Valley.
Here, the summer temperature can reach 130 degrees.
Even in spring, it can top a hundred.
So, how do you survive in this land hardly ever reached by rain?
One tiny desert dweller has a solution straight out of a science fiction movie.
-(ANT RUSTLING) -(OMINOUS MUSIC PLAYING)
NARRATOR: Ten feet underground,
where it's an ideal temperature year-round.
A bizarre insect society.
(RUSTLING)
NARRATOR: These are honeypot ants.
Some members of the species only exist to store food for others.
The worker ants gather flower nectar in times of plenty
and feed it to others,
who never leave the colony.
Their abdomens swell to the size of a cherry with sweet nectar.
It's the colony's insurance policy against hard times.
Now, the precious honeypots are full
and kept clean by their comrades
to keep 'em healthy.
But in this corner of Death Valley, the driest place in North America,
it hasn't rained all winter.
If this drought goes on much longer,
these desert survivalists will need a plan B.
(OMINOUS MUSIC CONCLUDES)
(INSPIRING MUSIC PLAYING)
NARRATOR: Two hundred and fifty miles further inland,
the Colorado River carves through the high desert of Arizona
to form the Grand Canyon.
(MUSIC SWELLS)
(BIRDS CHIRPING)
NARRATOR: This spring morning brings a first-ever glimpse
into the private life of the Canyon's most elusive resident.
Our mountain lion is on a mission to breed.
Like all male mountain lions, he's a loner.
His scarred face shows he'll fight to keep rival males out of his kingdom.
But his biggest battle is finding a female.
There's only a handful in a hundred square miles of this canyon,
so he can't rely on a chance encounter.
He needs to advertise.
His scent mark will last for weeks...
a message to any passing females
that this eligible bachelor is looking for love.
For others in the West, finding a mate is the least of their worries.
Over 20 million free-tailed bats,
one of the largest gatherings of mammals on Earth,
flock to this sheltered Texas cave each spring to mate and have pups.
(BATS CLICKING)
NARRATOR: These baby bats have to grow up fast.
Tonight, at just a month old,
this little guy will fly up to a hundred miles in search of food...
on his very first flight.
As evening falls, the bats start to leave.
(WINGS FLAPPING)
NARRATOR: They'll get more time to feed by heading out early...
but leaving their sanctuary in daylight is a gamble.
There's danger from above.
A Swainson's hawk.
(DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING)
NARRATOR: And even greater danger from below.
Cactus spines snag the inexperienced pups...
making them an easy target.
(MUSIC INTENSIFIES)
NARRATOR: Coachwhip snakes.
Their large eyes mark them out as visual hunters.
Non-venomous, they rely on dagger-sharp teeth to catch their prey.
(BAT SQUEALING)
NARRATOR: And if a bat makes a run for it,
it stands no chance against the fastest snake in North America.
(TEMPO RISES)
(MUSIC CONCLUDES)
NARRATOR: Despite the danger, every bat has to head out sometime...
or starve.
What a time to take your first-ever flight.
(INTENSE MUSIC PLAYING)
(BAT SQUEALS)
NARRATOR: His only chance is to climb quickly
to somewhere he can re-launch.
Sometimes, you just need a bit of luck.
(MUSIC TURNS UPBEAT)
NARRATOR: This young bat's cleared the most dangerous hurdle
on his path to adulthood.
Tonight, he and the rest of his colony will devour 250 tons of insects
in the Southwest skies.
Back in the Pacific, the clock is ticking for the gray whale mom and calf.
They're averaging three miles an hour on their journey up the West Coast
to the summer feeding grounds.
(BIRDS CHIRPING)
NARRATOR: The beaches of Los Angeles are an eye-opener for a baby whale.
(WATER SPURTS)
NARRATOR: If he can memorize landmarks like this,
it will help him navigate
when he's old enough to make this migration on his own.
(SPURTS)
NARRATOR: No time to hang out, though.
Mom knows it's still a long way, 4,000 miles to the Alaskan Arctic.
Next stop, a wonder of the American West.
A forest of giant kelp, growing up to 18 inches a day,
fueled by the California sun.
This is the ocean equivalent of a tropical rainforest...
full of life at every level.
(GENTLE MUSIC PLAYING)
NARRATOR: Sea otters take it easy in the kelp beds.
Moms can even get daycare here, from the kelp.
Wrapped up in weed, this youngster won't drift away.
And Mom can go free diving.
She can hold her breath for up to eight minutes
while she hunts on the seabed.
Her favorite spot is the surf zone, near the shore,
where the waves churn up nutrients, feeding beds of shellfish.
(WAVES CRASHING)
NARRATOR: The otters thrive on this protein-rich superfood.
There's plenty for everyone, if you can hold on to your catch.
The ocean supplies all the otters' needs...
even rocks from the seafloor to smash open mussels.
(SMASHES)
(MUNCHES)
NARRATOR: Many sea otters spend their entire lives at sea,
where the year-round riches are in stark contrast to the land.
-(MUSIC CONCLUDES) -(WAVES CRASH GENTLY)
(BIRD CHIRPING)
NARRATOR: In the desert, the scorching summer is just weeks away.
And somebody's in a hurry to raise a family.
A Costa's hummingbird, the hardest-working mom in America.
-(ENERGETIC MUSIC PLAYING) -(HUMMINGBIRD CHIRPING)
NARRATOR: She's on a mission, at 2,000 wingbeats a minute,
collecting dried grass and spiderwebs to build a nest.
She has just five weeks to raise a brood, and she needs just one more ingredient...
-that only a male can provide. -(MUSIC FADES)
(WHIMSICAL MUSIC PLAYING)
(CHIRPING)
NARRATOR: The mom's short on time, but she's still really picky.
(WINGS VIBRATING)
NARRATOR: He sticks out his throat feathers.
He's throwing some great shapes.
But she's still not sure this thumb-sized heartthrob is the one.
He'll have to pull out his very best move.
He climbs to a hundred feet...
then dives at 60 miles per hour.
(WHISTLES)
NARRATOR: Whistling tail feathers are the soundtrack to his show.
(HIGH-PITCHED WHISTLE)
NARRATOR: That dive...
That face...
Now she's sure.
(MUSIC FADES)
-(CRICKETS CHIRPING) -(WINGS VIBRATING)
NARRATOR: After the briefest of encounters,
the mom soon has eggs to lay.
And now, the real hard work begins.
(WINGS FLAPPING)
NARRATOR: In the sweltering heat, she's soon visiting
up to 2,000 flowers a day to feed her brood.
(BRIGHT MUSIC PLAYING)
NARRATOR: Twins. Twice the work.
(CHIRPS)
NARRATOR: Each chick started out just half the weight of a dollar bill.
She feeds them up on a protein shake of insects and nectar.
In just 21 days, they're ten times heavier than when they hatched...
and ready to take their very first flight.
(TEMPO RISES)
NARRATOR: Supermom has done it...
-and just before the summer heat hits. -(MUSIC CONCLUDES)
NARRATOR: Soon, they'll have to leave for the coast, where it's cooler.
(BIRDS CHIRPING)
(SOFT MAJESTIC MUSIC PLAYING)
NARRATOR: Our gray whales have traveled another 300 miles since leaving L.A.
The mom now hasn't eaten for six months.
She's lost a fourth of her body weight
while feeding her calf six gallons of milk a day.
She needs to reach the feeding grounds ASAP.
And now, she faces a choice.
Does she save energy and take a shortcut across Monterey Bay,
a dangerous 25-mile stretch of open water,
or keep on hugging the shoreline?
She puts the safety of her calf above her hunger
and stays inshore, hidden in the kelp forest.
(WATER CRASHES)
(SPURTS)
NARRATOR: Another less experienced mom
chooses to take her calf straight across the bay.
The wrong call. Orcas.
(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYS)
NARRATOR: This pod comes here at this time every year
to hunt gray whale calves.
The older orcas teach the young ones how to hunt.
(SEAGULLS CALLING)
NARRATOR: First, they ram the calf at 30 miles per hour.
(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC CONTINUES)
NARRATOR: When the gray whale mom tries to lead her wounded youngster to safety
in the kelp forest,
other orcas block their path.
Working together, they drive their prey back to deep water,
and separate the calf from its mother.
(WATER CRASHES)
(MUSIC FADES)
NARRATOR: Their plan has worked. Now they drown the calf.
(MELANCHOLIC MUSIC PLAYING)
(SPURTS)
NARRATOR: It's a cruel lesson,
but this young mother will have other calves in years to come.
(SPURTS)
For our more experienced mom, sticking to the American coast
has saved her calf's life.
(GENTLE MUSIC PLAYING)
NARRATOR: They've passed the most dangerous test
on their journey to Alaska...
and they're getting out of the West just as the toughest time of year begins.
(WATER CRASHES)
NARRATOR: Summer.
(DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING)
NARRATOR: Sun beating on the bare rock turns the Grand Canyon into an oven.
Our mountain lion seeks out the shade.
(BIRDS CHIRPING)
(GENTLE MUSIC PLAYING)
NARRATOR: Still no sign of a female...
so he posts a new message on the big cat dating site.
Then he waits for evening...
when the Canyon animals get active.
Deer are his favorite food...
-(BOAR SQUEALS) -...though he's not fussy.
He knows every inch of his 150-square-mile kingdom.
The Canyon rim is a favorite hunting ground
for this stealth hunter.
(DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYS)
NARRATOR: With night vision nearly ten times better than a human's.
He's returning to a kill he's made a few nights back.
He can eat 40 pounds of meat in a day,
but it could still take him a week to chow down a whole elk.
His belly's full. He goes to sleep off his meal.
And while the cat's away... thieves move in.
Most mountain lion kills get raided by black bears,
just one of many that benefit from the lion's leftovers.
(BOAR SNORTS)
NARRATOR: The King of the Canyon is both predator and provider.
(MAJESTIC MUSIC PLAYING)
(MUSIC FADES)
NARRATOR: July in Death Valley.
There's been no rain now for six months.
Through the drought, the honeypot ants have gradually drained
all the nectar they'd stored in their nestmates.
(DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING)
NARRATOR: So with nothing left to eat,
the workers are setting out on a raiding party.
They must be quick. By the middle of the day,
the surface can hit 200 degrees.
That's hot enough to cook an ant in seconds.
(MUSIC INTENSIFIES)
NARRATOR: They find a rival from another colony.
They size her up and follow her scent back to her nest.
(MUSIC FADES)
NARRATOR: Here, they find ants still full of nectar,
black from food found on tree roots deep underground.
(TENSE MUSIC PLAYING)
NARRATOR: Buried treasure worth fighting over.
(MUSIC INTENSIFIES)
The starving invaders eat some honeypots on the spot.
Others, they capture and drag back to their home colony.
(DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYS)
NARRATOR: The raiders will have to get home fast,
because a force of nature is building nearby.
(WIND RUMBLING)
NARRATOR: The thundercloud collapses
into a monster dust storm known as a haboob.
(WIND WHOOSHES)
Most ants make it back just before the 60-mile-an-hour wall of sand
takes out any stragglers in its path.
-(WIND WHOOSHES) -(DRAMATIC MUSIC INTENSIFIES)
(MUSIC FADES)
NARRATOR: The entrance to the nest is buried,
but the stolen honeypots will ensure the colony's survival... for now.
By late summer, the heat and drought across the West are almost unbearable.
Even clouds don't signify rain.
These are pyrocumulus, fire clouds,
formed by soot particles rising high into the sky above wildfires.
They can climb up to seven miles high, the edge of the stratosphere.
(DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING)
NARRATOR: Hotter summer temperatures, caused by climate change,
are making wildfire season increasingly extreme across the West.
The residents of Los Angeles are all too familiar with these infernos.
Homes and wildlife habitat are regularly destroyed, right up to the city limits.
-(CRICKETS CHIRPING) -(MUSIC CONCLUDES)
NARRATOR: But there's an oasis in Tinseltown.
-(SOFT MUSIC PLAYING) -(BIRDS CALLING)
NARRATOR: Griffith Park, right in the heart of Hollywood.
Protected from fires, these well-watered lawns are a haven for wildlife.
(BIRD CAWING)
NARRATOR: And after dark, this park really comes alive.
(CRICKETS CHIRPING)
(SIREN WAILING IN DISTANCE)
NARRATOR: There's prey... and predators.
Bobcat... coyote...
and one A-list star with an amazing backstory.
(LIVELY MUSIC PLAYING)
NARRATOR: When he found himself homeless,
this intrepid hero made a 50-mile trek along the Santa Monica Mountains.
He crossed the busiest freeway in the U.S...
-right into the heart of the city. -(MUSIC CONCLUDES)
-(CRICKETS CHIRPING) -(SOFT MUSIC PLAYING)
NARRATOR: Meet P-22, the world's most famous mountain lion.
As there's so much prey in this park, he thrives in a territory
just five percent the size of his Grand Canyon cousins'.
His radio collar sends scientists his location.
(SIREN WAILING IN DISTANCE)
NARRATOR: In the small hours, he leaves the park and prowls the city streets.
If it's a mate he's after, he's out of luck.
(MOTOR WHIRRING)
NARRATOR: There's next to no chance another mountain lion
will ever emulate his amazing journey.
But he can find something in the city that's in very short supply.
Water.
In the heat of the summer, a broken water pipe can be a lifeline.
(WATER SOFTLY SPLASHING)
(SOFT MUSIC CONTINUES)
NARRATOR: But for those across the parched West without a water supply,
hope is finally on the horizon.
In late summer, the winds shift over the Pacific Ocean,
blowing rain clouds hundreds of miles inland.
This is the beginnings of one of the most powerful weather systems in America.
The American monsoon.
(UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYING)
(THUNDER RUMBLING)
NARRATOR: For three months, torrential downpours drench the Southwest.
(RAIN WHOOSHING)
(THUNDER RUMBLING)
NARRATOR: These storms can drop two inches of rain in an hour,
rejuvenating the barren deserts.
(RAIN POURING)
(LIGHTNING CRASHES)
NARRATOR: This region can get up to half its annual rainfall
in this late-summer monsoon.
(THUNDER RUMBLING)
(MUSIC FADES)
NARRATOR: The rain from the distant ocean
is the secret to life in America's deserts.
-(WATER CRASHING) -(WINGS VIBRATING)
NARRATOR: All the way to the top of the food chain.
(GENTLE MUSIC PLAYING)
NARRATOR: A new mountain lion in the Grand Canyon.
Not the scarred-face male...
...but a female.
After the recent rain, she can travel outside of her usual range,
safe in the knowledge that there'll be drinking water to be found.
(BIRDS CHIRPING, CALLING)
(GENTLE MUSIC CONTINUES)
NARRATOR: This first-ever look
into the lives of the Grand Canyon's mountain lions
shows that big cats are still thriving in this iconic American wilderness.
A source of hope for the future.
This female is on her own, no cubs.
So, quite likely, she's in season, looking for a mate.
She's found the scent marks of the scarred-faced male...
her first introduction to a potential partner.
(INSPIRING MUSIC PLAYS)
NARRATOR: And following on, just an hour later, is the male.
He'll soon achieve his goal,
another generation of big cats in his kingdom...
true heroes of the great American West.
(INSPIRATIONAL MUSIC CONTINUES)
(MUSIC FADES)