(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 is 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: At the very center of North America,
lies the Heartland.
A million square miles of prairies, rolling hills, and woodland
from Texas to Canada.
It's a beautiful land, but you've got to be prepared
for all seasons in a day.
(THUNDER CLAPPING)
NARRATOR: This is the most changeable and extreme place on Earth.
(THUNDER CONTINUES)
(MUSIC CONCLUDES)
(BIRDS CHIRPING)
NARRATOR: Deep in the forests of the Heartland,
one of America's top predators is stirring.
(INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC PLAYING)
NARRATOR: A hunter of near legendary status.
A wolf pup.
Okay, not a legend yet, but he's working on it.
(WOLF PUP HOWLS)
(WOLF PUP CRIES)
NARRATOR: Mom's gone off hunting,
and at every entrance of the den,
there's a pup calling for her.
(WOLF PUPS HOWLING)
(WOLF PUP HOWLS)
(WOLF PUP CRIES)
NARRATOR: They're definitely missing mom.
(CRYING CONTINUES)
NARRATOR: But her absence is an opportunity
to go exploring.
(WOLF PUPS YIPPING)
(WOLF PUPS WHINING)
NARRATOR: The world outside is fun.
Mostly.
This play builds their strength and agility.
And establishes their rank in the pack.
A bite to the tail shows who's boss.
In just five months' time,
these guys will be old enough to join the adults on the hunt,
where they'll have to face much bigger dangers...
(WOLF PUPS WHIMPERING)
...than a gust of wind.
The ever-changing Heartland is a hard place to raise a family.
Adult wolves must catch up to 50 percent more prey when they've got pups to feed.
(BISON BELLOWING)
NARRATOR: Bison, the symbol of the Heartland,
are their biggest prize.
(BISON GRUNTING)
NARRATOR: A newborn.
A potential target for a female wolf with hungry pups back in the den.
She could take down the calf
if she can get past the bodyguard.
(ADULT BISON GRUNTS)
(WOLF YAWNS)
(ADULT BISON SNORTING)
(ADULT BISON BELLOWS)
NARRATOR: Two mothers, eye-to-eye.
-(WOLF YIPPING) -(ADULT BISON BELLOWS)
NARRATOR: No contest.
She doesn't have the weapons to tackle a healthy adult bison alone.
She heads off to rejoin her pack.
Working together, they track down a group of elk.
Smaller than bison, but faster.
(WOLF BARKING)
NARRATOR: The pack has a plan.
Two wolves get the elk running...
straight towards a catcher who's waiting in their path.
(WOLVES BARKING)
(WOLVES WHINING)
(WOLVES BARKING)
NARRATOR: No luck today.
These elk are too strong and healthy.
The wolves need to bide their time,
and wait for conditions to change in their favor.
Those conditions can change in a heartbeat.
This South Dakota landscape
is evidence of just how extreme things can get.
Every year, violent rains and flash floods carve away the ground here.
The result is a jagged maze so hard to travel through...
it was named The Badlands by the Lakota people.
But right alongside the rocky ridges,
one of America's largest grasslands.
A perfect home for grass-eaters.
Prairie dogs.
(PRAIRIE DOG SQUEAKS)
NARRATOR: These burrow-dwellers live in a peaceful town
with well-tended lawns.
(PRAIRIE DOGS SQUEAKING)
But the peace is about to be disturbed.
(TENSE MUSIC PLAYING)
NARRATOR: This burrowing owl
and his partner in crime
have just flown in from Texas.
They're not coming to hunt...
but to steal.
They wanna take over a prairie dog burrow to raise a family in.
The homeowner's not happy about the invasion.
(MUNCHING)
-NARRATOR: But this burrow... -(BURROWING OWL SCREECHING)
-NARRATOR: ...ain't big enough for the both of them.
The owls are here to stay.
(BURROWING OWL SCREECHES)
NARRATOR: Their newly-acquired home is ten feet deep,
solidly built, and it needs to be.
The owls will need their burrow's protection
if they're to raise a family through the wild challenges that lie ahead.
(SNOW GEESE CALLING)
NARRATOR: Springtime is migration time across the Heartland.
Snow geese are flying from the Southern US
to their summer breeding grounds in the Arctic.
They follow North America's greatest rivers,
the Mississippi and Missouri.
Their journey is 2,000 miles.
So, sometimes, you gotta take a break.
Over one million geese
rest up at this Missouri lake on their migrations every year.
(CALLING CONTINUES)
NARRATOR: It's a great American spectacle.
And it's being watched...
by an American icon.
Bald eagles.
Some on their own annual migration.
Up to 800 birds...
adults and juveniles,
looking for an opening.
The geese are alert to the danger.
By taking off together, they blindside the eagles.
(TENSE MUSIC PLAYING)
NARRATOR: The predators can't pick out a single target
in this confusing swirl of wings.
A juvenile eagle spots an isolated goose.
But the goose escapes.
By diving underwater, he dodges the deadly talons.
Round one to the geese.
But the adult eagles know that it pays to be patient.
(MUSIC FADES)
NARRATOR: In the Heartland,
change is always just around the corner.
(SNOW GEESE CALLING, HONKING)
NARRATOR: The winds shift.
Cold air is now blowing all the way from the Arctic.
From Texas to Canada, there are no mountains to block the wind.
The temperature can plummet by over 50 degrees in a day.
The fastest rate of change on the planet.
(THUNDER RUMBLING)
NARRATOR: As the waterways freeze...
(ICE CREAKING)
...the odds change.
The geese
lose their escape route.
And some of the exhausted travelers
fall prey to the bitter cold.
The sudden extreme freeze-up does the eagles' hunting for them.
Their challenge now isn't making the catch...
it's keeping it.
(BALD EAGLES WHISTLING)
NARRATOR: Adults usually get the better of the brown-headed juveniles...
though the youngsters still try their luck.
(SCREECHES)
(SNOW GEESE CALLING)
NARRATOR: The geese that survive the cold
continue their journey towards their Arctic breeding grounds.
The party's over for the eagles.
But they took their chance when it came,
as you have to
in the ever-changing Heartland.
Out on the plains, the cold snap brings three feet of snow in 24 hours.
(WIND HOWLING)
NARRATOR: Bison bulldoze through the drifts.
(BISON BELLOWING)
NARRATOR: Others barely break the surface.
(SMOOTH MID-TEMPO MUSIC PLAYING)
NARRATOR: A red fox.
She's hunting for buried treasure.
Voles, hiding in tunnels beneath the snow.
It won't be easy today, though.
The howling wind and swirling snow are scrambling her senses.
Her massive satellite ears can normally hear a vole from 100 feet away.
Tilting her head from side to side, she tries to pinpoint the target
using sound alone.
Nope.
No luck.
But she won't let the weather defeat her.
Time for Plan B.
That's B for "bison".
(BISON BELLOWS)
NARRATOR: As they dig for grass, they destroy the voles' tunnels.
(VOLE SQUEAKING)
NARRATOR: The rebuilding work is noisy...
if you've got ears like a fox.
Now, she can get a proper fix on her target.
Dinner at last.
A little guile...
goes a long way...
in this land of extremes.
And few places are more extreme than here,
where the Heartland meets the Rocky Mountains.
(SOFT MAJESTIC MUSIC PLAYING)
NARRATOR: America's oldest national park,
Yellowstone.
Up to 400 inches of snow fall here every year.
For these two-year-old grizzly bears just out of hibernation,
this late spring snowfall is a chance for some fun.
(GRIZZLY BEARS GROWLING)
NARRATOR: But for anyone who's had enough wintry conditions,
there's one place here where you can always find warmth.
(THRILLING MUSIC PLAYING)
NARRATOR: Yellowstone's geyser basin.
A supervolcano beneath heats underground water to boiling point.
(WATER BURBLING, HISSING)
NARRATOR: The scalding water erupts in geysers...
up to 300 feet high,
the highest on Earth.
(GEYSER ROARING)
NARRATOR: Bison gather here for warmth...
(BISONS BELLOWING)
...but they can't get too relaxed.
Yellowstone is the only place in the USA
where they still come face-to-face...
(WOLVES HOWLING)
...with their ancient enemy.
(HOWLING CONTINUES)
NARRATOR: Our wolf pack, at 30-strong,
is one of the biggest ever seen in North America.
Wolves were reintroduced to Yellowstone in 1995.
They soon learned that bison gather near the hot springs during cold weather.
(TENSE MUSIC PLAYING)
NARRATOR: The alpha wolf gets their prey moving.
He chases them away from the hot springs into deeper snow.
(WOLF GROWLING)
NARRATOR: The wolves are playing to their strength.
They can cover up to 100 miles a day.
(MUSIC LOWERS)
NARRATOR: Every step saps the bison's energy.
The wolves are constantly on their shoulder.
(WOLVES HOWLING)
NARRATOR: A massive 2,000-pound bull is guarding the rear of the herd.
(BISON BULL BELLOWING)
(WOLVES WHIMPERING)
NARRATOR: But some wolves get past, chasing the smaller cows.
-(WOLVES YIPPING) -(BISON BELLOWING)
NARRATOR: The pack's strategy,
divide and conquer.
(MUSIC RISES)
(WOLVES YIPPING)
(MUSIC FADES)
(RAVEN CROAKS)
NARRATOR: In the frenzied chase,
one old cow gets left behind.
And just one wolf.
-(RAVENS CROAKING) -(WOLF WHINING)
(BISON COW BELLOWS)
NARRATOR: The cow is too exhausted to run.
But she's still ten times the wolf's weight,
and one strike of her horns could kill him.
(BISON COW GRUNTING)
NARRATOR: It typically takes at least nine wolves
to bring down a single bison.
(WOLF WHINING)
-(BISON COW GRUNTING) -(WOLF WHIMPERING)
(WOLF HOWLING)
NARRATOR: The rest of the pack is coming to help.
This old female's race is run.
By taking out animals that are too weak to cope with the extremes,
the Yellowstone wolves help to keep the bison herds strong.
(WOLVES HOWLING)
NARRATOR: It's a story as old as the Heartland itself.
(HOWLING CONTINUES)
NARRATOR: A shift to winds from the south...
and temperatures rise just as quickly as they fell.
(WATER BURBLING)
NARRATOR: The cold releases its grip.
(ICE CRACKING)
NARRATOR: And the great rivers that drain half our continent
thaw out.
On the US-Canadian border,
meltwater feeds one of the greatest wonders of the natural world.
(WATER CRASHING)
NARRATOR: This is the Niagara River.
(WATER ROARING)
NARRATOR: And these are the Niagara Falls.
(ROARING CONTINUES)
(GULLS SQUAWKING)
NARRATOR: Over 3,000 tons of water
plummet over the edge every second.
(MAJESTIC MUSIC PLAYING)
NARRATOR: Over 100,000 gulls,
one of the biggest gatherings in the world,
come here to catch fish stunned by the 200-foot drop.
The most daredevil birds head above the Falls...
catching their fish
on the very lip of the drop-off.
(MUSIC FADES)
(GULLS SQUAWKING)
NARRATOR: Where water doesn't drain away,
the Heartland becomes wetland.
(SOFT INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC PLAYING)
NARRATOR: The boggy forests of Ontario...
(BIRDS CALLING, CHIRPING)
...just a little north of Niagara,
and every bit as challenging for the local heroes.
This spotted salamander was born in this pond just three months back.
Now, she needs to leave
and find a new home before this one dries out or freezes.
But facing the unknown takes courage,
especially when you're just two inches long.
She waits till after sunset.
(INSECTS CHIRPING IN DISTANCE)
NARRATOR: By dark,
this forest is a weird world of glowing mushrooms...
and other more sinister surprises.
It's a humid night, good conditions for her journey.
She breathes partly through her skin,
but that only works if the skin is wet.
(DREAMY MUSIC PLAYING)
NARRATOR: She needs to find a damp burrow to call home before she dries out.
And hydration's not her only problem.
(THUNDER CLAPPING)
NARRATOR: There are night hunters about.
(BIRD SCREECHING)
NARRATOR: She finds a promising spot.
But this hole's already taken by an adult spotted salamander.
Best to keep on moving.
The clock is ticking.
(THUNDER RUMBLING)
NARRATOR: Her quest is becoming desperate.
Could this be the home that she's been looking for?
Nope, it's a trap.
A pitcher plant.
It will consume any prey trapped in its cup-shaped leaves.
(MUSIC TURNS TENSE)
NARRATOR: Usually, they take insects.
But in this forest,
they take prey...
with bones.
The plant's leaves have backward-facing hairs
to stop the salamander from getting a grip.
Soon, the plant's digestive juices will start to dissolve her,
as they have many others before.
All appears lost,
but in the Heartland...
a change in fortunes is never far away.
(RAIN PATTERING)
NARRATOR: The storm finally breaks.
Every drop of rain raises the water levels in the pitcher...
just a tiny bit.
As the pitcher fills...
she's lifted toward the exit.
Saved by a storm.
And soon, our brave salamander
finds the dream burrow she's been searching for
all along.
(HEROIC MUSIC PLAYING)
(THRILLING MUSIC PLAYING)
NARRATOR: In the Heartland,
you've got to be prepared for unexpected dangers.
Out on the South Dakota prairie,
the bison are on the move.
And the burrowing owls...
have some new arrivals.
(MID-TEMPO MUSIC PLAYING)
(OWLETS CHIRPING)
NARRATOR: Six owlets...
getting their first look at the outside world.
Feeding this crew is gonna be a full-time job.
(OWLETS WHISTLING, SCREECHING)
NARRATOR: Mom's brought a juicy grasshopper.
(OWLET WHISTLING)
NARRATOR: Now, over to Dad.
He's brought... bison dung.
Not what she was hoping for.
Maybe some food next time.
Nope, more dung.
Again and again, dung.
Mom looks... unimpressed.
(BURROWING OWL SCREECHES)
NARRATOR: He's making a real smelly mess on the doorstep.
(UPBEAT GUITAR MUSIC PLAYING)
NARRATOR: But maybe Dad's got a plan.
-(MUSIC CONCLUDES) -(OWLETS CHIRPING)
(PRAIRIE DOG CHIRPS)
NARRATOR: A prairie dog calls out an alarm...
(PRAIRIE DOGS SQUEAKING)
NARRATOR: ...signaling danger in the town.
(OMINOUS MUSIC PLAYING)
A badger,
an expert digger who's real hungry after the cold snap.
(OWLETS CHIRPING)
NARRATOR: The bite-sized owls must hunker down and keep quiet.
(MUSIC CONTINUES)
(PRAIRIE DOG CHIRPS)
NARRATOR: The badger's relying on his nose to sniff out prey.
(MUSIC TURNS SUSPENSEFUL)
NARRATOR: And it looks like the smell of the dung
has masked the smell of the owls.
(MUSIC BRIGHTENS)
NARRATOR: The badger moves on.
A close call.
Nice work, Dad!
(OWLETS CHIRPING, SCREECHING)
(BISON GRUNTING)
NARRATOR: The drama isn't over for the day, though.
-(PRAIRIE DOG CHIRPS) -(BISON GRUNTING)
NARRATOR: With the heat rising,
the bison bulls are preparing to fight for the chance to mate with the females.
(BISONS GRUNTING)
NARRATOR: There's a battle brewing...
(TENSE MUSIC PLAYING)
NARRATOR: ...on land...
and in the sky.
(THUNDER RUMBLING)
(BISONS BELLOWING)
(BISONS GRUNTING)
NARRATOR: As the bulls collide,
there's an even greater collision happening above their heads.
Warm, humid air direct from the tropics is slamming into the cold Arctic air.
-(LOUD THUD) -(THUNDER RUMBLING)
NARRATOR: Perfect conditions for a megastorm.
The Heartland sees the most powerful thunderstorms on Earth.
A single cloud can carry a billion volts of electricity.
(THUNDER CLAPPING)
NARRATOR: Two-hundred-mile-per-hour tornadoes...
(WIND HOWLING)
...and torrential rain
sweep across the prairie.
-(MUSIC CONCLUDES) -(THUNDER RUMBLING)
NARRATOR: It's a passion killer for the bison bulls.
But ultimately, these storms are life-givers.
(SOFT INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC PLAYING)
NARRATOR: They water the great grasslands...
and help turn this region into the breadbasket of America.
Nearly half of the US prairie is now farmland.
In a land of extreme changes, this is the biggest change of all.
But some Heartland heroes adapt to the modern world.
Under this deserted ranch house...
is a very rare sight.
A family of bobcats.
The four kittens are just six weeks old...
and still completely reliant on Mom.
She's chosen a great den site, out of the sun and hidden from predators.
Though it can't shelter her from her playful kittens.
(PLAYFUL MUSIC PLAYING)
NARRATOR: Time to head out.
(MUSIC SOFTENS)
NARRATOR: Besides a break from the kids, she's gotta put dinner on the table.
The world beyond the fence is dangerous.
Bobcats are often hunted by humans.
The kittens will be safe while she's gone,
so long as they stay under the house.
(PLAYFUL MUSIC RESUMES)
NARRATOR: Uh-oh!
This is the perfect playground for wannabe hunters.
(BOBCAT KITTEN MEOWS, PURRS)
NARRATOR: One day, with a little more practice,
these little guys will be one of the most adaptable predators in America.
They'll hunt everything. From rats, to insects, to birds in flight.
Right now, though...
(MUSIC TURNS TENSE)
...the birds still have the upper hand.
(HARRIS HAWK SCREECHES)
(BOBCAT KITTENS GROWLING)
NARRATOR: A Harris hawk.
(HARRIS HAWK SCREECHING)
(MUSIC FADES)
NARRATOR: Not feeling so brave now.
Thank goodness Mom chose a good shelter.
(TENDER MUSIC PLAYING)
NARRATOR: In no time at all,
the kittens will be out hunting on their own.
(BOBCAT MUNCHING)
NARRATOR: As adults,
each will hunt hundreds of rodents every year.
A free pest control service
for farmers who let the bobcats be.
The Heartland rewards those who can adapt to change.
Whether that's in the new world of farmland...
(THEME MUSIC PLAYS)
NARRATOR: ...or in the vast wild places of rolling hills and prairie.
Youngsters here have to grow up fast.
SINGER: This is paradise
NARRATOR: At just a month old, our owl chicks are learning to fly.
SINGER: Seed and grain, new life
NARRATOR: Our bobcats are braving the world beyond the fence.
SINGER: All that we don't even know
(WOLF HOWLING)
NARRATOR: And our wolf cubs are almost ready to run with the pack.
(WOLVES HOWLING)
NARRATOR: As they grow, every one of these youngsters
is destined to become a hero
of the great American Heartland.
SINGER: This is paradise
Under these spacious skies
(THRILLING MUSIC PLAYING)
(MUSIC CONCLUDES)