05x04 - When?

[bunniefuu]

[Electronic voice]
we just teleported
back from mars,

And zowie! Did we see
some cool creatures.

[Chris]
on this episode,
we're playing with time.

[Martin]
we're going forwards in time,
we're going backwards in time...

[Chris]
and we're running out of time
on our quest to find out

When creatures eat,
drink, play, and sleep.

Aren't there lots
of animals who never
sleep at all?

But it's tough keeping up
with these creatures.

[Chris]
it's all about timing on this
episode of kratts' creatures.

Hey, martin,
when do we get started?

It just makes sense
to do it when it's cool--

Iarriba!

Iandale, andale!

They say
timing is everything,

And in the creature world,
it's the truth.

In the human world, we've made
our own kind of clocks--

Clocks for telling time
and...

Alarm clocks
for waking us up.

But in the creature world,
there are other kinds
of clocks...

[Chris]
clocks that have to do
with the changing seasons...

[Martin]
clocks that have to do
with the rising tides...

[Animals howling]

[Howling]

Clocks that
have to do with
lunar activity...

[Howling]

And clocks
that have to do with

Creating
new generations.

In this episode,

We're going to be
talking about
the idea of time--

When creatures
do what they do

And how important
timing is
in the natural world.

When creatures
are born...

When they go off
on their own...

When they eat...

When they sleep...

And when they know
what they need to know
to survive in the wild.

And now,
time to get started.

[Chris]
question number 1--

When are creatures born?

O.k. Before we deal
with whencreatures
are born,

The first thing
you got to know
about having babies

Is that
there are two
basic strategies.

Say what?

The first one
is a strategy where creatures
don't give birth very often,

And when they do, it's only
to a small number of babies.

Right?

These parents
spend a lot of time and energy

Nurturing just a few babies.

[Chris]
like baboons.

Baboon moms can have babies
any time of the year,

But it seems
they do it mainly

When there's a lot of food
around, like in the summer.

[Martin]
and not only are baboon moms
protective of the young,

The whole troop
protects them.

[Chris]
and out on the african savanna,
protection is a full-time job.

Australian sea lions
are also pretty flexible

When it comes
to birthing babies.

[Martin]
sea lion moms are capable of
having young every year or so,

And they give their pups a lot
of care, protection, and food.

[Chris]
gorilla moms take a long time
between babies--four years!

And they'll even
give their own lives
to protect their young.

Elephant moms can give birth
every four to nine years,

And they'll
teach their calves everything--

In this case,
about what grasses to eat.

[Chris]
and this cheetah mom

Is giving her cubs
essential hunting lessons--

How to hunt impala 101.

[Martin]
hey! It looks like
they broke for lunch.

[Chris]
most koala moms
will have a baby every year.

The baby will hang with mom
for up to 18 months,

And then take off
to find his own eucalyptus tree.

African buffalo moms give birth
mainly at one time of the year--

During the rainy seasons,
when food is abundant.

[Martin]
grizzly moms
give birth every three years,

Usually
in their winter dens.

That means her cubs will be old
and strong enough to come out
with mom for the spring.

[Chris]
zebra moms can be flexible
when it comes to having babies,

But like the buffalo,
they tend to do it
in the rainy seasons,

When there's
lots of food around.

[Martin]
like zebras, giraffes usually
give birth in the rainy season.

[Chris]
so to sum up,

Creatures give birth
when the conditions are right...

[Martin]
in other words,
when their babies will have
the best chance of survival.

[Chris]
creatures who use this strategy

Take all the time they need
to protect their babies

And to teach them what
they need to know to survive.

[Martin]
humans are the creatures

That have taken this strategy
to the fullest.

Human moms and dads
take care of their young

Longer
than any other creature--


Maybe even longer.

[Chris]
the thing to remember
about this strategy

Is that these creatures
make a huge investment
and very few babies.

[Martin]
and what about
the second strategy?

Well, it's all about numbers.

With creatures like rabbits,
mothers have tons of babies,

And they have them all the time,

But they don't take care of them
for long.

They just put as many babies
out there as they can,

And some of the babies
are bound to survive.

[Chris]
how about a species that has

Thousands of moms having
hundreds of thousands of babies

All at the same time?

He's talking about
the olive ridley sea turtle,

Who's a great example
of how reptiles can use
this second strategy.

[Chris]
all turtles lay eggs on land,
even sea turtles...

But when they hatch,

Turtle babies are sitting ducks
to predators.

[Chris]
that's why thousands
of olive ridley turtle moms

Swim to beaches
like this one in costa rica

Just to lay their eggs.

[Martin]
it's called the arribada,
and believe it or not,

It happens every month.

The turtle moms
aren't the only ones
arriving on nancite beach...

[Chris]
there's tons of predators
coming, too,

And they haven't come
to lay eggs.

[Martin]
they've come to eat them...

[Chris]
and there's nothing
the turtle moms can do about it.

[Allison]
hold it. Something
still gets to me.

If I were a turtle mom,
I wouldn't just crawl away.

Look at the size
of this turtle mom!

Why won't she stick up
for her babies?

Well, she doesn't protect
her babies the way we
normally think mothers do.

A mother sea turtle
doesn't chase away

Crocodiles or coatis
or vultures

In the defense
of her young...

But she doesprotect
her babies,

And she does it
by laying so many eggs.

Many of the baby
sea turtles
will get eaten,

But there are
so many of them

That some will
surely survive
to become adults.

I thought of a completely
different kind of creature.

The only thing is, I don't know
what kind of strategy it uses.

I'm talking abut insects.

An insect
is a great example

Of a creature
that has oodles
of offspring

And doesn't take care
of them for very long,
but why?

Because of time.

If there's a creature
that makes the most
of his time,

It's got to be
an insect.

[Martin]
these caterpillars make the most
of their short lives.

They eat, eat, eat,

Storing up energy so they
can metamorphosize into...

Butterflies!

[Chris]
they're not the only

Short-lived,
shape-changing insect.

Flies laid their eggs
on this carcass,

Which then hatched
as maggots,

Little worm-like guys who eat up
the carcass for energy

To turn into a fly.

And talk about a short life.
Flies live for about two weeks.

[Al]
what a rip!

But this insect
doesn't get down
about it

Because it's
the strategy
of her species.

She has all the time
that she needs

To reproduce
and help her species
survive.

But as far as
individual
lifetimes go,

There arecreatures
that get a much
better deal.

[Martin]
another great time question--
how long do creatures live?

[Chris]
when it comes to life spans,

Some creatures, like this croc,
seem to get a better deal.

[Martin]
the funny thing about crocs

Is that it's hard to tell
how old they are.

This croc could be anywhere
from 40 to 70 years old.

[Chris]
but what's really cool is that
the crocodilians themselves

Have survived
since the days of the dinosaur.

[Martin]
if this guy could tell us
about his ancestors,

He'd have
some pretty wild stories.

Compare this box turtle
to the crocodile.

He's no match in strength,
but there is one area

In which the box turtle
has the croc b*at--

He's going to live longer.

Box turtles live
for 100 years or more!

You know, I wonder
what we would be doing
if we lived that long.

[Electronic voice]
we just teleported
back from mars,

And zowie! Did we see
some cool creatures...

[Electronic voice]
like the martian
rock mollusk.

It eats a steady
diet of rock,

Which keeps its 16
stomachs working
in hyperdrive.

But it's good to be
back on good old
planet earth,

Checking out creatures
we haven't seen
in 90 years.

Hey! Check out
that box turtle!

Can it be?

It can't be!

He's still here!

It's the same
box turtle we saw


And he's still here.

So, al, every creature
has its time.

A time to live
and a time to die,

But too many creatures don't
get a chance to live a full
and undisturbed life,

And so many have left us
before their time,

And still more creatures
who are running out of time,
like gorillas.

These beautiful creatures
are being poached,
which means illegally hunted.

And, oh, man, elephants!

These gentle giants of africa
are getting slaughtered

For their ivory tusks.

[Martin]
luckily, the peregrine falcon
has bounced back

From near extinction,

Thanks, in part,
to the conservation efforts
of humans.

[Allison]
different story
for the manatee.

Pollution and powerboats
are making life in the wild
unlivable

For this gentle herbivore.

[Martin]
scarlet macaws are endangered

Because people are taking
their chicks to sell as pets.

[Chris]
totally different
from the wolf,

Who's running out of time

Because of illegal hunting
and loss of living space.

[Martin]
the bald eagle
almost went extinct

Because of habitat loss
and use of pesticides.

[Allison]
you can look all over the world
for examples of creatures

Who are running out of time.

South american creatures like
the jaguar, ocelot, the margay,
and the malaysian sun bear

Are being hit
really hard by deforestation,

And some of the world's most
famous creatures are dwindling
to incredibly low numbers.

Because of poaching,
the siberian tiger--
the largest cat in the world--

Now numbers no more
than 300 in the wild,

And the number of orangutans
is now less than 20,000,

And like the elephant,

The african rhino is near
extinction because of poaching.

They're trying hard in africa
to stop the poaching in time,

But rhinoceros horns
sell for so much.

If only people
would stop buying them.

Can you imagine a creature world
without the rhino?

I mean, I don't even
want to try.

Deforestation of the rain forest
endangers every creature
who lives there,

And scientists haven't even
discovered them all yet.

Or take the wild dog--
their numbers are getting low,
and that's bad news.

You've got to have large numbers
for a species to stay strong,

Or look at the coral reefs.

As coral reefs disappear,
so do whole communities
of creatures.

There's no time
to waste when it comes
to protecting creatures.

[Martin]
when do creatures
go off on their own?

[Chris]
well, I was 8 when I left
for my first creature mission.

[Martin]
hey, I took off on my own
earlier than that...

[Chris]
but some strike
out on their own
the moment they hatch.

[Martin]
yeah. Creatures like crocs
are born ready for action.

[Chris]
how is he born
with the knowledge to survive?

Take the shark in this egg.

When will this master predator
learn all he needs to know
about hunting?

[Martin]
good question, and how about
the shinglebacked lizards?

They're born
into a brutal climate.

When do they learn
how to survive here?

[Chris]
look at these tadpoles.

How do they know when to begin
their transformation into frogs?

[Martin]
when do they learn what bugs
to eat and what bugs to avoid?

[Chris]
when does a praying mantis
learn how to hunt insects?

[Martin]
when does a snapping turtle

Learn to catch fish
by wiggling his tongue,

And when do insects learn how
to make cocoons or spin webs?

The answer is, they never learn.
They know from birth,
by instinct.

Does that mean all creatures
are born ready for action?

Well, the young of
different creatures

Go off on their own
at different times.

Some take years
before they leave,

Some, months,
and some, days.

[Chris]
and some creatures
need to be nurtured and taught.

[Martin]
not all creatures
can get by on instinct alone.

[Chris]
some of us need
a lot of training

Before we're ready
for the world.

Instincts are great, but nothing
beats firsthand knowledge...

[Martin]
and much of the learning
in the creature world is simple.

It's just watch and learn.

[Chris]
check out this baby chimp.

She watched us extract termites
from this log by using a stick,

And that's all it took.

[Martin]
when it comes
to important survival tricks

Like finding food,

It's never too late
to learn something new.

[Allison]
question number 4--
when do animals eat?

If you're wondering
when animals eat,

You got to
keep in mind one
important factor--

How hard is it
to find food?

Some animals
get lucky.

There's just food
all around them.

Like the koala.

He eats virtually nothing
but eucalyptus leaves,

Which is convenient considering
he lives in eucalyptus trees.

So when's mealtime?
Whenever a koala wants,

But if you're
a carnivorous predator,

Mealtime depends on how quick,
how strong, how clever,

And sometimes
how lucky you are.

This cheetah mom may have
gone days without eating,

But when the time was right,
she made her move.

[Chris]
a carnivore like a cheetah
never knows when her next
meal is coming,

So when food isaround,
she and her cubs fill up
and make the most of it.

While we humans
prefer to have
regular meals,

There are other creatures
who go a long time
between meals...

A long time.

Hey, that's right!
Boas have a lower metabolism.

That means they don't
burn energy as fast as we do,

So boas can go for weeks
between meals.

[Martin]
definitely.

Boas are a great example
of creatures

Who can go for a long time
without eating.

[Chris]
they're patient hunters--
staking out an area for hours,

Waiting for the prey
to come to them.

[Martin]
snakes have this great ability
to unhinge their jaws,

Which lets them swallow
food whole--shell and all.

[Chris]
but the main reason snakes
can go so long between meals

Is because they're cold-blooded.

[Martin]
being cold-blooded means

You don't need as much food
to keep your body warm.

That saves a lot of energy.

[Chris]
crocodilians are another
great example of patient hunters

Who can go a long time
without eating.

[Martin]
their strategy is to hide
in the water and wait

For a potential meal
to get within snapping distance.

[Chris]
talk about patient.

African crocs may wait hours
for an unsuspecting victim.

[Martin]
and in africa,

There's another predator who may
have to wait between meals--

The lion--but when they do
get food, they don't eat.

They inhale--sometimes up to
in one meal.

[Martin]
which brings us
to another question--

[Chris]
when do creatures know
they've had enough to eat?

Kolas eat
little eucalyptus leaves,

And cheetahs eat large prey,
such as gazelles.

How come creatures
know how much to eat?

It doesn't depend so much on how
you eat, but on whatyou eat.

This apple
is loaded with energy,

And it's easy to digest,

So it gives me the quick
burst of energy I need

To climb this cliff.

Fruit is loaded
with nutrients and energy.

That's probably why so many
creatures love to eat it,

But, of course,
not all creatures eat fruit.

Creatures have evolved
differently to eat
different kinds of food,

And some foods aren't
as easy as fruit to digest.

Take this grass.

It's low in nutrients
and takes a long time to digest,

So this horse
has to keep on eating

To get all the nutrients
it needs.

[Allison]
so I guess it's true--

Whenyou eat depends a lot
on whatyou eat.

Some herbivores
never stop eating.

They just keep pounding back
the green stuff.

On the other hand, sloths
and koalas don't eat a lot,

And they chow down
very slowly.

Wait a minute.
This isn't
a universal thing.

Sloths and koalas
both chow down
slowly...

But not all creatures
who eat a lot
do it slowly.

Hey, you're right!
I never thought about it before.
What about bats?

Bent-wing bats eat
up to 300 bugs every night.

For these creatures
of the night, life is like
one fast bug buffet.

They're a great example
of creatures who eat
a lot...quickly.

And believe it or not,
even after 300 bugs,
he could still be hungry.

That's because creatures
like bats and shrews

Have high-speed metabolisms.

Their bodies are like race cars
revving at high speed.

They just burn so much energy!

[Voice slowed down]
but creatures like sloths
cruise along slowly.

They take their time
digesting,

And they make the most
of what they eat.

The bear knows
all about that.

When winter comes, she fills up
on as much food as possible,

Finds a good spot, and settles
down for a long winter's sleep.

Hey, come on.
You can hibernate later.

We've still got lots
of questions to answer,
like this one.

Question number 5--
when do animals sleep?

[Martin]
ahh.

Some scientists think that
the brain is like a computer,

And sleep is its way
of filing information

That has been gathered
during the day.

[Chris]
others think it's just
the body's way of recharging.

[Martin]
but one thing's for sure.

There has to be thousands
of different ways of doing it.

[Chris]
some creatures sleep
standing up.

[Martin]
others sleep underwater.

[Chris]
some sleep upside down...

[Martin]
and others sleep
about anywhere they please--

Top of the tree,
bottom of the tree--

Any place seems good
for these bears.

[Chris]
lions sleep
about 20 hours a day.

[Martin]
you know, humans
aren't the only creatures

Who like a nice,
luxurious bed.

These chimps
learn at a young age

How to build a nest where
they can catch some shuteye.

These orangutans
know all about that.

Like chimps, they build a new
nest to sleep in every night.

Because you're vulnerable
when you sleep,

Some younger creatures
sleep close to their parents

For protection,

And when it comes time to sleep,

A lot of young creatures
take a cue from mom
and sleep when she does.

[Chris]
but some young creatures don't.

[Martin]
when does this
cheetah mom sleep?

When her cubs let her.

[Chris]
talk about heavy sleepers.
Check out these marmots.

They sleep up to
nine months of the year.

That's three quarters
of their entire lives.

For the most part,

There are two
different times
that creatures sleep--

During the day
and during the night.

If you're active
during the day
and you sleep at night,

You're a diurnal creature.

And if you sleep
during the day

And you're
active at night,

Then you're
a nocturnal creature.

Good night, martin.

Good night, chris.

Nocturnal animals operate
at night for good reasons.

First off--safety.

For a creature
like a raccoon,

It's too dangerous
to be out during the day

Because you're more vulnerable
to predators

Like wolves and eagles.

Secondly,
raccoons are up at night

To hunt for their own food.

It all comes down
to advantages,

And the raccoon
is not the only creature

Who finds operating
under cover of darkness
to be advantageous.

Take the australian
tiger quoll.

For these guys,
nighttime is the right time

To hunt and scavenge
for food.

The african genet--

A carnivore
who loves operating at night.

It lets him go
about his business finding food

And gives him cover
from predators.

The tasmanian devil
is another creature of the night

Who uses the cover of darkness
to feed,

And a predator who really makes
the most of the night--the owl.

There's another reason
for being a nighthawk.

Imagine if you were living

In one of the hottest places
on earth--the african savanna.

If you're a predator, it's just
too hot to hunt during the day,

So you do it at night,
like the lion.

If you're the prey, darkness
means it's time to be wary

Because they know
that for the predator,

Nighttime is
bread-and-butter time!

During the day, lions sleep,
but during the dark hours,

They usually find a creature
to keep them busy.

Same goes for another african
superpredator--the hyena.

It's a lot of work
to hunt down food,

So why do it
when it's too hot to move?

It just makes sense to do it
when it's cool--nighttime.

But it isn't just a matter

Of either sleeping in the day
or sleeping at night, is it?

Aren't there lots of animals
who never sleep at all?

Giraffes don't sleep,
do they?

[Martin]
well, not exactly, al,

Although not too long ago,
scientists would have told you
giraffes never sleep.

[Chris]
they would have?

[Martin]
yeah.

But now we know
they need their sleep, too...

Although it isn't easy
to snooze

When you're as tall
as a two-story house.

When a giraffe sleeps,
it takes three-minute naps,

And in a whole day,
it only gets 20 minutes
of sleep.


I need at least 7 hours
of sleep at night.

Imagine if we humans
slept only 20 minutes a night!

[Drowsily]
we're here

In the land
of mystery
and intrigue

Checking out
creatures

That get
a lot less sleep
than we do...

But it's tough
keeping up with
these creatures.

We've been going
for four days
without any shuteye.

[Chris]
o.k., Moving on.

When do underwater creatures
sleep?

Underwater mammals,
like dolphins, have to come
to the surface to breathe,

So you'd think when they
fall asleep, they'd drown.

[Martin]
but the dolphin has it covered.

They shut down
just half their brain to sleep,

Leaving the other half
to control stuff
like surfacing for air.

What about fish?

We know how
underwater mammals
sleep,

But what about fish?

When dothey sleep?

Are any
of these fish
sleeping?

I don't know.

They're all moving around,
and they have their eyes open.

How can you tell?

We could be here
forever

Trying to catch
one of these fish
sleeping...

But we do know one fish
who definitely sleeps.

That's right!
The parrotfish!

[Chris]
but sleep is risky
for this guy

Because then he's vulnerable
to predators like moray eels.

[Martin]
the parrotfish
has a great defense--mucus!

He secrets a mucus envelope
around his body,

Leaving just one hole
to breathe through
while he sleeps.

This envelope prevents his smell
from being detected
by moray eels.

[Allison]
o.k., Guys, big question--
how do creatures sense time?

One way animals sense time
is from the changing seasons.

Just look at antlers.

A buck deer grows
a new set of antlers
every year.

He uses his antlers
to compete with other males
when it comes time to mate.

In the early spring,
those antlers fall off...

But then, that summer,
they grow back again.

Each year,
they grow back bigger
than the year before.

A deer's antler growth
is controlled by
the changing of the seasons

And his own internal
biological clock.

[Chris]
creatures in the wild
are tightly connected
to their world.

They react
to different seasons.

[Martin]
caribou, bears, and squirrels
know when seasons change

That its time for them
to do their thing...

[Chris]
like build up a layer of fat
or go into hibernation.

[Martin]
olive ridley sea turtles

Know when it's time
to start the arribada.

[Chris]
flamingos know it's time
to fly to another lake
when their food gets low.

[Martin]
canada geese
know when winter comes

That it's time
to take wing,

Some of them flying
from alaska down to mexico...

[Chris]
and when the dry season
hits the savanna,

Wildebeest know it's time
to migrate to greener pastures.

Humans came up
with a way
to clock time

Thousands
of years ago.

Before then,
we based our sense of time
on the natural world,

Like the rising
and setting sun.

But over time,
we've come
to depend more

On mechanical
devices
than on nature.

Not many of us
judge time

By looking
at the sun
anymore.

We use clocks.

But the lion doesn't.

The lion doesn't need
a watch to know when
to travel

Or when to eat
or when to sleep.

But how aware are creatures
of passing time?

That might be a question
to which we never find
an answer.

Then that's
something else
we can explore

About
the creature world,

And there's no time
like the present.

[Martin]
there's still so many
unanswered questions
about creature time.

[Chris]
definitely.
Like when do creatures play?

When do creatures
grow their spots?
When do creatures lose them?

[Martin]
you know, it took a lot of time,
we're talking millions of years,

For creatures to develop
their own unique ways
of dealing with time,

But there's still so much
to be learned about that.

[Chris]
true, and there's plenty
of time to find out.

"The creature world
is full of questions
about timing.

"Some of the questions
had really cool answers.

Some just left us stumped."

But if I know
chris and martin,

They're not going to rest
until--

[Martin]
I'm telling you,
he was sleeping!

You call that
sleeping?

I think so.

[Allison]
guys?

What are you doing?

No time
to talk now, al.

We've got a real mystery
to solve about
when fish sleep.

And we found
a real cool creature
to watch.