01x08 - Animal Builders

[bunniefuu]

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welcome to the world of amazing animal

builders

hi henry planning something

sure am

and it'll be fantabulous

okay guys start them up

roll it roll it roll it

keep those tractors rolling don't just

stand there get those feathers moving

we're burning daylight henry you're not

the only animal that knows how to build

there are many amazing animal builders

you could learn a lot from them no time

out of my way

henry these animals are all expert

builders why not ask them for a little

advice

yeah right henry

what these animals can build will really

amaze you

listen i'd love to chat with your

friends but

what but i've got work to do

okay mac

all kinds of animal builders construct

all types of homes in all kinds of

conditions

if you don't build a home you can find

yourself left out in the cold

excuse me i know that

animals who build homes have somewhere

to keep dry and warm

that's why so many creatures from tiny

insects to large mammals are animal

builders everyone needs somewhere to

call home

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somewhere to have babies homes are for

families too that's right henry even

this jaw fish built though

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who's moving in here that's him

no as intent making bats from central

america excuse me tank making bats

that's amazing

they use their teeth to nibble the

middle of a leak so that it curls in on

itself like a tent sure they're not boy

scout beds these tents are where the

bats sleep during the day until it's

time for them to go hunting at night

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let's get digging

lots of animals dig into the ground to

make their homes like this hognose snake

hey henry i'm trying to explain about

burrowing animals here

henry are you listening to me

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hello hello anybody home who wants to

know hey this could be my new home

you better check it out first it might

be occupied ah looks like someone did

get here first

sorry to drop in without an invitation

but i was in the neighborhood

hey nice burrow you got here lots of

cross traffic though

lots of animals like rabbits moles and

prairie dogs dig burrows to live in they

have extra tough front claws to use as

digging tools i can dig it

prairie dogs don't just dig homes they

dig entire cities

here on the surface you can only see a

few prairie dogs but they're guarding

the entrances to an underground prairie

dog town how many dogs are down there

there can be thousands even more excuse

me that's amazing last century some of

the great prairie dog towns in north

america had up to five million

inhabitants

five million san francisco hasn't got

that many people

yes a rattlesnake

don't worry the lookouts call out the

alarm to their neighbors

talk about neighborhood watch

prairie dogs have a complicated burro

system so the rattlesnake can never

catch them

here's another burrowing rodent he's

busy as a you know what extending his

home is he a beaver yes an american

mountain beaver to be precise i do love

it when you're precise

this animal architect builds different

rooms for different activities

there's a dining room for eating

a room for storing food

and a bedroom for sleeping

that's amazing

leave it to beaver

okay guys take it away

um

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okay

let's get moving

come on

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animals use a variety of materials to

construct their homes bricks and cement

that's what i always use that's what

everybody should build with

for human houses bricks are great

but animals use whatever they can get

for building materials

is that so this i gotta see

what kind of house is this the roof's

full of holes and the locations all

wrong and it's made of paper paper

you're kidding doesn't look like paper

to me

it's made from wood pulp the raw

material that makes paper the wasps tiny

mouths chew the wood and mix it with

their saliva saliva you mean spit yeah

henry the end result is that the nest is

very light but very strong

some are bigger than a basketball maybe

we should poke our noses inside for a

closer look i wouldn't recommend that

wasps are very protective of their home

and they pack a painful sting

okay i won't be a buzzy buddy

these birds have found an even stronger

building material

mud martins used to build their nests on

cliffs but now they prefer nesting on

houses that's why they're called house

martens

a house martin will make hundreds of

trips to finish the nest when the mud

dries out it gets hard hard like

concrete just like concrete amazing

animal concrete

but even animal homes built with strong

materials like this termite mound can be

at risk from hungry home wreckers

the soldier termites protect the mound

and launch an attack

retreat

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now the worker termites will come out to

repair their home by chewing dirt and

mixing it with their saliva

saliva you mean more yes henry the

saliva and dirt make a quick drying mud

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there's a lot to be done the fierce

soldier termites protect them while they

work once more into the breach

while the soldiers keep fighting the

good fight the workers keep on with

their rebuilding

many termites make light work

it's a problem once the mud is dry the

termites mound will be just as strong as

it was before

wow amazing animal fortresses

this building is tiring me out time for

a break

and now henry's amazing golden gecko

award for the all-time best amazing

animal builder

third place bronze medal goes to the

mexican burrowing toad who can hide by

digging backwards and be totally covered

in soil in just seconds

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second place silver goes to the jawfish

he actually uses his great big mouth to

build his home

but my golden gecko award for the

all-time best amazing animal builder

goes to the woodpecker

these guys have a specially hardened

skull and cushioning around their brain

to protect them while they do this

hammering stuff

if they pack hard enough and long enough

hey presto instant house

they also peck away looking for food

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they pet through trees

and cactus which is softer and it takes

less work to build a house

so it makes for faster building and a

quicker house

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and when the woodpecker moves on there's

a ready-made home for other birds and

animals to move into

the woodpecker my all-time best amazing

animal builder

back to work already henry huh

watch where you're going

ugh

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some animals are into big time building

they build large they build impressive

this is my castle i'm king henry i like

the sound of that it sounds strong

invincible uh king henry i've got a

funny feeling something's about to

timber

oops

and i never got to cross my lovely moat

i'm sure the beaver didn't do it on

purpose henry

hasn't he got anything better to do he

was probably just keeping busy doing his

own building work

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the beavers cleverly built dams so the

entrance to their lodge is hidden

underwater this keeps them safe from

predators

beaver dams can be half a football field

long and they need constant attention

but often it's an upstream battle to

keep the dam together

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and another

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a little bit more to the right

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whew all in a day's

work here's another busy builder but

this one builds with leaves

it's just a bird

birds only make little nests not this

one not the brushed turkey

it can spend all year building a nest of

rotting leaves that's longer than a

school bus

he won't be a cold turkey with a nested

thing it's not for him henry the warmth

from the rotting leaves incubates the

female brushed turkey's eggs it's the

perfect place for babies to be born

uh

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henry it's time for your special report

henry time for your report come here you

are ready aren't you

now

we're waiting for your report on the

bauer bird

the power bird um

he's a bird and he's uh he's sort of an

artist he makes a special building out

of twigs called the bower and and then

he has to decorate it now the power bird

is the real bluebird of happiness

because every single decoration he uses

is colored blue anything will do

feathers flowers glass anything so long

as it's blue

uh why doesn't he use any other colors

here's what he told me

henry i've been honest i'm going through

my blue period cousin clint had his

green uncle hieronymus was into worms

but me i'm true blue

but do you know why

do you know why sure i know why

sport sport yeah this sport fans team

wears blue shirts he goes to all their

games dressed in blue from beat to tail

and you should see his place

blue fridge

blue bathroom even blue food and guess

what music he listens to the blues oh

he drifts off to sleep in his blue bed

and has uh

black and white dreams you see animals

can't dream in color

what's that got dreams are the only

thing in his life this bowerbird can't

make blue it drives him crazy so to make

him feel better he searches every day

for some new blue decoration for his

power

so if you're wondering why the power

bird loves blue stuff it's because he

dreams in black and white and so he has

to find something new and blue every

single day of the year

and don't forget henry told you so it's

straight from the lizard's mouth

you really think anybody's going to

believe that

yeah

well you were right about one thing the

australian satin bowerbird does like the

color blue

see i told you but it's nothing to do

with sports or dreams oh

and everything to do with trying to

attract a female

first he builds a bower made of neatly

cut dry grass and twigs

then he starts to decorate it

with anything blue he can find

blue flowers feathers beads glass blue

anything

his collection appeals to the blue-eyed

female

the prettier and bigger his collection

is the more it will impress her

look

it's working

well i guess that's why they call it the

blues or maybe not

careful you don't fall henry i know just

what i'm doing

okay take it up

most structures are built around a

strong framework

skyscrapers are held up by steel girders

are you sure you know what you're doing

henry

no problem i know my way around

you sure

of course i always know where it's at

things aren't always what they seem

this isn't a skyscraper it's a spider's

web

yes it is but a spider's web is not only

a well-constructed home it's also a

sticky trap for food

organs called spinnerets on the abdomen

of the spider feed out the sticky silk

of the web

many spiders build a new web every day a

new home every day what happens to the

old one they eat it then recycle it

that's amazing talk about

environmentally friendly

the garden spiders web can be made from

almost 100 feet of silk

wow 100 feet and i thought spiders only

had eight feet

henry

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it's so

so

intricate yeah or even complicated it

sure looks hard to do

for a lizard maybe for a spider it comes

naturally once the home is built it

becomes a sticky trap

the sticky web is worked once again

after its meal the spider repairs any

holes in the web

and waits for the next catch

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hmm

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nests

can't be hard to build

i'm sure a lizard could do it

careful henry

okay i'm going i'm going

nests are another form of animal home

henry and there's far more to building

them than you think it's not so hard

birds build nests by weaving twigs and

grass together yeah it's kind of messy

though isn't it

and it looks like it's only made of

sticks and feathers so how strong could

it be

much stronger than you'd expect and it's

light which is very important if it's

perched on a branch

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that wasn't so easy

weaving things together does make them

strong henry and it's not just birds

that do it

look how this colony of weaver ants in

central america work together to make a

nest

using their powerful jaws the ants pull

the leaves into the shape they want and

then use their children to stick them

together

don't they have child labor laws

baby ants or grubs produce a kind of

sticky fluid and when they're squeezed

out it comes to stick the leaves in

place just like glue exqueeze me

that's amazing

builders don't just build homes they

also attract mates

you mean like whistling at people when

they walk by

no henry i mean like building a nest so

females will come to mate with the male

birds who built them

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this weaver bird is building a nest to

attract a female just like all the other

males but he's a young bird so he's not

very good at it yet

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before a male can start courting a

female he has to finish his nest

this is so romantic

having a good nest is important but

you've got to be a great dancer too

looks like she's checking him out

our young bird has seen her

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oh playing hard to get eh

he's a pretty good mover

now she's watching

i want to come back to my place take a

look at my weavings

there's tough competition around

and this older male's nest is bigger

better built and finished

don't give up he's trying so hard he

deserves a girlfriend

oh it's not fair

sorry henry she's picked the bird with

the deluxe nest

it'll be a better and safer place for

her babies to grow up but he works so

hard

well if at first you don't succeed

give up

no try try again

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okay let's get out of here

you've seen some pretty amazing animal

builders henry

i sure have i've even picked up a few

tips

yeah so much to build so little time

animals are amazing builders and it

looks like you've built something

yourself but that home looks a bit small

for you

excuse me it's a home for boris my pet

spider

not bad for a beginner

but you'd better leave the real work to

those amazing animal builders

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you