01x05 - Woodland

[bunniefuu]

[Paul Rudd]

Planet Earth is so spectacular,

it's easy to miss

the smaller things in life.

But take a closer look

and there's a whole undiscovered world.

A world where tiny heroes

and little monsters

need incredible superpowers

to help them triumph against giant odds.

Life moves fast.

Especially when you're small.

This little chipmunk

is barely a month old.

But he'll be lucky

to live longer than a year.

[sniffing]

There's so much to explore.

And so little time.

His patch of North American forest

is about to burst into life.

With little creatures

and big opportunities.

[bird hums]

[wings flapping]

But tiny lives can be over

in the blink of an eye.

No time to stand still.

[goshawk screeches]

Move fast.

Learn quickly.

And you might just make it

through the year.

Early spring.

And the forests of

the Appalachians Mountains

are just beginning to bloom.

There's so much food here,

a palm-sized chipmunk

only needs half an acre to himself.

[sniffs]

Nuts are particularly abundant.

They're the currency

that drives this little world.

And in autumn, when they're ripe,

they'll provide a huge windfall.

But before then,

he has a lot to deal with.

An older, stronger male

already lives here.

[chitters]

If the little chipmunk

is going to make it,

someday soon he'll need to

stand up for himself.

But fighting is risky.

He can't afford to be injured

so early in the season.

[chipmunks chittering]

[chitters]

He'll have to keep his head down

scratch out a living on the edges

until he's big enough to hold his ground.

For most, spring's a time to get out

and get eating.

Small animals have fast metabolisms,

so they must feed more often.

The caterpillars are ravenous

and so are the birds.

Sapsuckers drill hundreds of wells

to reach the rising sap.

[chirping]

And walnut-sized hummingbirds

take full advantage.

They fly almost 5,000 kilometers

to get here.

And arrive just in time

for this seasonal sugar rush.

While most of the forest

is in overdrive

one resident is still fast asleep.

Curled up in a space

smaller than an egg cup,

a jumping mouse has been hibernating

for eight months.

Now, she's in danger of never waking up.

Sleep too long and she'll starve.

Two-thirds of these mice do.

Her neighbors, on the other hand,

never rest.

They've got

hundreds of tiny mouths to feed.

Like all ants, they are industrious.

But what makes them unique

is where they live.

[rumbling]

Only the size of a grain of sand,

they're so small,

their entire society

fits inside an old acorn.

[rumbling]

It seems the perfect safe house.

But maybe it's not such a good idea

to build your home in someone else's food.

[rumbling]

Giants stalk this forest.

[rumbling continues]

[rumbling]

Wild turkeys.

Time to secure the grubs

and hold on tight.

[turkeys gobbling]

This could be a rough ride.

[rumbling]

At least acorns make sturdy homes.

And they're built to roll.

[turkeys gobbling]

Summer in the forest comes fast.

It looks lush and bountiful.

And yet,

the little chipmunk is barely getting by.

The acorns still aren't ripe.

And, with no patch of his own,

he's forced to forage

in the older male's territory.

Still not ready for that fight.

He needs to bulk up.

In desperate times,

chipmunks will try almost anything.

[sniffing]

Maybe even a slug.

Or maybe not.

Can't stick around though.

There's a deadly threat up above.

And there'll be another soon.

[chick chirping]

Right now,

this baby goshawk can barely stand

let alone fly.

[chirping]

It'll be a while

before she's hunting chipmunks.

Down below, something strange is hatching.

After two years as a grub,

a Hercules beetle

the size of a golf ball is emerging.

He's in a big hurry

to claim the high ground

so he can secure a mate.

But why walk

when you can fly?

One of the world's heaviest insects,

his wing muscles

need to be fully warmed up

before he can take to the air.

It's safer to walk for now.

But this Herculean task looks simple

compared to an acorn weevil's.

She's only a hundredth his size,

but she has

a thousand times further to go.

She's on an epic journey

to reach the forest canopy.

All in pursuit of precious acorns.

They haven't matured yet.

But she's not going to eat them.

They're for her young.

[machine whirring]

She can only bore into them

while they're green.

A lot of effort for just one egg.

And she's got many more acorns to fill.

On the forest floor,

the jumping mouse is beginning to stir.

She really must wake up soon.

For now, she's blissfully unaware

of the turning seasons

and of the battle

brewing right above her head.

The Hercules beetle has made it

to the top of the log.

But there's no time to rest.

The competition is close behind.

Some of the strongest beetles

on the planet.

Each can lift 100 times their own weight.

The goal is to pick up

and throw your opponent from the log.

The sumo wrestlers of the insect world.

The log is his.

And with it comes the chance to mate.

The young goshawk's vision

is already twice as good as ours.

At four weeks old,

she's almost fully grown.

Most of her feathers are now through.

Soon she'll be able to fly.

Until then,

the little chipmunk can rest easy.

Not too easy though.

It's still some time until autumn,

and those acorns are finally ripe.

When midsummer nights fall,

there's magic in the air.

[insects chirping]

Thousands of tiny fireflies

dancing in the darkness.

[owl hooting]

-[crickets chirping]

-[frog croaking]

Inside her log,

the little jumping mouse is finally awake.

But now, close to starving to death.

She needs to find food.

[sniffing]

And that means braving the night.

Strange things are stirring

on the forest floor.

[owl hoots]

[hawk screeches]

And one of nature's weirdest spectacles

is about to unfold.

After 17 years

feeding underground as grubs,

cicadas are finally surfacing.

And now, they have just days to live.

[cicadas buzzing]

The race is on.

After a lifetime alone underground,

millions of thumb-sized cicadas have

timed their emergence for this moment.

It's one of the biggest migrations

on Earth.

Tonight,

they transform from nymphs to adults.

Tomorrow, they'll mate,

and then they'll die.

Many won't even last the night.

[crunching]

But sheer numbers ensure most will survive

long enough to reproduce.

And the forest still gets a feast.

But the jumping mouse

is more of a vegetarian.

She's on the hunt

for small seeds and fungi.

Timber rattlesnakes

can go months without feeding.

Right now, something mouse-sized

would go down perfectly.

Foraging in the dark is risky business

unless you've got

secret superpowers.

Seemingly defying gravity,

she can jump two meters high.

Oversized tendons in her feet and legs,

combined with her tiny size

allow her to leap from danger

lurking in the forest.

And hopefully onto safer feeding grounds.

[birds singing]

[bird caws]

As summer turns to fall,

the forest enters a magical golden period.

But with it comes a new threat.

The young goshawk has fledged

from scraggly little chick

to aerial assassin.

Her wingspan over a meter.

And she's capable of speeds

up to 60 kilometers per hour.

Small animals best keep an eye on the sky.

And not just for hawks.

The moment

the little chipmunk has been waiting for.

Ripe acorns.

This windfall only lasts a week or two,

so time to stock up.

He can cram multiple nuts

in those supersized cheeks.

A valuable skill when you need hundreds

to survive the winter.

But his stockpile doesn't seem to be

building fast enough.

Someone has been raiding his stash.

The older male.

The more this little guy stores

the more his neighbor steals.

And to cap it all off

many of the nuts nearby are worthless.

The acorn weevil's larva

has been growing inside.

Now the size of a jelly bean,

it's time to escape the nursery.

Much easier said than done.

Even empty nuts don't go to waste though.

A new home

for a new generation of acorn ants.

Over in her cozy log,

the jumping mouse

is already preparing her bed.

She's only been awake for a few months.

Now it's time for another big sleep.

No rest for the little chipmunk though.

Autumn is almost over,

and his chances of surviving winter

are looking bleak.

He needs more nuts.

And there's only one solution.

[chipmunk chitters]

Time to venture into enemy territory.

[chipmunk chittering]

The older male may be willing to steal

but he certainly isn't willing to share.

The young chipmunk has been caught

red-handed.

This patch of forest isn't big enough

for the both of them.

[chipmunks chittering]

But he can't run forever.

It's time to fight.

[chipmunks chittering]

[chipmunk screeching]

Scarred and beaten,

the older male turns tail.

[thuds]

And it looks like he won't be back

anytime soon.

[screeches]

Sometimes when you're small,

life can be painfully short.

But this little chipmunk

is making the most of it.

He's secured a territory of his own,

an enormous haul of nuts

and overcome the challenges

of being tiny

in a big, wild wood.

With everything he needs

to see him through winter

finally, he can rest

and dream of another spring.