02x03 - Episode 3

[bunniefuu]

["One Step Closer" playing]

[Jane] "Chlamyphorus truncatus."

-[chattering]
-[beeping]

[Jane] Greybeard, do you see anything?

[Greybeard chatters]

We've been waiting forever, Jane,
and still nothing.

-[Greybeard shrieks]
-[gasps] That's not nothing.

-Say hello to the Chlamyphorus truncatus.
-[squealing]

Hello, Chlamyphorus "trun-cactusus."

Or hello, pink fairy armadillo.

[David]
More like goodbye, pink fairy armadillo!

There's a car heading straight for it!

Get out of the way!

-[squealing]
-[whimpers, grunts]

[car approaches]

-[squeals]
-[Greybeard chatters]

[sighs] That was close.

Too close.

Look, now the pink fairy armadillo
is starting to dig underground.

-Plotting intercept course.
-[beeping]

[whirring]

I love our new
underground digging machine.

Look at all these buttons.

-[beeping]
-Beep, beep, boop, boop, boop.

Beep, boop, bee-bee-- Ooh, a dial.

Not the dial, David.

We've shrunk down to follow
the Chlamyphorus truncatus.

We don't wanna accidentally
go back to full size mid-mission.

Well, I hope the Chlamyphorus
is ready for us.

Did you get that?

-Yes.
-[mechanical hissing]

Pink fairy armadillo is fast.

They don't really look like fairies.

More like hamsters
with sushi on their backs.

That sushi is their shell,
and they kind of do look like hamsters.

All armadillos have shells,
but the pink fairy is the smallest one.

We don't know much about them.

They're very hard to find
and spend most of their lives underground.

Then how come this one was up on the road?

Good question.

Maybe he couldn't dig through the concrete
or maybe he was looking for food?

Do you know he's a he because
boy armadillos are bigger than girls?

Another good question.

We don't know. That's how little we know.

The scanners told me he's a he.

Last question,
what exactly is our mission today?

Our mission is to
figure out what they eat.

Seems simple enough.

Nothing about these
little friends are simple.

But if we can understand what they eat--

-Then we could help them?
-Exactly.

-[scratching]
-[gasps]

-[David] That little guy dug all of this?
-[Jane] I don't know.

Lots of animals burrow through the ground,
making tunnels, like insects, frogs,

rabbits, owls, foxes, penguins, wom--

-Is this a really long list?
-Wombats. And yes, it is.

There's a whole world underneath our feet

that most people
don't ever even think about.

-[beeping]
-And there's part of that world.

-[squeaking]
-[Jane] Here he comes.

-And there he goes.
-He's getting away.

David, we need to increase
our boring speed.

Jane, I don't think being more boring
will help us catch him.

Boring is a fancy way of saying "digging."

Like using animals' scientific names--

-What?
-Nothing.

Uh, increasing boring speed.

-[alarm wailing]
-Incoming rock!

-Starting evasive maneuvers!
-What?

Fancy way of saying
"getting out of the way!"

-[exclaims] There he is!
-[squealing]

Another rock!

Getting out of the way in three, two, one!

-[David] Whoa!
-[squealing]

He's too fast. If we can't see him,
how are we gonna know what he eats?

[grunts]

It's a dead end!

Bad choice of words, Jane!

Bad choice of words!

-[squealing]
-[alarm continues blaring]

[screaming]

We were so close.

So close to getting flattened
like pancakes or mud pies.

Or those cartoons that
get squished down super thin--

I get it.

How are we supposed to follow
that speedy armadillo?

Or get around those rocks?

Let's head upstairs and rethink our plan.

Maybe next time Greybeard can be
the one who almost gets squished?

-[chatters]
-[motor revving]

Wait, what's that sound?

Greybeard, climb up!

[Jane] What's going on?

Annisa.

Hey, Jane. [sighing] Hey, David.

Why are all these workers here?

I wish I didn't have to tell you this,
but the co-op's getting rid of the garden,

or at least what we called the garden.

-[both] What?
-I know.

I hate it too, but the building doesn't
have the budget to pay for a gardener

and, well, look at it.

They're getting rid of
the trees and everything?

They have to clear it all away

if we're gonna pave over the ground
with those patio stones.

Pave over the ground? Cut down the trees?

-They can't.
-Unfortunately, they can.

But what about all the squirrels and birds
and raccoons that live in the trees?

And what about all the insects
and animals that live underground?

This will trap them under the stones.

Instead of destroying the garden,
we need to bring it back to life.

And that takes time,
money and people who wanna do it.

[sighs] I don't like this
any more than you do.

But most of the co-op members
voted to pave over the garden.

There's nothing we can do.

Sorry. [sighs]

Nobody's gonna listen to us, Jane.

Then we're gonna have to make them listen.

[chainsaw revs]

[door opens]

[Jane sighs]

[David sighs]

I don't believe this!

Hello to you too.

[sighs] Mom, I have terrible news.

Did you do something? [sighs]

Not yet.

But we just found out that
the building is destroying the garden.

And we still haven't figured out
what the pink fairy armadillo eats.

Those are connected somehow?

In nature, everything is connected.

The pink fairy armadillo burrows
and lives underground.

So, paving over the garden
will hurt other insects

and animals that live underground.

-I see. [groans] Sort of.
-I don't understand.

Who'd want to do something like this?

[sighs] Jane.

What kind of person
would want to destroy nature?

[David] Jane.

I can't even imagine why someone
would agree to cut down trees

and k*ll plants.

They're living things too.

-[sighs]
-Jane.

Mom, is there something you wanna say?

It takes money to fix up
and maintain that old garden,

and there's only so much
in the building's budget.

There are other places
that money needs to go.

It's our responsibility
to take care of nature.

It's also our responsibility to take care
of the people who live in this building.

The roof is leaking.
There are toilets that don't flush,

and the heat keeps quitting out
for half of the building.

You voted to get rid of the garden?

I voted to make sure
that we still have heat this winter.

[gasps] Mom,
gardens can't defend themselves.

Unless they're filled with those
Venus flytrap plants that eat bugs.

But I don't think
they grow in these parts, so…

Thank you, David.

[sighs]

I'm gonna go to the bathroom.

[Maria sighs]

The people who voted
to get rid of the garden

didn't do it because they hate nature.

They did it because
they have to make hard choices.

We could have either taken
small bits of money out of everything

or make one big choice.

Why do I think you're not
listening to me anymore?

Small.

[gasps, sighs]

[laptop chimes]

[sighs]

[water running, stops]

David, the pink fairy armadillo
could get around the rocks underground

because it was smaller
than a digging machine, right?

So?

So if we wanna keep up with the pink fairy
and move around those rocks,

we'll have to get even smaller
than we already are.

But what about saving the garden?

I don't know how to do that yet.

But if we can keep up with
the pink fairy armadillo,

we can find out what he eats.

And maybe that will help us
help the animals

that live underground in the garden.

[chainsaw revs]

-[gasps]
-[David] What's that noise?

[gasps]

We don't have a second to waste.

We have to get around that huge rock.

On it. Get ready.

We're about to shrink down
even smaller than the pink fairy.

[sighs] It's a lot easier to get through
the ground at this size.

I hope we find
the pink fairy armadillo again soon.

We just lost all power
to our main engines.

Is that a fancy way
of saying "we're stuck"?

We're stuck.

[scratching]

Did you hear that?

-That super scary, scratchy sound?
-[chomping]

-Yes. Yes, I do.
-[squealing]

Do you think it's
the pink fairy armadillo?

Time to press some buttons.

Beep, boop, beep, boop, beep--

[squealing]

David, look.

-[David] Oh, it's just an ant.
-[chirping]

A really, really big ant.

But we can deal with just one ant.
Right, Jane?

[metal squeaking]

Where there's one ant,
there's always more.

[metal squeaking continues]

Maybe I shrunk us a bit too small?

-[metal bangs]
-[both scream]

-[squealing]
-[alarm blaring]

[both scream, pant]

-You okay?
-I didn't know ants would be that strong.

Ants may be small,
but they're super strong.

They can lift more than ten times
their own body weight.

And when they work together,
they're even stronger.

Tell me about it.

Since we didn't find
the pink fairy armadillo yet,

I wonder if there's a way to save
the garden by doing what ants do.

Bite the workers?

Not exactly.
Come on. We've got to go back outside.

[Annisa] Hey, gonna try and replant some
of these in my apartment. [sighs]

Thanks. And I know you said a lot
of people want to get rid of the garden,

but I bet there's
a lot of people who don't.

Yeah, I don't.

Jane doesn't. Greybeard doesn't.

[chuckles] I wish that were enough.

And that votes from stuffies counted.

If the people who agreed to this
knew what this was doing

to all the animals that live here,
I know they'd change their minds.

Look.

"Nature can win if we give her a chance."

Jane Goodall said that.

Annisa, how do we give
this garden a chance?

Yeah.
There's gotta be something we can do.

I guess you could try a petition.

I knew it. A petition. Of course.

What's a petition?

[chuckles] It's a request
to change something.

You ask people to sign it,
and the more people you get to sign it,

the more power it has.

If you can get more than half
of the co-op members

to sign a petition to save the garden,

-then I--
-You'd stop all this?

Yes, but it's not easy getting people to…

We'll get everyone.

[chuckles] …to change their minds.

Plus, we'd need people who are willing
to help take care of the garden.

-We still don't have the money to do that.
-We'll figure something out.

[chainsaw revs]

Quickly.

[sighs]

Hi, Mr. Jin.

[David] Can we talk to you
about our garden petition?

If we just put in a little hard work,
we can save the garden.

[dog whimpers]

-No peeing on the garden, Pugsley.
-[chuckles]

[David chuckles]

So all those poor little animals,
they'd be trapped?

Insects too.

Oh, well, I don't care
too much for insects.

Mostly animals.

Well, if it's for the animals, of course.
You bet.

Don't worry. We don't need you to sing.

We just need you to sign this,
so we can save the garden.

[David] And the pink fairy armadillos.

Think about it.
You're hanging out underground,

minding your own business and,
out of nowhere,

a construction team starts digging up
your place and ruining everything.

-"Ah, no! Help us!"
-[chuckles]

Nature can win if we give her a chance.

Wow. I wish I'd known about this before.

Sure. Uh, we'd love to help
save the garden.

-Do you like gardening?
-And volunteering?

-Uh, sure. Yeah.
-I-- I-- I like it. Yeah.

[knocking]

Hello, Ms…

-Garcia.
-Ms. Garcia.

My name is Jane
and I'm collecting signatures

to stop our garden from being destroyed.

Really? Do you have enough money
to put in a new one and maintain it?

I'm glad you asked that.
We're putting in a natural garden

that doesn't need
a lot of work to take care of.

We can let the grass grow and we
don't need to worry too much about weeds.

We even have a list of volunteers
who are going to pitch in.

So, would you sign our petition, please?

I'd love to.

And volunteer?

Yeah, no.

[chuckles] But I have an incredible
daughter who'd love to help out.

[chuckles]

Wait! Stop!

-[pants] Annisa, we've got it!
-[chainsaw stops]

Got w-what?

-The signatures for the petition.
-We all wanna keep the garden,

and garden volunteers
will take care of it.

[sighs, inhales sharply]
Uh, you still need one more signature.

[sighs]

There. Now you've got everyone.

We're keeping the garden.

-[workers cheering, whistling]
-No way.

You got Mr. Jin to sign?

[Jane] He even said he'd help
with the garden committee.

We'll take care of it, all of us.

I promise.

Nice work, kiddos.

You know, I never stopped to think
about everything living under the ground.

I guess they need
a home like us too, right?

That's what the pink fairy
armadillo needs. A home.

One that's far away
from roads and construction.

If we find it,
maybe we can find out what he eats.

-It's time to get back to our mission.
-Let's go.

[chuckles]

-[squealing]
-[metal squeaking]

If we're gonna get away from these ants
and find the pink fairy armadillo,

we need to reroute power
to the main engines.

Aye, aye, Captain.

Power to engines at 75%.

-[beeping, whirring]
-Eighty. One hundred percent. All right.

We're good. Punch it.

[squealing]

There's something coming up ahead, Jane.

Forward, full speed.

-Ah!
-[crashes]

[squealing]

Back! Back, full speed.

-More ants. Way more ants.
-We're in the middle of an ant colony.

[chirping, squealing]

Back up, back up!

[whirring]

[grunts] There's another rock behind us.

And angry ants in front of us.

[squealing]

We're trapped.

[squeaking]

[gasps] The pink fairy armadillo.

[squeaking]

-[squeaking]
-[squealing]

He saved us, and he's an anteater.

Mission accomplished.

Do you know how rare it is
to see something like this?

Almost as rare as seeing a real fairy?

Maybe not that rare.

-[squeaking]
-[David] Why did he stop?

Because he's home.

Listen, David.

No cars. No road. No construction.

Nothing.

But he is close to his food, ants.

[sighs] Now that we know
the pink fairy armadillos

live close to where they eat,
we can learn more about them.

-And protect them.
-Exactly.

-[snoring]
-[gasps]

We should let him sleep.

N-Night.

[people chattering]

You know, I gotta say I really dig
that we're all giving nature a chance.

-I see what you did there.
-[Annisa chuckles]

What's wrong, Jane?

I'm happy we saved the garden,

but I'm worried about
the pink fairy armadillo.

The-- What's a pink fairy armadillo?
I've never heard of it.

Most people haven't.

It's a cool armadillo that looks like
a hamster with pink sushi on its back.

It eats ants and makes burrows.

They're endangered.

Well, petitions are
one way to start change,

but just talking to people can help too.

It's like with the insects
and animals under the garden.

If people don't talk about them,
then people won't know they need our help.

You're right, Annisa.

David, our pink fairy armadillo
mission isn't over yet.

It isn't?

We'll be back to help with
the garden, Annisa.

-Come on.
-[David panting]

[Annisa chuckles] Bye.

[Jane] Bye!

[knocking]

Coming.

Have you ever heard that nature
can win if we give her a chance?

Well, so can the pink fairy armadillo.

It's an endangered species
that needs our help.

Well, how can I help?

-[Jane] Help save the armadillos.
-[Greybeard chatters]

[knocking]

Mom, can you let David in? He's late.

[Maria] For what?

-Our call with Mariella Superina.
-[Maria] Who's that?

The pink fairy armadillo expert.

She lives in Argentina
and she's calling us right now.

-[bell chiming]
-[Maria] Okay. Okay, I'm hurrying.

Hi, Mariella.

Hi, Jane.

Where's David?

We just finished telling our neighbors
about the pink fairy armadillo.

[panting] Sorry I'm late.

-We have a lot of neighbors.
-[chuckles]

We realized most people have
never heard about pink fairy armadillos

when we did
a mission tracking one underground.

Sounds like a big adventure.
Did you find a pink fairy armadillo?

[chuckles] We did. It was adorable.

I mean, the ants he was eating
didn't think so, but me and David did.

-So cute.
-Did he look like this?

[Jane chuckles] Exactly like that.

And why don't more people
know about pink fairy armadillos?

Well, let me show you a map.

They only live in Argentina
and they live underground,

so it's extremely difficult
to find them and to study them.

How did pink fairy armadillos
get their name?

Because, to be honest,
they don't really look like fairies.

No wings.

Pink fairy comes from the word "fair,"
which means small or little,

and "pink" because of their shell.

Why are they pink?

[Mariella] The shell is a paler pink
because they draw all the blood

into their body to keep it warm,
and when it's very hot,

they just release the blood
into the shell and then it's pinker.

[chuckles] That's so cool.

And sometimes hot.

-Get it?
-[chuckles]

[chuckles]

How do they get hot?

When they're digging,
it stands on its hind legs

and uses the tip
of the tail as a fifth leg,

so they can stand up
and it can dig with more strength.

It's amazing that
something so small can do that.

Well, even its bum plate has
an important role when it is digging.

Let me show you.

See how it digs?

And it pushes the sand back
with its bum plate.

And so it frees space in front of it.

Wow. I don't think my bum can do that.

[chuckles]

Did you always like armadillos?

[Mariella]
I was 18 when I saw my first armadillo

and I didn't even know that they existed.

Thirty years later,
I'm still doing research on armadillos,

and I've dedicated my life to them.

[David] That one's huge.

[Jane] Armadillos are so cool.

[Mariella] Even the tiniest
and oddest-looking animal

deserves to be studied.

They're just as important
and need our help

with the things that are hurting them.

What's hurting the pink fairy armadillos?

[Mariella] First of all, people capture it
and try to keep it as a pet.

But also climate change is another
problem, and they're losing their habitat.

If it rains more,
then their burrows get flooded.

What can we do to help them?

Think globally and act locally.

There are so many tiny creatures
that live around you

that you may not even know about,
so go outside, enjoy nature,

look for the tiny little creatures
and just watch them and enjoy them.

Don't take them home.

Wild animals shouldn't be kept as-as pets.

We will definitely do all that.

Absolutely. I want them to live forever.

Thanks so much for talking to us
about pink fairy armadillos, Mariella.

[Mariella] Thank you.

And remember, keep them in your heart
and leave them in the wild.

-Bye-bye!
-[Jane, David] Bye, Mariella!

[laptop chimes]

-[squealing]
-Wait, is that an ant?

[gasps] They found us!

Quick. To the digging machine.

["One Step Closer" playing]