02x07 - That's Amore Eel

[bunniefuu]

♪ ♪

WOMAN: The fun part is seeing
where they are and if they come running.

(honks horn)

Where is everybody?

Come on, pigs!

Good job, pigs.

If they come,
they know they'll get treats.

(snorts)

(theme music playing)

NARRATOR: The sun shines
at Disney's Animal Kingdom theme park.

And at the Kilimanjaro Safaris,
the hippos prepare for breakfast.

ERIN: You gotta wait.

NARRATOR:
Tequila lives in a bloat of six hippos,

one of the largest in managed care.

JEN: Every day when the hippos come out,

we like to do a little produce toss
to reward them for coming out here.

Today, in the summer spirit,
we have watermelon.

It's also a good chance for us
to see how the hippos are doing

with eating something
that big and that solid.

Our focus today is actually gonna be
a little bit more on Tequila

'cause she's had a few tooth issues
and her mouth has looked a little sore.

So we want to see how she does
with the watermelon.

Tequila is middle-aged now.

She's about 28 years old,

and that's also part of why
we're keeping a closer eye on her teeth,

because she is starting
to get a little bit older.

She is a very sassy hippo.

She's a little bit shorter
than the rest of them,

but she certainly doesn't let that

affect her attitude at all.

Alright, Tequila, you ready?

Go for it.

There you go. Come get it, girl.

-Did she get it?
-ERIN: Yeah, she got it.

It was a half one,
so she grabbed it really easy.

JEN: Tequila, you want a whole one?

(Erin and Jen laugh)

JEN: Come on, Tequila.

That was Tequila right there
that's trying to grab that whole one.

Seems like she can't just chop
a whole watermelon

like she normally does.

ERIN: Yeah, I agree.

JEN: She's clearly not opening
her jaw all the way.

Everybody else seems like they're eating
the watermelon pretty well,

but she's just eating little scraps.

ERIN: This doesn't look right.

I think we need to get
a look at her teeth.

She's not chewing
the way she normally does.

JEN: Yeah, I think her tooth
is bothering her.

We'll definitely get a look
at her when she comes in.

RACHEL (off screen):
So we noticed a little bit of activity

up on the hill yesterday.

NARRATOR:
Backstage at Animal Kingdom,

a new guest has moved in.

RACHEL: I just came out here
to check it out,

and it looks like we have
a Gopher tortoise burrow

that has popped up overnight.

We're always really excited
when we have native species

move into Disney's Animal Kingdom.

Gopher tortoises are probably
my favorite animal,

and it's because they're so unassuming.

People really don't know
about this little animal

that lives underground here
in Florida and is responsible

for the wellbeing of so many
other species and its ecosystem.

The Gopher tortoise is
a threatened species

here in Florida and elsewhere
throughout the range

of the southeastern United States.

And that's primarily due to habitat loss,
habitat modification as roadways go in.

The tortoises favor the same habitats
the developers do.

I think I'm just going to set
this camera up

at the entrance of the burrow

so we can get a better idea
of who our new friend is

that is occupying this burrow.

We know she's female, but I think
Hank is a pretty good name for a tortoise.

Hank is actually
a pretty gregarious tortoise.

She's out foraging.

Hank looks like a really healthy tortoise.

She looks like a healthy weight.

She's exhibiting all the normal behaviors
we would expect a tortoise to do.

We're gonna see if we can just co-exist
alongside this tortoise,

see if she can just remain here.

So we view that as a responsibility
to make sure they're safe and happy here.

I'm excited to explore
this burrow a little more,

go deeper and see what we find.

NARRATOR: At The Seas
With Nemo & Friends at EPCOT,

deep down at the bottom
of the crystal-clear waters

lives a slinky, three-foot character.

DR. JEN:
Sigsbee is our green moray eel.

I've worked with a lot
of eels in my career

and believe it or not, each one has

an individual personality,
including Sigsbee.

We still grow attached to them
even though they're fish.

They are very charismatic.

Usually, Sigsbee's a really active eel.

He loves to swim around
his coral reef habitat,

especially when the divers go in.

He's really inquisitive.

He likes to swim over to them, say hi.

But lately he's been
kind of sticking to himself,

hiding in his little cave
and not coming out much.

He's been kind of tired, reduced appetite.

At a previous exam,
we figured out that he was very anemic.

That means he had a really low number
of red blood cells in his bloodstream.

He required
a blood transfusion previously.

So today we are rechecking him
to make sure

that that anemia is still resolved

and see if he's looking healthy.

NARRATOR: Green moray eels, like Sigsbee,

conceal themselves
along the rocky shorelines

and in the coral reefs
of the western Atlantic Ocean.

SHELBY: Disney works with
the Coral Restoration Foundation

to save threatened species
and threatened coral reefs

right here at home in the Florida Keys.

That's actually where
Sigsbee comes to us from.

DR. JEN: We have to send
our aquarists and divers

in to the system to try to catch him.

NARRATOR: But catching Sigsbee
is easier said than done.

SHELBY: I'll have the big bag,

and then Dani will push him
out of his hole

a little bit into the bag,

bring him right up here to the surface
where we'll hand him off to Scott.

DANI: If he's in one of the pipes
then we're just gonna lift the pipe,

put the bag on the end,
lift it up all the way

so that he slides
into the bag from the pipe,

and we'll come up and let you know
if we need anything.

SHELBY: Sigsbee is a sassy eel.

He does tend to hide from us,

especially when he knows
that we're coming.

(indistinct chatter)

DR. JEN: Right, so we got him
in the anesthetic water now.

We'll just note the time that we started,
he'll start getting sleepy.

CHARLENE (off screen): It's 09:14.

DR. JEN: We have to put him
under anesthesia

because he has very sharp teeth,

so we want to make sure
everyone stays safe.

CHARLENE: And Sigsbee gets to go
for a ride to the treatment room.

(Dr. Jen chuckles)

DR. JEN (off screen):
Eel transport coming through.

We make sure to pay really close attention

to things like his heart rate
and his breathing

while he's under anesthesia to make sure
that he stays safe.

SCOTT (off screen):
Did you ever see the movie Alien

where the second set of jaws
comes out of the alien?

The green moray does that too.

They do that, it helps them pull
a fish right down into their stomach.

SHELBY (off screen):
When he's not very asleep,

um, under anesthesia it can make
it a little harder to ventilate

because you have to get past
that second jaw

to, to ventilate well

or he at least has
to have it relaxed and open.

So right now, he has it all relaxed,

so it's easy for me
to get water flowing past it.

NARRATOR:
Dr. Jen performs an ultrasound

for clues to Sigsbee's lethargy.

DR. JEN: And we can watch
his heart beating,

if I can get it back on the screen.

He's a slippery little guy. There it is.

We're just going back to check
the heart again because...

...I'd like to get his heart
beating a little faster.

What I'm noticing right now
is that Sigsbee's heart rate

has decreased a little bit,

which can be a concern
when we have a fish under anesthesia.

NARRATOR: A sudden decrease in heart rate
could slow oxygen to Sigsbee's brain

and complicate breathing.

DR. JEN: The contractility
of the heart is slowing down,

so it's not pumping as well as it should.

SHELBY: He's getting
fresh water directly right now.

DR. JEN: I'm very concerned
about Sigsbee right now.

His heartbeat is pretty low,

much lower than it should be
with an eel under anesthesia.

So what we're gonna do now
is add non-anesthetic water

to the anesthesia
so that'll dilute it out.

And so that we can watch
that heart rate increase back up.

Yeah, the heart rate is getting faster,

which is what we wanted to see

when we adjust that
anesthetic concentration.

He's so slippery.

SHELBY: Yeah, the shammies help.

DR. JEN: Thank you so much,
that's perfect.

NARRATOR:
With Sigsbee's heart rate stable,

Dr. Jen scopes his gills
for signs of anemia.

DR. JEN: As far as the shape of the gills
and the arch structure of the gills...

...that looks good.

The color is a little bit pale,

which is a little concerning

because, you know, he does have
this history of anemia.

We like to see a nice dark red color
in the gills of fish,

so what that is telling me is that

maybe we do have
a recurrence of his anemia

that he had several months ago.

We've been dealing
with this problem on and off,

and we felt like we had
a good handle on it

and that he was moving
in a positive direction.

There's obviously still something going on
that we need to figure out.

-I just want to give him two injections.
-SHELBY: Where?

DR. JEN: Uh, along the back.

NARRATOR: Medications should
help Sigsbee's symptoms.

DR. JEN: Yes, this is iron,
so this is gonna help him

to start making more red blood cells.

And then...

...this one is Epogen.

Epogen is a medication
that helps to stimulate the production

of red blood cells in the bloodstream.

One next step we discussed for this guy,

which we may need to think about doing,

is putting him through the CT scanner,

because, you know,
our ultrasound diagnostics

can only tell us so much,
but CT really might be the ticket

to telling us
what's really wrong with him.

I think that that might be
a next best step for him

if you guys are okay with that?

SCOTT: I think so, yep.

DR. JEN: In order to perform
this advanced diagnostic test,

we need to transport Sigsbee
to Disney's Animal Kingdom

which is a few miles away
from us here at EPCOT.

We can't do that today because
we really don't want to keep him

under anesthesia much longer.

NARRATOR: For now,
it's back to playing hide and seek.

DR. JEN: I think doing a CT
is going to be really helpful

to try to really get to the bottom
of what is going on with this eel,

because he's been sick for a while.

So we need to find answers.

We've been through a lot with him.

Hopefully, he will start
feeling better soon.

ERIN: Tequila!

JEN: She's ready to go out.

ERIN: Alrighty, you ready?

NARRATOR: Tequila the hippo
might have teeth issues.

JEN (off screen):
She's already well on her way.

NARRATOR: So it's time for
her keepers to play dentist.

ERIN (off screen): Hi!

Tequila.

Good girl.

ERIN: Hippos are dangerous animals,

so we do have to be really careful
when we're messing with their teeth

and doing any dental care.

ERIN: Target, open.

ERIN AND JEN: There you go.

ERIN: Get all those extra bits out.

-JEN: Oh, that's better.
-ERIN: That's a good one.

JEN: Good girl. Good girl.

ERIN: The summation of Tequila
is small but mighty.

She's got an attitude,
she'll tell you what she thinks

and she's not gonna hold it back.

She doesn't want something,
she'll tell you.

So we have to train them
to voluntarily allows us

to do a lot of this dental care,

JEN: How's that look?

ERIN:
We monitor their teeth very closely.

So it really is pretty safe.

She's had a few teeth pulled already,

and she had a few spots that
typically get packed pretty bad

that we have to keep
a really close eye on.

So we're just looking right now

to see if we can get all the hay
out of her mouth

so we can see better

what she actually has stuck in her teeth.

JEN: Can you get her to raise her head up?

ERIN: Yeah.
Tequila, open.

-JEN: There we go.
-ERIN: Good girl.

JEN: Yeah, I think we got
most of the big stuff.

ERIN: Good girl! Good job.

Hay can be kind of sticky

and if it sits there too long,
it can cause infection.

This is looking like
it might be up in her gums

and messing with her teeth
more than we thought initially.

ERIN: Tequila, target. Target.

(Erin and Jen laugh)

ERIN: So she might not be cooperating

because her teeth could be
in pain at the moment

and the cold sensation of the water

could be causing her
discomfort in her mouth.

Thank you.

Luckily, these guys
are trained super well.

ERIN: Hold.

-JEN: You ready?
-ERIN: Go ahead.

They know exactly what they're doing
and they're very cooperative.

JEN: Hippos have the strongest bite
of any land mammal.

There's always a risk, but we trust her.

ERIN: Good girl!

Let me get that one.

Do you want more?

Hold.

JEN: Good, she's got a little
bit on the bottom there.

ERIN: Hold.

Looks like there is a chunk
of hay back there.

JEN: Right, I'm gonna grab the Waterpik.

-ERIN: Okay.
-JEN: Try and get that spot.

ERIN: We're gonna get it
out of your mouth.

JEN: See if I can get it, ready?

ERIN: Tequila, open.

Hold.

Tequila, open.

Open.

She's dropping her head really fast.

Tequila, open.

-JEN: Rinsing.
-ERIN: Hold.

No, she's closing it right away.
You're probably sore, huh?

JEN: Makes me think
there's something back there

that she doesn't want us to get.

ERIN: Yeah. Do you want to check and see,

you got anything out?

-JEN: Yeah, let me look and see.
-ERIN: Open.

JEN: I think this is what came out.

It's not a lot,
but it was really packed in there

and it's kind of pointy and sharp,
so I'm sure it didn't feel good.

ERIN: Does not look like
it would feel good, no.

It's a good thing
you like the Waterpik.

Does it feel better?
You feel better, Tequila?

JEN: There's a few more that are stuck,

they're just way up there.

I got out the big part
that was sticking out at least.

Now we just need to teach her to floss.

-ERIN: Yeah.
-(both laugh)

Worst-case scenario,
she could have a tooth

that's cracked or eroding in some way.

Obviously, she's super sensitive
in that area

so hopefully we can have
the vet fix that for us.

RACHEL (off screen): Be great
to see if we can find Hank inside.

NARRATOR: Backstage,
conservation programs manager Rachel

prepares to look inside Hank
the gopher tortoise's home.

RACHEL: Every gopher tortoise
burrow is different,

and we don't know what we're gonna find.

NARRATOR: This isn't
the first time Rachel has explored

a Gopher tortoise burrow
on Disney property.

RACHEL: In all of the years
that we've been studying

gopher tortoises here at Disney,

we have found so many different
species in their burrows.

We have found all sorts
of snakes, small mammals.

That's why we call them keystone species

'cause they provide these homes
for hundreds of other species

that can live inside their
burrow and make use of it.

NARRATOR:
Today, the team takes an initial look

into the size and scope of the burrow.

And maybe they'll see Hank.

RACHEL (off screen): The tortoises
dig these really deep holes

in part to help regulate their temperature

and to make sure
they're safe from predators.

We're trying to maneuver
around some of the turns

and twists of this burrow

and avoid piling up dirt on the camera.

Hank, where you hidin'?

Nope, nothing but dirt.

Looks like we're not gonna find her today.

Sometimes these burrows
are 25, 30 feet long,

10 to 12 feet deep.

Since she happened to choose a spot here
that's right on the side of a roadway,

we need to make sure that
she's safe from any activity

that would be going on.

I'm just making sure
any oncoming drivers abide

by our one rule here,

which is to drive with care
to protect Hank

and all the other native
wildlife that lives here.

There's Hank.

It looks like she came out to see us

rather than us having
to go down and find her.

It looks like she is super happy
with her surroundings.

It's been really nice that we've
been able to coexist with her

just right here in Animal Kingdom.

(gibbons whooping)

DR. GEOFF: One of
the cool things about coming out

before the park opens
is that you have the space to yourself.

You have the opportunity
to spend some time

with some animals that you've cared for,

just you and them.

I'll take one of these walks,

and my first stop is here
at white-cheek gibbons

where I get to see Harper.

She's my favorite animal here
at Disney's Animal Kingdom.

I'll come out first thing in the morning

just to see how she is
with her mum, Melaka,

and her dad, AJ.

It kind of brings me joy, I suppose,

that I can look at those animals
and feel like I really helped there.

Harper's mum Melaka
was probably in labor about 12 hours.

We had noticed that Harper was
trying to come out backwards.

I made the decision then
to do a caesarean section.

(uplifting music playing)

We had Harper out within
about a three-minute period.

She responded really well.

In essence, we saved her life.

Melaka was out here
in this exhibit with Harper

the day after, swinging around.

NARRATOR: Now six years old,
Harper's all grown up.

DR. GEOFF (off screen):
Harper is fearless.

We have watched her grow.

Initially, she was hanging on mom,

but once she found her legs and arms

she was fearless.

Harper is a beautiful golden color

because she's reached maturity now.

As a youngster, they all come out
a beautiful golden color

so that they can blend in with mom's fur.

Around a year old,
they change into dad's color

with black fur and the white cheeks,

and they're like that until they mature.

(whooping)

I think for me,
I have a special bond with Harper.

I kind of feel like her second dad.

It's been a lot of fun
watching Harper grow up,

to just enjoy the fact
that Harper's matured,

she'll go on soon to start her own family,

it's super cool.

(whooping)

NARRATOR: Sigsbee,
the sickly green moray eel,

heads to the veterinary treatment room
for his CT scan.

DR. JEN: Hey, buddy.

NARRATOR: Dr. Jen wants to check
that the suspected anemia

hasn't caused bigger problems.

DR. JEN: We've been trying to figure out
what is wrong with him.

He's been a bit of an eel mystery for us.

We're gonna consider his abnormal behavior
a likely result of his anemia.

CT is definitely a great way
to get the best look

at all his internal organs,
so, uh, we'll see what,

what it tells us and go from there.

SHELBY: This is your new hammock, buddy.

Ready? Maybe drain.

WOMAN: Drain as much as you can.

DR. JEN: This is actually
our first CT scan

on a green moray eel, so very exciting.

Having access to this amazing
diagnostic equipment is huge

for being able to diagnose disease

in unique animals, like a green moray eel.

We had to do a bit of creative thinking.

We put Sigsbee in a clear acrylic box,

suspended in a specialized eel hammock.

WOMAN: See, look at that.

He's not too long.

DR. JEN: He's so handsome.

Pretty impressed with the eel hammock.

WOMAN (off screen): I love it.

They're really awesome.

SHELBY: I've been working with Sigsbee
for, uh, about two and a half years.

Sigsbee always had a lot of personality.

He'd be out and about swimming all day.

He does seem to be improving,
which is exciting,

and his appetite is starting to come back.

But he's also had a lot
of supportive therapy

to get this far.

We'd love to see him be back
to, to the eel he once was.

DR. NATALIE: So this
either worked or it didn't.

MAN: Yeah.

DR. NATALIE: So right now, we're looking

at Sigsbee the eel's CT scan.

And I'm specifically looking
at his kidneys right now.

One of the things we care about
when we have anemia

is whether or not
the kidneys function properly,

It's really hard to tell in fish.

Looking at the kidney itself...

...and everything looks fantastic.

You can actually see the blood vessels
going into the kidney,

and it just looks
really normal and healthy.

So I don't think that's the problem.

All the anatomy I'm looking at is normal
and that makes me pretty happy.

DR. NATALIE:
Can we take a break for a moment

and let's scope his gill right now
before I do contrast.

NARRATOR:
Dr. Natalie wants to know

if Sigsbee is responding
to his anemia treatments.

MAN (off screen): Oh.

DR. NATALIE (off screen):
A forest of gills.

MAN: That's so cool.

DR. NATALIE:
They look pretty awesome to me.

DR. JEN:
Last time we checked him,

they were a little bit pale,
like pale pink.

So a significant improvement
over these past several weeks

since we've seen him last, which is great.

-DR. JEN: (indistinct) ...excitement.
-DR. NATALIE: I am satisfied.

DR. JEN: I'm like, oh my gosh,
they're so red, this is amazing.

Oh, I love good news
so early in the morning.

We didn't find anything
of major concern on the CT scan,

which was great news.

With the treatments
that we've been giving him

and the positive improvements
we've been seeing,

we anticipate he's gonna make
a full recovery.

This has been a super long road for him.

His anemia's been going on
for a long time,

so it's great to see him feeling better.

SHELBY: Alright, buddy, let's go.

I'm glad you're feeling better.

Oh, you're home.

Feeling relieved to have him back in here.

We're just really hoping
that he keeps on this track,

and we're excited to get
him back to his old self.

In eel years,
he's probably just a teenager,

so can't wait to see what
the future brings for him.

NARRATOR:
Over at the hippo barn...

DR. RYAN (off screen):
We'll start out just trying

to get her into position.

If it looks like it's taking too long,

we might need to just
hunker down where we're at,

get her intubated and get her
safe before we can move on.

NARRATOR: Small but mighty Tequila

faces a visit from the dentist.

DR. RYAN: Tequila's keepers
suspect she has a problem

with one of her teeth that's
causing her some discomfort,

so we want to get a really close look

and see what's going on
and if we can help her.

Tequila's a very large, strong animal,

weighs about the same as a small car.

Getting into her mouth
can be a dangerous prospect,

so we need her at
a proper plane of anesthesia

in order to safely get in there
and see what's going on.

(dart g*n fires)

(grunts)

-DR. RYAN: There we go.
-WOMAN: There she goes.

DR. RYAN: Tequila's down,
let's start the clock.

MAN: We're gonna need,
need people on the rope.

DR. RYAN: I'm uncomfortable keeping
a hippopotamus under anesthesia

for longer than about three hours,

so we have to make this procedure fit

into that timeframe to keep her safe.

As soon as Tequila's down on the ground,

the clock starts ticking,
and we really need to move

and keep things rolling along.

WOMAN: She is all squished.

DR. RYAN: If Tequila lays on her limbs

too long under anesthesia without moving,

it can cause trauma.

So we use the ropes to,
to reposition her legs

and then move around into different
positions so that doesn't happen.

WOMAN: Giving her breath.

(air hisses)

DR. RYAN: A lot of times,
they don't breathe very well

and you can get into trouble there,

so that's a reason why we're providing
supplemental ventilation for her.

-Beautiful.
-WOMAN: Nicely done.

DR. RYAN: Well done, guys.

DR. MIKE: Alright, that's looking good.

I'm here to look at Tequila
who has a suspect bad tooth.

The good thing about hippos
is their mouth is so large,

and you can open it up
to literally about three feet,

so you got wonderful exposure
to all the teeth.

Biggest problem is this cracked tooth.

It was quite evident
that she has a fractured tooth

on her bottom left side.

DR. MIKE: Yeah,
if we can move this forward,

-that'd be great.
-MAN: Alright, guys.

(air hissing)

DR. MIKE: You could see that the side
of the tooth was fractured off.

It was split down the center,

and there was feed material packed down

between the two big, large fragments.

So we're gonna see
how tight it's in there.

NARRATOR: The only option
is to take the tooth out.

(indistinct chatter)

DR. MIKE: Typically,
when you're trying to extract a tooth

in some of these large animals
and it's a large tooth,

in her case it's about two
and a half inches deep

and about two and a half
to three inches in length,

you've got to sit there
and wiggle on that tooth.

It's a game of patience.

Anybody can get a tooth out
if they want to be really aggressive,

but you don't want to do a lot of damage
to the socket and the jawbone.

So it's taking your time,
slowly breaking it down.

DR. RYAN: So far so good.

She seems to be doing
really well under anesthesia,

from all the monitoring we've done.

She's holding steady,
and everything's going well.

She's staying asleep,
so happy at this point.

(tapping)

DR. MIKE: It's kind of like
taking a glass out of concrete.

She wants to keep it,
and I want to take it out.

We've been on the ground
for going on three hours now.

NARRATOR: Only minutes remain

before Tequila's sedation wears off.

DR. MIKE: So we need, uh...

DR. RYAN:
Right, give it about 15 minutes.

(indistinct chatter)

(indistinct chatter)

DR. MIKE: Oh, yeah, they're open.

MAN: Hoping we kind of just
slide off those front teeth.

MAN: You mean this flap?

DR. MIKE: There's one piece.

-WOMAN: Oh yeah.
-ALL: Yay!

(applause)

WOMAN: Nice.

DR. RYAN: It took a long time to get out,

and there's still a fragment in there

that's in there really, really good.

MAN:
He's got a fragment still in there.

WOMAN:
Oh, there's the other one, ooh.

Oh yeah.

MAN (off screen): Got it, there we go.

-WOMAN (off screen): Wow:
-WOMAN: Yep, there it is.

There it is.

(air hissing)

DR. MIKE: So, we got
those big fragments out

which allowed us to clean it out

and get the feed material
out of that alveolus.

As long as she's not packing
feed in there,

she should do fine.

-MAN: You ready, Charles?
-CHARLES: Ready.

-MAN: You ready?
-WOMAN: Yes, I'm ready.

NARRATOR:
After a successful extraction

and more than three hours under,

time for Tequila to wake up.

DR. RYAN:
Not going to have a lot of time to work.

WOMAN: Okay, alright.

MAN: Okay, one, two, three, start pulling.

Let, let the rope do the work.

DR. RYAN: Laying down
for a long period of time

can be a little trying on them.

-MAN 1: Little bit more.
-MAN 2: That's good.

-MAN 1: Right there
-MAN 2: Good right there.

DR. RYAN: So, it's just like us
if you sleep on your arm wrong

and you wake up, and it's asleep
or it hurts for a little while,

the same thing can happen to them.

So, we're making efforts to reposition her

and move her round
and stretch her out a little bit

to kind of combat that,

but she's still gonna have some soreness

and some, some tingly limbs
probably when she gets up.

MAN: Six, eight inches,
so her head can't get through.

WOMAN: Come on, move your tongue, mama.

-MAN: There it goes.
-WOMAN: There it goes, alright.

MAN (off screen): Alright.

(raspy breath)

WOMAN (off screen): Big breath.

MAN (off screen): There we go.

There you go.
Drop it. Good girl.

Whoa.

NARRATOR: Tequila is back.

DR. RYAN: I think Tequila did
very well under anesthesia.

I'm very happy with the way
the procedure went

and, uh, she woke up beautifully.

(birds chirping)

DR. JASON (off screen): Ready to do
this nest check thing this morning?

-SHANNON: Yeah, buddy.
-DR. JASON: Excellent.

NARRATOR: Over at EPCOT,
meet some of their smallest...

...and noisiest guests.

Over 60 pairs of nesting purple martins

SHANNON:
Doctor Jason and I are gonna go

and check each and every individual house

that we have.

A purple martin is
the largest species of swallow

that is here in North America.

DR. JASON: Purple martins
only spend about half

of their year here at Walt Disney World.

The other half of the year,
they're in south America.

They're in Brazil.

They go from some of the most
remote places on the planet

to one of the most
magical places on the planet.

SHANNON: Back in 1998,
we actually just kind of

put out a house for purple martins
at our Flower and Garden Festival.

Didn't really expect birds to be in it.

We found out, you know what,
birds are coming here, they love it.

We have over 200 houses at this point,

you know, 20 years later.

We have the ability to take care
of all these wonderful birds

and these species as an important stopover
breeding point

for them right before
they head back to Brazil.

DR. JASON: I'm hoping we'll see
some freshly hatched chicks.

SHANNON (off screen):
Little, little babies.

You let me know what you got.

DR. JASON:
In 'A,' we got nothing.

But what was in there last time?

SHANNON:
Last time, there was three young

so maybe they fledged.

DR. JASON: Yeah, so you can tell
it's definitely been used.

SHANNON: Oh yeah, sweet.

DR. JASON: Purple martins,
they're kind of a strange bird,

because one of the only places
they like to nest

is in human-provided bird houses.

SHANNON: They historically would
kind of hang out by the Native Americans.

The Native Americans would
put out these gourds to dry,

and the birds were like,
that's a home, I'm gonna hang out there.

So they're almost completely dependent

on human care and human houses
that they create for them.

DR. JASON: Alright, on to 'B.'

Let's see, alright, we got
a little more heft to this one.

We got birds in here.

Oh, babies on board, check this out.

SHANNON: Yeah, look at that.

DR. JASON:
Why does it matter so much

if this particular family
of chicks makes it or not?

Well, purple martins are
a species on the decline.

Every single one of these chicks matters.

In the last couple decades,
we've lost 50 percent of our martins.

Everybody can make
a conservation difference.

Everybody that has the right kind of yard,
put up a purple martin house.

They lay about a thousand eggs
every single year.

We're like a little
purple martin factory here.

Alright, 'E.'

Check it out, it's egg time.

SHANNON:
Egg time, how many eggs we got?

DR. JASON: Three eggs.

What did we have in 'M' last time?

SHANNON: 'M,' we had five eggs.

DR. JASON: Oh, we don't have
five eggs anymore.

SHANNON: Oh, what do we have?

DR. JASON: We got brand new chicks.

SHANNON: Oh, look at the little babies.

DR. JASON:
Alright, so I am gonna reach in,

I'm gonna grab the very largest chick.

We're able to touch these birds only once.

You can do that in a way that's not going

to negatively impact these guys.

Based on these aging charts,
we can see exactly how big these guys are.

SHANNON: Kind of looks like
five days old to me.

You know, migratory bird species
have a really hard time

flying across and finding
good stopover points

where they'll have, you know,
safety, they'll have food.

So Disney really makes a huge difference
in the way that we can make sure

that they have all the things
that they need before they head on

to whatever's next in their journey.

Every year, we actually will band
some of the adults and some of the babies

to see if they'll actually
come back to us.

We even have one bird
that we call Steve the martin.

He's been coming back
for about eight years now,

and we see him flying down,

having his kids,
and heading back to Brazil.

NARRATOR: Steve was here a week ago
taking care of his chicks,

but there is no sign of him now.

DR. JASON: Steve the martin, he's one of
the grand daddies of the colony.

I came out yesterday,

but I didn't see Steve
coming back to visit the gourd.

The reason I'm a little concerned

is that we've seen a lot more crows
attacking this year.

It's possible that Steve
and his mate Sharon

may have succumbed to the crows.

If something has happened
to Steve and his mate...

...who's gonna feed those chicks?

DR. JASON (off screen) Steve's been
coming back eight years running.

So where is he? Why isn't he coming back?

If Steve's gonna come back
anywhere at Walt Disney World

it's gonna be at this house, this gourd.

I'm afraid for what's gonna
happen to these chicks.

The clock is ticking.
Those chicks need feeding.

we need Steve and his mate
Sharon to come back.

Steve the martin is tagged
with a tracking device

so if he comes back,

I can catch him,
we can get that device back,

and find out all the adventures
he's been up to.

So, we're going to be setting
a little trapdoor

over our target compartment,

held up by a little pin
that's attached to a fishing line.

I'm taking this little pin here,

and I'm sliding it
right in the little hole

in the middle of this faceplate,

and I'm resting the trapdoor on top of it.

And then when our target bird goes in,

pull the fishing pole, pop out the pin,
drop the trapdoor

and we'll get our bird back,
that's the plan.

Fingers crossed Steve comes back.

My line is now secured.

I am all set.

(clicking)

And so I am going to sit back

over in this chair right here.

We call this fishing for martins

because it's exactly like fishing

in that you don't know
if you're gonna get a nibble

in the first five minutes
or, like, a couple hours.

Oh.

This is definitely Steve's social mate.

She's sitting on top of
the nest compartment right now.

Oh my gosh, Steve's here.
Steve just landed.

Steve's in.

(line clicking)

(gasps) We got him!

Oh, this is so exciting.

He can get back to feeding
those chicks now,

and I can see where he's been off to
all of these days.

This is great.

We want to follow the day-to-day life
of Steve the martin

as he is going all throughout
the Walt Disney World Resort,

because that info helps us understand

not only what Steve
and other martins here need

but what purple martins
across their range need.

Oh, best morning ever.

Hey, buddy.

I am so glad to see you, Steve.

Oh.

And you are looking fabulous,

There's that tracking device.

I can get that tracking device back,
which is exciting.

That means that we should have captured

everything that's gone on
for this last week.

You're almost free, buddy.

There we go.

Alright, buddy, fly free.

Super excited you came back.

Alright, get back to feeding those chicks.

(sighs) That was awesome.

ERIN (off screen):
Come here, Tequila.

NARRATOR:
After Tequila's tooth extraction,

Erin and Jen want to see
if her bite is back.

ERIN: See if she has any trouble.

(laughs) You get it?

-JEN: There she goes.
-ERIN: There it is.

JEN: There you go,
that looked pretty good.

ERIN: Yeah.
She's eating normal again.

Chomping on her watermelon.

JEN: Yeah, that definitely looks better.

(crunching)

We were a little worried
that she might be sore

from all the work but I think she's,

she's doing great right now.

Tooth problems are something
that you're always aware of

because they have so many teeth,

and they eat a lot of different things.

ERIN: Very happy that she's eating

her watermelon completely normally,

eating the whole thing in one bite.