01x04 - Home Making

[bunniefuu]

[Bonneville] Experience a
world beyond imagination

where fish can fly...

lizards walk on water,

apes master tools

and frogs disappear
in plain sight.

Animals do the
smartest things...

through every stage
of their lives.

[meerkat barks]

From leaving home...

to raising a family.

From finding food...

to making friends.

[elephant trumpets]

They find ingenious
ways to survive

against all odds.

[bellows]

Welcome to The Secret
Lives of Animals.

[birds chirping]

[bear huffing, grunting]

[Bonneville] We all need
somewhere to call home.

And deep in the
rainforests of Borneo...

this sun bear is house hunting.

[bear panting]

She needs a new place
to sleep every night

because she's always
roaming for food.

But when you live in a rainforest
packed with creepy crawlies...

finding a cozy spot
to bed down is tricky.

And if things weren't
uncomfortable enough,

in this forest, it
never rains, it pours.

[thunder rumbling]

This would dampen
anyone's spirits.

[bear grunts]

Worse still, the rain awakens
the nightmare neighbors.

Tiger leeches.

Hundreds of them.

[bear huffs]

Each able to eat six times
its body weight in blood.

[bear groans]

But there's one place
the leeches won't go,

and that's up.

Sun bear's claws can grow
twice as large as a grizzly's.

So they can shimmy
up a tree in no time

to a dizzying 130 feet.

[bear yawns]

But trees are not
designed for sleepy bears.

Not comfy.

Still awake.

No, enough is enough.

This clever bear knows
exactly what to do.

She chooses the
perfect location.

Somewhere sheltered with a handy
fork in its branches to build on.

And she does something rarely
seen in the animal kingdom.

She begins to weave.

Carefully tensioning
each branch.

And weighing them
down into position.

She's building a bear-sized bed.

And for a spot of luxury,

she tops it with fresh leaves.

Like many dwellings in
nature, hers is temporary.

But it provides
comfort and safety.

Just like all the
best places to live.

Owning your first home is one
of life's great landmarks.

And building it yourself
is a labor of love.

[bird chirps]

In southern Thailand,

this male baya weaver is
facing a daunting project.

He needs to craft

one of the most intricate
constructions in the natural world.

Woven from around


his nest must not only attract
a mate and keep her eggs safe...

- [thunder rumbling]
- it must also withstand

a monsoon storm.

The right building
material is essential.

And he knows just the thing.

Bulrush grass.

It's pliable and waterproof.

But working with
it is challenging.

And he's tying himself in knots.

He threads the strand
around a branch.

Then back through the loop.

A faultless half hitch.

One down,



If his nest is to survive,
he'll need a solid foundation.

And there's no cutting corners
when your future depends on it.

This female will only mate
with the best builder.

And the other males are
putting him to shame.

He must up his game.

He weaves the egg chamber,

carefully tensioning
every single strand.

[thunder rumbling]

But a nest this light could
easily be destroyed in the wind.

He needs to find
a solution fast.

Pellets of clay...

will add stability.

After 11 days, he's
almost finished.

Will his new build
win him a mate?

A flutter of her wings...

shows her approval.

She'll lay her eggs
in the next few days.

[wind whistling]

But the storm is approaching.

He reinforces the foundations,

weaving extra strips of bulrush
grass around the tree's thorns.

With eggs laid, his nest
faces the ultimate test.

[thunder rumbling]

The monsoon winds.

[creaking]

His future hangs in the balance.

The colony has taken a hit.

But many nests have stood firm.

Including his.

It will safely house his chicks

until they fly the nest
in around two weeks' time.

Building a family home from
scratch takes hard work,

and carries a lot of risk.

Sometimes it's easier to
restore an old property.

A beaver couple...

in the mountains
of North America.

They've taken on a major
renovation project.

This mud and log lodge was
abandoned and is falling to bits.

Fixing it up is a
massive undertaking.

Even for one of nature's
most famous builders.

The walls may be a foot thick...

but they're full of holes.

And time is not on their side.

Winter has arrived on
the mountain tops...

and will soon
reach their valley.

They must hunker down in their
lodge for four freezing months.

They won't survive if their
renovation isn't finished.

To seal the holes, they
need a flexible filler.

Dredged mud and
grass is perfect.

They know it will plug even
the smallest nook and cranny.

And will work as insulation.

But something
doesn't sound right.

[water flowing]

Running water.

Alarming for any homeowner,
especially beavers.

To survive, they need not
just a lodge, but a dam.

The dam holds back a
river, creating a lake.

Deep enough for beavers to
swim away from predators.

If the level drops,
they'll be vulnerable.

She checks out the damage...

and comes up with a plan.

First, large logs to
underpin the repair.

Placing them at an angle will
give the dam more support.

He adds a barrier of
carefully selected stones.

Then finishes the wall
with smaller logs.

Sealed with trusty dredged mud.

Job done.

But like builders the world
over, they're behind schedule.

And winter is here.

Soon it will be too cold for
the beavers to survive outside.

Their lodge will
be their sanctuary.

But only if they can finish
insulating it in time.

As the temperature plummets to
minus four degrees Fahrenheit...

the only creatures outside are those
adapted to these bitter extremes.

He's safe.

And so is she.

[beaver squeaks]

Their tireless building
efforts have paid off.

[beavers chew]

Holes repaired and
perfectly insulated.

The temperature in here is an
incredible 30 degrees warmer.

They'll stay in their cozy winter
sanctuary safe until the spring.

In such extreme locations,

a home provides vital
protection from the elements.

[birds squawking]

But in other areas,

properties are all about
attracting attention.

This male black palm c*ck
lives in Queensland, Australia.

He's on a tight house
hunting deadline.

It's breeding season...

and his lifelong partner lays just
one precious egg every two years.

And she'll only do that,

if he can find her
the perfect home.

He's looking for a
solid, hollow tree trunk.

Easier said than done.

Over the last decade,

intense bushfires have
burnt many to the ground.

This one is spacious...

but its foundations leave
a lot to be desired.

Looks promising.

Or maybe not.

With less property on the
market, demand is high.

He's running out of options.

This trunk is hollow,
solid and tall.

It looks perfect.

To him at least.

She needs convincing.

He starts to build a
platform to support her egg.

[c*ck chirps]

Still not interested.

But he has a clever
trick up his sleeve.

He needs a stick.

Just the right size.

Now he's ready for a
special performance,

unique in the animal kingdom.

[thudding]

He drums.

[thudding continues]

The sound may just persuade her

this is the solid home
she's been looking for.

Finally, he has her attention.

[squawks]

A blush of her cheek...

shows he's back
in the good books.

And she has a safe, secure
home to lay her egg.

[birds chirping]

If you think building a family
home on land is difficult...

try the ocean.

Off the coast of Japan...

a white-spotted
Japanese puffer fish.

He's a little broody

and needs to build an impressive
home to attract a mate.

But on this vast, empty plain,
all he has to work with is sand.

And there's the
constant danger...

that his efforts
will be swept away.

It's a huge task for a fish not
much larger than a credit card.

He starts by sieving the
sand with his pectoral fins.

Moving the finest
grains to the center

to make a soft bed for eggs.

And to ensure they
won't be swept away,

he creates a series of channels
and peaks to slow the current.

This could take some time.

About eight days.

After moving around 2,500
times his body mass in sand...

he's almost done.

His clever design allows the water
to flow in from multiple directions,

aerating the eggs,
encouraging them to hatch.

His creation has caught
the eye of a female.

And also

a hungry goatfish
searching for food.

A potential home-wrecker.

If he can't see
off the intruder,

his future will be in pieces.

Disaster averted.

A few repairs and
a little zhuzh,

he has the female
hook, line and sinker.

She lays her eggs,
he fertilizes them.

And he'll tend them
until they hatch

into a home that's
out of this world.

[insects chirping]

Building a home takes
precise engineering...

creativity...

and a heap of hard work.

[thudding]

Get it right

and you have security,

comfort and a place
to call your own.

[Bonneville] Deep in the heart
of the Bornean rainforest,

the team faced an
unusual challenge.

They wanted to film a sun bear
building a nest in the jungle canopy.

A rarely observed behavior that
requires some lateral thinking.

[Foster-Grundy] The main
issue that we're having

is that they build
those nests up high.

We have to somehow get a
camera up there with them

in order to see
what they're doing.

[Bonneville] To get
the best view possible,

the crew will need to work from filming
platforms 100 feet up in the canopy.

And that takes
precision planning.

We've got to start to try and
get into the mind of a bear

and decide where we
put our platform,

which is pretty tricky.

[Bonneville] Hoisting each


is backbreaking work.

[chattering]

And there's an added complexity.

Sun bears make a different
nest every night.

One of the trickier elements
of setting a tree platform

is that once you've chosen
your location, you can't move.

- Yeah. Yeah.
- Oh, okay.

[Bonneville] So they've come
prepared with a secret weapon.

[Foster-Grundy] We do have a
trick up our sleeves, however,

which is the use
of a 30-foot crane

that gives us a bit more scope
to move about the canopy,

as the bear's deciding
which tree to nest in.

[Bonneville] The team hope
that this two-pronged approach

will get them the
shots they need.

But no matter how
much you prepare,

animals play by their own rules.

We arrived this morning to see that
she's made a postcard perfect nest

right on the end of our crane.

She'd done that last night,

that would have been perfect.

[Bonneville] But this sun
bear isn't playing ball.

Opting to tease
the crew instead.

[Foster-Grundy] Everyone's gonna
think it's so easy. [chuckles]

[Bonneville] Filming wildlife
is rarely straightforward.

But, eventually, it looks like the
sun bear is starting to cooperate.

The team's planning
may just pay off.

All they can do now
is wait patiently.

[Foster-Grundy] There.

[Bonneville] And, finally, they capture
her elusive nest-building on camera.

[Baxter] We've been waiting,
waiting, waiting for this to happen.

It's just so cool
to see in film.

[Foster-Grundy] Using this jib
gives you this intimacy that is lost

when you're on the end of
a thousand millimeter lens.

[Bonneville] It's a
triumphant success

and gives us an insight into the secret
lives of these incredible creatures.

We pretty much got everything
that we set out to capture

plus a few extra little bonus
pieces, which is amazing.

A real privilege.

[Bonneville] It
just goes to show

that even with the latest
technology at your disposal...

it's the animals
who call the shots.

Next time...

The most essential part of
survival is finding food.

Knowing where to get it

and how to catch it

is a constant challenge.

Because in the animal kingdom...

there's no such thing
as a free lunch.