Tiny World (2020) s01e05 Episode Script
Woodland
[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.
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.