Special E1 'The Predators' | Full Episode

To some people these animals are the embodiment of cruel death. To others they are the finest example of nature's respect for life. Whatever the point of view, there is no question that they are predators. The film you are about to see is, I think, an extraordinary portrait of North America's natural predators. Those animals which, in the business of living, must kill to eat. It is not a sentimental film, but neither is it a cruel one. It explores the relationship between predator and prey with understanding. What you see may surprise you, for in the wild world there is really no underdog, no loser. Everything that happens is designed for one purpose, to preserve life. It is a world which may disappear in our lifetime, yet one we need because it is our heritage too. Perhaps as we come to know these predators better, we will come to a better understanding of the most successful predator of all, man. For a meat-eater, the business of living is complicated. There may be plenty to eat, but try to catch it, which is exactly what it means to be a predator. For a bobcat with two bobkittens to feed, almost anything qualifies as a meal. Squirrels, rabbits, birds, mice, and fish. It is not often a trout ventures into shallow water, but a bobcat's keen eyesight is not likely to overlook the possibility. Her twin kittens were born in the spring, and in the fall they will leave her, but during the intervening summer, the bobcat does little else but find food for them. She's a good mother, which in the wilderness means she is a vigorous and resourceful hunter. A snowshoe hare ducks as she passes. The hare has blundered into more trouble. Weasels are small, but they are among the most aggressive hunters in nature. They're also curious. A four-pound snowshoe is not likely to let itself become the prey of a half-pound weasel. All predators have great respect for the hare's powerful hind legs. The weasel's flowing movement is clearly shown here in slow motion. Its streamlined body has evolved during millions of years of chasing moles and rodents into their underground holes. Far above the wooded valleys, the bobcat hunts for pikas, a small creature akin to the rabbit. Among the rock slides, escape is easy, and they feel quite secure. To catch a pika, surprise and speed are essential. The alarm is sounded. In seconds, the pika colony has scurried to safety, except for one, which strayed too far. The all-clear sounds and the pikas return to their work as if nothing had happened. They are busy with their most important job, that of laying in grass for winter food. The seasons change, but the pika stays sleek and healthy. Snow provides his water supply. In the wild, everybody picks on the deer mouse, from the thousand-pound grizzly to the half-ounce shrew. But the mouse is not about to lie down and die. He has sharp teeth, and he uses them. The world's supply of deer mice is increasing. The secret of survival is a strong will to live, and a phenomenal birth rate. To predators near the Timberline region, winter complicates life. Her kittens are on their own now, and the bobcat has only herself to feed as best she can. To snowshoe hare, winter is comparatively easy. Its coat turns white, making it almost invisible in the snow. Food isn't a problem for snowshoes. They live on bark, twigs, and pine needles, things no other animal can digest. The hare detects a sound. The bobcat tries to maneuver into striking distance. The hare senses danger and cleans its big snowshoe feet, just in case. It can outrun almost anything in the deep snow. The bobcat moves in, and the chase is on. Bobcat and hare are predator and prey, but they're not enemies. It's a relationship they have shared for millions of years, and both have thrived. And now it is the predator, not the prey, which is in danger. With fewer wild places to hide, the bobcat species is being destroyed by stockmen, bounty hunters, and in recent years, fur trappers. The skins of leopards and jaguars have been prohibited from international trade, so the bobcat must satisfy fashion's demand for spotted fur. A happy ending? Yes, if you were rooting for the snowshoe hare. But it is not the underdog. In the larger battle for existence, it is the bobcat which is in danger. It cannot win that battle without man's tolerance. There is only one animal in the world which can hope to survive a fight with a grizzly bear. Another grizzly. This is not a life-or-death struggle. Bears do not try to kill one another. But it is not less serious because of that. It is a battle over a female, and it's fought according to ritualized rules which all grizzlies understand. When one gets the upper hand, the other surrenders. The stronger wins the female and perpetuates his superior strength through breeding. With all the killing power that large bears possess, it seems strange to see them here in Summer Meadow eating grass. Over half of a bear's diet is plant food, even though they obviously eat anything, especially salmon. This is the first fishing trip for the cubs, who were born last winter and still have not been weaned. Salmon fishing will be an annual pilgrimage for the rest of their lives. In late summer, the fish start their run-up river to spawn. Bears come from all around to feast on their favorite food. Bear experts believe that it is the salmon diet that makes the Alaskan bears the largest predator in the world. Some weigh 1,500 pounds and stand nine feet tall on their hind legs. The mother leaves her cubs on shore and wades into the water. The better to see the fish. Brown bear mothers are devoted to their cubs for the first year or two and rarely leave them, even for a few minutes. That explains why they are so eager to get back to her again. These cubs didn't realize it until a minute ago, but they know how to swim. There is constant competition for good fishing spots. It's something worth fighting for. Bears are not social animals and rarely come together except during salmon runs or to mate. Bears are very smart and there's statistics to prove it. Intelligence tests done on wild animals show the bear to be smarter than wolves, foxes, or coyotes. The mother bear takes over a good fishing spot and defends it against all comers. A female bear is normally docile, but when she thinks her babies are threatened, not even a big male will tangle with her. Cubs are usually born two at a time during the winter hibernation and they stay with their mother through two summers. Then they go off on their own to live alone like all bears. Seagulls flock to the falls, even though they are not strong enough to pull the big salmon from the water. They hang around for leftovers. Up in the winter range, wolves often provide food for bears, though not on purpose. This grizzly followed the wolf pack for miles, knowing that sooner or later it will probably catch something, in this case a deer. The grizzly simply steps up and claims the prize. Wolves fight ferociously, but even a pack of wolves is no match for a grizzly. Deer cannot usually be killed by wolves, even in deep snow. Deer are too fast and they fight when cornered. Those that are caught are usually weak, either from hunger, disease, or perhaps wounds from a hunter's bullet. The wolves stay well away from a bear's slashing paws, which have been known to kill a buffalo with one blow. Now the wolf pack moves off to seek easier prey. The grizzly may continue to feed for several days, and then he will return to his den to continue his winter hibernation. From high perches along the river, a score of bald eagles watch for prey with eyes that are seven times keener than the eyes of man. With uncanny accuracy, they anticipate the movement of fish below, and once in three or four tries, they make a catch. Eagles are definitely opportunistic, which in this case means hijacking a fellow eagle. It's a game that nobody wins. Here, where man's intrusions are small, bald eagles still conduct their lives as they have throughout vast stretches of geologic time. They still line the lakes and streams in the spring to fish and teach their young. This fledgling finally gives up and settles for scraps dropped on the sandbar. Few creatures are more beautifully adapted to their environment than the eagle. It can cruise the upper atmosphere comfortably on a spread of wings that exceeds seven feet, apparently oblivious to the numbing cold, while searching the ground with eyes that are among the best in nature. Although fishing is the way of life for bald eagles, they will take advantage of any source of food, rodents, ducks, snakes, and even carrion from the kills of other predators. They are well equipped to succeed in their natural environment, but they have no defense against the processed world of man. Despite federal laws to protect bald eagles, our national symbol, they have declined in numbers and range. Today, fewer than a thousand pair remain in the United States. Like the eagles, hawks are also in danger, including the amazing peregrine falcon, the fastest bird in the world. It soars high in the sky, watching its prey, usually a small bird, and then it dives like a thunderbolt. The peregrine has been recorded at speeds above 180 miles an hour. Peregrines were once quite common throughout the continent, but now their numbers are dwindling steadily. The osprey is a sea eagle with a different style of fishing from the bald eagle, which grabs its prey from the surface of the water. The osprey, however, dives deep, catching fish three or four feet below the surface. When it catches a large fish, the osprey aligns it head first for aerodynamic efficiency. Like all eagles, the osprey suffers genetic damage from agricultural poisons, making it also an endangered species. This may be the most endangered bird in North America. It is the everglade kite, and certainly it is one of the most specialized. There's only one creature it calls food, the apple snail of the Florida everglades. Because the everglades are being diminished through draining, the snails are disappearing, and with them these beautiful birds. Less than 200 are left to perpetuate the species. Just a few inches beneath the surface of the soil, undetected by man, lies the hunting ground of the wandering shrew. For this tireless hunter, it is a rich source of insects, worms, grubs, and snails. When a fellow shrew enters his territory, he defends it with apparently vicious aggression. But the combat is merely a ritual, as with the fighting grizzlies. No one will get hurt. It will determine whose hunting grounds these are. The contest has standard ploys, the defense posture, the submission stance, and the singing contest, in which they grab each other by the tail and go round and round, chirping like mad. The intruder usually loses the battle and moves on to find a territory of his own. Shrews are distributed everywhere in North America. The short-tail shrew is unique among the predatory mammals of the world. It kills with a poison. This snake-like specialization was only recently discovered. This mouse does not realize it is in danger. Unless it runs away, there is no possibility of its winning the fight, for the shrew moves with an incredible speed, and one bite will end it. A shrew has a meteoric rate of metabolism. With a heartbeat of 1,000 times a minute, it must consume its own weight in food every 24 hours. The shrew maneuvers and bites. The poison has done its work. There will be plenty of food for the shrew for at least two days. But nature has taken care of the mouse too, with a prolific birth rate to perpetuate the species. In the northern regions of the continent where the moose forage in the wetlands, there lives another kind of shrew, the water shrew. To satisfy its voracious appetite, it is specialized in the nearest source of protein, the fish beneath the water. Shrews must eat constantly. In three hours without food, it will starve to death. As it hunts, there is always the danger that it will end up being prey. The water shrew maintains an incredible schedule, three hours of hunting, half hour of rest, day in, day out, summer and winter. Water shrews must surface frequently for air, and they hope for an insect or snail to eat while above the water. Although they are virtually blind, shrews have sensitive whiskers which, combined with lightning-like movements, enable them to catch almost anything. He locates a school, but it is too late. He must surface again for air. It has many adaptations for hunting in water, a rudder-like tail, a waterproof coat of fur, and feet that are webbed with stiff hair so they can swim as fast as the minnows they hunt. The shrew becomes desperate as he seeks in vain. Quickly he locates the school again. The catch is easy. Shrews are among the quickest creatures that live. He heads for the surface where he will feast again. It is, however, only a momentary rest, for he can never cease in his endless quest for food. How big is a shrew? Some reach half an ounce, but most are smaller. But despite their size, they are driven by the same needs as the grizzly and the bobcat, to hunt and kill to live. Sunlight, water, the nourishing earth. These are the basic elements for the renewal of life, and nowhere are the fundamentals more abundant than in the great swamps of America's southern lowlands. Plants, through their incredible chemistry, use the energy of sunlight to change inert matter into living cells, and on them all other life depends. Here it is most evident that out of death and decay come life and growth. It gives the swamp a special mood of mystery, of sanctuary, a peace that comes through order. By nature's accounting, the swamp is a place of measureless wealth. In this atmosphere, plant and animal life have diversified with bewildering complexity. Thousands of species, billions of individual creatures have prospered within a system that has held strong since a time far in advance of the existence of man. It is a system which is comprehensible only in terms of food. The Louisiana crayfish eats both plants and animals, and it is a favorite food for almost every other predator large enough to kill and eat it. As it hunts, it carries under its tail hundreds of young. and protects them from attack with its claws. Despite its formidable appearance though, it is perhaps the swamp's favorite food. Its abundant reproductivity seems to provide enough for all, with enough left over to perpetuate the species. Swamps and marshes are the continent's breeding ground, nursery, and haven. Nearly a third of North America's bird species live or winter here. Over a hundred species of fish have their spawning beds in these waters, and all order of creatures from algae to alligator, from butterfly to bobcat, are represented among its inhabitants. Many species are making their last stand in the swamp. The red wolf, the ivory billed woodpecker, the manatee, the brown pelican, the great white heron. If they make it anywhere, they will make it here. Many of today's swamp residents come in from outside to flee the presence of man. The black bear once roamed extensively throughout the habitat around the swamp, but now seeks its safety, silence, and prodigal food supply. The red wolf, now almost extinct, would rather exercise his predatory role with respect to the possum, but settles for ripe persimmons. The danger gone, the possum moves on to greater dangers. White-tailed deer and red wolf, old companions in the forests of the Mississippi basin, both depend on the swamp for refuge. But it is really more than that. It is truly a functioning wilderness where man's hand is just beginning to be felt. It is not a place for man's favorite creatures, but for all creatures, predator as well as prey. Among the most delightful of wilderness predators is the river otter, a playful wanderer which ranges widely among streams in its search for fish and crustaceans. With its webbed feet and flexible body, it can swim and maneuver better than most of the fish it hunts. Otters usually travel in pairs or small groups and are very sociable, although they don't seem to like sharing a meal. While the winner eats, his companion swims off on a fishing trip of his own. He may cover many miles in a day, all of it in the water where he feels secure. An otter's favorite food is fish, which he catches by investigating every nook of the stream bed. Otter fur has great economic value for coats. Today, otters have been reduced to a fraction of their former range, which once took in all the waterways of the continent. They are seldom seen except in remoter wilderness areas or adorning figures of the fashion world. The destruction of the predators takes many forms, some of which merely reflect the ego of man. To some, perhaps, the conquest of a noble foe confers nobility on the conqueror. As the continent is brought under the civilizing influence of man, the wild predators move further away, seeking some cold security in a habitat where man has no need to intrude. And yet, there is no place where man cannot go. There is, of course, no security for any creature on earth when man declines to let it live in peace. The days of the red wolf are surely numbered. This beautiful canid once roamed from Virginia to Texas, but after 200 years of attack by man, the last individuals of the species now hunt rodents and birds amongst the thickets of east Texas and the bayous of Louisiana. Man's attitude toward the wolf and other large predators is perhaps based on a competitive feeling toward the prey, for much of it, like quail, is the target of our own predations. It is our dual past coming back to haunt us. We hear the howl of the wolf and the primate in us shivers. We see desirable prey and the hunter in us rejoices, as if our existence depends on its presence. At some remote time, tens of thousands of years before recorded history, man could not have survived without his skills and tools for hunting. He too had to kill to live. He was not the mightiest predator in terms of size and strength. He was the most intelligent and aggressive. Few predators could compete with him for food. Competition, even more than predation, was the key to man's success. For many people today, there seems to be very little left of the residual feelings of fear for wild animals, and very little respect for the wilderness in which all predatory habits were evolved. The continental forest has fallen, and the land has been leveled to make it safe for soybeans. Waterways are stopped and valleys are drowned, and the wild animals flee deeper into the remaining wilderness sanctuaries. The very contours of the earth changed, and the ancestral land of the prairie chicken is reserved for man's own use. There is no longer room for Atwater's prairie chicken or the kit fox, and both are rare and endangered. We have contrary instincts about the creatures which are native to this land, and when we approve of one, we have been able to bring it back. The pronghorn was almost gone. Now it is being restored to a suitable habitat. The once teeming buffalo is again kicking up his heels. With special refuges and the ban on DDT, the rare brown pelican is making a comeback, as is the desert bighorn and the whooping crane, America's most popular success story. If public demand for its care continues, the whooping crane has special reason to express its joy. Our prejudice against predatory animals shows up in what we chose to restore to wilderness areas. Until recently, we favored only the prey species, not the predators. This endangered Florida panther is an exception. Recently, it was released into its native habitat, the Florida Everglades. It is an experiment which attempts to recreate the natural balance in wilderness. The cougar is the largest American cat. Of all predators, it is the most completely specialized for a life of killing and eating meat. The cougar may weigh as much as 200 pounds and has little trouble bringing down deer, but a flying squirrel is not so easy. The cougar is a close relative of the Florida panther. In some parts of the country, they are called mountain lions. Bighorn sheep once roamed the deserts, valleys, and mountains of the west in herds that totaled in the millions. Today, the few thousand that remain sought refuge in the high mountains, in territory where few other animals can follow. Their ability to balance on precipitous ledges to maintain footholds while leaping along the sides of cliffs has kept small their losses from natural predators. The bighorns share part of their high altitude habitat with bands of mountain goats, also refugees from the encroachments of civilization. The defense tactic of both bighorns and mountain goats is the same. They run away. Among these precipitous heights, there is no predator which can keep up with them. Like all cats, the cougar prefers to kill by ambush, and that requires intelligent planning and great stealth. The bighorns still relax. They aren't worried yet. In every herd, there is a dominant ram which acts as lookout against danger. The cougar pushes the herd relentlessly. A yearling crippled from birth cannot keep up. It is swiftly done with an expertise inherited from 30 million years of hunting. A cruel death? Not by the standards of wilderness, where avalanche, starvation, and freezing claim more lives than the claws and teeth of the predator. The cougar does not waste food. It will eat what it needs at the moment and bury the rest for future meal. When a predator kills, it is difficult for us to withhold judgment, yet it is not a crime. The cougar, like the bighorn, must eat to live, getting his food the only way that nature has taught it. Violent death is not uncommon up here. The bighorn herd is quickly back at its main business, that of finding food and caring for the young. The yearlings learn to walk the rocky ledges with the same surety as their elders, a defense which helps preserve its species. For theirs is a life in which there can be no mistakes. When one of their number is weakened, either by birth or by accident, its survival is unlikely. Had the yearling with defective legs not died, and had lived to reproduce, the defect would have weakened future generations. Now that cannot happen. Today there is no wilderness area in North America which man does not or cannot control. The question is whether or not it will remain wilderness. We cannot preserve that which has evolved over tens and hundreds of millions of years if we take sides in the battles of nature. There are no good guys, no bad guys. They're all necessary, for nothing can be considered true wilderness without the predators.