Original subtitles

[narrator] This is The Americas,

an extraordinary journey across Earth's great supercontinent.

[avalanche rumbling]

The widest variety of life on the planet.

[seals grunting]

The untold story of our home.

[epic orchestral music playing]

Tonight on The Americas...

The Wild West.

[epic orchestral music continues]

The stage for 1,000 legendary stories.

[bison grunting]

Where mountains shape the lives of all who live here...

[kittens chirping]

...in some of the planet's most iconic landscapes.

Yellowstone.

[chirping]

The Sonoran Desert.

- [horse neighs] - And the spectacular Great Plains.

[thunder rumbling]

[thunderclaps]

This isn't a place for the fainthearted.

- [birds cawing] - To call this home takes ingenuity...

[loud thump]

...resilience...

[snorting, grunting]

...even true grit.

[snake tail rattling]

[soft music playing]

The Wild West forms the vast heart of North America,

home to fertile prairies and sun-scorched deserts.

All of this is shaped by a spine of mountains.

The Rockies.

[strong wind gusting]

Towering over 14,000 feet.

Some of the highest mountains in North America.

Hidden in the peaks of Wyoming

lies a place of spellbinding beauty.

Yellowstone.

In winter, temperatures can plummet to 60 below.

Rivers 100-feet wide freeze,

leaving just a trickle...

[grunting]

...and a blanket of snow lies four feet deep.

[grunting]

Survival in this magical world...

is tough.

Even for the most wily of animals.

A coyote.

[sniffing]

In this snowbound world, he can still pick up a scent.

[distant birds cawing]

His nose is many times more sensitive than ours.

[intense sniffing]

After an hour of searching,

a frozen bison bone.

Better than nothing.

[crunching]

Coyotes are always on the lookout for an opportunity.

Now is his arch-rival,

a red fox,

onto something?

Voles hide in a network of tunnels beneath the snow.

Time to try this out.

[soft dramatic music playing]

[music fades]

Okay...

[sniffing]

[frantic music playing]

[music fades]

That fox made it look easy.

[gentle music playing]

[crunching]

- [coyote whining] - Ugh, what a show-off.

There are other places worth a look.

Not everywhere is covered in snow.

Yellowstone sits above a super volcano,

creating its world-famous hot springs.

[dramatic orchestral music playing]

This is one of the largest on Earth, known as Grand Prismatic.

The Crow Tribe called this place

the Land of the Burning Ground...

[loud splashing]

...where steaming geysers

erupt 150 feet into the air.

[geysers roaring]

All this heat is just enough to thaw the river.

[splashing]

An ice-free haven

for cutthroat trout.

But how to catch one?

[suspenseful music playing]

Maybe stealing dinner would be easier

if he can get close enough.

[crunching]

But river otters work as a family.

Combined, that's more than 100 pounds of angry otters.

- [dramatic music playing] - [otters chittering]

[otters chittering]

[coyote whimpering]

It was worth a go.

[ice cracking]

Now he's on thin ice.

[soft tense music playing]

[yelps]

Perhaps it's time to show that Wild West never-say-die spirit...

and try fishing for himself.

[dramatic music builds]

[music fades]

[dramatic music continues]

[music fades]

Not bad.

Not bad at all.

[gentle music playing]

Here, there's always somewhere to warm up,

but every day is tough in these mountains.

And not just for a coyote.

In the peaks of Colorado,

winter weather lasts eight long months.

It's May before spring finally arrives.

[birds chirping]

- [snake tail rattling] - And the villain from many a Western...

makes its entrance.

[hissing]

On this rocky peak in Colorado,

8,000 feet up,

spring comes fast.

[dramatic orchestral music playing]

And an animal you might not expect to find up here is stirring.

A prairie rattlesnake.

This female has spent the winter deep underground,

sheltering from the cold.

And she's not alone.

[eerie music playing]

[snakes hissing]

As the sun warms their bodies,

hundreds are coming back to life.

They may not have eaten for eight months,

so they immediately head down to the plains to feed.

[tail rattling]

[gentle music playing]

But even though there's almost no food or water up here,

this female stays behind

because she's pregnant.

With a growing belly,

she's becoming slow and vulnerable to predators.

So she remains up here

where she can easily escape into the rocks.

Already dehydrated and starving,

it's a strategy that could kill her.

For two months, she'll barely move,

conserving all her energy.

But for her babies to continue to grow inside her,

she does need water.

[thunder rumbling]

[soft dramatic music playing]

[rain pattering]

Droplets cling to microscopic grooves in her scales...

so she can suck moisture

from the surface of her three-foot-long body.

It's just enough to keep mom and babies alive.

Three months into her pregnancy and a year since her last meal,

her due date is finally here.

[gentle music playing]

Her contractions begin.

She doesn't lay eggs.

She gives birth to live young.

Each is a perfect rattlesnake in miniature,

coiled inside a thin membrane.

[squelching]

[shrills]

[snaps]

A first breath.

Although its tiny fangs are already loaded with venom,

a baby's rattle is too small to make its trademark sound.

By the end of the night,

mom delivers six more babies.

They'll all spend the winter in the den.

By next spring,

mom will have starved herself for 20 months.

She's a real-life Western heroine.

[birds cawing, chirping]

On lower mountain slopes,

time has softened the jagged peaks into gently rolling hills.

In the Sierra Nevadas of California,

ancient oak trees are scattered across the landscape.

And come the fall,

they're laden with treasure.

Acorns.

[soft tapping]

And this is an acorn woodpecker.

He relies on these nuts to survive the coming winter.

But he'll need to store away thousands.

[soft music playing]

Every acorn must be wedged into its very own storage hole.

Each takes a full 20 minutes of chiseling...

- [pecking] - ...and that could be a real headache.

Fortunately, their brains can tolerate forces

thousands of times greater than ours can.

[soft tapping]

He and his family work as a team.

One of the only birds in the world to do so.

Teamwork is also handy to keep an eye out...

for thieves.

[tense music playing]

[squirrel squeaks]

- They might not share food... - [horse neighs]

...but they have shared these fertile hills with people

- for 10,000 years. - [cattle mooing]

Ranchers brought change,

along with new opportunities for the birds.

[soft country music playing]

The side of a barn

might offer a labor-saving shortcut.

And another woodpecker family is taking advantage.

Redwood cladding is softer than an oak tree,

so they can work twice as fast.

[rapid pecking]

[cow mooing]

But it's not all going to plan.

[soft dramatic sting]

The cladding may be soft,

but it's also thin.

Not so clever now, huh?

How frustrating.

All those acorns piled up behind the boards...

[acorns clattering]

...until...

At least now they've got another chance to...

do it right. [sighs]

[quirky music playing]

Sometimes, the old ways are the best ways.

[gentle music playing]

For the oak tree family, their work has paid off.

Time to sit back and take inventory.

[soft, bright music playing]

They've safely stored more than 4,000 acorns.

And since they prefer dead branches, the trees are unharmed.

Known as a granary,

this is unlike anything else in nature.

It will see this top team through the Wild West winter.

The peaks of the Sierra Nevadas

block rainclouds sweeping in from the coast.

[bold folk music playing]

The result?

Vast deserts

that set a very different challenge

to life in the Wild West.

[soft music playing]

Monument Valley, the breathtaking landscape

in which 1,000 movies are set.

[spirited Western music playing]

[birds squawking]

[horses neigh, snort]

This has been home to the Navajo Nation for 800 years.

[music fades]

These Western deserts are the hottest and driest in all of North America.

Here in the Sonoran,

the temperature often hits 120 degrees.

And to cope, one animal has a survival strategy

that seems straight out of science fiction.

An all-female team of ants.

[ants clicking]

They know that lean times lie ahead.

[slurping]

So these worker ants are rushed off their feet,

collecting nectar and water

to store away deep underground.

[mysterious music playing]

The ants build a nest nine feet beneath the surface,

packed with bizarre-looking storage pots.

But here's the plot twist.

The pots...

are alive.

[mysterious music continues]

They start life as ordinary worker ants,

but then are constantly fed nectar and water.

[squelching]

As they swell,

the black bands of their abdomens are forced apart

until they end up the size of a grape.

Now they're destined to spend the rest of their lives

hanging from the ceiling

as a living pantry.

And that's why this species is called

the honeypot ant.

Every ant plays their part.

This giant is the queen.

[soft dramatic music playing]

Three times the size of the workers.

[ants clicking]

All she does is lay eggs,

millions during her reign.

For the last five years, she produced worker eggs.

But now, she's making something new.

[wings rustling]

Princes and princesses

with wings.

Flying ants.

Their sole mission is to leave and start fresh colonies.

However, they can only dig a new nest

in earth that's been softened by rain.

And in this desert,

that could mean a long wait.

As the sun beats down,

the colony's food supply dries up.

[tense music playing]

Now the honeypots' sacrifice pays off.

[mysterious music playing]

Each begins to regurgitate the nectar stored within its body.

[squelching]

Shared around by the workers,

it's just enough to keep the whole colony alive...

for now.

But in the Sonoran, not everyone has a team to back them up.

[birds calling, chirping]

Especially this single mom.

A bobcat

with double trouble... twins.

- [kittens chirping, purring] - [whimsical music playing]

Her kittens are just a few weeks old

and totally dependent on her milk.

[soft purring]

Mom needs to feed them four times a day.

[kittens sucking]

And to do that, she urgently needs water.

Unlike the ant colony,

she doesn't have a store to fall back on.

So she must leave her family

and venture out alone.

This land hasn't received a drop of rain in two long months.

She's got her work cut out.

The survival of her kittens depends on her.

[mysterious music playing]

[rustling]

Despite their stores,

even the honeypot ants are getting desperate.

With so many extra mouths to feed,

if the drought continues,

their supply will run dry

and they'll all... starve.

In the bone-dry Sonoran Desert,

everyone is waiting for one thing.

[thunder rumbling]

Rain.

[uplifting music playing]

The storm doesn't last long.

But it's enough.

A bobcat will gulp water for five minutes straight.

The tiny kittens

are anxiously waiting for mom's return.

[kitten purring]

[gentle music playing]

[kittens shrill]

About time too.

Now they can get a drink at last.

[kittens sucking]

[soft purring]

[all chittering, purring]

Fully revived, they're back to what they do best.

[screeching]

[playful music playing]

What little they know...

- of the dangers of the desert. - [music fades]

[soft dramatic music playing]

For the ants, the rain-soaked ground

is exactly what they've been waiting for.

The workers complete last-minute flight checks.

[dramatic music playing]

And they are cleared for takeoff.

[ants clicking]

Within minutes, the air is filled with hundreds of fluttering wings.

[dramatic music continues]

They can do what they were born to do,

set up new colonies across the desert.

1,000 miles to the east

lie the Great Plains,

covering 500 million acres

and 10 different states.

They're flanked by the Rockies, which funnel air north and south,

creating the windiest place in the US.

[horses neighing]

[horses snorting]

When warm winds from the south collide with cold northerlies,

monsters... are born.

[dramatic suspenseful music playing]

[thunder rumbling]

Thunderstorms.

Some of the most powerful in the world.

[thunderclaps]

[horses neighing]

They can contain the same energy as 100 nuclear bombs.

[dramatic suspenseful music continues]

[horses whining]

[flames roaring]

Dry grass is ignited in a flash.

Fire in the Midwest can ravage over a million acres every year.

And in its wake, life here is transformed.

[bison bellowing]

Wildfires may seem like a disaster,

but in fact, they make the Great Plains what they are.

[soft dramatic music playing]

Fire prevents trees from taking over

and sparks off a natural cycle of rebirth.

The grasses may appear to be dead,

but by extending more than 15 feet below the surface,

their roots live on.

[bright music playing]

Now, they absorb nutrients from the ash.

And within weeks, fresh new growth

attracts eager herds of bison.

[grunting]

The largest of America's land mammals,

weighing in at a ton

and standing six feet tall at the shoulder.

[gentle music playing]

Vast herds cover 1,000 miles a year

in search of... the best grazing.

[dramatic music playing]

[snorting]

These beefcakes demand a lot of calories.

But here in South Dakota, this old male has no time to dine.

[snorting]

[soft tense music playing]

[grunting]

He's too focused on fighting for the chance to mate.

[bellowing]

He's lost almost 200 pounds trying and still...

- no success with the ladies. - [snorts]

Confirming a female is in heat isn't subtle.

[grunting]

She could be his last chance in this year's rut,

so he'll stay by her side.

But he has competition from a rival,

and a younger one at that.

[tense music playing]

This old bull needs to stand his ground.

[grunting]

If neither backs down, a brawl is inevitable.

[dramatic music playing]

[loud scraping]

[suspenseful music playing]

[grunting, snorting]

[loud thud]

[both grunting]

They are closely matched,

but the old bull uses the terrain to his advantage.

[music fades]

[snorting]

Victory.

- And with it, he does get the girl. - [bellowing]

[light music playing]

200 years ago, there were around 60 million bison.

After just 30 years of intensive hunting,

there were fewer than 1,000 left.

Now they're protected,

and with their numbers recovering,

people flock to watch the rut.

[motorcycle engine rumbling]

But we've had an even greater impact all across the prairie.

[machinery whooshing, whirring]

The flat open land is perfect for agriculture...

on an industrial scale.

It's America's breadbasket.

More than 80% of all North American prairie

is now farmland.

It's a difficult place for most wildlife.

But there are exceptions.

Descendants...

of dinosaurs.

[dramatic sting]

Here, in the fields of Nebraska.

[birds trilling]

Sandhill cranes

make a pit stop on their migration north.

They've been coming to this part of the Great Plains every year

since the end of the last Ice Age.

[squawking]

Their ancient feeding grounds are long gone,

but they've now taken advantage of a new opportunity,

corn kernels left over from the harvest.

[bright music playing]

[cranes trilling, cooing]

As dusk falls, the cranes head off to roost...

[cranes cawing]

...on the Platte River,

a tributary of the mighty Mississippi.

[cranes cawing]

It's unusually wide and shallow.

Perfect for cranes.

They can wade right out into mid-water.

[squawks]

So coyotes can't sneak up on them.

[cranes squawking, cawing]

They make do with the odd one that succumbed to the elements.

While they're here, the courting season begins.

This young male is hoping to make an impression.

[cawing]

And the females are checking him out.

For cranes,

the language of love... is dance.

["I Only Have Eyes for You" playing]

[trilling]

He's caught one particular female's eye.

If his moves impress her,

she'll copy them.

[trilling]

[both trilling]

[trilling continues]

The routine builds to its balletic finale.

[trilling]

For better or worse,

they'll be together now for the rest of their lives.

And that can be over 30 years.

[music fades]

[solemn music playing]

As the light fades,

more and more birds arrive to join the chorus.

- [cranes cawing, squawking] - [grandiose music playing]

80% of the world's sandhill cranes

roost on the Platte River.

That's over half a million cranes.

One of the greatest wildlife spectacles on the planet,

but just another day in the extraordinary world

of the Wild West.

[epic orchestral music playing]

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