Original subtitles

The swamplands of America.

A habitat with a forever shifting terrain.

This is the home of the some of the most mysterious

and monstrous creatures on the planet.

♪

Creatures who kill to survive.

From dusk till dawn...

these animals rage war.

♪

There's no escaping the horrors

of a night in the swamps.

♪

♪

There are places on the planet

where the boundaries between land and water blur.

♪

These are the swamplands of the American South.

♪

♪

And they span hundreds of miles across

an ever-changing terrain of shallow water channels,

muddy flats and towering cypress.

♪

Some of the most terrifying creatures

on the planet thrive here,

and many of these living nightmares emerge in the dark.

♪

♪

But in the swamp,

death does not wait for darkness to emerge.

The killing starts now.

♪

With the sun low on the horizon,

thousands of swamp birds return to roost

in nests they built up to 90 feet above the water.

[chirping]

[chirping]

From these perches, they keep a close watch on the water below.

Waters patrolled constantly by predators.

♪

♪

One of their greatest threats is a massive hunter

who can grow to be nearly 15 feet long

and weigh up to 1,000 pounds.

This is the American alligator.

♪

♪

And he keeps most of his size hidden...

beneath the surface.

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♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

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The alligator is fast, but not fast enough.

♪

♪

But the real reason he's come here

is for something a little more sinister.

It's breeding season,

and this rookery is full of vulnerable, flightless chicks.

Inevitably, some of the young

fall from the safety of their nests.

And unable to swim or fly,

there's little hope,

because it's only a matter of time

before an alligator spots them.

♪

♪

♪

♪

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This sunset kill begins another countdown till dawn.

♪

♪

The swamplands radically transform in the dark;

but there's more to this world than meets the eye,

especially beneath the surface of the water.

Down here, one of the swamp's deadliest predators

begins his hunt with the rising of the moon.

♪

♪

♪

♪

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This is an alligator snapping turtle.

♪

♪

This bottom dweller rarely leaves the water.

And with nostrils located on the tip of his snout,

taking a breath of fresh air

is as simple as briefly piercing the surface.

His kind can weigh nearly 300 pounds,

and they bulk up by feeding on just about anything

that swims too close to their powerful, hooked jaws.

♪

♪

He barely moves when he hunts,

except to wiggle his tongue...

that mimics a drowning worm.

♪

♪

Inside of his mouth is camouflaged,

making his tongue stand out to unsuspecting prey.

♪

♪

Like any patient fisherman,

he lets the bait do the work,

attracting his prey...

before going for the catch.

♪

♪

His target gets away, but he's got all night.

And there are plenty of fish in the swamp.

♪

♪

♪

♪

Quick as the turtle might be,

so far tonight, his prey is a little faster.

But the fish's explosive getaway lands it in trouble.

It's accidentally beached itself

onto the Land of the Dead.

♪

As seasonal changes cause the water levels to recede,

many fish get stranded on shore,

and this attracts corpse eaters from all over the swamp.

There's no escaping death in this American swamp.

And for fish beached on shore, there's no hope.

Especially with predators nearby

who hunger for the dying and the dead.

♪

This is a cottonmouth,

a venomous snake who hunts both on land and in the water.

♪

She can't resist an easy target

and puts the beached fish out of its misery

by swallowing it whole.

♪

♪

♪

[roar]

♪

Cottonmouths, like other pit vipers,

have special organs that give them thermal imaging

of their environment.

And her sixth sense detects something strange approaching.

An armored, eight-legged scavenger

who can regenerate lost limbs and sees with excellent vision

from protruding eyes on the ends of stalks.

This is a crawfish.

But it's just one...

in a horde of many.

♪

♪

♪

And they emerge in the moonlight.

Migrating over land in search of new feeding grounds,

equipped with sharp pincers and a tough chitin armor.

They swarm like a living flood across the muddy flats.

And they'll consume just about anything in their path.

♪

Even a venomous snake, like the cottonmouth,

flees from this deadly tide.

♪

♪

The horde lets her go

because they can't resist the sweet smell of rotting flesh.

♪

♪

The crustaceans prefer to eat in the water,

so they drag their catch below,

where they can take it apart piece by piece.

But the crawfish aren't the only swarming scavengers

in this strange, underwater world.

The swamp teems with another group of tiny crustaceans.

And they haunt the shallows like phantoms.

♪

♪

These are ghost shrimp.

And like crawfish, they emerge at night to feed,

swimming near each other in a nocturnal underwater ballet.

Their transparent bodies

provide nearly perfect camouflage.

So they can hide from the bigger predators

who stalk the swamp bottom.

♪

♪

♪

Attracted by the ghost shrimp's activity,

a sinewy predator emerges from hiding.

But this long, slender swamp dweller

isn't a snake.

♪

This is a siren.

An aquatic salamander who enjoys a good shrimp cocktail.

But he has to be careful,

because in water

there's always a bigger predator nearby.

♪

A hungry mud snake spots the siren.

♪

But the slender amphibian is quick and gets away.

The mud snake returns to the hunt.

But in the leaf litter,

sometimes it's best to stay still

and let your prey come to you.

This alien-like hunter mimics a leaf.

Only breaking the surface of the water to breathe...

through his butt.

He's a giant water bug.

And he's one of the most patient hunters in the swamp.

♪

For him, timing is everything.

♪

♪

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His target escapes,

but there are others of his kind waiting nearby,

like landmines.

♪

♪

These small fish spend the night

navigating a gauntlet...

of camouflaged killers.

♪

♪

And it's only a matter of time

before one ensnares its prey.

♪

The giant water bug grips his catch,

subduing it with his venomous beak.

♪

♪

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Stragglers still scouring for scraps on land are vulnerable.

Especially when hungry scavengers stalk the shoreline.

♪

Like a furry bandit who's no stranger to humans.

♪

♪

A raccoon.

But this swamp dweller isn't spoiled

like his urban relatives with access to human waste.

If this country boy wants to eat, he has to work for it.

And that means dipping his hands

into dangerous waters.

Raccoons have the most highly developed sense of touch

and dexterity of all carnivores.

But feeling through the murk is extremely risky.

Especially with hunters lurking just beneath the surface.

♪

♪

A raccoon reaches into a deadly abyss of an American swamp.

A place home to unimaginable dangers.

♪

The raccoon's frantic search for food

sends vibrations and noise rippling through the water,

alerting aquatic predators hunting nearby.

♪

♪

♪

♪

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The alligator snapping turtle's strike on the catfish

reminds the raccoon of the swamp's dangers.

♪

The turtle grips the fish with his long claws,

while hammering away at it with his hooked beak.

♪

Other hunters watch from a distance

as the turtle butchers his catch.

♪

♪

Small aquatic scavengers approach

while the turtle shreds the catfish into pieces.

♪

♪

He's a messy eater,

and the crawfish get their fair share of scraps.

But while they feed in the water,

on land, someone searches for a drink.

♪

♪

This is the possum,

a nocturnal marsupial with an omnivorous diet;

one that includes snakes.

[cackling]

The possum's immune to snake venom,

and the cottonmouth recognizes the threat he poses.

So he takes up a defensive position,

causing his hunter to hesitate.

And in the swamp,

a moment's hesitation can lead to disaster.

♪

♪

♪

[creaking]

♪

[screech]

Faced with a creature powerful enough

to bring down the forest,

the possum and cottonmouth retreat.

Allowing the furry lumberjack to continue his work in peace.

This is the beaver,

one of the only animals on the planet

who reengineers the environment to suit their needs.

With his powerful bite, he cuts down trees and branches

that he uses to build his fortress-like lodge.

But what's a castle without a moat?

The beaver also constructs dams

that flood the area around his home,

providing him with protection from outsiders.

♪

But he has to leave sometimes to forage for food.

And in the swamp,

there's always someone waiting in the water.

This alligator devoured a baby bird just before sunset.

But that's not nearly enough meat to satisfy his hunger.

He's ready for the main course.

And few things are better

than a plump beaver.

A mouth of sharp teeth...

await a beaver in the dark waters of an American swamp.

♪

♪

♪

The beaver makes it back to the safety of his lodge

just in time,

leaving the alligator out in the cold.

But while he goes hungry,

on shore a young hunter hones her killing craft.

♪

♪

She's a bobcat.

A specialist in population control,

who takes her job very seriously.

Experience comes with age,

and she's just learning the ropes.

But her instincts tell her to move quietly,

as she tracks an unforgettable scent

belonging to a risky target.

♪

It's less than half her size,

but it trudges confidently through the brush...

showing no fear of this dark and deadly swamp.

♪

A skunk.

The bobcat's curious, but cautious,

because his bold stripes are a warning to others

to keep their distance.

Or risk the wrath of his powerful defense.

A chemical cocktail from the glands on its rear

which can cause nausea, intense pain,

or even blindness,

and makes you stink for weeks.

♪

But this is a lesson the young bobcat's yet to learn.

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

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[bobcat cries]

Spotting the bobcat just in time,

nature's stink bomb delivers a potent dose

of his smelly spray.

[purring]

The bobcat nurses her nose and her pride

as the skunk escapes.

From the murky waters to the muddy flats,

the swamp's ever-changing landscape

can be a hunter's worst enemy.

Only a few unique individuals are adept at navigating

through all these different terrains.

♪

And one of them is the second longest snake in North America.

This is a black rat snake,

and his kind can grow to be up 8 feet long.

♪

♪

He maneuvers just as easily through the water

as he does over land.

But right now, he is locked on to something

that's high up in the air.

♪

♪

♪

Using specially angled scales, his body grips the tree bark.

♪

Allowing him to defy gravity as he slithers up the trunk.

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Like a thief in the night,

he approaches the home

of a sleeping victim.

The swamp's midnight strangler

enters the home of a sleeping squirrel.

♪

He wraps around his victim before they can wake up,

and strangles them to death.

♪

♪

It's over in a few moments,

and the snake dines on his prey.

♪

♪

While a killing unfolds in the upper floors of the tree...

down below, a strange neighbor of the squirrel's...

has yet to emerge from his dark dwelling.

♪

♪

This odd mammal wears armor made of plates of dermal bone,

and it's strong enough to protect him

from all but the deadliest bites.

♪

This is a nine-banded armadillo,

and he comes out at night to search for grubs

in the swampland's soft, wet soil.

With extremely poor vision,

he relies on his powerful sense of smell,

and he's able to sniff out prey

buried over a half a foot underground.

But with his head dug in the sand,

his main sense is occupied.

♪

And he's oblivious to approaching danger.

♪

The bobcat, still hungry, and on the hunt.

She's not afraid of taking on an opponent

with a strong defensive game.

♪

But with the stench of skunk spray clinging to her fur,

a stealthy approach goes out the window.

♪

♪

But the armadillo has an escape plan.

He can swim.

Able to hold his breath for up to six minutes,

the agile swimmer escapes the bobcat.

But in the water, he captures someone else's attention.

♪

♪

♪

♪

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In the murky depths of the swamp,

even the most experienced hunters make mistakes.

And the alligator catches nothing

but a mouthful of branches,

allowing the armadillo to get away.

But while he's been running for his life,

one of his fellow mammals exits the water

to give himself some TLC.

♪

♪

This giant rodent is a nutria,

and he's fastidious about his personal hygiene.

The armadillo leaves his carefree neighbor

to go about his beauty regiment in peace.

Glands near his mouth produce oils

that he rubs all over his body.

This special lotion helps waterproof his fur...

making navigating the water a little easier.

♪

♪

♪

With his huge, yellow teeth,

he spends most of his time devouring wetland plants.

♪

He and his kin are so hungry,

they can do serious damage to a swamp habitat

by overfeeding.

♪

But in the water,

he's vulnerable to a patroller

who balances the scales for this ecosystem.

♪

The gator locks the nutria in his sights.

♪

And he doesn't plan on missing again.

A nutria gorges on plants,

unaware he has a stalker.

♪

♪

♪

[growl]

Nutria are an invasive species

who have disrupted the swamp ecosystem

since their introduction in the late 19th century.

The gators here play a huge role

in controlling their population for the good of all.

With an hour left till dawn,

an eerie calm settles over the wetlands.

[shriek]

But not everyone's ready to call it a night.

[shriek]

♪

[shriek]

♪

♪

A red fox emerges from the shadows.

He prowls the wetlands like a phantom.

♪

And few see him coming until it's too late.

But right now, his eyes and ears

lock onto a strange corner of the swamp.

♪

♪

♪

A dwelling inhabited by bizarre, fleshy beings

who walk on two legs.

[dog barking]

[dog barking]

[dog whimpers]

The fox has come to know this place as a source of easy food.

♪

But his distant cousin has allied

with these house dwellers...

[dog barking]

...and sounds the alarm.

[dog barking]

So he has to choose his approach carefully.

[dog barking]

♪

♪

[bird hoots]

♪

♪

♪

♪

[clatter]

♪

♪

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With the coast clear,

the fox comes out of hiding and goes after his target:

a yummy bowl of dog food.

The night nears its end.

And many have fallen to the violence and decay

that are a part of life in the swamp.

♪

Hunters bearing the scars of their nocturnal fights

look for a safe place to heal.

And prey return to their dwellings to rest,

as the sun finally breaks over the horizon.

But this reprieve from the dark horrors of the swamp

is always an illusion.

[flies buzzing]

Because this is a place

that's equal parts beautiful...

and deadly.

♪

Captioned by Side Door Media Services

Repair and Synchronization by Easy Subtitles Synchronizer 1.0.0.0