Original subtitles

(BIRDS CHIRPING)

NARRATOR: Even the most respected grown-up...

(SQUAWKING)

..was once a party animal searching for love.

Hot blood leads to seductive behaviour.

(SENSUAL JAZZ MUSIC)

And when the Flame Bowerbird drops its jungle boogie,

it's irresistibly weird. (SQUAWKING)

The creatures of Earth...

are wilder than you could possibly imagine. (Honking)

Among the fast...

and fearsome are the astoundingly crazy.

With strange behaviour...

and outrageous fashion sense.

They're all in a competition to survive...

...and weirdness always wins.

(DRAMATIC MUSIC)

(BIRDS CHIRPING)

Inhabiting waterways across the globe...

..there's a strange creature.

That's beauty, beast..

and record-breaking killer all in one.

This pregnant dragonfly is in a rush.

With only 8 weeks of life, she's made the most of the dating pool.

Now she needs to deliver her eggs.

The dark waters of a pond?

Perfect.

Ovipositor dipped below the surface,

she deposits her brood.

For some, motherhood is about care,

nurturing, and unconditional love...

..but not this dragonfly.

(DANCE MUSIC)

Dumping the kids and taking off is how dragonfly mothers roll.

Eggs laid, she splits for good.

(BIRDS TWEETING)

(FROGS CROAKING)

Months have passed...

and the dragonfly offspring looks nothing like her mother.

Orphaned, she needs to grow fast to survive.

Natural-born killer instincts kick in.

With her target locked...

the nymph draws in water through her backside.

Then forces it forward to fire her lower jaw.

(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC)

For two years the nymph terrorises her aquatic world...

..growing bigger and stronger.

The ugly hatchling has become one of the pond's top predators.

But the time comes when the pond monster must be reborn.

(CRICKETS CHIRPING)

Water-breathing gills transform to take in air.

She leaves the dark waters behind

and heads toward the moonlight.

The nymph expands her body...

..excreting solvents that help her moult.

Her hard exoskeleton cracks open...

..and the killer is remade.

(BIRDS CHIRPING)

Like an insect Cinderella,

she's suddenly glamorous.

But can she really leave her dark past behind?

Her appearance may have changed,

but she's become even more deadly.

Able to fly almost 60 kilometres per hour.

..executing sudden turns in any direction.

With a hunting success rate reaching 95%.

She is the most successful predator on the planet.

And the first chance she gets she'll pair up, mate...

..and dish out tough love to her own offspring.

They may be born into squalor,

but dragonflies that survive are all destined to be high-flyers...

..beautiful, but deadly.

The islands of New Guinea...

..are a cauldron of quirky courtship.

(BIRDS CHIRPING)

These female Flame Bowerbirds

are window shopping for a mate.

And this elegant bower, come love lair,

has aroused their curiosity.

Constructed by the male Flame Bowerbird...

..a hypnotic dance freak with a ton of funk in his junk.

But these gals will need convincing.

Because he's gonna be a fly-by-night father

and leave her to raise the kids alone.

Genetic dorks need not apply.

So, they are looking long and hard.

He's got just one chance to show what's in his genes.

The bower he's built isn't a nest.

It's just a stage to entertain the ladies.

He fusses over the final touches.

(SQUAWKING)

She's still not convinced.

But this isn't his first rodeo.

He knows just the thing to light their fire.

Accessorise!

Nothing pulls the ladies like a splash of colour.

Baubles of blue, purple, and grey

arranged to seduce.

Oh!

That's lured one in.

And now that he has an audience...

..it's time to bust a move.

(SENSUAL MUSIC)

# Mm

# Baby #

(CHIRPING)

Plain Jane is mesmerised.

Her own Magic Mike.

(CHIRPING)

The bower makes it steamier.

The walls frame his performance.

(CHIRPING)

From where she stands, he looks bigger, flashier

and totally irresistible!

(SQUAWKING)

The male Flame Bowerbird is truly funk meister number one.

(CHIRPS)

He gets down to business...

..and heads for the door.

Because this bad boy has more booty calls to make.

(SQUAWKING)

(BIRDS TRILLING)

This pair of four-lined tree frogs

are up and ready for a little romance.

They're soon-to-be upmarket parents.

The kind that spoil their kids and leave them a fortune.

(CROAKING)

But first.. a moment of passion.

Oh, yeah.

The male is smaller...

but he has big ambitions.

Why not add a bubble bath for a touch of glamour?

But there's no Bed, Bath, and Beyond out here.

So, they use mucus, secreted from their back legs.

(CROAKING)

It forms a dense foam nest...

..which will harden on the outside,

but remain moist within...

..creating a crusty but weirdly luxurious incubation chamber.

The female releases her eggs into the nest.

The male frog fertilises the clutch.

Rainforest rendezvous complete,

they leave their offspring with a glistening endowment

to see them through.

(ANIMALS SQUAWKING)

(THUNDER RUMBLING)

(THUNDER CRACKS)

Three days later...

rainwater dissolves the foamy refuge

..and tadpoles emerge.

(ANIMALS HOOTING AND CHIRPING)

After such a pampered upbringing,

the first of nature's truths hits hard...

hunger.

Time to dip into the trust fund.

(BIRD WHISTLING)

The foam nest they once called home...

..is also a source of food.

(SQUELCHING)

Kinda weird to be eating your parent's bed sheets.

But this inheritance will fuel the tadpole's rapid growth.

These kids are on easy street.

Growing pains kick in...

..as the pampered youth sprout limbs.

And gills are replaced with air-breathing lungs.

Within weeks, the froglets emerge

from their aquatic dorm rooms, ready for some adulting.

(CROAKING)

All too quickly...

..the rush of hormones...

and this new generation of silver spooners

are looking for frog love, too.

Bequeathing the family fortune to golden zions of their own.

Life for a wood duck mother, is a continual test.

She's flat-out feeding on pond weed and snails.

While her ex sits around and preens.

He's all flash and no substance...

..leaving her to bring up the kids alone.

(QUACKING)

(GENTLE MUSIC)

Mother duck has safely laid her eggs in a top-floor roost.

There's no need for babysitting up here.

They're safe from almost anything.

Almost.

Rat snakes eat eggs for breakfast.

And they're clever climbers.

A couple duck eggs are easy pickings.

(EERIE MUSIC)

Down in the water...

..mother duck has no idea.

But she may not give a quack,

because wood ducks need to be as hard as nails.

(CHIRPING)

From the moment they hatch...

..her little flock face sky-high challenges.

(CHIRPING)

Number one, they're way up here.

Number two...

Mum's down there. (QUACKING)

And three...

the Rat Snake's back.

(CHIRPING) Eggs are fine,

but soft little duck nuggets are next level.

It's crunch time.

Or at least it will be

if the ducklings don't make a leap of faith.

(PLAYFUL MUSIC)

Her little offspring must upspring and outspring...

..before they're eaten.

(CHIRPING)

These little ducks are born base jumpers!

(QUACKING)

The final chick...

and the snake is close.

(DRAMATIC MUSIC)

(CHIRPING)

Time to get the duck out of here.

(GENTLE MUSIC)

All the ducklings have made it.

One small step for motherhood,

one giant leap for ducklings.

(CHIRPING)

Growing up gangster,

there was only ever one option for this ant.

The construction racket.

His family is one mean outfit.

How mean you ask?

So mean, they turn their own babies into caulking guns.

(SQUELCHING)

Just to get the job done.

Like an organised ant syndicate...

..for green weavers, family is everything.

And their territory is sacred.

Turf wars are common.

It's gangland rules and the bigger the foe, the harder they fall.

Even when they get double-crossed by their own kind...

..weaver ants are one family that don't like to be muscled.

(Italian music)

And a solid mobster house is critical.

High in the trees...

..away from prying eyes.

(CLUCKING)

More than half a million ants

can live in these leafy hideouts,

which require exquisite engineering.

(PLAYFUL MUSIC)

Building a bridge from one leaf to another...

..they use their powerful mandibles

and hooked tarsal claws to draw leaves closer together...

..until they have a solid foundation.

The challenge now is how to bind everything.

For that, they summon the youngest wise guy on the books.

(GODFATHER IMITATION) With an offer he can't refuse.

That's an ant larvae,

he's also glue!

A gentle squeeze...

and the larvae secretes sticky silk...

..perfect for binding leaves.

It's like using baby booger as cement.

Ant larvae usually produce silk to make cocoons.

A tiny home where they can transition

into grown mobsters in solitude.

They may be small fry,

but weaver ant larvae are workers

from the cradle to grave.

(GODFATHER IMITATION) It's how the family sticks together.

This lone penguin is about to face one of Earth's craziest challenges.

Survive the most brutal winter on the planet...

..while balancing an egg on his feet!

(PENGUINS SQUAWKING)

Thousands of Antarctic Emperor Penguins

have courted, mated and laid eggs.

One per couple.

(SQUAWKING)

They've got just one complicated job,

keep it warm while hell freezes over.

(SQUAWKING)

Winter is on the doorstep,

so it's time for the female to hand over her precious cargo.

Too many seconds on the ice and their egg will freeze.

Emperor Dads protect their eggs

by cradling them on their feet...

..under a luxurious belly of fat and feathers.

(DRAMATIC MUSIC)

Every father will remain on the ice

through the depths of winter.

While the mothers' journey up to 100 kilometres to the sea...

..where they will forage until spring returns.

This is the last sun the fathers will see

for more than two months.

(WIND GUSTING)

In the darkness,

battling savage winds and starvation,

their sole mission is to keep their eggs covered and off the ice.

Instinctively, they form a huddle.

(SQUAWKING)

Penguins on the outside protect penguins within

against the cold-biting winds.

Shifting constantly,

every bird spends time in the warm heart of the huddle.

(LOUD SQUAWK)

Heat at the centre can reach an incredible 37 degrees Celsius.

Sustaining the scrum for nearly two months non-stop...

takes a heavy toll.

Sadly, not every father master's the skill.

Even the strongest males lose half their body weight.

(GENTLE MUSIC)

As spring approaches, chicks begin to hatch.

They're born into the toughest environment on Earth,

and their fathers have little left to give.

A meagre meal of penguin pablum...

..protein-rich crop milk

secreted from a gland in their oesophagus.

Just in time...

the females return with bellies full.

In a rookery of thousands, they must call for their mate.

(SQUAWKING)

The female locates her partner,

desperate to see her young offspring for the first time.

After months of nurture and hardship,

the male is a little reluctant.

The exchange begins.

It needs to be quick,

exposure to the ice can kill newborns in just minutes.

(WEAK CHIRP)

At last, the chick can feed properly.

Finally, it's the male's turn to feed.

(DANCE MUSIC)

The Antarctic ice pack is now at its full extent.

He'll spend days crossing the ice to find open water.

There are few more heroic dads in nature...

..and no better reward

than an epic fishing trip with the guys.

(SOLEMN MUSIC)

Some species lay it all on the line for love.

(BIRDS CHIRPING)

These salmon have destroyed their very lives

in the hope of romance.

But long before love steals their breath away...

..male salmon hatchlings grow up in the river of their birth.

Eventually, it's time to graduate

to the open ocean.

These are their bachelor years...

..living free and hanging with the guys.

But as they mature...

..they feel the urge to settle down and have a family.

They bulk up...

..and work on their appearance.

(ROCK MUSIC)

Red hot and randy...

..they know just where to go.

The spawning grounds where Mom and Dad met.

(DRAMATIC MUSIC)

They swim for miles against the current...

..hoping the party won't start without them.

But getting there is so darned hard.

(SQUAWKING)

And who invited these guys?

(BEARS HUFFING)

Big hairy bouncers, weeding out the weaklings.

(SAD TROMBONE MUSIC)

With the grizzlies in the rearview mirror,

a hook-up party for the ages finally kicks into gear.

(DISCO MUSIC)

Everybody's looking hot.

The guys run wild, hitting on the girls and vibrating...

..encouraging them to lay eggs.

# Oh, yeah #

At last, a partner and a family on the horizon,

if only they could enjoy it.

But these guys left it all on the field

and there's nothing left to give.

They're punching out.

When they die, their decomposing bodies nourish their young.

For never was there a story ending in more roe

than of these salmon Juliet's and their Romeo's.

(ATTENBOROUGH IMITATION) Africa.

Thousands of years of evolution

have created wildlife's biggest stars!

Flamboyant exhibitionists...

..crowd pleasers...

(TRUMPETING)

..and action heroes.

But the biggest box-office draw of them all...

..The Sausage Tree.

(CRICKETS CHIRPING)

(PLAYFUL MUSIC)

(NORMAL VOICE) Weird fruit.

Weird flowers.

And an even weirder way of spreading its seed.

When you're rooted to the spot like The Kigelia Sausage Tree...

..you need a little help to scatter your seeds.

(PLAYFUL MUSIC)

Step one...

gather a fanbase.

Use your green leafy canopy

to entice animals into the shade.

(TRUMPETING)

Step two...

give the audience what they want.

Sausage tree flowers have evolved a seductive

kind of rancid perfume...

..that everybody loves.

(BUZZING)

And out here in Zambia's Luangwa Valley,

nothing says "eat me" quite like kicking up a stink.

(CURIOUS MUSIC)

Vervet monkeys come in expecting lunch.

(MONKEY CHATTERING)

But find dessert instead.

Gorging on sugary nectar.

In return, the tree coats them in pollen

that they'll carry to other sausage trees...

..pollinating their flowers.

(THUNDER RUMBLING)

(GREGORIAN CHANTING MUSIC)

In just a few weeks,

the sausage tree's reproductive strategy shows results.

Behold... the sausage fruit.

(DRAMATIC ORGAN MUSIC)

Step three...

the sausage tree needs an animal agent to extract its seeds.

(PLAYFUL MUSIC)

Heat and drought resistant,

a windfall of sausage fruits

is a bonanza for starving animals!

(ANIMALS BARKING)

Enter the Olive Baboons.

(MONKEYS SCREECHING)

With some of the strongest jaws in the primate world,

they gnaw through the shell easily...

..devouring the fleshy pulp and seeds inside.

(MONKEY RUMBLING)

(MONKEY FARTING)

Within a few hours, the urge to poop sausage trees seeds

runs through the troop like a wave of dyspepsia.

(FARTING)

For the sausage tree, mission accomplished!

(RUMBLING AND SQUELCHING)

(CAWING)

(THUNDER RUMBLING)

(PENSIVE MUSIC)

When the rains finally come...

..the young sausage saplings spring to life.

Emerging into the spotlight...

..one day to take their place

as icons of the African Savannah.

Meet Australia's Flying Foxes...

..masters of life in the Upside Down Under.

(SMOOTH JAZZ MUSIC)

Everything these furry bats do is inverted,

absolutely everything.

For some, the idea of having sex upside down might seem

on the far side of experimental...

for lustful, well-hung fruit bats,

this is as normal as it gets.

Inverted, females hang onto the males by their ankles...

..while he grabs onto her neck

with his teeth, pinning her wings to her side.

With a pandemonium of screams...

(BATS SCREECHING)

..success.

Their encounter is over.

(EERIE MUSIC)

(GENTLE CHIMES)

(BATS SCREECHING)

A year later,

the baby bats are starting to get the hang of adult life.

But there's no upside downtime for the bat mothers.

They must teach their pups the ways of the forest...

..like how to find fruits and nectar.

(TRANQUIL MUSIC)

And as the sun climbs higher...

..how to stay cool.

Because these bats have a fatal flaw.

Above 40 degrees Celsius,

Flying Foxes can die from heat stress.

So, baby bats need to learn how to take a dip.

Coarse hairs on their belly and chest absorb water,

which they lick off at the roost.

But it's a gutsy mission...

..because northern Australian rivers are primordial.

Yes, thanks to all the nectar,

fruit bats taste just like candy...

and freshwater crocodiles have a sweet tooth.

All 72 of them.

(BATS SCREECHING)

The lucky surviving mothers return to the roost...

reuniting with their pups...

and the safer world of life upside down.

In the far-flung reaches of the Indian Ocean,

there is a strange island...

seething with ritualistic mating rites.

(UPBEAT MUSIC)

A scarlet kingdom of crustaceans,

unlike anywhere on Earth...

..where fifty million Red Crabs

gather beneath the quarter moon in an orgy for the ages.

(GENTLE MUSIC)

The Christmas Island Crab

is a pleasure seeker extraordinaire.

For most of the year,

these crabs live the single life in the rainforest.

(THUNDER RUMBLING)

But come the wet season's first rains...

..the island erupts in an amorous mass migration.

In order to mate,

these land crabs need to get back to the beach.

But they live 16 kilometres from the nearest coastline...

..and man-made obstacles litter their path.

(STATIC)

MAN: (ON RADIO) We have heavy crab movement

across all roads south today.

Motorists are warned to drive at their own risk.

Powerful hormones flood the crabs' bodies.

(CAR HONKING)

Pumped up on these love drugs,

island traffic is a mere inconvenience.

(HONKING)

These frisky crabs... (CARS HONKING)

..risk more than just a broken heart.

Their super slow metabolism

isn't designed for long-distance marches.

So, roadside snacks are mandatory.

With so much aphrodisiac in the air...

..casualties are inevitable.

Finally, after a 15-day trek,

they reach the ocean's edge.

(BIRDS CHIRPING)

The larger male crabs arrive before the horde...

..and are the first to inseminate the females.

When the lights go out...

it's party time!

After mating, the females congregate by the shoreline

in pregnant anticipation.

Before dawn, when the moon reaches its last quarter...

..the females joyfully release

more than a billion eggs into the water.

Larvae hatch instantly.

Over the next month, their transformation is spectacular.

Developing into fully formed baby crabs...

..the crimson tide of new life

reclaims Christmas Island.

Just another incredible origin story,

and living proof evolution is alive and conjuring

every conceivable way for life to succeed.

Subtitles by Sky Access Services www.skyaccessibility.sky