1 00:00:11,784 --> 00:00:14,120 [♪] 2 00:00:21,493 --> 00:00:23,695 [David Suzuki]: Canada's heartland 3 00:00:23,696 --> 00:00:26,566 holds a wealth of landscapes. 4 00:00:26,566 --> 00:00:28,435 Vast forests... 5 00:00:28,435 --> 00:00:31,337 Rolling grasslands... 6 00:00:31,337 --> 00:00:34,106 Lakes beyond counting... 7 00:00:36,141 --> 00:00:41,146 And a remarkable cast of animal characters. 8 00:00:57,329 --> 00:00:59,364 To the European explorers 9 00:00:59,365 --> 00:01:01,133 who arrived here in the 17th century, 10 00:01:01,133 --> 00:01:04,303 the Boreal forest and prairies 11 00:01:04,303 --> 00:01:07,206 appeared to be pristine wilderness. 12 00:01:13,646 --> 00:01:17,249 But the story of Canada's heartland 13 00:01:17,249 --> 00:01:19,618 is full of surprises. 14 00:01:32,898 --> 00:01:34,266 It is late march 15 00:01:34,266 --> 00:01:36,735 on the grasslands of southern Saskatchewan, 16 00:01:36,735 --> 00:01:40,172 and one of the prairies' most amazing displays 17 00:01:40,172 --> 00:01:42,307 is kicking off. 18 00:01:43,609 --> 00:01:48,213 Male sharp-tailed grouse are strutting their stuff, 19 00:01:48,213 --> 00:01:53,585 sorting out their pecking order before the females arrive. 20 00:01:53,585 --> 00:01:55,420 [♪] 21 00:01:59,625 --> 00:02:03,229 This is a dancing competition. 22 00:02:10,202 --> 00:02:13,839 The top-ranked dancer will claim a central position 23 00:02:13,839 --> 00:02:18,744 and be best placed to catch the females' attention. 24 00:02:41,000 --> 00:02:44,837 Grouse use the same dancing grounds year after year, 25 00:02:44,837 --> 00:02:46,538 a fact well known 26 00:02:46,538 --> 00:02:50,375 to one of the residents of this open landscape. 27 00:02:50,376 --> 00:02:52,978 [Drumming, bells ringing] 28 00:02:52,978 --> 00:02:54,580 For thousands of years, 29 00:02:54,580 --> 00:02:57,683 humans have shared this landscape with wildlife. 30 00:02:59,351 --> 00:03:02,387 The blackfoot First Nations People 31 00:03:02,388 --> 00:03:04,523 still perform a traditional dance 32 00:03:04,523 --> 00:03:07,359 inspired by the springtime antics 33 00:03:07,359 --> 00:03:10,696 of the Prairie chicken. 34 00:03:10,696 --> 00:03:12,665 [Singing] 35 00:03:14,767 --> 00:03:17,803 Long before Europeans arrived in Canada, 36 00:03:17,803 --> 00:03:20,406 its first peoples developed cultures 37 00:03:20,406 --> 00:03:25,778 based on an intimate knowledge of the land and its wildlife. 38 00:03:25,778 --> 00:03:27,680 [Drumming, singing] 39 00:03:29,681 --> 00:03:31,583 [Bells ringing] 40 00:03:32,851 --> 00:03:35,354 They also developed practices 41 00:03:35,354 --> 00:03:37,623 that changed the landscape in which they lived. 42 00:03:47,666 --> 00:03:51,537 In 1691, English explorer Henry Kelsey 43 00:03:51,537 --> 00:03:53,539 was one of the first Europeans 44 00:03:53,539 --> 00:03:55,541 to travel through southern Canada 45 00:03:55,541 --> 00:03:56,708 and get a glimpse 46 00:03:56,708 --> 00:04:00,011 of this amazing Prairie landscape. 47 00:04:00,012 --> 00:04:03,315 His Assiniboine companions told Kelsey 48 00:04:03,315 --> 00:04:07,653 about the rich hunting grounds of the great grass plains. 49 00:04:09,788 --> 00:04:11,957 But nothing could have prepared him 50 00:04:11,957 --> 00:04:15,027 for the spectacle he was to witness... 51 00:04:27,639 --> 00:04:32,944 Bison herds numbering up to four million animals. 52 00:04:43,956 --> 00:04:46,358 Bison are huge, powerful creatures 53 00:04:46,358 --> 00:04:50,462 with an aggressive nature. 54 00:04:50,462 --> 00:04:53,465 [♪] 55 00:05:12,951 --> 00:05:14,986 At the time of Kelsey's arrival, 56 00:05:14,987 --> 00:05:16,488 the grasslands stretched 57 00:05:16,488 --> 00:05:19,958 from Central Mexico through the United States 58 00:05:19,958 --> 00:05:21,760 into southern Canada, 59 00:05:21,760 --> 00:05:23,962 from Lake Winnipeg in the east 60 00:05:23,962 --> 00:05:26,131 to the Rocky Mountains in the west. 61 00:05:27,799 --> 00:05:31,536 These grasslands supported many different species... 62 00:05:33,572 --> 00:05:35,974 But there was one that appeared purpose-built 63 00:05:35,974 --> 00:05:38,610 for this open country... 64 00:05:38,610 --> 00:05:41,813 The Pronghorn antelope. 65 00:05:54,026 --> 00:05:58,664 With a top speed of almost 100 kilometres an hour, 66 00:05:58,664 --> 00:06:03,035 Pronghorns are the fastest hoofed animals on earth. 67 00:06:17,649 --> 00:06:19,985 During Kelsey's time, 68 00:06:19,985 --> 00:06:25,757 there were at least 20 million antelopes living on the plains. 69 00:06:37,703 --> 00:06:40,672 Early European travellers saw the open prairie 70 00:06:40,672 --> 00:06:44,509 as a wild, untouched landscape. 71 00:06:44,509 --> 00:06:46,611 They were wrong. 72 00:06:48,680 --> 00:06:54,052 The Prairie First Nations were great hunters, 73 00:06:54,052 --> 00:06:56,087 and they had been changing this landscape 74 00:06:56,088 --> 00:06:58,190 for thousands of years 75 00:06:58,190 --> 00:07:00,192 with a very powerful tool... 76 00:07:00,192 --> 00:07:03,696 [Blowing] 77 00:07:06,498 --> 00:07:09,701 Fire. 78 00:07:11,203 --> 00:07:13,071 Fire kills young trees 79 00:07:13,071 --> 00:07:16,074 while leaving grass roots unscathed. 80 00:07:16,074 --> 00:07:18,677 Deliberate fires kept the prairie open 81 00:07:18,677 --> 00:07:23,815 by preventing trees from spreading across it... 82 00:07:23,815 --> 00:07:27,052 And these people preferred grass to trees 83 00:07:27,052 --> 00:07:31,723 because the animals they hunted were grazers. 84 00:07:44,069 --> 00:07:49,107 The fire cleared away the dead and dried-out grass. 85 00:07:53,578 --> 00:07:58,249 The ash fertilized the soil, so by the following year, 86 00:07:58,250 --> 00:08:00,819 a rich new crop of grass would grow 87 00:08:00,819 --> 00:08:03,722 to attract the grazing animals. 88 00:08:05,791 --> 00:08:08,160 [Bison snorts] 89 00:08:11,263 --> 00:08:16,268 The bison herds themselves also helped support the grass. 90 00:08:19,571 --> 00:08:23,675 Their dung returned nutrients to the soil, 91 00:08:23,675 --> 00:08:26,044 and their hooves disturbed the ground, 92 00:08:26,044 --> 00:08:30,115 allowing a diversity of plants to grow. 93 00:08:31,983 --> 00:08:35,320 The interaction of grass, bison, and people 94 00:08:35,320 --> 00:08:37,989 sustained a rich, stable environment 95 00:08:37,989 --> 00:08:42,694 long before Europeans arrived on the prairie. 96 00:08:44,262 --> 00:08:46,898 And there was one other major element 97 00:08:46,898 --> 00:08:49,334 influencing the prairie landscape... 98 00:08:52,137 --> 00:08:54,806 Wolves. 99 00:08:57,109 --> 00:08:58,910 Wolves played a crucial role 100 00:08:58,910 --> 00:09:04,616 in maintaining the balance between bison and prairie, 101 00:09:04,616 --> 00:09:09,754 keeping the herds on the move, 102 00:09:09,755 --> 00:09:14,693 preventing the grassland from becoming over-grazed. 103 00:09:22,667 --> 00:09:25,870 Plains people lived alongside wolves 104 00:09:25,871 --> 00:09:29,942 and understood how they hunted. 105 00:09:39,418 --> 00:09:42,120 They knew that bison with new calves, 106 00:09:42,120 --> 00:09:46,858 instead of running, would often stand their ground. 107 00:09:55,934 --> 00:09:59,070 As long as the adult bison hold their nerve, 108 00:09:59,070 --> 00:10:01,239 wolves won't risk injury 109 00:10:01,239 --> 00:10:05,877 by approaching within range of those horns and hooves. 110 00:10:30,902 --> 00:10:33,238 But not everything in wolf's clothing 111 00:10:33,238 --> 00:10:37,242 is what it seems. 112 00:10:47,252 --> 00:10:50,388 Dressed in wolf skins and mimicking their movements, 113 00:10:50,388 --> 00:10:52,891 the human hunters could approach 114 00:10:52,891 --> 00:10:56,862 within a few metres of their target. 115 00:11:00,932 --> 00:11:03,902 Their trick then was to stampede the herd 116 00:11:03,902 --> 00:11:07,139 in one specific direction. 117 00:11:09,808 --> 00:11:11,142 In full flight, 118 00:11:11,142 --> 00:11:15,113 it's hard for a herd to suddenly slow down. 119 00:11:28,426 --> 00:11:31,362 These cliffs, known as buffalo jumps, 120 00:11:31,363 --> 00:11:33,899 were used sparingly by plains hunters 121 00:11:33,899 --> 00:11:36,268 over the millennia. 122 00:11:36,268 --> 00:11:41,972 A single buffalo jump could decimate a herd. 123 00:11:41,973 --> 00:11:43,975 But it was the European hunters 124 00:11:43,975 --> 00:11:45,844 who brought about the end of the buffalo 125 00:11:45,844 --> 00:11:50,148 on these prairies. 126 00:11:50,148 --> 00:11:52,417 Nowadays, 127 00:11:52,417 --> 00:11:56,154 the prairie's wild inhabitants are much smaller... 128 00:11:56,154 --> 00:11:58,923 Like these Black-tailed prairie dogs, 129 00:11:58,924 --> 00:12:03,128 which make their home underneath the prairie grassland. 130 00:12:06,064 --> 00:12:09,801 Prairie dogs live in vast colonies, or towns, 131 00:12:09,801 --> 00:12:13,505 with kilometres of burrows. 132 00:12:13,505 --> 00:12:16,841 Their entrances are surrounded by carefully tended, 133 00:12:16,841 --> 00:12:20,411 volcano-shaped mounds of earth... 134 00:12:20,412 --> 00:12:23,181 Lookout points from which the adults warn each other 135 00:12:23,181 --> 00:12:26,251 of approaching danger. 136 00:12:26,918 --> 00:12:29,788 [Calling] 137 00:12:33,491 --> 00:12:36,561 This year's pups are now big enough to venture out, 138 00:12:36,561 --> 00:12:38,797 though they never stray far 139 00:12:38,797 --> 00:12:41,300 from the safety of their burrows. 140 00:13:09,961 --> 00:13:13,031 Towards midsummer, a different bunch of babies 141 00:13:13,031 --> 00:13:16,268 is ready for its first public appearance. 142 00:13:22,440 --> 00:13:28,346 These burrowing owl chicks were hatched underground. 143 00:13:28,346 --> 00:13:30,348 In a treeless landscape, 144 00:13:30,348 --> 00:13:36,521 a vacant Prairie dog burrow is the perfect nesting option. 145 00:13:36,521 --> 00:13:42,627 The owls are not so much "burrowing" as "borrowing." 146 00:13:42,627 --> 00:13:44,629 Whenever mom or dad appears, 147 00:13:44,629 --> 00:13:49,000 the chicks converge on them like a pack of wolves. 148 00:13:56,608 --> 00:13:58,543 The chicks are growing fast, 149 00:13:58,543 --> 00:14:02,180 and their appetites seem insatiable. 150 00:14:31,643 --> 00:14:34,045 In the pancake-flat landscape, 151 00:14:34,045 --> 00:14:35,547 a prairie dog's earth mound 152 00:14:35,547 --> 00:14:41,953 gives the owls a panoramic view. 153 00:14:41,953 --> 00:14:44,522 Any height helps to spot trouble. 154 00:14:44,522 --> 00:14:47,058 [Chirps] 155 00:14:54,666 --> 00:14:57,302 The coyote knows he's been spotted, 156 00:14:57,302 --> 00:15:00,672 and continues on his way. 157 00:15:04,476 --> 00:15:07,646 The chick takes advantage of the afternoon breeze 158 00:15:07,646 --> 00:15:11,016 to try out its wings. 159 00:15:21,693 --> 00:15:23,395 A couple of months from now, 160 00:15:23,395 --> 00:15:25,697 these chicks will be fully fledged, 161 00:15:25,697 --> 00:15:29,434 and the family will migrate south. 162 00:15:42,630 --> 00:15:46,267 While most of us think of prairie as grassland, 163 00:15:46,267 --> 00:15:48,636 there's another element to this landscape 164 00:15:48,636 --> 00:15:53,207 that is every bit as important to wildlife. 165 00:15:55,243 --> 00:16:00,615 Canada's heartland is studded with countless lakes, 166 00:16:00,615 --> 00:16:02,851 scoured out thousands of years ago 167 00:16:02,851 --> 00:16:08,190 by ice age glaciers. 168 00:16:08,190 --> 00:16:12,294 Some estimates put the figure at over 10 million. 169 00:16:12,294 --> 00:16:15,697 That's far more lakes than people here... 170 00:16:17,732 --> 00:16:20,535 A crucial resource for water birds 171 00:16:20,535 --> 00:16:23,338 returning from nesting grounds in the Arctic 172 00:16:23,338 --> 00:16:27,442 on their long migration south. 173 00:16:28,676 --> 00:16:30,478 Quill lakes, Saskatchewan 174 00:16:30,478 --> 00:16:33,948 draws in tens of thousands of snow geese 175 00:16:33,948 --> 00:16:39,253 looking for a place to stop and take on supplies. 176 00:16:52,901 --> 00:16:55,570 Once they have rested and fed, the migrants must move on. 177 00:17:44,652 --> 00:17:50,291 Within a few weeks, these lakes will begin to freeze, 178 00:17:50,291 --> 00:17:52,827 and the enormous flocks of ducks and geese 179 00:17:52,827 --> 00:17:56,364 will be far to the south. 180 00:18:01,736 --> 00:18:05,773 Winter comes early to Canada's heartland. 181 00:18:09,844 --> 00:18:14,015 By late october, the first frosts have arrived. 182 00:18:52,487 --> 00:18:53,688 North of the Prairies, 183 00:18:53,688 --> 00:18:57,458 a belt of conifer trees, the Boreal forest, 184 00:18:57,458 --> 00:19:01,062 stretches the entire width of Canada. 185 00:19:01,062 --> 00:19:02,096 It is considered to be 186 00:19:02,096 --> 00:19:08,035 the largest intact forest left in the world. 187 00:19:08,036 --> 00:19:12,574 Falling snow brings magic to the woodlands. 188 00:19:50,044 --> 00:19:53,381 The first snow brings beauty to the forest, 189 00:19:53,381 --> 00:19:55,583 but it also brings tough times 190 00:19:55,583 --> 00:19:59,120 for many of the forest creatures. 191 00:19:59,120 --> 00:20:00,888 In central Alberta, 192 00:20:00,888 --> 00:20:04,158 a moose and her calf venture out into the snow, 193 00:20:04,158 --> 00:20:08,696 searching for food. 194 00:20:08,696 --> 00:20:10,498 When times are tough, 195 00:20:10,498 --> 00:20:13,001 these willow twigs could make the difference 196 00:20:13,001 --> 00:20:16,838 between life and death for these moose. 197 00:20:20,808 --> 00:20:25,880 By mid-winter, the temperature has dipped below -40. 198 00:20:29,083 --> 00:20:30,618 On a frozen lake, 199 00:20:30,618 --> 00:20:33,888 a deer has succumbed to the cold. 200 00:20:33,888 --> 00:20:35,089 The tattered carcass 201 00:20:35,089 --> 00:20:38,192 looks as if it was savaged by a large predator 202 00:20:38,192 --> 00:20:41,529 during the night. 203 00:20:41,529 --> 00:20:45,533 Now, in the morning light, hungry whiskey jacks give way 204 00:20:45,533 --> 00:20:49,837 to larger, more powerful scavengers. 205 00:20:56,210 --> 00:20:58,979 The squabbling ravens sort out their pecking order 206 00:20:58,980 --> 00:21:02,484 over this winter feast. 207 00:21:04,819 --> 00:21:08,623 Clearly, the ravens could not have opened up the carcass, 208 00:21:08,623 --> 00:21:11,493 so who did? 209 00:21:15,096 --> 00:21:18,466 A wolverine. 210 00:21:26,874 --> 00:21:30,778 With its muscular body, frost-shedding fur coat, 211 00:21:30,778 --> 00:21:33,581 and big snowshoe paws, 212 00:21:33,581 --> 00:21:34,916 a wolverine can cover 213 00:21:34,916 --> 00:21:37,485 large tracts of frozen wilderness 214 00:21:37,485 --> 00:21:40,855 in search of food. 215 00:21:45,526 --> 00:21:47,261 Just over a metre long, 216 00:21:47,261 --> 00:21:50,631 the wolverine looks like a small bear, 217 00:21:50,631 --> 00:21:54,702 but is actually a member of the weasel family. 218 00:22:01,242 --> 00:22:02,610 Rarely seen, 219 00:22:02,610 --> 00:22:04,145 this is some of the first footage 220 00:22:04,145 --> 00:22:05,947 of wild wolverines 221 00:22:05,947 --> 00:22:07,715 ever recorded in North America. 222 00:22:09,851 --> 00:22:12,587 [Owl hoots] 223 00:22:18,159 --> 00:22:23,031 We still know very little about wolverines. 224 00:22:23,031 --> 00:22:28,703 A hunter in its own right, it is also an expert scavenger. 225 00:22:28,703 --> 00:22:31,773 Its immensely powerful jaws can dismember 226 00:22:31,773 --> 00:22:35,744 even the most hard-frozen carcass. 227 00:22:55,196 --> 00:22:59,133 Wolverines cache meat from carcasses they find 228 00:22:59,133 --> 00:23:02,870 and come back to feed later. 229 00:23:06,874 --> 00:23:10,177 Carcasses like this are a rare bonanza 230 00:23:10,177 --> 00:23:15,249 for the scavengers in these forests. 231 00:23:15,249 --> 00:23:17,785 When the weather takes a turn for the worse, 232 00:23:17,785 --> 00:23:20,721 the hungry ravens make a last-ditch attempt 233 00:23:20,721 --> 00:23:23,924 to fill their bellies. 234 00:23:28,362 --> 00:23:30,164 But in a matter of hours, 235 00:23:30,164 --> 00:23:32,900 the dead deer is entirely buried. 236 00:23:40,641 --> 00:23:45,045 Later, a young male wolverine arrives on the scene. 237 00:23:45,046 --> 00:23:46,314 He has no way of knowing 238 00:23:46,314 --> 00:23:50,818 there is a carcass hidden beneath the snow... 239 00:23:50,818 --> 00:23:54,689 But his senses are extraordinary. 240 00:24:21,015 --> 00:24:23,451 Somehow, he is able to sniff out 241 00:24:23,451 --> 00:24:30,257 the faint odour of frozen flesh, 242 00:24:30,257 --> 00:24:34,695 even through a metre of fresh snow. 243 00:24:34,695 --> 00:24:36,897 In the race to survive, 244 00:24:36,897 --> 00:24:40,033 the wolverine wins by a nose. 245 00:24:50,444 --> 00:24:52,880 Other creatures of the Boreal forest 246 00:24:52,880 --> 00:24:57,918 have different ways of surviving the cold winter months. 247 00:25:00,855 --> 00:25:04,759 In Northern Québec, beneath the blanket of insulating snow 248 00:25:04,759 --> 00:25:07,862 is a beaver lodge. 249 00:25:07,862 --> 00:25:11,332 The steam plume comes from the cozy interior, 250 00:25:11,332 --> 00:25:16,070 currently occupied by muskrats. 251 00:25:19,173 --> 00:25:22,443 Muskrats resemble beavers, but are smaller, 252 00:25:22,443 --> 00:25:25,746 with slender tails. 253 00:25:29,884 --> 00:25:32,286 The muskrats are squatters here, 254 00:25:32,286 --> 00:25:33,921 enjoying the warmth 255 00:25:33,921 --> 00:25:37,792 while the owners are busy foraging outside. 256 00:25:51,906 --> 00:25:53,908 Beavers are vegetarians. 257 00:25:53,908 --> 00:25:57,211 They eat mostly leaves, twigs, and bark. 258 00:25:57,211 --> 00:25:58,879 If times are tough, though, 259 00:25:58,879 --> 00:25:59,913 beavers can draw 260 00:25:59,914 --> 00:26:03,451 on the fat reserves stored in their tails. 261 00:26:09,423 --> 00:26:12,026 Muskrats have a similar diet. 262 00:26:24,338 --> 00:26:26,473 The beavers keep a submerged larder 263 00:26:26,474 --> 00:26:29,343 of willow and aspen in their pond 264 00:26:29,343 --> 00:26:32,146 so they don't have to venture out above the ice 265 00:26:32,146 --> 00:26:35,216 to forage in the cold winter months. 266 00:26:42,556 --> 00:26:45,359 Until this unique new footage was filmed 267 00:26:45,359 --> 00:26:48,095 inside a wild beavers' lodge, 268 00:26:48,095 --> 00:26:52,533 muskrats had always been thought of as freeloaders. 269 00:26:54,201 --> 00:26:56,403 But this muskrat can clearly be seen 270 00:26:56,403 --> 00:26:59,539 plastering mud onto the lodge wall, 271 00:26:59,540 --> 00:27:04,478 making a direct contribution to its weatherproofing. 272 00:27:04,478 --> 00:27:07,481 Maybe it's time to give the "Busy Muskrat" 273 00:27:07,481 --> 00:27:10,084 some recognition. 274 00:27:11,585 --> 00:27:15,089 This is the first time muskrats have been recorded 275 00:27:15,089 --> 00:27:18,092 helping beavers maintain a lodge. 276 00:27:21,262 --> 00:27:23,064 [Chewing sounds] 277 00:27:29,537 --> 00:27:30,538 Meanwhile, 278 00:27:30,538 --> 00:27:34,008 in the frozen winter world outside the lodge, 279 00:27:34,008 --> 00:27:36,511 change is coming. 280 00:27:43,083 --> 00:27:47,087 Canada's Boreal forest contains the highest concentration 281 00:27:47,087 --> 00:27:51,291 of lakes, wetlands, and undammed rivers on earth. 282 00:28:04,138 --> 00:28:05,940 And as winter ends, 283 00:28:05,940 --> 00:28:09,944 the vast Boreal wetland come to life. 284 00:28:13,480 --> 00:28:16,383 A pair of western grebes. 285 00:28:22,189 --> 00:28:24,725 This spectacular water-walking dance 286 00:28:24,725 --> 00:28:26,660 is their courtship display. 287 00:28:49,516 --> 00:28:54,988 Spring is a busy season for many wetland creatures, 288 00:28:54,989 --> 00:28:59,026 and the beavers are no exception. 289 00:29:01,528 --> 00:29:07,534 Their lodge is now an island, surrounded by a shallow pond. 290 00:29:10,170 --> 00:29:15,642 The beavers created it by damming up a small creek. 291 00:29:15,643 --> 00:29:18,379 They must regularly patrol their dam, 292 00:29:18,379 --> 00:29:21,649 making sure it stays watertight. 293 00:29:28,689 --> 00:29:30,524 If they find a leak, 294 00:29:30,524 --> 00:29:33,394 they quickly set to work to fix it. 295 00:29:46,173 --> 00:29:49,343 Beavers are one of the largest rodents in the world, 296 00:29:49,343 --> 00:29:52,746 and they use their strength to great advantage. 297 00:30:27,748 --> 00:30:32,219 All this fetching and carrying uses up a lot of energy. 298 00:30:41,128 --> 00:30:44,531 A beaver's diet is relatively low in calories, 299 00:30:44,531 --> 00:30:48,635 so they need to spend a lot of time feeding. 300 00:30:52,573 --> 00:30:54,608 The dam mending is completed 301 00:30:54,608 --> 00:30:59,179 by jamming mud and weed in the chinks between the logs. 302 00:31:07,588 --> 00:31:11,859 Beaver dams may span over a hundred metres. 303 00:31:11,859 --> 00:31:16,297 That's a lot of maintenance work for the adult pair. 304 00:31:24,638 --> 00:31:29,443 The beavers' pond provides a habitat for waterfowl. 305 00:31:29,443 --> 00:31:32,680 A pair of ring-necked ducks. 306 00:31:36,717 --> 00:31:38,719 Pumped up with spring hormones, 307 00:31:38,719 --> 00:31:42,890 male red-winged blackbirds stake out their territory 308 00:31:42,890 --> 00:31:44,158 in song. 309 00:31:44,158 --> 00:31:46,661 [Sings] 310 00:31:50,264 --> 00:31:55,369 A Canada goose has made her nest on top of the lodge. 311 00:31:55,369 --> 00:31:58,539 Her eggs were safe here, but now that they have hatched, 312 00:31:58,601 --> 00:31:59,836 she needs to move them 313 00:31:59,873 --> 00:32:04,211 so she can teach her young to find food. 314 00:32:04,211 --> 00:32:05,913 But something along the water's edge 315 00:32:05,913 --> 00:32:08,249 has caught her eye... 316 00:32:10,250 --> 00:32:12,753 [Honking] 317 00:32:15,355 --> 00:32:17,791 Reacting to the goose's alarm call, 318 00:32:17,791 --> 00:32:19,393 the beaver's tail-slap 319 00:32:19,393 --> 00:32:22,529 warns every other resident of the pond. 320 00:32:25,799 --> 00:32:27,367 At the pond's edge, 321 00:32:27,367 --> 00:32:30,537 a Red-necked grebe hops off her nest. 322 00:32:30,537 --> 00:32:34,541 She can always lay another clutch if needs be. 323 00:32:40,614 --> 00:32:43,450 Though their cover has been blown, 324 00:32:43,450 --> 00:32:45,886 the wolves seem reluctant to give up entirely 325 00:32:45,886 --> 00:32:48,288 on their duck-hunting ambitions. 326 00:32:53,527 --> 00:32:55,562 When large prey is scarce, 327 00:32:55,562 --> 00:32:58,498 wolves will often hunt smaller animals. 328 00:33:02,536 --> 00:33:07,007 But in this deep water, it's a losing game, 329 00:33:07,007 --> 00:33:10,310 and the wolf soon gives up the chase. 330 00:33:21,555 --> 00:33:23,557 Once the wolves have gone, 331 00:33:23,557 --> 00:33:26,727 life on the pond returns to normal. 332 00:33:35,502 --> 00:33:40,374 The grebe settles back down to incubate her clutch of eggs... 333 00:33:48,482 --> 00:33:52,586 While her mate brings an offering of water-weeds. 334 00:33:57,457 --> 00:34:00,727 Now the goose can take her goslings to find food. 335 00:34:09,069 --> 00:34:11,338 Thanks in part to beavers, 336 00:34:11,338 --> 00:34:15,042 Canada's Boreal forest is as much a forest of blue 337 00:34:15,042 --> 00:34:18,345 as it is of green. 338 00:34:27,087 --> 00:34:31,458 Beaver-dammed waterways regulate the flow of rainwater, 339 00:34:31,458 --> 00:34:34,861 reducing flooding and allowing silt to settle out 340 00:34:34,861 --> 00:34:37,997 and clear water to flow. 341 00:34:41,835 --> 00:34:45,472 The beavers' effect on the landscape is so profound, 342 00:34:45,472 --> 00:34:47,574 the Blackfoot People had a saying 343 00:34:47,574 --> 00:34:52,446 that "Beavers constructed the world in which we live." 344 00:34:54,715 --> 00:34:57,451 The early European explorers, however, 345 00:34:57,451 --> 00:34:59,920 saw beavers in a very different light. 346 00:35:05,826 --> 00:35:09,429 In 1659, two French adventurers 347 00:35:09,429 --> 00:35:11,765 mounted an ambitious trading journey 348 00:35:11,765 --> 00:35:13,767 from the St. Lawrence river 349 00:35:13,767 --> 00:35:18,505 deep into the wilderness of Canada's heartland. 350 00:35:34,154 --> 00:35:35,722 The following summer, 351 00:35:35,722 --> 00:35:40,026 the explorers suddenly reappeared... 352 00:35:40,027 --> 00:35:44,164 This time with company. 353 00:35:46,967 --> 00:35:53,674 The trading journey had amassed a remarkable 55 tonnes of furs, 354 00:35:53,674 --> 00:35:56,576 requiring a flotilla of 100 canoes 355 00:35:56,576 --> 00:35:59,546 to carry them all. 356 00:36:01,915 --> 00:36:06,186 The fur industry decimated the beaver population. 357 00:36:10,057 --> 00:36:12,159 Prior to the arrival of Europeans, 358 00:36:12,159 --> 00:36:14,995 there were at least 400 million beavers 359 00:36:14,995 --> 00:36:16,963 on the continent. 360 00:36:16,963 --> 00:36:20,467 Today, there are just twelve million. 361 00:36:25,806 --> 00:36:30,544 Beavers vanished from many areas, 362 00:36:30,544 --> 00:36:31,745 profoundly changing 363 00:36:31,745 --> 00:36:34,815 the character of the forest landscape. 364 00:36:37,217 --> 00:36:41,688 But here, change isn't always gradual. 365 00:36:41,688 --> 00:36:43,723 Sometimes it can arrive 366 00:36:43,724 --> 00:36:49,563 with instant and terrifying force. 367 00:36:49,563 --> 00:36:53,267 In the vast evergreen forests of Western Ontario, 368 00:36:53,267 --> 00:36:56,470 summer lightning has sparked a huge fire. 369 00:37:07,214 --> 00:37:10,551 With flames shooting over a hundred metres high, 370 00:37:10,551 --> 00:37:15,089 the fire front is threatening a valuable timber reserve, 371 00:37:15,089 --> 00:37:20,027 and there are human settlements in the area too. 372 00:37:34,908 --> 00:37:36,910 For most of the last century, 373 00:37:36,910 --> 00:37:40,547 modern forestry viewed fire as a destructive force. 374 00:38:09,543 --> 00:38:12,146 Today, fire is recognized 375 00:38:12,147 --> 00:38:15,617 as an essential part of the forest's life cycle, 376 00:38:15,618 --> 00:38:19,622 and now wildfires are allowed to burn unchecked 377 00:38:19,622 --> 00:38:24,293 unless they threaten human life or property. 378 00:38:24,293 --> 00:38:25,361 Fire has always been 379 00:38:25,362 --> 00:38:28,232 a natural part of this landscape, 380 00:38:28,233 --> 00:38:30,495 and the trees of the Boreal 381 00:38:30,497 --> 00:38:33,467 have had thousands of years to adapt. 382 00:38:37,037 --> 00:38:38,939 In the wake of the flames, 383 00:38:38,939 --> 00:38:43,310 the cones of the jack pine unfurl, 384 00:38:43,310 --> 00:38:45,646 releasing their seeds. 385 00:38:52,586 --> 00:38:55,656 Over time, new trees grow up, 386 00:38:55,656 --> 00:38:59,660 and the forest gradually recovers. 387 00:39:04,164 --> 00:39:06,399 But some changes to the heartland 388 00:39:06,399 --> 00:39:10,270 are not so readily reversed. 389 00:39:10,270 --> 00:39:14,040 Over three centuries of European settlement, 390 00:39:14,040 --> 00:39:18,478 the prairie landscape has radically changed. 391 00:39:20,447 --> 00:39:24,184 Neatly plowed farms and fenced-in cattle ranches 392 00:39:24,184 --> 00:39:30,424 now occupy 80% of the original wild grassland. 393 00:39:32,225 --> 00:39:35,095 All that remains of the vast bison herds 394 00:39:35,095 --> 00:39:37,230 that once roamed the prairie 395 00:39:37,230 --> 00:39:40,500 are a few small, closely managed herds 396 00:39:40,500 --> 00:39:44,337 in wildlife preserves and game ranches. 397 00:39:47,240 --> 00:39:49,576 On a game ranch in Manitoba, 398 00:39:49,576 --> 00:39:54,314 a female bison has just given birth. 399 00:39:54,314 --> 00:39:56,716 This calf is entering a world 400 00:39:56,716 --> 00:39:59,652 where she will be protected from predators, 401 00:39:59,653 --> 00:40:02,289 given extra feed in winter, 402 00:40:02,289 --> 00:40:05,792 and generally cosseted by her human owners. 403 00:40:05,792 --> 00:40:07,560 The formidable animal 404 00:40:07,560 --> 00:40:10,463 that once helped shape the prairie landscape 405 00:40:10,463 --> 00:40:14,200 has become a profitable commodity. 406 00:40:25,312 --> 00:40:30,684 Shaped over thousands of years in the open prairie landscape, 407 00:40:30,684 --> 00:40:34,587 faced with the ever-present threat of marauding wolves, 408 00:40:34,587 --> 00:40:38,091 the calf instinctively struggles to its feet 409 00:40:38,091 --> 00:40:40,627 within minutes of birth. 410 00:41:00,814 --> 00:41:05,352 Domestication may have changed its circumstances, 411 00:41:05,352 --> 00:41:09,857 but this little bison remains wild at heart. 412 00:41:16,329 --> 00:41:19,199 In Southwestern Alberta, near the Rocky Mountains, 413 00:41:19,199 --> 00:41:24,137 farms and fences now dominate The Prairie landscape, 414 00:41:24,137 --> 00:41:25,672 but it doesn't mean 415 00:41:25,672 --> 00:41:30,377 that all wildlife has disappeared. 416 00:41:30,377 --> 00:41:33,179 In recent years, some surprising animals 417 00:41:33,179 --> 00:41:35,348 have started to reappear 418 00:41:35,348 --> 00:41:37,483 amongst the cattle fields and pastures 419 00:41:37,484 --> 00:41:39,219 in what was once 420 00:41:39,219 --> 00:41:40,787 their traditional prairie habitat... 421 00:41:44,357 --> 00:41:46,793 Grizzly bears. 422 00:41:52,799 --> 00:41:54,301 And she isn't alone. 423 00:41:56,669 --> 00:42:00,806 She has three half-grown cubs with her. 424 00:42:03,276 --> 00:42:07,347 These days, grizzlies are a rare sight on the prairie, 425 00:42:07,347 --> 00:42:11,484 but it was not always so. 426 00:42:11,484 --> 00:42:14,821 When Europeans came here 300 years ago, 427 00:42:14,821 --> 00:42:15,822 they were common 428 00:42:15,822 --> 00:42:19,426 across the prairies of Southern Canada. 429 00:42:22,195 --> 00:42:25,398 But the people that settled here thought them dangerous, 430 00:42:25,398 --> 00:42:28,601 and often shot them on sight. 431 00:42:31,438 --> 00:42:33,506 By the middle of the last century, 432 00:42:33,506 --> 00:42:35,975 grizzlies had been driven to extinction 433 00:42:35,975 --> 00:42:38,911 right across the prairies. 434 00:42:40,513 --> 00:42:44,617 However, some bears survived in the mountains to the west, 435 00:42:44,617 --> 00:42:48,287 occasionally wandering down to the plains. 436 00:42:50,757 --> 00:42:54,227 Although much of their diet is plant based, 437 00:42:54,227 --> 00:42:56,229 at certain times of the year, 438 00:42:56,229 --> 00:43:00,567 some grizzly bears do kill and eat livestock... 439 00:43:02,936 --> 00:43:06,406 So it's a testament to our changing attitudes 440 00:43:06,406 --> 00:43:07,640 that people are willing 441 00:43:07,640 --> 00:43:12,512 to explore a new relationship with these amazing animals. 442 00:43:17,750 --> 00:43:19,418 For thousands of years, 443 00:43:19,419 --> 00:43:21,788 humans have lived alongside wildlife 444 00:43:21,788 --> 00:43:24,958 in Canada's heartland, 445 00:43:24,958 --> 00:43:29,462 and so long as we afford nature the space it needs, 446 00:43:29,462 --> 00:43:32,398 it will continue to flourish... 447 00:43:32,398 --> 00:43:34,567 And surprise us.