|
National Geographic The Savage Garden
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Sir Francis Bacon wrote, |
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and indeed it is |
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"Cultivators of the earth," |
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are the most valuable citizens. |
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They are the most vigorous, |
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the most independent, |
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Or, as my aunt Mildred said, |
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Never throw meat in the compost pile. |
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Hi, I'm Leslie Nielsen. |
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I'm sure it's a lot like yours |
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Time to wake up and smell the roses. |
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The backyard is a killing field. |
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It's a realm of stalkers... |
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serial killers... |
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aerial combat... |
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venom... |
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death. |
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So, if you're looking |
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stay away from the... |
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savage garden. |
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A garden is a little slice of nature |
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You see: A raked lawn. |
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Perfect rows of vegetables. |
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Voltaire once wrote, |
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We must cultivate our garden. |
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Well, they're both wrong. |
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Pruning, planting, |
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It's all beside the point! |
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Because the place cannot be controlled |
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So give it up! |
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Ask not what you |
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Ask what your garden can do for you. |
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Because with the right approach, |
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But you need the |
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A famous gardener once said, |
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I like to watch. |
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Because when you're "gardening," |
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And you're missing |
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wildness of a place |
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And I don't mean the mall. |
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Now this may come as a surprise, |
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But I came face-to-face |
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and I was forced to open my eyes. |
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What I discovered wasn't always pretty |
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Let me tell how it happened. |
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It began about a year ago. |
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I felt like a |
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I ran a tight ship. |
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Still, the vegetable |
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always about a month |
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Every day, until my tomatoes were ripe |
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I felt like a maestro, |
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And we made beautiful |
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I never suspected that even among |
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a trespasser ran amok. |
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It was a shrew. |
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This ravenous pipsqueak needs to eat |
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For his size, he's one of the fiercest |
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But a year ago, |
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My mind was in the mulch. |
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I was too busy |
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I don't like to brag, |
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Now all the while, this little fellow |
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had the run of the place. |
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Like it or not, shrews are among the |
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They love to dig around for worms |
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They work day and night, |
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then napping the next. |
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That's a schedule I could settle into. |
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Shrews operate at such a furious pace |
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that just missing a meal |
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When they're on the go, |
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Under stress, their hearts beat |
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like mine during my last audit. |
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It's safe to say that no perfume maker |
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Glands on their bellies |
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Only a predator with a |
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The garter snake is |
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He's one of the backyard's |
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at home in the water |
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He tastes the air with his tongue |
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Following the trail, |
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His weapon: a steel-trap jaw. |
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A fight is coming, but my little |
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Predicting a winner might be hard. |
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The snake has no venom, |
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The short-tailed shrew is the only |
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with a poisonous bite, |
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In this fight, the first bite wins. |
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The shrew strikes for the neck. |
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His cobralike venom quickly starts to |
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Muscles go slack, breathing slows. |
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Paralysis would soon set in |
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The snake has been vanquished |
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there is no taming of. |
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What a place my garden was! |
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I'd reached for the suburbs |
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Something awful seemed |
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This beetle is emerging |
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She's an acorn weevil |
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a subversive devil about |
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I felt like her goal in life |
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As soon as she dries off her wings |
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off she'll go... gunning for my acorns. |
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But I didn't know |
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I had other fish to fry, |
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Of course, now I know... |
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I didn't even have control |
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Just below me, |
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This forbidding insect seems |
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But don't sell her short. |
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The female cleans each egg to |
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Otherwise she might lose |
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Earwigs like to hang out in warm, |
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But that bit about hiding |
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Just a tired, old myth. |
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I hope. |
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A terrible threat approaches... |
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The earwig nest is about to be slimed. |
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There's nothing a |
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A hungry thrush spots the snail. |
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Her next meal will be escargot. |
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Remove the snail |
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Then tenderize by pounding on a rock. |
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The footage you are about |
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that may be disturbing |
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Now if you can't stand the heat, |
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Speaking of the heat, |
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These South American invaders |
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They run an efficient operation. |
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A quarter-million ants |
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that's one extended family, |
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can get by on two meals a day. |
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Here's the appetizer. |
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And now for the main course. |
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An ant attacks. |
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The dragonfly shakes a leg. |
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Reinforcements are quick to arrive. |
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The dragonfly makes a desperate move. |
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It's too late. |
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Again and again, |
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the dragonfly is stung |
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It's death by a thousand fiery jabs. |
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And I thought paparazzi were bad! |
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Piece by piece, |
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like a scene out of Gulliver's Travels |
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Make that Reservoir Dogs. |
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For the ants, |
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Decapitation is the final insult. |
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Some say the world |
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For the dragonfly, it just did. |
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I thought the garden was mine, |
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but in fact, creatures |
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My yard was divided into warring camps! |
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Each shrew controls its own patch. |
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And being some of nature's crankiest |
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My little shrew's neighbor is sleeping |
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just over the scent marked border |
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But while these little fellows have |
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they have poor vision and can |
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It's usually a nasty surprise for both. |
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The winner of this battle may gain |
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The loser may end up as lunch. |
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They move faster |
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It's extreme wrestling on a tiny scale |
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Time out while they play |
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Now back to the action. |
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No one knows if shrews |
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But if they're not, |
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A battle can last over half an hour, |
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but my little shrew settles this |
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No turf will change hands today. |
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And both scurry back to their homes. |
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I used to do |
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I felt it was my territory, |
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Sure I had big weapons. |
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But I was starting to |
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Something was bothering me. |
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I couldn't put my finger on it. |
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Black widows were living in my shed. |
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The male is outweighed |
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He approaches, |
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and to avoid her lethal bite. |
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If we could understand |
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Please baby, please baby, |
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So far, so good. |
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I mean, by palp. |
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Part of the limb may snap off |
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Ah love, For this glorious moment, |
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he's ready to give an arm and a leg. |
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Now the female lays her eggs. |
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She secures over |
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Not one to put all |
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she'll eventually spin about five. |
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In only two weeks, |
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a thousand new spiderlings |
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Black widows may have |
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but I was more worried |
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I was prepared to fight the good fight |
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with chemical warfare. |
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As I was saying, |
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I had no idea the enemy |
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It was bad enough outside. |
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My stems were being sucked! |
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My leaves lacerated! |
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It was more than a man could bear! |
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Who could blame me |
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Smells like... victory. |
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But I was no winner. |
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My insecticide, long expired, |
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had all the kick of a Shirley Temple: |
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And just as well, because the mantis |
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loves to munch on the munchers |
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The way things were going, |
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I didn't have a prayer |
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I used to call 'em as I saw 'em. |
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When I saw 'em, if I knew |
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Trouble is, some of these |
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pesky little critters |
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Like the daddy-longlegs in my shed. |
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They're familiar and strange |
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But what are they? |
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Think it's a spider? |
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No. |
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Insect? |
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No. |
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They're called Opiliones |
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Yeah! |
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Aphids are perfect suckers, really, |
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when it comes to my rose stems. |
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And a lot more than one is born |
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In fact, aphids can reproduce |
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There's one of nature's lousier ideas. |
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Daddy-longlegs |
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Make that mommy-longlegs. |
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She has legs up to here! |
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Each is slender as a thread |
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She even hears, tastes, |
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Reminds me of... never mind. |
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I now know there's a lot |
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She has pretty good manners. |
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granted, outside her mouth. |
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She sucks up the juices |
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She also flosses after every meal. |
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I prefer unwaxed mint, myself. |
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Why are daddy-longlegs' legs long? |
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To keep their plump bodies |
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If that's not enough, |
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two legs put out a nasty smell |
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But trust me: |
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If you can smell them, |
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The smelly legs also |
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And she's keeping her legs peeled |
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Like the tiger beetle. |
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An orthodontist's nightmare. |
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The beetle attacks |
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and grabs a leg. |
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It's a tug-of-war. |
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And then built for quick release |
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Special muscles close off the stump. |
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The tiger beetle, no genius, |
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The daddy-longlegs hobbles off. |
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But at least she's still alive |
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In the middle of all the mayhem, |
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beauty still flourished in my garden. |
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I never could train my vines |
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Where flowers grow, bees abound. |
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In a naughty little quid pro quo, |
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in exchange for a drizzle of nectar. |
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The life of a worker bee is measured |
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It's like a |
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fly 500 miles, and then you die. |
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Now, I've been in a "B" movie or two, |
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so I used to think I had a |
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But then came the fateful moment |
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garden was not under my spell. |
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One day a bee came up to me |
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But this cheeky bug |
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It was a small infraction, |
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If she could question authority, |
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what else was going |
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Well, plenty. |
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I'd only seen |
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No creature was safe, |
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She was being watched by many eyes. |
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Eight to be exact. |
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They all belong to a jumping spider. |
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It never hurts to have eyes in the |
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even if they're only good |
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To see what is moving, |
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She's caught sight of the bee. |
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Two large front eyes track the prey. |
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She can't move her eyes as we do. |
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But she can swing her retinas back |
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It's like holding your eyes still |
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and then trying to look around |
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Don't try this at home! |
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There: you can see the eyes lighten |
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Being among the smartest of spiders, |
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Instead, she approaches deviously. |
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She's an accomplished stalker. |
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Like a slasher film victim, |
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Good luck for the spider: |
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The spider creeps up. |
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The spider is now within range. |
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Meanwhile, the bee laps up nectar |
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It's long and hairy, |
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like mine the morning |
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The spider must judge |
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Just one false move |
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lose her meal... and perhaps her life. |
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The spider definitely |
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Poor bee: she had a good |
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Earthworms as big as fire hoses. |
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Bald eagles snatching up |
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Woolly mammoths |
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Well, you will not be seeing |
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But you will be seeing the hard cold |
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To me, my garden was |
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willful creatures that seemed to enjoy |
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And worst of all, |
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So I didn't respect them until |
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I learned to pay attention... |
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Now that's harder to do than you think |
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Now some people can have their eyes |
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Other people can have their eyes |
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but that's not a problem |
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Or you can have this eye closed |
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Or you can have this eye closed |
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And either way it gets you... nowhere. |
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As I was saying, respect your garden. |
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Watch it closely. |
| 00:31:18 |
I wish I had learned |
| 00:31:23 |
At the time, some lessons were too |
| 00:31:28 |
Even above my garden, |
| 00:31:36 |
The acorn weevil was back. |
| 00:31:38 |
Sure enough, she found my oak tree. |
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She's looking for a good meal. |
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And when it comes to acorns, |
| 00:31:50 |
What a "schnoz"! |
| 00:31:53 |
It's longer than her body |
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Reminds me of my first agent. |
| 00:32:01 |
After a three-year fast, |
| 00:32:05 |
Kind of like my second agent. |
| 00:32:07 |
There goes the next generation |
| 00:32:14 |
Her little jaws are smaller |
| 00:32:17 |
Helvetica twelve point. |
| 00:32:22 |
Through her strawlike proboscis, |
| 00:32:27 |
It's a perfect diet for a weevil, |
| 00:32:29 |
but don't even think about it |
| 00:32:40 |
Next she'll lay her egg inside, |
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but only if this is the one kind |
| 00:32:45 |
Finicky, this little pest. |
| 00:33:06 |
Ah, evening was coming. |
| 00:33:12 |
A heron approached my pond. |
| 00:33:24 |
Sometimes even the darker side |
| 00:33:30 |
unless you're a slug. |
| 00:33:42 |
Dusk was the time for creatures |
| 00:33:46 |
and enjoy the harmony of our domain. |
| 00:33:51 |
Especially the lucky few |
| 00:33:59 |
What a piece of work is man-tis! |
| 00:34:03 |
One of the so-called "good" insects, |
| 00:34:06 |
he excels at inactivity: |
| 00:34:08 |
he spends two-thirds |
| 00:34:12 |
much like my third agent. |
| 00:34:14 |
Still, he's an alert animal, |
| 00:34:17 |
with two big goggle eyes |
| 00:34:19 |
and three extra gemlike eyes. |
| 00:34:30 |
He spends over an hour a day grooming |
| 00:34:35 |
Why? |
| 00:34:37 |
Because he can. |
| 00:34:48 |
This evening, my garden was about to |
| 00:35:03 |
I heard a strange new sound. |
| 00:35:11 |
It was a hungry bat, |
| 00:35:14 |
and she was about to |
| 00:35:21 |
The mantis takes flight |
| 00:35:29 |
The bat hunts with a kind of sonar. |
| 00:35:36 |
From her nose, she |
| 00:35:40 |
Listening to the echoes tells |
| 00:35:42 |
and direction of the mantis. |
| 00:35:50 |
Some sanctuary! |
| 00:35:52 |
It was Top Gun in my own backyard. |
| 00:35:55 |
Where's Tom Cruise |
| 00:36:10 |
The mantis has a single ear |
| 00:36:13 |
much like Aunt Mildred. |
| 00:36:17 |
It's tuned exactly to the bat channel. |
| 00:36:34 |
The mantis hears the bat |
| 00:36:41 |
Narrow escape. |
| 00:36:43 |
But not for long. |
| 00:36:44 |
The bat is gaining. |
| 00:36:47 |
She sounds louder than ever. |
| 00:36:50 |
Desperately, the mantis flies |
| 00:36:53 |
I cheered for the underdog. |
| 00:37:09 |
The mantis escaped again! |
| 00:37:11 |
All right! |
| 00:37:14 |
But there's no deus |
| 00:37:26 |
Death and destruction everywhere. |
| 00:37:29 |
I'd set out to build a paradise, |
| 00:37:31 |
and here, I had a |
| 00:37:53 |
I thought this was my darkest hour. |
| 00:37:57 |
But that was yet to come. |
| 00:37:59 |
At night. |
| 00:38:06 |
After the sun went down, |
| 00:38:07 |
some of my backyard's most unsavory |
| 00:38:11 |
To find them, all you have to do is |
| 00:38:27 |
There are eight million |
| 00:38:31 |
This had been one of them. |
| 00:38:33 |
It was my little shrew. |
| 00:38:36 |
No need to suspect foul play. |
| 00:38:38 |
Shrews run like mad for a couple |
| 00:38:45 |
But the dearly departed seemed |
| 00:38:50 |
Nope, still dead. |
| 00:38:53 |
The burying beetles have come. |
| 00:38:56 |
For them, the late shrew is a windfall |
| 00:39:00 |
It will be food and more. |
| 00:39:09 |
But hungry competitors are all about, |
| 00:39:11 |
like other beetles, |
| 00:39:14 |
It isn't first come, |
| 00:39:21 |
So to secure their prize, |
| 00:39:26 |
Heh, heh, heh, heh, heh. |
| 00:39:30 |
Lying on their backs, |
| 00:39:33 |
I hope this doesn't catch |
| 00:39:41 |
Literally excited |
| 00:39:44 |
the pall-bearers take time out to mate |
| 00:39:49 |
Couldn't they find a roach motel? |
| 00:40:25 |
The beetles drag the shrew |
| 00:40:33 |
And just in time. |
| 00:40:34 |
Because the maggots are frisky tonight |
| 00:40:39 |
They're turning a dead mouse |
| 00:41:07 |
The burying beetles are settling |
| 00:41:10 |
And it's not from the pages |
| 00:41:12 |
It's more like Morticians' Monthly. |
| 00:41:17 |
The beetles now have a major |
| 00:41:20 |
Call it "This old shrew." |
| 00:41:24 |
The carcass will be converted |
| 00:41:33 |
As at better funeral homes, |
| 00:41:41 |
Next, to seal in freshness, |
| 00:41:44 |
the beetles embalm |
| 00:41:49 |
My shrew, may he rest in peace, |
| 00:41:55 |
The female will soon |
| 00:42:02 |
Just above, raccoons patrol the garden |
| 00:42:19 |
After a few pull-ups |
| 00:42:22 |
they search for food. |
| 00:42:25 |
The grass is definitely |
| 00:42:41 |
An earthworm tries to escape |
| 00:42:46 |
Poor choice. |
| 00:42:51 |
But, as Charles Darwin wrote |
| 00:42:55 |
There is little to be said. |
| 00:42:58 |
A mole, cousin of the shrew, |
| 00:43:01 |
eats the earthworm by squeezing |
| 00:43:06 |
I think I'll stick to baking soda. |
| 00:43:13 |
Of all the things Aunt Mildred |
| 00:43:16 |
why did she have to bring a mole? |
| 00:43:18 |
I'll never forgive her. |
| 00:43:23 |
The mole barrels thru her tunnels |
| 00:43:35 |
But when she comes up to an obstacle, |
| 00:43:41 |
Now she's poking my parsnips. |
| 00:43:43 |
I hate when that happens. |
| 00:43:46 |
I'd had enough trouble |
| 00:43:51 |
My whole idea of the backyard |
| 00:43:53 |
much like my poor little shrew. |
| 00:43:57 |
I wanted to forget |
| 00:44:00 |
but just one week later, |
| 00:44:02 |
I paid an accidental |
| 00:44:05 |
What a change had taken place! |
| 00:44:09 |
Babies! |
| 00:44:11 |
The morgue had become |
| 00:44:14 |
Burying beetles have hatched |
| 00:44:18 |
And here the young beetles live |
| 00:44:25 |
They even beg for food! |
| 00:44:34 |
Mom's on her way. |
| 00:44:42 |
First she'll eat what's |
| 00:44:44 |
Looks like Aunt Mildred's |
| 00:44:53 |
Next she calls to |
| 00:45:00 |
And now she regurgitates |
| 00:45:06 |
She offers one |
| 00:45:12 |
And I thought I had a rough childhood. |
| 00:45:17 |
Burying beetles make some of the |
| 00:45:20 |
That's not saying much: |
| 00:45:21 |
the mother will happily eat some of |
| 00:45:25 |
is too small to support the brood. |
| 00:45:32 |
Home sweet home. |
| 00:45:35 |
As the shrew dwindles, |
| 00:45:39 |
In a way, burying beetles |
| 00:46:01 |
High up in my oak tree, |
| 00:46:04 |
The tree senses the damage |
| 00:46:13 |
By now, I was expecting |
| 00:46:18 |
Okay, just plain weird. |
| 00:46:21 |
Inside, the old acorn weevil's baby |
| 00:46:25 |
and eaten itself out of house and home |
| 00:46:29 |
Good riddance! |
| 00:46:35 |
The grub can feel the |
| 00:46:38 |
That's the signal to move on. |
| 00:46:41 |
But it's no easy matter |
| 00:46:44 |
The young weevil more or less |
| 00:46:50 |
It's already cutting an escape hatch. |
| 00:46:52 |
But it can take three days to get out! |
| 00:46:58 |
How do you get out of a hole |
| 00:47:03 |
It sure helps to be a living accordion |
| 00:47:18 |
Portrait of the Michelin |
| 00:47:41 |
The young weevil must now hide itself. |
| 00:47:44 |
But a hungry shrew is nearby. |
| 00:47:49 |
The grub will start to dig underground |
| 00:47:52 |
and wait perhaps years |
| 00:47:56 |
its seemingly pointless cycle of life. |
| 00:47:59 |
On the other hand, |
| 00:48:04 |
The shrew is intent on finding grub. |
| 00:48:08 |
I mean, a grub. |
| 00:48:14 |
Hiding and sneaking, |
| 00:48:19 |
I was beginning to think my garden |
| 00:48:22 |
And at this point, |
| 00:48:27 |
Heh, heh. |
| 00:48:34 |
I was off-balance, confused. |
| 00:48:36 |
And I was about to come |
| 00:48:39 |
vital... so unstoppable... |
| 00:48:42 |
I could never look at my |
| 00:48:49 |
Shrews! |
| 00:48:50 |
A female seems to be accepting |
| 00:48:54 |
Is she so hot a shrew |
| 00:49:00 |
I had no idea I was listening |
| 00:49:04 |
But the young couple was actually off |
| 00:49:07 |
to a good start for |
| 00:49:10 |
Mating is as hectic as the |
| 00:49:14 |
often 20 times a day. |
| 00:49:16 |
Your mileage may vary. |
| 00:49:34 |
What a sight! |
| 00:49:36 |
They looked so... vulnerable. |
| 00:49:43 |
I was amazed |
| 00:49:46 |
could put aside their grouchiness. |
| 00:49:49 |
Suddenly, I realized I had been |
| 00:49:52 |
darker forces of nature |
| 00:50:01 |
True enough, for the male shrew, |
| 00:50:05 |
But now I saw my garden's other side. |
| 00:50:15 |
It was really about love |
| 00:50:23 |
Mostly, it was about copulation. |
| 00:50:40 |
My garden wasn't the scene of |
| 00:50:45 |
it was more like... genesis. |
| 00:50:52 |
The wonder. The wonder. The wonder. |
| 00:51:06 |
What I discovered is that there |
| 00:51:10 |
And I was the problem. |
| 00:51:12 |
I was spending so much time trying |
| 00:51:15 |
I wasn't seeing things |
| 00:51:19 |
Look down here. |
| 00:51:21 |
A female shrew's been nesting. |
| 00:51:23 |
Let's see how she's doing. |
| 00:51:28 |
Ah, baby shrews. |
| 00:51:35 |
Some of the smallest and most |
| 00:51:38 |
It would take nearly |
| 00:51:45 |
But they'll sure grow fast. |
| 00:51:46 |
They'll leave the nest in three weeks. |
| 00:51:48 |
A couple of weeks later, |
| 00:51:49 |
they'll be looking |
| 00:51:54 |
It's a beautiful thing. |
| 00:51:57 |
Don't worry. |
| 00:52:00 |
But I couldn't help feeling that |
| 00:52:06 |
You know, I have a way |
| 00:52:17 |
So here is my advice about the garden. |
| 00:52:20 |
Give up the slightest idea |
| 00:52:24 |
Leave yourself open to delight. |
| 00:52:27 |
Keep your eyes open. |
| 00:52:28 |
And enjoy the wonderful |
| 00:52:36 |
Well, and of course, |
| 00:52:48 |
That was a very good tomato. |
| 00:53:11 |
Stay away from those trees! |
