You
I'm Marty Stouffer.
I'm often asked if there's one animal that's my favorite.
Now that's a tough question.
How does one choose between the raw power of a bison and the aerial grace of an eagle?
Between the chromatic beauty of a bluebird and the stately grandeur of a swan?
Between the clever tricks of a coyote and the playful antics of grizzly cubs?
I can't.
I find myself endeared to some animals for their lively cuteness, to others for their
calm beauty, and to still others for their captivating behavior.
The Wild America crew tried to narrow it down to just a few species, but we simply have
too many favorites.
The only thing to do is round up all the critters we like best, pick our favorite footage, and
put it all together to bring you this special look at our favorite animals.
Imagine, if you will, the first awestruck Europeans to set eyes on the American landscape.
A seemingly endless wilderness lay before them.
Forests of startling diversity.
Towering mountain ranges.
Vast rivers.
Torrid deserts.
A frigid North country.
And all of it populated with wildlife of breathtaking riches.
Here on the Great Plains, early explorers marveled at the greatest herd of land animals
ever assembled.
The American bison.
Some 65 million strong.
Floddered in the 1800s, they've recently been reintroduced in a number of locations.
Here in Badlands National Park, they flourish.
By mid-summer, the tempo in the bison herd is increasing rapidly.
Bulls, which are solitary most of the year, join the cows.
This congregation marks the beginning of the rut.
Bulls fight for the right to tend a female in estrus.
And a cow will be pursued by a large group of eager bulls.
They may chase her for miles in 100 degree temperatures.
It seems like a costly method of reproduction, yet it ensures that the strongest bulls breed
most of the cows.
As with the bison, we find a similar process of regeneration when we look at my favorite
member of the deer family.
The haunting call of bugling elk once rang across North America.
They were the most widely distributed member of the deer family, about 10 million strong
in the 1700s.
As civilization spread westward, the great herds were exterminated.
By the 1900s, 99 percent had vanished.
Fortunately, some herds which lived in rugged mountains survived.
When laws were passed to protect them and their habitat, they prospered once again.
Today, elk roam the high country of most of our western states.
And, it's high in our western states that, with a keen eye, we can spot another of my
favorite animals.
By late November, bighorn sheep gather for their rut.
Rams join into groups, sizing each other up with ritualized displays.
This behavior establishes a dominance hierarchy for breeding privileges.
Usually, the older rams in peak physical condition have the largest horns.
They can often establish their dominance without having to fight to prove it.
The famous head clashing battles are quite rare, but when two evenly matched rams cannot
settle a dispute by display, a fight may follow.
The story of the American west has always involved a fight, but the next favorite uses
brains instead of brawn to win its battles.
As early pioneers carved a niche in the American landscape, most large predators lost their
native habitats, with one exception, the coyote.
Even in Yellowstone Park, the wolf is gone, and the coyote reigns as top dog in the ecosystem.
Fortunately, Yellowstone escaped the pioneer's axe and remains a land of plenty.
For the otter, there's always an abundance of food, and where there's food, this clever
canine is not far away.
Capable of outwitting almost any animal, the coyote is not above trying to steal the otter's
fish.
The otter delights in tempting the coyote with its catch of the day.
The contest becomes more heated as a fellow opportunist arrives.
Crow Indians called it the trickster.
Like the trickster, the otter is also a creature of wit and mischief.
But suddenly, the otter has more trouble than it bargained for.
Snatching the fish from the otter is only one small victory.
To win the battle, he must keep it from the other coyotes.
So big as his tail!
Hungry ravens await the scraps.
In the end, dominance, not chance, dictates which contender claims the prize.
Watching this drama, I understand better how these wily predators have survived against all odds.
Undaunted by defeat, the otter emerges from its steamy playground with yet another
catch. This resourceful carnivore is no less a predator than the coyote. And predation may well be the strongest link in the chain of life.
Perhaps our most graceful predator is our national symbol.
The bald eagle. Of course, like the coyote, the eagle is not against stealing a meal.
Because of such thievery, Ben Franklin wrote,
For my part, I wish the bald eagle had not been chosen as the representative of our country.
Franklin's choice for the national symbol is the bald eagle.
For my part, I wish the bald eagle had not been chosen as the representative of our country.
Franklin's choice for the national symbol, the wild turkey.
Cougars are only one of the turkey's predators.
They are hunted by hawks, owls, eagles, foxes, bobcats and coyotes.
To protect all that delicious breast meat, turkeys have excellent hearing and eyesight.
They're the warriest of all game birds.
They're large, they're not easy to catch.
The turkey can take off quickly and fly up to 50 miles an hour for a short distance.
Like all four types, these merriam's remain constantly alert.
In any wild chase, the predator goes hungry nine times out of ten.
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In the middle of the hearty rapids in Yellowstone Park, I went searching for fish, in this case, the cutthroat trout.
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I feel like an early explorer. They told of being able to reach right in and come out with a handful of trout.
But the same slime secreting glands that seal the fish's scales from bacteria also keep it from being caught too easily.
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Come here, you.
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What's it like being a fish anyway? I guess I'll never know.
There you go.
Looks like Spike is hungry too. Looks like Spike is still hungry.
You crazy goat. Don't you ever get enough.
Support. Every youngster needs it. Let's take a look at Spike, the orphaned mountain goat that I raised with my children Luke and Hannah.
As you'll see with Spike, and as with all wild young, it's parental care and inquisitive play that produce our favorite animals.
Eating is one thing that comes naturally to a mountain goat. So is play.
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Here on a steep face in their natural habitat, the kids never miss a chance for a snowy frolic.
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Like mountain goats, young deer also enjoy a good springtime romp.
In a display of exuberance, these yearlings express the lightheartedness of the season.
A new fawn is concentrating on eating. There's no distracting this baby for fun.
The young deer chase and box one another, splashing the nearby adults as well.
This play is serious business. It allows the young to practice skills they will need as adults.
Soon everyone joins in the merriment.
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Spring is also an opportune time to look in on a litter of bobcat kittens.
Blind and helpless at birth, within ten days their eyes open and they follow their mother out of the den into the sunshine.
A bobcat mother is devoted to her kittens, but she's quick to sense when it's time for them to learn the lessons of the wild.
The mother twitches her bob tail as if beckoning her kittens to follow, but she soon leaves them alone to discover the world for themselves.
For the kittens, everything is new and strangely inviting.
Their instincts urge them to investigate this quick moving weasel.
Curiosity is the best teacher for any cat.
Weasels may be small, but they're very feisty.
The weasel's needle-sharp teeth and furious defense only serve to excite this kitten's equally aggressive nature.
That is, until its sibling clumsily enters the act and gets nipped on the backside in the process.
Finally, the kittens tire of the game, and the family moves on to the next step.
The kittens tire of the game, and the family moves on to other lessons.
And we'll move on to that most playful of weasels, the marten.
It's late summer.
The graceful marten has laid claim to its own wilderness territory.
Bursting with energy, it seems to jump for joy.
I can hardly imagine an animal which looks any more alert than the marten.
This beautiful bright-eyed ball of fur probably weighs between two and three pounds.
It stands only seven inches tall and measures a little over two feet from the end of its bushy tail to the tip of its inquisitive black nose.
Of course, when I think of frolicking youth, I think grizz.
The grizzly cub I raised, could it be almost 20 years ago?
More recently, my family played host to a couple of black bear cubs.
It was an eye-opening experience, both for the cubs and for Hannah and Luke.
Are they fun, Luke?
He likes it.
Come on.
Oh, I forget it.
Hi, Mikey.
Squirt some more out. He's thirsty, I think.
Dad, I see him.
Good work, honey.
Look at this little guy.
The cubs are still bright-eyed and inquisitive. Like all animals, the skills these babies pick up in play, they'll use as adults.
Slides, of course, aren't found in the wild, but a clever bear cub knows a good toy when it sees one.
Send him to go up. It'll be fun.
Come on. It's okay. I like to snipe.
It's been an exciting day for all concerned, but let's look in on an earlier day in some of the cutest wild babies around, young cottontail rabbits.
The tiny white blaze on their foreheads, so apparent now, will usually disappear in adulthood.
In two short weeks, the young rabbits are on their own.
They're more or less ready to explore a world full of strange and intriguing sights and mysterious creatures.
The young sample a diet which will eventually consist of almost everything that grows, including poison oak and poison ivy.
The cottontail babies aren't the only youngsters abroad on this warm, early spring day.
My daughter Hannah and son Luke are enjoying an outing too, and are intrigued by anything that moves.
Last spring.
And there aren't any dragonflies yet.
Watch it. Watch it with your stick. Watch it with your stick. Watch it with your stick.
Don't poke people.
Hey, Dad, look at the baby bunny.
Hannah spies this cute cottontail, one of the first newborns of the year.
Incredibly soft, there are few animals as delightful for children to touch as a bunny.
Careful. Be very careful with it.
Let's see, short to Luke.
Look, look at the bunny.
Baby. That's just a little baby.
Let me see it.
Oh, don't be afraid. Don't be afraid. Don't be afraid.
Oh, and those little feet. Those little feet are so great.
The little claws.
You need to learn how to hide better, or nobody gets you.
Good luck.
Time for this wild baby to go home.
When it comes to setting standards for natural beauty, man has often looked to our winged creatures to provide the visual examples.
Come with us now, and it will be abundantly clear why.
What
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Among my favorite all American birds is the scissor-tailed flycatcher.
Its breeding grounds are in our central and southwestern states,
but it has been known to wander as far east as Massachusetts.
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Whether courting, catching insects on the wing, or just soaring for the playful pleasure of it,
these birds are true artists of the air and true Americans.
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The ring-necked pheasant is an immigrant to these parts,
but its extravagant plumage makes it one of my favorites.
A hungry bobcat spots the colorful cock and closes in on padded feet.
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The bobcat is a solitary prowler, stalking its quarry to within pouncing distance.
The claws of its round paws are drawn back into sheaths, protecting them from wear.
Rabbits and hares are the bobcat's main source of food, but it preys on almost any bird,
mammal, or reptile it can catch.
This versatile little feline has even been known to capture bats roosting in caves.
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Now the state bird of South Dakota, the ring-neck is more than pretty, it's fast.
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And though the bobcat can take to the air, it can't fly.
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Once the heavy-bodied birds are launched, they have little to fear from the earthbound bobcat.
And it is flight that dictates my next choice, the pelican, shown here in a seemingly choreographed takeoff.
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All the way east to Chesapeake Bay, we'll find the aerial displays of birds no less spectacular.
These protected wetlands are the winter home of the tundra swan, formerly called the whistling swan.
They've flown south from their arctic nesting grounds to winter here with widgets and other waterfowl on Maryland's eastern shore.
There are many family groups made up of male and female which mate for life and their signets from the previous spring.
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The male swans chase each other around. The purpose of these inter-family feuds is to strengthen and renew the bonds between male and female.
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To take a true measure of what pleases the eye, let's now look at what must surely set the standard for natural beauty.
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As we move now to the desert, we'll see that beauty can take on many guises.
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On hushed wings, the bats come, hovering over the beautiful blossoms, plunging their long tongues into the flower and gathering its sweet nectar.
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Pollen sticks to their furry faces and bodies, and as they travel and feed, they cross-pollinate the plants.
Although many birds and insects visit these plants in the daylight hours, the flowers are only reproductively receptive at night.
And so the long-nosed bat is the only species which ensures the future of these giants of the desert.
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I'm often amazed at how some animals display beauty. It is, for instance, a bizarre courtship dance that inspires the sage-grouse of the high plains.
Their size and design make their display especially magnificent.
Greenish-yellow air sacs bulge, pulsate and pop. Twenty spotted tail feathers fan like a majestic Indian headdress.
Elongated philoplumes along the neck flutter in the sage-scented early morning breeze.
Bats call.
Battles for the hens consist of shoving and wing-beating. In the end, the majority of the females mate with the most dominant cock.
In slow motion, the intricate pattern of air sac inflation is one of the most amazing sights in all of nature.
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By mid-morning, the flock is flown off to feed, leaving a master cock and his hen alone on the lek.
Now back to a more conventional beauty.
Perhaps the most well-loved bird in America is the bluebird.
Bluebird
With each passing day, the birds are growing stronger and the children more confident of their ability to train them.
Bluebird
Orchestrals begin to exhibit the flying skills for which falcons are famous.
Flying to a glove for food is easy compared to catching prey. The birds need to make the transition, but can they?
The word raptor means to snatch or seize as with talons.
Hannah's female chose a crystal clear summer morning to prove she is a raptor.
Picking favorites is never easy, but in the end, it's a lot of fun. It helps us to recognize the startling diversity of life in the wild, and it reminds us of the rich heritage of our continent.
Whether we favor bears or bluebirds, cottontails or coyotes, we're certain to find plenty of room in our hearts for our favorite animals.
I'm Marty Stouffer. Until next time, enjoy our Wild America!