Great Smoky Mountains - A Fairytale World from Once Upon A Time | Free Documentary Nature

there's a place on the map where you leave north america and step into middle earth a fairytale world from once upon a time here in the hills and hollows of great smoky mountains national park brothers settle a blood feud a father builds a bizarre nest and a mother does the timeless job of teaching young to survive here in this enchanted world a fire without smoke and smoke without fire [Music] [Music] the place of blue smoke as the cherokee called it water vapor exhaled by countless trees a constant shroud over the great smoky mountains [Music] beneath this cloak scientists believe a hundred thousand species of plants and animals may thrive a staggering diversity of life [Music] small wonder the smokies attract more visitors than any national park but imagine seeing the park with fresh eyes and every view a rare glimpse into a hidden world just like this one [Music] a black bear and her cubs a typical litter of three [Music] for five months she hasn't stirred even as their mother slumbered the cubs nursed on a rich diet of super fatty milk over the winter her own weight dropped up to one-third how she survived still stumps us [Music] during hibernation her heart rate fell to just eight beats per minute and somehow she turned much of her bodily waste into protein in the coming months she must fatten up on what the forest provides [Music] the survival of the fragile cubs depends on their mother her survival depends on the smokies [Music] after weeks confined to a cubbyhole new life makes its debut in the park [Music] black bears are born climbers with strong claws even a bear cub negotiates the trunk like a power lineman [Music] their debut draws attention [Music] our mom must stay alert coyotes will prey on the cubs so will bobcats [Music] [Music] at night the treetops offer refuge from predators that can't climb in daylight on the ground the cubs are vulnerable so mom won't let them wander for the next 18 months they'll shadow their mother their instructor and protector within a park that safeguards them from another enemy man male cubs will grow up to be loners like their long gone father females will rear their own offspring for now three wide-eyed toddlers enter a world made for them if they learn to make the most of it lesson one is survival mom alone must teach them and what better way to explore these enchanted forests than through young bears eyes yet the very landscape conspires to keep its secrets trees cover 95 percent of the park [Music] with the spring thaw the park is about to bloom anew [Music] spring ephemerals are named for their 15 minutes in the spotlight before the canopy fills out and starves them of sunshine [Music] in their brief span their nutrients will help sustain our bear mom as the smokies blossom into a vast salad bar mom will find enough to live on if not grow on [Music] if geysers define yellowstone greenery defines the smokies with more than 5 000 species of plants and trees [Music] springtime not only rouses the hibernators it brings the very landscape to life [Music] and back come the picnickers the pollinators [Music] every april the park plays host to a five-day festival the spring wildflower pilgrimage it attracts thousands of nature lovers eager to glimpse the park's floral bonanza at its peak [Music] of course even nature lovers can be distracted here when young hearts fall under the spell of springtime in the smokies [Music] once the sun gives way to shade the wildflowers lose their colors and drop their seeds [Music] each seed holds a little white bundle of fat for ants that fat is a bounty of nourishment home goes the harvest to feed the young in the process ants do the plants a favor by dispersing the seeds [Music] in the smokies one in three spring flowers is spread with the help of ants a familiar call from as far off as a mile a creature that defines america once hunted and evicted to the brink of extinction now roaring back thanks to parks like the smokies a proud american [Music] the wild turkey like the park's bears they're omnivores grass or grain berries or bugs even small reptiles bring it on this tom sports up to 6 000 feathers worth of ostentation in the face of such impressive wooing who can think about food yet the hens ignore him there's a pecking order to mating and soon he'll have to fight younger males for his place [Music] though it's spring in the smokies not all fancies turned to thoughts of mating our mom mates only when she no longer has cubs or every two years [Music] the vulnerable cubs now weigh barely six pounds [Music] for more than half of their first year their main source of nourishment is milk with a fat content five times higher than a cow's [Music] when the park was created in 1934 only a hundred black bears survived here today 15 times as many more black bears per square mile than anywhere in the country [Music] the turkey's safety in great smoky mountains national park depends partly on camouflage blending in [Music] like the whippoorwill can you see it try now [Music] bears are mostly vegetarians but our mom won't turn up her nose at protein but in this park where flora blends with fauna the trick is finding it the whippoorwills nest is well hidden and the cubs are barking up the wrong tree [Music] it's actually not a real nest she just lays her eggs right on the ground [Music] camouflage is why the whipper will is heard more than seen [Music] more than 1500 types of flowering plants thrive in the smokies the most of any north american park the pink ladies slipper produces no nectar to reward pollinators yet it still attracts them [Music] the trick bumblebees are drawn to any pink flower [Music] lured into the slipper by the false promise of nectar the bumblebee can't exit the way it entered as it wiggles out it coats itself with pollen to smear on the next lady's slipper pollen one pollinator zero [Music] more species of trees flourish in the smokies than in all of northern europe combined [Music] altitude brings a whole new cast of characters on exposed summits fragile wildflowers yield to sturdy shrubs like mountain laurel which blooms in early summer [Music] beautiful but toxic honey made from its flowers can kill you but mountain laurel isn't the only poisonous thing up here [Music] in great smoky mountains national park a male timber rattlesnake emerges from his winter den a big female has already claimed this spot for a vital task a daily sun bath like other cold-blooded creatures rattlers rely on their environment to warm their bodies [Music] the male has shed his skin unlike human skin snake skin doesn't grow as the snake does so he has to slough the tight old layer the friction of rubbing against a rock aids the tedious process each time a rattler loses its skin it adds a new segment to its rattles it will grow and shed its whole life though less often with age [Music] the old skin is useless to its owner but in the smokies as always in nature nothing goes to waste put trash at the curb and someone will find a use for it especially now springtime in the smokies is construction season [Music] the nest of a pair of great crested flycatchers and prime building material now comes one of those minor clashes that occur daily in the park conflicting agendas one family's search for food interrupts another search for shelter the birds wait for the bears to pass meanwhile the cubs learn another lesson a rotting log yields protein-rich grubs [Music] but not until the smokies set out the lavish spread of summer will she fatten up again packing on the pounds for another winter's fast [Music] finally the interruption moves on and they can get on with construction [Music] they'll weave it into the walls of the [Music] nest snakeskin doubles as a home protection device the scent deters predators that prey on their eggs [Music] sun-loving wildflowers root in the cracked rocks like the fire pink the name pink refers to the notches or pinks at the tip of its petals [Music] not to the color of this fiery red blossom that color and the arrangement of the pollen covered stamens is designed for one pollinator the ruby-throated hummingbird [Music] he's a star of the park and a masterful flyer with his flexible shoulders he can move his wings in a figure eight pattern more than 60 times a second [Music] that's how hummingbirds hover a skill unmatched by any other bird [Music] flying like that burns a lot of energy this time of year the female ruby throat needs even more carbs like our mother bear she has young to feed hummingbirds usually lay two eggs the other chick is in there somewhere [Music] for perspective a hummingbird's nest is the size of a thimble befitting the park's smallest bird it's made of lichen and wool and stitched together with elastic spider silk so it stretches to accommodate her growing chicks fed frequently on nectar and insects our bear cubs dine well too still growing on their diet of mother's milk the cubs can't handle adult fare yet but they're starting to acquire a taste for it fruit a staple of mom's diet has yet to ripen but the ample supply of young leaves sustains her [Music] her daily foraging takes her across some of the 2 000 plus miles of streams that crisscross the park how does a toddler fare when it plunges into the deep end turns out black bears are good swimmers at any age [Music] right where the bears passed a clever trap is about to be sprung [Music] what looks like a minnow is actually a fleshy mantle growing from a wavy raid lamp muscle a cagey creature that uses its appendage to attract passing fish especially black bass it's all part of the lamp muscle's hidden agenda the scheme release a jillion larva for the best to carry upstream [Music] the larva are parasitic they'll cling to the bass's gills and draw nutrients from its blood as they develop into tiny lamp muscles then they'll abandon their host and colonize another part of the stream works every time suckers the smokey's waterways lure every kind of life human included laurel falls is a hot spot for photo ops seems like every one of the park's nine million annual visitors wants to have their picture taken right here [Music] along the valley of the little river more of the night shift is stirring their fireworks you have to see to believe in early summer swarms of visitors converge on elkmont in great smoky mountains national park [Music] they're here to see something sensational [Music] sasquatch is out there he's trying to get your picture he has a camera no not sasquatch but what they'll witness will be just as magical this is the time of year when the fireflies come out the smokies harbor 19 species of firefly an exceptional number for a place outside the tropics one unique species puts on a show that gives the smokies their fire [Music] males use their built-in lanterns to lure mates showtime [Music] the headliners of the light show are synchronous fireflies flashing in unison ensures females notice them [Music] [Music] mating season lasts just two weeks adulthood just three then they die talk about a flash in the pan it's called bioluminescence living light and there's more of this cold fire here bitter oyster mushrooms thriving on rotting wood why they glow remains a smoky mystery [Music] summer nights in the smokies bring out other life that few ever see the hellbender a misnomer for such a gentle disposition once again in these mountains evolution took a sharp turn hellbenders have lungs they mainly breathe through their skin which is well supplied with oxygen-rich blood in all more than 30 species of salamander inhabit the park with the hellbender the biggest [Music] with a greater variety of these amphibians than any place else great smoky mountains national park is the salamander capital of the world [Music] a superlative appreciated by our bear mom like all black bears she's an omnivore the trick about salamanders is finding them with their flat builds they easily squeeze under rocks another lesson for the youngsters some species of salamander are highly toxic food poisoning for mom could be fatal to the whole family somehow bears know which ones to avoid a stone's throw away an industrious resident of great smoky mountains national park is hard at work the river chub with the breeding season on the male chub sprouts knobs on his face and his head swells the chub version of flowers and chocolate special pads on his lips let him use his mouth like a forklift [Music] he's building a nest from hundreds of pebbles a female chub can lay her eggs in the safety of the crannies beyond the reach of predators amid running water rich in oxygen [Music] the chub is a common little minnow but nest building on this scope is rare [Applause] at least among fish [Music] of course others notice the chubb version of a mcmansion [Music] squatters like the fairy tale little red hen the chub asks who will help me build this nest not i say the freeloaders it's a welfare state run amok tennessee shiners war paint shiners saffron shiners more than two dozen species of minnow lay their eggs and nests they didn't build this time of year their colors brighten as a signal to other males to band together like teenage boys cruising for girls they swarm from nest to nest to mate and to exploit chub construction [Music] and chubb welcome them the more eggs in the nest the more likely the chub-zone eggs will survive predators as if on cue they flood the nest with eggs and sperm and the orgy ends spring finally flows into summer the climate is almost tropical now with the change of seasons another orgy is about to begin [Music] in great smoky mountains national park our bear family is in hog heaven summer is when bears pig out and in summer humidity plus elevation equals precipitation the smokies average up to 85 inches of rain a year more than almost anywhere in the u.s and as much as a tropical rainforest rain or shine our bears are in their element especially on a black cherry tree groaning with fruit [Music] the cubs have stopped nursing from the baby food of insect larvae they've graduated to the solid food of fruit fruit and more fruit [Music] dining here is tricky once you pick the main branches clean how do you get to the thin branches farther out without breaking your neck [Music] like the cubs watch and learn [Music] [Applause] now she can enjoy the fruits of her labor from the safety of her perch brandished as easily as a lollipop fruit is more than a treat it's a lifesaver like the proverbial ant that labors all summer they're constantly building reserves of fat vital for surviving next winter and vital for breeding a well-fed bear has better chances to give birth [Music] except for insects a hummingbird in flight has the highest metabolism of any creature but to save energy it can slow it down at night or when food is scarce or even enter a kind of hibernation like our bears and slow its heartbeat 15 times below normal miserable not a chance a thick coarse layer of outer fur repels rain while soft dense under fur keeps her snug and warm from nowhere an intruder appears a teenager newly separated from its own mom black bears are loners except young families of course they tend to forage alone but they'll tolerate other bears with enough food to go around [Music] so is there enough to go around guess not time for our family to move on anyway they've gorged on the first crop of cherries but they'll remember this lunch spot and returned in a week or two for the next ripe batch like black bears white-tailed deer are another great smoky success story once decimated by hunting now thriving delicately they managed to harvest only the ripe dark blackberries grass leaves twigs flowers a great smokies buffet some flowers are put to use by everyone the cherokee used bee balm as a medicinal herb and brewed its leaves for tea [Music] european settlers followed their lead [Music] though scarlet flowers brim with nectar and like the fire pink they're designed to favor a particular pollinator in mid-summer he trekks up from the valleys to feast here [Music] the ruby-throated hummingbird is mad about bee bomb whether in garden or glade he's an impressive grazer weighing in at barely a tenth of an ounce with wings beating 50 times a second as he flits from blossom to blossom [Music] funny thing about hummingbirds they're anti-social [Music] bird or butterfly hummingbirds will chase off trespassers [Music] like our bear mom he's storing energy in his case for the trek to his winter home in central america including 500 miles over the gulf of mexico non-stop [Music] in the park the endless journey of time has laid the groundwork for an eye blink of splendor the great smoky mountains are some of the oldest peaks on the planet since they rose up about 250 million years ago wind and weather have worn them down to create a rich bed of soil [Music] from that soil burst beauties like the turks cap lily just as bumblebees can't resist the color pink the spice bush swallowtail makes a b line for the color orange [Music] our bear family returns to its lunchtime hangout for another helping of black cherries like any self-respecting mammal it enjoys nothing better after a midday feast than a siesta [Music] in the smokies the black bear enjoys safety from its worst enemy bad pr black bears are curious yet shy intelligent yet skittish the fierce black bear of myth nearly legend only one person is ever recorded to have been killed by a black bear defending her cubs in the great smoky mountains the tree takes a beating from its patron but it also benefits evidence of the bears passing filled with cherry pits the tree's seeds the deer mouse will prove an adage from small deeds come great feats daily she leaves her young to browse for nuts and seeds what she doesn't eat she'll bury for next winter since she's apt to forget where she buried them some seeds will become trees the great smokies at their most magical autumn leaves are already turning when one of the last wildflowers finally blossoms the heart-leaved aster the final source of nectar [Music] by mid-autumn most days dawn with a coating of frost the combination of humid air and cold nights leaves the highest peaks including klingman's dome looking like winter has already barged in [Music] below the smokies still blaze with color with more than a hundred kinds of trees nature colors the park with a big box of crayons the red pigment appears early on maples and sweetgums but it's not just for show it's produced by a chemical that protects the aging leaves so they can hang on a little longer [Music] beaches and hickory finally show their true color yellow uncovered as the leaves begin to break down and the chlorophyll that tinted them green fades away [Music] as the weather turns plants and animals alike respond to the same cues [Music] turkey vultures gather on their migration south but in the pageant of the smokies a few performers have yet to debut witch hazel waits until fall to flower after shedding its leaves its flowers pale next to the blooms of summer but its fruit is a real firecracker [Applause] the walls of the seed capsule flex then split open now the seeds are primed for their big exit they fly as far as 20 feet [Music] so the witch hazel spreads itself just fine thank you the smokies also yield a bumper crop of nuts our bear mom trades summer carbs for autumn fats her last chance to pack on pounds for the winter through sheer jaw power she can crack nuts as hard as hickories on a diet of acorns she may gain up to five pounds a day roaming from grove to grove in what park biologists call the fall shuffle her cubs have stopped nursing so she holds on to even more of her weight any day now the whole family will retire to a cozy den for their long winter's nap but the biggest star in the park has yet to walk on stage in great smoky mountains national park you can find yourself in a picture out of a fairy tale but these pictures actually come to life around the next bend white's a ghost from yesteryear [Music] for the first time in 150 years elk roamed the smokies [Music] the native eastern elk are long gone but in 2001 manitoba and elk were introduced to the park and they're thriving the running call the bull who wins gets breeding rights and we have a challenger [Music] like a turkey belt antler wrestling can turn nasty but this battle is bloodless [Music] the lusty winner and the prize fall is also the season when wild turkeys start to fight once more the meadow becomes an arena as males vie for breeding rights [Music] the call to battle [Music] a face-off between brothers to see who's stronger [Music] if neither backs down this will get ugly besides beaks males deploy a turkey stiletto a spur on the back leg up to two inches long so the loser to the victor belong the you-know-whats the years coming to an end the hummingbirds have flown the elk have mated the bears have dinned [Music] soon a medal of snow will blanket the park and the surge of tourists will shrivel like an autumn leaf that's when you notice that in the great smokies time not only freezes it turns back [Music] to build the park meant assembling a vast patchwork of land like the pieces of a mountain quilt buying out the humans and turning it over to the wildlife turning tame land back into wilderness [Music] the writer thomas wolf born in these very mountains said you can't go home again but like the elk the smokies prove him wrong yes you can [Music] you

Channel: Free Documentary - Nature

Views: 1,972,386

Keywords: Free Documentary, Documentaries, Full documentary, HD documentary, documentary - topic, documentary (tv genre), nature documentary, Free Documentary Nature, Nature, Wildllife, Wildlife Documentary, Animals, Animal Documentary, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Great Smoky Mountains, Smoky Mountains, Appalachian Mountains, National Park, National Park Documentary, US National Parks, Clingmans Dome, Blue Ridge Mountains

Id: QRjBlFLb324

Length: 48min 4sec (2884 seconds)

Published: Fri Jan 14 2022