The secrets of life in a wheatfield | Go Wild

[Music] the cornfield just an area for producing food or a land full of secrets why are some cornfield inhabitants harmful and others useful what do the colorful flowers at the edge of the field promise US [Music] foreign [Music] field looks like a strange extraterrestrial landscape in the western industrial Nations corn fields and woods take up the greatest proportion of rural land but how much natural life dwells in what now seems like a desert the hair was originally a step animal but he also feels at home on a bare field [Music] it's mating time now in the early spring the Bucks race at speeds of 70 kilometers per hour in an attempt to impress and win over a doe [Music] good [Music] about one meter deep in the ground a hamster doe is dozing in her burrow she's hibernated throughout the time in which the untilled cornfield resembled a desert above the first arrivals such as common toads and golden ground beetles are appearing on the still bare field for many animals a field is a kind of No Man's Land just waiting to be conquered the days are growing longer and the slows along the edge of the field take on a white Veil just like the old cherry tree of the other side of the field close by the hamster doe is busy removing the hardened clot of Earth she used last Autumn to seal off the inside of her burrow the winter reserves are almost used up it's time for her to make her way up to the surface it's still almost impossible for the hamster doe to find anything edible on the bare clotted Earth it's a tough time for her [Music] when the cherry tree is in full bloom the field horsetails shoot up out of the soil the cone-shaped tips of the shoots bear ripening spores which will later be carried away by the wind after this unsuccessful trip to the surface the hamster doe returns to her Fortress there are turbulent times ahead of her thank you within a few hours the appearance of the hamster's habitat has changed during the sowing 300 grain seeds were dropped into each square meter of soil just 14 days later an army of seedlings shoot upwards within a few days the bald field has turned into a green field all types of grain are a kind of grass this means that the cornfield is actually a grassland and therefore a step formed by humans the old cherry tree is standing in an ocean of seedlings with an increasing number of animals romping between them [Music] it's now worthwhile for the hamster doe to leave the safe burrow while the quail parents are busy with a dust bath a hungry hamster doe sniffs an opportunity such calorie bombs are just what she needs because she has to build herself up for the exhausting Time ahead of mating and rearing her Young [Music] like the hairs the pheasants are also turning their attention now to searching for a mate the red swollen wattles on their faces and their excited fluttering are expected to work wonders a hamster Buck is on his way in the field picked up the scent of the hamster doe down in her burrow hamsters are actually solitary animals and tend to be aggressive to each other however they now approach each other cautiously and accept each other straight away the hamsters mate dozens of times to make sure they really will produce offspring exhausted they both fall asleep hamsters tolerate this togetherness for only a few days a year [Music] within just a few weeks field crops have developed out of the tiny seedlings [Music] thank you while the grain is growing the pests Thrive too these include the grain a-fit which rank among a farmer's main enemies because they can spread out as if from an explosion and infest entire fields however the farmers do have an ally in the fight against the army of sap sucking insects a single lady bird can exterminate up to 40 000 aphids in his lifetime where such beneficial organisms are allowed to increase without interference there is no need for the chemical cultural the Germanic tribes of old revered the useful ladybird at that time it was not yet dedicated to Our Lady the mother of God but called the little Friar bird after the highest Germanic goddess no small bird but an imposing bird of prey is the montagues Harrier on a dirt track the male Harrier Wars a female in the end the object of his desire succumbs high in the air when in the middle of a skillful flight maneuver he presents a field mouse to her as a wedding gift nowadays we have very few large Meadow areas that are left unknown until the summer for that reason the montagues harriers breed in cornfields now the larger the field the better Predators have little chance of finding their nests here the landscape around the old cherry tree has donned its summer dress as far as the eye can see the record feels at different stages of ripeness foreign [Music] killers are used the fields present themselves not just in a simple shade of green but with a host of colorful flowers night flowering catch fly common mallow Johnny Jump pimpanoo corn flour [Music] Venus is looking glass corn cockle they've all adapted to a life in the Sea of Grass formed by human hand the most well-known flower in the field is perhaps the red poppy a flower that holds plenty of promise only when this bright red flower is blooming on field books can a creature exist which at first will change the appearance of the poppy blossoms completely this visitor is an extremely rare insect the poppy Mason bee She searches for particular poppy blossoms and cuts fingernail-sized pieces out of them all right back in her brood cell she unrolls the small ball of petals and works them into the wall lining and so a nursery in red velvet emerges other animals are interested in poppy flowers too the field hamsters consider the red blossoms a delicacy the hamster doe enjoys the first one she picks straight away and then stuff some more poppy blossoms into her cheek pouches on each side of their mouths the hamsters have a cheek pouch which serves as a carrier bag when they search for food in the forest of stalks through which the short-sighted rodents find their way by relying on their sense of smell foreign Mason bee does hard labor the stone that fell into the brood cell is three times as heavy as she is herself the lump of rock has to be taken out so that you can bring flower pollen which the larvae will eat later finally the bee removes the dried up pieces of poppy which have projected outwards like a frill and uses them to close off the Earth tube she still has to close off the entrance so her Offspring can grow up well protected and supplied with food a poppy Mason bee can do no more for her Young in German the colorful field cow wheat is called wachterweitzen or coil wheat in English because of the common quail's liking for its seeds it's rare as are a lot of others in this remarkable cornfield the young hamster pups are very Lively although they're only one day old they keep their mother on the go again and again the hamster doe has to round up the little runaways and tidy up the insulating nest [Music] a creeping thistle in the Rye is a meeting place for very special field inhabitants the creeping thistle ghoul fly needs the prickly plant because only there does it live and multiply the pretty flies with their zigzag Wing designs do mating dances in front of the females and try to impress other males with their threatening gestures this sometimes leads to actual wrestling [Music] the thistle also serves as a habitat for small spiders who are particularly fond of hunting for flies [Music] thank you [Music] thank you [Music] the Hunter and the hunted face each other however contrary to what one would expect the gold fly doesn't flee the effect of the zigzag pattern on its wings becomes evident now the spider thinks they are the legs of an overpowering rival sees in the courageous ghoul fly another larger spider and Retreats [Music] the four-day-old hamster Offspring have already donned a brightly colored Downy hair although they are still blind they're interested in everything their mother brings to them foreign s of years ago people cultivated many different kinds of grain from Wild grasses an important characteristic of this commercially grown grass is that the ripe seeds do not fall out of the ears by themselves this means a lot more work for The Sparrows and gives the farmer a chance to harvest the crops this is not the case with the wild plants such as the poppy the poppy blossoms for just a short time only a few days after coming into bloom it loses its beauty [Music] as the fruit capsules ripen and dry up they open at the top like small pepper shakers flower stems that were pliable before have now become hard and wiry with every gust of wind hundreds of poppy seeds fall out of a Shaker onto the ground they roll into every crack and wait there for good germination conditions in the following year the colorful Splendor of the blossoms in the cornfield depends therefore primarily on the selection of seeds which have survived the winter in the ground some come from far away like the dandelion seeds on their little parachutes harvester ants feed on plant seeds which they drag into their nest in strenuous travel up and down Hills most of the seeds disappear into the ants stalks as food supply for times of scarcity heaps of corn flour Poppy and dandelion seeds that is one reason why most field flowers produce such enormous quantities of seeds [Music] although the first grain fields around the old cherry tree are ripe the hamster stalks are almost empty she has to look for other food in the sea of ears of corn there is more to be found than just seeds of grain the bush Cricket's green camouflage doesn't help her in the fields around the hamster's burrow there is a splendid display of golden ears of corn The Barley ears with their long beards the Rye which developed from what was originally regarded as field weeds upright wheat our oldest variety of corn and oats with their bell-shaped fruit for thousands of years they have been ensuring the survival of mankind [Music] the Summer sun not only ripens the corn it draws all moisture out of the plants and soil the cornfield becomes a hot Savannah in former times the farmers who are working hard under the Blazing Heat Of The Sun believe the quails were mocking them because it sounded as if they were saying danger back bend your back the yellow hammer on the other hand blars out the less severe little bit of bread and no cheese into the field around the old cherry tree there are still Hedges and Groves where the colorful sparrows rear their young foreign [Music] Ty the field Orchestra Falls silent Petals on the pimpanel close as a sign that rain is on its way [Music] corn lady is moving through the field was said once whenever the wind passed over the core [Music] the smallest in the jungle of stalks are now faced with a fight against Elemental forces [Music] [Music] [Music] thank you foreign [Music] rain has driven the brooding Quail hen from her nest without protection her second clutch of eggs is exposed to witness and cold [Music] and how are the little hamster pups faring in their underground room the streams of water are already merging at the deepest points however here it's perfectly dry the hamster mother instinctively dug the entrances to her burrow at a higher spot to prevent water penetrating the inside of the burrow even in heavy rainfall the young hamster pups hardly four weeks old engage in boisterous tussles as training for future conflicts with members of their own species the mother teaches the small ones everything they need to know about what hamsters eat hamsters are very clean to relieve themselves the little hamsters use the same chosen toilet location each time the growing hamsters actually spend most of their time sleeping and most likely dreaming [Music] in the late afternoon the rain is over and the storm front has moved on a wonderful smell of damp Earth and warm straw fills the air the water has collected in Hollows and depressions in the ground it's time for some cornfield inhabitants to prove their seaworthiness those who live at the top of the Corn jungle have nothing to fear for the jumping spider the field is dotted with sparkling drinking ponds [Music] the harvester ants on the other hand have become flood victims a poppy petal served them as a rescue raft [Music] oh [Music] clinging to corn stalks they make their way to safety [Music] at a dizzy height the Harvester and queen holds out until the Deluge eventually subsides [Music] thank you the water drenched soil forces the earthworms up to the surface that is a call to action for All Creatures who are partial to these ringed soil dwellers [Music] a field like this accommodates an average of 500 earthworms in each square meter of soil 10 to 20 times as many as in a conventionally farmed field a lot of worms will attract a lot of toads which along with the worms will exterminate scores of pests up to 100 tons of excrement are produced by two and a half million earthworms per hectare a lot of humus and free of charge but only as long as no agrarian chemicals are used against such quantities the number of worms eaten by the common toads and golden ground beetles is insignificant the hamster's pups are already quite independent they won't share the burrow with their mother and sisters for much longer however they still forage for food together in the corn jungle thank you for four weeks now the mother has been devoted to her young bringing them the poppy blossoms they desire but she soon will become a loner again and leave the burrow and her offspring [Music] secure in the dense Thicket at the edge of the field the small yellow hammers have grown up only two weeks old they're just about ready to fly away well hidden in a sea of stalks the Harrier fledglings are growing up on Rich lime loamy soil warmed by the summer sun the now very rare field Nigella thrives its flower is male at first and much sought after by the hungry field wasps once they reach it the Wasps move around the entire flower which is therefore referred to as a roundabout flower the insect gradually opens the well-filled nectar pots at the base of the petals meanwhile the plant stamens powder the back of the WASP with pollen a sex change occurs then the male anthers droop and sees functioning at the same time the female stigmas Bend downwards again the field wasps are attracted by their nectar pots that are still full the Wasps which first visited the male stamens now graze their pollen powdered backs along the stigmas this reliably ensures the fertilization and reproduction of the field Nigella [Music] with the onset of Twilight the campions open their white blossoms they first exude their sweet scent when most of the other field flowers have already withered campions reflect the moonlight serve as shining signals for moths the special composition of their pollen nectar attracts owlet moths and Hawk moths in particular in return for their nocturnal pollination they too are rewarded with sweet energy food a common toad sets off to catch prey it's better protected against predators in the dark just like the young field hamsters are increasingly their mother maintains a distance from them and hardly ever comes back to the burrow what turns this special field into a habitat for the most varied animals and plants is sustainable farming without any toxins modern industrial agriculture on the other hand has not only sacrificed biodiversity to profit but also clean groundwater and healthy soil foreign for the animals first more and more ripe corn ends up in hungry stomachs [Music] at the same time the corn collectors have to be careful not to get eaten themselves [Music] foreign [Music] a single tree Sparrow can eat a kilogram of grain seeds per year however as he eats even more weed seeds and pest insects He makes himself quite useful and the field hamster once regarded as a cereal Pest and rigorously hunted has been fighting for survival for a long time and nowhere does it make its negative impact on yields more noticeable the Tranquil life for animals in the fields by the old cherry tree is now over the cornfield has become a Battleground there's only one way out [Applause] [Music] slashing and clearing Paradise [Music] noisy monsters put an end to the summer jungle [Music] foreign [Music] stubble fields the calls of the quails and the chirping of the Bush crickets have fallen silent there are only a near few poppies look at the edge of the field [Music] as suddenly as they came in the spring the animals wander off again the quails and montagues harriers migrate south while the common toads start off on an arduous March towards their winter quarters the hamster doe is one of the few left she's looked for a new burrow and now must do something crucial for her survival the toad has reached its destination it will bury itself under the large field hedge and wait for the next spring Brooks searched the harvested field for grains and insects the hamster doe too looks out for pickings whereby some hairs stick in her throat into her cheek pouches she Stuffs the grains that have fallen down during the threshing Mr must collect and carry about four kilograms of plant seeds so that it can survive The Long Winter in the hamster Borough there's always a storage chamber and she filled it now in the late summer the grain field has fed and satisfied a lot of animals but now the corn must be used for its actual purpose to be made into food for people [Music] the corn jungle has disappeared and its inhabitants are scattered to the Four Winds [Applause] oh however preparations are already underway for next year's cycle autumn the black thorns on the field box are bearing fruit soon the first white flakes will fall on the old cherry tree at the edge of this very special organic field between the fields around the old cherry tree there are still dense Hedges offering shelter for the field inhabitants the golden ground beetles have entrenched themselves in the soil just as the common toad has done the Harvester hands too will spin the winter at the foot of a slow bush the hamster doe has completed her new burrow in good time and her sleeping phases are longer and longer her body temperature begins to drop [Music] the hairs and roe deer on the other hand stay awake and have to struggle to get by during the winter [Music] [Applause] [Music] oh the hamster doe wakes up again and again to help herself from her supplies she won't see daylight again for another six months [Music] winter the seeds of the poppy flowers and the other wild field plants lie dormant in the soil nevertheless some animals still manage to find enough to eat in the field next year when a new summer jungle emerges innumerable field inhabitants will benefit from the ecological tillage that is Poppy's promise [Music] [Applause] [Music]

Channel: Go Wild

Views: 9,194

Keywords: orf universum, documentary, blue chip, natural history, secrets of nature, planet earth, wildlife, free documentary, watch full documentary, nature films, wildlife films, go wild, nature, natura

Id: aHkIqK4UY98

Length: 44min 15sec (2655 seconds)

Published: Thu Jul 27 2023