1 00:00:07,257 --> 00:00:09,843 Planet Earth is so spectacular, 2 00:00:10,636 --> 00:00:13,680 it's easy to miss the smaller things in life. 3 00:00:15,766 --> 00:00:17,643 But take a closer look... 4 00:00:18,143 --> 00:00:20,562 and there's a whole undiscovered world. 5 00:00:22,648 --> 00:00:24,983 A world where tiny heroes... 6 00:00:26,485 --> 00:00:27,861 and little monsters... 7 00:00:29,029 --> 00:00:31,406 need incredible superpowers... 8 00:00:34,618 --> 00:00:40,040 to help them triumph against giant odds. 9 00:00:51,260 --> 00:00:53,303 The countryside is changing. 10 00:00:53,387 --> 00:00:54,596 ...pollinators. 11 00:00:54,680 --> 00:00:59,601 Intensive farming has been identified as a key reason in the decline in bee numbers. 12 00:01:00,269 --> 00:01:03,272 Rows of single crops now cover the land, 13 00:01:04,188 --> 00:01:06,358 leaving little room for wildlife. 14 00:01:12,990 --> 00:01:15,993 But there are a few precious places... 15 00:01:17,703 --> 00:01:20,205 farmed in a more traditional way. 16 00:01:23,166 --> 00:01:29,214 It may not look that special, but this is one of the rarest habitats on earth. 17 00:01:30,799 --> 00:01:32,551 A European hay meadow... 18 00:01:34,011 --> 00:01:35,345 buzzing with life. 19 00:01:37,556 --> 00:01:41,268 It's an oasis for millions of tiny creatures, 20 00:01:41,351 --> 00:01:45,105 and the ideal home for a harvest mouse. 21 00:01:50,903 --> 00:01:55,324 Like every little marvel in the meadow, she has a lot to do... 22 00:01:57,075 --> 00:01:58,660 and not much time. 23 00:02:06,585 --> 00:02:10,255 By the end of summer, all this... 24 00:02:10,881 --> 00:02:12,090 will be gone. 25 00:02:23,060 --> 00:02:26,772 Springtime brings the meadow to life. 26 00:02:30,442 --> 00:02:33,237 A nest, the size of a tennis ball, 27 00:02:33,654 --> 00:02:36,365 makes a cozy bed for a harvest mouse. 28 00:02:42,746 --> 00:02:45,082 But she can't afford to sleep in. 29 00:02:46,375 --> 00:02:48,710 She needs to raise a family... 30 00:02:49,837 --> 00:02:52,673 before her home is cut down for hay. 31 00:02:57,845 --> 00:03:00,055 Only the size of a wine cork, 32 00:03:00,138 --> 00:03:03,600 the harvest mouse is the smallest rodent in Europe. 33 00:03:08,772 --> 00:03:10,732 But she has a huge appetite. 34 00:03:13,652 --> 00:03:18,073 This early in the year, seeds and berries are thin on the ground. 35 00:03:22,035 --> 00:03:25,581 So she has to forage far and wide across the meadow. 36 00:03:32,004 --> 00:03:35,424 And she must also compete with other rodents. 37 00:03:37,551 --> 00:03:38,802 A bank vole, 38 00:03:39,511 --> 00:03:41,471 eight times her size. 39 00:03:44,433 --> 00:03:45,642 Fast. 40 00:03:47,769 --> 00:03:51,064 And with his own network of pathways through the grass. 41 00:03:55,694 --> 00:04:00,949 To avoid competition, the harvest mouse seeks more exclusive dining. 42 00:04:04,828 --> 00:04:11,502 Grasping feet and a prehensile tail allow her to climb like a little monkey. 43 00:04:20,844 --> 00:04:23,263 Swinging on the thinnest stems... 44 00:04:24,556 --> 00:04:26,808 she can reach places the vole can't... 45 00:04:29,019 --> 00:04:32,356 to feast on the few remaining seeds from last year. 46 00:04:38,445 --> 00:04:41,990 But up here... she's exposed. 47 00:04:53,252 --> 00:04:56,380 Kestrels are specialist rodent hunters. 48 00:05:01,385 --> 00:05:05,430 By hovering, it can spot tiny mammals hiding in the meadow. 49 00:05:16,066 --> 00:05:18,986 The vole's grass tunnels provide some cover. 50 00:05:21,405 --> 00:05:24,867 But with vision three times sharper than a human's, 51 00:05:25,576 --> 00:05:28,412 a kestrel can spot the slightest movement. 52 00:05:30,664 --> 00:05:33,375 All the harvest mouse needs to do... 53 00:05:34,042 --> 00:05:36,295 is keep absolutely still. 54 00:05:58,442 --> 00:06:01,987 Voles make up 90% of a kestrel's diet. 55 00:06:05,407 --> 00:06:08,577 Sometimes the smallest come out on top. 56 00:06:12,664 --> 00:06:16,543 By April, the first wonders of spring are emerging. 57 00:06:33,685 --> 00:06:38,357 A snake's head fritillary packed with nectar and pollen. 58 00:06:45,030 --> 00:06:48,992 There are half a million in this one meadow alone. 59 00:06:51,703 --> 00:06:53,914 And they provide a vital lifeline... 60 00:06:55,040 --> 00:06:58,001 for some of the first to wake after winter. 61 00:07:08,011 --> 00:07:10,264 A queen buff-tailed bumblebee. 62 00:07:14,351 --> 00:07:16,270 Still too cold to fly. 63 00:07:29,116 --> 00:07:30,701 She needs food to warm up. 64 00:07:42,588 --> 00:07:47,593 Queen bumblebees provide the fritillaries with an exclusive pollination service. 65 00:07:51,305 --> 00:07:56,226 In return, these flowers provide all the nectar queen bumblebees need 66 00:07:56,310 --> 00:07:57,519 to get airborne. 67 00:08:06,361 --> 00:08:09,448 She'll visit up to 6,000 flowers a day... 68 00:08:10,574 --> 00:08:14,244 to build up enough reserves for the enormous task at hand. 69 00:08:19,958 --> 00:08:26,507 In just a matter of weeks, this queen needs to raise an army of hundreds. 70 00:08:39,770 --> 00:08:42,313 Last year's seeds are now all but gone. 71 00:08:46,902 --> 00:08:51,907 A hungry harvest mouse will even venture underground in search of food. 72 00:08:57,371 --> 00:09:01,917 But there's no knowing what's lurking in the vole's deserted tunnel. 73 00:09:13,136 --> 00:09:16,265 Sensitive whiskers help her feel her way in the dark... 74 00:09:20,561 --> 00:09:23,981 as a keen sense of smell leads her deeper. 75 00:09:43,417 --> 00:09:44,877 Buried treasure. 76 00:09:46,128 --> 00:09:48,714 The vole's abandoned seed stash. 77 00:09:50,632 --> 00:09:51,717 And... 78 00:09:52,634 --> 00:09:54,344 a male harvest mouse. 79 00:09:56,013 --> 00:09:57,598 Hot on her scent. 80 00:10:14,907 --> 00:10:18,702 This brief encounter is her chance to start a family. 81 00:10:28,253 --> 00:10:31,298 Vacated burrows never stay empty for long. 82 00:10:37,095 --> 00:10:41,683 A meter underground, the queen bumblebee has begun her work... 83 00:10:45,312 --> 00:10:48,815 building a miniature castle of wax. 84 00:10:51,193 --> 00:10:55,739 Each chamber will house a grub, and the food it needs to grow. 85 00:10:58,700 --> 00:11:01,328 Her little empire is taking shape. 86 00:11:05,374 --> 00:11:07,251 As spring warms into summer... 87 00:11:08,126 --> 00:11:10,796 some very exotic travelers fly in. 88 00:11:15,926 --> 00:11:21,098 European bee-eaters journey 6,000 kilometers from Africa... 89 00:11:23,725 --> 00:11:28,272 timing their arrival to the beginning of an insect boom. 90 00:11:32,192 --> 00:11:34,027 They've come to feed... 91 00:11:37,489 --> 00:11:39,241 and to breed. 92 00:11:41,118 --> 00:11:45,956 Soon, the bee-eaters will be a force to be reckoned with. 93 00:12:06,018 --> 00:12:10,189 Early summer, and the meadow is about to explode with life. 94 00:12:13,859 --> 00:12:16,278 This may look like a tangle of weeds... 95 00:12:18,488 --> 00:12:20,365 but to the smallest creatures, 96 00:12:20,449 --> 00:12:24,161 it's a jungle with a canopy bursting with food. 97 00:12:35,172 --> 00:12:40,511 Legions of tiny lives emerge ready to gorge on all the growth. 98 00:12:48,894 --> 00:12:53,023 And monstrous predators emerge to gorge on them. 99 00:13:02,449 --> 00:13:04,952 A newly-hatched praying mantis. 100 00:13:05,410 --> 00:13:07,329 No bigger than a grain of rice. 101 00:13:17,172 --> 00:13:18,674 In just a few weeks... 102 00:13:19,675 --> 00:13:20,843 she grows... 103 00:13:22,553 --> 00:13:23,762 and grows... 104 00:13:27,641 --> 00:13:30,435 until she's 2,000 times the size. 105 00:13:35,107 --> 00:13:38,235 A deadly ambush hunter comes of age. 106 00:13:46,869 --> 00:13:52,332 Despite the growing danger, the summer meadow is still a world of opportunity. 107 00:13:58,881 --> 00:14:02,634 Only the size of an almond, and not much heavier... 108 00:14:05,929 --> 00:14:07,639 an Etruscan shrew. 109 00:14:08,307 --> 00:14:10,601 The world's smallest mammal. 110 00:14:19,359 --> 00:14:24,740 Virtually blind, she navigates through this forest of grass by touch. 111 00:14:33,123 --> 00:14:35,501 She's looking for somewhere safe for her family. 112 00:14:40,339 --> 00:14:42,090 And any spare burrow will do. 113 00:14:49,765 --> 00:14:52,184 Getting them here is the trick. 114 00:15:02,319 --> 00:15:05,239 It's the blind... leading the blind. 115 00:15:07,574 --> 00:15:09,660 Each baby holds on tight to the next... 116 00:15:12,079 --> 00:15:15,624 as Mom steers the world's tiniest caravan... 117 00:15:17,501 --> 00:15:19,419 all the way to their new home. 118 00:15:23,924 --> 00:15:25,175 There's plenty of room. 119 00:15:27,010 --> 00:15:30,889 After all, the whole family could fit inside a matchbox. 120 00:15:45,070 --> 00:15:49,825 At the height of summer, the meadow supports an extraordinary diversity 121 00:15:49,908 --> 00:15:53,370 of rare wildflowers and little creatures. 122 00:16:15,350 --> 00:16:19,479 For the harvest mouse, life has never looked so good. 123 00:16:29,948 --> 00:16:32,451 To make the most of all the meadow's riches, 124 00:16:33,118 --> 00:16:37,497 she builds several tiny tree houses high in the canopy. 125 00:16:49,968 --> 00:16:54,598 The perfect outposts as she forages throughout her home range. 126 00:17:04,273 --> 00:17:07,277 She can go where she wants without touching the ground. 127 00:17:09,070 --> 00:17:10,071 Good thing. 128 00:17:10,989 --> 00:17:13,951 The jungle floor is becoming a no-go zone. 129 00:17:19,540 --> 00:17:23,544 But sometimes, even this little acrobat is pushed to the limit. 130 00:17:47,901 --> 00:17:50,821 Staying safe is more important than ever now. 131 00:17:53,031 --> 00:17:55,325 Because this is not just a nest. 132 00:17:57,494 --> 00:17:58,579 It's her nursery. 133 00:18:02,082 --> 00:18:04,376 She has five tiny pups... 134 00:18:05,294 --> 00:18:07,129 each smaller than a cherry. 135 00:18:20,517 --> 00:18:24,104 To make sure they're big enough to leave the nest before harvest... 136 00:18:26,231 --> 00:18:28,150 Mom is working round the clock. 137 00:18:41,872 --> 00:18:42,956 Underground... 138 00:18:44,291 --> 00:18:47,169 the queen bumblebee has also been busy. 139 00:18:54,218 --> 00:18:57,179 She now has hundreds of daughters. 140 00:18:57,971 --> 00:18:59,598 Her own dedicated army. 141 00:19:08,315 --> 00:19:10,400 The workers help tend the young... 142 00:19:12,402 --> 00:19:13,570 and repair the nest... 143 00:19:16,740 --> 00:19:19,493 as their queen lays more and more eggs. 144 00:19:21,787 --> 00:19:26,667 Their most important job is keeping the expanding colony in supplies. 145 00:19:30,462 --> 00:19:33,924 So her foragers work 14 hours a day, 146 00:19:34,341 --> 00:19:38,720 collecting close to their own weight in nectar and pollen every trip. 147 00:19:53,402 --> 00:19:57,197 A praying mantis can strike in one-twentieth of a second. 148 00:20:03,954 --> 00:20:06,498 But the colony faces a much greater threat. 149 00:20:08,959 --> 00:20:11,879 They're called bee-eaters for a reason. 150 00:20:15,883 --> 00:20:19,136 A bumblebee can fly at 50 kilometers per hour. 151 00:20:22,931 --> 00:20:26,393 But is no match for these aerial assassins. 152 00:20:28,854 --> 00:20:33,942 Despite heavy losses, the loyal air force keeps flying. 153 00:20:57,090 --> 00:20:58,884 The bees are outmaneuvered... 154 00:21:00,093 --> 00:21:01,887 but not outnumbered. 155 00:21:05,140 --> 00:21:07,392 The bee-eaters can't catch them all. 156 00:21:23,367 --> 00:21:26,119 The bumblebees' selfless mission continues. 157 00:21:35,254 --> 00:21:40,384 Their instinct to keep the queen and colony alive is unstoppable. 158 00:21:44,638 --> 00:21:46,056 Well, almost. 159 00:22:06,827 --> 00:22:10,706 It won't be long before the harvest mouse pups are ready to leave the nest. 160 00:22:21,425 --> 00:22:23,969 Some seem to think they're ready now. 161 00:22:32,728 --> 00:22:36,106 Luckily, Mom's always there to keep them out of trouble. 162 00:22:43,238 --> 00:22:46,533 The once peaceful oasis is overrun. 163 00:22:52,497 --> 00:22:55,918 Tiny hoppers that started life in the soil... 164 00:22:58,504 --> 00:23:01,089 are now voracious vegetarians. 165 00:23:04,718 --> 00:23:09,765 Millions of them eating over 500 kilos of vegetation a day. 166 00:23:12,935 --> 00:23:14,811 Stripping the meadow bare. 167 00:23:29,826 --> 00:23:31,328 The meadow viper. 168 00:23:31,411 --> 00:23:34,039 The smallest venomous snake in Europe. 169 00:23:41,588 --> 00:23:44,842 To a tiny insect, it's a monster. 170 00:23:51,473 --> 00:23:53,934 But it's nothing compared to this. 171 00:23:57,229 --> 00:23:58,522 The Etruscan shrew. 172 00:24:00,065 --> 00:24:03,402 Officially, the hungriest mammal in the world. 173 00:24:08,031 --> 00:24:12,953 She needs to eat every hour just to stay alive. 174 00:24:21,211 --> 00:24:24,381 Four centimeters of insatiable fury. 175 00:24:39,062 --> 00:24:44,026 She devours an astonishing six times her body weight each day. 176 00:24:47,571 --> 00:24:50,073 And as soon as she's decimated one spot, 177 00:24:50,574 --> 00:24:52,951 it's time for the family to move on. 178 00:25:07,508 --> 00:25:12,971 Just a half meter up, the harvest mouse avoids the carnage below. 179 00:25:18,143 --> 00:25:20,020 But there's trouble on the horizon. 180 00:25:27,152 --> 00:25:31,448 Harvest is a time of celebration, but in the tiny world... 181 00:25:34,159 --> 00:25:36,119 it's a brutal upheaval. 182 00:25:43,418 --> 00:25:46,046 Some can escape the blades. 183 00:25:47,297 --> 00:25:49,049 But not the birds. 184 00:26:01,895 --> 00:26:05,774 The harvest mouse pups are too small to save themselves. 185 00:26:08,235 --> 00:26:10,821 And their nest is next in line. 186 00:26:15,868 --> 00:26:18,453 A mother will do whatever it takes. 187 00:26:22,040 --> 00:26:24,293 But she can't rescue them all at once. 188 00:26:26,837 --> 00:26:30,632 She must carry her babies one by one. 189 00:26:38,515 --> 00:26:40,642 Safety is in the hedgerow. 190 00:27:26,605 --> 00:27:27,940 The last pup. 191 00:27:46,166 --> 00:27:48,418 The meadow is no more. 192 00:27:58,470 --> 00:28:01,974 But this little mom just doesn't give up... 193 00:28:08,647 --> 00:28:11,191 until the whole family is safe. 194 00:28:18,574 --> 00:28:21,410 The annual harvest may seem destructive... 195 00:28:22,870 --> 00:28:25,163 but it's what keeps the meadow so alive. 196 00:28:34,590 --> 00:28:39,178 Cutting the hay late in summer gives plants a chance to set seed. 197 00:28:42,055 --> 00:28:45,684 And tiny creatures a chance to complete their lives. 198 00:28:55,485 --> 00:28:57,946 A new generation of queens is born. 199 00:29:00,407 --> 00:29:03,994 Every one of them ready to start their own empires. 200 00:29:11,919 --> 00:29:15,088 The young harvest mice can now explore their new home. 201 00:29:17,466 --> 00:29:19,760 They'll stay in the hedgerow until spring. 202 00:29:23,305 --> 00:29:25,849 As one tiny journey comes to an end... 203 00:29:29,394 --> 00:29:33,065 big new adventures are just beginning. 204 00:29:37,486 --> 00:29:40,989 Next year, the meadow will rise again.