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Airdate: Animal House

Nine has more David Attenborough this weekend with the doco special, Animal House.

Nine has more David Attenborough this weekend with the doco special, Animal House.

Attenborough narrates this BBC doco which explores the master builders of the animal world and the ingenious secrets of wildlife.

The esteemed presenter is all the rage at the moment, with SBS ONE even screening
Death of the Oceans? tonight.

While Mr. A. looks a tad younger here, this special did air in September on BBC2.

It is said that you never really know a person until you enter their home. The same may be true of animals. Whether using their homes to bring up their young, for defence or shelter, nature’s amazing architects reveal their fears and intelligence as they try to build the perfect animal house.

This beautifully filmed program, narrated by the peerless Sir David Attenborough, travels the world to find extraordinary examples of the animal kingdom’s best builders – from the prairie dogs of North America to the cormorants of the Galapagos Islands.

The story starts with the most ambitious animal builder in the world – the very eager beaver. Up to a mile or more of river can be taken over by a single beaver family. Yet even their water fortress can be upset by an intruder – the pesky muskrat.

We come across prairie dogs that live in an underground colony called a “dog town”. Elsewhere, saliva finds its use as a building tool for remarkable nests of swifts perched high in the caves of jungly Borneo.

Bronzy hermit hummingbirds steal silk from spider webs to make cup-like nests where they hang their chicks. Flightless cormorants use seaweed, gathered underwater by the male who sometimes also brings in live sea urchins for nest decoration.

Many animal builders employ teamwork to build their elaborate homes. Termites provide an insight into the wonders that can be achieved, with towering architecture, air conditioning and temperature control, gardens and water wells. Scaled to human size, a termite’s home would be over 1600 metres high!

But perhaps the ultimate example of teamwork in home building is the army ant. This incredible creature constructs a “living” home from ants themselves.

From baboons that sleep in caves in Kenya to animals that never leave home, like the star-nosed mole, this engaging and intriguing film will draw you in to the secrets and surprises of unique animal homes all over the world.

Sunday, November 27, at 6.30pm on Channel Nine.

4 Responses

  1. I like Attenborough docos as much as anyone but once again it feels like Nine is over using his programs, how long before the bottom falls out of the ratings like Top Gear and 2.5 Men?

    BTW the Natural World series has been going for years. I just wish Nine would show them once a week in the same time slot, or hand them back to the ABC. It feels like they are once again picking the ones they think will rate better and leaving the rest. I’m sure many will see Animal House and record it just thinking it’s the movie.

  2. Maybe they could use Katy Perry’s latest as the music behind the promo for this? I’ll either wait for the DVD or for ABC1 to get the repeat rights, thanks all the same, Nine. 🙁

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