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00:00These lofty peaks are among the most revered in history.
00:12Their very name defines every mountain habitat the world over.
00:17Alpine forest, alpine lakes, alpine tundra.
00:22They are a battleground of ice against rock, wind against water, winter against summer.
00:35And yet remarkable mountaineers thrive here, busy with battles of their own.
00:44While others are slowly returning to reclaim their place.
00:48All must seize the high life of summer, before these peaks become winter's fortress.
00:59Soar into the Alps, a realm of white brightness and thunder.
01:07Alps, a realm of white brightness and thunder.
01:20The Alps, a realm of white brightness and thunder.
01:24The Alps, a realm of white brightness and thunder.
01:28A thousand peaks crowning a continent.
01:55The Alps, between sea and summits, a trove of natural treasures.
02:05Alpine grasslands, arctic tundra.
02:10Mediterranean gardens.
02:14Gigantic glaciers.
02:16Gaping canyons, echoing the sound of thundering waters.
02:26Dark woodlands, full of mystery.
02:31Barren crags.
02:34And slopes of vivid green.
02:38A raw expanse to overwhelm the eye of all but one.
02:42The one, the one who soars above it all.
03:08It takes an eagle's eye to appreciate the Alps.
03:11Their majesty, and their dimensions.
03:28From its rise over their eastern foothills.
03:33Until it lights up their western valleys.
03:36The sun takes nearly an hour.
03:41Grim north faces, forever steeped in frosty shadows.
03:46Back to back, with sunny southern slopes and valleys.
03:49This ice-clad barrier splits Europe into north and south.
04:02While its valleys have always been a bridge between east and west.
04:07Arching across more than 600 miles and rising steadily from eastern lowlands, westward to the highest peak.
04:15This crumple zone between converging plates sends major rivers to three different seas.
04:22Surrounded by crowded land, the Alps are shared by eight nations.
04:29Towards sunset, they do not end, but dip down steeply into the depth of the Mediterranean Sea, where they emerged.
04:37From the coast below, a whiff of spring arrives.
04:42While some six and a half thousand feet higher up, the crests are arctic.
04:48And so is the wildlife.
05:00An eagle's flight between these contrasts is just a matter of minutes.
05:04Erosion of the rising Alps turns coastal canyons into plains, attractive human habitat.
05:21Steep slopes rising from these plains are terraced by thousands of stone walls.
05:27Ancient olive gardens are the haunt of Europe's biggest lizard.
05:41The oscillated lizard ranges from the western Mediterranean to the foothills of the French and Italian Alps.
05:48Spring is the time for a male to visit a female's territory.
06:04This is where she lives, a self-dug hole, or one taken over from a rodent.
06:12For a while, they move in together.
06:18The sunny southwestern fringes of the Alps are now resplendent with bright colors,
06:31alive with the rhythmic song of cicadas,
06:34fragrant with wild and cultivated herbs.
06:39Lavender fields are vibrating with the hum of a zillion bees.
06:43A griffon vulture.
06:54Plunging from 3,000 feet to nearly sea level,
06:58deep canyons like Verdant and Rémusat
07:01offer ideal nesting places for griffons.
07:04Cut out by cold mountain streams while inhaling warm ocean winds,
07:17these canyons invite Mediterranean vegetation and wildlife deep into the Alps.
07:23It's a short cycle of rain clouds flowing inland from the nearby sea
07:32and these southern rivers rushing back towards the coast.
07:35When the morning sun heats up the canyon walls,
07:43hundreds of master gliders launch into the thermals.
07:47But in this season, every other adult stays grounded.
07:58For vultures, of course, the ground is vertical.
08:02Males and females take turns feeding their offspring in a lofty crib.
08:23The nestlings need lots of moisture gathered from carrion.
08:28Along these cliffs, the southern sun and hot upwinds make for a climate like in the Sahara.
08:46From this vertical desert, the birds soar into freezing spheres,
08:51covering hundreds of miles each day.
08:56But for griffons, the peaks and glaciers are just flyover country.
09:12Also just passing, a young golden eagle,
09:17a nomad searching for a space unoccupied by breeding pairs.
09:22He's made it through a long winter.
09:24Now morning temperatures are finally above freezing.
09:31Remaining snow is wet and heavy now.
09:34Up here, the sounds of spring are rather different from the birds' song
09:39and cicadas buzzing in the foothills below.
09:41Each sunny afternoon,
09:55the rumble and roar of wet snow avalanches
09:58echoes from all sides,
10:00like muffled thunder.
10:02An avalanche's megaton momentum will thrust huge boulders across a valley floor
10:11and heap up mountains of compacted snow
10:15as hard as concrete.
10:21Finding a safe and soft spot between ravines
10:24is crucial.
10:26After six months of hibernation deep in the ground,
10:46marmots need exercise.
10:48Neighbourhood scuffles offer a perfect opportunity.
11:00Breaking the fast is also welcome,
11:02but the leftovers of last year's grazing
11:05are still a far cry from the fresh herbs that will soon sprout.
11:10Some like it wet.
11:23An amphibian,
11:25way above 8,000 feet.
11:28Sounds like a record.
11:31Brown frogs have spent the winter in underground bodies of water.
11:35On the very day the ice on high alpine lakes begins to break,
11:42brown frogs appear as if summoned by a magic revé.
11:48Marmots are impatient to feed,
11:51but not the frogs.
11:54In their hundreds,
11:55they race towards the water.
11:57None wants to miss
11:59the annual orgy.
12:01In order not to freeze to death,
12:04the frogs must move in the daylight.
12:09Their skins have a built-in sunscreen.
12:13Ultraviolet radiation at this altitude is powerful.
12:20Just above freezing in here.
12:22Quite agreeable.
12:23But in the shallows of a dark peat,
12:31the water is lukewarm.
12:33The perfect spot
12:34to spawn.
12:44The males ride piggyback
12:46on the larger females,
12:48eager to fertilize the spawn
12:50as it's released into the water.
12:51The orgy lasts three or four days.
13:10Some males embrace their partners in autumn
13:12and cling to them all winter
13:15until this superproductive spring event.
13:17High mountain populations
13:21lay bigger eggs
13:22than those in the valleys,
13:24giving their offspring a boost
13:25for the short alpine summer.
13:28voraciously,
13:42a warm, dry wind
13:44licks the last snow
13:46from the slopes.
13:51Millions of crocuses
13:52have only been waiting
13:54for this moment.
13:55Alpine flowers
14:09now turn the meadows
14:10into an inverted,
14:12star-spangled sky.
14:15Neon colors
14:16and fluffy leaves
14:17shield many of these plants
14:19against aggressive radiation.
14:21Some visitors
14:33are not coming
14:34for the stunning scenery.
14:39After a long winter
14:41of deprivation,
14:43roe deer are arriving
14:44from the mountain forest.
14:45The females especially
14:48need fresh vitamins.
14:50They'll soon give birth.
15:05The thawing ground
15:06is soaked now.
15:09Deep down below the surface,
15:11cracks and cavities in the bedrock
15:13are filling up with water.
15:18Springs are gushing.
15:21Streams are in spate.
15:27The mountain's green lungs
15:29are breathing again,
15:31exhaling the rich fragrance of life.
15:34From bursting buds
15:39and the bubbling
15:40of a thousand brooks,
15:43a strange percussion
15:44takes its cue.
15:52To Capacayli hens,
15:54this sound is music.
15:56Music.
15:56Music.
15:57Music.
15:57Music.
15:58Music.
15:58Music.
15:58Music.
15:59Music.
16:00Music.
16:00Music.
16:01Music.
16:01Music.
16:02Music.
16:02Music.
16:03Music.
16:03Music.
16:04Music.
16:05Music.
16:05Music.
16:06Music.
16:07Music.
16:08Music.
16:09Music.
16:10Music.
16:11Music.
16:12Music.
16:13Music.
16:14Music.
16:15Music.
16:16Music.
16:17Music.
16:18Music.
16:19Music.
16:20Music.
16:21Music.
16:22Music.
16:23Music.
16:24Music.
16:25Music.
16:26Music.
16:27Music.
16:28Music.
16:29Music.
16:30Music.
16:31Music.
16:32Music.
16:33Enchanted, a female fan has dived down from the gallery right onto the stage floor.
16:41She too has something to offer.
16:45He's got what he wanted, but it's not the end of the show, which has turned on the neighbors.
17:08They want more than just to watch.
17:11Lines are crossed.
17:16This is his hen on his very own claim.
17:29To be enamored, embattled and embroiled means to be blind to one's surroundings.
17:36This hunter, however, is anything but blind.
17:46It's OK.
17:53It's OK, it's OK.
17:55Careful calculation is critical.
18:15With an eagle's wingspan, a rapid attack between the trees is risky.
18:25When a life is taken, it nurtures others.
18:49This eagle was not hunting for himself.
18:55These nestlings are a few days old, two or three days apart.
19:03From the moment of birth, they are competitors.
19:08For about six weeks now, the female stays put while the male provides.
19:14Later on, both parents will hunt.
19:16For a nestling to become a fledgling, it takes about 12 weeks.
19:27In a brief mountain summer, a lot of growing has to be done.
19:39While some lives start high up in dazzling sunlight, others begin way down in the dark.
19:46Within just a few weeks, a new generation is born.
20:07In thousands of dens and nests across the Alps.
20:17With a litter of five, suckling and warming the cubs, cleaning the den and hunting, will push parents to their limits.
20:25Vast tracts of the alpine landscape are woodland.
20:51The mix of broadleaf and conifers varies with altitude, orientation, and topography, and harbors a wide variety of habitats.
21:00A young boreal or teng-malms owl, one of ten different owl species in the Alps, and a typical inhabitant of conifer forests.
21:17Even fox parents will hunt in daylight now.
21:24For these youngsters, everything is new, exciting.
21:28They are still too young to hunt, but they'll soon go for the sort of prey the fox has just missed.
21:47Fortunately, there's no shortage of rodents in alpine woods.
22:08Nor a shortage of enemies.
22:10A lynx will not tolerate foxes in its domain.
22:24The fox is lucky.
22:26The lynx has something else in mind.
22:28The lynx has something else in mind.
22:32The lynx has something else in mind.
22:38European lynx, missing from the alpine forests for a century, were reintroduced to various regions in the 1970s.
22:49Their preferred prey are roe deer, chamois, and young red deer, but also smaller game.
23:03Lynx have a habit of hiding it from ravens, foxes, and other scavengers.
23:08The lynx has a habit of hiding it from em
23:33Another homecomer from the woods of southeastern Europe.
23:53This brown bear cub was born in the Alps.
23:58Its mother would be an immigrant.
24:02The two are poking around for insects, roots, and rodents.
24:07A bear mother will shift aside rocks of 400 pounds with ease.
24:25Now and then, bears sniff out a real treasure.
24:32Wild honeybees tend to hide their sweet gold in hollow trees.
24:49This is a mouth-watering treat.
25:04No matter how viciously the angry bees attack, a bear won't be deterred from the taste of
25:09honey.
25:18A few decades ago, there were only a handful of bears in the Alps.
25:23Now, there are well over a hundred individuals.
25:28Some have wandered all across the Alps.
25:51Three thousand feet higher, the snow is gone.
25:55There are three thousand feet, and the snow still lingers in the shadows.
26:09But up here, not just the snow is going.
26:19Animal alpinists are shedding their winter wool.
26:28Not really a pretty sight.
26:40Just weeks ago, this cocky ptarmigan was still completely white.
26:48For Ibex bucks, getting rid of a mangy coat is an itchy affair.
26:59The ptarmigan is also itching, but in a different sense.
27:06With some urgency, he's making himself heard, hoping to impress a hen.
27:21This may not be the only use of horns, but it might explain their extraordinary length,
27:29and their elegant curve.
27:37Horns, of course, are not just for scratching.
27:41Bucks are busy all year round, testing their powers and prowess.
27:49The swelling of the male's red eye bulges clearly signals his desire.
27:57Already one step ahead, a marmot is busy with parental tasks.
28:12The little ones are just over two weeks old.
28:17Changing the hay is the marmot way of changing diapers.
28:21A newly born weighs as much as two tablespoons of salt.
28:29To survive their first winter, they must increase their birth weight 40-fold within three months.
28:43Mountain hares have already replaced their snow-white winter coat with the camouflage of summer.
28:54Right from birth, they are out in the open.
28:57Unlike marmots, they're born with fluffy fur.
29:01In cold weather, the mother keeps them warm.
29:13With the snow melt nearing its end, the roar and rage of spring's 10,000 torrents has faded.
29:19But glacial rivers are now running high.
29:31Swelling to a maximum under the midday sun and waning in the cool of night, glacial runoff carries megatons of finely ground rock out into the lowlands.
29:46Europe's highest waterfalls and longest cataracts are the glacier's spectacular gift.
30:11When glaciers vanish, rivers run dry and valleys are filled with silence.
30:24As long as mighty rivers in the sky bring masses of moisture from the Atlantic and the Mediterranean,
30:30lush green mountain meadows above the tree line invite summer guests, as they have since the end of the last ice age.
30:40Red deer are back.
30:53After half a year down in the woods, red deer seem impatient to enjoy the sprawling pastures with their luxury of fresh herbs.
31:10Stags shed their antlers after the rut.
31:17To grow new ones just takes three and a half months, from March to mid-July.
31:23During the summer, the stags flock together in all male groups.
31:29Calfs and their mothers form their own herds.
31:48Among red deer, twins are a rare sight.
32:01Some ranges are not green at all.
32:18Limestone cast formations are usually dry and rugged, uninviting except for avid alpinists.
32:26The grip and traction of these hooves are almost magical.
32:36Total control of balance, sureness of foot and no fear of heights are among the outstanding features alpine ibex have developed in their giddying habitat.
32:49It's lonely at the top, and that's exactly why ibex came to live up here.
33:04Once humans had conquered the high alps, ibex were nearly wiped out.
33:09Today, they are back, but face new challenges.
33:21Ibex are best adapted to the cold and suffer in hot weather.
33:28At this time of year, mothers and kids like to play and rest on the last snow fields.
33:35But now, instead of old snow, they often rest on dry scree.
33:50300 miles to the west, and some 6,500 feet up, on granite, a similar scene.
34:04Grazing is sparse up here, but the world of the ibex is changing.
34:21The high alps are getting greener, just like the arctic.
34:27Glaciers are losing ground, which is soon colonized by hardy green pioneers.
34:40It's heavy horns is tiring, but after grazing, ruminants must rest in any case.
34:47Lately, however, even up here, the peace has been disturbed.
34:59Ever warmer summers bring horse flies and other parasites to an altitude where they had not ventured before.
35:11The animals are stressed.
35:18Many lose weight and get sick.
35:24Worst of all, the new pests are affecting their reproduction rate.
35:29A warming climate means more than just stifling heat.
35:43While baking and drying out the slopes, the summer sun forces a glacial runoff.
36:02The net loss of ice each year is stunning.
36:09As hanging glaciers disintegrate, huge volumes of ice and rock thunder down into the deep.
36:27As ancient ice is gone, it's gone.
36:33Debris-covered glaciers may last a little longer, but also waste away from inside.
36:52In the forest snowfields, mothers and ants run an alpine kindergarten.
37:10Some of these ants are gifted dance instructors.
37:15Delighted, the kids join in.
37:30It's been very difficult for us to make the most defensively lockdowns.
37:33Let's go.
37:34It was a sk RN.
37:35The Miami ace is still to be seen.
37:36There's a lot of pressure for me to move.
37:38Let's come back here.
37:39Theِan came when you come back.
37:40It's the same as tossing water.
37:41What?
37:43The area is your place?
37:44The animation is a baby.
37:46TheWorld has two small horses.
37:47The planet is really almost dead.
37:49The planet is into the world.
37:51The planet has been a lot of space.
37:52The planet has been a tropical, but the planet has been a very good time.
37:54It's the same for us.
37:55It's a world of sun, but the world has produced the planet.
37:57The planet has been a very new world that has managed to be the rest to the planet.
38:28And now, refreshments.
38:41But all of a sudden, the party is over.
38:53For a few weeks, chamois kids are just the perfect size for a hunting eagle.
38:58A welcome change from the eagle's staple food, and easier to get.
39:10However, eight out of ten eagle kills are marmots, most of them youngsters.
39:16Even these heavyweights once had a risky childhood.
39:30When rough play gets too rough, mother has to interfere.
39:45The eagle is always on her mind.
39:47The old eagle's trick, pretending to leave, letting the target relax.
40:05Then a surprise return, under the radar.
40:24Decelerating from 150 miles an hour.
40:51Not even a cheetah would outrun an eagle.
40:56They must have heard the mother panting, and also that deadly swoosh of wings.
41:23How good to be alive.
41:37For the eagle mother too, someone is waiting.
41:40Of the two hatchlings of three months ago, one has survived.
41:46It's time for take-off.
41:51The mother goads him on.
41:54Knowing that he's hungry, she's placed a carcass.
41:56It must be the scariest and yet the most glorious moment in an eagle's life.
42:17And so satisfying to a mother.
42:20Leaving behind the limits of a single viewpoint, it's an explosion of perspectives.
42:30That ravenous hunger is forgotten.
42:48Together, they soar.
43:00During the year ahead, both parents will teach the young bird how to make it in this mountain wilderness.
43:09In this harsh environment, the bud of a glacier crowfoot takes two years to blossom.
43:27Now the flowers are gone within minutes.
43:30Both the snow vole and this hardy plant are ice age relics and champions of altitude.
43:47No other alpine mammal covers a range from 1,000 up to 14,000 feet.
43:53Down under the scree, snow voles may seem like miniature marmots.
44:04But in spite of living under even harsher conditions up here, they do not hibernate,
44:10but spend the best part of the year in a labyrinth of tunnels under snow and ice.
44:23Everything flows.
44:35The light, the ice, even the rocks.
44:40Everything flows.
44:43The light, the ice, even the rocks.
44:51even the rocks glaciers are gigantic conveyor belts moving enormous volumes
45:03of rock
45:08this is the longest valley glacier in the Alps the famous Alic in 2020 it's still
45:16more than 12 miles long and more than half a mile thick
45:24due to a warming climate nearly all the glaciers of the Alps are shrinking by
45:31the end of this century not much will be left of the Alic glacier
45:38meltwater from the surface seeps deep into the ice transporting heat into the glaciers core
45:48when a glacier shrinks sooner or later accumulations of boulders screen sand
45:56dropped by the ice flow are conquered by the hardiest of trees
46:00prominent among these pioneers the stone pine how does it get up here the rasping calls of a
46:16special bird echo along the timberline where stone pines define the scenery the spotted nutcracker and
46:28the stone pine have a win-win deal
46:31stone pine seeds are too heavy to be spread by the wind this is where the nutcracker comes in
46:43harvesting stone pine seeds is less a matter of strength than skill
46:48begging from a parent is easier
47:06an adult flying off his crop bursting with pine nuts
47:16making sure that no one's watching he buries his load dozens of seeds in a single cache adding up to 16,000 per season
47:29these larders will get the bird through the winter next spring leftover seeds will sprout
47:40in the high alps there are really just two seasons one short and warm the other long and cold
47:56when cold air from the arctic flows south the sky changes and not just the sky
48:09frosty nights paint the green slopes red brown and yellow the colder the air the warmer the hues and the hotter the rut of the red deer
48:25commotion aggression jealousy unbridled lust rough roars and pungent perfumes make up a rotting ground
48:38each mature strong stag has staked a claim for his harem once females have made their choice they group around their stag
48:57while rivals close in from every side their females are synchronized ready to conceive for just a few hours at a time
49:11experienced stags will recognize this time window pushy young rivals don't
49:25relentlessly they try to steal hinds from stags of high status the females run from these invaders while a boss
49:47struggles to stave them off and round up his harem
49:59these constant scuffles are grueling
50:11a neighbor attempts a hasty copulation
50:13a neighbor attempts a hasty copulation
50:15he fiddles and fails and enrages the boss
50:25a
50:29a
50:31a
50:33a
50:35a
50:37a
50:39a
50:41a
50:43a
50:45a
50:47a
50:49a
50:51The challenger has lost the fight, but he can force a straying female back into his fold.
51:14The calving season in spring will show whether their all-out efforts have been fruitful.
51:21The warm half of the year is over.
51:34Up on the highest peaks, winter has never really ended.
51:41For the eagle and all the wildlife, harsh days lie ahead.
51:46But also the stunning glory of winter in the Alps.
51:56It takes an eagle's eye and wings to pan out across the full range and richness,
52:03the gamut of life and landscapes encompassed by the Alps.
52:08Nature's journey into the Alps continues.
52:29Here there are two seasons, one short and warm, the other long and cold.
52:35But the face of the Alps is changing.
52:39Snow melt threatens what used to be called the eternal ice.
52:43For alpine inhabitants, harsh days lie ahead.
52:47But also the stunning glory of winter.
52:50version of the Stronger
52:54learned in the first days later on
52:56The End
53:00On top of the world
53:02of theconduct
53:10To learn more about what you've seen on this nature program, visit pbs.org.
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