00:003, 2, 1, ready or not, here I come.
00:15Shhh, Pia, Costa will find us if you wriggle around.
00:19Shush yourself, Romeo.
00:21They're not behind the recycling bin, and they're not under the trampoline.
00:26Ah-ha, I found you.
00:30My Gardening Australia junior crew is hiding behind this tree hollow.
00:35Duh.
00:36Sorry, I couldn't hold the sneeze in.
00:39Wow, this is such an impressive specimen you have in your backyard.
00:43Most tree hollows are nowhere near this big.
00:46It's just a hole in a tree trunk.
00:48It's more than just a hole.
00:50This would be a mansion for a possum, owl or glider.
00:54It's a bit like a cubby house.
00:56Love it.
00:57Nature's cubby.
00:58How does a tree get like this anyway?
01:01How do tree hollows form?
01:03That is such a good question, and I reckon we should go for a walk through the national
01:08park next door to find the answer.
01:11I'll lead the way.
01:12There's a truck I ride my bike along sometimes.
01:14Perfect.
01:16Race ya.
01:16Whoa.
01:19Whoa.
01:19These trees look old.
01:22Psst.
01:22Pia, is Costa sprinkling crumbs along the truck so we don't get lost?
01:26I don't think so.
01:28It looks more like that.
01:30It's my compost.
01:32It's made from things like plants, food scraps, and even paper that turns into a mixture to
01:38help the garden grow.
01:39Wow.
01:40A sprinkle here and a sprinkle there makes the real world disappear.
01:46All it touches will grow tall, and you will seem so very small.
01:52Whoa.
01:52I think it's working.
01:55Look at that grass shooting up.
01:56It's not just the grass.
01:58It's the banksia trees.
02:00The tops of them are touching the sky.
02:04Was that a monster kookaburra?
02:06G-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g
02:08Why is everything so humongously humongous?
02:16Everything except for us.
02:18It's my compost. It's magic.
02:20It makes everything enormous, but never fear.
02:24It wears off after a few minutes.
02:26I thought it would be handy to sprinkle around the bush
02:29so we can get a close-up look at some tree hollers.
02:33Cool.
02:33Oh, why do we need a close-up look?
02:36The cubby in Romeo's backyard was easy to see.
02:39Like I said, that was way bigger than most tree hollows.
02:43We're standing in front of one right now
02:45that you probably wouldn't even notice
02:47if my compost hadn't supersized it.
02:52Oh, it looks like a cave.
02:55Hello in there.
02:56Oh, bats!
02:59Hang on, that bat wasn't giant.
03:02Maybe your compost missed it.
03:03Actually, that was a microbat.
03:06In a regular-sized world, it's smaller than your pinky finger.
03:10Aw, cute!
03:12And this tree hollow isn't much bigger.
03:15It looks a bit black around the edges.
03:17Good spotting.
03:18I reckon this hollow was caused by a small fire.
03:22There was a fire in this bush.
03:25Luckily, the firefighters put it out before it spread.
03:28That is lucky.
03:30Too right.
03:31Even though a blaze burnt this hole in the tree
03:33and created a home for the microbat,
03:36bushfires are usually bad news.
03:38They can totally destroy entire trees,
03:41as well as some really old hollows.
03:44How old?
03:45It can take a hundred years or more for tree hollows to form,
03:49especially the bigger ones.
03:51A hundred years?
03:53That's way older than our grandparents.
03:56But why does it take so long?
03:59I'm getting to that.
04:02Pets aren't allowed in national parks, Costa.
04:05I'm not calling my dog.
04:07I'm calling my mate, Terry.
04:10Whoa!
04:11Is your mate an enormous butterfly?
04:15I don't think he's a butterfly because his wings are see-through.
04:18Oh, yeah.
04:18His buddy looks more like an enormous ant.
04:21Terry is terrifying.
04:23He's a termite.
04:25I didn't know termites could fly.
04:27The worker termites can't,
04:29but the future kings and queens can.
04:31Ooh, Terry, nice to meet you, Your Royal Highness.
04:34Should we bow?
04:36No need for that.
04:38Terry's going to take us to meet some of his mates.
04:41Let's climb onto his body.
04:44Terry has a shell.
04:46And it's a bit bumpy.
04:48Nestle your butt into one of his ridges.
04:50They're like seats.
04:53OK, we're ready.
04:54Terry, time for take-off.
05:00Whee!
05:02Hello down there.
05:05So this is what the bush looks like to an insect.
05:08The tree trunks are the size of skyscrapers.
05:11Most of them are solid in the middle,
05:13but Terry and his mates are renovating the one up ahead.
05:17Whoa!
05:18There are hundreds of Terry's buddies in that tree.
05:21Maybe even thousands.
05:22It's a termite takeover.
05:25Let's land and say g'day.
05:28Hi, everyone.
05:29Terry dropped us off to check out your work.
05:32They don't seem to be doing much work.
05:35Yeah.
05:36They're all eating.
05:38That is their work.
05:39They enter the tree from underground.
05:41Then they slowly but surely munch passages and tunnels
05:45through the trunk and branches.
05:48Let's follow them inside.
05:52Whoa!
05:54This is a long tunnel.
05:55The termites' mouths are pretty small.
05:58It's going to take them a while to eat through a whole entire tree.
06:01Exactly.
06:02But termites can eat and eat and eat until they're strong jaws and sharp teeth, nor a tree hollow.
06:11But you said it can take hundreds of years to make a tree hollow.
06:15Can these termites chew non-stop for that long?
06:19Ha ha!
06:20No way.
06:21They'll pass the work on to new termites, other bugs, even hungry fungi.
06:27Mushrooms?
06:28Mushies are one type of fungi.
06:30But there's also a strange type of fungi growing outside.
06:34Come out and have a look.
06:35That white powdery stuff in the bark?
06:40Yep.
06:41It slowly rots the tree.
06:43So slowly you don't even notice.
06:45Until eventually the tree wilts and a crack or hole appears in the branches or trunk.
06:51I don't want to sit here for a hundred years watching that fungi eat the tree.
06:55Yeah.
06:56Boring!
06:58Look out!
07:00Duck!
07:00Whoa!
07:02Phew!
07:03That was close.
07:04The weather helps too.
07:06Strong wind and even lightning strikes can snap branches and crack trees to create hollows inside.
07:14Bad weather!
07:15No, not bad.
07:16We want nature to help make tree hollows.
07:19They're super important shelter for so much of our native wildlife.
07:23Hello cocky!
07:25Like that fella.
07:29Was it just me or is that cockatoo not so big?
07:33Maybe it was a micro cockatoo?
07:36No such thing.
07:37It's the magic compost wearing off.
07:40Oh yeah!
07:41Terry is shrinking.
07:42He's friends too.
07:44Bye termos.
07:46Good luck with your hollow.
07:48It feels like we're getting taller.
07:50No, the trees are getting shorter.
07:53Almost done.
07:55That feels better.
07:59We should get home.
08:01Yeah, we've got a game of hide and seek to finish.
08:04Make sure Terry doesn't hitch a ride on your shoes.
08:06Why?
08:07You don't want termites in your house.
08:09They can eat through buildings as well as trees.
08:12Stay away from my bedroom.
08:14I have a sign on the door.
08:16Keep out.
08:16Especially Terry.
08:17You know how I said tree hollows are super important habitat for wildlife?
08:26Yeah.
08:27One of the reasons is because some animals can't make nests themselves.
08:31They depend on nature to do it for them.
08:34Should we go back to the national park and tell Terry to work harder?
08:38No, but we can...
08:40I don't think my teeth are strong enough to chew a hole into a tree.
08:43We don't need to do that either.
08:46But what we can do is put nest boxes in trees.
08:49I'm not allowed to use hammers and nails.
08:51Or cutting tools like saws.
08:53They're dangerous.
08:54Of course, building a nest box is definitely something you need a grown-up to take the lead on.
09:00But just so you know, nest boxes are best made from hardwood.
09:04And you can paint them so they don't rot quickly.
09:07Or get eaten by hungry fungi.
09:09Yep, and they should have an opening for animals or birds to easily get in and out.
09:16Microbats only need a little gap.
09:18That's right.
09:19But possums need a bigger hole.
09:21You should also put nest boxes in safe spots, away from lots of people or cars,
09:27and attach them to trees at different heights.
09:30Think about what type of animal might be using it and whether they can crawl or climb or fly.
09:36That's it.
09:37Let's put nest boxes on every tree in the whole wide world.
09:41That would take a lot longer than 100 years.
09:44I will not be sharing my magic compost recipe.
09:51Please do not sprinkle any compost, magic or not, on anything except soil.
09:53In fact, don't sprinkle compost anywhere without the help of a grown-up.
09:56You never know what magic might happen.
09:59If you like the Gardening Australia Junior podcast,
10:02make sure you check out the TV show too.
10:05You'll find us on ABC iview.
