Name: Great Plains
Released: 2017-03-10
Cast: Sigourney Weaver, David Attenborough

1) velt

And nowhere is more impressive than on the velt of South Africa.
2) straggler

A few exhausted straggler are still arriving.
3) grazer

but the most numerous grazer in Tibet lives underground.
4) pickings

The colony is well defended. There are no easy pickings here.
5) matriarch

Relying on memory, the matriarch lead their families to those special water holes
6) squatter

but even so, squatter will move in given half a chance.
7) pika

pika never stray far from their burrows
8) recompense

A juicy snail is ample recompense for sodden paws.
9) inhabitant

All inhabitant of the Great Plains are exposed to the elements.
10) pecker

While ground pecker and snow finches can be a nuisance
11) baboon

Baboons are permanent residents but they have to change their behavior
12) gazelle

Gazelles are born to run, and even young calves easily outpace the flames
13) piglet

Each piglet may be small enough to fit in the palm of a hand
14) burrow

pikas never stray far from their burrow
15) desolation

The gazelles move on to new pastures and leave the desolation behind them.
16) youngster

New water poses problems for the youngster
17) plunder

so she stashes much of her plunder for later in the year
18) sprout

sprout once more.

1) encircle

The adults encircle their young.
2) outpace

Gazelles are born to run, and even young calves easily outpace the flames
3) submerge

Grass is submerge but still it grows.
4) condense

and condense into huge rain clouds.
5) prowl

Further south, other bigger predators prowl the tundra.
6) devour

The ravenous hordes devour the seeds
7) bathe

Here, soaked by rain and bathe in tropical sun
8) confine

Grass is not confine to the tropics.
9) cling

Grass cling to life
10) compel

She's driven away from every nest, but hunger compel her to continue.
11) scatter

For much of the time they're scatter through this vast landscape
12) stash

so she stash much of her plunder for later in the year
13) soak

Here, soak by rain and bathed in tropical sun
14) stray

pikas never stray far from their burrows
15) undergo

Africa's baked savannas undergo a radical change.
16) dominate

The elephants dominate the water hole
17) consume

With nothing to stand in it's way the blaze consume anything that can't flee.
18) weigh

Male bison weigh in at one ton.

1) tirelessly

As their appetites grow, the mother must work tirelessly to raise her family.
2) effortlessly

and eagles effortlessly cruise the thermals
3) vigorously

The grass grows vigorously during the short intense summer
4) upwards

As the moist air approaches it's forced upwards by the Himalayas
5) exceptionally

It's also exceptionally dry for one very big reason
6) desperately

but they must share what remains with desperately thirsty animals of all kinds.
7) nonetheless

nonetheless this female must incubate her eggs for three weeks
8) nowhere

And nowhere is more impressive than on the velt of South Africa.
9) barely

and a century ago the bison were reduced to barely a thousand.
10) overhead

Some flocks are so vast, that they could take five hours to pass overhead.
11) beneath

scanning the ground beneath for signs of prey.
12) rarely

temperatures rarely rise above freezing, and the air is thin.
13) rapidly

Able to repair and reproduce itself rapidly
14) somewhere

Somewhere in this immense landscape there is food for them.
15) underground

but the most numerous grazer in Tibet lives underground.
16) possibly

There are more eggs here than she can possibly eat now
17) newly

if they are to gather what they need on the newly flooded plains.
18) anywhere

found anywhere on Earth.

1) quarrelsome

Ideal sites are in short supply and quarrelsome neighbors are all around.
2) sodden

A juicy snail is ample recompense for sodden paws.
3) unfathomable

They come and go as they please and much of their behavior seems unfathomable
4) parched

and will often trek vast distances across these parched plains in search of oases.
5) ravenous

The ravenous hordes devour the seeds
6) frisky

It's a frisky business.
7) impenetrable

It's an impenetrable wall of grey.
8) pygmy

Pygmy hogs are no bigger than rabbits.
9) resourceful

Some resourceful animals live here all the year round.
10) desolate

It's a desolate silent wilderness
11) unnoticed

Sneaking up unnoticed is impossible.
12) eerie

Eerie silence
13) miraculous

This miraculous plant covers a quarter of all the lands of the Earth.
14) conspicuous

Wild ass are the most conspicuous pioneers of this high frontier
15) dormant

Temperatures rise, and grass that has lain dormant and frozen throughout the winter
16) thirsty

but they must share what remains with desperately thirsty animals of all kinds.
17) barren

Beyond the limits of the last tree the planet is barren and ice locked.
18) temperate

On temperate plains around the world summer is a time for growth and reproduction.

Planet Earth » Season 1 » Great Plains