The Mighty Mississippi (Full Episode) | America the Beautiful | Nat Geo Animals

0:02 NARRATOR: It is the greatest mash-up of rivers in North America.

0:08 The Mississippi meets the Missouri, and then...

0:13 hello, Ohio.

0:15 Together, a torrential team.

0:19 They converge on one wild stretch of waterway

0:23 to make a magnet for nature's miracles: the sweet...

0:30 the savage...

0:33 and the strange...

0:36 all hidden within the mighty Mississippi.

0:40 (music) (music) (music) Place three large, frigid rivers in a bowl.

1:05 Take all the ice and snow they've collected over winter and apply heat.

1:12 (music) Then sprinkle in some spring rains.

1:26 It's a recipe for disaster.

1:31 There's a part of the Mississippi River

1:34 where such a flood can run virtually unchecked.

1:38 (music) A force of nature with no dams or locks.

1:49 A 200-mile stretch that's both powerful and untamed.

1:54 (music) It starts where the Missouri River meets the Mississippi,

2:05 and it goes down to where the Ohio joins the fun.

2:13 Out here, nature gets to run its course.

2:17 (music) But all this water threatens dens among the banks.

2:29 These young red foxes may soon have to find a new home.

2:34 (music) (music) (mewing and chattering)

2:48 (mewing and chattering) They're only pups, but they are ready to explore.

3:00 (music) (music) It seems the kits don't

3:11 waste a thought on floods or future hardships.

3:17 But Mom knows it can get tough.

3:22 Her coat is patchy, possibly from mange— a skin disease caused by mites.

3:29 Her partner?

3:30 He's around less, now that the pups are getting older.

3:34 But she still has to care for them.

3:37 She's now a single parent giving her young all she can, while she can...

3:46 seeing them through their own troubles.

3:51 This little tyke got a stick in the eye, but he'll recover...

4:01 ...thanks in part to the scraps his mom brings to the table.

4:10 In another six months, they'll be off on their own.

4:16 Red foxes roam more of the planet than any other canine species.

4:23 But their footprint is firm in the Middle Mississippi.

4:30 It is an area unique in all America.

4:37 It's the home of the biggest river rendezvous in the lower 48.

4:43 First, the mighty Mississippi, then, north of St.

4:49 Louis, bring on the Missouri, and just 200 miles or so farther on, in Cairo,

4:57 Illinois, they meet the Ohio to make a triple header.

5:05 Geologists call this stretch the Middle Mississippi,

5:10 and it holds the most powerful convergence of water in the nation.

5:15 (thunder) Water is life.

5:22 So it makes sense that the three rivers

5:25 area draws a huge cast of animal characters.

5:28 (music) The soil is soft and easy to dig.

5:37 (music) The grasses provide food.

5:43 (music) And the trees give shelter from the elements.

5:55 Thousands of birds use nest boxes that conservationists have

5:59 been building for them for nearly a hundred years.

6:03 (flapping) (chirping) Inside,

6:09 a mother wood duck has made a feather-down bed for a fragile family of eggs.

6:17 It's spring, so this new generation of wood ducks is ready to enter the world.

6:24 (music) (music) (music) (music) (chirping) (music) At birth,

6:50 they are about as helpless as it gets,

6:54 but the learning curve is steep for these guys.

7:00 There's no food up here,

7:02 so they have just 36 hours to leave the nest, or starve.

7:08 And it's a long way down.

7:11 (music) Mom checks in.

7:19 (music) Once most of her babies have hatched, she signals them to come on down

7:28 with a special call she uses this time each year.

7:38 (twittering) (twittering) She needs to get them to the river,

7:48 where she can protect them.

7:49 (twittering) First step, get out of the nest.

7:57 (music) It's a leap of faith.

8:04 (music) (chirping) (music) (music) Their tiny wings can't carry them.

8:23 But, hey, ya gotta try.

8:25 (music) (music) (music) The duck dive.

8:49 The back flip.

8:51 (music) Each has its own heroic style.

9:04 The leaves cushion the landing.

9:07 (chirping) But that's just the beginning.

9:13 The water is a hundred feet away.

9:19 That's a short walk for us,

9:21 but a life-and-death marathon for a duckling that weighs less than an ounce.

9:27 (music) (music) Mom leads the way.

9:41 But there are some stragglers.

9:46 It often happens.

9:50 A couple of ducks miss the mom train.

9:53 (music) (music) (music) These two siblings may pay dearly for their tardiness.

10:18 (chirping) Now they must tackle the path ahead all by themselves.

10:25 And danger is everywhere.

10:29 Foxes, bobcats, raptors...

10:36 and one hungry black rat snake, right at their level.

10:44 Less than two days old, and the journey of a lifetime.

10:58 (music) NARRATOR: Even without Mom,

11:05 these baby wood ducks instinctively know they must move

11:10 fast through the undergrowth and towards the Mississippi River.

11:19 They run a gauntlet where they may be the main course.

11:24 All they have on their side is each other.

11:29 How long their little lives will last

11:32 may depend entirely on how this journey ends.

11:36 (music) (music) (music) (music) (music) Finally,

12:07 they make it to the water and can join the family.

12:13 (chirping) (music) (chirping) (quacking) (music) Here

12:37 in the heart of the three rivers,

12:39 Mom can keep watch while they eat their greens and bugs and grow strong.

12:47 But there are still threats.

12:51 Some of the biggest are just around the bend.

12:59 (music) (music) (music) (music) (music) They are

13:26 as still as statues, a strange sight.

13:31 They appear as rocks.

13:35 But this is flesh and blood.

13:39 They're at the surface to breathe, but frozen.

13:43 Their metabolism is slow, and they have a lifetime of practicing stealth.

13:50 These are alligator snapping turtles, famous for their powerful jaws.

13:58 (music) (music) Down below,

14:11 they patrol the depths and shallows of the waterways.

14:18 They are the heavyweight predators down here.

14:24 They grow to more than 200 pounds and live for up to 70 years.

14:34 The males never leave the water.

14:41 And the females...

14:44 just once a year.

14:46 (bird squawking) A perilous annual sojourn.

14:52 This is a mission of maternal duty.

14:57 Female alligator snapping turtles must find a spot

15:01 about 50 yards from the river's edge.

15:04 (music) Somewhere with soft soil.

15:11 (music) And she begins an excavation.

15:20 (music) (music) (music) Her sharp claws break the dirt.

15:43 And her hind legs work like shovels.

15:50 It can take hours.

15:55 Well into the night.

16:02 Every minute she's here, she's vulnerable, exposed to predators.

16:14 Even the bugs seem to know she won't move until she's done.

16:24 This is a job that can't be rushed.

16:29 She appears to enter a trance.

16:34 Then, at last.

16:37 (music) (music) She mated two months ago, and now she lays her eggs.

16:59 Throughout the long night, she lays from ten to as many as fifty.

17:04 (music) (music) This may be the only contact she ever has with her offspring.

17:23 But she carefully tends to their most immediate need.

17:30 To remain hidden from predators.

17:33 (music) (music) It's been a hard night's work.

17:50 But will her eggs even make it to morning?

17:55 She returns, knowing nothing but exhaustion.

18:02 (splash) (music) NARRATOR: Turtles are just one of hundreds of species

18:21 drawn to the three rivers of Middle Mississippi.

18:25 (music) The rivers also attract people, especially those who like to fish.

18:38 (motor humming) The lower levels of the tributaries are easy to navigate.

18:54 In some sections, the channels are only six feet deep.

18:58 (music) (music) It's in these low-lying waterways that anglers need to beware.

19:14 It's calm on top.

19:19 But there is great danger below.

19:28 They search for just the right fishing hole...

19:31 (music) (music) (music) Hoping to catch a white bass.

19:58 Unaware that any second they may trigger an ambush attack.

20:05 All it takes is a passing boat.

20:10 (motor buzzing) (splashing) Asian carp jump en masse.

20:27 (music) (music) A reflex triggered by anything

20:37 that sounds and feels to them like danger.

20:44 Carp in these parts can weigh up to a hundred pounds,

20:48 but it's these five or ten pounders that are the big jumpers.

20:52 (music) No surprise for seasoned anglers out here...

21:04 but the carp have broken noses and knocked people unconscious.

21:11 In America, they aren't popular for eating.

21:18 The Asian carp was introduced to the United States

21:22 in the 1970s to control weeds on fish farms.

21:27 Some escaped.

21:29 They multiplied.

21:34 And now, they can be hard to escape.

21:40 The sound of their own boat engine keeps the fish coming.

21:45 They are the unwitting conductors of an aerial ballet.

21:50 (waltz music playing) (waltz music playing) (waltz music

22:06 playing) (waltz music playing) (waltz music playing) (waltz

22:22 music playing) (waltz music playing) Asian carp continue

22:39 to spread throughout the convergence and farther north.

22:44 Some fishery experts expect carp to soon reach 31 states...

22:51 taking over the three rivers area and 40%

22:54 of the waterways in the continental United States.

23:03 There's another invasion about to take place here.

23:09 One of biblical proportions.

23:24 NARRATOR: Every year in the Middle Mississippi area,

23:28 one of summer's cooler days triggers a landmark event.

23:33 (music) (music) Some mayflies live in the river as nymphs for more than a year.

23:47 (music) Now they hatch with wings...

23:56 and surface all at once.

24:00 (fluttering) (music) They weigh down the branches of young

24:13 trees like a bumper crop of graying leaves.

24:17 They're not just hanging out; they have important business here.

24:26 They slow down...

24:33 and one by one...

24:37 become frozen in time.

24:45 At least on the outside.

24:54 On the inside, a new creature is ready to break out of the old skin.

25:00 (music) (music) This molting is their final transition into adulthood.

25:17 (music) (music) (music) (music) At this point, they are vulnerable.

25:44 And the blackbirds and grackles know it.

25:47 (music) (music) They don't get meals this easy every day.

26:03 (music) (music) This is a special feast

26:15 that happens on just a few days each year.

26:22 Those mayflies who do make it emerge with a brand-new body...

26:29 and ready to find a mate.

26:32 There's only one catch.

26:36 But it's a doozy.

26:39 This is the last day of their lives.

26:43 Most will only live for the next 24 hours.

26:49 No time to waste.

26:52 They must find a mate in the frenzy, and the clock is ticking.

26:57 (music) (music) (music) (music) There are obstacles to dodge.

27:25 But most won't be stopped.

27:27 Not today.

27:33 Up and down the Mississippi, they create their own rush hour.

27:38 (music) (music) Their numbers grow so dense,

27:51 they can appear as clouds on Doppler radar.

27:56 So little time for romance, they mate on the fly.

28:04 The females then lay their eggs in the river, as many as 10,000 of them each.

28:12 They danced in the dark— a party fit for their final day on Earth.

28:20 Now they return from whence they came, as corpses,

28:25 to the swelling waters of the three wild rivers.

28:30 (music) The Ohio adds its own super power to this alliance of rivers.

28:42 By volume, it is the biggest contributor to the Mississippi River,

28:48 and she doubles the discharge rate to nearly

28:50 a half million cubic feet of water per second.

28:58 When the river is high,

29:00 it could fill more than 400 Olympic swimming pools every minute.

29:05 (music) The only thing that helps temper the flow is the season.

29:14 (music) It's getting close to fall.

29:21 (music) Temperatures begin to cool off.

29:31 And time to see if the turtle eggs,

29:34 laid in the spring, will finally produce young.

29:45 NARRATOR: The alligator snapping turtle eggs have

29:49 been incubating in the ground for three months.

29:53 Now this.

29:59 They don't crack like a bird egg.

30:02 (music) They are softer, more rubbery.

30:12 It takes a good bit of pecking and clawing

30:15 to get out and into their nest cavity.

30:21 As with many epic journeys, the first steps can be the most challenging...

30:28 and the stickiest.

30:33 They still get nutrients from the egg sac attached to their bellies.

30:40 When it's gone, instinct drives them to dig their way out.

30:45 (music) (music) (music) (music) They know which way to go.

31:15 But, like the wood ducks,

31:18 getting there alive may be the biggest challenge they ever face.

31:29 Their shells are already hard, but that isn't enough to protect them

31:35 against the many predators that lurk nearby.

31:41 Especially this menacing blue heron.

31:49 This time, a sunfish.

31:54 But it will eat a baby turtle.

31:59 The turtles may grow to be giants.

32:04 But right now it seems like everything

32:07 is bigger than this tiny one-ounce creature.

32:12 The terrain becomes an obstacle course.

32:24 (chirping) (music) (music) Finally, entrance into their new home.

32:48 Water never tasted so good.

32:50 (music) (music) Their chances of long-term survival just dramatically increased.

33:07 (music) (music) (music) On their side they have camouflage...

33:27 and the ability to use their snouts like snorkels...

33:34 and make like a living rock.

33:42 The return of winter is now just a matter of time.

33:46 (screeching) Creatures on all three rivers must prepare.

33:54 This muskrat works on a hut that would make

33:58 a beaver jealous— a giant mass of grasses, mud, and cattails.

34:08 It's a sturdy home...

34:11 with just one flaw.

34:13 (honking) It's not soundproof.

34:17 (honking) (honking) That becomes a problem every year...

34:31 (honking) when something extraordinary happens.

34:39 (honking) NARRATOR: There's a chill in the air near Mound City, Missouri.

35:01 Snow geese stop here on the Missouri River each winter to freshen up.

35:07 (honking) They're migrating down from the Arctic, headed to the Gulf of Mexico.

35:15 (honking) What starts as hundreds...

35:21 (honking) soon grows to thousands.

35:26 (honking) Then tens of thousands fill the sky.

35:32 (honking) More noisy neighbors than a muskrat can handle.

35:40 (honking) By the week's end, hundreds of thousands of geese have flown in.

35:48 (honking) (honking) (honking) But not all will leave alive.

36:05 (music) Bald eagles sometimes eat snow geese.

36:19 Those eagles, just a few years old or younger,

36:23 don't have their white heads yet, but they still have an appetite.

36:30 The geese know the threat.

36:33 They panic.

36:35 (flapping and honking) (honking) (honking) (music)

36:55 (honk) They leave a sick bird behind...

37:00 and with little hope.

37:02 (chirping) (honk) (music) (honk) The goose is cooked.

37:22 (music) (music) The eagles fight for pieces and argue over the spoils.

37:40 (chirping) (music) (chirping and screeching) (honking) After a week-long stay...

38:02 the massive flock of geese, and some ducks, move on south.

38:08 (honking) (honking) (honking) (honking) (honking)

38:38 (honking) (honking) (honking) Aerial calligraphy.

38:58 (honking) (honking) Translated, it says, 'Ta ta,

39:14 Missouri.' 'We're off to find warmer waters.' Meanwhile,

39:24 the Missouri River heads east for a journey of its own.

39:32 It must rendezvous with the Middle Mississippi

39:35 and add its weight to the three rivers area.

39:40 It carries with it the kind of cold that's hard to shake.

39:45 (music) (music) Yet, even in the darkest depths of winter, there is life.

40:02 (music) (music) And some of it is having a lot of fun.

40:16 River otters live on all three rivers.

40:22 This family can't get enough of that slippery, slide-y, snow-white surface.

40:29 (music) (music) (music) (music) (music) No need to hibernate like other mammals.

41:00 River otters have oily waterproof fur to protect them from the cold.

41:06 (music) And frigid water?

41:15 Not a problem.

41:24 They can stay under the ice, hunting for three to four minutes.

41:30 And sometimes they need to.

41:35 They'll eat as much as 20% of their body weight every day.

41:48 'Wanna share?' 'Well,

41:54 okay.' (music) And an otter family that hangs together plays together.

42:11 You don't usually think of carefree days in winter.

42:16 But that's what these are, in the three rivers area.

42:25 In this water, there flows the essence of America.

42:31 (music) Ultimately, it's all called the Mississippi.

42:44 But that's water from 31 of the lower 48 states— two-thirds of the country.

42:55 And it's the Middle Mississippi where most of that comes together.

43:01 This special section represents the country in another way, too.

43:09 The 200 miles from Saint Louis...

43:14 down past Cape Girardeau...

43:18 and to Cairo, Illinois is a powerful and wild stretch of the Mississippi.

43:25 (music) (music) And the animals seem to know it.

43:35 (honking) They converge here, too...

43:43 for a taste of what all these rivers can offer...

43:48 to live in this part of America, where they,

43:54 like the rivers, can flow free, roam wide, and remain wild.