Wild Kratts
Prairie Who?
Season 3 Episode 13 | 26m 25sVideo has Closed Captions
The crew gets separated from each other when a twister forces them to abandon ship.
A twister surprises the Tortuga in flight - and all the gang abandons ship and gets separated out on the prairie. While searching for each other, the Wild Kratts Team discovers the amazing species that inhabit the Prairie. Science Concept: Prairies - and interconnectedness of species to create wildlife community specific to wildlife habitat.
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
Wild Kratts
Prairie Who?
Season 3 Episode 13 | 26m 25sVideo has Closed Captions
A twister surprises the Tortuga in flight - and all the gang abandons ship and gets separated out on the prairie. While searching for each other, the Wild Kratts Team discovers the amazing species that inhabit the Prairie. Science Concept: Prairies - and interconnectedness of species to create wildlife community specific to wildlife habitat.
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
Where to Watch Wild Kratts
Wild Kratts is available to stream on pbs.org and the PBS app.
♪ Wild Kratts!
♪ MARTIN: Hey, we’re here in North America!
CHRIS: In the wide, open spaces known as the Prairies.
It’s us, the Kratt brothers!
I’m Chris.
I’m Martin.
The Prairies is a place where grass is the number-one type of vegetation.
CHRIS: And all this grass supports all sorts of cool prairie creatures.
The question is: prairie who?
Prairie who?
Yeah.
Who, of all these cool prairie creatures, are we going to hang out with first?
(Engine starting) The Prairie dog?
Master tunneler, living under the prairie grasses and eating them.
You know, prairie dogs eat more grass than any other species out here.
The big buffalo of the prairie, the American bison.
They’re grass-powered runners.
And you get out of the way of charging bison.
A prairie wolf!
AKA coyote.
A super-smart creature with all sorts of tricks.
He’s a stealthy predator, fond of mice, birds, and prairie dogs.
The Prairie Falcon, a speed-powered flyer, nearly as fast as the Peregrine falcon.
And then there’s prairie antelope!
The speediest creature out here, taking advantage of the wide, open spaces to out-race predators.
CHRIS: What about the venomous prairie rattlesnake?
She preys on small birds and mammals.
Or Prairie Chickens, who have a special courtship dance.
So, the question remains.
Prairie who?
Prairie who?
Hey, but imagine if we could run through this landscape like the animals.
Or fly above it.
Or tunnel under it.
Imagine if we had the creature powers of the prairie animals.
What if?
♪ ♪ On adventure with the coolest creatures ♪ ♪ From the oceans to the trees ♪ ♪ The Brothers Kratt are going places you never get to see ♪ ♪ Hanging with their creature friends ♪ ♪ Get ready, it’s the hour ♪ ♪ We’re gonna save some animals today with ♪ ♪ Creature Power ♪ ♪ Gonna go wild, Wild Kratts ♪ ♪ Gonna go wild, wild, Wild Kratts ♪ ♪ Gonna go wild, Wild Kratts ♪ ♪ Gonna go wild, wild, wild ♪ ♪ Cheetah speed and lizard glide ♪ ♪ Falcon flight and lion pride ♪ ♪ Gonna go wild, Wild Kratts ♪ ♪ Gonna go wild, wild, Wild Kratts ♪ ♪ Gonna go wild, Wild Kratts ♪ ♪ Gonna go wild, wild, Wild Kratts ♪ ♪ Go wild, wild, Wild Kratts ♪ (All singing:) ♪ Oh, give me a home where the buffalo roam ♪ ♪ And the deer and the antelope play ♪ ♪ Where there are so many creatures ♪ ♪ With all sorts of cool features ♪ ♪ We could adventure here for millions of days ♪ ♪ Home, home on the prairie ♪ (Laughing) Hey, so what animal do we want to check out today then?
Well, let’s start with an animal that has "prairie" in its name.
I like it!
Like a... Prairie dog!
Not a dog at all really, but a cute, big old ground squirrel.
Oh yeah, that’s a good one.
AVIVA: Or, the Prairie Chicken.
I love birds that can dance, and it can really put on a show.
Hey, if you want to bust a move with a cool bird, check out a Prairie Falcon.
This fast-flying relative of the Peregrine Falcon actually hunts Prairie Chickens.
Well, nobody is a better hunter than the crafty and wily prairie wolf!
AKA coyote.
What about prairie rattlesnake?
They eat a lot of prairie dogs and prairie voles.
Is there a prairie monkey?
(Bird hooting) Aah!
(Gasping) A Prairie Chicken!
This Prairie Chicken is looking really nervous.
Something’s bothering him.
This might be it.
We’re heading straight for some kind of a meteorological event.
It could be a thunderstorm, a blizzard, or a-- A twister!
(Rumbling) Jimmy, take it off autopilot and get us outta here!
Aaah!
(Alarm buzzing) (Gasping) Too late!
ALL: Whoa!
CHRIS: The tornado has us!
Whoa!
Oh!
Twisters occur over hot flat lands-- a common phenomenon of the prairie habitat.
The Tortuga’s taking a beating.
Whoa!
We have no choice, everybody.
No, don’t even think it.
But we have to!
Oof.
Waaah!
Oof.
The twister has the Tortuga in its clutches.
Abandon Turtle!
AVIVA: To the garage!
Ha!
The Tortuga is too large to escape the grip of the twister, but I think we can each take smaller, lighter, high-powered individual flying devices to get out.
Let’s go!
Let’s meet up on the outside!
MARTIN: I’m right behind you, bro.
Wah!
Whoa!
Ride out with maximum power!
Ooh.
KOKI: Waaah!
How are we ever going to find each other?
(Yelling) Oof!
(Groaning) (Yelling) Ugh!
Ow.
Aaah!
Oh.
Hmmm.
(Grunting) Ugh.
Ohhh.
Ugh.
(Groaning) No one in sight.
All right, then.
First step of emergency Wild Kratt protocol would dictate that I make contact.
Calling all creatures-- (Beeping) Argh, not working.
This must because of interference or damage to the Tortuga’s central communications system.
Hm.
I’ll have to override with the emergency transponder to send an emergency message issuing a meeting point.
Calling all Wild Kratts!
Let’s join up with a prairie animal.
Hmmm that gives me an idea.
Find a prairie rattlesnake at its sunning spot where this cool creature will be warming up after the storm.
Let’s all meet up there!
CHRIS’S VOICE: Let’s join up with a prairie animal.
Find a prairie... (Static crackling) ...where this cool creature will... (Static crackling) Let’s all meet up there!
Prairie what?
He must mean Prairie Chicken.
He would pick something that is advertising itself and we all saw it fly through the Tortuga so he knows we all know what it looks like, so it would be the most logical animal to pick.
I’ve got to find a Prairie Chicken.
Prairie which?
Find a prairie... (Static crackling) ...where this cool creature will... (Static crackling) Let’s all meet up there!
Chris likes to climb, so he’ll want to meet in a tree where a prairie monkey lives.
So I have to search for a prairie monkey!
Now I just have to find a tree.
Hmm.
Prairie where?
Chris must have meant that goes for prairie dog, the most common animal and the most easy to find.
That would be the most logical place to meet.
All I have to do is go to the nearest prairie-dog town and everybody else will be there.
Prairie who?
Ho-ho, that’s easy.
My brother would go for an animal with an awesome creature power-- either a prairie wolf or a Prairie Falcon.
CHRIS: Ah, emergency beacon has been sent, and I think I really nailed it with the meeting spot.
A prairie rattlesnake is the perfect animal to find.
On a stormy day, he lays out in the sun after the clouds pass to warm up.
You can’t miss him.
(Rattling) Ohhh.
I got the message.
They’ll all be here in no time.
My plan is foolproof.
So, prairie rattlesnakes are territorial, right?
(Rattling) Yeah, in this area, there’s only one in a square-mile territory.
So figuring where we’ve landed, everybody should be gravitating to the nearest rattlesnake, and that’s you, right here.
(Hooting) Huh?
(Gasping) A Prairie Chicken!
And this is a lek.
That means something exciting may be happening soon, because a lek is where a male Prairie Chicken does his dance display.
(Bird hooting) I love bird dances!
They are my favorite thing in the creature world!
Heehee!
Am I the only one seeing this?
(Giggling) That is some dance-floor flair hidden under those feathers.
(Hooting) That sound’s called booming.
He’s bringing the boom.
(Hooting) The female Prairie Chickens are attracted to the sound of the dancing Prairie Chicken.
Chris said to meet at the Prairie Chicken.
Where is everybody?
Why aren’t Chris, Martin, Jimmy and Koki showing up?
♪ Huh?
Thousands and thousands of prairie dogs!
But how come I’m the only human?
Where are all the Wild Kratts?
(Squeaking) What?
What did I do?
(Squeaking) If I remember this right, there can be millions of prairie dogs in one town and they can cover 100 square miles.
Martin, Chris, Aviva, and Jimmy could be anywhere out there.
Maybe this isn’t the best place to meet.
(Squeaking) Is everyone of you gonna holler at me when I walk by?
(Squeaking) ♪ Home, home on the prairie ♪ ♪ Where the falcon is flying so high ♪ ♪ Where the grass is so green and the air is so clean ♪ ♪ And there isn’t a cloud in the sky-eee ♪ Incoming!
Whoa.
There you are, Prairie Falcon.
Almost as fast as your cousin the Peregrine, aren’t you?
Hey, Prairie Falcons are so similar to Peregrine Falcons.
Maybe I can activate falcon powers using the Peregrine Falcon disc... and touching a Prairie Falcon!
Hah-- I don’t know, Chris, was it really such a good idea to meet up with a bird that can fly so fast and so far?
Hey, wait up!
Huh.
Got to find a tree somewhere on the prairie.
Oof!
A tree!
Huh?
No prairie monkey?
No signal!
That’s why can’t I find any pictures of a prairie monkey.
What does a prairie monkey look like anyway?
Huh.
(Hooting) Ooh!
(Gasping) Ah!
All right!
The Prairie Chicken uses the tall grass to hide in.
Phew, that was a close one!
Hey-- Huh?
Wait up-- Ah!
Oof.
Aviva!
You found the Prairie Falcon too!
No.
I was waiting with the Prairie Chicken and you and your Prairie Falcon scared him away.
Why were you waiting with a Prairie Chicken?
I think that’s where Chris meant for us to meet up.
But I could have got it wrong.
Me too.
I just kind of guessed he meant for us to meet up at an animal with a really cool creature power like a Prairie Falcon or a prairie wolf.
Have you tried the prairie wolf yet?
Not yet.
I guess that’s next on our list.
Yeah.
Let’s go find a prairie wolf!
(Squeaking) (Squeaking) (Squeaking) Okay, is every one of you doing that?
(All squeaking) This is really starting to get to me.
(Squeaking) Yip!
Oh no!
Now I’m doing it too!
(Squeaking) Yip!
I got to get out of here.
Yip, yip, yip!
You know, Aviva, prairie wolves-- also known as coyotes-- might be the smartest wild animal in North America.
They’re that smart?
MARTIN: Yeah!
Three hundred years ago, coyotes lived mainly out here on the Prairies.
But they are so intelligent and adaptable that they’ve spread all across North America.
One could be living in your backyard and you wouldn’t even know it.
Oh, I would know it.
Uh, no you wouldn’t.
Would too.
MARTIN: Not unless the coyote wanted you to know it.
Tch!
Come on.
Huh?
Do you get the feeling we’re being watched?
By a prairie wolf?
Huh?
AVIVA: What?
How long has that coyote been following us?
Hey, Aviva... Don’t even say it.
I told you-- I’m not listening-- --so!
Okay, I admit it: coyotes are obviously very smart.
(Giggling) He was tracking us that whole time we were talking about him, so he already kind of comes with a name-- Tracker.
He’s a super prairie predator and can track down just about any animal out here.
Hey!
If Tracker can track down any animal out here then if we follow him, he’ll eventually lead us to the mystery prairie animal that Chris was talking about!
Ha!
I’m with you, Aviva.
Tracker, you could be the key to bringing the Wild Kratts team back together.
Argh!
I’ve been hanging with this prairie rattlesnake for about two hours now.
I mean, how hard can it be to find a prairie rattlesnake?
You just look for a big sunning rock and boom, there’s a rattlesnake.
Where is everybody?
(Rattling) What’s that?
Oh...
It has markings like a rattlesnake but not a blocky head.
Uh-oh, it’s a prairie kingsnake!
Immune to rattlesnake venom and a predator of rattlesnakes!
(Rattling) ♪ (Gasping) Whoa!
AVIVA: Look at all those little ground squirrels!
You’re right Aviva, they are a kind of ground squirrel.
Popular name: prairie dog.
One of the largest ground squirrels in North America.
A prairie dog town can be huge!
The biggest one ever was 25,000 square miles wide and home to 400 million prairie dogs.
That’s a lot of meals for a coyote.
Hey, where is our coyote?
I don’t know.
He was here just a minute ago.
(Squeaking) Do you hear that?
(Squeaking) That’s the jump-yip, a prairie dog’s warning call.
So that means...
There!
Wait, that’s not a coyote.
That’s a... Koki!
(Squeaking) Yip!
AVIVA: What’s she doing?
A jump-yip.
But I have no idea why.
AVIVA: All the prairie dogs are wondering too.
(Squeaking) Yip!
MARTIN: There’s Tracker!
See how smart coyotes are?
He’s using Koki as a decoy.
While all the prairie dogs are distracted by Koki, our coyote is sneaking up-- on lunch.
(Squealing) (Squeaking) (Squeaking excitedly) (Gasping) Koki!
What were you doing?
Koki.
I was in some kind of prairie-dog trance.
It was like those sounds...
The jump-yips?
Yeah-- were contagious.
I couldn’t stop jump-yipping.
Ahhh... Let’s get out of here before they start jump-yipping again.
Huh?
AVIVA: What were you doing wandering around in prairie-dog town anyway?
Well Chris said meet at the prairie dogs didn’t he?
They’re the most common animal.
That’s why you’re here right?
Well, actually I started at the Prairie Chicken.
And I was chasing a Prairie Falcon around at first.
Until we joined up with this prairie wolf.
MARTIN: AKA coyote, whose name is now Tracker, and he led us here to you.
We think the prairie wolf will lead us to everybody, no matter what animal they thought Chris said to meet up at.
Sounds good to me.
Let’s keep following your prairie wolf.
MARTIN: AKA coyote.
(Beeping) Now, this is a rarely-seen-before moment-- a face-off between a venomous prairie rattlesnake and a predatory prairie kingsnake.
Most animals will heed the rattlesnake’s warning because they won’t want to receive a venomous bite.
(Hissing) Oh!
Rattlesnake venom doesn’t even affect him, making the kingsnake a deadly predator of the rattlesnake.
(Rattling) And like he does with all his prey, the kingsnake swallows the rattlesnake whole.
Oh, well, that’s nature.
Hm?
Aww, creature pod is down!
I forgot.
Oh no!
Everybody’s looking for the nearest prairie rattlesnake and now he’s gone!
I’ve got to go find another prairie rattlesnake.
(Gasping) A rattlesnake!
MARTIN: That’s what he’s thinking, too.
This snake has the markings of a rattlesnake.
And he’s making a rattling sound.
But look closer: his tail has no rattles.
He’s just vibrating his tail against the dry grass to make the coyote think twice about trying to eat him.
AVIVA: So he’s fooling the coyote.
Well, maybe the coyote isn’t so smart after all, huh, Martin?
(Laughing) Uh, Aviva, you thought it was a rattlesnake too.
Okay, never mind.
Are there any other animals that start with "prairie"?
Hmm, let me see.
Prairie cat?
No.
Prairie turtle?
Prairie toad?
Prairie snail?
No, no, and no.
And definitely not prairie monkey.
Remember when Jimmy joked about a prairie monkey?
AVIVA: Yeah!
(All laughing) Yow.
These prairie monkeys must be rare-- maybe even endangered-- because there are hardly any trees out here.
I wonder how everybody else is doing?
I’ve got to find another prairie rattlesnake where we’re all going to meet up.
Bison!
The largest animal of the prairie, weighing over two tons!
And these animals run in herds in the tens of thousands.
Aaah!
I should have picked the bison!
Also known as prairie buffalo.
They’re the ones who keep the long grass on the prairie mowed down.
(Bison snorting) (Growling) Whoa!
A bison head-butting battle.
Oh, I wish Martin were here.
He’d love to see this!
I need to get a front-row seat for this battle.
♪ (Snorting) ♪ (Snorting) I think that sounds like an "ooh, ooh" of a monkey!
(Thudding) And that must be them cracking nuts.
There must be a forest full of prairie monkeys over the hill.
Ah-- Ooh!
(Grunting) (Screaming) Jimmy!
(Bleating) (Snorting) Whoa!
CHRIS: It’s a stampede!
Run, Jimmy!
All aboard!
Whoa!
JIMMY: Aaah... Ahhh!
Ohh.
(Yelling) ♪ Home, home, on the prairie ♪ ♪ Where the coyote tirelessly trots ♪ ♪ And wherever he goes ♪ ♪ The coyote knows ♪ ♪ All of his favorite spots ♪ Hey, where’s he going?
Maybe he’s tired.
Does Tracker know something we don’t know?
(Rumbling) Whoa!
Do you feel that?
Oh no, not an earthquake!
First a twister, now this?
Well, it’s either an earthquake or... (Gasping) A bison stampede!
ALL: Run!
Okay, I admit it.
Coyotes are smart!
We’re not going to be able to outrun them!
Any ideas?
CHRIS: Yeah, jump on!
How do we do that without getting trampled?
I’ve got it!
I’ll use my MIK robot arm.
KOKI: Whoa!
Whoa!
Ha ha ha!
Okay, Aviva, reel yourself in.
Oh... (Cheering) We all met up.
Well, it would have been a lot easier if we’d all met up at the prairie rattlesnake.
Huh?
What?
What are you talking about?
I thought you said prairie wolf!
I thought you said Prairie Chicken!
I heard "prairie dog"!
ALL: You never said rattlesnake.
Yeah, I did!
JIMMY Z: Guys, we’ve got a bigger problem.
Look what the twister did to my poor Tortuga.
And what is the stampede going to do it?
And we’ll be swept right past it on the backs of these bison.
I’ve got an idea.
We can use bison power to right the Tortuga!
But we’ll have to act fast.
MARTIN AND CHRIS: Activate Bison Power!
♪ To the Tortuga Rescue!
♪ (Grunting) Yeah!
They did it!
Whoa!
Oof.
All right!
Yeehaw!
(Laughing) This creature adventure turned out just great!
What?
Hey, we all found each other.
And the Tortuga.
And we met a lot of cool prairie creatures.
And got to be a part of one of nature’s greatest spectacles, a herd of stampeding bison.
ALL: Living free and on the prairie.
So, the prairie grasslands is a special habitat that supports an incredible collection of creatures.
All life here depends on the grasses, and all the creatures are specially designed and have the abilities they need to survive here.
MARTIN: Like them!
CHRIS: Bison!
MARTIN: The Prairies support a huge amount of animals but the hugest of all is the bison.
Bison are peaceful creatures.
They really just want to be out here and graze.
CHRIS But if they’re ever threatened by a predator, they band together and become a force to be reckoned with, and protect each other.
MARTIN: Now what creature will we run into next?
(Squeaking) Chris, stop!
A prairie-dog town!
Now, these prairie dogs are so tiny, but together as a species, they eat more grass than any other animal on the prairie, even more than the huge bison do.
There are just millions of prairie dogs out here.
They tend to graze all the grass right around their burrow, and then they have to venture farther out and farther out in order to find fresh grass.
Before a prairie dog ventures out, she’ll scout around, making sure the coast is clear.
She’s most endangered when she’s away from the safety of the burrow.
And she runs for it!
Down another hole.
MARTIN: Hey, pronghorns!
CHRIS: Pronghorn antelope would be a tasty snack for predators like wolves, cougars, and coyotes.
MARTIN: That is, if any of these predators can catch them!
Pronghorn use these wide-open spaces of the prairie to exploit their awesome creature power, speed!
MARTIN: Yeah, out here in the open, a pronghorn can run all-out, with no obstacles, in a straight line, fast, fast, fast!
What’s the pronghorn’s motto?
When in doubt, run!
MARTIN: There’s a lot of ground to cover, and many creatures to meet when you’re doing a who’s-who of the prairies.
And if you’re lucky enough to live near a prairie, get out and explore.
Keep on creature adventuring!
We’ll see you on the creature trail.
♪ To find out more about cool animals... And collect your own Wild Kratts creature powers... go to the Wild Kratts website ...at pbskids.org.
BOTH: We’ll see you there!
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