Opportunists
David Attenborough meets the omnivores - the opportunists. When it comes to food, this diverse range of animals, which includes grizzly bears at one end and rats on the other, are so adaptable that they can always make the most of whatever happens to be around at the time. They are nature's generalists but each is equipped with some very specialised skills.
North American raccoons use the same proportion of their brain for processing information from their hands as humans use for sight. Indeed, a raccoon's sense of touch is so acute that, in a way, they can see with their hands, making it easy for them to find food in murky streams at night.
The rare and bizarre-looking babirusa from Sulawesi is equally capable at finding food but uses another part of its body - its nose. This pig's legendary sense of smell enables it to locate the smallest amount of fallen fruit in its dense forest habitat.
Omnivores are able to exploit the most extraordinary opportunities, whether they be man-made or those found in the wild. In Texas, skunks descend into bat caves where the atmosphere is thick with ammonia and lethal fungal spores (and the carpet of flesh-eating beetle larvae) and, in the pitch blackness, they feed on baby bats that have fallen off the cave ceilings.
And if there is no food, some omnivores are able to hibernate, like the raccoon dog, which can double its weight in five months of summer. It is a trick that is also taken up by one of the most impressive of all mammals, the grizzly bear. David gets close to these bears and follows their short season of plenty. He explains how they manage to gain enough weight to survive half a year without food.
The story of the omnivores would not be complete without reference to the most successful of all, the humans. As an example of this success, David looks at the Kumbh Mela festival in central India.
Trailer
Recently Updated Shows
8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown
Jimmy Carr hosts as Sean Lock and Jon Richardson play the words and numbers game.
Watson
In Watson a year after the death of his friend and partner Sherlock Holmes at the hands of Moriarty, Dr. John Watson resumes his medical career as the head of a clinic dedicated to treating rare disorders. Watson's old life isn't done with him, though — Moriarty and Watson are set to write their own chapter of a story that has fascinated audiences for more than a century. Watson is a medical show with a strong investigative spine, featuring a modern version of one of history's greatest detectives as he turns his attention from solving crimes to addressing the greatest mystery of all: illness, and the ways it disrupts our lives.
Wild Cards
Wild Cards follows the unlikely duo of a gruff, sardonic cop and a spirited, clever con woman. Ellis, a demoted detective, has unfortunately spent the last year on the maritime unit, while Max has been living a transient life elaborately scamming everyone she meets. But when Max gets arrested and ends up helping Ellis solve a local crime, the two are offered the opportunity to redeem themselves, with Ellis going back to detective and Max staying out of jail. The catch? They have to work together, with each using their unique skills to solve crimes. For Ellis, that means hard-boiled shoe leather police work; for Max, it means accents, schemes and generally befriending everyone in sight, while driving Ellis absolutely nuts. Against the backdrop of beautiful Vancouver — with all its unique, charming, and even contradictory neighbourhoods and subcultures — the two will have to learn what it means to trust another person and maybe actually become partners.
When Calls the Heart
When Calls the Heart is inspired by Janette Oke's bestselling book series about the Canadian West, the series tells the captivating story of Elizabeth Thatcher, a young teacher accustomed to her high society life, who receives her first classroom assignment in Coal Valley, a small coal mining town where life is simple, but often fraught with challenges. Upon arrival, Elizabeth befriends Abigail Stanton, a wife and mother whose husband, the foreman of the mine, along with a dozen other miners, has just been killed in an explosion. The newly widowed women find their faith is tested when they must go to work in the mines to keep a roof over their heads. Set against the wild canvas of a 19th century coal town, Elizabeth will have to learn the ways of the frontier if she wishes to thrive in the rural west on her own.