Kratts' Creatures - Season 1

Chris and Martin arrive in South Africa, hoping to see the "Big Five"--the elephant, rhino, lion, buffalo and leopard. But all creatures are cool, not just the big ones, so Ttark challenges them to find the "Little Five" as well - the elephant shrew, rhino beetle, ant lion, buffalo weaver and leopard tortoise. The guys take up the challenge and, with help from Allison, begin a wild scavenger hunt to find all these amazing animals.

Chris and Martin explore a big North American city, looking at the amazing variety of wild creatures that thrive in an urban habitat. From high-rise offices to the subway, from sewers to school yards, the guys boldly go where no creature adventurer has gone before to visit falcons, beavers, foxes, coyotes and a whole lot more.

Out in the Caribbean, Chris and Martin go exploring with shark expert Dr. Sam Gruber to prove that sharks aren't the savage killers they're thought to be. Whether diving on an old wreck or swimming with reef sharks, the guys debunk a number of shark myths and discover a whole world of underwater creatures.

Martin takes to the savannah in a jeep, while Chris takes to the skies in a helicopter, both searching for the elusive wild dogs of Africa. These endangered creatures are one of the super predators of Africa, hunting together as a pack with unparalleled efficiency. With the help of scientist Gus Mills, who shows the guys how to use the special radio tracking device he uses as part of his program to save the African wild dog, the guys follow a pack of wild dogs on a hunt and return with them to their den to find out how they live.

Allison finds an old journal in the Creature Club, starting Chris and Martin on an adventure retracing the route taken by Allison's grandfather and great-uncle, Charlie and Luke, early in the century. The mission is to find a strange and elusive "tiger." Along the way the brothers spend the night with a group of Tasmanian Devils, creatures very different from the cartoon character most kids know, but will the brothers find the Tasmanian Tiger?

Chris, Martin and Allison head out in the countryside to look for "the great defenders" - porcupines, skunks, snapping turtles and other creatures who have developed amazing natural defenses against predators. The expedition has to return frequently to the Creature Club for first-aid treatment, and a tomato juice bath, as Martin experiences for himself just how effective these defenses can be.

Pan Troglodytes - the scientific name for chimps - are the primates most closely related to humans. Chris and Martin become teachers to a trio of young orphan chimps who are being prepared for a return to the wild. These orphans lost their wild families and wild lifestyles when they were babies, and they don't know much about being wild chimpanzees. The Kratt brothers spend a day with the orphans trying to teach them a few things about survival in the wild. At the same time, the brothers learn a lot from these little guys about the nature of the chimpanzee. Together, they have a wild and comical time.

Chris and Martin set out on an expedition to look for creatures that live in the Great Canadian North. Needing shelter, they watch a beaver building a dam and try to build their own beaver lodge. Just like the French fur trappers hundreds of years earlier, the guys "portage," carrying their canoe from lake to lake, river to river, until it sinks under them in some rapids. Along the way, they learn what it's like to live in a land still largely unspoiled by humans. And just as the Mounties "always get their man," so Chris and Martin always get their creatures, finding moose, caribou, bears, beavers and a whole lot more.

Allison has to give a report about rain forests at school. Chris and Martin help out by showing her what the rain forests are really like from an insider's perspective. In Costa Rica, they find tapirs, sloths, monkeys and dozens of fascinating creatures, including leaf-cutter ants who grow their own food in huge underground gardens. But the guys have a few problems along the way, slipping down a mud slide and getting chased up a tree by white-lipped peccaries, the wild pigs of the forest. By the time Allison is ready to give her report, she understands why rain forest preservation is critical to the survival of the planet, and to all those amazing creatures we met in the wild.

Chris and Martin are in Australia on a nighttime search for the "creatures of the night," who sleep by day and appear only after dark. In the Creature Club, Allison and Ttark wonder why people are so scared by bats and other night creatures. After trying to keep up with a mass of flying foxes, the guys find themselves deep in a bat cave, where they manage to get completely lost. Still, they find what they came for - the elusive ghost bat. Emerging at sunrise, Chris and Martin decide creature adventuring is such fun, they'll just keep going!

Chris and Martin visit an elephant orphanage in Kenya, where baby elephants who have lost their parents, often to poachers, are brought up and prepared for a return to the wild. The guys find that baby-sitting Emily, a young elephant, and two other babies, is a lot more demanding than they expected. Sleeping with the baby elephants, keeping them warm, showing them what to eat, and playing with them are all part of helping a baby elephant survive and ultimately rejoin a wild herd.

Now that they're involved with Emily's future, Chris and Martin go into the bush to visit a wild elephant herd to figure out how their young charges will live once they're returned to the wild. The guys find complex social grouping, where the ruler of every herd is a tough old matriarch, wise in ways of survival. Chris and Martin see how the herd works together to protect their babies. Even though elephants are big, predators like lions, leopards and hyenas still hunt the babies. As the guys return to Emily and the orphanage, they realize how important it is to properly prepare the elephants for their future life, living in the wild.

In Australia, Chris and Martin go in search of egg-laying mammals, some of the weirdest creatures on the planet. But Ttark reminds Allison and the guys that "weirdness" is humans applying human rules to the creature world. On the trail of egg-laying mammals, Chris and Martin discuss other creatures humans think are weird: thorny devils, squirrels that fly, and underwater animals that look like plants.

Chris and Martin head out to look for dolphins in the Caribbean Sea. Dolphins are very intelligent and the guys are eager to meet a creature with the reputation of being so friendly to humans. On their way, the guys meet many fabulous sea creatures, including sharks and sting rays. Learning about echo-location - one way dolphins communicate - Chris and Martin finally find a pod of wild dolphins and hang out with them. They discover dolphins love playing, almost as much as they do.

Chris and Martin are on a camping trip in Canada, searching for bears. The Kratt brothers ride off through the woods on their mountain bikes, following bear signs: clawed tree trunks, paw prints, denuded berry patches. After Martin navigates them into a river where they lose their bikes, packs and food, the guys realize if they want to eat, they must find a bear and learn how it survives in the wild.

In Africa, Martin and Chris decide they'll spend a day with a troop of baboons to find out how they really live. While Chris strives to remain scientifically detached, documenting the adventures of a young baboon named Mgobo, Martin does everything to be accepted into the troop, including copying their actions and eating their food. Chris begins to worry that Martin may be going a little "baboony."

Allison hits the streets of a North American city with a camcorder, amazed at how many people have creature questions they want answered. Two Italian waiters argue about how squirrels can fly; an obsessed movie theater ticket seller asks how tails help creatures survive; a concerned woman pleads to know how snakes swallow prey bigger than their heads. Martin and Chris get busy finding answers to all their creature questions.

In the outback of Australia, Chris and Martin spoof TV sports announcers to introduce the "big fight," a kickboxing challenge between the leader of the mob - the name given to a group of kangaroos in the wild - and his challenger. But, for kangaroos, kickboxing is not a game; it is part of their struggle for survival. Martin and Chris discover this and more about the life of kangaroos.

Bugs are on the loose; multiplying, growing and taking over the world. Beginning with a spoof on 50's horror movies, Chris, Martin and Allison have a problem. A collection of rare and amazing bugs - scorpions, beetles, spiders, cockroaches and many more, from all over the world - have escaped from the Creature Club. The intrepid threesome head out into the countryside to recapture the bugs before they start reproducing. Along the way, Chris and Martin have fun with a huge variety of bugs and show just how vital insects are to the eco-balance of the world.

Chris and Martin set out across the African savannah to find one of the creature world's true heavyweights, the rhino. They see a herd across a river but when they try to cross, they find the river fiercely protected by crocodiles and another African heavyweight, the hippopotamus. How are they going to get across? Allison, Martin and Chris get busy solving the problem so we can all meet the rhino!

Martin and Chris track red foxes in the wild, seeing how one of the greatest hunters and most hunted creatures lives. After being with the foxes and accidentally acquiring their scent on their clothing, the brothers suddenly find themselves being chased by a pack of foxhounds and riders on horseback. They have to think like a fox, using all of its tricks as they try to escape.

When told it's a show about cows, Martin can't understand why Chris is dressed in swimming gear. Chris explains they're off to Florida to find the endangered "Sea Cow," another name for the manatee. As they search the Everglades, the guys learn a lot about this unique wetland habitat, stumbling upon dozens of other creatures who live there. When they find the manatees, Chris and Martin are amazed by these gentle giants. Friendly and curious, the manatees allow the guys to swim with them, but Chris and Martin are horrified to discover how speed boat propellers often wound - even kill - these gentle creatures. And the brothers find themselves and the manatees in danger.

Chris and Martin are in Africa, checking out the fastest land animal, the cheetah. Their mission - to achieve maximum cheetah velocity! Ttark shows how creatures develop special characteristics to help them survive; speed gives the cheetah an edge over other Great Cat predators, like the lion and leopard. But the light body weight, needed for such speed, also has disadvantages. The guys watch as a cheetah is chased away from its kill, too tired after its sprint to stand up to rival predators like a pack of hyenas. While making numerous hilarious and unfortunate attempts to achieve maximum cheetah velocity, the guys learn about this sleek and speedy spotted cat, discovering how it survives as one of the Super Predators of Africa.

Chris and Martin travel to Chincoteague, Virginia, in search of wild ponies. After sinking their canoe while coming ashore, they follow hoofprints and a pony-poop trail until they find a band of wild ponies. Dressing up in a two-person horse costume, the guys try to sneak into the band, only to get chased off by the lead stallion. Allison checks out the difference between domestic and wild horses, looking for helpful clues to horse behavior. After deciding to just be themselves, Chris and Martin try once again to join the band so they can experience the lifestyle of the wild ponies.

Chris and Martin set out on a very different adventure, a journey across millions of years of creature history to find out how creatures are related to each other. Allison tracks their journey as she builds up a visual map of creature history. Starting with plants and animals without backbones, the guys follow the trail, up through insects and fish to mammals, trying to find out exactly where the elephant and aardvark fit in. Along the way they meet many cool creatures and show how the entire creature world is just one big creature family.

The guys have traveled to a beach in Costa Rica where a unique event is about to begin - the Arribada - a once-a-year happening when hundreds of thousands of sea turtles swim ashore, over a few short hours, to lay their eggs on the beach. While waiting for the Arribada, Chris and Martin wander inland. They discover amazing rain forest creatures, but get drawn farther and farther away from the coast. Alerted by Allison that turtles are starting to arrive, the Kratt brothers begin a mad dash to make it back to the beach in time to see the Sea Turtle Invasion.

On the Costa Rican beach, dozens of predators, including vultures, coatis, crabs and frigate birds, gather to feast on the turtle eggs, and the baby turtles. Once the newly-hatched baby turtles have dug themselves out of the sand, they must run the gauntlet of all the predators before reaching the relative safety of the water. Martin and Chris join the baby turtles on their race to the sea.

Chris and Martin tell Allison their plan to recreate the journey of a famous Spanish explorer, Don Estoban, who traveled around Australia in eight days, hundreds of years earlier. Allison doesn't believe that anyone, back then, could travel so far, so fast. The guys circle Australia, from the outback via the Great Barrier Reef to a tropical river filled with salt water crocodiles. Along the way, they meet kangaroos and wild camels, run across a tribe of aborigines and swim with fabulous creatures who make their homes on the coral reefs.

In Africa, Chris and Martin search for one of the creature world's most misunderstood animals, the spotted hyena. Although thought of as an evil, awful, smelly scavenger, the hyena - with its famous laughing cry - is one of Africa's most efficient predators. The guys get separated from their Creature jeep and spend the night camped out on the savannah, listening to the noise of nocturnal predators on the prowl, including the hyena. In the morning, they see hyenas chase a cheetah away from her kill, find a den and watch the young cubs at play, and ultimately find out the truth about hyenas.

A storm has knocked out power in the Creature Club. By lantern light, Allison and the guys tell each other creature stories to pass the time. The stories are a magical mixture of wildlife facts, African myths and Australian aboriginal legends. Chris tells how the rhino got its horn from Mungu, lord of all living things. Allison tells how the duck-bill platypus was asked by mammals, fish and birds to join their groups but decided to remain true to itself, one of the world's only egg-laying mammals. And Martin tells how the ostrich, unable to fly, was given fast, powerful legs to run away from danger. The Creature team has so much fun telling their creature tales that they keep going, even after power comes back on.

Chris and Martin are active in the Creature Rescue Unit to help injured wildlife throughout North America. As a part of their task, the Kratts go to a wildlife nursery.

Chris starts the proceedings as a caveman, out to see what animal is the king of all beasts. Since the lion has been suggested by the unknowing public, Chris and Martin must observe lions to reveal the truth.

The Kratts crash a hot-air balloon and are forced to forage in a marsh, where a veritable banquet for all sorts of creatures awaits.

A new Internet page called CreatureNet is brimming with kids' questions about why creatures behave the way they do.

Out for a ride in the Australian outback, Chris and Martin's horses spook and take off at full gallop. The brothers go flying, Chris catapulting into a tree next to a koala, while Martin lands on the ground. Wombats and koalas are marsupials and are closely related, like first cousins in the creature world, but they have evolved in very different ways. Separated, the brothers explore the two creatures. Chris learns how the koala lives its life high in the trees; Martin sees how the ground-hugging wombat protects itself from predators like the dingo, the Australian wild dog. Coming back together, the brothers realize that different lifestyles make closely related creatures evolve in different ways, while dissimiliar creatures grow to resemble each other when sharing similiar lifestyles.

Chris, Martin and Allison leave the Creature club for a night of adventure, on the prowl with a family of masked bandits - raccoons. Whether it's turning over trash cans, opening garden faucets with dexterous paws, or living in old garages and empty basements, raccoons have perfectly adapted to living in the city. As Allison and the guys find out, most city folk don't take kindly to raccoons - or Kratts - on the prowl at night.

In Costa Rica, Chris and Martin have a swinging time checking out different species of monkeys that live in the rain forest. While Chris finds not having a prehensile tail a definite disadvantage while following spider monkeys through the trees, Martin shares a fruity meal with other rain forest creatures. Whether berry-picking with the squirrel monkeys, bug catching with the capuchins, or howling down a tribe of howler monkeys, the guys find there's no better way to creature adventure then just monkey around.

Chris and Martin go on a fiery observation through the animal spectrum to see if that special something abot our favorite creatures is superior to another's special quality.

Chris and Martin are back down under, witnessing the Great Barrier Reef. To their dismay, not all about the rref is golden.

Via multiple historical perspectives, Chris and Martin take up an aerial view on the flight of birds.

Just what is the truth about wolves? Chris and Martin try to lure wolves from their campsite in the Great Canadian North. One group does seek the other, of course, but we're not sure who's on the trail and who's being traced.

Chris and Martin ride a chronological toimeline of the animals that came to Australia over the centuries.

Martin and Chris are in Africa, on the search for the lone-hunting leopard. In a land where only the strong survive, the Kratts and Allison learn that predators and prey ultimately help each other.

How do animals factor in the time of day or year? That's the puzzle Chris and Martin set out to solve.

Back in the Australian outback, Chris and Martin run out of water. They must follow the standards of creatures that inhabit the Australian desert.

During a game of golf, the Kratts encounter alligators in the Florida Everglades.

Camouflage is critical in the creature world. In order to unravel the secrets of creature patterns, Martin and Chris join a herd of African zebra to see how patterns help them avoid predators, like lions. But it's a different story when a crocodile attacks as the herd crosses the river. The brothers walk on stilts to get a giraffe's eye view of the savannah and check out how his mottled coat helps him blend in with the trees. Allison realized that zebras and giraffes are cool creatures, with unique patterns to help them survive in the wild.

A disturbance at a North American barnyard sends Martin and Chris on a mountain bike adventure through the Great North, hoping to meet up with the creature who left tracks and other clues. The mysterious creature visitor must be one of the three cool cats of North America, but which one?

Why aren't there bears in Africa? Why don't lions and elephants live in North America? Chris and Martin imagine a creature world gone crazy, where African and American animals live side by side with animals from Europe and Australia. With more competition for food, who will survive and who will become extinct? Allison and the guys examine why animals end up where they do, and how continents have drifted apart over millions of years. What will happen if the continents join up again? Allison and the guys imagine such a world, with strange results. Martin decides to plant new yard-trees for the elephants; Chris stops his car for lions on the prowl. It's a new sort of creature adventure, when the creature team changes all the rules.

When Allison discovers her computer records of previous African adventures are missing, Martin and Chris decide to do a final trip around Africa to revisit all the creatures they found - but they only have eight hours left. Using planes, hot air balloons, buses and even TV special effects, they circle the continent but can't find any of the creatures they saw the first time around. Instead they stumble across different and totally new cool creatures, including wildebeests, ostriches and meerkats. Along the way they realize that no matter how many creatures they see in a particular habitat, there's always more to find. Allison reminds them it's tme to leave Africa, on to their next adventure on a new continent, Asia.