Animal Homes (1955)

this is but this and this is a home and this is a home wherever you go in the wide world you know that there are many animals about you sometimes you can see them sometimes you can't many will hide from you because they're afraid you might hurt them and they build their homes where they'll be hidden or where enemies will have a hard time reaching them the cliff swallows build nests High Out Of Reach under an overhanging Rocky ledge they gather mud in their beaks and fly back with it to make their homes high on a cliff they can raise their families safe from the weather above and from danger below each kind of bird has its own way of protecting its nest some like the redwing black bird make their homes beside a pond where they'll be hidden in the tall Reeds many birds build their nests in the branches of a tree some nest on the ground and some are even able to make a hole in a tree trunk the reason for the nest is the same to have a home to raise a family and all families are the same they have big appetites it's hard to believe that in only 4 weeks these scrawny little birds will be big enough to fly out into the Big World they won't need a home for another year when they'll build nests to raise families of their own what other reasons are there for having a home have you ever stopped to think what ants use their home for well for one thing they use it as a place to store food these worker ants are taking seeds down into their underground sto rooms ants live together sometimes many thousands in one Colony down in their long underground tunnels they're safe from their enemies here are ants working to make the tunnels longer and way up at the top of the picture is another ant who who's trying to move a big Pebble each ant in the colony has its own job these are the nurses that take care of the young ones the babies are white at this stage they can't move or take care of themselves does it seem to you that ants build a good safe place to raise their young and store food and live their lives many kinds of spiders build homes you've all seen big round spider webs but here's a different kind one with a tunnel to hide in the spider spins a flat web out in front of the tunnel to trap food spiders are helpful because they killed so many of the insects that bother us close by this spider has built another web where she's laid her eggs after the baby spiders hatch the web is their home until they're big enough to build their own we've all seen homes built by spiders and ants and birds but not many of us know about a gall fly's home out in the woods you may have seen strange round things on trees or bushes these grow whever the gly lays an egg in the bark when the egg hatches the young one has a fine home to grow in complete with food and protection from its enemies when it's grown to the right size it makes a hole and crawls out to live the rest of its life who do you think this is making a tunnel just under the [Music] surface [Music] here he is a mole you won't often see a mole most kinds live underground all their lives and can't even see if they're brought out into the light look at those short strong front legs that he uses for digging and that long sharp nose that tells him where his breakfast is he'd much rather get back to his home underground watch how fast he can [Music] dig a great many animals make their homes underground here's another fellow a gopher he builds a bigger tunnel than the mole does so he has to push some of the dirt up to the surface watch how he pushes with his chest and front legs a gopher never goes far from his tunnel even to look for food when he runs out of food in one place he digs under underground to another place this way he may dig a tunnel a mile long in a year that's a long home isn't it for some animals a tree is a favorite place to live an old hollow tree is a home ready made to move in and start housekeeping that scraggly looking creature is a mother possum she's carrying something on her back do you know what it is it's her family of young possums riding on mother is rough goinging a fell has to hang on tight if he doesn't want to get tossed off why do you suppose a mother mother pum puts up with this well when you were a baby your mother used to take you with her when she left the house a mother possum doesn't leave her babies home alone either she takes them along even though they grab hold with all four paws and their teeth hang on now they made it home again here's another mother doing what mothers so often do making the bed and tidying up around the home this animal is called a Kat Mundy Kat for short like other mothers she has young ones that sometimes interfere with a housework does anything like this ever happen around your home [Music] [Music] n it's fun to play but it's good to have a home to go to when the play is over would you like to learn more about the way animals live do you know whether Bears have homes would you be surprised to find out that deer and many other animals have no Homes at all and what about fish do they have homes do you know how bees live what do you know about rabbits and squirrels and mice where does the coyote go when he's tracked down his dinner and where does the mountain lion go when he's finished his you'll want to know more about a home and what it means without a home many could not live at all a home is a safe place and a good [Music] place