Yellowstone is home to a small cougar population, but theyare rare and seldom seen. The noisy ruffed grouse or “thunder chicken” is far less elusive, as the males “drum” their wings loudly in the breeding season, advertising their presence to any nearby female birds.

Warm sunshine melts the last of the winter snow, and in the valleys of Yellowstone, animal mothers give birth to their young, bringing them into a beautiful yet perilous world.

Creatures large and small, from the bison to the ephydrid fly, make use of hot springs to survive the coldest winter months. Others, like the bears, hibernate, emerging ravenous when the weather finally warms, and ready to scrap for whatever food they can find.

Food is scarce during the harsh winter months, and the battle to survive is intense. The successful wolf pack hunts constantly to feed each hungry mouth, and the weary bison must dig through layers of snow if they are to feed at all.

Forged by the volcanic heat that still bubbles at the heart of this great American wilderness, the mighty Yellowstone was the first of America’s National Parks. Located mostly in Wyoming, it is a place where bison roam free and the gray wolf has returned, re-establishing the natural order of the ecosystem.

With the winter drawing in, the animals prepare once more for that harshest of seasons within the breathtaking confines of the world’s greatest gorge, the Grand Canyon National Park.

A fearsome American badger is on the hunt, and the prairie dogs are not even safe in their burrows. The north rim of the canyon thunders with rutting bison, as the big males lock horns to establish superiority.

Pronghorns are extremely fast and can easily outrun a mountain lion! Even so, they must watch where they tread as the canyon floor is littered with holes... prairie dogs live here and may share their burrows with some unusual birds that nest underground.

The rare California condor has been successfully re-introduced in the Grand Canyon, and scientists monitor their progress by tagging the individual birds to identify them. As scavengers, they feed on the carcasses of dead animals, but are actually very clean creatures.

People have traveled through the canyon for millennia, and some even made this place their home. However, in the extreme weather of the monsoon season, this is a perilous and inhospitable environment for all but the best adapted native wildlife.

Tourists come to raft the immense Colorado River rapids, but this is no amusement park and there are very real dangers within the canyon’s gorge. Meanwhile, a graceful osprey fishes the turbulent waters, but must also contend with the cunning raven, who is determined to steal his hard-won catch.

For centuries, the Grand Canyon and its river were thought to be impassable, but in the nineteenth century, steep paths were carved into its walls. However, for the agile bighorn sheep and summer visitors like the violet-green swallow, this is still nature’s playground.

The prairie dogs are on constant alert, but the kit fox has a young family to feed, and prairie dogs are certainly on its menu! As the heat rises and birds circle the sky, the creatures below need to assess which may be a threat, but sometimes, not all is as it seems...

One of the rarest birds in the world, and the largest in the Americas, the California condor soars majestically over the canyon. A growing herd of bison roams the north rim, but their presence in the park is ruffling some feathers!

The woodpeckers have cleverly used a pine tree to hide the acorns they collect, and are very good at working together. They must simultaneously keep a lookout for predators and guard their wealth from other animals keen to pilfer an easy meal!