♪ MTV ♪
[gentle music]
[peacocks crying]
[narrator] Dawn breaks,
revealing an ancient ritual
performed for millennia in the jungles of South Asia.
[soft tranquil music]
[peacock cries]
The peacock's cry is a familiar sound...
[horn beeps]
...in Miami?
[upbeat music]
These birds are a long way from home,
but they're in good company.
This vibrant metropolis of six million
draws people from all over the world
and it's not just humans.
Miami is a melting pot of wildlife,
indigenous and invasive.
New arrivals must adapt to survive,
while locals adjust to life with new neighbors.
It's America's wildest city,
where urban wildlife means more than rats and pigeons.
And you never know what you'll see around the next corner.
[upbeat music]
Welcome to Miami Wild.
[theme music playing]
[horn tooting]
[Gloria] It's a late spring morning in South Miami.
The peacock's breeding season is winding down.
A few males are still dancing,
but the females aren't interested.
They chose mates and laid their eggs weeks ago.
Now their chicks are venturing into the world
for the first time.
[tranquil upbeat music]
[chicks peeping]
Peacocks have roamed these streets for almost 30 years,
a few birds escape from a private backyard,
during Hurricane Andrew in 1992.
Today, the neighborhood's overrun with their descendants.
[peacock cries]
The chicks are born knowing how to find seeds and insects,
But this little male seems more interested
in practicing his dance moves.
[lively music]
He's hardwired to show off his spectacular tail,
even if it hasn't grown yet.
Mom, isn't impressed.
Back to searching for breakfast in the park,
[leaves rustling]
ah, he spots something.
Mom comes to investigate.
[dramatic music]
It's a young knight anole,
a tree-climbing lizard that hails from Cuba.
[lively music]
This is a rare prize,
but his eyes might be bigger than his stomach.
Mom has second thoughts,
but the chick is determined,
[playful music]
with a final effort it's down the hatch.
[playful music crescendos]
[tranquil upbeat music]
The park is full of anole lizards,
but only one species belongs here.
The green anole was Florida's only tree-dwelling lizard
for thousands of years.
But today, Miami swarms with nine other species
from across the Caribbean.
[upbeat music]
They arrived here as unwanted pets,
or stowaways on cargo ships.
[cars whooshing]
With so many anoles looking for a home.
The park's trees are prime real estate.
A male Puerto Rican crested anole,
one of the invasives,
has his eye on an ornamental palm,
but this tree is already spoken for.
[suspenseful upbeat music]
The resident male sends a warning,
but the intruder isn't backing down.
[frenzied upbeat music]
Battles like this can last more than 30 minutes.
[frenzied upbeat music]
[dramatic music swells]
[leaves rustling]
Finally, the resident prevails.
[soft mystical music]
Exhausted, the loser continues his search
for a place to live.
This pile of branches could work.
[feet pattering lightly]
But little does he know his journey has only just begun.
The male chick is a few weeks old and growing fast.
Lucky for him, his mother knows that it's feeding time
for another invasive species.
[cats meow]
[light upbeat music]
Miami is home to 400,000 feral cats
and countless free-ranging pets.
[lively music]
[cat meowing]
For the peacocks, there is such a thing as a free lunch.
The more peacocks discover this bounty,
the more food's needed for the cats,
more cat food means more peacocks.
So our love of one invasive species,
fuels the spread of another.
These invasions often begin with the species
we keep in our homes.
From parrots to pythons,
Miami is the perfect home away from home
for escaped and unwanted pets.
The more exotic they are,
the better Miami seems to suit them.
Today invasive species are everywhere.
[birds calling]
[horn honking]
As the sun sets,
the peacocks gather in the trees to spend the night.
[air whooshing]
[horn honking]
Under cover of darkness,
a shady character arrives at the park,
a local rancher.
He's brought some surprising livestock
veiled chameleons native to the Arabian Peninsula.
[gentle mysterious music]
Releasing non-native reptiles like this is illegal,
but this is the perfect breeding ground
for these prized exotic pets
and this female's about to lay eggs.
In a few months, the rancher will be back
to check on his illicit brood.
While Miami parties,
chameleon ranchers aren't the only mask troublemakers
out on the town.
[siren wailing]
[upbeat music]
A young raccoon is on the prowl,
she's a Florida native.
Most large mammals steer clear of cities,
but raccoons didn't get that memo.
They're more numerous here in Miami than outside the city.
Life in the fast lane, suits her just fine.
She knows where to find food and how to avoid trouble.
But that doesn't mean life is easy.
Maybe it's time for a change of scene.
[horn honking]
Weary from a night in the city,
she stumbles into the park.
[birds calling]
Up above something stirs,
[lively music]
[lively music swells]
others emerge from the bushes
and the mangroves.
What is this raccoon paradise?
[leaves rustling]
It's a thriving community here in the park.
Why they're all here,
the female doesn't yet know,
but this many raccoons can't be wrong.
[siren wailing]
[upbeat music]
With his new home in the brush pile.
Life is good for the Puerto Rican crested anole.
Well, life was good.
Once a week, trucks scour the neighborhood
for yard trimmings and landscaping debris.
Suddenly the anole's choice of territory,
doesn't look so smart.
[lively music swells]
[machinery rattles]
In one scoop
his home is gone.
[branches crunching]
But where's the anole?
[gentle music]
[soft frenzied music]
He's an unwitting stowaway
on a ride that might finally change his luck.
[frenzied music continues]
Welcome to Mount Trashmore.
[frenzied music swells]
A 220 foot tall pile of garbage
that towers over the city.
Miami's garbage trucks are like public transit
for invasive species,
so wild animals from all over the city end up here.
Now the anole can finally settle down,
in a home with a view of a man-made mountain.
For those who prefer to travel by water,
a maze of canals cuts through Miami's backyards and parks,
connecting the city with the swamp and the sea.
The canals control flooding during storms.
They also provide a home for Miami's largest lizards.
Green iguanas,
definitely not native.
[upbeat music]
These Central American lizards can grow six feet long,
too big for most pet owners.
Elsewhere, cold is a killer for unwanted pet iguanas,
but here in Miami, where the winters are warm,
the population has exploded.
In the summer heat,
this female is in her element.
She has no natural predators here,
but old instincts die hard,
a possible threat.
He's not exactly the king of the jungle,
[suspenseful upbeat music]
but the iguanas aren't taking any chances.
[suspenseful music crescendos]
[water splashes]
[suspenseful music crescendos]
[water splashes]
For the female, it's now or never.
[slow mystical music]
By holding her breath for up to 30 minutes,
the iguanas can outlast all but the most tenacious hunters.
Below the surface,
she gets a glimpse of a hidden side of Miami.
The canals team with life.
Tropical cichlids and carp swim with natives,
like bass and gar.
Indigenous snakes and turtles
share the water with invasive species.
[water burbles]
Pulsating swarms of poisonous cane toad tadpoles
consume everything in their path.
[water burbles]
Near the ocean, the canals get saltier
and marine predators like tarpon
mingle with fresh water species.
When exotic fish grew too big for home aquariums,
hobbyists release them,
some become invasive.
Multiplying and eating or out-competing native species.
It's a whole ecosystem of unintended consequences,
but the arrival of one exotic species was premeditated.
In 1984,
Florida's Wildlife Agency made a bet
that the peacock bass,
a voracious predator from the Amazon,
could keep other invasive fish in check.
So far, this gamble is paying off.
Peacock bass do eat the invasive fish,
but haven't spread far beyond the city.
[calm soft music]
[bird calls]
Back in the park, the rancher's elicit chameleons
have made themselves at home.
Months have passed since the female was released,
even though she's free to leave, she hasn't.
She's comfortable here
and she really isn't built for walking.
Instead, like other chameleons, she's a master climber.
[branches creaking]
The female's little tree has gotten crowded,
40 babies destined for the pet trade.
This youngster is wary.
Adult chameleons often eat hatchlings,
but the baby's got to eat too.
[dramatic music]
A muscle at the end of the tongue,
forms a suction cup to grip prey.
At least that's the theory,
if at first you don't succeed,
there it is.
The chameleons will be well fed,
when the law-breaking rancher
returns to round up his herd.
Down the block, a backyard is the stage
for a drama that could only unfold in Miami.
A native red-bellied woodpecker,
excavates a nest hole in a royal palm tree.
He's got an audience.
Two red-masked parakeets, native to Peru,
have their eye on his home.
[playful music]
The parakeets make their move.
[playful upbeat music]
Just a few home improvements and it'll be perfect.
It's time to make more parakeets.
Score one for the invasives.
Miami has more wild parrots than anywhere else in the US.
More than a dozen species breed here,
all of them descended from escaped or released pets.
And just like in the jungles of Central and South America,
they need tree cavities to breed.
[playful upbeat music]
[parrots calling]
So while the parakeets bullied the woodpeckers
out of their home,
there's now an even bigger bully on the block.
[parrots calling]
Orange-winged Amazon parrots.
[parrots calling]
How can a bird avoid all this drama?
Build a nest where no one else can.
[playful upbeat music]
Telltale movements.
[playful upbeat music]
These monk parakeets didn't have to steal a nest hole,
they built one instead.
The location may seem like an odd choice,
but these steel beams provide sturdy support
and the monk parakeets need it.
They're the only parrots in the world
that build nests out of sticks
and these are no ordinary nests.
As one pair builds a home, others join in.
When they're finished, the nest condos can be five feet wide
and weigh up to a ton.
Living so close to the neighbors can cost some friction.
[lively upbeat music]
[parakeets twittering]
[wings rustling]
The parakeets need for twigs is insatiable.
[playful upbeat music]
[playful music swells]
There's always room for improvement,
but some folks are never happy.
Despite their differences,
these two are devoted to each other
and they aren't afraid to show it.
[relaxing gentle music]
Not surprisingly, the parakeets huge nests cause problems.
Short-circuiting the grid and cutting power
to thousands of people.
The nests can be removed,
but the parakeets are here to stay.
And it never takes these industrious birds long
to rebuild.
It's late summer and the peacocks in the park
are feeling the heat.
[mystical upbeat music]
Digging a shallow hole in the dry soil,
the pea hen begins a strange ritual.
[mysterious upbeat music]
The male chick follows her lead.
Dust bathing helps absorb oils and keeps feathers clean,
but it's no substitute for the real thing.
[thunder claps]
[rain patters]
[lively music]
The chicks find cover under their mother's wings,
others aren't so lucky.
The downpour might be uncomfortable in the moment,
but summer rains are the lifeblood
of this subtropical ecosystem.
And they bring one of Miami's most mysterious creatures
out of hiding.
At the Park's edge,
deep in the mud beneath the mangrove roots,
they stir.
A female blue land crab emerges from her burrow
to forage for leaf litter.
Her kind have lived in Florida's coastal forests
for millennia and still thrive
where the mangroves remain healthy.
[water splashes]
She needs to keep her gills wet to breathe.
So whenever she leaves the watery depth
of her burrow to feed,
the clock starts ticking.
Time to go.
As summer turns to fall, a new delicacy appears.
Sun-ripened fruit.
[joyous music]
Manna from heaven.
[joyous music]
On days like this, there's plenty for everyone,
sometimes a little too much.
Bellies full, the crabs head home.
Just another day in paradise.
[cars whooshing]
[horns honking]
[gentle music]
Under the first full moon of Autumn an epic journey begins.
Blue land crabs in their thousands.
All across Miami,
blue land crabs emerge as one from the mangroves.
A female pallid white and heavy with eggs
must reach the ocean to spawn.
[cars whooshing]
[gentle upbeat music]
Evolution hasn't prepared her for roads,
lawns or parking garages.
Bright lights and confusing dead ends disorient many.
Their journey ends here.
The females struggles onward, determined to reach the sea.
She's relentless.
Not far now,
just a few feet to go.
[gentle music]
Even here,
some die from exhaustion,
but they don't go to waste.
When she reaches the water,
the female releases up to half a million eggs.
It's a numbers game with steeper odds than ever.
These mass migrations were once a common spectacle,
but as development threatens Miami's mangroves,
they're increasingly rare.
[crab feet pattering]
Still, some locals are thriving.
The female raccoon has settled in nicely at the park,
and she has a new set of mouths to feed.
[birds twittering]
She'll teach her kids everything she's learned
about surviving here.
In the mangroves at the park's edge,
she gives her first lesson.
Step one, wash your hands.
Water sensitizes the paws,
helping her find food in the mud.
[upbeat music]
[water sloshes]
Out of the water, she shows her kids
how to use their paws to explore the grass for insects.
But it's hard for youngsters to stay focused.
Who cares about bugs when you can wrestle?
[playful music]
You wouldn't know it looking at the raccoons,
but most of Miami's parks
were made for human recreation.
These picnickers are about to get a visit
from a tiny uninvited
and most unwelcome guest.
Mosquitoes breed in Miami
by the billions.
They're a mix of natives and newcomers,
nearly 50 species in all.
[violin music]
[mosquitoe buzzes]
Male mosquitoes feed on nectar,
but females they're out for blood.
In a single meal, a female can drink
two to three times her body weight.
She needs blood to produce eggs,
but feeding on humans is risky business.
[hand smacks]
The females that escape,
search for water to lay their eggs.
When the eggs hatch,
the hunter becomes the hunted.
[lively music]
Mosquito fish.
[lively music]
These tiny predators patrol waterways all over the city.
Mosquito fish have been introduced around the world
to control mosquitoes,
but here in Miami, they're native
and they do their work with ruthless efficiency.
The peacock chicks are about seven months old
and getting more independent every day.
Like gawky teenagers,
they're nearly as big as their mothers now.
At this age, the male is desperate
to practice his mating dance.
All the young males are working on their moves.
It's not the breeding season yet,
but they are eager to impress.
Even up on a roof, the females can't get any peace.
[passionate upbeat music]
The males need to practice now
because in a few months,
the stakes will get very real.
It's a perfect winter day for a picnic.
And the raccoons are first in line.
[lively music]
The females learn that whenever people gather
handouts are a possibility,
but as the kits are about to discover,
it's when people leave that a meal is guaranteed.
[lively music]
The remains are a veritable smorgasbord.
[lively music]
[garbage rustling]
It's an all you can eat buffet for mom and her kids.
There's a reason people call them trash pandas.
A day of dumpster diving calls for a good cleaning.
[gentle upbeat music]
The bounty of human leftovers
feeds an army of raccoons in the park.
And they're brazen begging isn't always welcome.
But as long as the goodies keep coming,
the raccoons will too.
[trashcan bangs]
[wind whooshing]
[tranquil music]
The chameleon rancher has finally returned
to round up his scaly contraband.
This time he's brought help.
Chameleons sleep on exposed branches,
so they're easy to find at night.
Collecting non-native reptiles isn't illegal,
but the whole endeavor began with a crime.
So the ranchers work quickly and quietly to avoid trouble.
[soft tranquil music]
Their bags are brimming
and they'll be back to collect the offspring
of these chameleons for generations to come.
[upbeat music]
Speaking of new generations,
the young male peacock is stepping out.
Adulthood brings new feathers and new confidence.
Oh, who's this good-looking fellow?
No, seriously, who is that?
Back to business.
[calling out]
This female isn't impressed,
but the youngster doesn't take it too hard.
He won't grow a full train until he's three years old.
In the meantime,
he'll do his best with his meager endowments.
The females have their eyes on someone else.
[playful music]
Now he's a prince.
[birds twittering]
This driveway looks like the place to be.
But wherever there are females and plenty of testosterone
trouble is not far behind.
[wings flapping]
Beaten and bloodied,
the youngster leaves the ring.
[gentle music]
The prince has seen it all before.
He won't engage in these juvenile power struggles.
But when a new group of females arrives,
it's time for the master to take the stage.
[wings rustling]
[slow romantic music]
[feathers whooshing]
Every year he grows a new train,
each more magnificent than the last.
Now the seduction begins.
[upbeat music]
The hen inspects him from every angle.
Not yet,
this calls for more advanced moves.
[feathers rustling]
[slow seductive music]
A pause,
a subtle signal
and she leads him forward.
[lively music]
[feathers rustling]
[air whooshing]
The deed done, he's right back to work.
[gentle music]
The females choose him again and again
and again,
some guys get all the luck.
For the youngster, well, maybe next year.
Until then he'll share the streets
with wild neighbors from around the world.
Invasive species have transformed Miami's ecosystem
often at the expense of natives.
But peacocks, anoles, parrots, iguanas,
they're not the villains.
They're here because we brought them.
Arriving with nothing but a drive to survive,
they defied the odds and made new lives here.
[upbeat jazz music]
Stricter laws and better enforcement
could slow the tide of new species
arriving on Miami's shores.
But many of Miami's most iconic animals are invasive.
They've been here for decades
and they're so abundant that we couldn't get rid of them,
even if we tried.
Wherever their ancestors once lived,
they're Miamians now.
They've joined an equally unique community
of native species that still persist
in an ecosystem dominated by humans.
Whether native or not, the species that have made it
make the city what it is.
America's most colorful,
most exotic
and most surprising metropolis,
a city that could only be
Wild Miami.
[upbeat jazz music]
[birds calling]