The Most Amazing Master Builders in the Animal Kingdom

The second episode of WILD WORKERS takes some of the individual stories of those animals that are homebuilders. Some work as individuals while others work as teams, yet each construction is remarkable in its own way and the architectural challenges that are both met and overcome are remarkable. Some of the master builders have been busy at work for far longer than modern humans have the forests of south-east Asia there is one master builder that bends the trees to its will – the orangutan, a structural engineer who every night builds a sleeping platform that must withstand the weight of the adult, and if the architect is a female also the weight of her offspring. Other master builders construct shelters using materials they produce themselves. Moth caterpillars spin their own silk, in one case over 1000 metres in a single strand, to weave a strong cocoon in which they are safe from predators and can undertake the metamorphosis that takes them to the next stage of their life. All birds n
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