Grasscutter Ants Andy's Wild Adventures

# I'm Andy the park keeper and I'm busy on my rounds

# Kip is the inventor She's the coolest cat in town

# There's things we'd like to show you

# And there's things we'd like to know

# So climb on board the Kipmobile and ready, steady, go!

# One, two, three, four!

# Andy and Kip on another wild adventure

# Hey, join the crew!

# Off to see the animals to find out what they do

# Yeah, you can come, too!

# It's Andy's wild adventures

# Round the world! #

Right, come on, guys. Off you go.

Hi, I'm Andy, and I work here at Pickles' Animal Park.

It's my job to look after all the animals.

Today, I've got to get these wallabies

all the way over into that field because in this enclosure,

the trees are having their branches trimmed.

OK, guys, come on. Off you go.

-AUSTRALIAN ACCENT:

-Do we have to? We like hopping around in this field.

This is Walter. He's a wallaby

and him and his friends love hopping around and eating grass.

The problem is, they do it too much. Right. Time to go. Come on, guys!

You're going to have to catch us first! Yippee!

Oh, no. They always do this.

Right. Here I come!

This way. That's it. No, into the field. Come on.

Wa-hey! Bouncy, bouncy!

That's it. This way. Come on, you can do it.

You can't catch me!

Over here!

Phew! That was hard work. I could do with a break now.

Next time, could we try a little teamwork?

Hello... Oh. Kip?

Kip!

Hello, Andy!

What's the matter?

Kip. Where do I start?

WALKIE-TALKIE: 'Andy, come in, Andy. Over.'

Hang on. It's Mr Pickles, the boss.

Hello, Mr Pickles. Andy here. Over.

'Hello, Andy.

'I just want to check you've remembered

'to move the wallabies into the next field.

'While you're at it, the grass needs cutting in that field, too.'

OK, Mr Pickles, Andy out.

Oh, great. Now I've got to cut the grass as well,

which means I have to move the wallabies again.

I've got so much to do.

-I wish we could just all work together.

-Like a team?

Exactly, Kip. Now, if we had a team of grasscutters,

then it wouldn't be a problem. They work in a huge team -

in fact, one of the biggest teams in the world.

A team of grasscutters?

Like lots of lawn mowers?

No, Kip, grasscutter ants.

They're like millions of tiny lawn mowers, with amazing power.

Hey, Kip - would you like to see them in action?

Wow! Would I!

BOTH: Time to go on a wild adventure!

Let's go! Ha-ha-ha!

-One. Gadget pack.

-Check!

-Two. Gizmo.

-Check!

And, last but not least, the Kipmobile!

Seat belts on!

Hit it, Kip!

Lift off!

Woo-hoo-hoo! We're in space!

Where to, Andy?

The grasslands of Argentina in South America, Kip.

Argentina it is.

Go, cat nav, go!

Aaaaah!

Aha! This is the place.

There's not much here, Andy.

Just lots of trees and grass,

and a big, brown, dusty lump on the ground.

That's not just a big, brown, dusty lump, Kip.

It's a huge, underground city.

I thought cities had really tall buildings, roads and shops.

-Not this one. Right. Erm, how about we land just over there?

-OK, Andy.

So, where is this team of lawn-mowing ants?

Grasscutter ants, Kip.

And they live right there.

There can't be millions on that dusty ground.

There sure are, and it looks like they're already hard at work.

Who's hard at work? I can't see anyone.

The ants! The grasscutter ants.

There's probably about five million of them

running around us, right now.

Five million? Wow! That is a lot of ants.

The thought of all those ants is making my fur itch.

Well, I'm not very good in crowds, Andy.

I think I'll wait over here, and keep an eye on you.

All right, Kip. No problem. I'll see you later.

SHE GRUNTS

Ah! Ooh! Eek!

Now, the best way for me to show you what these tiny ants get up to

is by getting really close to them.

So, here goes!

Size of a grasscutter ant!

Ah, excuse me? Could you...? Could anyone please...?

Hello?

It's no good talking to these guys.

They're too busy to give me grass-cutting tips.

I think we'd better follow them to see how they do it.

Come on, let's go!

Wow! When you're the size of an ant, everything looks huge.

The grass looks as tall as a tree.

I love climbing trees.

That gives me a brilliant idea!

I'm going to climb up to see what they're doing.

Here we go. Whoa! And it looks like a really long way down,

all the way up here at the top of this grass.

Look at all the other ants down there.

They're all working really hard.

They're doing different jobs, but they're still working as a team.

Now we can see why grasscutter ants climb blades of grass.

To cut it! Can you see how they're chewing the blades of grass?

They're using their jaws, which are called mandibles.

I wonder if I can try that.

Oh! Nah. I think I'll leave it to the ants.

Because they have really strong mandibles

which can cut through grass until eventually...

..it falls!

HE PANTS AND GROANS

But don't worry, they don't get hurt.

Falling is all in a day's work.

They just pick themselves up and get straight back to the team.

Every ant has a different job to do.

We've already seen the ones that cut the grass.

These guys have to carry the grass back to their nests

using their mandibles.

Now, for their size, grasscutter ants are very, very strong.

And them carrying their grass in their mandibles

is kind of like me carrying a car with my mouth!

Whoa! You OK, little fella?

I think he's OK.

This huge ant hill is like a massive city inside

and it's where all these ants

are taking all the grass they've collected.

And now I'm small, I can go and see what they do with it.

Come on! Oops. Sorry.

Let's take a look inside.

Right. Shouldn't be much further now.

Oh!

BLEEP, FEEDBACK

So, Kip. Ants don't eat the grass,

and there are certainly no shops here to sell it.

Ants use the grass to grow fungus.

Look!

Ugh! Why would you want to grow fungus?

What they do is, they feed the grass to the fungus to help it grow,

and then THAT'S what they eat.

They eat fungus?

Ugh! That looks horrible.

Well, some types of fungus are horrible, Kip,

but this type of fungus is just for ants. And they love it!

And, seeing as I'm as small as an ant now,

I'm going to take a closer look. Come on!

Well, OK. Be careful, Andy.

Make sure you wash your hands afterwards.

It looks slippery in there.

Don't worry, Kip. I'm a really good climber. Aaah!

He isn't.

I'm covered in fungus! Ugh!

-Kip, I think it might be time for us to go.

-Good idea, Andy.

Andy, upload!

See you later, ants. Enjoy your fungus dinner!

Whoa!

Oh. Sorry, Kip. For some reason, I haven't grown back.

Well, be careful, little Andy.

Don't touch anything.

You need to wash your hands after falling in all that fungus.

Don't worry, Kip. I'll get cleaned up when I get back.

Then hold on!

Right. Better get myself cleaned up. I'm an absolute mess!

WALKIE-TALKIE: 'Andy. Come in, Andy. Over.'

It's Mr Pickles, the boss! Oh, and I haven't cut the grass yet!

Hello, Mr Pickles. Andy, here. Over.

Excellent work, Andy!

What a super idea it was

to let the wallabies eat the grass in the field!

They're so full of grass, they've fallen asleep! Over.

No problem at all, sir. Over.

Brilliant! Right, time to get cleaned up now.

I've got fungus everywhere.

It's a shame there aren't any ants here,

or they could eat it for you. Ha-ha!

I don't know about that, Kip. Hoo-hoo!

-Ha-ha! I've got ants in my pants! Hoo-hoo!

-Ha-Ha!

See you soon!

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd