Misty the Owl Animals at Work

Welcome to Animals At Work. Ew!

Around the world, there are millions of animals that have jobs.

Ah. Ah!

This is the show that brings you the most extraordinary,

bizarre and unusual animals at work.

Coming up:

Haci the sheep-herder competes against the top dogs in Hungary.

Misty the owl tries not to disgrace himself in his first public display.

Nice of him to poo on my leg.

Highlander the police horse struts his stuff for his final parade.

Let's saddle up. Come on.

Apparently, interest in air shows is soaring and, believe it or not,

in these daring demonstrations, owls are actually

taking up the positions of pilots. They are!

Well, sort of. I know, it sounds ridiculous,

perhaps difficult to get your head around,

but trust me, this is gonna be a real hoot.

All right, OK. I'll stop. Sorry.

But do fasten your seatbelts because we have one feathered animal at work

that is far from a frequent flier.

Brace yourselves for a bumpy ride.

First we're off to Yorkshire, England.

This falconry centre is home

to falcons, eagles, hawks and now Misty the great grey owl.

Their job is to show people how birds of prey behave

and fly in demonstrations to entertain their enthusiastic fans.

Misty's boss is 18-year-old Chris.

This is Misty.

She's a one-year-old great grey owl.

I say she, but it is actually a he.

MUSIC: "My Name Is" by Eminem

Misty has lived at the falconry centre for three months.

He's just been promoted to professional display bird,

and his first flying demonstration is just around the corner.

Falconry demonstrations play a crucial role in displaying

to the public the habits of birds of prey like eagles, hawks and falcons.

But owls are rarely used as they are hearing- rather than sight-oriented,

meaning it's difficult for them to be trained in the same way

as other birds.

Misty has been training hard for the last three months,

but he's still only flying up to a metre at a time.

He will need to fly ten metres, the length of a double-decker bus,

to succeed on the job and live up to the title of falconry display bird.

It's a lot of pressure on trainer Chris.

They always call me owl boy. Ever since, well, I was a little boy,

I've always loved owls over all the other types of birds.

They're just so beautiful.

Great grey owls like Misty are Chris's favourites.

When I first was introduced to Misty and I saw Misty,

my face just lit up. I just smiled forever, really.

He was head over heels, I think,

at the beauty of the bird. Misty is very striking, being a great grey.

It's a very unusual bird so it was, it was kind of a love thing

between the pair of them.

MUSIC: "Just The Two Of Us"

I do like talking to Misty quite a lot, cos whenever I talk to him...

-HE WHISTLES

-Misty!

-MISTY SQUAWKS

-So he does talk back to you.

Sometimes he'll tilt his head like he's looking straight through you.

It's like, "Oh, who are you? What are you doing?"

He is a playful, happy bird.

He likes people's attention. He's quite an attention seeker.

And Misty's love of the limelight should help him in his new job.

If I'm taking some pictures of him, he'll actually look into the camera

and want to be photographed.

He is a popular bird. The children all come running up to his aviary.

They just like talking back to him, really, they absolutely love it.

Hello. This is Misty. You all right?

See those great big eyes? Those great big eyes there?

We can turn our eyes in our socket, can't we?

These guys actually have to turn their heads to be able to see.

The kids' faces light up cos they think he's so cute and cuddly.

Just touch him just there just very lightly.

He'll like that. There you go.

Misty may be off to a flying start with Chris but he can't just wing it

for his audience. He has to learn to fly whenever Chris asks him to.

His first flight is the most crucial flight.

Once we get it out of the way and he does it successfully,

it should just go from strength to strength, really.

There is the chance that he might get scared at the last minute

and turn off. If he gets there, I'll be over the moon,

so it'll be like a big achievement for me and Misty.

Later on we'll find out if Misty's first public flying demonstration

justifies Chris's faith in him, or just ruffles everyone's feathers.

Now we're heading to Hungary.

This is Budapest.

It's home to Haci, a Hungarian Pumi who never stands still.

Haci runs herself ragged

earning her living as a shepherd working alongside her boss, Gabi.

At just 14 inches tall, she has a big job on her paws.

Haci is in charge of a flock of 60 sheep, all twice her size,

and tomorrow, her skills will be really put to the test

in Hungary's national herding championship.

She'll be up against the best herders in the country.

Pumis may be small but they make great herding dogs.

They're fast and not afraid to use their bark to negotiate,

or even give a little nip to show who's boss.

-TRANSLATED:

-Haci grabs them to increase their respect towards her.

Dogs that only bark don't have enough respect from the sheep

so she has to bite them to have enough authority.

Haci was born for a career in herding.

It's a job that runs in the family.

-TRANSLATION:

-Haci's mother Freezi is one of the best Pumi dogs in the country.

She's won a huge number of breed championships and she's practically

won everything possible both inside and outside the country.

With Freezi retired, it's not just

Haci's professional pride on the line, it's her family name as well.

Tomorrow, Haci competes in Hungary's National Herding Competition

for the very first time.

It's the day of the championship.

The dogs competing are typical Hungarian breeds -

the Mudi, the rather hairy Pouli, as well as Pumis like Haci.

The course consists of a series of obstacles

around which the dogs must herd the sheep.

I think Haci will do all she can in order to perform today.

I will try my best, so I hope both of us will do well.

There's the bell and Haci's off to a flying start.

The goal is to get the sheep around the course in the quickest time.

Tight through the first gate, but Haci's still got the herd together.

Lots of encouragement from Gabi, and Haci's taking direction well.

She's really going for it.

Haci's giving it everything she's got - the timings are looking good.

Oh! Things are getting heated. Will the judge mark her down for that?

And it's all over.

But has Haci done enough to win?

Oh, no! Haci's been pipped to the post by Dio

and has to settle for second place.

The course was really hard but pretty good.

I think Haci completed it faultlessly. She's never competed

on such a difficult course before, and I'm really proud of her.

As the Hungarian championships draw to a close, Haci heads home

to train for next year's chance to claim back the family pride.

We've been surfing the net to find out what animals get up to

on their days off. Take a look at these pampered pets

who keep in shape by hitting the treadmill.

Aw!

That's the workout done. Now, who stole my water bottle?

We're heading back to England...

..where Misty the great grey owl

is training for his first flying demonstration.

Not only will he be flying without safety straps,

he'll have to fly ten metres in public for the first time.

Today, Misty's boss, Chris,

needs to concentrate on aerodynamic workouts to get Misty into shape.

Hello, you. Are you all right?

Every morning I go into Misty's aviary, bit of food on the glove,

call Misty down onto the glove,

rewarding him all the time with food every time he comes to the glove.

It's basically building our relationship up.

Him sitting on the glove is part of what you call the manning process,

so it's really to bond me and Misty. It's a very important stage.

It's the first stage before you can start

your training and your flying.

This is a typical training scenario so you've got the T-perch,

what Misty's resting on.

You've got a swivel, the metal.

That's attached onto jesses,

which is the leather straps tied onto the bottom.

The straps on Misty's legs are used to tether birds to their trainer

or a perch so they don't fly away while learning to fly on command.

Just to start off with, I'll just do a short hop with him,

say only a couple of metres and hopefully he should fly to me.

It's like learning to walk. The first steps are the most important,

and if you call them or whistle, you have to feed them.

If not, they'll soon think, "Why go there? It doesn't mean anything."

I'll stick my glove up and I'll put food in my glove.

When he looks at me, call his name...

-HE WHISTLES

-Misty, nice turkey for you.

HE WHISTLES

Come on.

If you had food, training a bird, an eagle'd be straight there.

An owl looks and goes, "Can I be bothered to fly that far?"

And Misty isn't going to be rushed.

Misty, come on.

-Misty.

-He's only going to make a move when he feels like it.

Time for Chris to go to plan B.

Now this is where bribery comes into it.

I'll offer Misty a slightly bigger piece now. Misty.

There you go.

Well done. He did well not to fly off and keep his attention on me,

plus he was too scared to even fly that 15 foot.

It's an owl - they're not the brightest bird in the box.

Nice of him to poo on my leg.

Later on, will Misty disgrace himself in public in his new job?

On today's performance, it's not looking good.

You've got to be prepared for the worst.

Animals At Work police horse introduction take one.

Being part of the mounted police section can literally be a riot,

and one set of hooves has been pounding the beat for years.

Animals At Work is of course chomping at the bit to meet

this horsey hero. You ready?

Let's saddle up. Come on.

This horsey hero patrols the city streets of Liverpool in England.

Say 'ello, 'ello, 'ello to the legendary Irish draught horse

Highlander. We're lucky to be meeting him before he retires.

16 years as a police horse, he's Liverpool's long legs of the law.

Highlander is a superstar. He's an icon within the mounted section,

and when people visit, they always want to see Highlander.

When we go out on the streets,

people know who he is because he is so special.

Standing at nearly six foot,

this gentle giant is an imposing part of the city's mounted police.

For the last five years, Highlander and boss Graham have patrolled

Liverpool's city streets.

We feed him on hay and on grass,

but we also feed them on a little concentrated food.

He's beautiful, isn't he? What's his name?

His name's Highlander, but we call him Eric.

Yeah, we call him Eric cos it's easier to spell.

Eric, sorry, Highlander has worked all sorts of shifts, good and bad.

He led Liverpool Football Club after their Champion's League triumph.

He escorted more Grand National winners than any other horse

and has also braved bottle-throwing hooligans in many a raucous riot.

Highlander's got incredible qualities.

Sometimes he seems almost human. He seems to care about people.

But he's also very calm in dangerous situations

and he's looked after me in some really, really difficult situations.

Highlander's big and bold and calm - what we need for a police horse.

There's particular occasions

when we've been dealing with violent offenders and large violent crowds

who've been intent on causing trouble, and he stays calm

and helps me to stay calm and therefore do my job.

So after 16 years of solid service,

you might be asking, why the long face?

Highlander's fantastic, but sadly he's getting old and his legs

are giving away on him now, so we need to put him out to pasture.

But it's great for him to have some retirement.

It just feels really odd. It's the end of an era with him.

It'll be sad that when I get a horse ready to go out on patrol

I won't be getting him ready,

and it's, er, it's quite emotional, really.

And today is Highlander's last public appearance.

At Liverpool's Lord Mayor's show, 3,000 people will say farewell

to their four-legged friend.

It's Highlander's last parade.

He lifts himself up an extra two inches on this type of day.

The Lord Mayor himself is actually going to say hello to Highlander

and mark this fantastic occasion, which is a great honour in itself.

When he gets excited, he has a tendency to poo. I don't want that!

It would be a memorable way to bow out, yes!

At Liverpool's Lord Mayor's show, 3,000 people will say farewell

to their four-legged friend.

The Lord Mayor's Parade is the highlight of the year, and a chance

for everyone to dress up.

Good afternoon, Lord Mayor. Nice to see you, sir.

This is Highlander, and Highlander retires today.

It's his last day as a police horse,

so a round of applause for Highlander.

The Liverpool police may be putting

Highlander out to pasture, but he and Graham won't be saying goodbye.

I am going to be spending more time with him over the next few years,

because I'm actually taking him home with me.

The children are absolutely delighted about that.

We've been looking out for your home videos of what animals

get up to in their spare time.

We love this one from Pennsylvania in America.

Check out Wilbur the weird cat, who's been sitting like a human

since he was a kitten.

So that's Wilbur. No, no, no, don't get up!

Now we're off to Catalina island on the west coast of America.

This is Moby. He's a Newfoundland Landseer and a lifeguard.

Being a lifeguard is the perfect job for Moby's breed.

Originally from Newfoundland, Landseers have been a fixture

on fishing boats for centuries.

The breed developed webbed feet, an oily double coat,

powerful hindquarters and a large lung capacity,

which means they're able to swim great distances.

Moby works on a boat set up

especially for students who want to learn about the ocean environment,

and enjoy life upon the ocean waves.

With up to 150 kids onboard at a time, the boat's crew need to be

ready for any emergency.

On the ship, we have our lifeguards

and emergency medical technicians and Moby rounds out that crew

really well by performing tasks that humans can't.

He just innately knows exactly what he's supposed to do and when.

Moby keeps in constant practice so that he's always on the alert

if anything should happen.

Newfoundlands make great lifeguards because they are particularly

sensitive to dangerous situations, changes in tone of the voice

and they can pick up on subtle clues in body language.

Scott believes that Moby can also smell chemical changes

in the breath produced by stress.

He goes from one person to another, just a rapid smell of their breath,

and he sees if he can sense any anxiety coming from their breath.

Students are told they can rely on Moby for a tow

if they get in trouble in the water.

They just grab onto his fur or his jacket and as soon as

he feels a pull, he immediately leads that person back to the boat.

Hey, Moby. Moby, give me a kiss.

It's pretty cool to see, like, a dog be able to do

the same stuff as humans can do.

Maybe possibly even better than some humans.

Despite Moby's amazing responsibilities,

he's still only a teenager himself, in dog years.

Moby is three-and-a-half years old.

Newfoundlands mature pretty late and Moby, he's probably

about like a 14-year-old boy, and sometimes you'll see the hints

of him being a real noble mature Newfoundland with his chest out,

but then the next minute you'll see him being real squirrelly

and playing with the kids, right in their face

and he'll shake and drool will fly all over and if it lands on girls,

especially teenage girls, they don't really like it too much.

I thought the drool was pretty cool. It was all over the place and stuff.

The kids love having Moby onboard, and at the end of the day it's back

to the crew room to hang out with the guys.

Now to England and Misty's big day.

It's Misty's first public air show.

His job is to give a display of his skills in front of an audience

to teach them about birds of prey.

But despite six weeks of training, there are still a few things that

could blow Misty off course.

Are you looking forward to your big day, mate? Go on, then.

Are you gonna come down and see me? Good lad.

If they're too light, you can be doing the bird some damage.

Obviously you might be starving the bird so that's not a good thing

but, um, if he's too heavy then he won't be able to perform as well

cos he won't be as responsive, so when we call him

he might just totally ignore us so we don't want that at all.

We'll go and weigh you, Misty.

So Misty's around 850 grams this morning, so he is actually on weight

for what he flies at, so just under a bag of sugar, really.

He should fly well cos he's on a good weight for it

so he should be quite responsive.

Boss Chris is happy that Misty is on peak form for the all-important

-display just one hour away.

-That's where you're going to be working.

This is the arena for the maiden flight.

But when it fills up with people, will Misty be able to keep his cool?

You can see it's quite warm for him today. He's actually panting.

You can see he's opening his beak,

but they're basically walking around with a duvet

so it'd be like me and you walking around with our bed sheet.

It's finally time for Misty

to make his first appearance in front of his audience.

Anything can happen.

You just gotta be prepared for the, for the worst, really.

Hello, ladies and gentlemen.

This is Misty, a film star in the making, really.

First flight for him today.

For the first time, I'm just gonna give her a little short flight,

just gonna give him a little short flight just to get used to it.

Misty.

-There you go.

-APPLAUSE

Let's do it again, slightly further, increase the distance a little.

Come on. Well done. All right.

I think I'm happy, I'm confident,

so what I'm gonna do now take him off the line,

big magical moment. You ready?

You're free, you're free to go. Come on, then. You ready?

Come on, then.

Misty is cleared for takeoff.

Not only does he have to impress the crowd, he's under the hawkish eyes

of his more experienced colleagues.

And he has to do it all without his safety straps.

It could all go horribly wrong.

-Misty.

-Come on, Misty, do you want this promotion or not?

There you go.

Fantastic. Well done.

That was brilliant. You all right?

I'm really happy. My hard work, everyone's hard work, his, paid off.

Hours training him, and it's turned out well, so I'm happy.

The future's bright for him, so well done, Misty. Absolutely brilliant.

I'm really pleased.

Hey, guys. Listen, don't look so miserable.

I've got some new jokes that I want to try out on my peeps,

the crew. OK, you ready?

I've had some medical training, so I can help the birds

if they ever get bird flu.

HE GIGGLES

Do you know what to give an owl when he's sick?

TWEETMENT. Get it? Tweetment?

Oh, come on! I'm winging this.

All right. Don't look so happy.

OWL be seeing ya.

HE BLOWS RASPBERRY

HE CLUCKS

And cut.