Episode 23 Green Balloon Club

# Gather round one and all

# You've gotta answer the call

# Listen up, look around you, there's a magical world

# To explore

# There's a major adventure

# Coming your way soon

# So come and join us

# In this green balloon

# And when we fly we're higher than the moon

# So join us, all...

# In our green balloon. #

Hello. It's cold out here today. Let's go inside where it's warm.

Come on, Skipper.

ALL: Hello! Welcome to the Green Balloon Club.

It may be cold outside, but in here it's snuggly and warm.

We're finding out about hibernation. What's hibernation?

It's when animals sleep during the winter. Hedgehogs do that.

And lots of other animals. What other animals? Bats do, for a start.

They like hanging somewhere it's sheltered.

Ah, I love bats.

JAY COUGHS

And frogs hibernate at the bottom of ponds.

Frogs sleep at the bottom of the pond, all winter? That's right.

JAY COUGHS

Have you got a cough, Jay? No, we haven't done the register yet!

Yes, the register, of course! Let's do it now.

Here goes then. Lily Rose?

Are you here, Lily Rose? Yes, but I'm hibernating. Oh!

Lily Rose is hibernating.

Ant?

It looks like Ant's hibernating too.

What about you, Cat?

So we've got a hibernating Cat. It's unusual for cats to hibernate.

What about you, Skipper? Are you hibernating?

Of course you are!

Well, we've got the world's first hibernating dog. Now it's me.

Shall I hibernate too?

JAY YAWNS

Oh, no, I can't!

If I hibernate nobody'll be able to take the register... Sky?

I'm definitely feeling a bit sleepy.

Perhaps I'll just hibernate.

And what about you? Are you hibernating as well?

If you are, then do it now.

Just snuggle up nice and warm in your den

and go...to...sleep for the winter.

But now wake up! Hibernation over!

It's time for the Green Balloon Club chant! Yay!

ALL: # We love animals, plants and birds

# We love snails and slugs

# Large and small, we love them all And we never, ever step on bugs

# Cos we are the Green Balloon Club!

Sky? You know hedgehogs? Yes. They go to sleep in the winter.

That's right.

But why do they do that?

Well, in the winter, the days get shorter and colder

and food is hard to find. Some animals find it better to fatten

themselves up all the way through to autumn and then go to sleep

in a safe place until spring comes.

So does that mean they miss all Christmas? I guess they do.

Then I'm not going to hibernate.

CLOCKWORK CLATTERS

Special report! Special report!

Oh, that's Jelly! Does she hibernate in the winter?

Oh, no, I don't think so. Let's find out where she is today.

This is special reporter Jelly, reporting for Green Balloon Club.

Today, I'm at a hospital. But don't worry, I am not ill.

No, this is Tiggywinkles,

and it is a wildlife hospital

and it's where animals come to get better.

Come on, let's go and meet some.

Hello, Florence. Hello, Amelia. BOTH: Hi, Jelly. Hello.

Aw, you've got a baby hedgehog. He came in with an injured leg.

Oh dear, and what is that bit on him? It's a bandage.

The bandage makes his leg better. Oh, I see. He's so tiny, isn't he?

How old is he? He's three months, but he's very small for his age.

What happens when the bandage comes off?

He has swimming lessons. Swimming lessons?!

In a bath?!

So this bath is like a swimming pool for hedgehogs?

Yes, it's just like a swimming pool and this hedgehog has a broken leg.

Oh. It's healing now.

And it's going in the bath to have a bit of exercise. Oh, I see.

Oh, yes. Oh!

Look at him, I can't believe it! Oh, he's swimming.

Oh! Little hedgehog, oh, hello.

I didn't know hedgehogs could swim. He's doing the hedgey-paddle!

Like a dog doing doggy-paddle.

You know, but it's hedgey-paddle.

Look at him!

This is where lots of hedgehogs are already feeling a lot better.

And this is Ivory.

She is very unusual because she has blonde spikes.

And she's squeaking. And why are her spikes so blonde?

We don't know, but all her brothers and sisters were brown

and she was the only one with blonde spikes. Oh, it's amazing, isn't it?

Florence, what else can we do to help look after hedgehogs?

You can give them dog and cat food

and water but never give them milk or bread cos it can make them ill.

And they need to eat lots before they go into hibernation.

I hope you have a really good sleep, Ivory.

Thank you very much. Bye-bye for now.

Bye, Jelly. Bye, Jelly.

This is special reporter Jelly, reporting for Green Balloon Club

from Tiggywinkles Wildlife Hospital.

Back to you in the Green Balloon, up, up and away!

Today's marvellous mini-beast is the peacock butterfly.

It's named after a bird called a peacock that has lots of feathers

like eyes on its tail.

It has patterns on its wings to scare off creatures that might attack it.

In the summer, they're quite easy to spot.

They love places with flowers and fruit.

But in the winter, they're even more amazing because they hibernate

in sheltered places like sheds, ready to emerge again

when the weather warms up.

Ant, do spiders hibernate? Um...

Not our ones. A lot of them die during the winter.

Oh, poor things.

But they leave behind a small sack of eggs, it's called an egg sac.

In spring, it hatches with hundreds of baby spiders.

Perhaps you should draw the egg sac too. OK, then.

Do birds hibernate, Jay?

No, some migrate, which means they go to warmer countries for winter.

What about the ones that stay? They have to get through winter

as best they can, saving energy and body heat.

Did you know that a lot of mini-beasts hibernate? Do they?

Where do they go? They hide amongst the dead leaves. In wood,

in flaky bark. You could help by leaving your garden untidy.

So they've got lots of places to hide? That's right.

You could be more helpful by making a bug box.

I'd like to do that. Let's see if we have enough things to make one then.

I think my seeds are hibernating.

Not one has grown yet. Perhaps young plants don't like the cold.

We might have to wait for the weather to get warmer

and the days to get lighter.

I guess it is a bit cold for little babies.

I spy some Green Balloon Club members.

ALL: Hello!

ALL: Hello!

Hey! Hello, Green...

..Balloon.

Daddy.

Well, I'm here with my friends.

Have you noticed that it's getting quite cold at the moment? Brr!

When it gets cold we like to wrap up in warm clothes.

Well, tortoises like to keep warm too, don't they? Yeah.

That's right. My friends have got a tortoise and his name is Scratch.

And at this time of year, he likes to hibernate, doesn't he? Yeah.

Do you know what hibernate means? It means you go to sleep

during the winter months.

We're gonna help Scratch the tortoise hibernate.

Do you know the sign for tortoise? Yeah.

You put one hand like that, that's the body,

then you pop the shell on top like that.

And then you use your finger as the little head, like that.

"Hello, how are you?"

Why don't you have a go?

To keep Scratch nice and warm during his hibernation,

we're gonna use two cardboard boxes.

That's it. You gonna help, Ernest? Good boy. And lift the lid up here

and we're going to pop Scratch into the box.

Now, I've got some lovely, warm, snuggly bedding.

Does that look warm in there? Yeah, warm. Cosy and warm.

That's a tortoise.

Then, we're going to very gently

pick up Scratch and pop him in the box. That's right. In he goes.

Now very gently put the lid on top. Just so Scratch can breathe,

we're going to pop a few little holes at the top of the box.

Use this pencil. Pop them through like this.

Are you going to help do one? Yeah. OK, off you go.

Push it hard... Yes, very good!

That's it, excellent. Right, that's enough.

OK. Right, we'll pop that one over here.

Now we're going to use a big box. Yeah. A big enormous. That's right,

it is a big one, isn't it? Yeah.

And we need to put lots of stuffing in there too.

Are you going to help? Are you going to hold some for me?

You can hold that. Right...

There we go. And then, we can pop Scratch gently into the big box.

We need to pop some more holes in the big box. One, two...

Aqib, are you going to do one? Thank you! There we are.

And Scratch will be able to breathe, won't he? Yeah!

It's hard, Justin. It's hard, isn't it?

Yay! Well done. That was a great help today.

Right. And now we're going to close the box.

So, do that...and then just tuck that over, like so. Ho-ho!

Well, Scratch is inside the boxes. He's nice and warm and cosy.

But what we have to do now is find a perfect place for him to sleep.

Yeah? Yes! Well, come on then.

Let's go. Come on, Scratch.

We're looking for the perfect place for Scratch to sleep for the winter.

It's a lovely, warm, dry shed. Perfect for Scratch to hibernate in.

This is good. All we need to do is carefully pop him inside.

There we go. And now we can say goodnight to Scratch.

ALL: Goodnight, Scratch.

Goodnight, Scratch. See you soon. Ooh, and goodbye to you too.

Goodbye, Green Balloon Club, bye-bye!

ALL: Goodbye, Green Balloon Club!

Do we need anything else for your bug box, Ant? No.

That's it. And I got Sky to cut the ends off a bottle for us.

So, this'll be the bug box.

Now first, we need to get a piece of string and put it inside the bottle.

Is that so you can hang the bug box up? Yes, that's right, Jay.

And you can either tie it in a knot or a bow.

Then, when you've done that...

..you get some sticks.

Do you know what these are called, Jay? No. They're called cow parsley.

So, you put them inside. Why are we using cow parsley, Ant?

It's because it's hollow, so then the bugs can hibernate inside.

We need to make sure that we don't bury the string,

so that we can still hang it up, like that.

What sort of bugs might we get in our bug box? Ladybirds,

lacewings, earwigs.

Quite a lot of different mini-beasts.

While I finish this,

why don't you make one with the cardboard? Good idea.

That's just in case you don't have any cow parsley.

Are we using corrugated cardboard because it's got

these little holes in so the bugs can crawl in? Yes, that's right, Jay.

Lacewings especially like that cardboard.

I think I've finished, Ant. Me too. Where should we hang them up?

Somewhere sheltered so the rain doesn't go in the cow parsley.

Near plants - loads of mini-beasts there.

Yours looks really cool, Ant. Thanks, Jay. So does yours.

Are you looking something up, Cat?

Yes, I'm trying to find the champion hibernator. Who is it?

Here it is! Sweet! It's a dormouse, it sleeps for seven months.

So that's over half a year.

Yes, so just imagine if we were dormice,

and we went to sleep now, and when would we wake up?

We would sleep through...

BOTH: December, January, February,

March, April, May, June.

So that means we would miss Christmas, your birthday,

Easter and everything!

Yes, that means we would sleep in winter and wake up in summer.

Amazing! That's why I think this is the champion hibernator.

Tucked away in an old hazel wood,

there's a little tiny creature, fast asleep.

IT YAWNS

Oh, hello. I'm a dormouse.

You'll have to excuse me, I've just woken up.

For over half the year, I hibernate, which is a very long sleep.

It's my way of saving energy when there's not much food around

and it's too cold outside.

As spring arrives and it starts to get warmer,

there's no time to lose. It's time to leave my nest and stock up on food.

My next job is to build a nest for my tiny babies that are on the way.

I weave a tight nest round myself and line it with soft bedding,

ready for my newborn babies.

One by one, my baby dormice are born. They are born hairless and blind.

They're so tiny!

Over the next few weeks, their eyes open, and their fur begins to grow.

After four weeks, they're ready for their first outing.

This one can already balance on tiny twigs.

He uses his long bushy tail and his tiny feet with soft pads to cling on.

Our favourite food is tasty blackberries

that ripen around autumn time.

What a tasty treat!

As autumn draws to an end,

it's time for all of us dormice to find a secret place,

to once again roll into a little ball and curl our tails over our face,

to sleep out the cold winter months.

How cute was that dormouse, Skipper?

I think it should be this week's secret picture password.

Aww, but look, there's a hedgehog too

and she's really sweet.

Now which one should we choose?

The dormouse or the hedgehog?

It's really hard, isn't it?

Shall we pick the dormouse? Aww, the dormouse!

OK, let's click on that.

That's right!

The dormouse is this week's secret picture password.

I spy some Green Balloon Club members!

It must be time for this week's spot.

BOTH: Hello!

Today we are spotting grey squirrels. Let's get spotting!

They have grey fur, white tummies and a lovely bushy tail.

There's a squirrel. This big tail helps them to balance.

Grey squirrels do not hibernate.

So this time of year, you'll be able to spot grey squirrels

collecting food for the winter.

Squirrels have really good eyesight, to look around and spot food.

They collect chestnuts, acorns and other seeds.

So remember the clues!

Look in parks and gardens and woodlands.

Look for their grey bodies, their white tummies

and their big furry tails.

Look out for them collecting food for the winter.

Why don't you spot some grey squirrels?

BOTH: Bye!

What's this you're making, Lily-Rose?

I'm making a bed for a squirrel to hibernate in.

Squirrels don't hibernate. Don't they?

But don't they need to keep warm in winter? Well, yes.

It's my squirrel's little nest.

But squirrels live in squirrel dreys.

Then this must be my squirrel's little drey. Well, it must be.

With little cushions in.

Hang on, everyone, we're coming into land!

THUMP!

And whenever we land, it's...time for a song!

# See the leaves in a spin

# Tossed and blown by the wind

# It's like they're waving summer Goodbye!

# And the colours change To golden brown

# Flying high As they leave the ground

# Till they're just a speck Against the sky

# I see them flying

# Watch them flying

# To their places That are wonderful and new

# To see them flying

# It's just like angels on the wind

# Can we come flying too?

# See the birds How high they swoop

# Full of grace They loop the loop

# Living free So high above the ground

# And they're making circles In the sky

# Calling out "It's migration time!"

# I wish that I could soar Beyond the clouds

# You'd see me flying

# Watch me riding

# In circles just like life That will renew

# The birds are flying

# Away, returning in the spring

# Yes, they'll come flying

# Sun will be shining

# We'll all go flying...too. #

Thanks for coming to club today. See if you can spot a squirrel.

Or you could make a bug box. Or make a squirrel's drey.

See you next week. ALL: Bye!

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd

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# Tang!

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# Drum!

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