0:00:02 > 0:00:07Beneath the American prairies, deep underground,
0:00:07 > 0:00:09the little prairie dogs are stirring.
0:00:12 > 0:00:16Come on, little prairie dogs, wake up!
0:00:16 > 0:00:22It's time to tell a story of life on the prairies.
0:00:28 > 0:00:31PRAIRIE DOG SHRIEKS
0:00:41 > 0:00:43PRAIRIE DOG SQUEAKS
0:00:56 > 0:01:00Snow and Ashki have woken up early this morning
0:01:00 > 0:01:03and they're keen to get out and play.
0:01:03 > 0:01:04Morning, Snow!
0:01:04 > 0:01:07SNOW YAWNS Morning, Ashki.
0:01:08 > 0:01:12- Shall we sneak out to play before Mum wakes up?- Yeah!
0:01:12 > 0:01:16Can we play king of the castle?
0:01:16 > 0:01:18All right, then.
0:01:18 > 0:01:21What do we have to do, again?
0:01:21 > 0:01:23Oh, Snow!
0:01:23 > 0:01:26Find the tallest mound you can,
0:01:26 > 0:01:30stand on it so you're king, then I try to win back your castle.
0:01:30 > 0:01:32OK! I'm off.
0:01:35 > 0:01:39King of the castle is my most favourite game ever!
0:01:39 > 0:01:44There are so many mounds to stand on all over town.
0:01:44 > 0:01:47Is this one tall enough?
0:01:48 > 0:01:51Eek! A big black spider!
0:01:51 > 0:01:52Run!
0:01:52 > 0:01:55And that one's taken.
0:01:55 > 0:01:58Oh, there must be one somewhere...
0:01:58 > 0:02:01I'll try this way.
0:02:04 > 0:02:05BIRD SQUAWKS
0:02:05 > 0:02:09Oh! What was that?
0:02:09 > 0:02:10Oh, no!
0:02:16 > 0:02:19Oh! What was that big fluffy monster?
0:02:21 > 0:02:25I don't want to stand on top in case the big monster sees me.
0:02:27 > 0:02:29Oh, I wish Ashki was here!
0:02:31 > 0:02:35Hmm. This is strange. I can't see Snow.
0:02:35 > 0:02:37He should be easy to spot on a mound.
0:02:37 > 0:02:41Where are you, King Snow?
0:02:41 > 0:02:44Oh, thank goodness! That sounds like Ashki.
0:02:45 > 0:02:48Ashki! Quick! Over here!
0:02:48 > 0:02:51Snow? Is that you?
0:02:51 > 0:02:54Where are you?
0:02:54 > 0:02:58Psst! I'm over here, behind this burrow! Come quick!
0:03:00 > 0:03:02Ha ha! What's wrong, Snow?
0:03:02 > 0:03:06You're supposed to be standing on top of a burrow,
0:03:06 > 0:03:07not hiding behind one!
0:03:07 > 0:03:10Oh, Ashki! You won't believe it.
0:03:10 > 0:03:14I chose the tallest burrow, but there was a huge monster inside.
0:03:14 > 0:03:17Yellow eyes and a big brown face! I got such a fright!
0:03:17 > 0:03:21OK, OK. Calm down, Snow.
0:03:21 > 0:03:23You're saying you saw a huge monster
0:03:23 > 0:03:26with a big face and yellow eyes?
0:03:26 > 0:03:29Sounds like a big hairy bison to me.
0:03:29 > 0:03:34No, no! It's definitely not a bison.
0:03:34 > 0:03:36It was hiding in one of our old burrows.
0:03:36 > 0:03:40You couldn't fit a bison into a burrow, silly.
0:03:40 > 0:03:44Hmmm. Well, come on. Let's see if we can find it again.
0:03:46 > 0:03:51Oh! I know! If it wasn't a bison,
0:03:51 > 0:03:54then maybe it was that badger over there.
0:03:56 > 0:04:00No, it wasn't the badger either.
0:04:00 > 0:04:04It was smaller than that and it definitely had big yellow eyes.
0:04:04 > 0:04:07OK. Well, let's keep looking.
0:04:07 > 0:04:08Which burrow was it in?
0:04:10 > 0:04:12I don't know, Ashki. I ran away so fast,
0:04:12 > 0:04:16but I think it was over here somewhere.
0:04:27 > 0:04:28Ah! Over there!
0:04:28 > 0:04:30Look!
0:04:30 > 0:04:32There it is again, in that burrow!
0:04:32 > 0:04:35Yellow monster eyes staring at us.
0:04:35 > 0:04:37BIRD JABBERS
0:04:37 > 0:04:38Oh! I'm scared!
0:04:41 > 0:04:42Wow, Snow!
0:04:42 > 0:04:47I see what you mean! They ARE big yellow eyes.
0:04:47 > 0:04:48But they're not monsters.
0:04:48 > 0:04:51Are you sure, Ashki?
0:04:51 > 0:04:54They look really strange to me.
0:04:54 > 0:04:56No, it's fine, Snow.
0:04:56 > 0:04:59They're just one of our neighbours,
0:04:59 > 0:05:01the burrowing owls.
0:05:01 > 0:05:05Mum says they like us prairie dogs because they use our old burrows
0:05:05 > 0:05:07to build their nests in.
0:05:07 > 0:05:10Oh, Ashki! You're so clever!
0:05:10 > 0:05:14Actually, close up, they're not frightening at all.
0:05:14 > 0:05:17In fact, they're really cute.
0:05:17 > 0:05:19Look, that one's saying, "Hello!"
0:05:19 > 0:05:21- BIRD CHITTERS - Ha! So she is!
0:05:21 > 0:05:24I think they're trying to be friendly, Snow.
0:05:24 > 0:05:28Look at her now. She's doing a little dance for us.
0:05:28 > 0:05:32Ha ha ha! So she is! It's like the peekaboo dance.
0:05:34 > 0:05:37I'm going to do it back to her.
0:05:37 > 0:05:38Peekaboo!
0:05:41 > 0:05:44Ha ha ha! They're playing along, Ashki!
0:05:44 > 0:05:47Look! They're peekaboo-ing!
0:05:47 > 0:05:49He he he! Peekaboo!
0:05:49 > 0:05:53- Peekaboo!- Peekaboo! Peekaboo!
0:05:56 > 0:06:00Oh, wow, Ashki! Look at her fly!
0:06:00 > 0:06:02She's really fast.
0:06:02 > 0:06:05- Hmm, Ashki?- Yes, Snow?
0:06:05 > 0:06:09Why can't prairie dogs fly? I'd like to fly like Mrs Owl.
0:06:09 > 0:06:12Prairie dogs don't have wings, Snow.
0:06:12 > 0:06:13Owls have feathery wings
0:06:13 > 0:06:17and when they open and flap their wings, they can fly.
0:06:18 > 0:06:22Hmm. Well, they're not flying right now.
0:06:22 > 0:06:25Shall we challenge them to a game of king of the castle?
0:06:25 > 0:06:29Great idea, Snow! I'll go first.
0:06:31 > 0:06:34Go on, Mrs Owl! I want to be king!
0:06:34 > 0:06:36Wooo!
0:06:39 > 0:06:41Whee! Ha ha ha!
0:06:41 > 0:06:44Oh, I'm not king anymore, Mrs Owl.
0:06:44 > 0:06:46You're really good!
0:06:47 > 0:06:49OK, Snow, your turn.
0:06:50 > 0:06:51But watch out.
0:06:51 > 0:06:55Mrs Owl's one of the best at protecting her castle.
0:06:55 > 0:06:57OK, here I go!
0:06:57 > 0:06:59I'm going to be king of the castle!
0:07:02 > 0:07:05Please, Mrs Owl, let me stand on the castle!
0:07:08 > 0:07:10Oh, bad luck, Snow.
0:07:12 > 0:07:14It's my turn again now.
0:07:14 > 0:07:17I'm sure I can do it this time.
0:07:17 > 0:07:21Looks like they're not at the top right now.
0:07:22 > 0:07:25- Hey, I'm the king of the castle! - Watch out, Ashki!
0:07:25 > 0:07:27You're the dirty raaa...
0:07:27 > 0:07:31Mrs Owl is brilliant at this game,
0:07:31 > 0:07:33especially as she can fly.
0:07:33 > 0:07:36- WHISPERS:- Snow, look!
0:07:36 > 0:07:39She's off her castle!
0:07:39 > 0:07:44I'm going to sneak over this way. She can't see me.
0:07:44 > 0:07:47Right, I'm going to make a run for it
0:07:47 > 0:07:50and beat Mrs Owl to be king of the castle.
0:07:50 > 0:07:52Here goes!
0:07:52 > 0:07:55Oh, no!
0:07:55 > 0:07:59She got there first! She really is king of the castle.
0:08:01 > 0:08:04I think Mrs Owl will always win this game, Snow.
0:08:04 > 0:08:08She's brilliant at defending her castle!
0:08:08 > 0:08:09I think so too.
0:08:09 > 0:08:12Well, it's been fun playing with them, hasn't it?
0:08:12 > 0:08:15Yes, Ashki, it was a lot of fun.
0:08:15 > 0:08:19I like burrowing owls. They're fun neighbours to have.
0:08:19 > 0:08:22We should come back and play with them another day.
0:08:22 > 0:08:26OK, Snow. So long as it's not king of the castle.
0:08:26 > 0:08:29Mrs Owl is just too good at that game.
0:08:29 > 0:08:31Come on! We'd better get back to Mum
0:08:31 > 0:08:35and tell her about all the games we've been playing.
0:08:35 > 0:08:38I wonder if she's even out of bed yet!
0:08:40 > 0:08:43Snow and Ashki have had a real adventure.
0:08:43 > 0:08:46They've learnt that the burrowing owls
0:08:46 > 0:08:50are the best at playing king of the castle
0:08:50 > 0:08:53and they've made friends with the big, yellow-eyed birds.
0:08:54 > 0:08:59As dusk arrives on the prairie, it's goodbye to the burrowing owls
0:08:59 > 0:09:01and goodbye to Snow and Ashki.
0:09:01 > 0:09:03Goodbye.
0:09:07 > 0:09:10Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:09:10 > 0:09:13E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk