Season 1
10 episodes · Feb 6, 2013
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S1E1Maternal Instinct
Feb 6, 20133mMothers – all mothers – cannot help being maternal. What is this trait, this characteristic common to all mothers?
S1E2Wasp
Feb 7, 20133mWasp Mammas don’t need fancy bottle warmers or breastfeeding pillows. They make sure their babies have all the nourishment they’ll need ahead of time by paralyzing caterpillars and burying them alive with their wasp eggs. That way, the little wasp babies have plenty of fresh meat when they hatch. Yum!
S1E3Cuckoo
Feb 8, 20133mGood babysitters are hard to find, so Mamma Cuckoos use some slight-of-wing to trick other birds into hatching and raising their young. They slip their eggs into the nests of smaller birds. When the Cuckoo chicks are born they knock those other eggs out of the way and convince their fake Mammas to feed them instead. It sure cuts down on childcare costs!
S1E4Spider
Feb 9, 20133mBeing a Mamma requires some sacrifice, especially if you are a Spider, Diaea egrandros. The number one priority for almost all Mammas is to make sure their babies have all the food they need to survive. And for these spiders, that means letting their babies devour them.
S1E5Cichlid Fish
Feb 9, 20133mCichlid Fish Mammas store their eggs in their mouths, so that’s where Cichlid fathers have to fertilize them. Naughty! Soon after that, lots of Cichlid babies swim out and those Mammas are free to use those mouths for things like eating again.
S1E6Toad
Feb 9, 20133mToad mammas don't carry one big baby in their bellies, but many littles babies on their backs.
S1E7Hamster
Feb 9, 20133mHamster Mammas have a lot of babies. Up to 10 at a time! Sometimes that is too many mouths for one Mamma to feed, so she eats a couple up so she can give those remaining siblings some sustenance.
S1E8Dunnock
Feb 9, 20133mRaising babies can be expensive! That’s why Dunnock bird Mammas practice polyandry and have more than one male mate. More men means more dads bringing home the bacon. Or in this case, bugs and seeds.
S1E9Oil Beetle
Feb 10, 20133mOil beetle larvae can trick themselves onto a bee mamma and eat all that she provides for her babies, and the babies too!
S1E10Piping Plover
Feb 11, 20133mThe Piping Plover is an actress! Charadrius melodius pretends to be wounded in order to protect its eggs from predators.