: PBS LearningMedia - Kratt's Creatures: Marshmania!

: PBS LearningMedia

I seem to have a habit of fibbing while I blog these episodes, so I apologize once again! Anyways, this one is about marsh animals. Chris and Martin float over Virginia in the U.S. in a hot-air balloon. The air soon leaks out of it and they crash into a marshy environment. Along with that, the brothers realize they have no food. Even when they find their backpacks, they don't find any food. So they realize that they're going to have to dine with creatures in order to do it. This even lets us see what failures they are at imitating the great blue heron when it comes to catching fish. Meanwhile at the Creature Club, Allison is having trouble with her audio log due to it being scrambled. So she uses the frog and cricket sounds to locate the brothers. During the episode, we learn about the marsh and how it supports a great deal of life: from microorganisms all the way up to wild ponies and even fish, frogs, toads, a lot of different bird species, blue crabs, and turtles such as the diamondback terrapin and the snapper. The Kratts even use a seesaw to illustrate the necessity of balance in the animal kingdom and show how human development can and does interfere with the natural world. The introduction of the sica deer from Asia is an example: it is making life more difficult for white-tailed deer and delmarva fox squirrels. To their credit however, they do emphasize the need for homes, office and industry. They simply suggest more careful planning. This helps me to better respect them as creature adventurers and scientists. It truly is a breath of fresh air to hear that amidst all of the animal rights looniness. In the end, Allison gets her equipment fixed, the brothers get their breakfast of seafood, and then the brothers float away in their hot-air balloon. Sadly, it's not all good. We get the privilege of hearing one of the most ridiculous evolutionary stories I have ever heard in my life: around 4000 million years ago, the earth was water and muck. One day, volcanoes erupted and meteors collided with the earth. Afterwards, there was life in the muck: little protozoa that eventually "evolved" into everything else! Imagine that: life comes from non-life! What a silly idea! Evolutionists need not wonder then as to why we find it so hard to take them seriously. Anyways, it's getting late. Goodnight!