Everyone has seen wildlife at one time or another... a squirrel darting up a tree... a deer bounding across the road. These chance sightings are always a pleasant surprise. The graceful beauty of wild animals makes us feel good, it lifts our spirits and leaves us wanting to see them more. Sometimes it even seems like they enjoy looking back at us. Over my years of watching wildlife, people have often asked me how I get close enough to film them. Well, luck has sometimes played a big part. Being in the right place at the right time - not just blind luck. A few simple steps will greatly improve your chances. You don't need a lot of fancy equipment. It's understanding the animals that's important. With this understanding and a little patience - you'll be ready to begin "WATCHING WILDLIFE."

I'm in this seafood market to make a point about our swamps. That may seem funny because many people love seafood, yet hate swamps. Much of the seafood we enjoy begins life in our marshes and swamps. The borderline area where land meets water is the richest nursery of life anywhere. Hundreds of different species and thousands of individuals can be found in one pool. Many ocean species - shrimp, crab, and fish, grow up there. But, the closest most of us ever get to the swamp is a seafood dinner. People avoid swamps, thinking of them as muddy, dark, forbidding, and stagnant. In reality, those murky waters are incredibly rich in nutrients, and they teem with life. They're home for a varied array of animals I like to call "SWAMP CRITTERS".

The domestic Dog has won affection granted no other animal. Surprisingly, "our best friend" closely resembles its wild cousins -- the Wolf, Coyote and Fox -- the most misunderstood and feared family of animals in North America. Today, we are fascinated by the social behavior of the Wild Dogs and are beginning to appreciate their roles as "Top Dogs" in various natural ecosystems.

Alpine animals are truly the kings of survival. In order to survive in a severe and unpredictable habitat, all have adapted in special ways. A revealing time-lapse shows the development of Golden Eagle chicks. Also presented are the four Wild Sheep -- the Dall, Stone, Mountain and Desert Bighorn -- as they fight their everyday battle to endure and perform their ancient rituals of courtship.

The Grizzly Bear is funny and ferocious, a quivering coward and a daring hero, easily tamed yet forever wild. This disappearing giant is one of the most contradictory and complex of all our animal ideas. In this program, the entire spectrum of our attitudes toward the Grizzly are examined as well as the animal itself. Rare footage reveals the birth of tiny cubs during the female's winter denning.

This exploration of wildlife's struggle for survival presents many Endangered Mammals, Birds and Fishes that have never been filmed before. Some are large and impressive -- others small and overlooked. Seen are interviews with four prominent biologists, each an expert on a particular Endangered Species. Without our concern, many of these rare animals will never be filmed again.

A band of Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep is observed through the seasons. When springtime splashes the mountain meadows with color, a lamb is born and an old ram, the band's leader, dies. And so the cycle of life is completed. Portrayed are the mating battles of the huge rams, the seasonal migrations of the herd, and the never-ending search for food in the high mountains.

Witness the wondrous birth of tiny twin Deer fawns, and see wide-eyed Wolf pups emerge from their den. Both the Deer and the Wolf are followed through their age of innocence into maturity, when -- finally -- during a winter hunt, both the young Deer and the young Wolf assume their traditional adult roles as predator and prey. We see that each one is half of a beautiful natural whole.

Over millions of years, man has evolved into the dominant species on Earth. Throughout all this time, we've had a relationship with wild animals. We've hunted and killed them, tracked and studied them. We've feared and worshiped them, even named ourselves after them, hoping to take on some of their powers. Although we depend a great deal on modern technology, we continue to depend on our wildlife heritage. Wild animals still play important roles in our everyday lives. For recreation, we admire their freedom. For economics, we harvest their bounty. For science, we explore their mysteries. Each living thing shows us the success of the past and the promise of the future. We are all, in one way or another, "LIVING WITH WILDLIFE".

Childhood is the age of delight and discovery for wild animals. Lively baby Skunks, Flying Squirrels, Owls, Black Bears, Raccoons and other wild youngsters learn life-saving skills -- and have fun -- growing up in the wilderness. A nocturnal sequence shows the complete life cycle of a Toad, from embryo to "toadlet." Also seen is the playful springtime cavorting of Mountain Goat kids.

The Pronghorn Antelope of these vast western prairies is, in fact, not an Antelope at all. Instead, it's the sole member of its own unique family and it's an original American it evolved right here on this continent. Most of the other mammals with hooves that now live in North America migrated here from Asia by way of a land bridge. By comparison, the Pronghorn originated here. Its ancestors lived here at least two million years ago. Other creatures of that era including its major large predators have long since vanished. The Pronghorn alone survived into the twentieth century. In this land of many predators and few hiding places it developed phenomenal speed. This fascinating creature, fastest in North America is with us today because it was "BORN TO RUN".

Many thousands of these intelligent creatures roam the woods from Georgia to California. Some, bristling Boars with huge tusks, were imported from Europe and released as formidable hunting adversaries. Others are escaped barnyard swine. Only one is native -- the Peccary of our southwestern deserts. This program explores the funny, bizarre, violent world of the Wild Hog.

Antlers are the peculiar property of the deer family. No other creature in the world has this special kind of structure on its head. Worn by the males, and females of some species, the most amazing thing about antlers is they fall off. They shed them in winter every year and grow new ones in time for the next autumn mating season. That's an amazing amount of growth! Mother Nature has graced few of her children with as stately a symbol of beauty and strength as this antlered crown. It's only one of their adaptations. Since they first crossed the Bering Sea land bridge to arrive in America from Asia three million years ago, the deer family has been adapting to a wide variety of habitats from Alaska all the way down to Florida. That's why there are so many kinds of them. The family of Deer, Elk, Moose and Caribou have only a few members which are endangered. Instead, we find our most commonly sighted and some of our most popular large animals within this "ANTLERED KINGDOM".

America's Birds come in all shapes and sizes, and they range from homely to breathtaking. But they share one thing in common -- the awesome power of flight. The airborne freedom which sets Birds apart from other creatures has been envied by man for centuries. All the diverse Bird types are seen -- powerful predators, melodious songbirds, and graceful water birds.

The fifteen species of Hummingbirds that nest north of Mexico are exquisitely beautiful in their multi-colored iridescence. All are unique to the New World. European explorers were astounded by these tiny, glittering birds that zipped up and down, backwards and sideways, with wings humming and blurred. Here they are seen as never before, and we savor every last little wingbeat.

I'm here in northwest Montana, not far from the Bob Marshall Wilderness area. These mountains are the home of a legendary creature, the Wolverine. It's been called a ravenous monster and a supernatural being. It's been nicknamed "skunk bear," because it smells like a skunk, looks like a bear, and has the short temper of both. The Eskimos called it "evil one," and the white fur trappers hated it. But, can one animal really be all that bad? We've never really had the chance to find out.

The slender, luxuriously-furred Fisher is misnamed -- it does not catch fish. Cat-sized members of the Weasel family, Fishers are rare, energetic and playful -- but out of place in anyone's home. This fun-loving story shows how an orphaned pair of these frisky predators were rescued by Marty Stouffer and adopted by his family. They grow up with Marty and Diane's daughter Hannah.

The growing Fishers need to learn how to survive on their own before they can be released into the forest. Marty takes them on regular trips into the mountains that will some day be their home -- each time they go deeper into the wilderness. But the curious Fishers would rather explore and meet new wild friends -- like a Black Bear, Skunk and Mule Deer -- than continue their education.

Even as a kid growing up in rural Arkansas, I was interested in photography. To me it was some sort of magic. Our parents encouraged us to take turns with the family equipment, but I have to admit that back then it was nothing very special. I started taking still photos for the family album with this old Brownie box camera. Next came home movies in 8 mm, in the backyard, and then in the nearby woods. Before I knew it, I was spending the summer in Alaska, and making a documentary about the wildlife. But some of my fondest memories are of the old days, when I was just starting out. So, why don't you come along? I'd like to show you some of the scenes that I've been lucky enough to capture on film, and I'd also like to share with you some of my secrets for "PHOTOGRAPHING WILDLIFE".

Elegant and graceful, the Lynx is one of Nature's finest physical specimens. Its primary quarry is the elusive Snowshoe Hare. It is seen that the numbers of predator and prey -- Lynx and Snowshoe Hare -- are intricately linked in a ten-year cycle that rises and falls in unison. This fascinating, unexplained phenomenon is only one of many mysteries in the Great North Woods.

Yellowstone Lake has a vast underwater wilderness never seen by the two million annual visitors to this National Park. It is also the realm of a creature that forms the cornerstone of an entire aquatic ecosystem -- the brilliant Cutthroat Trout. A summer-long exploration by Marty Stouffer and crew begins in the remote Thorofare Region, our wildest land south of Alaska.

Dive into the underwater spawning ritual of Trout and related species. The crew's exploration takes them deeper into the northern wilderness along the magnificent Yellowstone River. At LeHardy Rapids, Marty catches slippery Cutthroat to study them face-to-face, then dives into the turbulence to hand-feed a large school of Trout with Salmonfly larvae. Back on the surface, we examine the reproductive cycle and all the other primary predators of the Salmonfly.

The last part of our search for the Cutthroat Trout took us to the bottom of Yellowstone Lake. Now, we follow the trout on a danger filled journey to their spawning areas, as they run the raging rapids of Yellowstone River.

Is there a peaceable kingdom? Not really. Wild animals have "sibling rivalries" just like humans. Ironically, related species compete more frequently, and more intensely, than do non-related species. These family conflicts can be fatal when it comes to the crucial concerns of food, territory, or affection... and it's not always the larger or more powerful "cousin" which wins the competition!

Most predators and prey have evolved in unison. They are so closely matched that every day is an "Animal Olympics." Intimately linked together are two birds -- the speedy Goshawk and the alert Ruffed Grouse. Many predators pursue the Grouse, but none is so well-adapted to catch it as the Goshawk. This is the story of an unerringly precise natural balance.

Family camping trips take on added interest now that Marty and Diane Stouffer's daughter Hannah is old enough to keep up with them. There's fun to be had and lessons to be learned as they share with Hannah the secrets of the wild creatures and wild places they love. We see that a child's enormous capacity to learn from Nature is one of our most precious inborn gifts.