‘Earth at Night in Color’ Recap: ‘Bear Woodlands’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode Four of ‘Earth at Night in Color’.

When we think of nocturnal animals, we think of evolution. Because some animals have learned that the dark provides them with everything they need, and they’ve slowly adapted and grown to make it their domain whilst the rest of the world gently rests. But what we rarely consider, is our impact on evolution. Because sometimes, our aggressive proclivity to use nature’s beings for their resources, motivates various species to change, so they can outright thrive in peace, and for proof that this is the case… then look no further than the next episode of Earth at Night in Color.

For ‘Bear Woodlands’ introduced us to the brown bears of the boreal forests in Europe, who have made the bold move to adapt and evolve to function at night. Simply because… mankind has hunted these animals aggressively for far too long, and it finally occurred to these animals to change their body clock and awake in the cover of darkness, in order to avoid mankind and its predatory ways and well, it worked. For now, these bears roam the night no problem and thrive under the cover of the stars and this adaptation is so intense and so involved that even their young have deviated from normal behavior. For when they play, they do so in silence, in order to avoid the risk of being discovered by any predator.

But while it was fascinating to learn that these proud bears have adapted to survive in unique and fascinating ways, what would an episode of this series be without showing us exactly how they thrive in the darkness? And that was accomplished by having us spend time with a specific brown bear named Alvar. For this big fluffy bear went on quite the journey in this story, one that saw him awake from his hibernation in a weakened state and he quickly worked hard to find a meal on a consistent basis and find a mate and well, it was quite amazing to watch him push hard regardless of the odds, to find success in both endeavors. And thankfully, his perseverance allowed for him to eventually find a mate in a gentle and playful manner and of course… he eventually found food as well.

So much in fact that he went from being an average sized starving bear, to one that suddenly owned the landscape. For by the end of this tale, Alvar was a massive bear, one that actually managed to engender fear in the predators that he once stole from. For the coyotes in this forest quickly came to understand that no coyote should mess with a bear ten times their size, especially a hungry one. And they also learned that if said bear wants the meal, they worked hours on end to bring down, it’s best they simply hand it over and well, in the end, all of these elements made for one fascinating and engrossing story. One that offered up a unique look at life in a place where the night seems endless and one that taught us a powerful lesson.

In that, we really don’t ponder enough on how our modern world has impacted the natural one. Because it is definitely safe to say that few of us had a clue that nature has taken the time to adapt in the hopes of avoiding us and seeing that in action, definitely gives the viewer pause and leaves them pondering upon how else we’ve managed to impact the natural world. A notion that we won’t have to wait long to explore, for the next episode in this phenomenal documentary is going to take the time to dive into just that. By showing us just how nature has learned to thrive at night, within the confines of the incredibly complex cities we've constructed. Until next time.   

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