‘Earth at Night in Color’ Recap: ‘Wild Cities’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

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

If there is one particular belief that a vast majority of mankind shares in, it would have to be that we are the true masters of our domain. After all, we are the apex species on the planet, and our ability to work together and in an intelligent manner, has allowed for us to accomplish outright wonders. To the point where we are able to fly like the birds with the help of planes and traverse the stars by way of powerful rocket technology and we are the only species on the planet that is able to cheat death by way of our medical science. But while it is incredible to ponder upon our accomplishments and how well we control our destiny, we are not the masters that we think we are.
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Because the fact of the matter is, nature is the true master of this planet and regardless of how much progress we make or how dominant we are, it will indeed find a way to thrive and survive without our guidance and for proof… then look no further than the next episode of Earth at Night in Color. For ‘Wild Cities’ took the time to show how active and busy the world is after a vast majority of us retire for the night… in our own backyards. For animals have indeed come to learn that when the sun goes down, we disappear from the world and that is the perfect time to come out and find something to eat and live a peaceful life and well, seeing all of this in action made for one fascinating tale for certain. 

One that allowed for us to understand, just how intertwined our modern world is with nature. Since foxes and bears and everything in between emerge from the hills surrounding Los Angeles in order to go about their nightly business. Which might include taking a dip in whatever pool they find nearby, since our luxurious creations affords them the opportunity to cool off in the middle of summer, or it even allows for them to enjoy a cool drink if needed. But while it was amazing to see how animals make use of some of the conveniences of our carefully created world, two vignettes in this particular tale really helped us to understand how nature has learned to adapt to an environment where man is everywhere.

Take for example the mountain lion named Nikita that roams a small segment of hillside property surrounded by Los Angeles freeways. For she has figured out how to make use of her new environment to a tee and is able to patrol and eat and live in relative comfort whilst the world around her rushes about and that’s simply incredible. As are the falcons that make use of Chicago’s glittering skyscrapers to help them hunt. Since the peregrine falcon will carefully watch and wait for migrating birds to get lost within the concrete and steel jungles that we’ve created in order to snag a meal and it is simply amazing to know that nature is finding new ways to thrive and function in places where mankind believes it has complete control. However, while it was indeed incredible to see all of this play out, we would be remiss to not point out that our attempts to completely conquer the landscape is not without its drawbacks.

Since the show also took the time to show us how many birds are injured and killed by the glittering skyscrapers in downtown Chicago. A surprise that outright reminds us that we cannot look at ourselves as emperors of the world, but partners that have to make extra efforts to care for the many lives that still go about while we rest in the evening. And it was lovely to learn that some buildings in the windy city are going to power down during migration season to help innocent little birds find their way and really in the end, this really was quite the amazing episode. For it really did do a phenomenal job of pointing out how little we actually control in this world since nature always finds a way to make use of our environment and now we have a wonderful understanding of just how busy our world truly is, since nature has plenty to do while the 'masters' of this planet retire for the night. Until next time.  

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