Animal Homes: Cities

A spider found in parts of the Caribbean and South America forms colonies that comprise thousands of individuals. Working together these colonies can build nests more than 20 feet across.

Some animal species congregate in huge groups. Icelandic puffins form colonies of more than a million, which provides shared information about food sources and reduces the odds of being attacked. Social spiders in Ecuador gather by the thousands to capture large prey. Leaf cutter ants in Costa Rica build enormous acre-wide cities to house multimillion-citizen colonies.

The Hebrides islands in Northwest Scotland are home to the largest puffin population in the U.K. Every year, the seabirds congregate in huge colonies in order to find a mate and secure the perfect piece of real estate to raise their young.

"Animal Homes: Cities" features a colony of over 40,000 puffins filmed from every angle imaginable. Cinematographer Mark Carroll explains how he got the close-ups using small GoPro cameras and the clever use of puppets.