FOX + RACCOON + SQUIRREL = BACKYARD BANDITS! NAT GEO WILD IS GIVING OUR PESKY FRIENDS THEIR TIME TO SHINE

Part of Destination WILD Sunday Nights, Three World Premieres Celebrate Our Backyard Bandits Beginning Sunday, March 8, 2015, at 8 PM ET/PT on Nat Geo WILD

(WASHINGTON, D.C. - Jan. 7, 2015) We've all seen them in parks, alleys and our own backyards. Usually overlooked, foxes, raccoons and squirrels aren't exactly considered safari animals or even rare. They are "backyard bandits" that coexist with all of us. Nat Geo WILD is giving the "little" guys their time in the light with a one-night Destination WILD event beginning Sunday, March 8, 2015, at 8 p.m. ET/PT with the premiere of The Secret Life of Mr. Fox, then Raccoon: Backyard Bandit at 9 p.m. ET/PT and Super Squirrel at 10 p.m. ET/PT. (For more information, visit natgeowild.com and follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/NGC_PR.)

As part of Nat Geo WILD's Sunday nights dedicated to natural history programming, we're starting the night off with everyone's favorite, the sneaky fox in The Secret Life of Mr. Fox. George Clooney may be the "Fantastic Mr. Fox," but we're taking a look at the real deal. And we finally see just how cunning he really is. With hidden cameras and tracking technology, we'll uncover his nightly antics. In England, we see the fox popping up in all sorts of unusual places from sports events to the front steps of the prime minister's house. This is one animal that has no problem surviving the city. Our cameras capture never-before-seen footage of a fox family living under a garden shed in London. We follow the twists and turns of their sometimes tragic and often heartwarming story, as the cubs grow up and get ready to leave home. This is the true story of Mr. Fox.

Then in Raccoon: Backyard Bandit, our raccoon friend tells us his life story in his own words. Narrated in the voice of a raccoon, we'll take a journey through his life from birth to searching for food in dumpsters to traveling through underground tunnels. In the words of a raccoon, "We just want the same things you do: life, love and the pursuit of happiness, which for us pretty much means food." This animal's knack for mischief has earned it a reputation, but there's way more to the raccoon than just trashcan thievery. They are smart, adaptable and equipped with an array of incredible senses that allow them to maximize every opportunity humans provide. That's exactly why their touch receptors on each paw help identify objects without having to see them, making finding food a piece of cake - no pun intended. Join us as we take a look into a year in the life of the furry masked bandits that not only live in our neighborhood, but know it better than we do.

Finally, in Super Squirrel, we take a look at our permanent backyard houseguest to uncover its feats of agility, intelligence and imagination. High-speed cameras help us break down ordinary squirrel behavior. Not only do squirrels survive and cohabitate with humans, but they appear to thrive in our shared spaces. Squirrels hoard food to prepare for hard times, but any time away from the safety of the canopy is spent negotiating natural and manmade dangers, often in competition with rival squirrels. Perhaps the everyday rodent squirrel is more complex than we thought, making it a Super Squirrel!

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NAT GEO WILD

For more than 30 years, National Geographic has been the leader in wildlife programming. The networks Nat Geo WILD and Nat Geo WILD HD, launched in 2010, offer intimate encounters with nature's ferocious fighters and gentle creatures of land, sea and air that draw upon the cutting-edge work of the many explorers, filmmakers and scientists of the National Geographic Society. Part of the National Geographic Channels US, based in Washington, D.C., the networks are a joint venture between National Geographic and Fox Cable Networks. In 2001, National Geographic Channel (NGC) debuted, and 10 years later, Spanish-language network Nat Geo Mundo was unveiled. The Channels have carriage with all of the nation's major cable, telco and satellite television providers, with Nat Geo WILD currently available in 57 million U.S. homes. Globally, Nat Geo WILD is available in more than 187 million homes in 140 countries and 28 languages. For more information, visit www.natgeowild.com.