:00:10. > :00:14.Hello and welcome to Autumnwatch, and it is our last night in the
:00:14. > :00:18.Highlands. We have had the woods here bug with cameras and we have
:00:18. > :00:20.had some brilliant wildlife. have been watching are what life as
:00:20. > :00:26.they make the most of the mild autumn evenings and prepare for
:00:26. > :00:36.colder months. We will be tuning into the lives of the animals all
:00:36. > :00:54.
:00:54. > :00:59.around us right now. It is Yes, hello and welcome. If you were
:00:59. > :01:03.watching earlier, you will know that the Autumnwatch put in has
:01:03. > :01:07.camped itself here near Inverness. We have had a great week of
:01:07. > :01:13.wildlife. All sorts of things have been spotted on our remote cameras
:01:13. > :01:16.and creatures from all around the country. But it is not over yet.
:01:16. > :01:21.will bring you some interesting facts, a bit of science, some
:01:21. > :01:27.cuteness and who knows - something unexpected. But we will definitely
:01:27. > :01:31.bring you some drama. We will bring you the final instalment of our red
:01:31. > :01:36.deer epic. And we will catch up with some of the animals around our
:01:36. > :01:42.coasts at this time of year. And we will get to grips with one of our
:01:42. > :01:47.most charming creatures, but sadly, one which is in serious decline.
:01:47. > :01:51.it just me, or is it colder tonight? You have just got the best
:01:51. > :01:56.clothes on. A but we have noticed a change, even in the short time we
:01:56. > :02:00.have been here. Winter is creeping in. The days have got shorter, then
:02:00. > :02:04.might have got longer, the clocks have gone back and we have even had
:02:04. > :02:10.some snow. This was the beginning of the snow.
:02:10. > :02:14.And the time we have been here, just in a last week at. The snow
:02:14. > :02:21.has settled on the hills. That is a sign of tougher months ahead for
:02:21. > :02:25.our wildlife. And it is bitterly cold in the wind tonight. But let
:02:25. > :02:35.us do what we are here for. Let's go around with our live cameras and
:02:35. > :02:36.
:02:36. > :02:39.see what is there. Ooh! A beaver. There it is eating, like they do
:02:39. > :02:46.most of the time. They are trying to build themselves up, get those
:02:46. > :02:50.fat reserves ready for the winter. Any idea who that is? Our viewers
:02:50. > :02:53.on the red button probably no better than we do. They could
:02:53. > :03:00.recognise the backside of that beaver. Great entertainment this
:03:00. > :03:10.week. Have we got any more beavers? Any more action? You can just make
:03:10. > :03:11.
:03:11. > :03:16.it out, swimming. That is quite close to where we are. I think it
:03:16. > :03:26.is coming towards us. Maybe it is coming across to see what we are
:03:26. > :03:27.
:03:28. > :03:32.doing. Can we see where it is? are very close. There we are.
:03:32. > :03:38.about 150 metres away. They are still going about their business.
:03:38. > :03:42.They are trying to put on fat reserves for the winter. It is not
:03:42. > :03:46.just because we have been watching. We have been watching pine marten
:03:46. > :03:50.so. Before we went on air last night, we saw this. This is our
:03:50. > :03:56.mammal stump, where we have been looking at small mammals. But on
:03:56. > :04:01.top of it is a large mammal. Just listen. The wood mouse inside is in
:04:02. > :04:06.trouble. Its nemesis is outside. This is The Hurt Locker for the
:04:06. > :04:10.wood mouse. All it needs to do is stepped out, and it would be a
:04:10. > :04:16.goner. But thankfully, the pine marten has a greater interest in
:04:16. > :04:19.strawberry jam than wood mice, and has headed off to satisfy its sweet
:04:19. > :04:23.tooth. So there would now survive. Her at least the pine marten can't
:04:23. > :04:30.go in, like the weasel did the other day. If the weasel had been
:04:30. > :04:34.around, the wood mouse would have been an ex-wood mouse. The scent of
:04:34. > :04:38.those small mammals must be prevalent. That is not the only
:04:39. > :04:48.thing we have seen about feeding station. We have also seen badgers,
:04:48. > :04:55.and they proved to be quite agile. Look at it climbing the tree. We
:04:55. > :05:01.have also seen them doing this. A bit of scratching, and then it
:05:01. > :05:06.leaves a little deposit. It is marking its territory. We have seen
:05:06. > :05:09.the prompt -- pine Martens doing this. As things get tougher and
:05:09. > :05:14.resources become more important, you want to protect them, so you
:05:14. > :05:19.want to maintain your territory. The fact that these animals have
:05:19. > :05:28.been sent marking does not surprise us. We are still getting your
:05:28. > :05:33.behaviour. Don't forget, all of the cameras will still be on red button.
:05:33. > :05:37.You can keep watching an online until 10:30pm, when I'm afraid they
:05:37. > :05:45.will be switched off. After the show tonight, don't go anywhere,
:05:45. > :05:50.because it is Unsprung. What is on Unsprung? It is a quiz, and it is a
:05:50. > :05:55.corker. Sounds like a lot of fun. But if you need a bit of drama, we
:05:56. > :06:00.had plenty of it with our red deer stags Cassius and Lucius. After
:06:00. > :06:09.yesterday's a bloody battle, we left the EGM on a cliffhanger. Who
:06:09. > :06:14.will be victorious? Let's find out. On the island of Rum, 3rd October
:06:14. > :06:21.proved to be a pivotal day in the red deer rut. Several times had
:06:21. > :06:27.come into season and some brutal battles broke out. Cassius, the
:06:27. > :06:33.oldest stag, timed his challenge to perfection and deposed Lucius with
:06:33. > :06:41.a stab to the side. But remarkably, Lucius continued to fight other
:06:41. > :06:51.stags despite his injuries. Will you have the strength to take on
:06:51. > :06:56.
:06:56. > :07:02.Cassius again? This morning, there is a sense of calm over the glen.
:07:03. > :07:12.And there has been a dramatic reversal of fortune. Cassius is a
:07:12. > :07:22.loan. The hinds he won yesterday argon, and here is the reason.
:07:22. > :07:22.
:07:22. > :07:31.Lucius. He must have taken on Cassius in the night, and now, once
:07:31. > :07:41.again, he holds the lion's share of behinds. Things might become for
:07:41. > :07:42.
:07:42. > :07:52.now, but another storm is brewing. This high and has just come into
:07:52. > :07:53.
:07:53. > :08:03.season. And every stag in the area knows it. Lucius is forced back on
:08:03. > :08:31.
:08:31. > :08:36.It is an exhausting battle, with no clear winner. If Lucius can just
:08:36. > :08:44.hold off the other stags, he should get to mate with the kind who is in
:08:44. > :08:52.season. But there is no time for Lucius even to try. Another stag is
:08:52. > :09:02.challenging, and yet again, it is Cassius. Once more, this wise old
:09:02. > :09:16.
:09:16. > :09:26.stag has timed his manoeuvre It is over. Lucius does not really
:09:26. > :09:27.
:09:27. > :09:33.seem to want to take on the stag who stabbed him in the side. Every
:09:33. > :09:43.time, Cassius made his move at the critical moment. When a hind is in
:09:43. > :09:50.season. The hind ones to mate, but she will be the one who chooses her
:09:50. > :09:59.partner. Cassius may have reclaimed the herd, but the Hindhead so way
:09:59. > :10:04.towards Lucius. Will he be the lucky one? No. She passes him by,
:10:04. > :10:09.and cosies up with his neighbour. Even after all the epic fights
:10:09. > :10:17.between the stags, it is the hinds who gets the final say. After
:10:17. > :10:27.checking out a few other stags, she makes up her mind and goes back. To
:10:27. > :10:41.
:10:41. > :10:45.Poor Lucius. He is just not in the game any more. He might be a
:10:45. > :10:54.powerhouse, but he has been outmanoeuvred again and again by
:10:54. > :11:04.Cassius. Over the next few days, he repeatedly tried to challenge
:11:04. > :11:04.
:11:04. > :11:11.Cassius. In vain. Even with an uphill advantage, Lucius backs out
:11:11. > :11:16.from making a proper challenge. He has lost weight, and has also
:11:16. > :11:26.started eating again. A sure sign that he has pretty much given up.
:11:26. > :11:27.
:11:27. > :11:31.His rut is over. Against all the odds, it is the oldest stag,
:11:31. > :11:37.Cassius, who has proved to be the most successful. He might be past
:11:37. > :11:45.his physical best, but he has taken power at just the right time. He
:11:45. > :11:52.mated the most times, more than Lucius. And more than Mozart. On
:11:52. > :11:55.October the tenth, this veteran stag called it a day. It pays for a
:11:55. > :12:01.stag to know when to stop fighting, as they have got another massive
:12:01. > :12:05.challenge to face, the coming winter. Now Cassius has to feed up
:12:05. > :12:15.and get back in good enough condition to make it through the
:12:15. > :12:15.
:12:15. > :12:24.tough months ahead. And if he does, he might just be back next year for
:12:24. > :12:29.one more rut, the ultimate challenge for the red deer.
:12:29. > :12:34.I thought I was rooted out. I had been in a rut and got out of it,
:12:34. > :12:42.seen enough, but that was fantastic. Not only the drummer, but
:12:42. > :12:47.understanding it. Wasn't that interesting? There is very new
:12:47. > :12:51.science, where they had discovered that the females only leave for one
:12:51. > :12:56.day. They leave the harem and go off. It is their choice. They will
:12:56. > :13:00.make another selection of the male they will mate with. And she did
:13:00. > :13:05.exactly that in the film. We have had a question on Twitter from Bath.
:13:05. > :13:10.I am sure it is something a lot of people want to ask. Why do the red
:13:10. > :13:16.stags rut with their willies out? They do. It is totally counter-
:13:16. > :13:20.intuitive. Why expose such a delicate part of your anatomy? I
:13:21. > :13:28.asked the researchers from the deer project, and they said nobody
:13:28. > :13:32.really knows. There are two possibilities. It is very obvious.
:13:32. > :13:38.The deposit urine as part of their rotting display, so while fighting,
:13:38. > :13:42.they are continuing to display. But the most likely explanation is that
:13:42. > :13:45.of those at stags are just a boiling mass of hormones,
:13:45. > :13:50.testosterone and adrenalin, and they are over stimulated.
:13:50. > :13:55.Everything is going on. A month before, they are quite calm and
:13:55. > :13:59.getting on with each other. And then they are mental. They can't
:13:59. > :14:03.control themselves. How has there been any update on many of the
:14:03. > :14:10.deer? I spoke to Ali Morris yesterday, and she sent us some
:14:10. > :14:15.footage. This is Lucius, but it is quite sad. Ali is a researcher. She
:14:15. > :14:22.film to this after the film crew left on 14th October. He has taken
:14:22. > :14:27.some serious hits. He could not get away from the greens. He got hit.
:14:27. > :14:31.We don't know what has happened to him. Hopefully, we will try and
:14:31. > :14:36.catch up with him. But that is surely not just from that one
:14:36. > :14:46.injury? And there were other fights. But when he was down, he got hit
:14:46. > :14:52.
:14:52. > :15:01.Let's see if our animals are on the live cameras. Are the beavers still
:15:01. > :15:06.there? Can we zoom in a bit? What is he doing - nibbling and gnawing.
:15:06. > :15:10.Their gut is not good at digesting what is in that plant material, so
:15:10. > :15:19.they have keep eating and eating and eating. One thing I hoped you
:15:19. > :15:29.might see them do, is they will practise eating their own toilet,
:15:29. > :15:33.
:15:33. > :15:39.like rabbits do. They get a double go at getting the celous. The
:15:39. > :15:47.youngsters will put on plenty of weight. They use their tail as a
:15:47. > :15:52.weight. They eat 20% of their body weight. Every day!
:15:52. > :15:57.At least I have tried. We set up our cameras to look for beavers. We
:15:57. > :16:01.were not surprised to find another animal had to the area where they
:16:01. > :16:05.are - an otter, of course. We have seen the otters here on several
:16:05. > :16:15.occasions and they have been actively foraging. Look at this one
:16:15. > :16:24.- it is rooting around at the bottom of the damn. -- dam.
:16:24. > :16:32.What is that? The otter's nose is in the water and look... There. I
:16:32. > :16:42.have studied that. I reckon it is a frog. It definitely hops, doesn't
:16:42. > :16:49.
:16:49. > :16:52.it? It could be the toad. Toads In your own time! Given we have
:16:52. > :16:57.otters and beavers in the same space it is obvious they will meet
:16:57. > :17:02.up. This is something we were looking forward to seeing. An otter
:17:03. > :17:09.on the left pops up. There is a rum pass to start with. Then, look. The
:17:09. > :17:13.otter is circling the beaver, they NUSle one and other and then the
:17:13. > :17:17.beaver turns around and makes its way off. This is typical to what
:17:17. > :17:24.will happen here. Otters are not a serious predator. If they meet in
:17:24. > :17:29.the water, there would be aquatic dances. With wolves or lynx it
:17:29. > :17:33.would be different. In a beaver lodge, near Chicago, in America,
:17:34. > :17:39.the otters and beavers are sharing the space with their young. What I
:17:39. > :17:46.do wonder is if a large otter came across a small beaver, then might
:17:46. > :17:51.it be tempted.... Sharing the lodge. The species are very similar.
:17:51. > :17:56.have been lucky to get those. They are just glimpses, but that was
:17:56. > :18:00.unexpected for us and those shots are in the dark. We sent our camera
:18:00. > :18:03.team to Inverness, half an hour from here and they managed to get
:18:03. > :18:13.great footage of an otter family and some other local wildlife,
:18:13. > :18:14.
:18:14. > :18:24.which has made its home on the For centuries people and wildlife
:18:24. > :18:35.
:18:35. > :18:41.have shared the coastline of the Stealing the catch where they can.
:18:41. > :18:51.Even the harbours of industrial towns are a relative safe haven for
:18:51. > :18:59.
:18:59. > :19:05.Here the waters of the sea and the river meet and mingle with the
:19:05. > :19:12.tides. These shallow waters are feeding
:19:12. > :19:15.grounds for otters. The pillars of the bridge are
:19:15. > :19:21.encrusted with muscles and other marine life, which in turn attract
:19:21. > :19:28.fish. It is a place this female feels is well worth staking her
:19:28. > :19:32.claim on and she's got two hungry cubs in tow.
:19:32. > :19:38.cubs in tow. In the past, otters were persecuted
:19:38. > :19:41.by man, but in recent decades their numbers in this part of the Firth
:19:41. > :19:51.have been increasing. This family feel comfortable enough to relax
:19:51. > :19:58.
:19:58. > :20:04.In a few months, this family will split up. The cubs will have to
:20:04. > :20:14.fend for themselves as their mother prepares to breed again. For now,
:20:14. > :20:15.
:20:15. > :20:22.in the last days of autumn, food is plentiful and life is good.
:20:22. > :20:26.Fantastic images of otters. A very rare sight. 40-50 years ago that
:20:26. > :20:31.would have been incredibly rare in England. Otters were very nearly
:20:31. > :20:34.extinct. They were rare. As they disappeared, our knowledge about
:20:34. > :20:38.otters seemed to disappear with them. We have got together and we
:20:38. > :20:47.are trying to make a Springwatch special on otters and that will be
:20:47. > :20:51.transmitted towards the end of the year, bringing together everything.
:20:51. > :20:55.It seems a lot of our animals are very active. There was a pine
:20:55. > :21:02.marten there live. Let's see if he is still there. Oh, yes, there we
:21:02. > :21:07.It is very difficult to know which one that is. We have a bottom view
:21:07. > :21:11.there. We think it is Dice. We cannot tell unless we see that bib
:21:11. > :21:16.on the front. Are you going to turn around for
:21:16. > :21:21.us? Oh, yes, there we go! Well, you know we're staying at the
:21:21. > :21:26.field centre here and we are all in either the house or the lodges
:21:26. > :21:35.around and Martin's lodge has a -- had a visitor earlier in the
:21:35. > :21:38.week.... He doesn't get many! An unexpected night-time visitor,
:21:38. > :21:44.who was apparently scrabbling around. He wanted to prove who or
:21:44. > :21:49.what it was. This is what he did. There is his cabin and he got a
:21:49. > :21:54.camera trap, put it underneath, put some bait out. He obviously didn't
:21:54. > :22:00.think it with us anything other than an animal and waited to see
:22:00. > :22:06.and prove what this noisy creature was and look what it was - an out
:22:06. > :22:13.of focus pine marten. But look, look, that marking is identifyable
:22:13. > :22:18.as Spike. He was underneath my lovely lodge. Is he still there?
:22:18. > :22:23.There are strange rustlings coming from your end of the lodge. That is
:22:23. > :22:29.where you leave your smelly old shoes!
:22:29. > :22:33.He has gone a long way. He has been on the feeding station, that has to
:22:34. > :22:38.be 600-800 metres to where you are. And through other lodges as well.
:22:38. > :22:43.He's not shy at all. Maybe he has a route he traces out in the evening
:22:43. > :22:46.looking for food. More likely. We have wanted to get to grips with
:22:46. > :22:50.these pine martens and learn more about them. Over the past couple of
:22:50. > :22:54.days we have been able to do so. We have been able to identify them as
:22:54. > :23:00.individuals. Here is Spike. This is the same animal now. It is up at
:23:00. > :23:05.the feeding station - beautiful shots. Look at that - lovely back-
:23:05. > :23:12.lit pine marten. We have identified three other animals coming for food.
:23:12. > :23:17.This is unusual. They are said to maintain separate territories. Here
:23:17. > :23:21.we have four together. It's not that they are laying down reserves
:23:21. > :23:25.for winter, these animals will be active throughout winter. They
:23:25. > :23:30.cannot take on enough fat to do that. They are taking advantage of
:23:30. > :23:35.this food resource and we have seen them marking their territory. We
:23:35. > :23:38.have enjoyed looking at them. They are in tip-top condition. They are
:23:38. > :23:44.in their winter coat now. Really fluffed up.
:23:44. > :23:47.Stunning! The nice thing about the hidden
:23:47. > :23:51.cameras is we can watch them all the time and gain so much
:23:51. > :23:59.information about them. If you were going out at night you would not
:23:59. > :24:03.get those views. A, it is too cold to stay out at night.
:24:03. > :24:08.We are getting nocturnal views of the pine marten. Occasionally, if
:24:08. > :24:13.you are lucky, you might get to see one in the day. This has been sent
:24:13. > :24:20.to us. What has that pine marten got in its mouth? It is definitely
:24:20. > :24:27.not vegetables. I am afraid to say, as far as we can tell, it is a red
:24:28. > :24:33.squirrel. Look at him go! He was like Forest Gump - brilliant.
:24:33. > :24:37.Probably a young squirrel. It was not big. Well, they do take
:24:37. > :24:42.squirrels. They will take jirls and they have been seen with --
:24:42. > :24:45.squirrels and they have been seen with reds. Unusual though? They are
:24:45. > :24:55.a ferocious little predator. If things are tough and they are not
:24:55. > :25:03.
:25:04. > :25:08.finding enough on the ground, they Is it me? It's you.
:25:08. > :25:13.Right, so we've looked at these exotic animals around here. There's
:25:13. > :25:20.another animal that is much, much closer to home to all of us and it
:25:20. > :25:27.has come to live in amongst our houses. Have a look at this.
:25:27. > :25:33.I have come here to meet an ancient animal, a survivor from the past.
:25:33. > :25:37.This creature was around way before woolly mammoths and woolly rhinos,
:25:37. > :25:44.here before sabre tooth tigers. They are all gone, but it is still
:25:44. > :25:49.here, living in suburb ya and in particular around here in number
:25:49. > :25:54.four. It is the hedgehog.
:25:54. > :25:58.Hedgehogs are now in big trouble. In the last 60 years, it is thought
:25:59. > :26:03.their numbers have dropped by over 90% in the UK. Scientists are
:26:03. > :26:07.looking into the exact reason for this. What is becoming clear is
:26:07. > :26:12.that our gardens are an increasingly important habitat for
:26:12. > :26:17.hedgehogs. I have come to meet Duncan Richardson, whose garden in
:26:17. > :26:27.Newport has attracted so many hedgehogs he has even installed
:26:27. > :26:28.
:26:28. > :26:38.cameras to keep tabs on them. is a bit ofs a tro turf so they can
:26:38. > :26:40.
:26:40. > :26:44.have a -- of astro-turf, so can have a little drink. How did it
:26:44. > :26:48.start? We have been here 11 years. We noticed the odd little hedgehog.
:26:48. > :26:51.Last year I started to weigh them. I found they needed to be a certain
:26:51. > :26:56.weight to make it through the winter. So, as I was collecting
:26:56. > :27:02.them to make sure they were heavy enough, I put a little mark on them.
:27:02. > :27:12.I then gave them names, as you do. You thought there were three and
:27:12. > :27:15.
:27:15. > :27:19.there turned out to be....? In So how can you tell if you have
:27:19. > :27:25.hedgehogs in your garden? Footprints. What do they look like?
:27:25. > :27:30.Here are some. That is a print. It is two-and-a-half to three
:27:30. > :27:33.centimetres long. The great way to look for them is to put down some
:27:33. > :27:37.clay or sand near food. The hedgehogs will come in and leave a
:27:37. > :27:46.nice little trail for you, if you are lucky.
:27:46. > :27:50.This here is much more like it. This is an actual tunnel, made by
:27:51. > :27:56.the hedgehogs moving in and out, so you get the general size of it.
:27:56. > :28:01.Then of course there's poo. And here it is. This is genuine
:28:01. > :28:07.hedgehog poo. This is the right size. You would expect to see more
:28:07. > :28:13.beetle in it. I would expect to see shiny bits of beetle. You see that,
:28:13. > :28:19.the little shiny bits in it - you have hedgehogs in the garden.
:28:19. > :28:24.As darkness falls, the hedgehogs start to appear.
:28:24. > :28:29.Autumn is a critical time of year for hedgehogs. They need to fatten
:28:29. > :28:38.up. Putting on one-third of their normal body weight in order to
:28:38. > :28:43.successfully high berate. I will help Duncan with his audit.
:28:43. > :28:51.Hedgehog - looking like that. He looks like a mobile tea cosy.
:28:51. > :29:01.You can see that there. Should you and I try and go out and get it.
:29:01. > :29:10.
:29:10. > :29:17.Let's go! Look at that.
:29:17. > :29:21.She bolted. They have a muscle all over their back and she can
:29:21. > :29:25.contract the muscle over her head, contract it around her bottom. Here
:29:25. > :29:30.is the brilliant bit - there is muscle that goes around the size,
:29:30. > :29:35.like a draw-string and finally she contracts that muscle. In it goes
:29:35. > :29:45.like a draw-string. The nose and the legs, they all get closed up,
:29:45. > :29:50.
:29:50. > :29:57.like that. What a brilliant bit of So what weight does a hedgehog need
:29:57. > :30:01.to be to survive hibernation? grams. So she is way over. Duncan
:30:01. > :30:07.ways, Marks and photographs every hedgehog to build up a record of
:30:07. > :30:13.the local population. We have just found another Hedgehog, a small one.
:30:13. > :30:17.Isn't it odd to have a head of this size at this time of year? They
:30:17. > :30:23.have their first bruise around May, June, July time. And then often a
:30:23. > :30:30.second brood around this time of year. You get all these autumn
:30:30. > :30:37.juvenile so, very unlikely to make it through the winter. She comes in
:30:37. > :30:41.at 320 grams. She has to double her weight. It is on the cusp. It is
:30:41. > :30:46.probably better to keep her for now. This head job will be fed by Duncan
:30:46. > :30:53.for a week or so, and hopefully put on enough weight to be released
:30:53. > :31:03.before winter. But the bigger hedgehog is already in good shape
:31:03. > :31:03.
:31:03. > :31:13.for hibernation. So it is time to let him go. I like marking things
:31:13. > :31:13.
:31:13. > :31:17.with nail varnish. It is lovely. Hornets, pond skaters. Duncan's
:31:17. > :31:24.wife is very long suffering. He has been through her entire range of
:31:24. > :31:30.different colours. Lovely bit of research. 18 hedgehogs in a
:31:30. > :31:35.suburban garden. Our gardens are becoming terribly important
:31:35. > :31:40.habitats for hedgehogs. That was us filming hedgehogs. But you, once
:31:40. > :31:48.again, have been out filming things we don't normally see. This was
:31:48. > :31:52.from John Birt. He sent it to us in the post. We have two hedgehogs on
:31:52. > :31:56.his patio. The Mail is on the right and the female on the right. When
:31:57. > :32:01.it comes to making, as you can imagine, hedgehogs are immensely
:32:01. > :32:07.cautious at all times. They do a strange little dance. They are
:32:07. > :32:14.gently sniffing each other out. Then comes trouble. It is another
:32:14. > :32:19.male. What is he going to do? He is the giant haystacks of the head of
:32:19. > :32:24.world. Short shrift. Terrifically vigorous fighting. More like
:32:24. > :32:33.wrestling. The other one is not offering any resistance. Our first
:32:33. > :32:37.little male hunt -- hedgehog is very fired up. She just watches,
:32:37. > :32:41.and they eventually got back together and consummated. A female
:32:41. > :32:51.hedgehog has to get into a very particular shape to allow mating to
:32:51. > :32:55.
:32:55. > :33:00.take place. She has to curb her spine and got all the pretty bits.
:33:00. > :33:05.What about the sound of hedgehogs? That is very interesting. While we
:33:05. > :33:09.were in Duncan's garden, we were able to film and record hedgehogs
:33:09. > :33:13.talking to one another. The hedgehog on the right is making
:33:13. > :33:20.that noise. It sounds like one of those steam-engine as I had as a
:33:20. > :33:25.child. This is mild aggression. It is slightly annoyed that the other
:33:25. > :33:28.one is cheering its way through the food. They can be very vocal.
:33:28. > :33:32.Duncan told me he has had eight different sounds made by his
:33:32. > :33:37.hedgehogs. Her they make a terrible screaming racket. You would think
:33:37. > :33:43.it is an animal far bigger than a hedgehog. This thing was kicking
:33:43. > :33:47.off, sounding like it was being strangled, really squealing loudly.
:33:47. > :33:52.Let's look at those spines which characterise this species. They are
:33:52. > :33:59.highly modified hairs. Look at the way they can control the angle of
:33:59. > :34:04.the spines. They are about 20 mm long, and they are shed like hares.
:34:04. > :34:09.You will know this if you mark them with nail varnish. They can be on
:34:09. > :34:14.for up to 18 months. They are not moulting continuously. They come
:34:14. > :34:22.off irregularly. The have about 5000 spines in total. When we were
:34:22. > :34:29.handling them off, they can move bits. They will move them around to
:34:29. > :34:32.any threat. Now, Martin, did you know that the greatness of a nation
:34:32. > :34:39.and its moral progress can be measured by the way it treats its
:34:39. > :34:44.animals? Gandhi said that. Wise words. But we are letting the
:34:44. > :34:49.hedgehogs down. 170,000 hedgehogs are run over on the UK's roads
:34:49. > :34:54.every year. This is a species in serious decline, and it needs our
:34:54. > :34:59.help. You can provide it in the next few days, because it is
:34:59. > :35:04.Bonfire time. If you have built a bonfire, aid hedgehog could have
:35:04. > :35:08.moved in. So a top tip is either to disassemble and rebuild the bonfire,
:35:08. > :35:12.or if you have not got round to it yet, keep your materials in one
:35:12. > :35:16.place and build the bonfire on the night you ignite it so that snow
:35:16. > :35:21.small mammals can find residents inside and go up in flames. We have
:35:21. > :35:27.to look after these creatures. While filming, we have seen
:35:27. > :35:32.squirrel's doing things. Look at this one. This is a grey squirrel,
:35:32. > :35:40.busy cashing, digging holes and putting things in it. This led to
:35:40. > :35:44.an interesting question. Robert was watching this. He says he has
:35:44. > :35:54.watched grey squirrels hiding food, but he noticed one burying oak
:35:54. > :35:57.
:35:57. > :36:01.apples. Is that normal? Those are highly modified plant tissue. A
:36:01. > :36:06.wasp, while laying its eggs, has caused the plant to mutate through
:36:06. > :36:11.a chemical reaction to form this. There are two purposes. One is to
:36:11. > :36:17.protect animal inside, and the second is to make the plant more
:36:17. > :36:22.edible. If we broke this Open, this is what we would see. Inside would
:36:22. > :36:25.be a tiny capsule like this. Inside the capsule, there is the grubber
:36:25. > :36:33.of the developing wasp. It could be that the squirrels are thinking
:36:33. > :36:37.about eating the grubs, but they don't get very large. They don't
:36:37. > :36:41.make much of a meal. The squirrels might be interested in eating the
:36:41. > :36:46.core material itself. As a kid, I remember collecting oak apples
:36:46. > :36:56.which had been chewed up and by voles, and they had eaten the
:36:56. > :36:56.
:36:56. > :37:01.material as well. Maybe that is the case. Spite peas, which is brooms,
:37:02. > :37:06.robins' and cushions. You can see them on rose bushes. There is a
:37:06. > :37:12.whole community of creatures inside them. Where do these names come
:37:12. > :37:18.from? It might be the French Connection, goals. There is much to
:37:18. > :37:22.learn in nature. There is something else that is very characteristic of
:37:22. > :37:26.the season of autumn. If you go out and about, you will see them all
:37:26. > :37:36.over the place, and that is fungi. Chris and Michaela went on a fungal
:37:36. > :37:41.foray. This time of year is one of the best times of year to look for
:37:41. > :37:46.the fruiting bodies of the fungus that live in the UK. There are 3000
:37:46. > :37:51.species of larger fungus, like these, that you can look out for.
:37:51. > :37:56.If you look underneath, you can see it has all of those skills. The
:37:56. > :38:00.reason it has grown like an umbrella is that on each of those
:38:00. > :38:04.Gills, there are other sports, the scenes out of this thing. How many
:38:04. > :38:14.sports do you think that might produce? They are tiny, microscopic.
:38:14. > :38:14.
:38:14. > :38:17.The houses? 10 billion. No way! is because it wants to drop the
:38:17. > :38:23.spores out of there. They are released through a change in the
:38:23. > :38:27.electrostatic tissue at the right time. Then they get caught by the
:38:27. > :38:32.wind and carried away. Most of them are beautiful. You usually find
:38:32. > :38:37.them more somewhere where there is such a rich texture. That is a
:38:37. > :38:46.gorgeous picture. It is a beautiful palate of texture and colour. Let
:38:46. > :38:54.me show you some more. Chris, this one is incredible and totally
:38:54. > :38:58.different. It is beautiful. Fill the top of it. It is hard. This
:38:58. > :39:04.does not just last a few days, it will go on for years. Sometimes the
:39:04. > :39:10.rings equate to a year of its life, so you can age them like you can
:39:10. > :39:14.trees. This one has pause rather than gilts. All of the spores will
:39:14. > :39:20.come out through those pores, catching in the air and blowing
:39:21. > :39:24.away. This is called a horse's who fungus. When people couldn't make
:39:24. > :39:29.fire, when they wanted to keep it lit, they would take these, hollow
:39:29. > :39:33.them out, put embers inside and this would enable them to carry the
:39:33. > :39:43.fire from one place to another inside a hollowed out fungus.
:39:43. > :39:44.
:39:44. > :39:47.storage. -- story. I enjoyed taking photographs of fungi. But if you
:39:47. > :39:51.photograph any organism, you have to do it from its height for it to
:39:51. > :39:56.look any good. It is no good us looking down on these things.
:39:56. > :40:01.Ideally, you want to lie on the ground or dig a hole on the ground.
:40:01. > :40:08.But that is hard work. There is a simple solution. And you just
:40:08. > :40:11.happen to have it? It is a mirror, so simple. Take a small mirror,
:40:11. > :40:16.rest it there. With your phone, you can take a picture of the Mirror
:40:16. > :40:23.which makes it look like you have dug a hole in the ground and are
:40:23. > :40:31.looking from underneath. Put your phone in Nice and close. I have got
:40:31. > :40:39.your knee in the photo! I will get money out. You have not got the
:40:39. > :40:48.right angle. The lighting is shocking. That is rubbish. A give
:40:48. > :40:55.me that phone! Would you hold the mirror? Honestly. We are, you are
:40:55. > :41:04.the photographer. I have got your arm in that. I and my scarf. It has
:41:04. > :41:08.added some colour. Can you just keep the Mirror still? Honestly.
:41:08. > :41:15.disagree with you. I think that is actually a terrible photograph.
:41:15. > :41:21.What I love about fungi is the texture that they are connected to.
:41:21. > :41:31.You have got all the different colours. The underneath is more
:41:31. > :41:32.
:41:32. > :41:37.boring as far as I am concerned. will get my coat. I know you are a
:41:37. > :41:40.professional photographer, but I think you got it wrong. Afterwards,
:41:40. > :41:50.I went off to take my own photographs and I was pleased with
:41:50. > :41:52.
:41:52. > :41:56.the results. Come on, that his art. That was just with my smartphone.
:41:56. > :42:00.Seven out of ten for Michaela. persevered with the Mirror. This
:42:00. > :42:05.was what I was trying to show you that could be done. That is quite
:42:06. > :42:13.good, actually. On account of him being a bit rude about photographs,
:42:14. > :42:17.seven out of ten for you, to. spent days getting that photograph!
:42:17. > :42:23.Anyway, I may not have learnt anything about photography from him,
:42:23. > :42:28.mud but I learnt a lot about fungi. So thank you. We learned a lot of
:42:28. > :42:32.things about our beavers as well. What have we seen? We have seen an
:42:32. > :42:39.awful lot of this. Beavers swilling around with branches in their
:42:39. > :42:49.mouths. That is exactly what they should be doing in the autumn. The
:42:49. > :42:56.adults tend to pull the bigger branches. Those branches have blast
:42:56. > :43:01.for about three months. They also need to mend their dams. This was
:43:01. > :43:07.one of the first times we have seen the whole family together. The
:43:07. > :43:14.younger ones also do a bit of the nibbling of the branches. But they
:43:14. > :43:19.tackle much smaller branches. learn from the adults. They are
:43:19. > :43:22.only six months. They have a lot of learning to do. That was one of the
:43:22. > :43:28.first time as we saw the family together. We thought the family was
:43:28. > :43:32.seven beavers. But today, we learnt something exciting. You can see
:43:32. > :43:39.that there are three of this year's younger ones together. We knew we
:43:39. > :43:46.already had two of them, Timber and Gnaw. I will call the third one
:43:46. > :43:56.Daisy. There they are, fighting over a twig. Typical. One of them
:43:56. > :44:06.is driving Daisy into the water. They are cheering now. Give me the
:44:06. > :44:06.
:44:06. > :44:11.twig. Much as I jest, this is exciting, because we picked up on
:44:11. > :44:18.another beaver that we did not know was here. They are shy animals.
:44:18. > :44:24.Only with intense scrutiny have we been able to learn more about them.
:44:24. > :44:34.You have been asking questions about the beavers. This is from CH
:44:34. > :44:42.
:44:42. > :44:49.How do beavers keep access to their lodge clear when the loch freezes.
:44:49. > :44:55.That is not such a problem, because access will come up under it. This
:44:56. > :45:00.Loch could have up to eight inches of ice on top of it. They dig holes,
:45:00. > :45:05.they work upwards. When it is thin, they use their teeth or claws and
:45:05. > :45:09.they will keep the holes open, keep going up. They will stay inside the
:45:09. > :45:14.lodge together to conserve heat. We might see that in Winterwatch. Here
:45:14. > :45:17.is the brilliant thing. Chris has told us they will bury food
:45:17. > :45:21.underneath the water, for the reserve three months or more. Here
:45:21. > :45:29.is the wonderful thing - they will come out at this time of year and
:45:29. > :45:34.half bite through trees, preparing them, so they can knock them down
:45:34. > :45:38.and get a snack. Preparing - thinking ahead. They are very
:45:38. > :45:43.intelligent, aren't they? We have a live beaver.
:45:43. > :45:47.Let's see. It might be our last chance. They have become stars in
:45:47. > :45:54.this series of Autumnwatch. People have been enjoying our family of
:45:54. > :46:01.beavers. You can hear them. would be nice if they nailed down
:46:01. > :46:06.that log in front. A little bit more gnawing needed. Did you say
:46:06. > :46:10.eight inches of ice. When we come back for Winterwatch. 14Th January.
:46:10. > :46:16.When we come whack for four more live days here -- come back for
:46:16. > :46:20.four more live days here it will be chilly. We will lawyer up like
:46:21. > :46:30.Michelin men. It is not winter, it is autumn. What we love about
:46:30. > :46:35.autumn are all the colours - all the rich reds, oranges. Our
:46:35. > :46:45.cameraman uses colour to paint a picture of a landscape which has
:46:45. > :46:51.
:46:51. > :47:01.changed dramatically in recent I knew these places before colour.
:47:01. > :47:10.
:47:10. > :47:20.I knew these places when they were black. As black as coal.
:47:20. > :47:23.
:47:23. > :47:32.The East Kent mines. Before colour, they humed, thrumbed
:47:32. > :47:42.to the sound of coal and then silence fell and sadness hung.
:47:42. > :47:43.
:47:43. > :47:53.But darkness faded. Colour crept, colour crawled and now autumn
:47:53. > :48:02.
:48:02. > :48:12.But how has it flourished out on the black, barren coal field
:48:12. > :48:14.
:48:14. > :48:24.slopes? This is the story I imagine. Brambles reach out across the bare
:48:24. > :48:24.
:48:24. > :48:34.stones, first one, then many. Silver birch follows. A first-time
:48:34. > :48:39.
:48:39. > :48:43.tree - a primary colonizer. And in autumn, a primary colour too. Its
:48:43. > :48:53.lemon-colour leaves dazzle even the greyest day, as the green of summer
:48:53. > :48:57.
:48:57. > :49:03.gives way. Amongst the birch is autumn acorns,
:49:03. > :49:13.attracting the new canary of the coal mines.
:49:13. > :49:15.
:49:15. > :49:21.The jai. -- jay.
:49:21. > :49:26.Its gaudy pink and electric blue fluems dance colour through the --
:49:26. > :49:36.plumes dance colour through the trees. Just a tantalising glimpse
:49:36. > :49:46.
:49:46. > :49:56.and it is off, its laugh all over Autumn colour is truly everywhere.
:49:56. > :50:02.
:50:02. > :50:07.But, it still disappears on a daily basis. The arrival of night's
:50:07. > :50:17.embracing black blanket hides it and the vastness of space reflects
:50:17. > :50:25.
:50:25. > :50:35.industrial memories. As nature's -- as nature gets to work, as men once
:50:35. > :50:55.
:50:55. > :51:05.Gathering their autumnal bedding for the winter ahead.
:51:05. > :51:08.
:51:08. > :51:16.Above the sett a sound of autumn cuts the night air. Tawny owls and
:51:16. > :51:25.their territorial voices claim a stake to their patch.
:51:25. > :51:29.Colour is of no importance to tawny owls until daybreaks.
:51:29. > :51:39.And then, they need their camouflage coat to let them sleep
:51:39. > :51:50.
:51:50. > :52:00.And with that breaking dawn colour's intensity returns.
:52:00. > :52:13.
:52:13. > :52:20.Autumn's harvest rippens in the sun A colourful breakfast, lunch and
:52:20. > :52:30.dinner for one of live's most colourful characters.
:52:30. > :52:32.
:52:32. > :52:40.This is the story of my imagination. It has changed from coal to colour.
:52:40. > :52:50.From darkness to light and life. And it feels good to say - I know
:52:50. > :52:57.
:52:57. > :53:06.these places. I know these places It's lovely. Absolutely lovely! It
:53:06. > :53:11.really is. Poetic, absolutely poetic. Really. Lovely images.
:53:11. > :53:16.Lovely images - fantastic! Time for migration. The last catch-up on
:53:16. > :53:20.that. Our cameramen have been out a few miles away from us here to
:53:20. > :53:25.catch these birds coming in. Don't think it is all about Scotland - it
:53:25. > :53:32.isn't. You can see these birds around the UK.
:53:32. > :53:37.The Washes have 2,300 hoper swans there.
:53:37. > :53:43.Slim bridge, not many, but they have started to arrive, the white-
:53:43. > :53:50.fronted geese have arrived there. So, all of these wading birds, all
:53:50. > :53:55.of these wildfowl flocking to our shores. It is a flurry of activity.
:53:55. > :54:00.This time of the year it can be a flurry of activity, lots of birds
:54:00. > :54:05.coming, animals cashing for the winter. For other animals it is a
:54:05. > :54:11.critical time because they are preparing to give birth.
:54:11. > :54:16.This is a fascinating story, this. This is a story about seals. Most
:54:16. > :54:23.particularly grey seals. This is in Norfolk and it is a curious tale,
:54:23. > :54:27.because back in 2001, there were only 25 pups here. They give birth
:54:27. > :54:34.now. By 2005, there were 175. This year, they are thinking there may
:54:34. > :54:37.be as many as 1,000 pups. Giving birth to 1,000 pups here. Something
:54:37. > :54:41.very attractive to the seals here about this place.
:54:41. > :54:46.I don't know what it is. We will follow this story and it is a great
:54:46. > :54:53.story, because immediately after they have given birth, the bulls
:54:53. > :55:00.come in and they fight and sort it out and mate for thext -- next year.
:55:00. > :55:06.A long way north from there those grey seals have started to pup on
:55:06. > :55:08.the Northumberland coast. They have had 600 pups. One birth was
:55:09. > :55:14.interesting. We were sent this photograph from one of the rangers.
:55:14. > :55:20.It does not look that unusual until I tell you these are twins. Twins
:55:20. > :55:25.have never been recorded from grey seals, ever in this country. It is
:55:25. > :55:32.extremely rare. They are now nine days' old. They seem to be healthy.
:55:32. > :55:37.How do they know they are twins? They are going to do a DNA test.
:55:38. > :55:41.They are both suckleing from the same female.
:55:41. > :55:45.Some animals are giving birth, others are slowing down, cashing,
:55:45. > :55:50.looking for somewhere to shelter. Where we are, in the hills, winter
:55:50. > :55:55.has already arrived. It is only the hardy Highland animals that choose
:55:55. > :56:01.this sort of habitat for the winter. Things like red squirrels. We have
:56:01. > :56:06.seen them do an awful lot of cashing. We'll be following a lot
:56:06. > :56:10.of these animals in Winterwatch and seeing just how they do cope with
:56:10. > :56:14.the harsh weather in the Highlands. We will need your help for that.
:56:14. > :56:17.You have been a great help. The other day, we said, would you get
:56:17. > :56:20.in contact with the mammal society, who are putting together a new
:56:20. > :56:26.atlas. Well, look this is the number of reports they had. Then we
:56:26. > :56:31.made the request for you to contact them and there was a big spike.
:56:31. > :56:36.They have had 3,000 new reports, which are helping to put together a
:56:36. > :56:39.clearer mammal atlas of the UK. Help us, for Winterwatch we would
:56:40. > :56:44.like pictures, videos, any thoughts and observations you have in your
:56:44. > :56:47.gardens and in cities. So we are interested in the urban context
:56:47. > :56:53.rather than necessarily the rural one. Do send those to the website
:56:53. > :56:58.and we will try and feature them after Christmas. We have two live
:56:58. > :57:02.beavers on the cameras now. Very dark - well we do. They are there.
:57:02. > :57:07.It is our last chance to see them. They will still be on the red
:57:07. > :57:11.button. You can stay there until 10.30pm tonight. That is all we
:57:11. > :57:16.have time for this series. I would like to thank all the people here
:57:16. > :57:19.at the field centre, to John and Lucy and the staff, especially the
:57:19. > :57:27.rangers. They have been hospitable. We could not have done it without