Forest William Whiskerson

.

# William Whiskerson Mouse explorer

# Finds adventure Round every corner

# Where will he go? Who will he meet?

# His amazing adventures will make you squeak!

# William Whiskerson, Mouse explorer! #

Here comes William Whiskerson in his amazing travelling globe.

Greetings, adventurers.

I am William Whiskerson, the famous mouse explorer.

William is in the countryside. There are lots of mountains and trees.

Everywhere looks green and there are no houses to be seen.

But which part of the United Kingdom is he in today?

Cheesephone, reveal my location.

The Cheesephone shows William where he is on a map of the world.

Hello, William, today you're in the Highlands of Scotland.

Scotland is in the far North of the British Isles.

The Highlands are very beautiful and are formed from ancient rocks.

There are mountains and lakes - which in Scotland are called lochs.

Wow! Scotland sounds amazing!

I've got a message coming through on my Cheesephone.

Hi, William, would you like to join us in a highland adventure?

That sounds like a brilliant adventure!

Lock the location, Cheesephone.

The map shows William where to meet his new friends, Lewis and Breya.

Explorers away!

William makes his way to meet his new friends

and comes to an area where there are lots and lots of trees.

Pleased to squeak you, Lewis and Breya.

BOTH: Pleased to squeak you, too, William.

Why are there so many trees?

Because we are in a forest.

Oh! Shall we go and see them?

Yes!

Come on then, let's go!

In a forest, there can be many types of trees.

William, this tree is called a spruce.

Wow.

It's very hard and rough and bumpy.

And very tall. Can you see up to the top?

No, it's too big.

Look, William, this is a larch.

Wow! It's all rough and cracked.

William, this tree is called a beech tree.

A beech tree... ah!

It's got moss on it.

Yes, it's like fur.

And there's even some leaves on it.

Oh, yes.

This is a round leaf and it's very soft

and it's even got wee lines on it.

It has.

The adventurers continue exploring the forest and go to meet Henry,

who looks after some of the animals that live there.

Pleased to squeak you, Henry.

-Pleased to squeak you, too, William.

-This is Lewis and Breya.

Hey, Lewis, hey Breya.

Hi.

Do you work here?

Yes, I work in this forest and I look after the wild animals.

So here are the red squirrels. Can you see them?

I can!

The explorers have to watch the red squirrels behind a wooden fence

because the squirrels are very shy.

Ha, he's got whiskers just like me.

You might have seen grey squirrels in the park or garden at home.

But red squirrels are special,

because there are not many of them left in the wild.

They are very rare animals,

so they need to be looked after by people called foresters.

What are they eating, Henry?

They eat nuts, berries and seeds.

In fact, their favourite food of all is hazelnuts.

And I have some in my pocket here.

Ah! They look squeakalicious!

Next, Henry takes the adventurers to see where the squirrels live -

high in the trees, in nests called dreys.

Ah, look, here we are. That is a squirrel drey.

Wow! They look really cosy! Could I live in one?

It's a long way up,

so Henry suggests that they build their own drey on the ground.

Let's get building.

ALL: Explorers away!

William and his friends find the perfect spot to make a drey.

They collect things from the forest floor.

The adventurers form a roof with branches

and finally add some moss to stop the rain getting in.

Soon, William's drey is finished.

I think it's time to go inside.

Yes, let's go inside.

This is a brilliant den for William Whiskerson, mouse explorer.

And the moss is a perfect place to rest my whiskers on.

Ah! This part of the forest looks different. It feels magical.

The explorers lead William into an old part of the forest where

very important trees called Scots pine can be found.

These trees were once part of an ancient forest.

The explorers find one tree that is more than 400 years old.

Come on, this way!

William wants to find out more about this part of the forest,

and asks his trusty Cheesephone.

Cheesephone, what can you tell us?

Scots pine trees used to grow all over Scotland

and were part of a huge forest called the Caledonian Forest.

Now, there are not many of the ancient trees left,

so they have to be protected just like the red squirrels.

Amazing! Thank you, Cheesephone.

So this is part of the great Caledonian forest.

The explorers have lots of fun in the forest.

They take bark rubbings, by rubbing a wax crayon over

paper on the bark of a tree.

They race sticks...

..and they climb trees...

Hello, William!

Hello, explorers! I'm on top of the world!

Finally, Breya and Lewis go hunting for forest mini beasts.

Let's lift up this bark here.

OK.

Underneath the bark, William and Breya find a woodlouse.

There are lots of bugs in the forest, even bugs in the air.

These bugs are called midges.

Look at our lovely bugs.

Can you see the bugs?

They found a spider, a beetle and some woodlice.

Shall we set them free?

Bye, Mr Beetle.

What a mousy marvellous day. I've had so much fun.

I've got a present for you, William.

What is it?

It's a Scots pine cone.

Oh, thank you, Breya!

This is the perfect way to remember my adventure in the forest.

Squeak you later!

BOTH: Squeak you later!

Can you remember where William went today?

William visited his friends, Breya and Lewis, in Scotland.

They took him to a forest.

Can you remember what animals lived there?

That's right - red squirrels.

The explorers went hunting for mini beasts...

..and William was given a lovely Scots pine cone

to remind him of his amazing forest adventure.

Time to fly, explorers. We're off on another adventure.

See you soon, William!

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd