Woodland Animals The Animal's Guide to Britain


Woodland Animals

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Britain. The history and the culture.

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Born of a landscape that we know and love.

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But hang on a minute...

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That's just how we see Britain.

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We humans are in a minority.

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We share our land and our shores here

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with hundreds of thousands of other species of animal,

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many of which have been here a lot longer than we have.

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So what I want to know is what they think of Britain.

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What matters to them?

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And that's my mission - to see the UK through our animals' eyes.

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Where are their favourite places in these crowded islands?

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Oh!

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How do their senses affect their view of our country?

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And what do they make of us?

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Off you go!

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This time, I'm going to encounter

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a hand-picked group of woodland animals.

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I want to understand their unique abilities,

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and how they make their homes in the most unlikely places.

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Together, they will reveal our country

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as we've never seen it before.

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Welcome to the Animal's Guide to Britain.

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Once upon a time,

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long, long ago,

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Britain was covered in deep, dark woods.

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To the north, Caledonian pine forests,

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and to the south, dense, broad-leaved woodlands.

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Times have changed though.

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The humans cut down all of the primal forest, cleared up the mess,

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and made it a lot more comfortable for themselves.

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But having said that, and thankfully,

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there are still woodland animals almost everywhere.

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If I were to ask you what's missing from British woodlands today,

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you could say top of the food chain predators.

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I mean, 1,000 years ago, perhaps a little more,

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there could have been bear, wolf and lynx in this very wood.

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But these days, sadly, they're all gone,

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and we humans are free to roam at will here, on our own,

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with our kids, with our dogs, with no threat of attack.

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But that doesn't mean that there aren't top predators here.

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In fact, there's one that's probably watching me right now.

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In fact, it's coming to get me.

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HE GASPS

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What an amazing animal.

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The goshawk!

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The UK's top woodland predator.

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The truth of it is,

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I never had a chance, whatsoever.

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But did you see that manoeuvrability?

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The twisting and turning through the trees was absolutely phenomenal.

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It's easy to see why this large bird is such a terror of the forest.

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A goshawk can bring down prey

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that's over twice its size!

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And it needs to.

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A pair with three chicks will have to bring back

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about ten kilograms of meat a week to feed them.

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In the forest, these powerful predators are virtually invisible,

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preferring to live high in the canopy.

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But what makes them so at home here

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is that they can fly and hunt in the densest forest.

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You never normally get views like this,

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but this is a trained and tame bird - her name is Ellie.

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With the help of some special cameras,

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she's going to show us how she does it.

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The goshawk's chief weapons are speed, stealth and surprise.

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Ellie glides swiftly, close to the forest floor,

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making it very hard for her victim to see or hear her.

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On-board miniature cameras show her point of view,

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travelling at up to 50 kilometres per hour.

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One mistake, one broken wing and she's dead.

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But how does she fly through such dense cover?

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Well, to investigate, I'm taking her into the lab.

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We're going to test Ellie to the absolute limit.

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This is how it's going to go -

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She is going to be on the other side of this wall,

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and I'm going to be here with the lure,

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which means that to get it, she's got to fly through that hole.

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We're going to shrink the size of the hole,

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we're going to change its shape,

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and I've got another dastardly trick up my sleeve.

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First, in real time.

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Now, slowed down.

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And now, by 40 times.

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Slow motion reveals how, with her wings closed,

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her large tail acts as a third wing, creating the lift that she needs.

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Let's make the hole smaller.

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If you look at her eyes,

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you can see her protective nictitating membranes closing.

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They're semi-transparent eyelids that keep out the thorns.

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Now I'm going to rotate the slit,

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to simulate the small gaps between trees.

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Ellie seems able to mould her body to any shape.

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Next, I want to simulate a tunnel through the undergrowth.

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Amazing.

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Ellie turns the situation to her advantage,

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using her legs to launch herself at her prey.

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What we're looking at here is a woodland predator that needs

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to exercise all of these acrobatics

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to effectively pursue its prey,

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through the densest, deepest woodlands.

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And these phenomenal skills make goshawks masters of the forest.

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But is there a type of British woodland that they like the most?

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I've come to Kielder Plantation Forest in Northumberland.

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It may not be our idea of idyllic woodland,

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but goshawks see things very differently, and they thrive here.

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With the help of a local expert, I hope to find out why.

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Typical nesting at Kielder here.

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We've got slightly open access, large tree,

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lots of side branches on for them to put a nest in, you know.

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BIRD CALLING

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-Oh.

-Ah, there, female's shouting there on the right.

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As we approach this year's nest, the bird gets a bit agitated.

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And that's the typical call you might hear.

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It's going to be a brief glimpse,

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but a brief glimpse of a goshawk, is a good glimpse!

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It is, a very good glimpse, they are very difficult to see.

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Well, sometimes if you can't see them, you can find sign can't you?

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That's right, yeah, absolutely.

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Prey remains could be scattered about within the sort of nest area.

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-Exactly, obviously down here...

-Oh, yeah, look...

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There's what's left of something, here.

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-It's carnage.

-Absolutely.

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What have we got here then, do you reckon?

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Identification skills, tested to the max with that!

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Oh, yeah, quite a large winged bird, you know.

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Pigeon size, maybe a carrion crow.

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-Another hip girdle here.

-Yeah, yeah.

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That's a longer-legged bird altogether, that one.

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Couple of goshawk feathers here, this looks like a gos.

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That's right, yeah.

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So she's been here, sitting in this tree then...

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She's been sitting around there.

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-But, if all of this is here, we're obviously close to the nest?

-Absolutely.

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-I mean, on top of it, almost.

-Oh, yeah, just over here, absolutely.

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Are there any less midges there?

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I hope so, but I'm not going to guarantee it, I'll tell you.

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Oh, there's a bird there.

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There is.

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A nice, fully grown chick.

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-Look at that.

-Look at that.

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Well, that's the most obliging goshawk chick.

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How many are in there?

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There's three in there.

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-Oh, that is stunning, isn't it?

-It is.

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It doesn't matter how many times you see it,

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it's just fantastic, you know?

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But the eye, although it hasn't got that blaze of yellowy-orange yet,

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it's still ferocious.

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I think the look would kill you, let alone anything else.

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Kielder provides a decent amount of large prey

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and tall Sitka and larch trees for these birds to nest in.

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But to understand what else this forest offers goshawks,

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we have to explore their love-hate relationship with humans.

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For thousands of years, goshawks hunted what they wanted,

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anywhere in Britain.

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In the Dark Ages, humans prized them as falconry birds.

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Until this.

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With the invention of shotguns,

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goshawks found themselves out of a job and in competition with humans.

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Loathed by gamekeepers, in 1883 they became

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the first British raptors

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to be persecuted to extinction in the wild.

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31 years later,

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gamekeepers' shooting skills were needed on the Western Front.

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Many never returned.

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Gradually, perhaps due to captive birds escaping,

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goshawks began to regain their foothold in British woodlands.

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Today, it's illegal to kill a goshawk, or any raptor.

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The odd thing is, although goshawks are common all over Europe,

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they haven't fully re-colonised the UK.

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There are just a few hundred nesting pairs,

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mainly confined to upland regions.

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Places like Kielder.

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Here's a question for you, Martin - why aren't they spreading out?

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Because there's loads of woodland like this.

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It's one of the great dilemmas of anybody who studies goshawks.

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Why have they not increased within the British Isles to any great degree?

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We think there's only factor why.

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These birds are dispersing away from woodlands

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and are being taken out, killed, by a very small minority of people.

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The gamekeepers, a handful, are still taking out goshawks

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-because of conflict with pheasants, mostly.

-Yeah.

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And that's why the population is not increasing.

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Perhaps I shouldn't be surprised.

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For someone running a pheasant business,

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the sight of one of these isn't going to help.

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And is it then that the UK population

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isn't big enough at the moment to withstand this illegal cropping

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of its young birds once they leave protected areas?

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Because, obviously, in this area, they're safe?

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I think it's as simple as that.

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There's always a few get taken out and them

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few would be your future breeders, colonisers of new areas.

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And on the continent in Holland,

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I've seen them nesting in parks and school grounds.

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I mean, they're a very urban bird.

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-Even in cities, Berlin - full of goshawks.

-Berlin's a great example.

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It's a strange situation where the birds are forced, really,

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to live in the uplands of Britain

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and yet they probably would like to live in the lowlands of Britain,

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where there's much more prey abundance.

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So, from the goshawk's point of view,

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they'd be happy to live virtually anywhere that's got trees and prey.

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It's truly thrilling

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that the goshawk has bounced back from extinction.

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And there are now several havens like Kielder,

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where they are protected.

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And, you know, with a change in the attitude of just a few humans,

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perhaps it won't be too long before there'll be one in a park near you.

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And what a sight that would be!

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I'll tell you one thing for sure, if you're an animal and you want

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to do well in modern Britain, it pays to be popular with humans.

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You never know what you'll get out of it.

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Free food, legal protection by human law,

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perhaps your own health service.

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Unbelievably, even a Jacuzzi.

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Yes, hedgehogs.

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But I know what you're thinking.

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These are sort of a ponderous animal,

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bumbling around like old ladies at a jumble sale,

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occasionally rolling into a ball or getting run over.

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But they shouldn't be underestimated.

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They have a couple of survival strategies

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which are actually pretty sharp.

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They developed these skills in ancient forests,

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where they evolved some 15 million years ago.

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Hedgehogs have a wide diet,

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including slugs, snails,

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worms and insects.

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But they'll also take carcasses and fruit from the forest floor.

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They use their acute sense of smell to hunt prey in darkness,

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when many of their rivals, such as birds, can't.

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And in winter, when the food runs out, they've got another strategy.

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They can truly hibernate, which means they can survive periods

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when there's absolutely no food for them.

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And in case this fattened up animal is a temptation for a predator,

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their backs are covered with 5,000-7,000 spines.

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And take a look at this.

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Climbing skills, vital for negotiating the forest,

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are just as useful for fences and walls.

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And if they fall,

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their spines act as shock absorbers.

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What makes the hedgehogs' view of Britain so interesting is that,

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although they're woodland animals, they've survived in the UK

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by adapting to other habitats.

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Now I need you to do something for me.

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I need you to change scale.

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Get yourself down to the hedgehog's size and come in here.

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Look, underneath here is a complex ecosystem with mini trees

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and the whole thing's very akin to woodland.

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But it's not woodland at all - this is a hedgerow,

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and it's with the creation of hedges that our hedgehog story begins.

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Around 600 years ago, with a boom in agriculture,

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more woodlands were cleared and thousands of miles

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of new hedgerows grown to enclose the fields.

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One animal took to this new habitat so well

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that it was re-named the hedgehog.

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Perhaps it adapted too well.

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Farmers accused them of scrumping apples.

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Oi!

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And stealing milk!

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Moo!

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Hedgehogs were even accused of witchcraft.

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CACKLING

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In the Victorian era, the hedgehog adapted again.

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It became "Cellar Hog", pest control par excellence.

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Appreciated by humans at last,

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they were kept under the stairs to control the cockroaches.

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With the 20th century, came mechanised farming.

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Miles of hedgerows were cut down,

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and the hedgehog's food exterminated with pesticides.

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But some hedgehogs found their way into gardens.

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Short grass gave easy access to food,

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and piles of leaves were great for nesting.

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Thanks to their agility,

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they could cover several gardens in a night, looking for slugs,

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and for romance.

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Today, the hedgehog is a firm favourite with British humans.

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It even has its own national health service.

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Yes, it's become Britain's most rescued animal,

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and this is St Tiggywinkles in Berkshire.

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Named after the famous Beatrix Potter character, Mrs Tiggy-Winkle,

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it's home to the world's first, purpose-built hedgehog hospital unit.

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All the health treatments the modern hedgehog could want are on offer.

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Operations by leading surgeons...

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round-the-clock care...

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and physiotherapy.

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There we go!

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In a rich and varied life, I now think I've seen it all -

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a hedgehog in a Jacuzzi!

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-Yep!

-Two lengths...

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You can see the tail which is normally hidden.

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That's it.

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But despite the expenditure, all is not well.

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In just the last 25 years,

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the British hedgehog population has crashed by 50%.

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So, for a hedgehog's view of Britain, we have to understand why.

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So what is it that's happened in the last couple of decades?

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What is it that's gone wrong for British hedgehogs?

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Well, besides modern farming,

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there are other big challenges for hedgehogs,

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like...

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the badger.

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The hedgehog's ancient enemy is double trouble.

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First, they compete for a lot of the same food, but worse...

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with their strong claws,

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they can break through hedgehogs' spiny defences and eat them.

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Largely thanks to protection by law, badger numbers are booming...

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especially in the South West and Scotland.

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And hedgehogs are being pushed out of these areas.

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But how about the suburban habitats,

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where there's no farming and few badgers?

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Why are hedgehogs on the decline in these places too?

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Well, I've come to a suburb in Reading

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to try to get to the bottom of it.

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-Hello, Phil.

-Hi, Chris.

-How are you?

-I'm all right, thank you.

-Hi, guys.

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Good evening. Formal handshake.

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'Phil and his collaborators have been radio-tagging

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'hundreds of hedgehogs, all over the country,

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'in the hope that their movements might reveal the problem.'

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'Their job tonight is to get a fix on one of the local hogs.'

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Guys, have you found anything?

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It should be just in the back garden of that house.

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That's pretty...pretty accurate. Where are we?

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-This one tends to move into the park.

-You know it well?

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Followed it on several nights, now.

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It's a male that spends his time

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foraging in the more open gardens and the nearby park,

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a habitat they've found which is typical for hedgehog males.

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It's easier to get around and to find females.

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Female hedgehogs, on the other hand,

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tend to opt for the greater security of the gardens

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of terraced houses and semis.

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The research has also uncovered the big hedgehog killer -

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a change in garden fashion.

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Yes, the hedgehog's resilience is at last reaching the limit,

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faced with... new trends in gardening.

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The major issue is to do with the fact that many gardens are simply too basic

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to meet the requirements of hedgehogs.

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So there isn't an area for cover

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so they can rest securely during the day.

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-They're too tidy, you mean?

-Too tidy,

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particularly in the kind of area which we're in now,

0:23:440:23:46

which is high density.

0:23:460:23:49

Many of these gardens are devoid of any vegetation -

0:23:490:23:52

particularly, large, mature trees are missing.

0:23:520:23:54

They're also typified by very small gardens with very high fences.

0:23:540:24:00

But those fences also go very close to the ground,

0:24:000:24:03

so hedgehogs find it just physically very difficult to move around

0:24:030:24:06

-from garden to garden whilst they're foraging.

-Hmm.

0:24:060:24:09

-So it's not the Utopia that they hoped, then, really?

-No.

0:24:090:24:12

This style of garden is hard for hedgehogs to get in or out of...

0:24:140:24:19

and to find food in.

0:24:190:24:21

Gardens that appeal to humans aren't always good for hogs.

0:24:230:24:27

But we can make a difference.

0:24:290:24:31

If we're lucky enough to have a garden

0:24:310:24:33

and even luckier enough to have hedgehogs,

0:24:330:24:36

then we can make their lives easier.

0:24:360:24:38

If you were to put a couple of gaps in the fence

0:24:400:24:43

and some messy leaves to nest in, then you too could have

0:24:430:24:47

one of these ancient woodland creatures in your garden.

0:24:470:24:52

And they'll pay you for the privilege,

0:24:520:24:54

by keeping some of your other garden animals under control

0:24:540:24:59

in the most eco-friendly way.

0:24:590:25:02

As for the future of hedgehogs, well, there's one Utopia left...

0:25:030:25:08

..thanks to an explosion in golf courses.

0:25:090:25:14

This is now Britain's best hedgehog habitat

0:25:140:25:16

with up to 260 hogs per hectare.

0:25:160:25:20

The greens are easy to find food in,

0:25:200:25:23

the rough, ideal for nesting,

0:25:230:25:26

and, best of all, there's no-one around when they emerge at dusk.

0:25:260:25:31

The story of British woodland animals varies greatly,

0:25:370:25:40

depending on which species you are.

0:25:400:25:43

Some haven't done terribly well in modern Britain.

0:25:430:25:46

Others, a little better. But are there any truly great winners?

0:25:460:25:50

Well, gladly, yes, there are.

0:25:500:25:52

And for one collection of species, no amount of pampering has been enough.

0:25:520:25:57

I know we've seen hedgehog hospitals, I know we've seen hedgehog Jacuzzis,

0:25:570:26:02

but humans have changed the entire landscape

0:26:020:26:06

to make great places for these things to hang out...

0:26:060:26:10

Deer. More specifically, fallow deer like these.

0:26:200:26:25

Now, as an animal, they're tall, they're fast, they're elegant.

0:26:250:26:28

And they're Britain's most magnificent land mammal,

0:26:280:26:31

resplendent in dappled or white or black.

0:26:310:26:35

They need large tracts of woodland for security

0:26:370:26:40

and a variety of young plants to eat.

0:26:400:26:43

And they eat grass too, so they tend to hang around the woodland edges.

0:26:430:26:47

I've got to tell you, they're tremendously successful.

0:26:480:26:52

There are about 200,000 of these mammals currently roaming Britain.

0:26:520:26:56

So how did they come to be in such a privileged position?

0:26:580:27:02

Well, to get to grips with the fallow deer, we need to think about history

0:27:040:27:08

and, in particular,

0:27:080:27:09

perhaps the most auspicious date in British human history.

0:27:090:27:14

As every deer knows, 1066 marks the invasion

0:27:220:27:27

of the English woodland by fallow deer from Normandy.

0:27:270:27:31

William The Conqueror created 21 massive royal forests,

0:27:320:27:37

in which deer had more rights than the peasants.

0:27:370:27:42

The deal was, in exchange for being hunted by the king,

0:27:440:27:47

deer were protected from all other humans,

0:27:470:27:51

with dire consequences for anyone who so much as bothered a deer.

0:27:510:27:55

SHOUTING

0:27:550:27:57

It was an arrangement that did deer and royalty proud.

0:28:070:28:11

Later monarchs upped the number of hunting forests to 80!

0:28:120:28:16

Hunting fallow deer was the sport of kings,

0:28:200:28:23

because deer pose such a formidable test to the hunter.

0:28:230:28:27

And it's all thanks to their natural ability

0:28:290:28:32

to escape enemies like wolves.

0:28:320:28:34

So how did these medieval deer cope with those predators?

0:28:380:28:42

Well, obviously, they've evolved to do so,

0:28:420:28:44

but they've achieved that by becoming masters of surveillance and evasion.

0:28:440:28:49

And using this somewhat crude, child's toy,

0:28:530:28:56

and years of training from Blue Peter,

0:28:560:28:58

maybe even a couple of toilet rolls and some sticky-backed plastic,

0:28:580:29:01

I'm going to transform this into a facsimile of a super-sensing deer!

0:29:010:29:07

I can take it, I can take it. I know what you're thinking -

0:29:150:29:17

this looks really, really naff, this is a poor job...

0:29:170:29:21

but it isn't. This will perfectly demonstrate the deer's senses.

0:29:210:29:24

Let's start with the eyesight,

0:29:240:29:26

and I'm using these two small cameras here,

0:29:260:29:28

which have extremely wide-angle lenses.

0:29:280:29:32

And this is perfect, because, believe it or not,

0:29:320:29:35

the deer can see through 310 degrees.

0:29:350:29:39

There's only 50 degrees where it can't see,

0:29:390:29:43

and that's directly

0:29:430:29:44

behind its head.

0:29:440:29:46

So...if anything was stalking it, anything was sneaking up on it,

0:29:460:29:50

any prowling wolf or loping lynx were close to this animal,

0:29:500:29:56

it can see me all the way around here.

0:29:560:30:01

They've also got specially adapted pupils.

0:30:010:30:04

Some animals have vertical slits, like cats,

0:30:040:30:06

but as they close their pupil, their vision decays in these two areas.

0:30:060:30:13

But not deer - they have a horizontal pupil

0:30:130:30:16

and as that pupil contracts in this way,

0:30:160:30:18

they might lose definition up here and definition down here, but they've

0:30:180:30:22

still got a full panorama all the way round through those 310 degrees.

0:30:220:30:29

They've also got extremely acute vision in low light.

0:30:290:30:33

They've got more low-light sensitive cells. But there are compromises.

0:30:330:30:37

They're almost, in a way, colour blind.

0:30:370:30:41

So if I were here, wearing a red shirt like this,

0:30:410:30:44

from the deer's point of view,

0:30:440:30:46

it would normally only see this as a sort of dull brown.

0:30:460:30:50

But whatever limitations they might have visually

0:30:500:30:54

are made up for when it comes to their hearing.

0:30:540:30:56

I'm very proud of these facsimiles that I've made because they work.

0:30:560:31:01

Firstly, listen to this.

0:31:010:31:02

Pssh-pssh-pssh-pssh-pssh-pssh.

0:31:020:31:06

-QUIETER THEN LOUDER:

-Pssh-pssh-pssh-pssh-pssh.

0:31:060:31:13

Can you hear that?

0:31:130:31:14

That's because each of these ears is able to

0:31:140:31:16

capture the sound here and transfer it to the sensitive part of the ear.

0:31:160:31:22

In this case, a small microphone.

0:31:220:31:23

And the deer can move their ears through 180 degrees each

0:31:230:31:27

which means they can face forward or twist them all the way back.

0:31:270:31:31

And in fact, they can even do it independently.

0:31:310:31:35

So one is facing forward and one is facing back, like that.

0:31:350:31:39

Sneaking up on them is pretty tough. But it gets tougher still.

0:31:390:31:42

Because their last sense, their nose,

0:31:420:31:44

a nice, little, teddy bear black button down here,

0:31:440:31:47

which is nine times, nine times more sensitive than ours.

0:31:470:31:52

As well as their excellent surveillance system,

0:31:550:31:59

deer have a team strategy for evading predators.

0:31:590:32:02

Herding.

0:32:020:32:05

Most of the deer's predators prefer to attack a lone animal.

0:32:050:32:09

So, rule number one for any deer is stick together.

0:32:090:32:15

However, in modern Britain their defensive strategy

0:32:150:32:19

backfires in the face of a new predator.

0:32:190:32:23

It's one that first crept into Britain from Germany

0:32:230:32:26

about 120 years ago.

0:32:260:32:30

The predator we're talking about is the car

0:32:300:32:33

and this is their ideal habitat, the M25.

0:32:330:32:35

Vast packs of these things prowl here, 24 hours a day,

0:32:350:32:41

365 days a year.

0:32:410:32:44

But look carefully over there in the field

0:32:440:32:47

and you'll see a herd of fallow deer.

0:32:470:32:50

But when these two come together, deer and car,

0:32:500:32:53

it's a great source of conflict.

0:32:530:32:55

This unique research footage shows the problem.

0:33:010:33:04

Their instinct to stick together makes them easy prey to the car.

0:33:040:33:10

And what's more, they're principally active at night

0:33:100:33:15

and then their extremely sensitive night vision is very easily

0:33:150:33:21

dazzled by the headlights and they just freeze.

0:33:210:33:24

And the next thing is they get hit.

0:33:240:33:26

But the biggest problem of all is that roads have parcelled

0:33:280:33:32

the deer's roomy forest into lots of smaller pieces.

0:33:320:33:36

Just look at Epping Forest.

0:33:360:33:39

Deer are forced to cross roads as they move around their territory.

0:33:390:33:44

Worst of all, they have no natural fear of this lethal predator.

0:33:440:33:48

Each year in the UK 74,000 deer of all species suffer the consequences

0:33:480:33:56

of having the wrong senses for 21st century Britain.

0:33:560:34:02

With their population at an all-time high, casualties can only increase.

0:34:020:34:07

So from the deer's perspective,

0:34:070:34:10

the best sort of woodland

0:34:100:34:13

is one that's large, has few roads and importantly, low speed limits.

0:34:130:34:18

But on the whole, the verdict of the fallow deer on this country

0:34:210:34:24

has to be that it remains a very special place to live.

0:34:240:34:29

After all, what other animal can claim

0:34:290:34:33

large parts of the UK were custom made just for them?

0:34:330:34:40

There's one British woodland animal that can cause an adult human male

0:34:400:34:47

to fly into a fit of panic.

0:34:470:34:49

A creature that, if it was just a little bit bigger,

0:34:490:34:53

wouldn't be out of place on Dr Who.

0:34:530:34:56

But it's not just scary.

0:34:560:34:58

Even today, its ecology is only poorly understood,

0:34:580:35:02

and therefore it remains an extremely mysterious animal.

0:35:020:35:06

Why, for instance, is it in decline?

0:35:060:35:09

Why does it have a taste for these woodlands around London?

0:35:090:35:13

Well, these things are only partially understood.

0:35:130:35:16

But one thing's for sure -

0:35:160:35:18

If we can investigate its shadowy life history, we can develop

0:35:180:35:23

a far better understanding of what makes a healthy British woodland.

0:35:230:35:28

Stag beetles, absolutely superb.

0:35:390:35:41

And named, of course, because their highly modified mandibles

0:35:410:35:46

resemble the antlers of male deer - stags.

0:35:460:35:50

In fact they use them for similar purposes -

0:35:500:35:53

for fighting and in the case of the beetles,

0:35:530:35:55

also for grasping the female by the thorax

0:35:550:35:57

and holding her down whilst they're mating.

0:35:570:36:01

But I've got to say, that due to their mildly terrifying appearance,

0:36:010:36:06

over the years they've received a somewhat unsympathetic human press.

0:36:060:36:11

Back in the Middle Ages, the stag beetle was seen as a thing

0:36:160:36:20

of the devil, emanating from the depths of Hell, accompanied by fire.

0:36:200:36:26

I suppose you can see why because stag beetles

0:36:310:36:33

do emerge from the ground during summer storms,

0:36:330:36:36

when it's hot and humid.

0:36:360:36:38

Legend said they could summon the lightning

0:36:410:36:43

and that they could carry a burning coal in their antlers.

0:36:430:36:47

to do the devil's work.

0:36:470:36:49

There probably isn't any truth in that.

0:36:500:36:53

But their antlers can look red hot.

0:36:530:36:57

And if it's warm enough, they can fly...

0:36:570:37:01

Just about.

0:37:010:37:04

But none of these stories is as odd as

0:37:170:37:21

the real-life story of the stag beetle.

0:37:210:37:25

To see Britain from their point of view,

0:37:250:37:27

allow me to take you on a peculiar journey

0:37:270:37:32

into their very strange lives,

0:37:320:37:35

around five years of which is spent underground as a larva,

0:37:350:37:42

eating rotten wood.

0:37:420:37:44

Now debate rages as to how much they actually consume.

0:37:440:37:47

Some claim it's up to up to 22 cubic centimetres a day.

0:37:470:37:51

That's about four or five golf balls a week.

0:37:510:37:54

But look at this wood here.

0:37:540:37:56

Clearly, throughout the course of their lives in the wood,

0:37:560:38:00

these stag beetle larvae are eating a lot of the stuff.

0:38:000:38:04

These creatures somehow turn wood into fat.

0:38:040:38:07

And they're very good at it.

0:38:070:38:10

The larvae get pretty big. Look at this, absolutely brilliant.

0:38:100:38:15

And this is probably only about half grown.

0:38:150:38:19

Because they can get about the size of my little finger,

0:38:190:38:22

and I'm not exaggerating.

0:38:220:38:24

But even at this size, it's nowhere near being a grown up stag beetle.

0:38:270:38:32

To get to that stage they have to go through another stage.

0:38:320:38:37

Prepare yourself for the stag beetle pupa.

0:38:370:38:41

This, which looks like something straight out of Aliens,

0:38:410:38:46

is a female stag beetle pupa.

0:38:460:38:49

And after about six weeks, it's going to emerge as an adult.

0:38:490:38:53

The next stage is one of the most incredible transformations in nature

0:38:530:39:00

as the soft and vulnerable pupa

0:39:000:39:04

turns into a battle-ready beetle.

0:39:040:39:08

They then spend the best part of a year in the ground

0:39:220:39:25

before their big moment.

0:39:250:39:27

All of those years of munching are just preparation for a brief

0:39:290:39:34

period of glory, when the beetles

0:39:340:39:37

emerge as adults like this.

0:39:370:39:39

And it is a brief period.

0:39:390:39:40

They're only like this for somewhere between 15 and 40 days before they die.

0:39:400:39:45

And they're incredibly busy - they don't even stop to eat.

0:39:450:39:48

All of the eating has been done by the larvae -

0:39:480:39:51

that's the feeding machine. When they're like this, adults, they're sex machines.

0:39:510:39:55

When it comes down to it, the males are looking for females, fighting and then reproducing.

0:39:550:40:00

The females release an intoxicating pheromone,

0:40:030:40:07

which attracts males from far around.

0:40:070:40:09

And if there's more than one...

0:40:160:40:18

their first instinct is to fight.

0:40:180:40:21

All being well, when they've mated,

0:40:540:40:57

the females can begin to lay their eggs.

0:40:570:40:59

And they deposit about 20 of these, singularly, into soil

0:40:590:41:03

but always in close proximity to rotting wood.

0:41:030:41:06

So it could be a buried log, a log pile, the base of a fence post,

0:41:060:41:11

but, typically, they like great big rotten stumps, like this.

0:41:110:41:16

They tend to favour oak, but they will go into other species.

0:41:160:41:19

As soon as the larva emerges from the egg,

0:41:190:41:21

it moves into the wood and begins to munch it.

0:41:210:41:24

And then the cycle can begin again.

0:41:240:41:27

Now, at this point,

0:41:310:41:32

you may be wondering why you haven't seen a stag beetle near you.

0:41:320:41:37

Unless you're in their favourite part of Britain, you won't.

0:41:370:41:40

You see, stag beetles prefer the South East.

0:41:420:41:46

But no-one really knows why.

0:41:460:41:50

Yes, they need a warm climate for flying,

0:41:500:41:52

but then why don't they like Cornwall?

0:41:520:41:56

Their other main need is buried rotten wood, preferably oak.

0:41:560:42:00

But there's plenty of that all over England and Wales. So why the South East?

0:42:000:42:06

Well, compare the stag beetle distribution with this...

0:42:060:42:10

showing different types of rock.

0:42:100:42:13

Chalk, in white, surrounds London and Hampshire,

0:42:130:42:16

which are like stag beetle islands.

0:42:160:42:19

And there is a theory to explain this.

0:42:200:42:23

To digest wood, stag beetles need wood-rotting fungi

0:42:230:42:28

to break down the tough woody cells.

0:42:280:42:31

And these vital fungi can't survive in chalky places.

0:42:310:42:36

So perhaps the chalk is like a "no-go" zone,

0:42:360:42:39

keeping Britain's stag beetles in.

0:42:390:42:42

But where stag beetles do occur,

0:42:450:42:47

they have a significant impact on the environment.

0:42:470:42:51

So why is this weird insect-y story so important?

0:42:550:42:59

It's down to this - dead wood -

0:42:590:43:01

and the fact that the stag beetle larvae are eating it.

0:43:010:43:04

They're recycling it, breaking it down and turning it into smaller parts that can be rebuilt

0:43:040:43:10

into all of this, the woodland ecosystem.

0:43:100:43:13

Stag beetles are standard bearers for a whole rotten wood community...

0:43:150:43:20

..insects that spend their lives turning dead wood back into woodland.

0:43:210:43:26

So without them,

0:43:300:43:31

the woodland ecosystem simply wouldn't work at all.

0:43:310:43:35

Now, here in Richmond Park, we're really lucky -

0:43:350:43:38

we've got lots of standing dead timber and plenty of fallen material too.

0:43:380:43:42

But in the wider UK, we're way too tidy!

0:43:420:43:46

There isn't enough dead wood.

0:43:460:43:47

And I've got to tell you that 30% of all of the creatures

0:43:470:43:51

that live on an oak tree live on it after it's dead.

0:43:510:43:55

So what the stag beetles are telling us

0:43:570:44:01

is that they're perfectly content to stay here, in South East England...

0:44:010:44:05

but only on one condition.

0:44:050:44:07

Whether it's our woods, parks or gardens, we humans must take care

0:44:070:44:13

to leave out plenty of lovely fungus-infected dead wood.

0:44:130:44:19

Life in Britain's woodlands can be pretty good

0:44:260:44:28

if you're a goshawk or a deer.

0:44:280:44:31

And it could be for hedgehogs and stag beetles,

0:44:320:44:35

if we were to manage our woodlands and gardens with their needs in mind.

0:44:350:44:40

So is the future looking pretty rosy for all of our woodland creatures?

0:44:420:44:47

Well, not exactly.

0:44:490:44:52

There's one, in fact, that's in real trouble.

0:44:520:44:56

It faces a daily onslaught, the loss of its home,

0:44:560:44:59

the theft of its food, even biological warfare.

0:44:590:45:03

All wrought upon it by a most unwelcome invader.

0:45:030:45:08

But its story is fascinating, because it tells us a lot

0:45:080:45:12

about how the changing face of Britain's woodland is influencing our woodland wildlife.

0:45:120:45:18

The red squirrel.

0:45:300:45:31

I know, I know...

0:45:350:45:37

Come here.

0:45:370:45:39

How about this for a close encounter...

0:45:420:45:44

with a squirrel?

0:45:440:45:46

'This is a little orphaned red that was picked up dehydrated

0:45:460:45:50

'and covered in flies on a roadside.'

0:45:500:45:53

He's been nurtured back into what is very clearly rude health here.

0:45:550:46:01

Ooh, you nibbling my nose?

0:46:040:46:05

'It's like having a big red, fluffy-tailed flea on you!

0:46:050:46:10

'His agility is breath-taking.

0:46:100:46:13

'Long claws and double-jointed ankles are great for climbing trees.

0:46:130:46:18

'His tail helps him balance,

0:46:180:46:20

'so he can reach the end of the slenderest branch.'

0:46:200:46:23

'Outside of Scotland and a few scattered refuges,

0:46:300:46:34

'you're unlikely to see one nowadays.

0:46:340:46:37

'But these fabulous little creatures have a British pedigree

0:46:370:46:40

'that goes way back.'

0:46:400:46:42

Red squirrels have been in British woodlands as long as they've existed.

0:46:520:46:57

1,000 years ago, they were plentiful

0:46:570:46:59

and valued by humans for their fur -

0:46:590:47:02

amongst the reddest squirrel fur in Europe.

0:47:020:47:06

Their coats were prized, even by the greatest in the land.

0:47:070:47:11

But as human demand for timber grew,

0:47:140:47:17

for fuel and ship-building,

0:47:170:47:19

woodlands began to disappear, and red squirrels with them.

0:47:190:47:23

The Victorians made an attempt at replanting the forests,

0:47:250:47:28

but then, disaster struck.

0:47:280:47:32

Before those red squirrels could properly recover,

0:47:320:47:35

they were to get on the wrong end of a new fashion for Victorian humans,

0:47:350:47:39

and that was introducing non-native species.

0:47:390:47:43

In 1876, one Mr Brocklehurst deliberately released two pairs

0:47:450:47:49

of American grey squirrels at Henbury Park in Cheshire.

0:47:490:47:53

No-one expected the cataclysm that followed.

0:47:550:47:58

Across England, Wales and Ireland, the reds were in retreat.

0:48:010:48:05

You see this?

0:48:110:48:12

This wizened old edifice is no less than Hadrian's Wall,

0:48:120:48:17

one of the great symbols of a north-south divide, here in the UK.

0:48:170:48:22

And perhaps today, there's a biological parallel here.

0:48:220:48:27

Take a look at this...

0:48:270:48:29

Stretching all the way from here, right the way south

0:48:290:48:32

to the English Channel, is now the land of the greys.

0:48:320:48:36

They've completely occupied it.

0:48:370:48:39

Look round here. You see this stretch of forest?

0:48:390:48:42

Stretching from here, right the way across here?

0:48:420:48:44

Well, that's Kielder Forest, this is Northumberland.

0:48:440:48:47

And that's the last great refuge of the English red squirrel.

0:48:470:48:51

But have you ever wondered why the British Redcoats rolled over

0:48:510:48:57

and capitulated quite so easily

0:48:570:49:00

in the face of such a light American invasion force?

0:49:000:49:04

So, let's start with those greys.

0:49:060:49:09

Why do they make such bad company for the reds?

0:49:090:49:13

Well, greys have stronger stomachs.

0:49:130:49:16

They can eat bark...

0:49:180:49:20

..and acorns, even before they're ripe, so depriving the reds of food.

0:49:240:49:29

Now, get this, because this is truly amazing.

0:49:300:49:34

There's now some evidence that suggests that grey squirrels

0:49:360:49:39

actually think - yes, think -

0:49:390:49:42

differently to the reds,

0:49:420:49:44

and that this might give them a critical advantage

0:49:440:49:48

when it comes to surviving the winter.

0:49:480:49:50

It's as though grey squirrels have the minds of criminals.

0:49:510:49:55

Red squirrels, unlucky enough to find themselves in a forest with greys,

0:49:560:50:01

should watch their cache!

0:50:010:50:03

In the worst-hit areas, up to two-thirds of the reds' food caches are raided by the greys,

0:50:040:50:10

leaving little for the winter.

0:50:100:50:12

Greys are highly skilled thieves, stealing from each other

0:50:130:50:17

and the reds.

0:50:170:50:19

They're suspicious of others when they're hiding their nuts.

0:50:230:50:27

But their cunning doesn't stop there.

0:50:270:50:30

To try and disguise the location of their buried treasure,

0:50:320:50:35

they deliberately dig lots of holes but only put nuts into a few.

0:50:350:50:40

And if they notice another squirrel watching,

0:50:410:50:44

they dig even more of these false holes.

0:50:440:50:47

They also bury their nuts under shrubbery or in mud,

0:50:490:50:53

where they're harder for others to find.

0:50:530:50:55

Sadly, they're not only cleverer. I've got to tell you,

0:50:590:51:02

when it comes to this typical UK deciduous woodland,

0:51:020:51:06

they're an ecologically more robust animal.

0:51:060:51:09

So if there was ever going to be a successful invader,

0:51:090:51:12

it was the grey squirrel.

0:51:120:51:14

But there's one more thing that makes them absolutely disastrous

0:51:140:51:18

when it comes to the reds.

0:51:180:51:19

They carry a virus, the squirrel Parapoxvirus.

0:51:190:51:23

Now, the greys are largely resistant to it,

0:51:230:51:26

but when they come into contact with the reds, it wipes them out.

0:51:260:51:30

So, it's easy to see why some have written off the red squirrel.

0:51:310:51:35

But is there anything,

0:51:390:51:40

anything at all, in their favour?

0:51:400:51:44

Well, yes, there is... pine forests.

0:51:450:51:49

Over 70% of British red squirrels now live in Scotland,

0:51:530:51:57

either in ancient Caledonian pine forests or plantations,

0:51:570:52:03

such as Sitka spruce.

0:52:030:52:05

So why in these woodlands are the reds more successful than the greys?

0:52:060:52:10

It comes down to two reasons.

0:52:120:52:14

One of them is this - the Sitka spruce cone -

0:52:140:52:18

and the other is the animals' need to optimally forage.

0:52:180:52:22

What does that mean?

0:52:220:52:24

Well, it means that when it goes looking for food,

0:52:240:52:26

it's got to get enough energy back from that food to warrant

0:52:260:52:30

all of that it expends finding it, handling it and eating it.

0:52:300:52:34

Take a look at this.

0:52:360:52:38

This is a red squirrel's feeding platform.

0:52:380:52:41

They've collected these cones from up in the trees here,

0:52:410:52:44

they've carried them all the way down - at a cost -

0:52:440:52:47

and then they've sat down here and they have chewed off all of the bracts here

0:52:470:52:53

to get at the seeds inside.

0:52:530:52:56

And I've got to tell you that the seeds are very small.

0:52:560:53:00

So the return for their investment is equally small.

0:53:000:53:04

Now, red squirrels can get enough to sustain a small population here,

0:53:040:53:09

in the forest.

0:53:090:53:11

But when the greys come in and they try eating these things,

0:53:110:53:15

they simply can't get enough energy out of the seeds in these cones

0:53:150:53:20

to survive here.

0:53:200:53:21

So, for the moment at least, this is red squirrel-ville.

0:53:210:53:26

So with any luck, the reds will hang on here for a few more years.

0:53:330:53:37

But they have something else on their side...

0:53:370:53:40

humans!

0:53:400:53:42

Some are so passionate about saving the native red squirrel,

0:53:420:53:46

that they'll do anything to get rid of the greys.

0:53:460:53:49

I'm off to the front line, in Northumberland.

0:53:530:53:56

I've got nothing against the grey squirrels personally.

0:53:570:54:00

It's just they're just in the wrong place and in the wrong time.

0:54:000:54:04

But you like the reds?

0:54:040:54:06

Yeah, I love them. They're beautiful mystical little things

0:54:060:54:09

if you ever have a chance to see them.

0:54:090:54:11

'I'm joining Paul Parker on his daily trap check.'

0:54:110:54:15

-Here's the nuts, then.

-'His traps are designed to catch grey squirrels humanely,

0:54:150:54:18

'and hazelnuts are the bait of choice.'

0:54:180:54:21

-Ah, nothing in this one either.

-Mm, it's empty as well, isn't it?

0:54:240:54:28

Nothing here neither. Nothing. No.

0:54:300:54:34

'Paul's organisation has come up with a way of recouping

0:54:340:54:36

'some of his costs...

0:54:360:54:38

'one that's not going to be everyone's cup of tea.'

0:54:380:54:41

Right, we'll get on our way, then.

0:54:410:54:43

'I'm not sure that it's going to be my cup of tea either.'

0:54:430:54:46

Where are we off to now, then?

0:54:480:54:50

We're off to a place I know we can get something nice to eat.

0:54:500:54:52

It's not a greasy caff or anything, is it?

0:54:520:54:55

-No, no, you'll be quite surprised when you get there, I think.

-Yeah?

-Yeah.

0:54:550:54:59

What are you going to have, then?

0:55:020:55:03

I'm going to have my favourite - squirrel pie.

0:55:030:55:06

I think I might just have a salad and a few nuts if that's all right?

0:55:060:55:10

That's fine.

0:55:100:55:11

What's it like, then?

0:55:190:55:21

It's absolutely beautiful.

0:55:210:55:23

You have to try this.

0:55:230:55:24

This is that popular, it's going in the top restaurants in London.

0:55:240:55:28

-Would you at least have a try?

-No.

0:55:280:55:30

No, I can't eat the cast.

0:55:300:55:32

All right, well aside from the meat, you know,

0:55:320:55:35

how effective has the project been?

0:55:350:55:37

I mean, how many squirrels, not to put too fine a point on it,

0:55:370:55:40

have you killed to date?

0:55:400:55:41

To date, we're up to 25,171.

0:55:410:55:44

25,171 squirrels?

0:55:440:55:48

Yeah.

0:55:480:55:49

Has it made any difference? That's the, that's the... I mean, at the end of the day,

0:55:490:55:54

that's the key question, in terms of the reds.

0:55:540:55:56

Just this morning, I was coming to check them here,

0:55:560:55:59

this woman was running through the woods and stopped us

0:55:590:56:01

and says, "I've seen a red." And I've never seen one

0:56:010:56:04

and I've been running through here for years and years.

0:56:040:56:06

And she was so excited, and there's a family of reds there, breeding.

0:56:060:56:10

-So, basically, there were greys.

-Yeah.

-They've been eradicated.

-Yeah.

0:56:100:56:13

-And the reds have come back?

-They've come back and started breeding.

0:56:130:56:17

That's the difference for me.

0:56:170:56:18

If people stop and say the reds are coming back, there is hope.

0:56:180:56:22

To be quite honest, this problem is a man-made problem -

0:56:220:56:25

we made this problem - and I think it's up to us to resolve it,

0:56:250:56:29

otherwise, if we don't do anything this time, we're going to lose the reds.

0:56:290:56:33

And that's the way I honestly feel.

0:56:330:56:35

And on that note, I'm going to let you do your bit with your dish.

0:56:350:56:38

Your squirrel's getting cold.

0:56:380:56:40

I never thought I'd hear myself say that.

0:56:400:56:42

Whatever you think of Paul's militancy

0:56:440:56:46

and his irrepressible desire to eradicate grey squirrels,

0:56:460:56:50

I'm sure that not many of you are surprised,

0:56:500:56:53

because when it comes to these animals, there are few fence-sitters.

0:56:530:56:57

People either love them or they loathe them.

0:56:570:57:00

And perhaps, pragmatically, there's a good method afoot here,

0:57:000:57:05

because he's kind of keeping a "no-man's land"

0:57:050:57:08

between the bulk of the population of greys down there in the south

0:57:080:57:11

and what remains of the reds, over there, to the north.

0:57:110:57:16

It is true that, as far as red squirrels are concerned,

0:57:180:57:21

Britain simply isn't the place that it used to be.

0:57:210:57:25

But thanks to their small size, these magical animals have every chance of clinging on

0:57:250:57:31

in the UK's northern pine forests...

0:57:310:57:34

especially as the human population value them so much.

0:57:340:57:38

You know, it's pretty amazing that there are so many woodland animals still here,

0:57:400:57:46

given the massive reduction in the amount of habitat that they've got.

0:57:460:57:50

It's worth remembering that our local woods, hedgerows

0:57:500:57:55

and even gardens are all potential homes for them.

0:57:550:57:58

And having seen Britain from the woodland animals' point of view,

0:58:010:58:05

it certainly strikes me that, with a little bit more human thought,

0:58:050:58:10

we could improve all of these places for a lot more of these creatures.

0:58:100:58:15

Next time, our coastal animals have their say.

0:58:170:58:22

Prepare yourself for great cuteness.

0:58:220:58:24

What do they make of our seaside activities?

0:58:240:58:27

Ouch! It's my finger, not the chip.

0:58:270:58:30

And why do so many prefer these islands to anywhere else?

0:58:300:58:33

Well, I'll show you. Come with me.

0:58:330:58:36

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd

0:58:460:58:49

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0:58:490:58:52

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