Episode 1 Countryfile Winter Diaries

The days may be some of the shortest in the year,

and the hours are the darkest,

but winter casts its own special spell.

A time to embrace the magic of our wonderful British landscape...

..be captivated by our wildlife...

..and enjoy the bracing great outdoors.

The season may be beautiful, but winter's not without its problems.

All week we're travelling the length and breadth of the UK...

Is island life hard?

It's hard, yeah, yeah, but I wouldn't change it for the world.

..bringing the very best seasonal stories that matter to you.

Some people would say, why don't you put the heating on at home?

Cos we can't afford it.

The cost is astronomical.

A warm welcome to Countryfile Winter Diaries.

And here's what we've got for you on today's programme.

Top of everyone's Christmas wish list - a puppy.

But Keeley's finding out why it can be a dirty business.

You must be absolutely sickened by some of the things that you get to see.

We've seen dogs ankle-deep in their own faeces.

You don't forget the smell in a hurry.

And she discovers how you can avoid being duped by the puppy smugglers.

Steve welcomes a newcomer to our skies which could revolutionise

flight safety for us all.

You really can see that falcon-shaped silhouette now,

can't you, now it's up in the air?

And I'll be finding out how we can help our British garden wildlife

combat a tough winter.

We're spending all week here on Anglesey,

the biggest island in Wales,

and one of the most stunning in Britain.

Spread across 276 square miles, and with majestic Snowdonia

as a spectacular backdrop,

it's a winter wonderland from hilltop to coast.

No wonder almost two million of us visit it every year.

Its surrounding waters are a haven for wildlife, including dolphins.

And, after an absence of 20 years, otters are back on the island.

And Anglesey boasts rich farmland.

In the Middle Ages, it was known as Mam Cymru - mother of Wales -

as its fertile fields were the breadbasket for the northern part

of the country.

It's long been the gateway to the Irish Sea,

and that's where we look to our first story.

We Brits are famously a nation of dog lovers,

with a puppy at the top of many a Christmas wish list.

But our demand is driving a massive trade,

a trade which is both cruel and illegal.

Trafficked puppies are often so ill and weak,

they're virtually living under a death sentence.

Keeley has been in Northern Ireland,

meeting animal welfare investigators

determined to put a stop to the puppy smugglers.

Good boy.

Today, almost a quarter of homes have a dog.

That's about eight and a half million of our canine friends

across the UK.

And the love and loyalty they give us is priceless.

But there's big money to be made from the growing demand

for the most sought-after breeds.

And unfortunately more and more criminals are cashing in,

breeding puppies in huge numbers, keeping them in terrible conditions,

and without the vital health checks.

Well, I've come to Northern Ireland, which is one of the main routes for

smuggling dogs from outside the UK on to the mainland.

Come on.

Because of its soft border with the Republic,

Northern Ireland has become the perfect rat run

through which these poor puppies are trafficked.

As pets, dogs bring many of us huge joy and happiness.

With them, we have some of our best friendships, and it's often said

they're the glue that bind families together.

But do you ever think about where people buy their puppies?

From trendy pugs and French Bulldogs to Game Of Thrones-style huskies,

our increasing demand for fashionable breeds

is driving a cruel and illegal trade.

Worth up to £300 million in the UK alone,

it's almost as profitable as smuggling arms and drugs.

Things are now so bad

that animal welfare charities and other agencies are

cracking down with undercover operations

and raids on suspected puppy farms.

This animal welfare investigator, who must remain anonymous,

is one of many trying to break this shameful smuggling network.

You must be absolutely sickened by some of the things

-that you get to see on a regular basis.

-We are,

because the pups' health is a very important factor in this.

These pups have been bred, a lot of them, in horrendous conditions.

The animals' welfare doesn't come into it.

It's minimum input for maximum output.

-I mean, what you see here...

-Oh, my goodness.

..are some of the most horrendous conditions that we've come across.

We've seen dogs ankle-deep in their own faeces.

And then this picture, you can see that a carcass of an animal has been

thrown into the pen for them all to feast off.

Ugh, it makes me feel cold inside.

It makes me feel sick. These are future family pets.

I mean, people would have no idea this is how their family pet

-would start out their life.

-No.

Oh, goodness.

I mean, it doesn't get much worse than that.

A dead rat in a food bowl.

I mean, these conditions are just squalid, aren't they?

-They are.

-Oh! Look at them, as well.

You don't forget the smell in a hurry.

It's thought a staggering 88% of puppies in the UK

are born to unlicensed breeders.

And quick as we are to snap them up, especially at Christmas,

sadly, we are just as quick to get bored with them.

According to the RSPCA, one dog was abandoned every hour in England and

Wales over last year's festivities.

One of these particular dogs was eventually rescued.

Its coat was completely stained with urine.

And it took nearly two years

for the yellow staining to come out of the dog's skin and coat.

And how do dogs go on to be, kind of, healthy animals

after starting their life in such an awful way?

Unfortunately a lot of them don't.

Once these people receive their puppies, it's been washed and given

the makeover it needs to make it look attractive to the buyer.

These are hardened criminals, aren't they?

Yes, they are. A lot of people have moved away from things

like the drugs trade.

It's a lot safer to get caught with a load of pups in the boot of

your car than a load of cocaine.

But some of the profits are equally as attractive.

If this is up there with the smuggling of arms and drugs,

should similar sentences, similar penalties, be handed out?

Yeah. I mean, we've got some of the best animal welfare legislation

there is, in this country,

but I think we just need to see a precedent being set,

and somebody being sent to prison.

We want to see the end of battery farming of dogs,

for want of a better word.

At the moment, these battery farmers

can expect a maximum of six months in jail,

a fine and a ban on owning animals.

Not nearly enough, say campaigners, for a trade thought to be

the third-most profitable organised crime in Europe,

after drugs and guns.

Big bucks worth big risks.

I mean, these are notoriously difficult people to follow.

They change their patterns every day.

They use different vehicles.

They change their telephone numbers daily.

So what do you think is fuelling this trade?

I think, if we look at the online sale of pets,

that has really boosted this industry.

So what can we do to help investigators

stop this harrowing trade?

Later I'll be hearing from a vet

about how to be sure we're buying from the right breeder.

Reputable breeders will want to talk to you,

they'll want to know what your purpose is with the pup.

Come and have a chat with us and we can then lead them down the road of

looking for the signs of health.

I'll also be meeting a dog owner who was caught out.

He was up all night coughing.

Not really sleeping. There was blood every time he went to the toilet.

And I sat and I cried and I cried.

I've brought a dog home and he is so ill, he could potentially die.

It's a shocking trade, and we will be back with Keeley soon

to find out how we can all fight back.

Anglesey has a proud aviation history.

100 years ago, the RAF had an airship station here, RAF Mona.

And during the First World War,

its giants of the sky were used to escort ships

and patrol for enemy submarines in the middle of the Irish Sea.

We've come a long way since then, and today the island is home to

RAF pilots training to be top guns in something a little faster.

But for most of us, flying in the winter only happens if we're lucky

enough to be jetting off to the sunshine.

Every day there are 7,500 planes in the skies above Britain,

but if there's one thing aircraft don't like, it's birds.

During the cold weather, some, like crows and starlings,

gather in flocks.

And it's not good news if they're near an airfield.

At worst, they can take a plane down.

And at best, well, they can cause of millions of pounds' worth of damage.

But now, there's a newcomer in the skies

that could get rid of the threat in one fell swoop.

In a Countryfile Winter Diaries exclusive, Steve investigates.

I'm at Southampton International Airport with Dan Townsend.

He's the man tasked with making sure

that these airfields stay bird-free

so that two million passengers can safely take off and land.

With around 117 flights in and out a day,

you would think that, for birds, this place would be

a hostile environment. But for some reason,

birds like gulls, crows and pigeons seem to come here in flocks.

I've seen some of the different species that you've got here -

what do you do to stop them coming in in the first place?

We spend a lot of time, a lot of money and a lot of expertise,

a lot of science, to be honest,

making sure that everything you see here prevents the birds from wanting

-to be here in the first place.

-Why have you got to get rid of the birds?

There've been some high-profile cases like the Hudson River in America,

where birds and planes do come together and the obvious consequences.

We try and do everything we can to avoid anything like that ever happening.

It's relentless, isn't it? This isn't something you do twice a day.

All the time we're open, we have a bird patrol.

A vehicle like this, armed with all the gadgets and bells and

whistles we have, is out patrolling the airfield all the time,

making sure that we use all of our means to scare the birds off.

Traditionally, airports have several methods of bird control

at their disposal. So, what's this down here, for example?

This is called our digi-scare.

It's going to make a loud noise. It won't scare you, hopefully,

-but it will scare the birds.

-It might do.

It's going to be for a gull. SQUAWKING

That's a distress call for a seagull. So we put that out and that will...

The birds will hear it and go in the opposite direction.

I'll do another one. Black-headed gulls, for example.

I'll do that for you now. DIFFERENT SQUAWK

You can change it to different species. Different noises depending on the bird.

It works really, really well.

As well as a range of distress calls,

Dan's got a whole arsenal of deterrents.

Hand-held lasers and a flare gun that I'm keen to see in action.

And that's it. There we go. And the birds going in the opposite direction, so, pretty easy.

-Simple but effective.

-Yeah.

But there's a newcomer on the scene

and it might just solve Dan's avian problems once and for all.

It looks like a falcon

and it flies like a falcon...

..but what actually is it?

Designed to rid airports, croplands

and waste dumps of those pesky birds,

this is Robird.

Its Dutch inventor, Nico Nijenhuis, is going to introduce us.

-Nico.

-Here we are, Steve.

-Nice to see you.

So, wow, this is Robird, is it?

-This is it.

-It looks so real.

Yeah, it does. It looks really like a real falcon.

It's about the same size.

It's about the same weight, as well.

It weighs 750g,

so we do everything to make it as realistic as we can.

Why did you choose a falcon, Nico?

Because falcons can be found anywhere on the planet

except for the Arctic regions.

So we can use one design anywhere we have to operate.

Robird is a remotely controlled robot that has been cleverly designed

to mimic the flight patterns of a falcon.

In this case, a peregrine falcon.

Peregrines are one of our most common falcons.

They thrive in wide-open spaces

and are just as much at home in cities

as they are on cliffs and coastlines.

Diving after prey at speeds of up to 200mph,

they're the fastest flying birds in the world

and one of the few that has the manoeuvrability to outpace and catch a pigeon in mid-air.

And does it work?

I mean, today I've seen crows and gulls and pigeons.

-Will it scare them all off?

-It works fantastically well.

It's the combination of silhouette and movement that triggers the instinct

of other birds to think that it's real and so they start responding as if

it's real. And that means that in projects that we do,

we typically have a 90% reduction in bird populations.

And once they go, do they come back?

What you're doing biologically is you're increasing the predation pressure

in the area. So you're showing predatorial activity,

it's actively on the hunt. And birds don't want to be

in an area where there's a chance of them getting

killed by their natural enemy.

But why do you need it?

You've already got the sirens and the sounds.

You've got the lasers.

You've got big silver birds, the planes coming in every two minutes,

surely they scare them off?

All of that stuff is what we call short-term means.

So they startle the birds,

they may scare the birds a little bit because the birds find that

annoying. They habituate to a lot of things very quickly

if it doesn't trigger their instinct towards a predator.

This is the stuff that, evolutionary, they are scared of.

If it looks like a predator, if it moves like a predator,

it IS a predator, and they need to get out of the way

because they don't want to get killed.

So, since 2011, now, if you don't mind me saying,

you could have hatched a chick, reared it,

taught it to fly around the airports, scaring off pigeons -

wouldn't that have just been easier?

You could have, you could have indeed, indeed.

But working with live animals is very difficult.

And especially because once they're in the air, once you let them hunt,

there is no control any more.

So you might want to chase a bird over here

but if it sees the prey over there that it likes better, it's off.

And in some cases, that means that you're causing danger to the airport

because you're adding a flying animal in that you can't control.

So, you're thinking for it, you are the bird-brain?

We are the bird-brain.

We're flying it. The regulations still oblige us to actually do that.

But in the long term,

and I'm talking about a period of between five and ten years,

you can imagine that everything will become autonomous.

The bird itself will get its own little brain.

So we're taking the human out of the loop and really turning this, well,

into a falcon. Well, let's get some clearance and let's get flying.

Come on, then. The dream team.

There you go, guys.

Just like a real aircraft, Robird has to ask permission for take-off.

Robird 1, holding BRP 2-0. request to enter the runway, please.

After pre-flight checks, it's doors to automatic.

And despite all its hi-tech software, the launch is, well,

really rather simple.

Look at that.

Within minutes, this phoney falcon is seeing off some gulls.

You really can see that falcon-shaped silhouette now,

can't you, now it's up in the air? And look at it fly into the wind,

-it's almost like a kestrel.

-Yeah, yeah.

Robird is essentially a drone.

And flying a drone anywhere near an airport is illegal.

So, it's taken the team months of planning with Southampton

to develop special rules that allow Robird to operate safely

on a commercial airfield.

It's a radical exercise that's the first of its kind in Europe.

I came down a little bit sceptical, but look at it.

It does work like a bird of prey should.

Look, there's no birds.

There's no birds. I'm happy we convinced you.

Anglesey is one of a handful of bastions dedicated to safeguarding

one of our best-loved creatures -

the red squirrel.

Back in the 1970s, numbers were threatened by their archenemy,

the grey squirrel.

It's thought some may have hopped across one of the two bridges

over the Menai Strait.

Some think they might even have swum the three-quarters of a mile from the mainland.

Now, back then, there were fewer than 40 adults,

but thanks to control measures on squirrels,

nesting boxes and even crossing points,

it's thought the population across the island is now around 700.

And here at the Dingle Nature Reserve is a great place

to try and spot them.

They are beautiful, if somewhat elusive creatures.

But they do make a mark on Anglesey.

There's one there, look. Look at that, wagging his tail.

Two of them. That is an absolute joy.

But sadly, there are now fears

that a deadly virus could be attacking them,

so there is a battle on to keep them healthy.

Squirrels aren't the only ones that need our help.

For some of our favourite garden wildlife,

plummeting winter temperatures can be lethal.

But Paul's on the case,

finding out what we can all do

to help keep our birds and animals alive.

The chirpy little robin is one of our favourite

feathered winter garden visitors.

No heavier than a couple of AA batteries.

On cold nights, he can lose up to 10% of his body weight.

Robins were just some of the victims of the infamous big freeze of 1962.

That winter, temperatures plummeted to below minus-20

and claimed the lives of more than half of our British birds.

Today it's nowhere near as cold, but wildlife still has a tough battle

to survive during the colder months of the year.

I'm here to meet wildlife saviour Kate MacRae,

who's going to show us how we can turn our gardens

into a winter sanctuary.

Kate's garden in the West Midlands is the epitome of a winter wildlife

refuge, brimming with ingenious shelters and sanctuaries.

All under 24-hour surveillance.

Today, she's busy in her kitchen,

preparing tasty rations for her winter visitors.

-Hi, Kate.

-Hi, nice to meet you.

-I see you're busy at it.

-I am indeed, yes.

-So what's in there?

OK, so we're making some high-energy fat balls today.

Once we get to the winter months, all the natural foods are really

diminished, so the birds are needing to keep their energy levels up,

particularly when it gets really cold.

So things like this become essential.

And it's using lots of things that you may have around the house

-or in the kitchen.

-OK, scraps.

-Yes, exactly, like, you know,

you may have some fruit in your fruit bowl that's gone a bit weird.

-Wrinkly, yeah, a bit bruised.

-You may think it isn't

what you want to eat, but perfect for the birds.

We've all got to the bottom of the cereal packets, you know.

-A few crumbs.

-It's got a bit stale.

There are some old oats I've got here,

so I actually soak them first of all so...

-Oh, I see, it's like porridge.

-Yeah, so it's like porridge we can mix in.

-And...

-That looks like traditional birdseed.

Exactly, I've added some traditional birdseed.

So the kind of things you might have in your kitchen that possibly

you're going to throw out.

Using softened lard to bind all these ingredients together,

the mixture is then patted into balls to be placed in bird feeders.

And I often use something as simple as this.

-A whisk.

-Yeah, you can buy them really cheaply in bargain stores

and then you can just fit the fat ball in there

-and then just hang it up.

-That's a really good idea.

-Simple.

-That is brilliant and that's probably cheaper than a bird feeder

-from a garden centre.

-Oh, most definitely,

and a great activity to do with the kids.

Once done, a short stint in the fridge,

and it's time to grab our coats.

Kate is confident these fat balls will go down a treat

with blue tits and blackcaps.

OK, so I've already got a whisk down here.

-I've got mine.

-So we're going to go and hang these fat balls we've made,

so you can just stretch the little bits apart, squeeze it in.

So do you want to put one into your whisk?

-Isn't that clever?

-Nice and simple.

Yeah, look at that, hey presto.

What makes a good bird feeder, apart from a whisk?

I always think of a bird-feeding station a bit like a restaurant.

If you were opening a restaurant and you just fed one food,

you'd only attract one kind of visitor.

-That's true, yeah.

-But if you have lots of different kinds of feeders,

feeding lots of different kinds of food,

you're likely to attract more and more visitors,

so maybe one that feeds seed, maybe one that feeds peanuts,

and one that feeds a fatball-based product.

That is a brilliant use of a whisk.

-Ten out of ten for that.

-Thank you.

-Any other clever ideas?

-Well,

to tell you the truth, I'm always on the lookout for things that I

can use to make a different feeder, and I found two others.

One is a ladle, and one is little sieve. They make perfect feeders.

-Brilliant.

-And the little sieves are even better,

because of course the water can drain out from underneath those.

And do certain types of food, different ingredients,

attract different species?

Sunflower hearts are the gourmet food.

Everything loves those.

The husk is already taken off, there are an easy, quick meal,

and then certain seeds like the nyjer seed, which is from the thistle,

very tiny seed, the goldfinches love that.

Don't forget, in the winter they are geared up to looking for food.

If they come in and find that,

what they do is then they are likely to tell their mates and you may have

one goldfinch, and the next day you will have three, then you have five,

-then you'll have ten if you're lucky.

-Yeah.

And one bird feeder in Kate's garden is more hi-tech than all the rest.

It's like something out of Grand Designs.

A very big landing platform, which is ideal.

It's got a roof. It keeps the food dry.

But look at this, it's dog-proof,

cat-proof, rat-proof, squirrel-proof.

Nothing can get up there with this hard piece of plastic.

You just cannot get over that.

Back in the autumn, I adopted some hedgehogs,

which are now deep in hibernation, and, like me,

Kate has put down a nest box

in a quiet corner of her garden to help these

gentle little creatures at this vulnerable time of the year.

Water is incredibly important for winter garden visitors

and today she is creating the perfect watering hole.

All you need is an old tyre.

So the first thing we need to do is decide location.

-Yeah.

-So I don't want it right in the middle,

because they won't feel safe,

so quite close to some kind of vegetation.

-Yeah, a hedgerow.

-They can hide.

-Yeah, yeah, yeah, like a corridor for them.

Make sure the tyre is level..

..before filling it with soil to the required depth.

Think about what you want yours for.

Is it a bit deeper for maybe frogs to move in,

because they will move into this smaller space.

I'm wanting it for drinking and bathing,

so I'm going to make it quite a gradual slope, like that.

-Yeah.

-OK, that looks perfect.

Next, place a tarpaulin on top.

We make sure there's enough of an overlap,

even when that's going to be full of water.

Trim it to the desired size.

And now, do you want me to put more earth around here?

Yeah, so what we're going to do is now build up a nice slope.

-OK.

-Not only good for wildlife to get in and out then,

but also we can plant that then, to make it look really natural.

Brilliant, good idea, that's a really good idea.

Once the bank is established, it's finally time to add the water.

-It's a bit like a volcano, isn't it?

-It is, yeah.

-Now that is about full.

-Indeed.

-That's brilliant.

Do you know what? My kids would love to do this.

I'm sure any kid would love to play with water and mud.

Yeah, exactly.

You're creating not a volcano,

but really something that the wildlife will enjoy.

Of course, make sure you put it somewhere

where the kids can't fall in.

Kate had her idea for a waterhole two years ago,

and that one now fits in perfectly in its natural landscape.

-So you can see, a few ferns and ivy.

-Yeah, as nature intended it.

Rotten logs. And you'd never know there was a tyre in there.

No, and of course you've got some tips about the freezing weather.

Indeed. So you can either just put a little something that floats,

-like a little ping pong ball.

-Table tennis ball.

-Anything like that,

that just moves around and keeps the water open.

But to tell you the truth, it's so small, you can usually just get your

finger under the ice, pull it out and top it up.

-I'm going to copy that.

-Excellent.

In fact, all of Kate's ideas are really easy to achieve

and I can't wait to get back to my garden to put them into practice.

So there you are, a few simple tricks to keep the wildlife happy

in your garden this winter.

Well, some terrific ideas there

to give nature a helping hand in your back garden.

But of course there are some animals that are perfectly designed

to survive the winter cold, especially in Scotland.

So here's our guide to the UK's top five winter toughies.

700 or so miles north of Anglesey,

you'll find the toughest of ponies in the Shetland Isles.

One of the earliest domesticated breeds,

the Shetland pony stands just over three feet high.

Small, yet robust.

Its winter survival secret is all down to a double coat

which has guard hairs to shed rain and snow.

One of the best places to visit at this time of year is Britain's

biggest national park, the Cairngorms.

These mountains are home to some plucky Arctic specialists...

..like our only free-grazing reindeer.

They can withstand temperatures close to minus-20,

thanks to extra insulating fur

from the tips of their noses to the bottom of their feet...

..while their hooves double up as shovels to shift the snow

and get to the food beneath.

The ptarmigan shares these mountains and some similar survival tactics.

The only British bird to turn white in winter,

its head-to-toe dense plumage provides the perfect insulation.

As well as the Scottish Highlands,

head to the Peak District to find the mountain hare

that also goes white in winter.

Ideal camouflage, it's also thought the lack of melanin,

which is responsible for coloured hair, means more air spaces,

which trap heat.

And last but by no means least, the grey seal,

found all around our British coastline.

Born in winter, these guys are braced for the worst.

A lavish layer of blubber that can be inches thick

acts as a vital central heating system.

It's the ideal insulation

and my excuse for any winter overindulgence.

Well, if you think those animals are tough,

spare a thought for our crops.

And perhaps chief among our vegetable winter hit parade

is this, the leek.

I love them because you can harvest them for seven months

from the early autumn and they're really good at withstanding

even the harshest of winters.

No surprise that they're really popular amongst allotment holders

here on Anglesey. And, of course,

well, they're the national emblem of Wales.

But the humble carrot actually is pretty hardy, too.

Although, as Matt discovered in Suffolk,

sometimes they can need a helping hand.

Across Britain, our hardiest vegetables

stubbornly stand their ground

against the worst that our winter weather can throw at them.

Thick-skinned celeriacs.

Bulletproof brussels.

Cast-iron caulis.

These tough nuts of the vegetable world know how to look after themselves.

And they keep Britain's larder well stocked until spring.

Perfect for coping with the cold

are the root vegetables like carrots...

..and swede.

Underground, the heat of the sun lingers longer than on top,

while the soil provides protection against frost.

On the Suffolk coast, Ian Hall grows both carrots and parsnips.

Well, this variety is Eskimo and we grow them...

-That's massive, isn't it?

-Just really this time of year.

Right, OK. And as the name suggests, then, it's good for the winter,

-Eskimo.

-Yeah, it's got a little bit more frost tolerance

-than traditional varieties.

-How cold can they go?

Up to about minus-7.

-OK.

-If you get any colder than that for any prolonged period, you'll get

-splits down the carrot.

-So these Sunday roast staples can withstand

sub-zero temperatures, but the carrot needs

a little more mollycoddling when winter really bites.

So Ian snuggles them up under a duvet of straw and plastic.

If you look under there...

-Yeah.

-You'll see, these have been strawed about three weeks.

And once we get to midwinter,

you can experience temperatures of minus-10, minus-15.

So the straw will keep that frost out.

I see, yep. You're not stingy, are you,

-with the amount of straw you put on?

-No.

We put about 20 tonne an acre of straw on.

-Wow.

-Which, you know, can...

will keep out up to a minus-20 frost.

Looks quite cosy under there, doesn't it?

Just get under there, hunker down under the straw.

There were a few spare, though.

So, time for a seasonal musical interlude.

RECORDERLIKE WHISTLING

On carrots, Tim Cranmore!

And Clare Graham.

Soloing on the butternut squash, it's Zebedee Tonkin.

THEY PLAY COUNTRYFILE THEME

These professional musicians have taken the idea of five a day

to a whole new level. They've formed the London Vegetable Orchestra.

I'm going to be making up the quartet with my Eskimo carrot.

How tremendous. The Countryfile theme tune.

How wonderful to see you all.

Now, I have to ask the obvious question - why?

Why, how and when did this all start, Zeb?

I think why... The question's really why not?!

You know, kids are told not to play with their food,

so we're trying to change things up a little bit.

I think playing with your food can mean more than just throwing it

around. So we decided to make some instruments out of it.

Yours is half carrot, half butternut squash.

Exactly, yeah, it's a mix and match.

So we've got a mouthpiece which is pretty much the same as a brass

instrument mouthpiece.

And we stick that on the end of this, which acts in the same way

as a trumpet would to a mouthpiece, amplifies the sound.

Brilliant.

Tim Cranmore's a professional recorder maker.

He's going to help me fashion my carrot

to join this vegetable medley.

The exact recipe for a carrot recorder

is a closely guarded secret that I've promised to keep a lid on.

So, we've got the body of the carrot.

We've got the bore, which is the hole down the middle.

And we've got the window bit.

Everyone's hungry to hear the vegetable entertainment

with their newest member on recorder.

Can I introduce you all to this afternoon's entertainment?

This is the London Vegetable Orchestra.

Tonight, there's going to be one extra vegetable.

That's me. And this is our rendition of Build Me Up Butternut.

Are we ready? Ready, everyone.

Sorry. Ready. I'm ready now.

Stop laughing.

THEY PLAY BUILD ME UP BUTTERCUP

Look at that! Thank you ever so much for that heartfelt applause.

It's been wonderful. Music has never tasted so good.

Now, earlier, Keeley was in Northern Ireland

revealing the horrors of puppy farming.

Northern Ireland has a real battle on its hands because of its

porous border with the neighbouring Republic,

dubbed the puppy farming capital of Europe.

Ports like Belfast have become a real rat run

through which many of these poor dogs are trafficked

on their way to the rest of Britain.

But of course, we all love dogs,

so how can we be sure that we don't fall victim to the criminals

and end up lining their pockets? Well, Keeley has been finding out.

Over 1.5 million people pass through Belfast Ferry Port every year,

and with 1,200 passengers and 650 vehicles on every ferry,

searching for hidden dogs is a real challenge.

As many as 40,000 puppies are thought to be farmed and trafficked

into the UK every year from the Republic of Ireland alone.

They can be hidden anywhere.

These pups, some just six weeks old,

were tucked behind hay bales in the back of a lorry searched at Holyhead

in Anglesey.

They had no ventilation, no food, no water.

Here in Belfast, DAERA,

the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs,

is taking a tough line, along with ferry operators.

Are you looking for any kind of warning signs?

Well, basically, whenever they're checked at security,

some of the puppies are just coming in the back of a car,

so it doesn't look as if there's anything wrong.

And then the ones that are really trying to do things differently are

coming in, maybe, articulated lorries,

within, sort of, containers. So sometimes it's very difficult

to detect that it's actually illegal.

Your team must have seen some pretty horrid things.

Well, we've had a situation where the customer knew

that the authorities wanted them, and they discarded

their little pups on the side of the road,

that were found dead. And this was in Scotland.

It is extremely tragic.

You're obviously very passionate about this.

Do you think enough is being done?

We need legislation change.

It's not illegal to take puppies across the water.

The fines that are put on these people, they're not worth it.

These people can then sell more puppies,

cover those fines within a couple of weeks.

It's totally ridiculous. It's not being taken seriously enough.

Perhaps there should be prison sentences.

It needs to be stopped.

This year, laws are set to change,

including jail sentences up from six months to up to five years,

a ban on selling more than three litters of puppies a year

and a stop to pups being sold younger than eight weeks old.

To travel overseas,

dogs should have passports showing they've been microchipped,

vaccinated against rabies and treated for tapeworm.

The smugglers don't have the pet passports.

They're not looking after the animals.

In fact, at times they're being treated, you know, really badly,

in awful conditions. That's the problem, isn't it?

Oh, very much so.

And anybody that cares about any type of animal will really,

really step up to this.

And we really need the public to look, to see what they're doing,

because they are supporting it.

They are purchasing these puppies.

They are lining these people's pockets with the money

to help them to continue. So it has to stop.

So the public need to help us, and that's where the cry is from me.

We may be a nation of dog lovers but the truth is

that nearly nine out of ten puppies in the UK

come from illegal breeders.

And many of them are bought online.

Natalie from County Londonderry fell victim to their irresistible ads.

She paid £260 for Bowie

from a seller claiming to be a private owner,

but just days after bringing her puppy home, there were problems.

When we got him home, it was that night, we was up all night coughing.

And then back and forth to his bed, but not really sleeping.

There was blood every time he went to the toilet.

And it was then we realised this is a bit more than...

..coming home for the first time nerves.

And what did the vet say?

We were told there's a very, very strong chance,

with all the symptoms added up, it would have been parvo,

it's a disease that can kill dogs.

But it was the kind of thing where...

..it was more antibiotics.

It was double-strength worming.

You think, getting the dog is the expensive bit, but it's not.

It's the vet bills. And we were out two vet bills in one day.

It's not just the money, though, is it?

No. It was literally like my worst nightmare.

And you just feel so guilty.

I sat and I cried and I cried and I cried

cos I felt like the most horrible person.

Like, I've brought a dog home and he is so ill,

he could potentially die.

Do you regret getting him?

Nope. I don't regret buying him.

I just feel guilty about the mistakes I made

in the process of buying a dog.

You can understand why Natalie loves Bowie, but she's paying the price.

Apart from the vets' bills,

there's £80 a month for specialist food for the rest of his life.

So, how can you be sure

you're getting the real deal and not a rogue pup?

Here's vet Deirdre Totten.

So what should people be looking out for in terms of how the puppy should

look when they go to look at them?

For the signs of health, have they got nice, clean eyes,

and for the skin to be just like here, nice and soft and fluffy.

Not a dull coat.

And no signs of any skin conditions and so on.

This adorable little puppy is NOT from a puppy farm

and, right now, she's having a bit of a snooze.

But when you get your puppy, be sure it's bouncy, sociable and active.

And what kind of questions should people be asking?

Reputable breeders will want to talk to you, they'll want to know

what your purpose is with the pup. Why you want to buy it.

They want to know it's going to a good home, as well.

-Yeah.

-But the key questions you should be asking are, you know,

have they been sick lately, has there been any vomit or diarrhoea?

Have they been to the vet for their health check?

Have they been wormed, have they been vaccinated?

Also, have they been microchipped, as well? They should be willing

to let you come and see the mother and the father of the litter.

And the puppy should still be with the litter? With Mum?

They're normally kept with the litter up to about eight weeks.

What we encourage people to do is, if they're wanting to get a puppy,

come and have a chat with us and we can then lead them down the road of

looking for the signs of health and where to get their puppies.

It's really important to check the breeder's documents.

Many of these unlicensed breeders cheat the paperwork,

as our undercover investigator reveals.

Here, we've got a vaccination record.

A real certificate will have the vet's signature,

and the practice stamp.

If it were done by a proper vet, or supervised by a proper vet,

there'd be two sets of vaccination stickers here,

there'd be a microchip number. The dog in question,

that this certificate belongs to, was born a female,

but it actually says here, male.

If you're thinking of getting a puppy,

the Kennel Club lists reputable breeders in your area.

And Deirdre recommends the new puppy contract

developed by the RSPCA and Animal Welfare Foundation,

which details how your pup has been bred and raised.

So it's kind of like a contract that's legally binding, then.

So anyone who's not a licensed breeder would be rumbled

by this amount of information.

I mean, to give these kinds of details, wouldn't they?

Anyone that's puppy farming wouldn't be interested

in filling this in. You'll probably scare them off.

So, to be absolutely sure you're getting a top dog legally,

here's a reminder of the main points.

Check with the Kennel Club for reputable breeders in your area.

Make sure you see your puppy's mum or dad.

Examine your puppy's eyes, skin and coat,

and make sure they're clear and shiny.

We can all help put an end to the illegal puppy trade.

If you're thinking of buying one of these,

make sure you ask those difficult questions,

so you don't end up buying from an unlicensed breeder.

Because if you do, you'll be supporting the smugglers,

and helping put puppies' lives at risk.

Let's do everything we can to stop this terrible trade.

But in the meantime, do join us again tomorrow

for more Countryfile Winter Diaries, when...

Paul goes on a mission to show us

why our beautiful forests are in danger.

This is what this fungus does,

it attacks the needles, and once it's established here,

you won't get rid of it.

Margherita files a report on how the bitter weather can be a killer.

How does the cold and winter affect your health?

Last year, it was five times that I was in hospital.

And I'll be showing you what it takes to survive winter

on a remote island.

So until then, goodbye.