The badger (strictly speaking the european badger) arrived in this country,  like everything else, as the ice retreated some thousands of years ago.  It is our largest land predator, others such as the wolf are no longer with us - though some would support their reintroduction as part of rewilding programs. Whilst badgers are predators, they are, in fact, omnivores - eating both plant and animal material.  Much of their diet is earthworms, though they are not averse to small mammals such as mice, rats and hedgehogs!  Whilst badgers tend to make their home (setts) in woodlands, they will travel to open fields and pastures in search of food, digging for grubs [for example, chafer larvae]. A badger sett is a complex, extensive engineering feat accomplished by using their powerful front limbs and claws.  They dig down and then drag the earth out of the tunnels by moving backwards with the soil under their chin and then deposit it in a ‘spoil heap’.   The presence of a spoil heap is a good indication of a badger sett in your woodland.   If a colony is well established there will be a main sett, but also an ‘annex sett', and possibly even smaller setts away from the main sett.  Recently Woodland TV filmed Adrian Coward from the Somerset Badger Group, who explains in details the nature and relationship of these setts and how badgers recognise their ‘family members’ and how they mark their territory.  They move around their territory along well defined paths. [embed]https://youtu.be/vv3CK1hVM2o?si=_TmpkcXhKoxqy24A[/embed] Whilst we know a lot about how badgers move through their home territories, little was known about any long distance movements. To investigate such movements, scientists set up a study in County Kilkenny (Ireland).  It was one of the largest badger studies of its type,  The study spanned a large area and some four years ,and 'followed' some 900+ badgers.  They found that whilst most badgers only moved 2 to 3 kilometres from their sett, some travelled 7.5 km and the longest distance travelled by a badger was 22 km.  If animals can move around and meet with other populations, this can promote outbreeding. Learning about these 'lengthier' movements may be a useful contribution in the discussion of badgers and bovine tuberculosis - which is also discussed in the Woodlands TV film ‘Facts about badgers’, and the topic has featured in other woodland blogs. Curious fact : The French call a wet shaving brush blaireau or “badger", because quality brushes use badger hair. Apart from viewing Woodlands TV on this site, it may also be viewed on YouTube : www.youtube.com/@WOODLANDSTV 82K subscribers 482 videos 15,896,142 views Joined 9 Jul 2008 United Kingdom

Woodland living is elemental, and at this time of the year our primary element is fire. We gravitate to the fire for warmth and food. It punctuates our day, provides ritual and rhythm. We have had Mistletoe Wood for three years and our means of making fire has developed. My brother. who works the wood with me is, frankly, a pyromaniac. Embarrassingly I started with a lighter as ignition, some rather damp dead standing and some split knotty beech.   I soon learned that I am a smoke goddess and it wants to bathe me in acrid fumes.   Subsequently I have followed my brother's lead with ferro rod, properly gleaned fingers and thumbs. and some dry split ash.   Ash die back has given us a good supply. My intrepid brother has tried so many sorts of ignition and methods it’s bewildering but upside down fires, rudiger rolls and a portable firebox are part of our repertoire. Having managed to make fire, the crucial skill is putting it out.  Our first summer in the wood was 2022 with drought and wild fires.   We made beaters, dug a pit but the real issue was water.   We have no stream or pond but we do have the Bothy roof and with some Heath Robinson guttering we now have a water butt full of emergency extinguisher, you wouldn’t want to drink it though! In autumn nothing beats a slowly cooked camenbert and a baked apple filled with mincemeat and a splash of beechwood noyau.   Fire is truly our friend. [caption id="attachment_41635" align="aligncenter" width="675"] smoke goddess ?[/caption]

The hazel dormouse is an arboreal species, that is to say, it spends a large part of the year up in the trees.  It is also largely nocturnal in habit. Its favourite foods are hazelnuts, berries and insects.  Their active period is between Spring and Autumn, and during this time they build a ‘nest’.  These nests tends to made from ‘local materials’ usually found within a few metres of the nest.  Bracken, hazel, beech leaves and grasses are frequently used, though honeysuckle and other species may be incorporated.  The nests are found in trees in deciduous woodlands, thick scrub, and hedgerows, feeding on local available materials depending on the time of year.  They tend not to move great distances, generally having a range of up to a hectare. With the approach of colder weather and limited food supplies, the dormouse tends to move down to the ground and build another nest ready for hibernation.  The winter nest is similar to that built in the canopy with an outer layer of leaves and core of some ‘woven’ material.  Hibernation is a dangerous time for a dormouse.  If the dormouse has not accumulated enough fat reserves then it will simply run out of energy during the cold weather.  It has been estimated that a dormouse loses about 0.5% of its body weight every day during hibernation.  Whilst ‘asleep’, the dormouse is easy prey for a predator and could also die as a result of trampling by a large animal [the nests are inconspicuous], or indeed woodland management activities. [caption id="attachment_41621" align="aligncenter" width="650"] Dormouse in a state of torpor.[/caption] Interestingly, during the dormouse’s active period of Spring and Summer, the dormouse can enter into a state of torpor when food is scarce.   This allows them to save energy through dropping body temperature and heart rate.  So hazel dormice can spend a lot of the year ‘asleep’ in one form or another. Woodlands TV has just produced their first film about the hazel dormouse - which can be viewed below. This film was made in collaboration with the People’s Trust for Endangered Species (PTES). More information on the PTES’ monitoring and conservation of hazel dormice can be accessed by clicking here, Note that a licence is required for handling these special animals, details in this link :- https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/hazel-dormice-survey-or-research-licence-level-1. [embed]https://youtu.be/COUh5ZluEew?si=f697mPkVLoI8dceU[/embed] Interesting fact : Though Ireland has no native dormouse, the hazel dormouse was found in County Kildare in 2010. Further films by Woodland TV can be found here : -https://www.youtube.com/@WOODLANDSTV    

Woodlands TV has produced a film entitled  “The Wonder of woodland fungus”.  In this informative film by Siddarth Shetty, Professor Mahesh Nirmalan, of Manchester Royal Infirmary, and Professor Niroshini Nirmalan, of the University of Salford, talk about the wonders of woodland fungi, their benefits and what we can do to protect them. Fungi are neither plant nor animal but they play an essential role in woodland ecosystems.  Fungi together with bacteria and other micro-organisms contribute to the detrital food chains, which are vital to the cycling of carbon, nitrogen and other nutrients.   [embed]https://youtu.be/E-6XGVNVppk?si=d5ZMbUG2MBW5qFeI[/embed] The excellent photography in the film shows several species of fungi that you might find in a woodland setting. If you want to know more about some of them then, there are some older woodlands.co.uk blogs that you might find interesting. Sulphur tufts https://www.woodlands.co.uk/blog/flora-and-fauna/monthly-mushroom-sulphur-tuft-hypholoma-fasciculare/ Amethyst deceiver https://www.woodlands.co.uk/blog/flora-and-fauna/november-fungi-focus-amethyst-deceiver-laccaria-amethystina-and-the-documentary-fantastic-fungi/ Chicken of the woods https://www.woodlands.co.uk/blog/flora-and-fauna/the-monthly-mushroom-chicken-of-the-woods/ Polypores https://www.woodlands.co.uk/blog/woodland-activities/the-monthly-mushroom-dryads-saddle-polyporus-squamosus/ Candle snuff https://www.woodlands.co.uk/blog/woodland-activities/december-monthly-mushroom-purple-jellydisc-ascocoryne-sarcoides/ Beefsteak fungus. https://www.woodlands.co.uk/blog/flora-and-fauna/july-fungi-focus-beefsteak-fungus/ Bonnet Mushrooms. https://www.woodlands.co.uk/blog/flora-and-fauna/november-fungi-focus-orange-mosscaps-orange-bonnets-and-moss-bells/ & https://www.woodlands.co.uk/blog/flora-and-fauna/novembers-fungi-focus-rosy-bonnet-mycena-rosea/ Thanks to Woodlands TV for images.

If a hedgehog is in distress it may just need water or you might want to seek help from an expert such as Lisa Steward of the Thorne Hedgehog Rescue project in Puckley, Kent. I met Lisa at Kent's Belmont Wood Fair in early September where she was bottle-feeding a hoglet whose mother had been run over by a car. This was only one of the 200 hedgehogs she has rescued and is nursing back to health. Another one that she is nursing had almost been decapitated by a strimmer but fortunately its wound had not become infected. What Lisa never does is to feed them cow's milk which can be fatal. Unfortunately I didn't know that when I found a distressed hedgehog a few years ago. My mistake of giving it a saucer of cow's milk may have killed it or it could already have been doomed from eating the neighbour's poisonous slug pellets. I'll always have that hedgehog on my conscience. [embed]https://youtube.com/shorts/1QWIIaEQyyE?feature=share[/embed] It turns out that hedgehogs are both loveable and important - they eat slugs and beetles and are an important part of the British ecosystem. Unfortunately they are often harmed by poisons such as insecticides and other chemicals: to reduce the chemical threat it has been illegal in the UK since 2022 to use or sell metaldehyde slug pellets, but many other threats remain.  Cars can run them over partly because of the hedgehog's instinct to respond to danger by curling into a ball rather than running away - the paradox of roadkill is that if you don't see dead hedgehogs it does not mean they are all safe - more likely it means there are none, or very few, surviving in that vicinity. Another danger is that they get trapped - ponds with steep sides, swimming pools and cattle grids each represent a threat, so ideally each of these will have a ramp that the hedgehogs can use to climb out. https://youtube.com/shorts/sPpi46CYnkI?feature=share The British Hedgehog Preservation Society advise on how to help protect hedgehogs and they suggest that gardeners who light bonfires should be alert to the risk of unintended cremation of living hedgehogs. Unfortunately they are attracted to the sort of material that will be burnt in a bonfire such as dry leaves and twigs. So as a precaution, and if possible, a gardener should set up a new site for their fire and move the material across to that spot just before lighting the fire. Similarly anyone strimming an area should first check that there are no hedgehogs hiding in the uncut undergrowth. Hedgehogs can also get trapped in litter or stuck in netting so it is sensible to make gardens hedgehog-safe. But it is even better to actively make gardens hedgehog friendly - by creating wild areas which offer shelter and natural food. And it helps to leave gaps below fences or ground-level holes in walls so that a garden is accessible to hedgehogs. Our enthusiasm for hedgehogs in the autumn should not be extended to translocating them from other places because they may have a dependent litter which is left behind and is then condemned to starvation. Indeed in the autumn hoglets need to grow rapidly so that they can survive their first winter of hibernation - at a minimum they need to weigh at least a pound or about half a kilogram. You could help your hedgehogs by building a "hedgehog hotel" as Steve has done here with his daughter.  Here is a short film by WoodlandsTV: [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-n6J0dRz8OY&ab_channel=WoodlandsTV[/embed] If you come across an injured hedgehog you could contact the British Hedgehog Preservation Society which keeps a Directory of local rescuers or "rehabilitators"                              

The advantage of charcoal is that it burns hotter than wood, is far lighter, and produces less smoke and steam - so it's useful for smelting iron or cooking barbecues. You can buy it ready-made, usually imported and often from unsustainable sources, or you can buy locally from people working their own woodlands. Another option is to make your own using a small charcoal maker which Paul Bradford demonstrated to me.  Paul and Lisa do regular charcoal making demonstrations in Kent with their Community Interest Company (CIC), Willow Bushcraft. They use a specially made cylindrical piece of kit to show school children how charcoal is made, and as they sit around the fire they can discuss the processes required as well as the fact that charcoal making goes back to the iron-age.  This charcoal-making device was bought online for about £40 and Paul reckons he can get 30-40 burns out of the charcoal maker before the metal gives way. The processes are straightforward: he loads it with hardwood pieces typically about 1-2 inches in size and closes the end. While I was watching he used oak but charcoal can also be made from hazel, ash, birch, beech or ash. He then puts it on a fire - crucially the wood inside is heated in the absence of oxygen. Initially the moisture comes out as steam and next the wood releases flammable gases which burn off in yellow or blue flames whilst inside the charcoal is being produced. Paul says that although the instructions say it will be done in 2 hours, he finds it takes more like 3-4 hours for a burn. In any event it shouldn't be opened until it has cooled down much later, perhaps the next morning. Paul told me about the many uses charcoal has - obviously it can be burn but it is also used for drawing, for making toothpaste and for some cosmetics. It is used in face-washes and exfoliating scrubs - the properties that really help are its ability to absorb toxins as well as its natural gritty texture. It is also used in some deodorants because of its ability to absorb moisture and neutralise odors. Historically charcoal was used to make gunpowder along with sulphur and potassium nitrate. It can also be a filter for purifying water and has medical applications such as treating poisoning and overdosing because it absorbs certain toxins. It is a special material and quite remarkable how it is naturally occuring and the method of processing is so simple. To make 1.3 kg of charcoal in Paul's machine you need to put in about 6.5 kg of wood, which illustrates how much water by weight is contained in wood, but it also indicates how effective it is to burn charcoal to get to high temperatures - you are not wasting energy evaporating the water and the texture of charcoal allows the oxygen to get in for a hotter burn.  

This is a re-post of a blog from 2023, but this time with the new film by WoodlandsTV, in which April Windle [of the British Lichen Society] examines the role of the many complex chemicals found in Lichens. Lichens are plant-like organisms that are rather unusual in that they are an amalgam of two (or occasionally three) organisms : a fungus and algae (or cyanobacterium). They are symbiotic systems, where the partners in the association work together for mutual benefit.  The fungus makes up the bulk of the lichen's form (known as the thallus), it is a complex network of fungal threads (hyphae) that surround the algal cells.  The algae (green algae or cyanobacteria) are essential to the symbiosis as they can photosynthesise, capturing carbon dioxide and providing both partners with organic carbon compounds (often in the form of sugar alcohols). Lichens produce an amazing variety of chemicals - many are secondary metabolites.  It is thought that some of these may  have medical / pharmacological properties.  Some species  of lichen are brightly coloured because of the chemicals.. The colour may vary from a golden yellow to a deep red. The pigments responsible for these colours belong to the anthraquinones.  However, these insoluble, phenolic pigments can have toxic effects. To avoid harm by these pigments, the lichen exports* the pigment from the fungal component of the symbiosis. [caption id="attachment_39795" align="aligncenter" width="675"] Moss and lichen growing together[/caption] The pigment then accumulates / crystallises on the surface of the lichen. The layer of pigment crystals reflects harmful radiation in the form of ultra-violet light and also blue light, whilst still allowing enough light to pass through for photosynthesis by the algae / cyanobacteria. Exposure to ultra-violet light can damage DNA, inducing mutations.  The pigmentl layer is effectively a ‘sunscreen’ for the lichen. * Recent work at Imperial College and RBG, Kew has identified the genes responsible for pigment production, and the transport of the pigment out of the fungal tissue. In the past, certain lichen pigments were often used to dye clothing materials.    Parmelia saxatilis, also known as grey crottle, was used to dye wool for Harris Tweed.  This lichen is often found growing on tree trunks and gives a red / brown colour to the material. For more information on the various chemicals found in Lichens, see the WoodlandsTV film below : The Chemical, Medicinal and Biofluorescent Properties of Lichen. [embed]https://youtu.be/AEc263aQ1rQ?si=00FwDTH5LljetQ0A[/embed] Curious fact : Some specimens of the lichen Rhizocarpon geographicum are thought to have lived for thousands of years.  

In 2023 the forest fires in Western Canada were so extensive that they burnt 37 million acres of forest lands, which is ten times the total area of forestry in the UK.  The carbon emissions were so great that they alone had a carbon footprint bigger than every country apart from the US, China and India.  Canada does not include emissions from wildfires in its carbon budget so the impact of its forest fires is in addition to its industrial and domestic carbon footprint. Although the total area burnt the next year - in 2024 - was smaller, the 2024 fires were particularly intense and destroyed 50% of the buildings in the city of Jasper. Forest fires affected infrastructure so badly that tourists were excluded from the whole of Jasper National Park in Alberta for many weeks.  This new intensity can also destroy trees that have been growing for hundreds of years and may have survived many other other fires.  This would have been the case for the King Arthur tree in California which had been the 9th largest Giant Redwood in the world: this huge and ancient Sequoia was destroyed in the 2020 Castle Fire. It is uncertain what is causing these intense infernos beyond climate change, to which the fires are themselves contributing. Many people believe that allowing too much dry and dead wood to build up creates the conditions for particularly hot fires which will easily jump fire breaks and natural circuit breakers, such as rivers   It may be that the First Nations [as Canadians call the native peoples who inhabited the country for thousands of years before European settlers arrived] were better at managing the land and would have reduced the fuel load in the forests, and there would have been a greater variety of tree species. Another paradox is that when the National Park authorities are most effective at putting out fires this allows a greater fuel load to build up so that there can be fewer fires but much bigger ones. To counter this, some Canadian Park managers are deliberately starting fires which they believe will be controllable - this is evident in the forests next to Lake Minnewanka. These are done in the off-season when large conflagrations are unlikely. In the past, forestry companies tried to extinguish fires by using float planes, such as the Hawaii Martin Mars dropping water.  This was put in an air museum in August 2024. The seaplane's water deposits were less well-targeted than today's helicopter drops.   Nowadays, forest blazes are usually left to run their natural course and this can take a long time.  Sometimes a fire will continue smouldering underground and it can be 18 months before a forest fire is confirmed to be finished. In cases where buildings, main roads or railway lines are threatened there will often be efforts to extinguish the fire using helicopters.  Drones are also used to survey the progress of fires. One measure which might reduce the issue is to replant burnt-out areas with  species that occur naturally and are  less flammable and better as surviving such as Eucalyptus.  However, the hotter, drier summers are creating conditions where we are in a new age of more intense forest fires and the Canadians are adjusting as fast as they can.  This means short term measures such as evacuation plans and more firefighting equipment, as well as longer term plans such as working on a better mix of trees and combating climate change more widely.