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      woodland

      If you love all things wild and wonderful you’ve come to the right place… welcome to our woodland learning resource page!

      From mushrooms to bees and birds to trees, we’ve dug out the best facts we can find so that you can learn more about the fascinating nature and wildlife featured in our colour in woodland design. And if you keep scrolling, you'll be able to listen to the birdsong and sounds of each British bird featured in this exciting design.

       

      Badger (meles meles)

      You’ll recognise the ever-playful badger from the distinctive black and white stripes on their face. These big personalities are powerfully built, stocky creatures and even though they may look sweet, they are the biggest land predator in the UK.

      • Badgers live in a network of underground tunnels and burrows which are known as ‘setts’, often occupying the same area for generations. And these house-proud mammals have been known to clean out their sleeping areas to prevent a build-up of lice, fleas and other pests - they carry out their old bedding under their chin!
      • Can you guess what makes up 80% of a badger’s diet? It’s earthworms – they can eat hundreds in one night! The omnivorous badger will eat a wide variety of food ranging from slugs, pears and plums to small mammals like voles and hedgehogs. They have sharp claws for digging and a keen sense of smell to locate their food with.
      • Did you know the badgers can be traced back around half a million years ago? Meaning they once co-existed with wolves and brown bears in the UK!
      • These furry creatures belong to the Mustelid family which includes otter, pine martens and ferrets! Can you spot another Mustelid member on our British woodland design?

       

      Long-Eared Owl (asio otus)

      These elusive owls are the UK’s most nocturnal owls. With distinctive long ears (when alarmed) and a small stature, these birds of prey are skilled hunters with a fondness for recycling other bird’s nests.

      • When the weather gets colder, long-eared owls tend to roost in groups. Do you know the name for a group of owls? They are known as a ‘parliament of owls’!
      • Striking orange eyes aren’t the only noticeable things about these woodland dwellers. They have long tufts that sit on top of their heads! However, despite their name, this fluffy headgear isn’t actually the owls’ ears…they are simply used to make the creature look bigger!
      • These expert hunters fly in a zig-zag pattern whilst scanning the ground for movement! The long-eared owl preys on voles, mice and small birds.

      Common toad (bufo bufo)

      Damp-lover and the best deep leaf burrower…the common toad! With warty skin, copper eyes and horizontal pupils, these amphibians are a gardener’s best friend feeding on slugs and insects.

      • Did you know the average female toad will produce 1500 eggs? And the highest record of eggs ever is 5000…wow!!
      • When the common toad feels threatened or scared, not only do they puff up to make themselves bigger but the warts on their skin secrete a vile-tasting substance as a defence against predators.
      • Feeding on spiders, worms, aphids and slugs, these nocturnal creatures stealthily sneak up on their prey and use their sticky tongues to catch it.
      • Best spotted at night, common toads love the woodland floors, hedgerows and other damp areas but tend to live away from water. You can hear them croaking away near ponds in wet woodland!

      Hedgehog (erinaceus europaeus)

      The iconic hedgehog: cute, sleepy and frequent garden visitors. These prickly nightowls can be found scurrying around the woodland’s edge huffing and puffing as they go or snoozing away the day waiting for the sun to go down.

      • Do you know what the word is for baby hedgehogs? Up until the 1990s there was no set word for them. But they now have a suitably cute name; ‘hoglets’ or ‘hedgehoglets’!
      • Even though their eyesight is less than desirable, these cute critters have great hearing and well-developed sense of smell. And they’re great all-rounders; hedgehogs are good runners (at a top speed of 5mph, but only for short bursts!), fairly good climbers and they can even swim!
      • Did you know hedgehogs shouldn’t drink milk? People once believed that they stole milk straight from cows’ udders, but they are actually lactose intolerant! If you’re planning to feed your neighbourhood hedgehog, wet cat food or hedgehog food is what they like best.

      Fox (vulpes vulpes)

      At the top of the woodland chain, sits an ever adaptable born survivor…the fox! The unmistakable rusty red fur, pointy ears and bushy tail can be spotted hunting through woodlands, farmland and even in the city.

      • Do you know where foxes live? They have an underground burrow system called dens or ‘earths’. These can be found in woodlands or secure underneath hedgerows.
      • These dog-like nocturnal hunters have excellent hearing, all the better for catching prey. They can hear rodents digging miles underground!
      • Foxes are sociable animals and live in family groups, loosely made up of a male, female and their pups or ‘kits’. It probably comes as no surprise that a group of foxes is often referred to as a ‘skulk’!
      • Can you guess how a fox finds its way home? They use scent! Foxes have scent-glands on their feet which mark well-used trails so they can easily follow them at night.

       

      Tawny Owl (strix aluco)

      As one of the most common owls in the UK you’ve most likely heard them ‘twit twoo’ in the night; the small but mighty tawny owl! Their reddish-brown feathers are the perfect camouflage and their big dark eyes are not only very sweet (at least we think so!) but they are a staple for hunting at night.

      • It’s not just their famed large eyes and excellent eyesight, tawny owls have super-sensitive impeccable hearing and silent flight! Their feathers have adapted for stealthy movement. All the more important for finding tiny prey on the woodland floor.
      • Did you know tawny owls mate for life? The pair of love-birds will defend their shared territory from other owls all year round. And their young are called owlets (no, we’re not joking!).
      • You’ll know the famous ‘hoo-hoo-hoo’ that male tawny owls make, and you’ve also probably heard the screechy ‘kew-wick’ of the female tawny in response. But did you know that because the male tawny’s call is so easy to imitate, owls often respond to impersonators.
      • Whilst these nocturnal creatures have a wingspan of a whopping one metre, they are not so large themselves! Typically a female tawny owl weighs around 500g and they are roughly the same size as a wood pigeon. Can you spot the tawny owl and pigeon in the woodland design? 

      Robin (erithacus rubecula)

      Introducing one of Britain’s most-loved birds; the iconic, fiery, festive-favourite... robin! With their unmistakeable red breast and quick flitting movements, these little birds are always a happy sight.

      • Did you know that robins are incredibly territorial? They’ve been known to attack stuffed robins and defend their post with surprising ferocity! This is because the bright red breast triggers their territorial behaviour.
      • Have you ever wondered why robins are featured so heavily on Christmas cards? When the festive tradition of sending cards at Christmas began, postmen at the time wore red waistcoats earning the nickname ‘robins’! And since then, robins have been the British bird of choice to feature on festive greetings cards.
      • You can hear the robin’s cheering birdsong all year round. They will even sing at night next to street lights!

      Red deer (cervus elaphus)

      Woodland royalty and the majestic monarch of glen, the red deer! With red-brown fur and strong antlers (on the stags), these deer are the UK’s largest land mammal and weigh up to 200kg…wow! You can find red deer most commonly in the Scottish Highlands.

      • Stags develop a large set of antlers, these begin as two stubs and transform steadily growing more ‘branches’ and each year a stags’ antlers will shed and regrow. A red deer’s antlers can grow up to three feet in length and have more than 15 points!
      • The name for a baby deer is ‘fawn’. Did you know that when fawn are born they are camouflaged with little white spots on their back? We can confirm, this also makes them even cuter!
      • Do you know what makes deer in woodland bigger than those in a more open habitat? It’s all down to the higher quality of food available!

       

      Fun fungi facts! 

       

      There are so many amazing fungi out there that we thought we’d share some of our favourite facts about these incredible organisms.

      • Whilst fungi aren’t animals or plants, they belong in their own kingdom. However, research has shown that these little wonders are more closely related to animals!
      • Did you know that certain species of fungi play a role in cleaning the planet? Saprotrophic fungi decomposes dead leaves and logs that have not rotted! Enzymes in these fungi allow them to break through tough compounds in plant cell walls. The process of decomposing what’s left on the woodland floor can enable the recovery and recycling of large amounts of nutrients (such as carbon and nitrogen). But they’re not the only ones! Over 100 species of fungi have been found to degrade plastic – wow!!!
      • There are a few fungi that can glow in the dark… In some cases, it is only the underground network that can glow in the dark but for sulphur tuft mushrooms, a UV light can be used to see them glow! It is believed that this glowing can attract more insects to aid the spreading of their spores.
      • Do you know how many species of fungus there are? These organisms can be found all over the world, and there are roughly 200,000 known species of fungi across the globe – that’s so many! 15,000 of these are found in the UK. And what’s more, scientists estimate there could be another two million fungus species yet to be discovered.

      There are some great facts and even more information about the different types of fundi (and lichens!) found in the UK on the Woodland Trust website here.

       

      More fun woodland facts!

      • Did you know that trees can talk to each other? They can do so using a network of fungi that grows around and inside their roots! You can learn more form the BBC video below:
       
      • Boogeying- bees?! Honeybees have an interesting move called the ‘waggle dance’. Whilst this movement isn’t actually a dance move, it is a rather clever way of communicating with each other and telling their nest-mates where to go for the best source of food.
      • The shy, curious and playful pine marten is another fascinating animal that you can spot in the eatsleepdoodle woodland. These cute (but feisty!) little creatures love to snack on fruit, berries and small mammals. But did you know that during the summer they consume lots of bilberries (making up 30% of their diet)? This means their droppings turn blue!
      • Woodland streams and rivers make excellent habitats for various fish, including salmon, trout and lamprey. They rely on these fast-flowing shady waters to live out their secretive habits and intriguing lifecycles.

       

      Below you can hear bird songs and calls from each of the birds featured in the woodland design!