Page 22 - BBC Wildlife Volume 36 #10
P. 22
AUTUMNWATCH
“ New England has Clockwise scratch of ticks; FALL GUYS
from right:
the red-tailed
charismatic fauna that tree swallows hawk is one of Meet the cast:
flocking to roost
many migrating
on Connecticut raptors; great
delivers just as much River islands; white sharks characters from
a black bear patrol the Cape
screen gold as enjoys the fruit Cod shores to Autumnwatch
in an abandoned predate the
its renowned lora.” orchard; moose grey seals that New England
use trees to
thrive there.
MOOSE AND TICKS
Moose are susceptible to parasitic
ticks, yet they are unable to groom
them of. Until recently the ungulates
could rely on cold winters to kill of
the pests, but as winters warm due
to climate change they have resorted
to rubbing their backs vigorously
against trees to rid themselves of
their unwanted guests. Sadly, huge
numbers of ‘ghost moose’, their
hides rubbed raw and hairless from
attempts to shift ticks, die from blood
loss and the efects of cold.
SEALS AND GREAT
WHITE SHARKS
Once hunted close to extinction, the
seal population around coastal New
England has rebounded dramatically:
as many as 50,000 grey seals are
the land put to work in agriculture. Just 200 red deer, seen (and heard) on the series spanning an equal 2m, gather at scrapes
years ago, a visitor would have been met with rutting on Exmoor and Rum. New England and wallows to battle for access to receptive
the sight of vast swathes of empty farmland, has its rut, too – but this one is supersized. females. Despite their size, though, moose
punctuated by small pockets of trees. Moose, the largest and heaviest member are among the most challenging of our
But the farms didn’t last. Lured by the of the deer family, also rut in autumn. The target species to capture on film; they’re
promise of even greater wealth in the west, males, huge creatures reaching over 2m tall able to thread their heavy headgear through
many settlers abandoned New England; at the shoulder and with palmate antlers the thickest of foliage and disappear without
undisturbed, the trees began to a trace into the forest.
return, and the familiar mix of Squirrels are also Autumnwatch
hardwood forest began to take The New England favourites, and we have covered
shape – the ‘classic’ New England landscape was shaped the battles between our native red
by the early activities
vista, 400 years in the making squirrel and invasive American
of European settlers.
but less than 200 years old. greys in the UK many times. In
New England, though, there’s
Fascinating fauna a twist. Here, reds and greys
Autumnwatch is about more than live side by side; in fact, locals
colourful leaves, and luckily New consider the reds to be the pests,
England has charismatic fauna gnawing their way into attics and
that delivers just as much screen destroying anything in their way.
gold as its renowned flora. Many On top of those two athletic
of the species we hope to feature rodents, New England boasts
have a familiar ring to them. another four species of squirrel:
Mammals often prove to be the woodchuck, two species of flying
stars of Autumnwatch, not least squirrel and – certain to emerge
22 BBC Wildlife October 2018
