The Woodland Trust has shared with us ten weird and wonderful wildlife which are found in our woods.
From a fungus which oozes a blood like substance to a duck which fancies itself as a bit of a James Bond there really is a bit of everything in our countryside.
The Woodland Trust’s recent State of the UK’s Woods and Trees report showed that woodland wildlife is declining, and only 7% of our woodlands are in good ecological condition.
Alastair Hotchkiss, conservation advisor at the Woodland Trust, said we need to act now to protect and restore nature.
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He said: "Now more than ever before, with the climate change and biodiversity crises, do we need to protect and restore the UK’s natural environments.
“These ten species are just the tip of the iceberg (or the mushroom poking up from the soil’s vast mycelial web!) of secrets that our woodland habitats hold.
"Every species can tell us a story, everything has a role to play, and we have so much still to learn. We must do our best to make sure we don’t lose them."
1) Stinkhorn
Also known as Phallus impudicus, they are known for being very pungent and are often smelled before seen. They were well known in the Victorian era and were very disliked.
2) Goldeneye
This tree dwelling duck often nest in woodpecker nests. Similar to the Bond's leap from the dam in the movie of the same name, the one day old chicks will hurl themselves from their nests at heights of 30 feet.
3) String-of-sausages lichen
These small lichen resemble a string of sausages but they are very sensitive and only live in the places with the cleanest air.
4) The Beefsteak Fungus
Sticky and gruesome, beefsteak is a woodland fungus with the disconcerting appearance of a raw cut of meat. It even oozes a blood-like substance when cut.
5) Knothole yoke-moss
This moss is globally rare, surviving at just three sites in Britain. This is because of its extreme specialism, another which is entirely reliant upon the variety of micro-habitats provided by ancient and veteran trees.
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6) Hazel pot beetle
One of the UK's rarest insects, reliant on wooded ‘ecotones’ - the transitions between more densely treed to more open vegetation with scrub, heath and scattered trees.
7) Eagle’s claw lichen
Looking like the talons of an eagle clinging to a tree trunk, this species tells one story of the chain of doom facing many species. Once more common across the UK, it was hit by the loss of elms from our landscapes.
8) Wasp banded comb horn
Mimicking something that could give a nasty sting, the wasp-banded comb horn is a harmless species of cranefly.
9) Lesser horseshoe bat
With its horseshoe-shaped nose, it’s like a flying symbol of good fortune in the woods, unless that is, you are a small moth, midge or mosquito about to be caught.
10) Deceptive featherwort
Loose cushions of this shiny liverwort grow on the sides of rocks in very humid or boulder-strewn woodlands in western Britain and Ireland.
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