Richmond Park is home to an abundance of wildlife, from majestic Red Deer to Stag Beetles. Explore the biodiversity of this incredible ecosystem, and join us as we look for wildlife in Richmond Park. As the UK’s largest land mammal, red deer are truly majestic creatures. The males, known as stags, develop a large set of antlers that grow with age and are shed and regrown each year, while the females or hinds lack antlers and tend to be smaller. Red deer certainly leave their mark on the landscape. Nearly all of the trees in the park have a distinctive ‘browse line’ at 1.5 metres above the ground, caused by deer eating all the leaves and twigs that grow below that height. Their constant grazing on grasses, shoots and shrubs prevents saplings from growing, maintaining the largest area of Lowland Acid Grassland in London, hosting much of the park’s diversity. Thanks Albi for the London Timelapse footage :) 00:00 Intro 00:15 Refuge in the City 01:23 Red Deer in the Park 03:20 Life in the Deadwood 04:36 The Detrital Food Web 06:16 Colonisers 07:59 Hunters and the Hunted 09:16 Life on the Riverbed 10:22 Outro

Common Toads are a toad species found throughout the UK. Watch the complete Common Toad guide to learn all about these beautiful toads and where to find them. Whilst on location at Totternhoe Wildlife Trust Nature Reserve, I encounter one of Britains common amphibians. The Common Toad. In this video, I give you facts, footage and more about this intriguing animal. All footage taken by Leo R. More videos from the Nature Reserve: Slow Worms: https://youtu.be/ALMo0oJifSs Q&A Special: https://youtu.be/JIk-x7_7oF0 Natural World Facts is a channel dedicated to bringing you fascinating facts about our natural world, and the wonderful animals that we share it with, presented by Leo Richards.

The Common Toad, bouncing along to the music of the Muffin Man. Enjoy :) Full factual video: https://youtu.be/HXjBQH2j9-4

Slow Worms are legless lizards native to the UK. Watch the complete guide to Slow Worms to learn all about these beautiful reptiles and where to find them. Whilst on location at Totternhoe Wildlife Trust Nature Reserve, I encounter one of Britains strangest reptiles. The Slow Worm. In this video, I give you facts, footage and more about this intriguing animal. All footage taken by Leo R. More Slow Worm Footage: https://youtu.be/-diRuIQBOm4 More videos from the Nature Reserve: Common Toads: https://youtu.be/HXjBQH2j9-4 7000 Subscriber Q&A Special: https://youtu.be/JIk-x7_7oF0 Natural World Facts is a channel dedicated to bringing you fascinating facts about our natural world, and the wonderful animals that we share it with, presented by Leo Richards.

Slow worms hunting worms at night, filmed on location at Totternhoe Nature Reserve. Enjoy some bonus footage filmed after the release of our 'Slow Worms | The Complete Guide' video. All footage was filmed by Leo R. Full Slow Worm Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALMo0oJifSs

Slow worms, frogs and toads are common throughout the UK. At Totternhoe Wildlife Trust Nature Reserve, we went herping to find some of Britain's reptiles and amphibians, while answering some of your questions in a Q&A as we explore. Slow Worms are a species of legless lizard, though they are often confused with snakes due to their appearance; what makes them lizards, however, is the presence of eyelids and ear openings, and their ability to drop their tail when threatened by predators. Common Toads are well adapted to life in both ponds and on land; they have bumpier skin than frogs, which spend most of their time in ponds. More videos from the Nature Reserve: Slow Worms: https://youtu.be/ALMo0oJifSs Common Toads: https://youtu.be/HXjBQH2j9-4 Slow Worms in the Lake District: https://youtu.be/bEP8AbrVbCY 0:00 Intro 1:35 Catching Common Toads 3:09 Woolly Bear Caterpillar 3:41 What is your favourite animal? Sent by GremlinTheCat 4:34 Red Ant Nest 5:03 Black Wood Ants 6:56 Crickets and Grasshoppers 7:24 On the Hunt for Slow Worms 8:45 Finding a Palmate Newt 9:18 Who is your favourite 'Dr Who' Doctor? Sent by Shelby on Safari 9:35 Why did you set up the channel? Sent by Shelby on Safari 11:22 Night Walk on the Nature Reserve 13:22 Outro

How To Create a Closed Native Terrarium for Free Terrariums are great fun to create; join me as I create a closed native terrarium in a sealed jar with moss, hardscape, and plants found around a local UK woodland. Terrariums are enclosed ecosystems that can be self-sustaining, making a perfect addition to your windowsill as they are great for relaxation, giving you a little chunk of nature to create and enjoy. I was inspired to create this terrarium by SerpaDesign, who creates great tutorials and terrarium videos along with helpful tips on building terrariums and a variety of other topics. Watch him here: https://www.youtube.com/user/SerpaDesign Life in a Closed Terrarium: https://youtu.be/y771wlWpzps 1 Month Update: https://youtu.be/ZZJA_pOZZCY A terrarium is an enclosed ecosystem which can be entirely self-sustaining. Once set up and watered, you will never need to open it again since it will regulate its own water and nutrient cycles. Before we begin, you will need an airtight container. Some good examples include glass jars with clip tops, screw on lids or corks but for my example I’ll be using a large jar with a lid which screws tightly on top, allowing it to retain the moisture in the air. Other equipment you will need includes porous mesh which allows water through but not substrate, some rocks or gravel, some activated carbon for fish tank filters or charcoal, and a selection of small to medium sized local plants and mosses. The first step is to place about an inch of stones or gravel in the base of your container. Next, sprinkle on a coating of activated carbon sticks or charcoal to help with filtration. The next step is to cut out the shape of the base of your container from the porous mesh. It needs to cover the gravel layer entirely so it’s best to cut it slightly larger than the shape itself. Once this is in place over the gravel, you can add the soil. The purpose of this gravel layer is to separate the standing water from the soil to avoid roots rotting. The water will collect here as a water reservoir then will evaporate, condensate on the walls of your glass container and then fall back down into the substrate, effectively replicating the natural water cycle. This will ensure that the terrarium will naturally water itself. Moving onto the soil, a good soil mix should retain moisture well and be a mix of dead leaves, moss and compost. The soil layer should be deeper than your gravel layer to allow root space. Next, let’s add some plants to the terrarium. I will be making this a native terrarium so will be using plants from nearby parks and gardens. You could use tropical plants for yours instead. Place your choice of plants in the terrarium, paying close attention to your arrangement and how you would like it to look aesthetically. Think about putting larger plants in the background and smaller ones in the foreground. Moss is excellent for ground covering as it will eventually spread and make your terrarium look lush and wild. I’ve used a few different varieties of temperate moss inline and positioned them in-between the main plants. When choosing plants, pick some with a variety of leaf types and shades of green. Also, if you come across any worms or woodlice, set them aside for later as worms will help add nutrients to the soil and woodlice will decompose any dead matter which will help to break down nutrients. These nutrients will be absorbed by the plants through their roots via osmosis. You can also add pieces of bark or wood for landscaping. The final step is to water your terrarium by misting. Spray a very generous amount of water over the plants and moss to help them settle and to provide the ecosystem with water which will be continuously cycled throughout the terrarium. And there we have it, the perfect addition to your windowsill. You now have your very own tiny ecosystem in a jar. Observe how the plant life changes and spreads over time.You may notice that some die but this is normal. Other plants will grow in its place and seeds will spread. Chapters: 0:00 Intro 0:36 What is a Terrarium? 1:19 What You'll Need 2:46 Step 1: Terrarium False Bottom 3:53 Step 2: Sediment Layer 4:35 Step 3: Terrarium Plants and Hardscape 7:32 Step 4: Adding Water 8:00 Step 5: Adding Woodlice 8:21 Step 6: Sealing the Terrarium 8:38 Outro Natural World Facts is a channel dedicated to bringing you fascinating facts about our natural world, and the wonderful animals that we share it with. Subscribe for more videos! Leave a suggestion in the comments for what animal you would like to learn about next. OUR WEBSITE: http://goo.gl/Ngj5V6 TWITTER: http://goo.gl/U4T8JX

Welcome to another episode of Natural World Facts! This fact file is all about British Newts in the series Reptiles and Amphibians. All footage taken by Leo R. There are three native newt species in the UK; smooth, palmate and great crested newts. Smooth newts are the most widespread species, common throughout the UK. They are most active around dusk and dawn, feeding on a wide variety of aquatic invertebrates. Newts are much faster in the water, with paddle-like tails to help them move quickly. As you can see here, they move their tails side to side like fish to propel themselves. Adult newts emerge from their overwintering sites in early spring and return to ponds to breed. Their breeding season is around April and May, at which time the male develops his crest which is absent throughout the rest of the year. In all species, the male puts on a courtship display in which he waves his crest and shows off his colours before the female. In smooth newts, the male’s colours become much more vivid in Spring while the female remains paler. Females lay small eggs surrounded by a transparent jelly capsule on leaves of aquatic plants or folded inside leaves. Two to four weeks later, larvae will hatch out. The larvae have feathery gills around the head, distinguishing them from frog and toad tadpoles. They will soon begin to develop their front then back legs before leaving the water as efts in Summer. At this time of year, adult newts will remain in the water hunting frog tadpoles. Their preferred habitats are weedy ponds in Spring, which provide cover and egg-laying locations on aquatic plants. However, later in the summer and in autumn, newts can be found sheltering on land under wood and rocks hunting slugs and insects. They spend the winter sheltering under rocks, in compost heaps or buried down in mud. Natural World Facts is a channel dedicated to bringing you fascinating facts about our natural world, and the wonderful animals that we share it with. Subscribe for more videos! Leave a suggestion in the comments for what animal you would like to learn about next.

Welcome to another episode of Natural World Facts! This fact file is all about the Bee in the series British Wildlife. Watch extended bee footage: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NgMTlvu_k2c All footage taken by Leo R. It’s springtime, meaning the garden is buzzing with the sound of bees, collecting pollen and nectar from a variety of flowers and blossom. They’re attracted to the bright colours and sweet smells of the flowers which rely on the bees to distribute their pollen. This is known as cross-pollination, which some plants require in order to produce seeds. The relationship between bees and flowers is symbiotic as the bees are also rewarded for their hard work by a sweet mixture of water and sugars called nectar which is produced by plants. There are around 250 species of UK bees, but they come under three main types: bumblebees, honeybees and solitary bees. The type flying around this lavender are honeybees. Bees have long tongues, called a proboscis, which they use to suck nectar from flowers. They keep the nectar in a special honey stomach and once this stomach is filled up, they return to the hive to make honey. The flowers produce the sweet nectar to attract pollinators like bees. When a bee lands on a flower it picks up pollen sacs from the stamen (the male reproductive organ of the flower) which stick to their feet and hairy bodies. When they fly to another flower, the pollen rubs off onto the stigma (the female reproductive organ of the flower) and the plant has been cross-pollinated. This makes fertilization possible, and a fruit, carrying seeds, can develop. Bees seem to be particularly attracted to blue flowers, and yellow flowers which appear blue to them. So if you’re hoping to attract bees to your garden, it’s a good idea to go for blue or yellow. Honey bees are about 15 mm long and are light brown in colour. They have oval-shaped bodies with light and dark stripes. The brightly coloured bodies of the honey bee serve as a warning to predators of the honey bees’ ability to sting. Bumblebees are larger and hairier than honeybees, with black and yellow banding. Along with honeybees, they can be found throughout the garden as well as in parks, woods, orchards and meadows in spring until late autumn. In winter, the bees in a bumblebee colony die off and only the queen bee survives. She usually burrows down in the soil to hibernate and then emerges in the spring to start a new colony. Honeybees, however, stay close together in their hive to keep warm, while solitary bees (which don’t live in hives) hibernate wherever they can find shelter. The distinctive ‘buzzing’ sound bees make is created when they flap their wings very fast (up to 200 times per second) which creates vibrations in the air, which we hear as buzzing. If they feel threatened, they flap their wings more so the buzzing gets louder. Natural World Facts is a channel dedicated to bringing you fascinating facts about our natural world, and the wonderful animals that we share it with. Subscribe for more videos! Leave a suggestion in the comments for what animal you would like to learn about next.