Badgers are a wood’s ruling clan, often occupying the same sett for generations and laying a network of well-trodden paths through the undergrowth.
Badger (Meles meles) – British Mammals – Woodland Trust
What else lives in a woodland?
Badgers are foragers, experts at looking for food. They have strong, stocky bodies and sharp claws help with digging, with a good sense of smell to sniff out prey. They are the biggest land predator in the UK.
Badgers tend to make their setts in woodland, which provides more shelter and safety. In more urban settings, badgers will seek out parks and gardens to burrow underground and make their setts.
Find out how to spot a badger in TRACK!
European Badger
Scientific name: Meles meles
Average life span: Up to 14 years
Diet: Earthworms, frogs, rodents, birds, eggs, lizards, insects, bulbs, seeds and berries.
Habitat: Woodland, farmland, gardens. Badgers live in a network of tunnels called a sett; a family of badgers will have a territory with multiple setts surrounding it.
Bullfinch
Scientific name: Pyrrhula pyrrhula
Average life span: 2 years
Diet: Tree seeds and buds, flowers and invertebrates are fed to chicks
Habitat: woodlands, parks and gardens
The striking red plumage of the Bullfinch means it is always a joy to spot. As Bullfinches both nest in and feed from trees, the species is in decline as so much woodland and hedgerow has been lost or destroyed.
Speckled Wood Butterfly
Scientific name: Pararge aegeria
Diet: Aphid honeydew; the caterpillars eat grasses
Habitat: Woodlands, parks, grassy areas and urban areas
Stoat
Don’t be fooled by its small stature; the stoat is one of woodland’s top predators!
Scientific name: Mustela erminea (the stoat is also known as an Ermine)
Average life span: 2-5 years
Diet: Rabbits, voles, mice, birds and birds eggs. They can follow small mammals underground and climb trees to reach bird nests, and can catch prey up to five times their own size.
Habitat: Woodlands, farmland, grassy areas
Fast and definitely furious. The stoat is not afraid to take on prey more than five times its size. Up trees or underground, there are few places this potent predator won’t go in search of its next meal.
Stoat (Mustela erminea) – British Mammals – Woodland Trust
Create your own woodland creature!
Think about what it will look like and what it does (it’s adaptations), and which features of the woodland habitat it needs.
What does it sound like? What does it eat? Where in the food chain is it?
Why not use this template to record your new creature.
Creatures of the Wild Wood 