Flora and Fauna



Sheep

Sheep are without doubt the dominant mammal in British hills and mountains and any discussion of mountain wildlife must start with them.

While often denegrated as stupid, there are certain aspects to be admired in sheep, in particular their ability to survive and offer (more or less) economic farming within unpromising hill country. While not mountain goats they are quite agile and can often be found grazing on truly implausible slopes or as in the picture on top of dry stone walls....

The worst problem with sheep is the way they suppress the potential regrowth of vegetation - while calling them woolly locusts is a little unfair it contains a grain of truth.

For walkers sheep only present an obstacle where they have developed a taste for sandwiches, when care can be required if lunch is not to be lost!

Grouse

Anyone who has ever wandered exactly why anyone would ever have restricted access to such unpromising land as Kinder Scout need look no further than the Grouse. Indeed the impact of Grouse on UK land use is enormous, being the primary reason for the existence of large areas of heather moorland.

The reason for this is that Grouse can both live happily in unpromising heather moorland (as long as it is burnt to keep it young), and have a tendency to fly slowly at a low level when startled. This combination means that real income can be derived from even land as unpromising as the dark peak by charging people for the chance to shoot grouse.

The common grouse is not an especially interesting bird but it's larger and much rarer Scottish cousin the Ptarmigan can be quite spectacular.

Deer

In some ways Red Deer in Scotland combine the roles of Sheep and Grouse - they generate hunting income and in their current unrealistic population densities perform the locust job of sheep.

It must however be admitted that they are massively more impressive animals than either :)

Midges

An evil blood sucking flying insect found in great numbers in parts of the western highlands of Scotland. While not carrying any dangerous diseases they can be enormously annoying. They are often found around lakes where their larvae grow at the bottom in mud. Not all midges bite - the Chironomidae are a type of non biting midge, many with dysfunctional jaws!

Forests

There are two distinct forms of forest in the UK - commercial forestry and 'real' woodland. Proper ancient woodland, something of which there is nothing like enough in the UK, such as the Caledonian pine forests in the Highlands such as Rothiemercus or Oak forests such as Horner forest near Exmoor are magnificent areas to walk with numerous wildlife.

Forestry commission forests however, with their closely knit ranks of identical conifers blocking all light from reaching the ground, are horrible places. Perhaps even worse is the scar left on hillsides when a large area has been felled. (Such forests do of course generate real income.).

Heather

The favourite food of Grouse and hence a very common sight on UK hills. Large areas of Heather in bloom can make for spectacular, purple hillsides. If allowed to grow as in certain areas of Wales heather can make for very difficult walking. Often however it is purposefully burnt for the sake of the grouse.

Amongst the most common and easily identifiable vegetation found on peatlands are the Ericaceae: Erica cinerea (Bell Heather), Erica tetralix (Cross leaved heath) and Calluna vulgaris (Heather). You will also come across the many Sphagnum mosses, a little harder to distinguish between: Sphagnum cuspidatum, Sphagnum papilosum and Sphagnum capillifolium. Other mosses include Hypnum cypressiforme and Hypnum subarticum. The mosses are normally an indicator of annually wetter areas, whereas heathers are often found in better drained areas. Eriophorum (cotton grass) is an indicator of very waterlogged conditions. Vegetation can stop you getting wet feet - stick to areas of Erica and Calluna!

Proper Wildlife

The only large predators remaining in the UK are raptors such as Ospreys, White tailed see eagles and Golden Eagles. These all however remain very rare. Much more common are Buzzards and Kestrels.

There are wild goats in a few places, most famously on Tryfan in wales. These are quite capable of making walkers look utterly unsuited to mountain environments. The Cairngorms have a herd of Reindeer.

A truly confused piece of wildlife are arctic hares which can often be seen in the peak district due to being white in anticipation of the kind of winter rarely seen in recent years.

Haggis

Haggis can be found only in the Scottish Highlands. The size of a large rat or small cat, they are unique because of their unusual legs. There are currently two known species of Haggii which can be easily told apart from each other by the direction in which they circumnavigate the mountains. One Haggis species has longer legs on its left side than its right, allowing for upright movement on sloping ground, all be it in a clockwise direction around a hill. The other species has longer legs on the right allowing for an entirely more counter-clockwise view of life. The two cannot mate. This evolutionary quirk means they can travel quickly around a mountain, making them hard to catch unless you use a large net and whisky as bait. Considered a delicacy in Scotland and parts of the north of England and often served with potato and turnip.