once upon a time
all of britain was covered in wildwood
a hunting ground for kings
an ancient home for many
beasts few places remain where this
landscape can now be found
in the new forest that world still
exists
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it is an old world full of life
where common creatures live side by side
with the lust
of the medieval monsters
the new forest contains many unique
habitats here there are trees over 600
years old
for some
their time is up
but death brings new life
beneath this fallen giant
the earth is stirring
a male stag beetle
he has spent the last six years as an
underground grub
feeding on the dead wood
now his quest begins
to find a mate before the end of his
short adult life
whilst beetles use the trees for food
another creature uses them to build
amongst the conifers there is a kingdom
of millions
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southern wood ants
this fortress may host a hundred queens
all busy producing the next generation
of workers
they might seem like an easy lunch for
larger predators
but the battlements are well defended
when threatened the ants fire jets of
formic acid
enough to make a robin think twice
drama over
the ants return to business
with an army to feed the workers are
always on the lookout for dinner
nothing is off the menu
the oldest ants roam furthest they know
this terrain inside out
but this worker may have overestimated
her abilities
it's a dung beetle
this goliath is far too powerful for a
single ant
it escapes onto the heath
where the woodland has been kept at bay
for centuries
equine teeth have shaped this world
but the ponies create something much
more attractive
at least for a dung beetle
his path is filled with many obstacles
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but at the end of a hard road
the beetle finds a feast
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where gors replaces grassland
another monster stalks the heath
[Music]
the tiger beetle
with excellent eyesight
and massive jaws
it will pounce on anything that moves
fierce though he is nearby there is a
place where even monsters fear to tread
dry heath merges into saturated bog
these sundews have a deadly secret
their sweet nectar is a lure
and a sticky trap
the victim is slowly digested
the soil here is low in nutrients and
sundues need these supplements to
survive
this butterfly is too big for a sundew
for him the bog is just a feeding ground
but the reeds are also battlefields
and every stagnant pond
is a dragon's lair
a keeled skimmer
ready to duel
clashes are fast paced and frequent
with the challenger repelled he can mate
without competition
there is no courtship among dragons the
male seizes any female in his domain
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mating is brief
now the female lays her eggs
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she flicks them underwater whilst the
male guards her from above
the more eggs she lays the more chance
some will survive
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this dragon will be dead by winter
during his brief reign he will mate as
often as possible
so that in the years to come it will be
his descendants who rule the air
back in the woodland
the stag's quest is at an end
he has found a female
so has another
to win her they must joust
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the stag has proved his worth
now it is time to claim his mate
this is the stag's last act
his genes will be passed on
and in a few days
he will die
with mating over
the stag does not release his grip
but the female has good reason to break
free
she must find a safe spot to lay her
eggs
and ensure the future of her offspring
the new forest has been unchanged for a
thousand years
ancient life still clings to an old
world
[Music]
this patchwork of habitats provides a
stronghold
for creatures of a bygone age
the dragons
the goliaths
the soldiers of a great army
the last
of the medieval monsters
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