KILLER plants which dissolve their prey alive, ruthless 180mph hunters and deer which fashion their own headwear… Britain is home to a surprising number of offbeat and exotic-seeming animals.

Often hidden in plain sight, the UK's wackiest residents can be seen tearing through the skies and scuttling around beneath our feet, proving that you don't need to go far to come face to face with out-of-this-world wildlife.

From colour-changing hares to our only herd of reindeer, our island's oddest critters will all be starring in Wild Britain, a new eight-part Channel 5 series which starts tonight.

The show, which took a year to film, is basically a UK-only version of Planet Earth, looking at the same kind of incredible wildlife but not straying any further than the tips of the British Isles.

Hugh Bonneville takes on the role of David Attenborough, narrating stunning shots of our incredible countryside from the freezing cold water of our coasts to the peaks of jagged mountains north of the border.

It's those mountains – in Scotland and beyond, which form the focal point of episode one, zooming in on the lives of animals living in the UK's most hostile high-altitude surroundings.

One of the stars of the show is a majestic golden eagle, gliding through the freezing air with a Go-Pro strapped to its head.

Swooping high above the Cairngorms, in the Scottish highlands, the bird of prey's razor-sharp beak and deadly talons twitch with anticipation as she scours the ground below for her lunch.

She's looking for one of the UK's hardiest (and cutest) natives – a chubby mountain hare nestled among the snow, right beneath her.

But the hare has a trick up its sleeve: incredible, chameleon-like defences.

In the summer, the adorable critter's thick fur is a dark shade of brown, but as the days get shorter and temperatures start to plummet, its coat gradually turns white, like its Wintry habitat.

This particular chase takes place during the autumn, with the hare's surroundings covered in patchy snow.

In response, the hare has been growing its own white blotches of fur to match the mottled coating on the ground, helping it to blend in when watched through the eyes of a circling eagle.

But, in the end, this hare's clever camouflage isn't enough to save it.

Sensing it's been clocked, the hare scarpers, bounding towards safety at 45mph. That's fast alright, but not fast enough for a hungry eagle.

The bird soon catches up, making the kill after a 180mph dive – when she lands right on top of the gentle hare and crushes its body in a cold vice grip, before using her mighty beak to rip it apart like a stuffed animal.

Later in the episode we see another kill, far slower but all the more gruesome for it.

At the foot of Mount Snowdon in Wales, you can find something straight out of your worst nightmares: the sundew.

A flesh-eating species of plant, the sundew is a ravenous horror which is always looking for its next meal.

Described as a "living piece of flypaper", the sundew's gaping maw is like a graveyard for doomed insects, with chunks of flesh and dismembered legs stuck to the plant's leaves.

Every one is covered with sticky, red hairs, each with a small blob of glue-like liquid at the tip.

When an unlucky insect touches down on the plant's sticky surface, it becomes trapped in the deadly embrace of these killer hairs and ends up glued in place – thrashing for its life but unable to break free.

And things get seriously grim when a larger, more powerful insect lands on its sticky leaves.

To prevent any escape, the plant's hairs start to ominously curl in, trapping its victim in place as part of a stomach-churning battle which can last up to five hours.

Then, the plant starts to dissolve its dinner by dripping acidic juices onto it, taking weeks to melt down and consume a single fly.

Thankfully, not everything featured in Wild Britain is so grim.

In episode one we also see epic shots of rival red deer fighting, bellowing with fury and "bursting", as Hugh Bonneville says, "with the need to breed".

Flaunting their impressive antlers, these stags will do anything to get noticed by females, including digging up grass and wearing it like a hat.

This home-made headgear is supposedly a major turn-on for the ladies of the herd but, all too often, the only way to get a leg over is by fighting for it, with deer locking their antlers in epic battles to assert their dominance.

If it all sounds very dramatic, that's because it is.

most read in news

Wild Britain aims to highlight the hidden majesty, beauty and weirdness of our often-overlooked country, giving a stage to the unique creatures we share our island with.

Although after watching the stomach-churning sight of a fly being dissolved by a predatory plant, you may not think Britain's countryside is quite so charming after all.

Wild Britain airs at 9pm tonight on Channel 5. 

Source: Read Full Article