An episode of the Tyne Tees Television series on the wildlife of the north presented by Jonathan Morrell. In the first report a trip to Dipton Mill public house near Hexham in Northumberland where the landlords are holding their annual 'Northumbria Slug Show' and a look at a scientific study to find an environmentally friendly ways to prevent slugs damaging farm crops. Next, a look at the love-life of the Mute swan which is being examined by expert John Coleman of the North East...

An episode of the Tyne Tees Television series on the wildlife of the north presented by Jonathan Morrell. In the first report a trip to Dipton Mill public house near Hexham in Northumberland where the landlords are holding their annual 'Northumbria Slug Show' and a look at a scientific study to find an environmentally friendly ways to prevent slugs damaging farm crops. Next, a look at the love-life of the Mute swan which is being examined by expert John Coleman of the North East Swan Study to find out why the birds are no longer mating for life. Following the break, Jonathan takes a trip around urban Tyneside with Bob Wilkins who is carrying out research into the lifestyle of the urban fox. Finally, from Barnington Moor near Barnard Castle in County Durham the work being done by landowner Sir Anthony Milbank to regenerate moorland around the region to help protect nesting sites of migratory birds. It is reckoned that swans mate for life. However, studies done in the North East by swan expert John Coleman suggest otherwise. Divorce rates among swans, he maintains, are going up. "We don't know the reasons as yet, but it seems to be the case," he says. "They don't seem to be as devoted to each other as they used to be." John, helped by other volunteers, spends long hours catching swans and attaching identification rings to their legs, giving each bird its own number and making it easier for people to keep track of them. He's built up a profile of the region's 700 breeding swans, using computer records to log the history of all the swans in the North East. Slugs may not be everybody's favourite beasts, but at a country pub in the near of Northumberland they hold a special place in the affections of regulars. Every August at the Dipton Mill Inn near Hexham landlord John Brooker and his wife Janet hold their 'slug show' where the area's best specimens compete with one another for a series of titles. There's the fastest, the biggest and the best dressed slug, and it always attracts quite a crowd. On a more scientific note, Newcastle University lecturer Gordon Port has studied slugs for most of his life. His current aim is to find an environmentally friendly way of preventing them from damaging farmers' crops. Bob Wilkin is a retired wildlife ranger who lives in Newcastle and takes a special interest in a familiar inhabitant of urban backyards, allotments and alleyways, the fox. A quarter of Britain's 250,000 foxes are reckoned to live in towns and cities, and manage to survive by scavenging in dustbins and helping themselves to discarded bits of food left by their human neighbours. Bob takes Jonathan Morrell round Tyneside to look for signs of the fox's presence. On the edge of Newcastle they find a den and footprints in a muddy lane - sure proof that foxes aren't far away. Spring on Barningham Moor near Barnard Castle in Co. Durham brings an invasion of birds. These are shore birds, or waders, which migrate to the moor to breed and raise their young. Wild North has superb footage of curlews, lapwings side by side with young grouse and short-eared owls. Credits: Presenter Jonathan Morrell Camera Simon Crouch, Lee Sutterby Sound Postproduction Andy Ludbrook Editor David Hindmarsh Executive Producer Jane Bolesworth Producer Charles Bowden CBTV production for Tyne Tees Television © Tyne Tees Television MM