Episode 3

Rural crime is on the increase with offences ranging from tractor theft to sheep rustling. Jules Hudson investigates two very different crimes and what is being done to combat them. First he meets Andrew Sheppy whose collection of rare breed birds were stolen in a raid on his farm. Over in Lincolnshire, Police are targeting gangs carrying out the brutal blood sport of hare coursing. It was once traditional countryside sport but hare coursing, the practice of hunting hares with hounds, has been banded for more than a decade. However, this hasn’t stopped gangs going to great lengths to keep this sport alive. Jules joins Operation Galileo - a specialist wildlife crime unit supported by police forces across Lincolnshire, Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to crack down on hare coursing. Out on patrol with Chief Inspector Jim Tyner and Nick Willey, Jules meets a farmer who had a dangerous run in with hare coursers.

Find out more about the work of Operation Galileo here

Britain’s favourite animal is in danger. In the last fifty years, the numbers of hedgehogs in towns and countryside have plummeted by 95%. Margherita Taylor meets Britain’s first ever Hedgehog Officer – Henry Johnson – who is hoping to reverse the decline. Margherita and Henry enlist the help of street champions in Barnes to create a hedgehog super highway between their gardens in an attempt to save this particularly prickly little mammal.

Find out more about the campaign to save the hedgehogs

We drink 70 millions of cups of coffee a day in the UK but we also generate more than half a million tonnes of leftover coffee grounds each year. Now, a Devon-based duo, have found a novel use for our excess espressos. They’re using coffee grounds collected from local cafes, to grow one of Paul Martin’s autumnal favourites – mushrooms! Paul teams up with friends Eric Jong and Adam Sayner, to find out how they are turning food waste into food production in a old office block that’s been converted into an urban mushroom farm.

Find out how to grow your own autumnal crop of mushrooms just like Paul

Broccoli is a very healthy vegetable but, as Tom Heap’s been finding out, scientists have discovered a way of making it even healthier. ‘Super broccoli’ contains higher levels of a natural nutrient called glucoraphanin, which can help reduce cholesterol. It was created by Professor Richard Mithen more than 20 years ago, after he crossed a standard broccoli with a wild brassica plant from Italy. The next step is getting official European approval for its health claims, which currently only apply to processed foods like cholesterol-reducing spreads and yoghurts. It would be the first raw vegetable to get one. What could that mean for British farmers? Tom explores the advantages – and disadvantages – of growing crops for increased nutrition and he puts the Professor’s theory to the test by going on a six-week super broccoli diet…with surprising results.

Make the most of superfoods this autumn

In the horse world presentation is key. Much care is taken in the grooming and decorating of horses. Something Paralympic equestrian Diana Man knows all about. But now there is a new and sparkly technique being used on horses – ‘glitter tattoos’. Diana goes to meet the polo teams embracing this new idea and asks the question is it one step too far?

Find out how to get involved in equestrian sport

After decades of losing habitat and roosting sites, the Lesser Horseshoe Bat is now one of the rarest bats in the UK. But hidden deep in the Usk Valley is Europe’s biggest maternity roost, home to over 900 mums and pups. John Craven joins the Vincent Wildlife Trust to watch the spectacle of the bats’ evening flight. He also discovers why the valley’s derelict WWII defences could hold the key to the survival of the species.

Find out more about lesser horseshoe bats