What a really wild show!

Astounded by a humpback in the Channel? Then watch out for wallabies, scorpions, chipmunks and other exotic creatures you might just find living wild in Britain. Here’s our handy spotters’ guide...

WHEN Doris the 20-ton humpback whale breached the water not once but 25 times earlier this week, her spectacular display delighted the watching audience.

Yet the wonder of it all was not just the performance, but the rather surprising location.

For while humpbacks tend to be associated with more exotic parts of the world, this took place just off the coast of Cornwall near Falmouth. And Doris, it seems, is not the only unlikely creature to be found here. From wallabies to hoopoes, giant snakes and parakeets, Britain is increasingly host to all manner of wildlife commonly associated with more distant, and frequently sunnier climes.

The explanation for this surprising phenomenon would appear to be a mix of mischance and man’s stupidity. When 30 non-venomous Aesculapian snakes set up home next to London’s Regent’s Canal a couple of years ago, for instance, it was assumed that the colony resulted from a clutch of escapees from nearby London Zoo. It was then revealed that another colony had taken up residence in North Wales, refugees from the Welsh Mountain Zoo in Colwyn Bay.

Ironically, it is the adder – Britain’s only indigenous poisonous snake – that almost cost the life recently of builder Josh Rose when it slithered under his young son’s buggy on Hounslow Heath, West London, and bit his finger. Mr Rose went into anaphylactic shock and suffered temporary paralysis.

In the early 1990s, when the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were all the rage, demand increased for small terrapins with colourful markings. When it became clear these reptiles quickly grew to the size of medium-size dinner plates, they were released into ponds in parks. On Hampstead Heath, the terrapin population expanded so rapidly that the Environment Agency was called in to deal with the epidemic.

So what other creatures not traditionally associated with this green and pleasant land can nonetheless be found here – and where?

On this Bank Holiday weekend, you may be nearer than you think to beavers, boars and the distinctly less lovable scorpion. Welcome to the really, really wild show.

‘A mixture of mischance and man’s stupidity’