LIGHT FANTASTIC

ULTRAVIOLET PHOTOS REVEAL HIDDEN BEAUTY OF OUR WOODLANDS

- By ANDREW FORGRAVE Countryside and Tourism Editor

YOU'RE unlikely to see one in the temperate rainforests of North Wales. But should you stumble upon a polar bear and shine a UV light on it, its fur will fluoresce a trippy mix of reds, oranges or yellows.

Less charismatic creatures will do the same, each with their own psychedelic signatures and they're everywhere. So too will plants and fungi.

With a simple ultraviolent (UV) torch, a nighttime walk can take you into a hidden world where even mushrooms will look mind-bending.

Woodlice glow a luminous blue, Spiders shine bright yellow. Mosses transform to all colours and lichens light up like coral reefs. Hedgehogs are blue, just like Sonic. You might also see an orange mouse scampering around.

The phenomenon is biofluorescence, where proteins in fur or skin absorb UV light and emit it as a different, visible colour. As humans cannot detect natural UV light, they are one of the few creatures not privy to the spectacular results - without using a UV torch.