Michaela Strachan, 55, certainly means business when it comes to setting the weekly challenge for Springwatch viewers, as she asked them on the latest edition of the show to look out for Cinnabar moths, a species native to Europe and Central Asia. However, Chris Packham, 60, felt the task was “really tough” as he explained how the moth’s food source, Ragwort, is not in great supply at the moment due to a delayed spring season, prompting his co-host to fire back “I don’t want excuses”.
Chris began by telling viewers how they could enter Springwatch’s animal and insect spotting challenge.
He said: “Now if you go onto the website we put a series of challenges up. Species we would like you to look out for.
“Some are easy, some a bit more difficult. Some very hard.”
Michaela continued: “So go on the website and see what you can tick off.
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“I’m going to give you a challenge actually, I want to see a Cinnabar moth. Now that is on the medium list, could be a tricky one?”
Chris at this point pulled a baffled expression and pointed out that her challenge was in no way a “medium” one due to environmental constraints.
“On the medium? Now they need Ragwort, and all of the Ragwort I have seen, because of the late season, is only about up to here,” Chris said while pointing at his ankle.
He continued: “So you’re not going to get the Cinnabar moths yet. That’s really tough.”
The Springwatch star said that one of his main “problems” is struggling to not interrupt when people talk, as he can’t be “bothered to wait” for them to finish their sentence, as he already knows what they are going to say.
Chris said: “I had a list of things in my hotel room that are things like don’t interrupt people when they’re talking.
“One of the problems is that when a lot of people talk, it’s obvious what they are going to say before they say it.
“Therefore I can’t be bothered to wait for them to say it, I’ll just interrupt them, and finish their sentence for them.
“Or I’ll just move on to the next thing because I know where they’re going,” he added.
The naturalist admitted that it was “boring” having to wait for his colleagues to finish their sentences.
He continued: “It’s boring having to wait for a few sentences for them to get there, so my mum used to say it was, ‘Rude’.
“A lot of people find it really offensive and that’s something I still struggle not to do that now.”