30 Fun Wildlife Encounters Mega Minibeast Hunt Minibeasts there are millions of them and they re everywhere you care to look! They re weird and wonderful and we ve listed lots of ways for you to get up close to the bugs and the beasties! Remember: you re a GIANT to them, so handle them gently and always put them back where you found them as soon as possible. 1 Log rolling will reveal all sorts of creatures from slugs n snails and worms n woodlice to centipedes and millipedes and busy beetles. Some plastic pots, such as yoghurt pots, to put your minibeasts in a clear, plastic bug pot with a magnifying lid is ideal for those creatures that might try to escape! A paintbrush A magnifying glass Millipede Watch Out! It s not just minibeasts who like living under logs you may find frogs & toads or newts & lizards! Carefully roll a log away from you to look underneath on the log and the ground - it s a good idea to do this with a friend so one of you can roll the log while the other is ready to catch any creatures some are pretty quick!
Use your paintbrush to gently coax the minibeasts into your pot the paintbrush is far more delicate than trying to pick the creatures up with your fingers! Inspect your minibeasts up close with your magnifying glass Don t forget to put the log back afterwards it s the roof of their home Centipede Release your creatures back to where you found them as soon as possible, especially if you have more than one type in your pot or you may find that hungry carnivores starting eating the others for lunch! 2 Springtails A Tullgren Funnel is a great way of finding the really tiny creatures that live in the undergrowth. A plastic funnel A jam jar or similar pot A desk lamp A magnifying glass Mite Place the funnel into the jam jar Then put a few handfuls of leaf litter from under some trees or bushes into the funnel Now position the lamp close to the leaf litter but not so close that you set fire to the leaves! A few hours later you should find a collection of tiny creatures in the bottom of your jam jar as they have tried to move away from the heat and the light of the lamp to find somewhere cold and damp Look closely with your magnifying glass and you may find springtails, mites and pseudoscorpions Make sure you release your creatures back into the undergrowth
3 A fun way to find out who s hiding up in the trees and bushes is tree-tapping or bush-beating! Lots of collection pots, such as yoghurt pots, to put your minibeasts in a clear, plastic bug pot with a magnifying lid will help you get a close up of any creatures you find A white sheet such as an old bed sheet or pillow case A stick A tree or bush A paintbrush A magnifying glass Shield bug Spread out your sheet on the ground under the tree or bush Now you can either give a branch a firm shake or a hard hit with the stick take care watch out for others around you! Be ready to use your paint brush to gently put the creatures that fall out of the tree into your collection pots to have a closer look with your magnifying glass Make sure you release the creatures back onto or at the base of the tree or bush You could try to identify what you find using The Wildlife Trusts Species Explorer pages or Wildlife Watch Spotter Sheets. 4 Weird worms have no eyes, no ears, no nose and no legs but they have 5 hearts! But despite being rather weird they have a really important job of composting, fertilising, aerating and draining soil so plants can grow - as well as being a tasty snack for all sorts of wildlife from birds to badgers! Earthworm Be Creative! there is no fixed way of worm charming or encouraging worms to come up to the surface: Try vibrating the ground on a lawn or playing field to mimic moles digging for worms to eat, birds do this by tapping their feet on the ground Tap the soil surface or push a garden fork or a stick into the ground and rub or tap it Sprinkling the ground with water also attracts worms to the surface Try this guide to identify the worms you find Don t forget to wash your hands after holding slimy, slithering worms!
5 Sweep netting is a really fun way to explore grasslands and meadows that are teaming with life during spring and summer. A sweep net, sometimes called a butterfly net these have large, soft, fine mesh netting to catch creatures without harming them A magnifying glass to get a close up view of your creatures A clear, plastic bug pot with a magnifying lid will help you examine creatures without them hopping or flying away Soldier beetle An area of long grass on a dry, summers day perhaps in a garden or park or at school A local nature reserve such as Randalls Farm which has an excellent meadow as well as Nature Detective Backpacks and sweep nets that you can use for free Wildlife Trust events where there will be experts to help you identify your catch Sweep the net from side to side in front of you as you walk through the long grass After a few sweeps, stop and gently gather the top of the net together with one hand to close it and stop any creatures from flying or jumping away Now you can slowly open the net and very carefully put any creatures into a pot to have a closer look at them. It s a good idea to do this with a friend so one of you can hold the net while the other holds the pot! Spotter Sheets will help you identify what you have caught Once you have had a good look at your creatures, make sure you release them back to where you found them Ladybird larva TAKE CARE! Bees and wasps may sting if annoyed let them go immediately Butterflies, moths, dragonflies & Ladybird damselflies have very delicate wings don t handle them or try to put them in a pot examine them in the net & release as soon as possible Watch out for others around you when swinging your net from side to side make sure you are in a space
6 Ground beetle A pitfall trap will help you discover night time creepy crawlies including big beetles on the prowl for prey to eat! A steep sided container such as a plastic cup or plastic flower pot A trowel Some stones or twigs Some bait to attract the creatures you could try a bit of cheese, meat or squashed, smelly banana works well! A cover for the trap such as a flower pot saucer or flat stone or piece of wood Earwig Set your trap outside in the evening Make some small holes in the bottom of the container so rain water will drain away, a plastic flower pot may have these in already Dig a hole deep enough to put the container in, so the lip of the container is level with the ground Put the bait in the bottom of the container, you could also add a few dead leaves for the creatures to hide under To stop rain getting in, prop up the cover over the trap with 2 or 3 stones or twigs Release your creatures into the undergrowth when you have had a close look Woodlouse REMEMBER! Check your trap first thing in the morning pitfall traps must be checked regularly and never left for a long time. You may trap large, carnivorous beetles that might start eating smaller creatures! Or you may even find frogs, newts, mice or shrews have accidently fallen into your trap. Pill woodlouse Rove beetle Try the Wildlife Trusts Species Explorer pages to identify the creatures you catch in your trap
7 You can attract brilliant butterflies by planting nectar-rich flowers for them to feed on but while you are waiting for them to grow, why not create a tasty treat for them with a butterfly banquet. Brightly coloured card Pencil Scissors Sticky tape Plastic bottle tops Cotton wool Sugar Water Twigs or sticks Gatekeeper butterfly Draw a large flower on the card and cut it out Stick the plastic bottle top onto the centre of the flower Tape a stick onto the back of the flower Mix a couple of spoons of sugar in a cup of water and soak the cotton wool in the mixture Put the cotton wool into the bottle top on your flower Place the stick into the ground outside on a warm, sunny day in spring or summer and watch! Try the Wildlife Watch butterfly Spotter Sheets to identify the butterflies that visit your butterfly banquet
Get to Know your Minibeasts Once you have found your minibeasts, make sure you take a really close look most of them have weird and wonderful ways of surviving out there in the wild world 8 This is a fascinating way to watch how slimy snails and slugs move and feed. A slug or snail! a common Garden Snail is best as they are large enough to see clearly A piece of clear plastic or glass Lettuce leaves Sugar Water Paintbrush Place your snail onto the plastic and lift the plastic up carefully to watch the snail from underneath You should be able to see a conveyor belt of dark and light bands rippling along the underside of the snail these are muscles moving the snail forwards as it secretes a trail of slime! Snails are Gastropods which literally means Belly foot they move around on one foot and have hundreds of teeth known as a radula To see the snails teeth, or radula, crush some lettuce leaves in a bowl with some water and sugar Then use an old paint brush to paint the watery liquid onto the piece of plastic When it s dry, put your snail onto the plastic again and watch from underneath You should be able to watch the snail scrape off the tasty mixture with its radula This Wildlife Watch Spotter Sheet will help you identify the snails you might find. Black slug
9 Everyone knows that worms are slimy but did you know that they are hairy?! A worm and a piece of paper Place your worm onto the paper and listen! You should be able to hear a scratchy sound rather than a squishy, slimy sound as the small hairs or bristles called setae scratch on the paper Worms use these bristles to help them burrow through soil and to grip the walls of their burrows when bigger creatures such as birds, hedgehogs and badgers try to pull them out of the ground! 10 Earthworm This is a great way to examine the inside of an earthworm! A nice, big, fat worm! A torch A magnifying glass to have a really close look Place your worm onto the torch Turn the torch on and examine the inside of your worm using your magnifying glass You will be able to see the dark shadow of the worms gut with soil passing through There will also be a red blood vessel running the length of the body and if you look closely, you may be able to see the worms 5 hearts near the head end of the worm! Don t leave your worm on the torch for long and make sure you release it back to where you found it afterwards
11 Pill woodlouse Woodlice are Crustaceans and are related to crabs, shrimp and prawns that live in water Like their relatives, woodlice also use gills to breathe which need to be kept wet. This is why they like to live in damp places. Try this experiment to observe their behaviour. Some woodlice look under logs and stones but remember to put the logs and stones back as you found them A shallow container such as a plastic food tub or the lid of a shoe box Cotton wool or paper kitchen towel Water Sticks or something similar to make small walls in the container Cling film to cover the container Woodlouse Make a wall in the middle of your container with a gap in the middle using the sticks Wet the cotton wool or paper kitchen towel with some water and place it in one side of the container Add your woodlice into the container and cover it with the cling film to stop any woodlice escaping Leave them for a couple of hours there will be enough air for them to breathe for this short amount of time When you come back to check on your woodlice, where are they all? Woodlice have 14 legs and a tough exoskeleton like a suit of armour! DON T FORGET! With all these activities Always leave things as you found them, put back anything you pick up or move Always release your creatures back to where you found them as soon as possible and handle them very gently Always wash your hands afterwards!
Do Your Bit For Bugs 12 All sorts of creatures will love this bug house ladybirds, lace wings, solitary bees who will move in to yours? Hollow twigs or plant stems you could use elder twigs or bamboo canes Scissors String Secateurs or a small saw A pokey stick such as a metal tent peg An adult to help Lacewing Using secateurs or a small saw, ask an adult to help you cut the elder twigs or bamboo cane into lengths approximately 15 20cm long If using elder twigs, use a pokey stick such as a metal tent peg to make a hollow tunnel in the twig by poking out as much of the soft centre, called the pith Bamboo canes will already be hollow in the middle, you just need to make sure you cut above or below a node (the raised area between sections) that are solid and not hollow Tie your bundle of hollow sticks together at each end with the string and then tie a loop of string in the middle to hang it up with Hang your brilliant bug home in a sunny, sheltered position such as a south facing wall Make sure rain can t get in, hang it horizontally or under the eaves of a shed for example 13 This is the deluxe version of a brilliant bug home that will provide homes for hundreds of minibeasts and possibly frogs, toads and newts too. This is a great activity to do with family and friends, at home, school or with a club such as Brownies and Cubs. Let your imaginations go the sky s the limit!
Some old pallets, try asking at garden centres Old bricks Broken flower pots Old bits of pipes Hollow stems such as bamboo canes Twigs and sticks Hay or straw Dead leaves Old piece of carpet, tiles or board for the roof An adult to help With an adults help, stack the pallets on top of each other. Don t stack above about 1 metre as it might become unstable Now fill all the gaps with lots of different materials to provide hidey homes for beasties! Finish it off by covering the top with a piece of old carpet, tiles or board to stop rain getting in 14 One of the best ways to attract minibeasts requires very little effort leave an area to grow wild! At home or school, try to create as many different habitats as possible including: An area of long grass and nectar-rich wild flowers Piles of grass, logs and stones are great Photos copyright of Amy Lewis, Neil Phillips, Rachel Scopes, Dr. Malcom Storey, N. Tomlin and The Wildlife Trust BCN. The Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire. Registered charity no. 1000412