Friday, November 12, 2010

Marston Vale Country Park

This Bank Vole is one of 6 that were present in 8 traps on a 30m stretch of ditch parallel to the River Flit. There was also a Common Shrew in one of the other traps, a pretty good trapping rate!

I spent the morning in the Marston Vale Country Park Centre displaying our BNHS ‘Bring Back The Nature Table’ exhibit during an environmental education event attended by a number of Bedfordshire schools. Schools are able to ‘book’ this nature table for a few weeks. After an initial assembly, or other time demonstrating the table to the children, we leave it with them. The idea is that it will help to inspire the children to begin to bring together their own nature table. The mink stole on the left hand side of the display was the real hit – the children loved stroking it and putting it around their necks, and I was able to relate the story of the American Mink in the British countryside.

The Education team from Whipsnade Zoo were a few tables away. I put one of my Fallow Deer droppings alongside their Elephant dropping…it's the little black dot to the right!! Although they had a Tiger skin, Tiger skull, stuffed Penguin and ivory tusk, Jackie & Hannah, their Education Officers, kept popping along and exploring our nature table. In fact, I think that it was a real hit all round, one teacher excitedly exclaiming that it covered the whole of their curriculum! I’m really looking forward to us getting it into the schools and developing this simple concept.

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