If you want to know what animal a poo belongs to, you could take a look at this video from the Wildlife Trusts.  

There are 46 Wildlife Trusts in the UK, from Scotland to Alderney and North Wales to Norfolk, Cornwall to Cumbria.  They are all working hard to bring wildlife back, and to empower people to take action for nature.   You can find your nearest Wildlife Trust here. 

The Trust explains that signs animals are in an area can be a good start to discovering who has been visiting. 

Ecologistsi rely on animal signs - they help them understand the behaviour of many animals, and gives them an idea of the numbers in an area.   It all helps to build up a picture of what animals are where.

There's more information about animal poo here.

Animal poo can be fascinating stuff, and give you an idea of what animals are going through your garden or which ones lives in a wood.  

And did you know that animal poo can be made into products to be made as gifts? 

Elephant poo is an example.  The online Paper High has stationery which has been handcrafted from both elephant dung and recycled paper, so producing photo albums, notebooks, greeting cards and memo pads, all excellent examples of recycling! 

The products are handmade, so the colours and designs may vary, but what a lovely idea, to recycle elephant poo and paper! 

There are Colourful Elephant Dung Photo Albums for £12.95 each.



There are colourful Memo Blocks for £9.95 each.

There's an elephant dung writing set too for £9.95.
Just choose the colour you'd like.
It comes with a natural tea wood pencil too:

Made by skilled artisans, the elephant dung comes from the Maximus Elephant Conservation Trust in Sri Lanka!  Their workshops is located in the grounds of the Millennium Elephant Foundation;  the charity cares for sick, elderly and disaled elephants. 

The elephant poo is collected and boiled so that it's sterilised (you'll be glad to hear!) and then it's made into paper. 

The pieces of paper all differ, depending on the diet of the individual elephant.  

An initiative like this just shows how positive a local economy can be for elephants and a charity, and it also helps improve the relationship between the elephants and  local people as the elephants (or what comes out of them) is helping locals in their work. 

These are all available from Paper High.

I was on the RSPB's website this morning and they have some very helpful information about wildlife detecting and identifying tracks and signs.   You can become a nature detective, and work out who is living in your area!

The RSPB has an activity for you whether you're in school or as a family, with an activity sheet for you to download.

And they tell you how to make an animal tracker, so that you can see who's been out and about at night.  You can make a cast of the animal prints you find in your garden, and the RSPB tell you what footprints look like for animals such as the fox and hedgehog. 

Whose been visiting your garden?  Find out if it was the shrew!
Image ©RSPB

They've got lots of activities for you to help nature and wildlife, by the way, such as creating nature highways and byways, digging a ditch for garden biodiversity, how to grow sunflowers, how to make a bird bath and make a hedgehog cafe.   Find out more here.

Head to the RSPB's here.

The Mammal Society also has pictures of poo, so that you can work out whoose poo is whoose.   Visit their website here and take a look. 

 
The Nature Tracker's Handbook is available from the RSPB's Shop.
It has extensive photography and detailed diagrams to 
help you find and interpret the evidence the animals leavel in their wake.
£14.99 from the RSPB Shop.

You can get the Poo Bingo for Kids
from Hive.co.uk for £16.49
Featuring 24 animals and their uniquely shaped poos!

PS Please don't forget to put water out for wildlife - they need water, just as we do.    We need to look after them.

For dog owners, Earth Rated Dog Poo Bags, Guaranteed Leak Proof and Extra Thick Waste Bag Refill Rolls For Dogs, Lavender Scented, 270 Count, are available from Amazon

Looking for something fun to do to get away from the Christmas rush?

Take a look at the Wildlife Trusts!   Their 12 Days Wild starts on the 25^th December – yes, Christmas Day – getting out for a walk could be a start, or gazing at the clouds or stars in the sky could be something else to do if it’s pouring with rain. 

12 Day Wild is a festive nature challenge and the idea is that from the 25^th December through to the 5^th January, you do one wild thing every day.  

You could recycle your Christmas tree, go for a walk, feed your garden birds, stargaze, cloud gaze, or draw a picture of something to do with nature.   This could be a great way to get everyone off their screens and to do an activity for nature or with nature together!

The Wildlife Trusts have lots of resources – including the 12 Days Wild digital pack – and they are all available in Welsh!

Maybe one of the things you could do is to come up with a plan of how you can help nature in your garden or local area this year? 

Find out more and sign up for free here.

Take part in the Wildlife Quiz Poo with the London Wildlife Trust

Wildlife can be hard to spot, especially if they just come out at night, so droppings are a good way to find out who'se been visiting your garden at night, or your neighbourhood.   Can you guess with this quiz whose poo belongs to who?   

Give it a go!   Take the wildlife poo quiz here

And take actions to help nature, such as recycling your Christmas tree or feeding the birds - or just look out of the window and watch the stars!    Find out more about it here.

Image of the fox copyright London Wildlife Trust

For those of you who love nature and wildlife, how about a Half Day Woodland Ranger Experience with Go Wild Scotland in the Scottish Borders?  It's led by a knowlegeable guide so this is a good chance to ask lots of questions! 

This takes place in the stunning surroundings of Mauldsheugh in the South of Scotland.  Start by taking a walk around the reserve and discover all about the trees, plants and wildlife living there.  Get involved in activities such as topping up the feeders and surveying the wildlife, planting trees and checking the ponds.

You'll receive a certification on completion!  

A snack and a soft drink are included.

Find out more from Virgin Experience Days.  This experience is for two people for £74.00. 

There's also the chance to Become a Woodland Ranger for the Day with Lunch for Two with Go Wild Scotland for £194.00.  Find out about that here.

Whipsnade Zoo is situated in the beautiful Chiltern Hills in Hertfordshire, and 10,000 animals call it home - many of them are endangered in the wild.

And the zoo had some amazing news to share with everyone earlier this month - a rare Southern white rhino calf was born to Fahari and Sissle in early October!

Welcome to the world, little one!

He weighed roughly just under 50kg and first time mum Fahari did very well - her gestation period was 16 months so she had quite a wait, bless her.  Keepers have described how the calf is quite a character and actually stamps his feet when he's impatient for food.   He joins his half brother Benja who was born in March.  There are only about 17,500 of these particular rhinos left in the wild so you can see this is a really important birth. 

In the wild, these rhinos are threatened by the illegal wildlife trade, since their horn is used for traditional medicine in Asia and for making dagger handles in the Middle East.  The Zoological Society of London is working worldwide to stop the illegal wildlife trade and you can find out how here. 

Earlier this year in July, there was an important addition to the family of reticulated giraffes, when mum Luna gave birth to a male calf.   The calf is tall, standing at six feet already, and he could stand and walk and zoo staff monitored him carefully.  It wasn't long before he was racing round the paddock with another reticulated giraffe, who'd been born a few weeks before the male.

The reticulated giraffe is endangered, so the new arrivals at Whipnsade are important

This means there are now six giraffe at Whipnsade - the species is endangered because of illegal hunting, habitat destruction and human-giraffe conflict.  

You can go and see the giraffe at Whipsnade zoo.  

Will the new baby Southern white rhino be seen by the public?  This little rhino may not be just quite ready - check with the Whipsnade Zoo website!  But there's lots going on, with Boo to the Zoo for Halloween - there are lots of activities taking place.  Click on the meerkat to find out all about it!  It runs from the 26th October to the 3rd November 2024.

Find out all about Boo to the Zoo 2024!

Plan your visit here.

Well, if you're looking for something a bit different to do this summer, you could take a look at an intriguing activity at London Zoo.  

London Zoo have come up with Poo at the Zoo.   Not Winnie the Pooh, this is all about poo, and who's done what.

London Zoo has a 'pooseum', and you can find out about the vital insights that can be gleaned from number two!

Challenge the whole family to poo-inspired giant games on the lawns, or join Poo at the Zoo author Steve Smallman for lead live storytelling sessions on certain dates over the summer.

The 'pooseum' is a 22 year labour of love for Tracey Lee, one of ZSL's zookeepers and a former artist.  It began as two special specimens - when the last elephant and black rhino were re-homed from London Zoo - were added to canvas in a piece called 'The last poo at the Zoo'.   Now, the collection has an incredible 100+ preserved specimens, with dung from a wide variety of animals including an endangered gorilla, a giant Galapagos tortoise and even a tiny poo from a caterpillar!

Every day, the zoo is running a Game of the Day and this will focus on animal feeding and digestion.  With Poo Bingo, Poo or False or a matching and memory challenge, Who did this poo?, there's plenty to do.   

And at certain times each day, kids can enjoy the stage adaptation of the bestselling book The Great Poo Mystery.

Not only that, there's also a self-led trail with challenges and clues to help young visitors track down a selection of animals including giant tortoises, lions, tigers and penguins.  

If you can't get to London Zoo, you could always buy the book Poo in the Zoo
for £6.99 from London Zoo's shop.

Plus, you can join the illustrator of the Poo in the Zoo book series, Ada Gray, for drawing classes on selected dates and times, and there are self-led drawing activities avialable at other times. 

Poo at the Zoo is running from the 25th July to 1st September 2024, and should be a lot of fun!  Find out more here.

Whilst you're at London Zoo, you may want to pop in and see the beautiful three Asiatic lion cubs.  Boys Mali and Syanii and girl Shanti were born at London Zoo on 13 March 2024 to seven-year-old mum, Arya, and 14-year-old dad Bhanu.  And they are just gorgeous!  Take a look here!

International Dawn Chorus Day is on Sunday, the 5th May 2024 

I woke up at 4:30 this morning and lay in bed listening to the birds as they sang outside the bedroom window and thought how wonderful it must be to have such a glorious chorus every day to be so happy! 

Listening to birdsong is a great way to start the day!

In fact, I’ve been waking up a lot recently at about 4:30 or 5:00 in the morning, and I find I just love lying in bed, listening to the birdsong.  It’s such a lovely start to the day!   OK, sometimes I do drift off back to sleep, but the birdsong is both soothing and motivating at the same time – I let my mood take me where it feels.  It’s a wonderful way to empty your head of everything and just listen to our feathered friends.  I find it very therapeutic.

Sunday, the 5th May is International Dawn Chorus Day

Anyway, the first Sunday of May is International Dawn Chorus Day.  Would you believe that the event started out in the 1980s in Birmingham and now, people in over 80 countries take part!

It’s a worldwide celebration of the dawn chorus and people all over the world will be waking up in time to put the kettle on and just listen to our beautiful birds, whilst sipping a cup of tea, or perhaps they’ll just lie in bed and listen.

You can listen to the life outside chatting away, and singing a song, and ask yourself, What is it that makes birds so cheerful at this time of the morning??   And who am I listening to?

The Wildlife Trusts's website has help on identifying bird song (such as the blackbird and robin, the chiffchaff and the blue tit), and you can actually listen to a number of birds so that you know what to listen out for if you want to pick up the sound of a particular species. 

The Wildlife Trusts have events taking place in many different areas.  There are 46 Trusts in the UK, and you can find your local Trust here.

The RSPB also has a number of events - take a look at them here.

Take part – just listen to birdsong!

All you have to do to take part is listen!  Who might you hear? The song thrush, the blackbird, or robin or blackcap or chiffchaff?  You could record some of the song on your phone and then play it back to see if you can recognise any of the sounds, using the Trust's website to help you.  If you're listening outside, don't forget that it can still be chilly in May in the early mornings so a coat and a hot brew could be handy...

Fly off here to the Wildlife Trusts’ website to hear some great birdsong!

By the way, if you want to try your hand at birdwatching through binoculars to see who you can spot and what they're doing, the RSPB has a guide to buying binoculars which hopefully will help you if you're just starting out.   

Also, did you know that there are some wonderful videos you can listen to on You Tube for bird song?   I personally found this one very relaxing (I didn't listen to all of it because I nodded off, but it was very enjoyable to listen to and a nice change from the radio or TV). 

Did you see the Yorkshire Vet on Channel 5 tonight (the 30th April 2024)?  

On the programme, there were some amazing dogs giving blood - so I thought it would be helpful if I put up a quick blog about the Pet Blood Bank with a link.

The dogs giving blood can really save the lives of dogs in need, just as people can with the human blood bank.   You can find out more here - the Pet Blood Bank has lots of information on its site for dog owners and they are working on a pet blood service for cats. 

This is Yogi the blood donor.  He's a Doberman, and so far this very special dog has saved the lives of up to 60 dogs by giving blood.  Pet Blorod Bank say that every unit of blood can save up to 4 lives. 

The criteria for whether your dog can give blood is here.

A huge thank you to the vets and the programme for raising awareness of the chance pet owners have got to take their pets to give blood, if they can.  And to the dogs for being so brave and their owners for volunteering their dogs. 

Visit the Pet Blood Bank here.