Have you ever wondered what goes on in your garden at night? Sometimes we hear squeaks and bird calls, other times we hear strange noises we can’t identify. If we are lucky enough to have snow, we might see all sorts of footprints, but we don’t get snow very often, so why don’t we make a trap to catch the footprints in the autumn!
For this activity, you will need an old baking tray, or borrow a plant tray from a greenhouse. Maybe you could find something else to use, as long as it has low sides it will work.
Then you need some fine sand - do you know anybody with a sandpit? Perhaps they would let you borrow some? Pour the sand into the tray and make it damp, smooth the top as carefully as you can, then place a bowl of meaty cat or dog food in the middle of it. Place the tray in a quiet spot in your garden. Now comes the really hard bit, you need to wait overnight to check for the local wildlife to find and eat the food! You can probably expect to find a few cat paw prints too!
What footprints will you find?
Here are some useful links to help you identify the prints
https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/how-identify/identify-tracks
https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/blog/2017/12/animal-tracks-snow-print-identification/