Something's been bugging me.
02-Jun-2017 | Milku
There's been nowhere for my insect friends to live.
It's Day 2 of 30 Days Wild.
It is tricky to find nature in the middle of a town, but, yesterday, I was impressed to hear my humans talking about visiting a coral island in Blackpool. The weather can be wonderful, but not good enough to support coral. Then I found out they'd been to one of the arcades on the promenade...wild, perhaps, but not much nature there! Oh well...
For today we've dipped once again into the 365 Outdoor Activities You Have To Try book and selected...activity number 29.
My little humans made small bug houses when they were at the Bear Grylls Festival at Tatton Park last year. They looked good, but never made it outdoors. Indeed, I’m surprised they didn’t end up in my cage as an ‘interesting’ thing for me to climb.
Anyway, this year they had bigger ambitions and decided to make a bug hotel and do a bit of recycling while they were at it.
My big humans complain that there are too many bugs in the garden, nibbling at plants and generally making a nuisance of themselves. However, bug hotels and houses are supposed help gardeners...attracting good bugs who might eat troublesome aphids or who might help pollinate plants. We'll see...
After refurbishing an old desk, one of my big humans had a box-like structure that had been used to file letters and stuff. Good job it hadn’t been broken down for firewood because it was perfect as a frame for the bug hotel. They’d salvaged tree cuttings from the church car park and old garden canes that weren’t suitable for use this year. They gathered off cuts of wood from other projects too. With a lot of sawing and a bit of drilling, small pieces were piled up ready for the younger humans to fill the frame. They worked really hard but there was still a gap…so I let them have my log. My humans think the reason I don’t quite fit through the holes any more is because I’ve had a few too many snacks. But really it’s just because I’m growing up. You can see it in the photo… it’s a perfect fit and looks great.
I’m wondering if it’d be acceptable for me to get more closely acquainted with some of the bugs after they’ve moved into the hotel. I know that the intention is for the bugs to help out in the garden, but surely one or two wouldn’t be missed…I’d like to see if I could hunt…
Come back back later in the month when we'll tell you whether any bugs have checked in to the hotel.