Course description:  This course requires an evening and a short morning session the following day and is a rare opportunity to see woodland mammals close up. In the morning they learn about the mammals found and their place in the food chain. It may also be possible to combine this activity with investigating the variety of moths in the area.

Main Activity: During the evening the children, working in small groups, set the traps in two distinct areas of the woodland adjoining the centre. They return the following morning and use keys to identify any mammals found. The children weigh the mammal and discover how the animal has adapted to its environment and how man can threaten it. The activity ends with a food chain game to show how the creatures and plants of the wood are interdependent.

Data about the mammals has been collected over a number of years. This provides the opportunity for follow up work especially data handling.

Moths: Depending on weather conditions it may be possible to  also set a humane moth trap during the evening and then observe, identify and release the moths the following morning.