Nature Detectives Family Day

A fun-packed adventure on the wild side for the whole family.

Have you ever wondered what creepy crawlies call your garden home or what furry friends scurry outside your window at night? Finding out who your wildlife neighbours are is a tricky business! Lucky for you, CAT’s expert team are on hand for an exciting day of wildlife exploring.

With loads of great ideas to practsce at home and plenty of new skills to learn, you’ll finish the day at CAT a true nature detective!

Event information

• Price: adult – £35, child – £20
• Suitable for children aged 6 years and up.
• Suitable footwear and clothing required for a day out in nature!

About the day

09:00 – Arrival and intro

The tools of the trade
Meet the group and set the scene for the day with a bright and early session all about camera traps, paint traps and nature spotting.

Mammals
Take a hike up into the woodland that surrounds CAT and start the hunt for the animals that call CAT home. Set some camera traps, lay out some bait and even try your hand at some tracking.

10:45 – Snacks and drinks

Invertebrates
Get down and dirty on the hunt for the small but mighty insects in CAT’s meadow and woodland. Learn how to use quadrats, try your hand at bug identifying and more.

12:15 – Lunch and get crafty!
Enjoy a tasty vegetarian meal and build a mini bug hotel to take home – twigs, leaves and fir cones… every insect’s dream home!

Pond life
Try your hand at pond dipping and see how many different species call the ponds at CAT home. A water source is so fantastic for adding biodiversity to green spaces and revealing the critters that live just under the surface is a lot of fun!

Birds
At last, a moment of calm. Have a go at making a vegetable suet fat ball feeder and then practice the art of ‘sit spots’ as the group gets comfy and sits quietly while birds in the area come and try their new treats. Sometimes letting nature come to you is best!

15:15 – Snacks and drinks

Check the traps!
Time to see if we’ve had any visitors to any of our traps. Will you be lucky? With wild animals, nothing is guaranteed.

16:00 – Depart