Where do animals choose to live, and how do they build their homes? While we didn’t delve too far into this subject, we did talk this week about what animals need from their homes and their immediate surroundings. They need food, water, shelter from the elements, and security from predators. And we contemplated many different styles of animal homes, some of which we found on our woods walk: caves, dens, lodges, burrows, hives, nests, webs, shells, hollow logs, and more.
Our groups then spent the afternoon constructing shelters and mini-habitats of various scales. One team began building a shelter out of sticks and boughs. There’s room for 5 people inside, if those people are on the smaller size…..
Another crew checked out the old beaver lodge and the clay in the adjacent brook. They then constructed scaled down shelters, fairy houses, and clayscapes using the same materials beavers might use.
If you are wondering, you are correct that clayscape is not in the dictionary, but it is the best way I can describe the intricate and beautiful creations that emerged from found natural materials!
owlwoods.org 