💜🎙💜 NEWS – BREAKING NEWS – Slugs have GREEN blood!
Hello there everyone from a sunny, but cold Prickly Hedge! Remember last week, when I said there were signs of Spring? Hmm, well I was wrong. I’ve felt like I was living in a deep freeze this week and I’ve most definitely frequented by fleecy pj’s this week. I’ve spent most of the week in my polar fleece ones. I don’t sleep in them, just wear them during the day to keep warm! So inside it’s been toasty and warm and I haven’t ventured out at all.
Nature still has a habit of making its presence known though and along with the lovely robins, we should start seeing more of the blackbirds and blue tits. The blue tits are the cutest little birds, they feed on the cotoneaster berries under our lounge window – conversely – the blackbirds gorge themselves on the berries, but they have been noticeable by their absence this year, sadly.
One for the boys now, or maybe the tomboy girls; they were something I’ve never really taken to but, hey, each to their own. Snails! The bane of gardener’s lives. Want to know more about them? Slugs and snails are from two different families, even though they belong to the same Phylum (Mollusca) and Class (Gastropoda).
“Slugs and snails are very important. They provide food for all sorts of mammals, birds, slow worms, earthworms, insects and they are part of the natural balance. Upset that balance by removing them and we can do a lot of harm. Thrushes in particular thrive on them!
Here are some of the weird and wonderful reasons we love slugs and snails.”
Check out the article here https://www.bbcwildlife.org.uk/gardeners-guide-slugs-snails – I’ll let you into a little secret – slug blood is green! It is! Wow, I didn’t know that. I think you might change your mind about slugs and snails after reading this, I know I did. We NEED slugs and snails, they provide food for our endangered hedgehogs. We start killing one thing in the chain and others suffer. Like the beautiful mistle thrushes from last week, they thrive on them too. This is why we have to be sooo careful with what we use for pest control in our gardens.
There’ll also be a video later in the week all about slugs and snails, here’s your advance link for that
And a little Snail song for a bit of light relief. Those eyes, they’re just TOOO cute!
And on Friday 19th, there’ll be a craft video on how to make your very own paper snail – all you’ll need is a piece of green paper and a piece of coloured paper, orange, blue, red, whatever colour you decide you want your snail to be. So get those ready for Friday Craft Morning along with some scissors and glue and get crafting with your little ones. You’ll need:
- 1 pc Green A4 Paper
- 1 pc Coloured A4 Paper
- Coloured pencils
- Scissors
- Glue/Pritt Stick
#fridaycraftmorning
What to look out for this week?
Keep an eye out for house sparrows – if you see them congregate, perhaps you have a bird table or you put some birdseed out for them, write down the number of sparrows you see this week. Let us know in the comments. They have been in decline in the UK recently, but we’ve seen a few more around this last year (and no, not because we’ve had more time in lockdown – lol).
Anyway, have a great week. Stay safe, stay well, stay home if you can and we’ll see you next week.
