Section 14 EO C190.07 – IDENTIFY HABITATS OF ANIMALS AND INSECTS

Insect Gatherings

Many insects are inactive during the heat of the day, although most emerge to collect moisture when it rains. Look for them in nooks and crannies of trees and behind the bark, in the tissue and seed pods of plants, in any moist shady spots and on the beds of pools of water and streams. The larvae and grubs of many insects are edible and easily found in rotten logs, underground, or under the bark of dead trees. Ants’ and termites’ nests are often immediately recognizable mounds. Snails can be found in fresh water, salt water and from deserts to alpine meadows. Slugs are simply snails without shells.

Insects provide ample amounts of protein, fats, carbohydrates, calcium and iron. Insects can be found throughout the world and they are easy to procure. Worms contain the highest class of protein with a large proportion of essential amino acids and are easily collected. Although a fair number of insects can be eaten raw, it is best to cook them to avoid ingesting unwanted parasites. Collect only living specimens. Avoid any that look sick or dead, have a bad smell or produce skin irritation or a rash when handled.

As a general rule, avoid insects that carry disease (eg, flies, mosquitoes, and ticks), poisonous insects (eg, centipedes and spiders), and insects that have fine hair, bright colours, and eight or more legs.

Many animals make their homes in burrows, usually on high ground away from water. Some, such as rabbits and ground squirrels, use little effort to conceal them, although one or two exits are hidden for use in an emergency. Rabbits’ emergency holes are easily dug out; a piece of bramble or barbed wire can be pushed down the hole to hook the rabbit out.

Signs of feeding include:

Discarded fruits or nuts are often found when food is plentiful—an animal finds one piece not to its liking and drops it to try another. They not only reveal an animal’s presence but suggest bait for traps.

A skilled eye can often identify the species of animal by the pattern left by tooth or beak marks on a nut, or the way in which a pine cone has been stripped to get at its seeds.

Droppings give one of the best indications of whether an animal is an herbivore or a carnivore. The size of the animal can be judged from their mass and quantity; dryness is an indication of how long since the droppings were passed. Old droppings are hard and odourless. Fresh are wet and still smelling. Flies draw attention to droppings.

Many mammal droppings have a strong scent. Animals that live on vegetation, such as cattle, deer and rabbits, produce roundish and strawy droppings. The droppings from a meat eater, like cats, are long and tapered. Break open a dropping to see if there are any clues to what the animals have been eating, then bait accordingly.

Some animals root up the ground in search of insects and tubers. If the earth is still crumbly and fresh, an animal is likely to have been active on the spot recently. Small scratches may be where a squirrel or other rodents have been digging for shoots.

Scents and Smells

Listen to the noises and register the smells. They are certain to include indications of the wildlife present and where one kind of animals exists there may be others.

Animal tracks consist of bent blades of grass, gnawed bone, broken seeds, the dragged body or tail, and the footprint of the animal.

All prints of an animal are not the same as they depend upon:

When a track is observed:

The objective of this activity is to have the cadets identify habitats of animals and insects.

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1.Guide the cadets around various points on the trail / route, pointing out any signs of animal habitats.

2.Divide the cadets into groups of three and have them look for habitats of animals.

3.After 10 minutes, have the cadets return back to the instruction area.

4.Have the cadets discuss what animal(s) may live in the habitats they have found.

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