Mystery boxes and Jelly Ears

Sophie Atkinson

Youth Action Officer

The Youth Rangers were subjected to a spooky sensory activity at The Deneway to celebrate Halloween. They were tasked with identifying different natural objects from the reserve (cunningly collected by the Trainee Rangers, Abi Haidemenos and Claire Oughtred) using only touch. Who would have thought a misshapen fallen apple could cause such entertainment?

The sensory adventures didn’t stop there, a fungi hunt in the pouring rain yielded some squishy and slimy delights that you wouldn’t want to find in your sweets bag at the end of a night of trick or treating. Two particularly interesting textures came in the form of the Jelly Ear fungus, and Tripe Fungus, two fungi that are related both in genus (Auricularia) and in sliminess.

To top it all off, two teams went head-to-head in a nature-based Halloween quiz. The final question left some of us stumped, do you know the answer?

A long time ago, people thought Frogs were a good medicine and ate them alive to cure which disease?

a) Whooping cough

b) The plague

c) Chicken pox