September makes the mushrooms sprout and the deer roar. Here are our microadventure tips for this month.
- 1. Find mushrooms
- 2. Building a home in the forest
- 3. Listening to the rutting of the stags
- 4. Cross-country expedition
- 5. Building a home for hedgehogs
- Let’s go on an adventure
1. Find mushrooms
Now in autumn the mushrooms start to sprout and they are not only pretty to look at, but also taste super delicious as you know. Besides, it is especially for your children an insane sense of achievement when you are "victorious". But how can you go about it as a beginner?
The hat is so big that you can make mushroom cutlets out of it: Parasols, which we discovered on our last trip
First of all, it is very important to collect only those mushrooms that you can recognize one hundred percent. Confusion can otherwise become really dangerous. So there are two options:
Either grab someone who knows and have them show you what mushrooms are available in your area. If you don’t have anyone in your circle of friends, look for organized "mushroom hikes" in your area.
Or: You just go mushroom hunting for fun and enjoy the great shapes and colors without even wanting to take and eat any. You will notice how much fun it is to walk through the forest attentively and to keep a lookout together. You can then take souvenir photos of your discoveries and maybe your children can think of funny stories about the mushroom men.
2. Build a home in the forest
Do you fancy a change of scenery? Then just build your (temporary) home in the forest.
Simply look for a piece of forest in which deadwood is lying around and get started. How exactly you do it is up to your imagination. Of course, there are instructions on how to build an efficient and weatherproof mushroom house – but let’s be honest: Your kids will have a lot more fun just building one!.
Looks already really cozy. One of the forest homes from our Ausgebuxt group in Trier, Germany
Use a bit of biodegradable material to help you out Jute string with. With them you can stabilize the base construction.
When the roof is on, you can embellish your new home even more. How about furniture, a fluffy moss rain screen, or a small herb garden out front?
Before you go home you have to dismantle your construction. If you like, thank the forest for giving you such a nice home for today and give your building materials back to the other inhabitants of the forest.
3. Listening to the stags rut
September is the mating season for red deer. The males don’t care much about the female deer most of the year and roam the woods separately from them. Now, however, awakens in the older animals the desire for a pack of pretty hinds and they go in search of it.
Stupidly only that they are usually not the only one who comes on this idea, and thus they must make clear to the Nebenbuhlern that they are the correct one around the ladies to copulate.
Red deer at roaring CC BY-SA 3.0 – Wikimedia Commons (colors adjusted)
Before it then comes to tangible fights with the antlers, the battle first takes place acoustically and the masters underpin their claim with bloodcurdling roars. That sounds quite impressive:
On your own it is rather difficult to eavesdrop on the deer in the process. But there are guided tours all over Germany, where a professional will help you to hear and maybe even see the rutting. A map with contact details is available here: Red deer rut in Germany
4. Cross-country expedition
Around your home you know many areas like the back of your hand. But what if you simply forbid yourself to walk along paths and only go cross-country??
Pick a destination that you know and is not too hard to hit. That can z.B. Be a mountain top, a path or a stream.
When it gets rough, it’s really fun
Now look from your starting point in the direction you want to go. What is the terrain like? Do you just go straight ahead or do you see a route that is better? In some places you will have to take unexpected detours or maybe help each other to get through them. You are sure to discover things along the way that you have never noticed before.
But remember not to start your expedition at night or at dusk, so that you don’t disturb any animals.
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5. Building a home for hedgehogs
While late summer can still bring beautiful, sunny days, hedgehogs are already busy preparing their winter quarters from October onwards. Here’s what you and your kids can do to support them.
European hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus) CC BY-SA 2.0 – Wikimedia Commons
Hedgehogs prefer to live in piles of leaves and brushwood under which they can snuggle and where they are protected from the cold temperatures. In addition, you can also build a real house for them to move into. You can find instructions here at NABU. Place your construction in as quiet a corner of the garden as possible and refrain from looking in between.
As long as it does not freeze frequently, the animals still walk around at night and try to eat as much fat as possible. But when it starts to get really cold in November, they crawl into their homes and simply slumber until March/April.
Let’s go on an adventure
Well, was there something for you? What adventure do you want to try this month? Are you starting a cross-country expedition, do you want to discover mushrooms or do you have completely different plans?? Tell us in the comments.
With this in mind – have fun on your way out!
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