Woodlouse Minibeast Adventure with Jess

Hello, adventurers! I'm Jess.

It's time for a minibeast adventure!

# Feelers out, what's about?

# Creeping, sleeping, under stones here and there

# Nesting, resting, minibeasts are everywhere

# Minibeasts are everywhere, look and listen, stop and stare

# Minibeasts are everywhere, a minibeast adventure

# Feelers out, what's about?

# Minibeasts are everywhere, look and listen, stop and stare

# Mini worlds for us to share, a minibeast adventure

# With Jess! #

Welcome to my tree house.

Maybe you've seen one of these before.

It's called a woodlouse.

They look a bit like sea creatures,

like crabs or lobsters.

But woodlice live a long way from the sea,

in places like my garden.

Let's have a closer look.

It looks like it's wearing a suit of armour, doesn't it?

We have bones inside us.

You can feel them under your skin.

Go on, have a feel.

That's your skeleton.

Well, a woodlouse has its skeleton on the outside.

That hard shell is its skeleton

and protects it, just like a suit of armour.

Can you see how its shell is made up of lots of bits that overlap?

They help the woodlice to bend.

Some woodlice can even curl up into a tiny ball if they're in danger.

Woodlice have two antennae at the front to help them

find their way around.

They do have eyes, but they don't see very well,

so they explore their world with these antennae.

They like to live in damp, dark places

and eat rotting plants and wood,

so they're one of nature's recyclers.

They don't like the light, and usually hide in the day

and come out at night.

I'm sure there's one hiding near you.

Shall we go and find it?

Come on.

Whatever the weather, we're off together on a minibeast adventure!

Hi, James. Hi, Betsy.

-Hi, Jess.

-Hi, Jess.

Fantastic to see you.

Today, we're going on a woodlouse adventure.

Do you know what a woodlouse is?

-No.

-No?

They're minibeasts that like damp, dark places.

-Do you know anywhere like that around here?

-I do.

Do you? Where?

It's over where the raspberries are.

Next to the raspberries?

Shall we go and have a look, then?

-Yes.

-Get your feelers ready.

ALL: Feelers out, what's about?

We're off on a minibeast adventure! Come on.

-Can you see anything?

-I might think under here.

-OK, let's have a look under there.

-I think it's in the balls.

I found a little, little snail.

Oh, that's tiny!

-Wow, do you know what they are?

-No.

These are earwigs.

Ew. Do they live in ears?

They don't live in ears, at all.

They live in houses and they live in gardens.

On their back is a hook.

Yeah.

What do you think those hooks are for?

I don't know. They pinch.

Yeah, they're for pinching.

So, they can use them for pinching food, or if they're scared,

they can use them for pinching whatever's scaring them.

-Do you think we should put this back, now?

-Yeah.

-OK.

Now, to find woodlice, we need to look UNDER something.

-So, where are there some more things we could look under?

-I know!

-The plant pots.

-Oh, where are they?

-They're over there.

-Come on, then.

Oh!

Look at that.

We found what we were looking for. This is a woodlouse.

His legs are funny.

-How many has it got?

-I don't know.

James, would you like to look with a magnifying glass

-to count how many legs it's got?

-Yeah.

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven.

-Seven? Seven on this side?

-Can I look at it?

And seven on the other side.

So, that means it's got 14 legs!

Wow, look. What are those things on the front of its face?

-Antennae.

-Antennae, yes.

That's exactly what they are.

Shall we put it in the tray to have a closer look?

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

-OK.

-There we go.

-I found another one of them.

-Did you? Where?

Oh, you're right, Betsy! There's a whole family of them down there.

Oh, we can have a really good look at them in this tray.

Can you see those? What are they?

They're baby beetles.

Oh, they do look like baby beetles, don't they?

But they're actually baby woodlice.

-Aren't they tiny?

-Like...

Woodlice are really, really good mummies.

-They look after their babies.

-What about the sisters?

Well, they're all brothers and sisters, probably.

They probably all come from the same mummy.

Oh, they're so sweet.

When you have had a big drink, you'll probably want to go to the toilet.

But however much a woodlouse drinks, it never does a wee.

Instead, its shell lets out a smelly gas.

Phewie!

Now that we know that woodlice like damp, dark places,

-I thought we could make them a woodlouse castle.

-That would be fun.

It will be fun, won't it?

We've collected some things that we think woodlice

might like to hide in.

-Shall we make a pile here to make a woodlouse castle?

-OK.

What about this for the door?

Yeah, that's perfect. So, put the door at the front.

-Here it is.

-What else can we put in?

-This.

And that could be the stairs.

OK, that can be can be the stairs.

Shall we put them flat, though?

Then there's more space for the woodlice to hide.

-Should we put some woodlice food in?

-OK.

-Go on, then.

Put it down here, shall we?

Because remember, the woodlice hide under,

so all the woodlice are going to be under here.

I might even turn this, this way

so they've got more space to hide underneath.

Do you think that'd be better?

Yes. It might be for the bed.

Yeah, this can be the bed. Perfect.

-Feel that.

-That feels soft.

Feels like perfect woodlouse food.

-And it's sticky.

-It is a bit sticky.

Would you like to put that in, James?

-This?

-Yes, perfect.

For the roof?

OK, put it on the top, then.

Look at this, it's crumbling. Oh!

-There's a woodlouse already in there, look.

-Where?

There, can you see it?

We've definitely chosen the right bits for our woodlouse castle.

What about this?

-That would be up there.

-Oh, look, it's crawling over the top.

Oh, they love our castle. We've done such a good job.

Can I get the woodlice out?

Yeah, and put it in the castle somewhere and see what they think.

Do you think they've got lots of places to hide?

-Yes.

-Where can they hide?

-Under their beds.

-Brilliant.

Oh, I think the love their castle. Do you think they're happy?

-I think they are happy with us making the castle.

-Yeah.

I loved that minibeast adventure and the great castle that

Betsy and James made for their woodlice.

Maybe you could go on a woodlice adventure, too.

There's definitely a woodlouse near you.

Look in damp places, like under pots and stones.

You could even make a castle for your woodlice, like we did.

Feelers out, what's about? Happy hunting, adventurers!