With day light getting shorter what could be better than going for a walk in the forest, in the DARK! That is exactly what Manawatu KCC branch did in May. They walked up a forested track just a short drive from Palmerston North to go on a glow worm hunt. The night was clear and the walk started by spotting the moon and stars. A ruru was heard in the distance and cricket sounds came from the undergrowth. It was quite a balancing act to find the glow worms as they needed light to see where they were walking, but they were only going to find the glow worms if they turned their torches off. Finally, they came to a moist bank where the glow worms were visible. One child commented “wow they look like little stars that have fallen from the sky” and another child said “they are nature’s Christmas lights”. Other critters that were spotted were; a powelliphanta snail shell, a dolomedes spider, a cricket, an eel in the stream, an orb web spider, a tunnel web spider and some jumping amphipods in the leaf litter.
