A trip to RSPB Vane Farm

Last month me Mum Dad and my baby brother Sam went to the RSPB reserve at Vane Farm, which is in Fife in Scotland. We've been RSPB members for over a year but we hadn't gone before. It was a beautiful sunny day and I saw loads of things.

Vulpy, the fox skeleton

This week I'm going to write about my fox skeleton which I've called Vulpy. (All my skeletons have alphabetical names and I'm up to Y so far). This fox was given to me by a gamekeeper in my village, and last September I buried it by the Secret Lake. Last month I dug it up, brought it home and left the bones to clean in biological washing powder.

Wilma, the unborn red deer fawn

Last week I wrote about finding the skeleton of a pregnant red deer hind, and finding the bones of her baby deer as well. This week I'm going to write more about the baby skeleton.

There were 101 pieces of bone I found and brought back. First of all I put them in very hot water with biological washing powder, then changing the water as it got dirty. That took about a week. After that I dried them out and tried to put them back together.

Baby deer and a gruesome find

Baby deer are born in May, usually towards the end of the month. It's great to see baby deer, because they are small, cute and have a lovely spotted coat. When baby roe deer are born their mums hide them in bracken or long grass for a few weeks to keep them safe. Once when I was walking in woods near the Roman Fort in my village, two baby roe deer ran away ! It's important not to chase them or pick them up because if their mum smells humans, she might not go back to them.