Meet real creatures over May half term

Over the half term holiday in May, Wildwood the award winning woodland discovery park near Canterbury is organising an a week of events allowing people to learn more about snails, fish, frogs and snakes. Come face to face with these misunderstood and fascinating creatures.

With only just over a week to May half term places on Wildwood's ever popular events are going fast - book now to avoid disappointment.

Tuesday May 26 - Slimy Snails

• Meet real snails and make lots of snazzy snails to take home, plus green slime.

Wednesday May 27 - Fabulous Fish

• Encounter real fish and make lots of fabulous fish crafts.

Thursday May 28 - Fantastic Frogs

• Face to face with real frogs, froggy crafts to take home.

Friday May 29 - SSSuper Snakes

• Get acquainted with real snakes, lots of snake crafts to make and take home.

Please note that entry to the event is only permitted if entry to or membership of the park has been paid.

Each day from Tuesday May 26 to Friday May 29 2009, 2:30-3:30pm, you can learn about these fascinating and misunderstood creatures.

Tickets are available at £2 per person (one adult per family goes free) and is in addition to the usual entry fee to the park. Please call Anne to book a place on 01227 712111.

A huge range of British animals can be seen at the Wildwood Discovery Park, for more information visit the website at www.wildwoodtrust.org or telephone 0871 7820087.

Wildwood is an ideal day out for all the family where you can come 'nose to nose' with British Wildlife. Wildwood offers its members and visitors a truly inspirational way to learn about the natural history of Britain by actually seeing the wildlife that once lived here, like the wolf, beaver, red squirrel, wild boar and many more.

Wildwood is situated close to Canterbury, just off the A291 between Herne Bay and Canterbury. For more information visit our website at www.wildwoodtrust.org or telephone 0871 782008.

Snail facts

• The largest land snail ever found was 15 inches long and weighed 2 pounds!
  
• Snails' bodies produce a thick slime. Because of this slime, they can crawl across the edge of a razor and not get hurt.
  
• Some snails have been known to live up to 15 years.
  
• Snails are hermaphrodites which means that they have both male and female reproductive organs.
  
• Snails usually travel in irregular paths, often traveling in a circle.
  
• Snails reply mainly on their sense of touch and smell when finding food because they have very poor eyesight.
  
• Snails cannot hear.
  
• Snails can retract one or both of their tentacles at a time.
  
• Because of the suction created by their slime, a snail can crawl upside down.
  
• Snails are nocturnal animals which means they are more active at night.
  
• Garden Snails mainly eat garden plants and vegetables, but they will also eat decaying plants and soil.
  
• The fastest snails are the speckled garden snails which can move up to 55 yards per hour compared 23 inches per hour of most other land snails.
  
• Garden snails hibernate during the winter and live on their stored fat.
  
• Garden snails breathe with lungs.
  
• Garden snails evolved from sea snails about 600 million years ago.
  
• The garden snail is cooked and eaten as a delicacy called escargot
  
• May 24th is National Escargot Day

Fish facts

• Fish have been on the earth for more than 450 million years.
  
• Fish were well established long before dinosaurs roamed the earth.
  
• There are over 25,000 identified species of fish on the earth.It is estimated that there may still be over 15,000 fish species that have not yet been identified.
  
• There are more species of fish than all the species of amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals combined.40% of all fish species inhabit fresh water, yet less than .01% of the earth's water is fresh water.
  
• The spotted climbing perch is able to absorb oxygen from the air and will crawl overland using its strong pectoral fins.
  
• Some fish like sharks don't posses an air bladder to help keep them afloat and must either swim continually or rest on the bottom.
  
• Some fish make sounds by grating their teeth and others like some catfish make sounds from their air filled swim bladder.
  
• Some species of fish can fly (glide) others can skip along the surface and others can even climb rock.
  
• Fish have a specialized sense organ called the lateral line which works much like radar and helps them navigate in dark or murky water.
  
• The largest fish is the great whale shark which can reach fifty feet in length.
  
• The smallest fish is the Philippine goby that is less than 1/3 of an inch when fully grown.
  
• Some species of fish have skeletons made only of cartilage.
  
• Fish have excellent senses of sight, touch, taste and many possess a good sense of smell and 'hearing'.
  
• Fish feel pain and suffer stress just like mammals and birds.
  
• Tropical fish are one of the most popular pets in the U.S.95% of tropical fish mortality results from improper housing and nutrition.
  
• Many tropical fish sold in the United States are harvested from the wild in Africa, Asia, and Central and South America.