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How to use this book

The Random Acts of Wildness have been ordered roughly by season, although most can be done at any time of year: just do whatever takes your fancy on the day. Though most activities are great for kids, some – like the DIY gin recipes – are not, so parents, please supervise. As well as lots of really Random Acts of Wildness in the book, you’ll notice that there are some common themes that appear throughout.

Wild words

There are lots of ‘wild words’ for you to learn and try to use in everyday conversation. Words are magical things. They’re full of mischievous ideas, paint beautiful pictures, and tell us stories of the world around us. Lots of people grow up without knowing what these words are and what they really mean: are apples and blackberries fruits or phones? Are chatrooms more important than clovers, catkins and conkers? Of course not. We can all make room for a little more nature in our brains by learning some wild words, sharing them with other people and putting them into practice by having amazing wild experiences. The words scattered throughout the book are my favourites. See if you can use them. What are your favourites? You can even make up your own words – that’s how language is born!

Think before you buy

Again, there are lots of these tips included. They don’t require much effort at all – just a little bit of conscious thought when you’re out doing your regular weekly shop. Every time we clean our houses, do the dishes, take a shower, get crafty, eat takeaway food, and so on, we’re having an impact on planet Earth. Help is at hand, though – I’ve pulled together some easy switches to make in your everyday life that will allow you to do your bit for Mother Nature.

Identify a wild species

In every chapter there are examples of wild plants and animals described (with photos) that should help you feel more confident in identifying some of the most common species you might see every day. From bees to trees, grasses to fungi, there are interesting hints and tips to guide you in figuring out what species you’re looking at. Don’t worry – you don’t have to remember all of these by heart (I certainly can’t!); just keep referring to the book if you’re not sure. If you find that you really love learning about a certain group of plants or animals, think about investing in field guides for those species.

Unexpected Random Acts of Wildness

Unexpected animal enounters can happen anywhere and at any time. Some of them can be completely accidental, while others are even more magical than you expected. They can happen to anyone, too. I’ve included some of my own unexpected Random Acts of Wildness to show you how, once you begin to immerse yourself in a wild life, you can encounter unbelievable species. The eight included in this book are some of my most enchanting wildlife experiences – from bow riding dolphins to breaching humpback whales and encounters with badgers and natterjack toads. There are a lot more I could have picked from, too. Once you start your own wild life, you’ll find that you have your own moments. I’ve also included a few hints and tips to show you the best way to have a similar experience.

Staying happy and safe in the wild

I don’t want to impose lots of rules on your time in the wild: this is about what you can do, and not what you can’t. That said, being sensible and looking after nature while you’re out enjoying it will ensure it thrives for future generations. All the activities in this book are meant to be carried out responsibly, and it is your responsibility to ensure that all Random Acts of Wildness keep yourself and the natural world safe. Whether you’re climbing a tree, dipping your feet in the water or tasting a wild blackberry, take care.

The Countryside Code

There’s a simple code to follow when you’re out enjoying wild places, for the benefit of both people and wildlife. You can find a copy of the full code online at gov.uk/government/publications/the-countryside-code, but here are the key points:

Respect other people. Many people, just like you, love spending time in wild places – they live there, work there or go there for pleasure. So when you’re exploring, stick to footpaths and leave gates the way you find them (whether they’re open or closed). Climb over stiles and through gaps, never over walls or fences. Treat farm animals and vehicles with caution and respect, giving them a wide berth. If you see a problem, let the local landowner know.

Protect the natural environment. Take as many photos as you like – but never pick wildflowers or dig up trees to take home. Make sure that all litter gets collected. Don’t light fires or drop cigarette butts. Dogs must always be kept under control and cleaned up after, and make sure to respect local rules: if an area doesn’t allow dogs, it’s for a reason. There might be ground-nesting birds or a rare habitat that needs protecting, or livestock in the area. It’s your responsibility to find out what these rules are, and the internet is a great place to start.

All wild plants are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act (1981) and it is illegal to dig up or remove a plant without permission. Some species are specially protected (these can be found on Schedule 8 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act (1981)).

Prepare to enjoy the outdoors. Stay safe by doing a little prep if you’re going into wild areas: look up your location online or in an up-to-date guidebook. Remember, you may not have phone signal, so always let someone know where you’re going. The weather can change quickly in the uplands, so be prepared with warm clothes, waterproofs and something to eat or drink. Follow local signs and guidance.

Wild swimming

Wild swimming can be great fun, but it must be enjoyed responsibly and safely. This book gives no guidance as to locations or specific situations, so before taking a dip, make sure that you have researched your activity thoroughly, looking at local conditions, legal access and your own physical suitability for the swim. Give fishermen a wide berth and respect local landowners’ wishes. Before getting in the water, check for changing or rip tides, strong currents, weed or debris in the water, cold or deep water, or anything else that could cause harm. There are loads of online forums and websites that can provide information about the best swimming locations – these are the best place to start. Even better – join a local wild swimming group, who can offer support, activities, events and social opportunities, too!

Wild foraging

Many wildlife sites don’t allow commercial foraging, so keep your foraging for domestic use only. Some sites don’t allow foraging at all, so always check for local guidance and legal protection – it’s illegal to pick some species. Some plants and fungi are poisonous to humans, so be 100 per cent sure of identification and edibility before you eat any. Courses are a great place to start or go out with an expert to pick up top tips. Books and the internet are good resources, too, but if there are any doubts on identification, it’s best not to eat it. Only forage where there is a lot of food to be had and only take what you need. Leave plenty for local wildlife populations, which may depend on it.

Be respectful, be responsible, and have wonderful adventures!

EARLY SPRING

1. Start a wild diary

Welcome to the start of your wild adventure – 365 Days Wild! I promise, you are going to have a really wild time and you’re going to love every second. There are 365 Random Acts of Wildness here for you to try out. Every single one will encourage you to fall in love with, learn about or even help wildlife and wild places near you. So, what are you waiting for?

As you start doing more and more Random Acts of Wildness, you might forget what you’ve done already, so start a wild diary. You could either buy or make one and decorate it with drawings or sketches, or even fallen leaves and pressed petals. The most important thing about your diary is that it will help you reflect on all the different Random Acts of Wildness that you’ve already done, and plan what you might do next.

Write down everything you do and, if you’re feeling arty, you could draw little pictures or even stick in things that you find – feathers, leaves and so on. You could include notes about wildlife you’ve seen, like birds or insects; who you were with at the time; and where you went.

But that’s only the beginning – as well as what you’ve done, make a note of how those Random Acts of Wildness have made you feel. Did you feel excited, calm, relaxed, nervous, grumpy, inspired, tired, joyful? Be completely honest with yourself and make a note of anything you think or feel as you’re doing your Random Act of Wildness that day.

This will also give you a little reminder to do something wild every day, as you’ll want to write it down. If you miss a day – that’s fine. We all lead hectic lifestyles and finding that wild time can be tricky. Hopefully your diary will help you make time, no matter where you are or what you’re doing.

Finally, as you’re filling up the pages, don’t forget to look back on what you’ve been doing, and remember all the Random Acts of Wildness you’ve done. How does it make you feel when you re-live those memories? Hopefully you’ll begin to see how amazing a wild life really is.

2. Find your local patch

Wildlife and wild places are all around us. You just have to know where to look and what you’re looking for. Wildlife can find a home in the most unusual of places, so start with those you know well: your garden, your neighbourhood and any regular journeys you make, such as to work or school. Is there a park or churchyard within a mile or two? Maybe there’s even a local nature reserve. This is your ‘patch’ – a little bit of the world that you can get to know better than anyone else. Take the first step towards exploring your local wildlife and within a short space of time you’ll become a local patch expert.

To start with, you won’t need anything other than your senses. As you get more confident, you may need a website, app or book to help you identify wildlife, and perhaps a pair of binoculars, but these aren’t essential. Identify an area near you that looks promising: lush, green and with some wildlife.

Exploration is about using all your senses, so start by looking and listening for wildlife. Can you hear birds singing? Can you see different flowers? Do the leaves have different shapes? Begin by noticing one or two little things every day in your patch and make a note of them in your diary (or on a blog or calendar).

Try and get back to your patch every few days (or if you’re feeling ambitious, every day!) and build on what you’ve already noticed: what else is there? Is anything new? Is the weather changing what’s happening? Try different times of day as well, keeping notes all the time. If you’re struggling to identify wildlife while you’re there, take photos or notes or make sketches.

Keeping lists of the wildlife you’ve seen and how it’s changed over the seasons will bring a huge sense of achievement. And reflecting on your memories will bring a sense of connection with your very own wild patch.

3. Search for mini wildness

Habitats don’t have to be huge to be diverse – it’s all about your sense of perspective. Nature can find a way to flourish even in tiny spaces. See if you can spot wildflowers, dandelions or grasses sprouting out of the sides of walls, between cracks in the pavement, or even in the gutters above. You’ll see a jumble of weeds growing up near the roof of a house or an office building. That’s all part of the magic. Lichens and mosses love to grow in fresh, clean air on any available surface, on benches, trees, the sides of buildings, so open your eyes to these undiscovered wild places and see what you can spot. Remember, weeds are just plants that are growing in the ‘wrong’ place. We should be celebrating weeds, not uprooting them! Next time you see a dandelion or some daisies, before you seek vengeance, take a moment to appreciate just how pretty they are.

4. Timelapse a tree

Is there a tree you go past every day on the way to work, or one near your house, in a street or local park? This Random Act of Wildness will only take a few seconds and a camera phone, but you’ll need to go back to your tree at least twelve times over the course of a year – your 365 Days Wild. Focusing on a local tree will make this as easy for you as possible, especially if it’s a tree you pass every day. All you need to do is take a photograph. Try and get the whole tree in, from the roots to the very end of the twigs. Save the photo (you’ll need it again), then repeat as often as you can, making sure that you return to the exact same spot each time to take the photograph. You could do this once a month, once a fortnight, once a week, or even daily if you like a challenge! You’re creating a timelapse of your tree, and as you look back through your photos you’ll begin to see the subtle changes that we take for granted – when the first buds appear, when the tree is full and lush, when the leaves begin to change colour and fall, and when the branches are bare and naked. If you can keep it up all year round, you’ll get a diary for your tree. You could print your photos off and create a collage, or if you’re a techy whizz then you could create a single display or even a video of them on your computer – perfect for sharing with friends!

5. Lift up a log

Look for a log that’s been lying on the ground a good long time. This could be anywhere – in a woodland, in your garden, in the park. Carefully, using gloves if you like, lift one end and see what might be lurking in the cracks. To us, this may not look like much, but a fallen log, decaying inside, with lots of bits rotting away, creating a yummy, woody mulch, is the perfect mini ecosystem for all sorts of invertebrates, or maybe even amphibians like frogs or newts. The trick is to be gentle, and don’t pick anything that looks too heavy. Just peek underneath – what can you see? Look for brightly coloured beetles, like ladybirds, or earwigs scurrying for cover. Centipedes and millipedes will love this damp, dark hideaway, and slugs and snails might tuck themselves into the cracks. Even if you don’t know the species, see how many different creatures you can spot. When you’re finished, make sure to lay the log back down exactly where you found it. That’s somebody else’s home, after all!

6. Inhale a wild scent

Make the most of your most underappreciated sense today: smell. The natural world is bursting with gorgeous (and some not so gorgeous!) aromas, and they only take a few seconds to enjoy if you’ve got a jam-packed day. Try and find different wild smells, even if you’re in the city and think that you’re confined to fast-food joints, car emissions and whatever other unpleasantness might be lurking about.

Trees have a smell, bushes and flowers have a smell, freshly fallen rain on a hot pavement has a smell. It’s about taking a bit of time in your day to find something wild and see what it smells like. In the spring and summer, target wildflowers growing in unusual places or wild in mini meadows. In the winter, it might be more challenging, but see what you can find. My personal favourites are gorse flowers, pine needles and the dank smell of a woodland after it has rained.

7. Keep a window list

Pick a window with a view either from your house or your workplace. Make sure that it’s got a bit of variety, so overlooking a garden or your street, a park or green space, or a few trees. Keep a pen and a notebook on the windowsill. Every time you see a new animal from the window, make a note of it. You can only include wildlife that you see from that window, so other rooms in the house or workplace don’t count. Look carefully at all the different places where wildlife could be hiding – in the tops of trees, flying overhead, buried in bushes, perched in the distance. Don’t forget to check for insects crawling along the window ledge, too! Once you’ve been looking for a few days, you’ll find that you know this familiar scene much better than you did before. You’ll also become a bit obsessed. If you want to challenge yourself further, get a friend involved and ask them to do the same from a window of their choice; you can compete for the best window list!

8. Think before you buy

Peat-free compost has been around for years, and it’s a must-have for the conscientious gardener. Traditional composts contain a substance called peat, which is mined from peaty bogs around the world. It’s taken years to form and is a hugely valuable resource when left out in nature – it locks up carbon, helping to fight climate change, and is a great habitat for plants, mosses and beasties. The processes involved in extracting it are devastating huge areas of the countryside. So next time you’re shopping for compost, insist on peat-free. Even better, make your own (find out how here).

9. Relax under a rainbow

This Random Act of Wildness requires the right type of weather, but when it happens you should savour the beauty. When there is rain in the air and the sun breaks through the clouds, rainbows can form in the atmosphere, arching over the earth. This natural spectrum of light is caused by sunlight refracting and reflecting through the moisture and raindrops. We’ve all seen them, so rather than ruing the rain, take a minute to stop and relax under this natural light show. Does it get stronger or begin to fade? Is it a full arch or broken by clouds? Sit back and admire it – what’s your favourite colour shining in the sky?

10. Change your perspective

This Random Act of Wildness is simple, but surprisingly good for you! Rather than looking down at your phone, change your perspective and look up. Give your neck a rest, stretch your muscles and search for birds in unusual places, insects above you, or even just clouds racing by overhead. You might see gulls, like kittiwakes, nesting on top of buildings, or wagtails hunting on rooftops, pumping their tails as they go. Peregrine falcons love cityscapes, using the buildings like cliffs and crags. All of that looking down can’t be good for you, so eyes to the skies today and enjoy the sun, rain or wind on your face!

11. Learn a wild word

Bouncing along from tree to tree, look out for little black, white and pink bumbarrels moving through in flocks. They are, of course, long-tailed tits. Long-tailed tits stick together. In early spring, they’ll begin to build intricate, teardrop-shaped nests of moss, feathers and spider webs. You may see young, non-breeding birds helping their older relatives, getting the nest ready and ship-shape for the eggs and chicks. They huddle together at night, packed tightly on a branch. Other great nicknames for these gorgeous little fellas include prinpiddle and mumruffin.

12. Pick up a piece of plastic

Plastic can be one of the worst things for nature and our environment. Most plastics don’t break down naturally on their own, and even the biodegradable ones can take years and years. Sadly, we’re almost completely reliant on plastic products and packaging – me as much as anyone – and when discarded outside it can cause serious problems for our wildlife. It can be accidentally eaten by birds and mammals, who might mistake it for food. If it makes its way into rivers, it’ll soon be in the sea, where it can be eaten by fish, whales and dolphins. In short, there’s no place for plastic lying around on the ground.

Challenge yourself today to pick up a piece of plastic litter that’s been left on the ground. If you can, take it home and recycle it, but at the very least pop it in a bin. You might find drinks bottles, old sweet wrappers, food packets and random bits that don’t make any sense at all. If you can, use a pair of gloves and wash your hands afterwards. This little Random Act of Wildness might save a little life – that’s definitely one worth doing for today!

13. Jump over puddles (or in them!)

Any good at long-jump? No, me neither. The great thing about trying to jump over puddles is that it’s just as much fun when you end up in them. On a lush rainy day, don your wellies and unleash your inner wild child. If you’ve got little ones in your life, this is a great way to motivate them to spend some time outdoors, even in the wet weather.

Find a spot with lots of puddles – try to avoid the really muddy ones. Big brown puddles full of squelchy mud may look appetising, but be aware that it’s easy to slip and lose a welly. Have you ever got your shoe stuck in the suction of thick, oozing mud? It’s all fun and games until your foot pops out and you fall over! Once you’ve got your course, challenge everyone to jump over every puddle – start with the smallest ones and work your way up to the biggest. It’s up to you if you allow a run up or if you all go from a standing start. You can give points for the biggest jumps or the most stylish. Remember: if you’ve got to drive or have a long walk home, take some spare socks and a towel – there’s nothing worse than cold, wet feet.

14. Walk on the wild side

Walking is a good form of exercise – one that we mustn’t underestimate. When you’re tired and you’ve had a long day, it can be hard to motivate yourself to get up and out of the house to stretch your legs. I certainly struggle at times. Walking in the local area gives me a motivation and I feel much better for it. I use the step counter on my phone to set myself targets, and take the opportunity to explore some wild places that I have never been to before, even if they are only minutes away: the canal, local footpaths across fields, and longer walks along the river. I spot wildflowers, which I never notice when I’m driving or running, and because I am motivated by the step counter (and not my time, speed or distance) I’m at liberty to stop and examine them and take photos. Sometimes I borrow a dog from a neighbour (which they appreciate, too!).

This is an easy one to do and a great way to get a nature fix, whether it’s just for a few minutes at lunchtime or a longer weekend stroll. If you’ve got a packed schedule already, see where you can squeeze in a few minutes to take a nature walk, or bring a bit of nature consciously into an existing walk. On the way to school or work, try spotting birds, flowers, seeds or trees, and comparing what you experience each day. If you have a busy day, take a few minutes at lunch to explore somewhere local, and at weekends, try and prioritise a longer walk, either by yourself or with family.

15. Follow a snail trail

As they slowly slide along in their quest to get from a to b, snails leave a shiny trail behind them. This trail is a slime, excreted by the snail to help them keep moving, pushed along by one muscular foot. The slime reduces the friction between them and the ground, making it easier to lug their shell around (imagine carrying your home on your back all the time!). These trails, if undisturbed by rain or anything else, can make little treasure maps to follow and explore. Find a good long one and follow it – it might cover the pavement, trees, plants, leaves, furniture – anything that’s in its way. The snail will just keep on sliding over everything.

At the end of the trail you might find the snail itself. If you’re very gentle and very careful, lift the snail on to your hand. It will retract inside its shell at first, but if you sit patiently and quietly, it might tentatively poke its head out to inspect this new environment, waving its eyes around on long tentacles. I always think they look very inquisitive when they’re doing this. You can let your snail slide all over your hand and arm, leaving a sticky, shiny slime trail on you, too! It feels very strange, but cool and quite therapeutic. Beware – the little chap might feel so at home that he’ll go for a poo or a wee on you! When you’re finished, gently place him back where you found him, so that he can continue on his way. Give your hands a good scrub afterwards – those trails are very sticky.

16. Make a yummy mud pie

All children should be taught early on the joys of making mud pies. They’re not fancy or hard to make. You just have to accept that you’re going to get mucky and that’s the whole point. All you need is soil and water, mixed straight in the ground or in a bucket. You want a nice, gooey consistency of mud, so don’t add too much water straight away. Mixing by hand is definitely the most satisfying. Once you’re happy with the consistency, lift up huge great dollops and shape them into giant pancake shapes, slopping them on the floor with a satisfying splat. You can just let the mud ooze through your fingers or shape it with finesse. You can even add ‘toppings’ – sticks, pebbles, leaves and whatever else you find lying around. There’s no real point to this Random Act of Wildness, other than the satisfaction of re-connecting with your childhood. No adult excuses, either – mud washes off skin easily, so dive right in.

17. Grow some tasty cress

MAKE IT YOURSELF

Growing cress is a fun, easy and tasty Random Act of Wildness, especially if you don’t want to spend a long time nurturing lots of house plants. It’s a good practice run for the more serious stuff, and can be a great challenge for little ones in your life, too.