One Sunday afternoon in the fall, my 7-year-old daughter and I followed in the footsteps of Marine Schmitt “nature smuggler”, on the banks of the Dunière on the trail of otters in Sainte-Sigolène.
After having previously registered with the Tourist Office, we go to the planned meeting place: the Vaubarlet campsite**** in the Dunière valley.
The happy little group we form seems curious and eager to go on an adventure!
Marine Schmitt (and her stuffed otter which the children really like) begins by equipping us with binoculars and explaining to the children how to use them.
We take a few steps and discover the body of a dragonfly, Marine explains to us the life cycle of these insects. We observe them very closely thanks to binoculars.
We head towards the river to try to observe otter tracks. Marine Schmitt explains to us that otters are protected animals and that they have recolonized our rivers in recent years even though they had almost disappeared some time ago. This is also the case for beavers, which are very present in the Loire and Lignon. Great news for biodiversity and the health of our rivers!
Marine takes out some otter excrement from a small box and shows us prints on a leaf that we could observe on the banks of the Dunière.
We move on to the creative part of the release: wild basketry ! Marine shows us which plants to choose for our basketry stems. Equipped with gloves and small pruners, we begin, following his instructions, in making a mobile for the adults; the children decide that it is more of a sword or a magic wand!
In short, we spent a lovely afternoon surrounded by nature and we learned lots of things!
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Find the contact details of Marine Schmitt, nature smuggler.
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