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Pitfall Insect Trap

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We are thoroughly enjoying the beautiful Spring weather we have been having in our neck of the woods. We got out this week and did a couple of fun projects to help us study insects a little more. We have this incredible book called The Practical Naturalist  by Audubon.  (I received a free copy in exchange for this review, but all thoughts are my own. I was not compensated in any other way for this review). My kids and I have had a lot of fun poring through the book and looking for fun new ways to study nature in our back yard. We started with a pitfall insect trap.  It’s SO easy & my kids loved it.

How to Make an Insect Trap from Teach Beside Me

What’s cool about this book is the beautiful real images that teach you all about different parts of nature in all different ecosystems. In each area it tells about plants and animals that live there, but also gives fun and practical projects you can do to learn more about them.  We are excited to feed the many kids of birds in our neighborhood based on their tips. We are also planning on making our garden more butterfly friendly. I loved their ideas about keeping records of the different animals and plants we see. We do this a lot during the summer months, but I would like to do more of it throughout the year.

Nature Study Book- The Practical Naturalist

We have a few projects in the works right now after reading The Practical Naturalist, but today I want to tell you about our pitfall insect trap and how we made it.

How to Make a Pitfall Insect Trap:

To make the insect trap, you just need an empty 2-liter soda bottle. Cut off the top about 1/3 of the way down. Invert the lid into the bottle so the top is down inside.

bug trap from a soda bottle

Next you need to choose a spot outside that will not be disturbed. Dig a hole that will fit the bottle.

bug trap

Then fit the bottle into the hole. Fill in any dirt around the edges and cover the top with leaves to disguise it a bit. Now the bugs, when they walk over it, will slide down inside. The sides of the bottle are too slippery for most bugs to climb out. They will get trapped down inside of the bottle.

pitfall bug trap

After we put ours out, it rained for a few days, but we were still able to catch a few bugs in ours. We dumped the water and re-buried it. My kids are excited to see the different things they will catch.

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