There's (not) a snake in my boot
But there is a tin with a lot of other stuff in
Most ecologists spend a lot of time in their cars. Which itself is contradictory to the work we do, but to rationalise it, at least the miles travelled are to try and mitigate and help nature at the end. Because I'm out on site so often, I've made myself a standard toolbox of things-that-might-be-useful, because the number of times I've needed more snacks or pens or gloves is probably more than I can count at this point.
The essential
PPE, personal protective equipment. I'm frequently on construction sites and steel toe-capped boots, high vis and a hard hat are the basics, with cut-proof gloves and eye protection often as well. I also carry extra latex-free gloves for things like poking owl pellets and picking up toads. There are also a couple of masks in there, mostly for when I go in dusty lofts, but also in case there are bats up there. Covid came from bat populations; there’s still the risk of passing covid back to bat populations from human strains.
So many snacks. I always have ginger nut biscuits in the car for travel sickness and a peckish moment, but the tin has the real goodies- at the moment chocolate and pain au raisins1 are the highlights. A lot of sites have a microwave, and once I met someone who kept a whole box of 32 packets of microwave popcorn in their car boot for all the hungry moments. I do not have 32 packets of microwave popcorn in my tin, but I do have two packets of instant noodles.
Insect repellent. I am delicious and none of them really seem to keep the bugs off, so I’m taking suggestions for a new favourite!
The useful
Extra socks. Driving an hour home in wet socks is a special kind of misery. I actually forgot to replace these last week, and yes, had to drive home in wet socks. Misery.
Pen and paper. I don't actually use these that often, mostly for leaving contact details on my dash if I've parked somewhere strange, or lists for the supermarket (food is very important!), but it never goes amiss.
Zip-ties. I always forget to pack enough to attach badger cameras to trees or stakes, and they’re great for fixing broken things too.
Rubber bands. If a pond has heavily vegetated or steep banks, these are great for attaching the scoop for taking water samples to a longer stick. Buuuut I always forget I have them, so it’s normally my hairband taking a dip instead.
Bookmarks. Either for marking pages in a botany field guide to look things up later, or just for whatever book I’ve started that day and forgotten a bookmark for!
The weird
Spare shoelaces. Once my boot leave just broke in half putting them on, and I had to jimmy a fix. Something to tie things together is always helpful eventually.
A tiny disposable towel. Someone gave me this and who knows, it might come in handy one day when I inevitably fall in mud.
Clothes peg. I don’t know why I put this in my tin, but someone actively asked me the other week if I had something to peg paper together. I both forgot I’d actually put a clothes peg in, and I’d jumped in someone else’s car for a lift so it would have been totally useless anyway, but! Perhaps another day!
Literally like 30 food waste bags. Something for plant samples? Foraging bag? Wet socks? Banana skin? Impromptu litter pick? Sorted.
What can you do to help nature?
You know those plastic-on-plastic dish sponges? Yeah, they're super terrible for the planet, and seem to last all of a day. But there are so many options to replace them with, which last a much longer time too. We use a coconut scourer, but you can get dish scrubbies as well, or a bamboo brush (both short and long handled!) which are great. Other options include recycled fabric sponges that can be washed. This article is pretty useful for exploring the options to see what you like. Shop online through independent retailers or environmental conscious stores like refill shops.
Welcome to my substack newsletter, Ecology Adventures. As a full-time ecologist, misadventures in nature are the bread and butter of my day to day. Some people find them rather entertaining (as do I, because I can eat car snacks afterwards). I aim to drop a new letter from the field at least once a month. If you enjoyed this tale, please share it with your friends.
The pain au raisin has been eaten since I started writing this, and I am constantly disappointed in myself for not yet replacing it.
My walking rucksack contains a lot of the same items as your tin (sweet oatcakes rather than ginger nuts, though, as they're more robust). I've still not worked out why I keep a clothes peg in there either!