It was a cold winter’s morning, and we wrapped up warm to go for a walk in the woods behind our house. The ground was frosty and crunched under our feet, and although it was chilly the sun was casting golden beams of light across our path. We always find a lot of amazing wildlife in the woods – I’ve seen deer and squirrels there and I’ve even spotted a kingfisher down by the brook. But today I decided to explore high up on the slopes, a place I hadn’t been before.

My eyes scanned the leaf litter and something caught my eye. At first glance I thought it was just a pile of broken stones, but then I looked closer and saw it was something much more exciting – it was an animal skull. I wasn’t sure what type, as some of it had decomposed. My parents agreed that I could take it home for identification. I wanted to find out what animal it was.

The ‘cabinet of curiosities’ in Jasmine’s home. Photograph: Family handout

I suspected it was an adult fox skull because it had a long, slender snout, and I knew their skulls are about 14cm long, and mine measured exactly that. It also had 42 teeth which is the amount of teeth for an adult fox, and there were incisors that meant it must be able to eat meat. I also found out foxes are very common in English cities and Bristol has the third largest population of urban foxes in the UK. There are about 16 foxes per square kilometre in Bristol compared to the countryside where there are only two per square kilometre.

Now the skull lies downstairs in our “cabinet of curiosities” along with feathers and fossils that I’ve collected with my sister.
Jasmine, nine