Wildlife in winter
It’s pretty easy to imagine that winter is a difficult time of year for all our neighborhood flyer’s and furries, please read the following and see if there’s anything you could do to give our wildlife a happy Christmas.

Birds:
Water is often difficult for birds to come by during winter, since a lot of it freezes, the best way of providing water is putting out a birdbath, out of reach of cats! This way they can bathe and drink, the only problem is that it will freeze over night like the others!
How can we stop this?

  • Daily top up’s of boiled water when you prepare your morning brew!
  • A small floating ball. Even the slightest of breeze will keep the ball rolling and moving, keeping the water liquid.
  • Line the bath with a carrier bag. (If it does freeze you can pull the whole block out in 1!)
  • The ultimate solution – The Solar Sipper! Click here for info

Never use chemicals to stop water from freezing. There are products that are ‘bird friendly’ but they aren’t advised. These products can stop a birds feathers being waterproof which they definitely need to survive. The products can even poison the birds.

Feeding
Seeds: Simple bird seed mix is a quick and simple choice and suits most garden birds. Avoid mixtures containing split peas, beans, dried rice and lentils as only large species can eat them dry.
Feeding on the ground attracts pigeons, doves and pheasants. These birds deter small garden birds so be careful.
Bird cake/bars: Fat balls and fat based bars are excellent winter food, if they are in mesh nylon bags always remove the bag before putting it out as the soft mesh can trap and injure birds.
Live foods and insects: Mealworms are relished by robins and blue tits. They are a natural food and can be used to feed birds throughout the year.
Cooking fat is bad for birds. Use lard and beef suet instead as the re-solidify after warming and is much safer for birds as bacteria struggles to grow.

Housing
Easy peesy, Put up a bird box or two! The birds will do the rest, but make sure cats can’t reach it otherwise no one will move in!

Help the bugs and they’ll help your garden and your birds!

Make a dead wood pile!
This super easy shelter will help bugs and creatures thrive in the winter, therefore encouraging birds to feed in your garden! Lonely bees need somewhere to stay too.

Ask your neighbors, search your garden and even ask the local tree surgeon or scrap yard for pieces of wood.
Don’t take any from woods and hedges as they are probably already providing multiple homes!
Once you have gathered dead wood, simply place a few branches/bark/logs in various places around the edges of your garden, even part bury some of them.
Cut up some bamboo canes and strap them together for a multistory bee shelter, don’t forget to block off one end, no one wants to live in a wind tunnel!

Plant an evergreen bush! A really easy thing to do that will provide berries for the wildlife and shelter for anyone who needs it through the winter season.

Hedgehogs
Hedgehogs are now on the endangered species list so they really need our help!
A hedgehog will travel around one mile every night to find food, shelter or a mate, they walk through our parks and gardens where they can.

Could a hedgehog pass through your garden?
If the answer is no, or you’re not sure then it’s probably difficult for a hedgehog to visit you despite your efforts to feed them. Our garden’s are getting more and more secure, with the use of chain-link, wooden fencing, concrete and bricks, so a really easy way of allowing hedgehog passage is to remove a brick or two, cut a hole in the fence or dig a tunnel underneath! Why not rally your neighbors and have hedgehog passage through every ones garden, hedgehog heaven! The gap only needs to be 5 inches square.
Feeding:
Cat/dog meat in jelly (they love jelly) but no fish (including fish based biscuits) or meat in gravy.
Dried meal worms, crushed unsalted peanuts
Cat biscuits (not fish flavor)
Hedgehog food! Garden centers and pet shops will often sell bags
Don’t forget water!
No bread or milk. Hedgehogs will readily eat bread and milk but it’s really not good for them!

Putting a saucer of food out will encourage Hedgehog families to visit your garden every night, but so would a cat! We need to think about how to stop cats and foxes from gobbling up the food.
You could keep the food under a ridge tile or platform

Build or buy a feeding station/house

When building a hedgehog home, choose a shady quiet area of your garden, provide a tunnel running into the house to stop foxes and cats reaching in and use untreated wood for the structure.
Offer the home straw or shredded paper, never clean out the home with chemicals, this may deter the hedgehogs or damage their skin and lungs.

Remember – Without access to your garden, Hedgehogs can’t visit.