As the cold draws in we huddle down to keep warm, shutting out the cold we gather our winter clothes and hot drinks to get us through to spring.  

Wildlife doesn’t have the same luxuries, many species have to fight on through the cold to survive, others must forage ready for hibernation, in a season of depleting resources. 

We can make this season a little easier for wildlife, and here’s our top 5 ways to help:  

1. Let your garden go wild

By leaving your tidying tasks you can create a safe haven for all sorts of nature. Piles of leaves or brushwood provides animals with a hide or rest, wild garden borders or shrubs give shelter for insects, and your compost heap can become a perfect habitat for hedgehogs, toads, grass snakes and slow worms.  

2. Share a meal

Natural foods can be scarce over winter, so any extra food we can put out will help.

  • For birds: seeds, unsalted peanuts, cheese, certain fruits, mealworms and waxworms. 
  • For foxes: cheese, boiled potatoes, chicken, bread and fat scraps. 
  • For badgers: lightly cooked meats, cheese, unsalted peanuts and fruit. 
  • For hedgehogs: wet dog or cat food. 

Make sure you don’t leave out too much food to avoid wildlife becoming dependent on handouts and to avoid encouraging pest species, such as rats. It is also advised to not provide food if it encourages wildlife to cross busy roads. 

3. Leave fresh water

Water is always vital, sadly over winter natural resources freeze, by leaving out a shallow bowl of water you can help wildlife stay hydrated. 

4. Break the ice

If you have a pond in your garden, float a tennis ball or similar in it to prevent it freezing over completely. Toxic gases can build up in the water of a frozen pond, which may kill any ectotherms that are underneath or at the bottom of a pond in a state of low metabolic rate such as ‘torpor’ for fish or ‘brumation’ for frogs. 

You can also create a rock pile nearby where frogs and toads can take shelter, ideally this should face north, to avoid temperature highs and lows between day and night.  

5. Welcome home

Bird/bat boxes, bug hotels and hedgehog hides, each provides an ideal shelter for wildlife to keep warm in. You can build your own or purchase one and then let nature get to work. 

Nature is under pressure and needs our help to survive, now more than ever. 

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