Looking after wildlife in winter..

by Alan Titchmarsh

Watch out for hibernating hedgehogs

When you’ve encouraged birds, bees and butterflies into your garden to entertain you in summer, don’t abandon them in winter. Many creatures who have been displaced from the countryside by a lack of wild facilities have come to see gardens as their new habitat, so you can’t let them down now. A few simple adjustments to your usual gardening routine can ensure your patch keeps its nature-cred, even out-of-season.

The first thing to look at as a matter of urgency is hibernating facilities for hedgehogs. There’s no need to go to the expense of buying a purpose-built hedgehog house, but if you have a pile of logs with gaps in-between, or an old wooden box you can wedge in a quiet corner of the garden and cover with piles of leaves, then you might just gain a lodger.

Hedgehogs will also do-it-themselves, making ‘nests’ in piles of leaves in the base of hedges, overgrown borders and other unkempt areas – the trick is to leave well alone, as they’ll move on if they’re disturbed. Young hedgehogs must reach a critical weight before they hibernate, if they are to survive the winter, so you could help by leaving out saucers of cat-food (meat, not fish flavours) over the next few weeks.

But with Guy Fawkes Night in sight, the real MUST DO right now is NOT to set fire to piles of bonfire materials that have been left standing for several weeks, since hedgehogs like to crawl underneath. Always move bonfire ingredients to a new site immediately before lighting-up. But better still, leave your pile of twigs and leaves to become a ‘wildlife hotel’, and have a barbecue instead.

It’s not only hedgehogs who need safe havens for the winter. Insects do too, so make your own beneficial bug houses by pushing straw, twigs and/or bamboo canes into a hollow tube (such as a soft drinks bottle with the top and bottom cut off, or a bottomless flower pot), and hang it up in a tree for the use of ladybirds, money spiders and lacewings.

Creatures that don’t hibernate will appreciate reliable supplies of food and clean drinking water in gardens, particularly if winter turns cold and natural sources dry up. Birds need to eat their own weight in food every day. They have a very fast metabolic rate, so don’t worry if the food you put out is fatty – they need all the calories they can get, so fat is fine – it’s bread that isn’t so good for them as it’s all bulk with few nutrients.

Less well known is the fact that birds badly need water, not just to drink, but also to bathe in, to keep their feathers in good condition so they act as efficient insulation in cold weather. But so they feel safe from predators, put your bird feeders, bird tables and birdbaths close to trees or shrubs, so your feathered friends can zoom under cover if trouble looms.

Strategically speaking the best time to put out bird food is early each morning, close to dawn, since that’s when birds emerge after a long cold night desperate to top up their energy levels – and that’s when you’ll get the best views. Don’t bother feeding birds after mid afternoon, since anything they can’t polish off before nightfall merely encourages rodents to come foraging after dark.

After all, there’s welcome wildlife and then there’s the unwanted sort.