Wildlife and gardening
Winter hedgehog experience
November 4, 2009 | 
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Bonfires and wildlife
Just a quick reminder that hedgehogs will still be hibernating for a while longer… please check compost heaps before sticking a fork in, and also check woodpiles before having a bonfire, they could be a sleeping place for endangered wildlife.
Winter coming – hedgehogs
extract from : http://www.infopet.co.uk/pages/0150.html
European hedgehogs are favourite inhabitants ofour gardens in Britain and many other European countries. They perform useful duties in eating slugs and other pests, and provide amusement turning on security lights and waking up the neighbourhood with their grunts in the mating season. These are wild animals, so should not be kept as pets, but you can still encourage them to visit you by putting food out for them, and building them little hog shelters, and you can help them to stay alive by making your garden safe for hogs, and training any dogs you have to respect them. You may also find sick, injured, or orphan hedgehogs, or little hogs wandering around on frosty nights, that haven’t fattened up enough to survive the winter. Here is a brief guide on how to help our wild hog friends.
Making your garden hedgehog-friendly
The first thing that attracts hedgehogs to your garden is food. They will eat cat and dog food, which is better for them than bread and milk (hedgehogs are not vegetarians, and are also lactose-intolerant).Mother hedgehogs need to eat a lot, to be able to suckle their hoglets, and they start having litters from June onwards. There are two mating seasons, in summer and autumn, so mothers may have hoglets at any time from June to October. It’s also especially important for all hogs to eat a lot from October onwards, because they have to build up reserves to hibernate, so this is also a good time to feed them.
Hedgehogs are vulnerable to pesticides, especially slug bait, so you will have to choose between natural pest control provided by hogs, or buying nasty things in packets…!
Hogs are especially vulnerable when they are fast asleep, and you may unknowingly create a little den for them with your bonfire heap. Always check heaps that have been standing in the autumn for sleeping hedgehogs – better still, build them a proper den, and only burn fresh heaps of garden waste, rather than letting heaps stand.
If you install a hog house early in the autumn, the chances are good that a visitor will find it deluxe accommodation, and decide to spend the winter there. Hedgehogs usually hibernate from December or January until March, though this depends a lot how cold it is, how much food there is, and how fat the hedgehog is. Watch for signs of life from March onwards, and put some food out for your friend when he wakes up.
Overwintering juvenile hedgehogs
Hedgehogs born in autumn don’t have very long to put on fat for their first winter hibernation. They may be born as late as October, and the nights may already be frosty before they are weaned. Young hedgehogs often don’t survive the winter because they have been born too late to put on enough fat to hibernate. This applies especially to hedgehogs weighing under 500g from late October – unless the winter is mild, they are likely to die before spring. Very small hedgehogs which can’t eat solids, and sick hedgehogs, can be taken to a rescue centre, but you can care for larger, healthy juveniles at home if you have the space and time.
The aim should be to return these hogs to the wild, so don’t mollycoddle them and try to tame them, or you could affect their chances of survival. They should be kept warm enough to stay lively at night, but don’t need the full blast of central heating, in fact it could harm a hog if you put him in a very warm place, then suddenly boot him out in the cold. An unheated spare room, or an unused garage are usually warm enough, unless the juveniles are sick, for example with respiratory problems, in which case take advice from a vet as to what temperature they need, and reduce the temperature gradually once they get well. References:
Pat Morris, Guy Troughton (Illustrator) (1995) Hedgehogs, Whittet Books.
Reeve, Nigel (ed) (1994) Hedgehogs, Academic Press.
Sykes, Lenni and Jane Durrant (1998) The Natural Hedgehog, Gaia Books.
Garden Safari
[Tips][Factsheets]Many species are under threat because nowadays we tend to keep our gardens too tidy.. the links(right) contains fact sheets on how to make your garden more interesting by attracting wildlife. Some species under threat that we can encourage into our gardens:
This article will be developed further soon. |
http://www.wildlife-gardening.org.uk/ http://www.wildaboutgardens.org/Gardening/ http://www.wildlifetrusts.org/index.php?section=environment:people:gardening |
Top 10 wildlife gardening tips
Factsheets
From the Kent Wildlife Trust:
It is really very easy to transform a garden/part of a garden, into a wildlife-rich area. Even a window box will attract passing butterflies, if the right flowers are planted.
Conserving resources
Taking care of the environment is a task for every one of us, starting in your own home and garden is a good way to make a difference. With more than one million acres of garden in Britain the possibilties are enormous if we take responsibility for our own part of the country!
Helping wildlife in your garden
There are over one million acres of garden in Britain, so their potential contribution to wildlife conservation is enormous. It is really very easy to transform a garden, or part of a garden, into a mosaic of wildlife-rich areas. Even a window box will attract passing butterflies, if the right flowers are planted. Attracting wildlife to our gardens can prove very rewarding; it can also help to compensate for the loss of habitat in the wild and, as a result, make a positive contribution to the conservation of our native wildlife.
Gardening for Wildlife Top Tips
Problem wildlife
Most of us like to see wildlife in our garden and may actively encourage it by gardening in appropriate ways. However, occasionally, resident or visiting wildlife may be unwelcome and some course of action may be necessary. What action to take will depend on the animal involved and the nature of the problem – if indeed there is one.
Gardening for Wildlife
[Tips][Factsheets]Many species are under threat because nowadays we tend to keep our gardens too tidy.. the links(right) contains fact sheets on how to make your garden more interesting by attracting wildlife. Some species under threat that we can encourage into our gardens:
This article will be developed further soon. |
http://www.wildlife-gardening.org.uk/ http://www.wildaboutgardens.org/Gardening/ http://www.wildlifetrusts.org/index.php?section=environment:people:gardening |
Top 10 wildlife gardening tips
Factsheets
From the Kent Wildlife Trust:
It is really very easy to transform a garden/part of a garden, into a wildlife-rich area. Even a window box will attract passing butterflies, if the right flowers are planted.
Conserving resources
Taking care of the environment is a task for every one of us, starting in your own home and garden is a good way to make a difference. With more than one million acres of garden in Britain the possibilties are enormous if we take responsibility for our own part of the country!
Helping wildlife in your garden
There are over one million acres of garden in Britain, so their potential contribution to wildlife conservation is enormous. It is really very easy to transform a garden, or part of a garden, into a mosaic of wildlife-rich areas. Even a window box will attract passing butterflies, if the right flowers are planted. Attracting wildlife to our gardens can prove very rewarding; it can also help to compensate for the loss of habitat in the wild and, as a result, make a positive contribution to the conservation of our native wildlife.
Gardening for Wildlife Top Tips
Problem wildlife
Most of us like to see wildlife in our garden and may actively encourage it by gardening in appropriate ways. However, occasionally, resident or visiting wildlife may be unwelcome and some course of action may be necessary. What action to take will depend on the animal involved and the nature of the problem – if indeed there is one.