The internet is full of advice about caring for local wildlife, and while much of this information is useful, sometimes the information is better when it comes straight from those who care for wildlife themselves!
On Facebook, I asked you about your best wildlife tips. From leaving gaps in the fence for hedgehogs, to putting out cat litter trays full of water for ducks, here’s some of the sage advice that you submitted:
Leave out natural foods
Paweł Furmaniak – “I leave rose hips of rosa rugosa. Blackbirds and blue tits love to eat the seeds. I also leave crab apples to freeze or fall down. They are usually eaten by birds until February.”
Plant for beneficial insects
Kieran Shortt – “Beneficial insects – plant coriander and dill – these attract hoverflies which eat greenfly and other pests.”
Don’t chuck away apple cores
Lucy Dalziel – “Throw apple cores out for blackbirds. Water for them to wash in (had so many in the heatwave because of lack of water).”
Water for wild ducks
Helen Miller – “When the wild ducks come they get deep cat litter trays full of water so they can climb in and get their heads under the water.”
Go pesticide-free
Angela Alexander – “Don’t use any pesticides, and let the bugs feed the birds.”
Plant native plants
Jeff Heidtman – “Natives… natives and more natives!”
Leave pet hair out for nests
Deborah Hayden – “Take pet fur from the hairbrush used to groom them and put clumps of it out for the birds to use in nests.”
Let some plants escape the autumnal cut back
Kari Samuel – “Do NOT cut everything back in the late fall! Many wintering birds eat the seeds, many beneficial critters hibernate in the hollow stems of your plants. Do NOT place these at the curb for pick-up or burn them.”
Don’t throw away dead grass
Natalie Harrison – “In the spring when you pull out dead grasses, leave them in the borders as the birds love taking them to make their nests. I do this every spring and the gradded are gone by the next day and the birds come back as they know it is safe and feed in the garden.”
Be lazy
Annette Gillies – “Just be a lazy gardener. Don’t mow the lawn or pull up weeds.”
Plant bird-friendly shrubs
Jo Adderley-Jurkiewicz – “Shrubs and trees for the birds to land, hide and hopefully nest in are a must.”
Have you got any stellar wildlife advice! Share it with the class in the comment section below!
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