Wildlife Garden

Gardens are becoming one of the healthiest and important of wildlife habitats. Also one of the biggest: if you put all the British gardens together they would cover an area the size of Suffolk! And it's not only birds that thrive in gardens. Frogs are almost totally dependant on garden ponds. These mini wetlands also attract newts, toads, dragonflies and all manner of aquatic mini beasts. Regular mammal visitors include foxes, badgers, mice, squirrels and hedgehogs. Plus - especially if you plant wildflowers - there will be many species of butterflies, moths, bees and other insects.

Wildlife gardening is immensely beneficial, but also extremely satisfying, and good fun.

If you want to get started - or get more elaborate - there is plenty of information available: lots of books (from any good bookshop, as they say) and leaflets, published by the Wildlife Trusts. So, dig up that decking, put in a pond, and go wild.

And, of course, keep feeding the birds.

In fact, putting out bird food will inevitably attract other creatures. Wood Mice are delightful, Grey Squirrels arguably less so (more about them later). But you may want to provide food and facilities specifically to encourage a wider variety of wild life. Your very own contribution to biodiversity! So what can you do to entice some other favourites?

Badgers

The best way of getting badgers is to inherit them. If you are lucky, there just might be a traditional set at the bottom of your garden. This is most likely if the garden is wild, messy and quiet, and backs onto fields, hedges or woodland, which allows access to the "outside world". Badgers do like to wander. Mind you, they can also dig up a small lawn over night. If you want close up views, put out peanuts (or better still Haiths Badger mix) in the evening, and wait and watch - very quietly.

Butterflies

Butterflies love - and indeed need - quite a lot of the things gardener's hate. Several species only lay their eggs on Nettles, whilst others favour Ivy. So don't tidy up too much. Buddleia is known as the "butterfly bush" (and as a rampant giant weed to some gardeners!). Also cultivate an area of native British wildflowers. Especially some of the chalkland species, such as Knapweed, Scabious, and Bird's Foot Trefoil.

Red Squirrels

Arguably the nation's favourite animal, but you are unlikely to get them south of Northumberland and the Lake District, whilst in Scotland the Reds are the only squirrels. It would have to be a very big garden with equally big trees to suit a Red Squirrel. However, they will come to specially designed feeders, where they are partial to nuts and seeds.

Grey Squirrels

If you feed the birds, Grey Squirrels are probably the bane of your life. They will not only nick all the food, they will probably destroy expensive feeders, many of which may claim to be "squirrel proof". Very few are! Personally, I try to satiate them by giving them their very own peanuts in a squirrel feeder. But it's never enough.

Beat the Squirrel

A friend of mine recently designed and then built a home made bird table. He was very proud of it, especially when it was almost immediately visited by birds. Unfortunately, it was soon also invaded by Grey Squirrels. He immediately resolved to invent a deterrant. He started by simply moving the table further from his hedgerow. No good. Squirrels can leap a very long way.

Then he tried fixing a sort of circular baffle under the table. The squirrels fell off a few times, but soon clambered over it, and then chewed it to bits.

Next came the greasy pole experiment. This worked for while, and it was fun watching the squirrels sliding back to the ground. However, it wasn't long before the grease rubbed off onto the squirrel's fur, which meant they could get a grip, as it were.

Next, he fitted a length of piping over the pole, under the table, suspended on springs. He figured that the squirrels might be able to scramble over it, but at least he'd have the satisfaction of seeing the pipe spring back and whack them on their behinds!

The last I heard, the squirrels had stretched the springs so far that they didn't spring any more. They have eaten all the bird food, and my friend has decided to build a new Hi Fi cabinet instead.

So, are any of these squirrel proof feeders really squirrel proof? Well, I've tried them all, and so have my garden Greys. I'd say that most of them work, most of the time, but there's no denying the squirrels ingenuity or tenacity, and you almost have to admire them for it. One thing you do have to accept is that many of these contraptions look more like flying saucers, space rockets or pieces of modern sculpture than bird feeders.

I can't say they exactly blend in with the concept of an old fashioned rustic garden! But if you do have a squirrel problem, you really have to try them. It's no coincidence, by the way, that many of the most successful designs come from America, which is of course where Grey Squirrels actually belong (they were introduced into England early in the twentieth century, 'cos someone thought they were cute. Oops!)

Bill Oddie

BILL ODDIE

Bats

The first thing to stress is that if you have bats roosting in your loft, you should be honoured and flattered. It is a sign of a clean roofspace. Otherwise, I don't think you can actually entice them in, and in any case you may not know they are there. Especially if they are the diminutive Pipistrelles, which can literally slip under the tiles. You can't hear the actual calls of bats, but you can by "translating" them into sounds using a bat detector. You are most likely to see bats over your garden if you have a decent sized pond that attracts lots of flies at dusk. You can also put up bat boxes, which look like bird boxes without an entrance hole. (They have a narrow slot instread.)

Foxes

Again a matter of getting lucky. Or unlucky, if you're kept awake by the blood curdling noises foxes make! Urban foxes are getting bolder. Last year, I had one refuse to move from its sleeping place by my back door; whilst another wouldn't leave the garden until he'd eaten a whole brood of newly fledged Blackbirds! Sad, but he was ever so handsome.

Hedgehogs

First rule: no chemicals on the garden. Slugs and snails eat the poison. Hedgehogs eat the slugs and snails. They are natural pest control, so encourage them by leaving a few cozy log piles and old leaves where they may hibernate, or a specially designed Hedgehog home. Contrary to popular belief, cow's milk is not good for them. They'd prefer a dish of dog food (or Haith's Hedgehog food).

Who's been Eating my Birds?

There is no denying that millions of birds and birds eggs are consumed every year by "predators". This is natural.

It may seem harsh, but a proportion of eggs and chicks are "meant" to end up as food for other creatures. Crows, Jays, Magpies and Sparrowhawks all include small birds and eggs in their diets. However, extensive studies have proved that their predation is not responsible for the decline of some of our songbirds. Grey Squirrels and rats are also "culprits", and are arguably less a natural part of British fauna.

Cats are - I'm sorry, but it's true - entirely "unnatural." And make no mistake, cats are responsible for far more bird deaths than anything else. You may feel certain you are seeing more Magpies or Sparrowhawks in recent years, but their numbers are minute compared with the British population of cats. So what's to be done? Well, if you own a cat please at least attach a bell, and better still keep it in at night (when they do most of their hunting). Whoever invented the concept of "putting the cat out" wasn't a bird lover!

If you want to keep your garden cat free, there are various products available that may deter them. Personally, I resolve to rushing out and hissing like a giant "tom", which generally gives the local moggies the idea that they are not entirely welcome!

Think Globally, Act Locally

A catch phrase invented by Friends of the Earth some years ago, but still a pretty good motto. Be honest, thinking globally can be both daunting and depressing! Acting locally is effective and satisfying. So what exactly can you do to help wildlife and conservation?

In your own garden: feed the birds, encourage other wildlife. Grow organically and don't use chemicals.

In your neighbourhood. If you became aware of threats to local wild places, protest to local government. Get together with other people who feel as you do.

Join in voluntary activities, such as neighbourhood litter clear ups, or improving communal green spaces, or local nature reserves.
Join your county Wildlife Trust, the RSPB, or other conservation organisations. Volunteer to help them. Go on outings and field trips. Buy organic foods, and products which contribute to conservation.
Learn more about the wildlife in your garden, or further afield, and get out and enjoy it!

Do as much or as little as suits your lifestyle....... but do something!

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