6 ways to help winter wildlife

In wintertime, wild animals struggle to find food, water and safe spots to sleep in – especially as us humans have really changed their natural environment. Here’s how to transform your school or home garden into a haven for wildlife this winter.

1. Just do nothing

Leave fallen leaves, twigs, acorns, fruit and berries where they are. Don’t cut back plants until it’s nearly spring. Stop mowing the lawn for a while!

Leaf piles, bushes and long grass help hedgehogs and dormice, lizards and snakes, and frogs, toads and newts to shelter during the cold months. Birds and insects can snack on fallen leaves, nuts and berries.

Log piles are perfect places for creepy crawlies to get cosy in cold temperatures.

2. Do a little…

If you do want to tidy things up a bit – sweep piles of those leaves and twigs, then leave them in quiet corners of the garden. Try stacking old logs, tiles or stones under trees and bushes. Pssst. Snakes and lizards love hiding under pieces of corrugated iron (often used as roofing).

Raking or sweeping leaves and twigs aside creates places for wildlife to hide.

3. Feed the birds

Birds often struggle to find food in winter. So leave out some high energy snacks to keep them warm. Buy birdseed, mealworms and fat balls (take off the netting!) from a pet shop or garden centre. Or feed them chopped, unsalted nuts, grated cheddar cheese and apple scraps from your kitchen.

Want a cool, eco-bird feeder, where you can pop your bird food or kitchen scraps? Click here to follow our tutorial. Or, try our recipe for homemade bird treats, here.

Help birds throughout winter by leaving out high energy snacks.

4. Put up bird houses

Adding a bird box to your garden is a great way to help feathered friends! Birds don’t nest in winter, so if you have a box that’s been up all year, winter is a good time to clean it out, so that it’s ready for birds in spring. But do keep boxes up in wintertime – birds need shelter in them when it’s cold and wet.

Pick a quiet spot that’s sheltered from strong wind and rain and direct sunshine – around 3m off the ground.

Nesting boxes are perfect places for birds to shelter in winter when it’s cold and wet.

5. Check garden pools

Do you have a pond at home or school? Help any fish, toads, frogs or newts living in it by floating a tennis ball on the surface. If the pond ices over, take off the ball to leave a ready-made air hole for the animals below. Don’t be tempted to smash the ice or pour hot water over the ice to melt it, as this can harm water animals.

Another way to help pond life is by carefully clearing floating leaves and dead plants out of the water.

6. Pack away sport stuff

Now it’s too cold to play football, cricket and badminton, make sure the nets are rolled up and put away. Foxes, hedgehogs and birds get tangled up in them. If your grown-ups use netting over vegetables or fruit plants, put those away too if they’re not needed over the winter.