Wildlife in the Garden
Probably best to keep to mammals here. Wildlife in the garden
is such a huge topic if we include birds and insects. I personally
love to see all the wildlife in the garden. I deliberately
set out to create an environment that will attract them into
the garden and hopefully to live there. I welcome foxes, weasels
and stoats, hedgehogs, badgers, squirrels and deer and, yes,
I welcome all amphibians and reptiles as well.
The best way to begin is to create a pond. All animals, birds,
reptiles and amphibians need water and will often live as
near to a water source as they can. Once you have created
a water source, think about creating a habitat. As with everything
in the garden, nature's best at this, but you can encourage
nature. Let the brambles grow in a clump. Brambles will grow
quickly and offer safe cover for wildlife. The brambles will
also provide you with blackberries and raspberries. Also,
allow an area of grass to grow tall. This will also provide
safe cover and tall grass will add to the beauty of your garden
and provide a food source for birds and small rodents, which
will in turn attract owls and other wonderful predators. If
you are feeling extra generous and motivated, be creative
and build dens for various creatures to live in. You can research
the wide variety of dens, burrows and places creatures live
in and create something that the creatures can modify to better
suit themselves. A good idea to start you off with is old
tree stumps and trunks. Rotting tree stumps with be home to
a host of insects, which will attract all sorts of creatures
including mammals. Also tree stumps will hollow out and offer
great refuge for weasels, stoats and hedgehogs. All you have
to do is place a tree stump in the garden and leave it. Once
nature has regrown around that structure, creatures will move
in and make these places home. Wildlife is very good at sensing
whether they are welcome or not...
