As hibernation season approaches, looks at how gardeners can help creatures bed down for the colder months
AS THE cool nights arrive, animals are getting ready to hibernate – and there’s plenty gardeners can do to make it easier for them. While the only common creatures that hibernate in this country are hedgehogs, dormice and bats, other wildlife, including insects and amphibians, enter ‘torpor’ – a similar state of inactivity which doesn’t last as long as hibernation, according to leading conservation charity the Woodland Trust (woodlandtrust.org. uk). So, which animals can we help and how?
1. HEDGEHOGS
IF YOU have a compost heap, you’re already half way there for helping hedgehogs, because these hibernating mammals love them.
So make sure you do any compostturning slowly and carefully during the winter months so you don’t disturb your prickly friends, advises Helen Bostock, RHS senior horticultural adviser and co-author of How Can I Help Hedgehogs?
Also, don’t block off the crawl spaces under garden sheds and decking, because hedgehogs also hibernate happily under there.
If you accidentally disturb a hibernating hedgehog, cover it back up as quickly as possible, leave a saucer of moist cat food and a shallow saucer of water nearby in case it needs to replenish its supplies, and give its surroundings a wide berth.
It’s not unusual for hedgehogs to wake up and move hibernation sites once or twice during the winter, so don’t worry if it relocates, but try and leave natural shelter such as piles of leaves in the garden.
2. FROGS
WHILE they may do all their mating in water, most frogs will enter their winter dormancy on dry land, in heaps of leaf litter in soily depressions under a pile of dead wood or rocks; in fact anywhere sheltered that is cool and damp and where they are unlikely to be disturbed. Toads will create burrows in quiet corners.
To help these amphibians, make a hiding place by digging a hole in the ground, around 10cm deep, lining it with gravel, twigs and dry leaves.
Then put a large flat stone over the top, such as a piece of paving slab, leaving them enough space to crawl in.
If you have a pond which is well oxygenated, some frogs may overwinter in the bottom of it, burying themselves in the silt layer and breathing through their skin.
Stop the pond from icing over by placing a tennis ball on the surface, which will help oxygenation.
3. BATS
HIBERNATING from November to April, bats can slow their breathing to as few as five breaths a minute, while some can last almost an hour without breathing, according to the Woodland Trust.
They eat nocturnal insects, including mosquitoes, so the easiest way to encourage them to your garden is to plant night-scented flowers and introduce a pond.
They usually hibernate in groups in a quiet, cool roost which they seek out in late autumn.
Around three-quarters of UK bats roost in trees, preferably old trees with cavities, while others use spaces under the eaves of buildings or wedge themselves into holes in brickwork or in old barns.
The most important thing is not to disturb them. Being aroused from hibernation costs the bats a lot of energy, which makes them lose body fat and can lead to starvation, says the Bat Conservation Trust.
To help their hibernation, you could erect a bat box, ideally above ground, around 4-5m high, in a sheltered spot that receives sun during the day.