5 key signs of hibernation
1 A pile of leaves may appear in a corner of your garden, in your compost bin or behind your shed. This could mean a hedgehog is hibernating, as they often gather their own material to line their hibernacula. Be aware that hedgehogs may choose to hibernate in bonfire piles, which can cause horrific injuries, and death, when lit.
2
Shadows and movement at the bottom of your pond could mean frogs are hibernating here. These are usually male frogs, which seem to prefer hibernating here rather than in mud or beneath leaves, as females and other amphibians do. They can breathe through their skin and may move around the pond periodically.
3
Leaves attached to a wall may not actually be leaves. Peacock, small tortoiseshell, red admiral and comma butterflies hibernate as adults. They sometimes hibernate in groups, closing their wings and clinging to a dry, sheltered surface, such as a beneath a piece of wood placed at an angle against a wall, or beneath the roof of your shed.
4
Small mounds of soil in spring could indicate that mining bees were nesting in your lawn and/or borders. In which case, their offspring will be hibernating there until next spring, when they’ll emerge from their nests, mate and lay eggs, before dying. Daughter bumblebee queens also hibernate in the earth, digging themselves into the soil.
5
Long grass isn’t strictly a sign of hibernation, but there will doubtless be hibernating critters there. Caterpillars of butterflies and moths may bury themselves into long grass, along with beetles and other grubs. Some butterflies spin chrysalises that hang from blades of grass.