Species Protection

Providing Nest Boxes

In a perfectly balanced environment birds, dormice and bats would not need our help with nesting or roosting boxes. But we don’t have a balanced environment and many species need habitats – such as hedgerows, dead wood and brash – that are now difficult to find. Humans ‘tidy up’ the environment, which is pleasing to the human eye, but leaves many species unable to find a place to nest, hibernate or roost.

An organic farm may have a limited range of wildlife if there is little variety in the habitats, for example no hedgerows or scrub. Avoiding harmful chemicals is not always enough for a wide range of wildlife to thrive. Putting up even one box can make a difference.

Not all boxes are the same – birds, dormice and bats are require different boxes. Bird boxes have a hole at the front, sized according to the needs of a particular bird. Too large a hole allows predators (such as magpies) to steal the eggs or nestlings. In contrast, a box for an owl is the size of a dog kennel and needs to face open pastures.

Bats require a different design altogether – they roost by gripping and the bat box also need for allow for different sized bats.

Putting up even one box can make a difference. These can be bought for specialist suppliers or can be made at home, quite possibly at little cost if you can re-use old timber, perhaps from past DIY projects. Two bat boxes and an enormous owl box were very kindly build for Mystole Orchard by Mick Bernier. We await the arrival of occupants with great interest.

Dormice - as anyone who has read Alice in Wonderland will know – spend a large part of their lives asleep (and incidentally, they snore!).

To cater for dormice, boxes are similar to small bird boxes but have the hole at the back, as they crawl up a tree trunk or along a branch to get into the dormouse box. We have found that despite the hole at the back, dormice boxes are sometimes occupied by blue tits, who nest early in the year, while dormice are still sleeping in the undergrowth or are around and about looking for a mate.

By the time the dormice are ready to produce young the blue tits have flown and the dormice occupy the boxes.

Please remember that if you find a dormouse you must not disturb it or handle it. To handle a dormouse safely requires extensive training and also a license.

Sleeping (And Snoring) Dormouse

Vulnerabilty Of Hedgehogs

Hedgehogs, once common, are becoming rare in the UK and are now classed as “vulnerable”. Once they were found in suburban gardens as well as on farms.

Hedgehogs have very bad eyesight, although they have an acute sense of smell and hearing. They can drown if they fall into a pond with steep edges – a gentle slope allows not just hedgehogs but many other animals an escape route from a pond.

Hedgehogs, like many small creatures, like to spend time and nest in piles of leaves or other garden waste. Hedgehogs will eat their way into bags of domestic or garden rubbish. It is recommended that if you use garden netting it should be regularly checked to see if a hedgehog has been trapped.

A note of warning – as hedgehogs are fairly indiscriminate in what they will eat, should you decide to help by providing food and water, they should not be given cows' milk.

Helpful Hedgehogs

Because they will eat such a wide range of food a hedgehog can be an asset in garden, eating pests such as slugs and caterpillars. (Although not all slugs are bad news for a gardener). Regrettably, they can also be killed by eating slug pellets. Hedgehogs can also work their way into bags of garden or domestic rubbish.

Hedgehog Tunnels

You can help by joining the campaign to reconnect gardens so hedgehogs can move freely, to find food and escape predators. This will require your neighbours’ cooperation so that garden walls and fences can be adapted by cutting tunnels so each of many gardens are connected.

A Curious Visitor

Hedgehogs are nosy animals. Jenny’s parents woke up one night to hear a snuffling at their bedroom door. A hedgehog had not only come into the house but climbed a flight of stairs, and seemed to be quite happy to have invaded completely different territory. He (or she) was removed carefully, with leather gloves and a tray.

More Information

Click here to go to the British Hedgehog Preservation website.

Click here to go to the Kent Wildlife Trust website to find more information on hedgehogs.