Mammals And Reptiles in Wildlife Gardens

Which animals might come to a garden?

Mammal is a warm-blooded animal that has fur on its skin, gives birth to living young and feeds its young with milk. A reptile is a cold-blooded, usually egg-laying, vertebrate with a skeleton and a body covered with scales and/or plates. If you are lucky, you will be visited by reptiles such as snakes, lizards and slow worms, and mammals such as mice, bats, moles, voles, hedgehogs, squirrels, rabbits and foxes.

GARDEN MAMMALS

A young rabbit that has been startled and is ready to bolt. It is interesting to note that rabbits will,

especially when food is short, eat their own droppings.

A pair of fox cubs at play in the undergrowth. Note the characteristic pricked-up ears and the sharply staring, attentive eyes.

A grey squirrel has smooth ears and a characteristic slightly grizzled tail. It buries food items for later retrieval.

A brown rat searching for insects and grubs. Note the short, fat tail.

A house mouse (see page 58) busy eating scraps. House mice have long been happy to share both our food and our homes.

MAMMALS AND REPTILES IN THE GARDEN

Much depends upon the size of your garden and where you live, but mammals and reptiles are only going to visit if you ensure that they have just the right shelter and food. Some of these animals will only be night-time visitors, and/or just travelling through, so they will not be wanting to set up a permanent home; but they will all be seeking food. Mice eat insects and spiders; hedgehogs eat worms, slugs and small animals; bats eat flying insects; badgers eat roots, worms and small mammals; foxes eat birds, small animals and insects; rats eat whatever is on offer; rabbits eat grass; and snakes eat small animals and insects. If your patch provides them with their needs, they will most certainly visit and might possibly stay.

THE GARDEN HABITAT

You need to think of your garden as one big mammal and reptile refuge, and then shape it up and stock it accordingly. Start with the pond and all the minute creatures that live near it, and then work up. You should plan to have bog gardens around the pond, lots of ground cover, several compost heaps, one or two left-alone areas for weeds, lots of rotting logs, long grass, larger bushes and shrubs, as many trees as the size of your garden allows, and a small shed, shelter or hide that is tucked quietly away so that you can watch the show. The larger animals will not all rush in, because the smaller creatures that they feed on need to establish themselves first, but if you are patient and keep things going for a year or two your garden will become a wildlife haven.

NATURE ‘RED IN TOOTH AND CLAW’

It is sometimes very difficult to love wildlife in the raw. For example, once I was sitting with my binoculars quietly watching a family of five or so baby rabbits playing chasing games in the late-afternoon sun – they seemed to be having fun, just like puppies – when all of a sudden a fox appeared, and before long two of the rabbits were dead. Nature can appear difficult at times, but ‘kill or be killed’ is just the way of it. Every creature must eat to survive. You will have to accept this harsh fact if you are to become a wildlife watcher.

A young hedgehog (see page 60) wondering how best to tackle this tasty handout.

POINTS TO CONSIDER

• If your garden is too small for a pond you could increase the size of the bog garden and make sure that there are bowls and trays of water.
• Make sure that your shed, shelter or hide is hidden away and yet positioned so that you can see the action.
• You cannot do much about cats hunting in your garden, other than to make sure that there is good ground cover and plenty of structures, so that wild creatures have places to hide.
• Research suggests that long grass and trees attract a whole host of creatures.