Autumn is the most beautiful season...
WHAT CAN YOU DO FOR ANIMALS IN AUTUMN?
Now that nature is gradually preparing for winter, what does autumn actually mean for animals?
And what can you do for animals during this period?
Autumn in nature...
For those of us who hate leaves in and around the garden, be careful about rigorously removing foliage. By pruning too much, you deprive animals of useful materials to build their nests with. Moreover, it is good for the soil, it provides fertile soil that attracts insects and other animals. By leaving piles of leaves and corners of the garden untouched, you create sheltered areas of the garden for toads and other small animals where they can hide. Plant autumn flowering plants in pots, the top 5 autumn flowering plants of the Butterfly Foundation are: hebe, lavender, asters, ivy (do not prune) and vervain.
HEDGEHOGS
Hedgehogs hibernate in winter, only interrupted to occasionally eat something, exercise or when their body temperature drops too much. To help hedgehogs get through the winter, you can take action in the fall. Don't make the garden too tidy and provide mess corners where you can just let nature take its course. Hedgehogs can use leaves, twigs, upturned buckets or baskets (with a notch for an entrance) and even tarps or stacked furniture to make their nests.
Do you really want to help hedgehogs? Then purchase a hedgehog house and place some twigs and foliage or hay at the entrance. You don't have to decorate the hedgehog house, because hedgehogs love to decorate their own houses. If you like, you can supplement hedgehogs in the autumn with hedgehog food or special biopathé for hedgehogs. They need to eat as much as possible before it is time to go into hibernation. Never put bread or milk in front of them! That's not good for hedgehogs at all.
BIRDS
(Early) autumn is the ideal time to clean existing nesting boxes or hang new nesting boxes for birds. When it gets colder and the wind blows or it freezes, they will be happy with a little shelter. Because while you snuggle against the pillow during cold days by a fire or under a thick blanket, cold nights are dangerous for birds. A nesting box offers a solution. Do not put nesting material in there so that they have more space to sleep with as many of their kind as possible in one nesting box. This way they keep each other nice and warm. Is there already a nesting box available? Then clean it for the winter. After the breeding season, most nest boxes are quite dirty and full of bugs that have hidden in the old nesting material. Remove all twigs, leaves and other junk from the cabinet and clean thoroughly with boiling hot water. Then pat everything dry and hang the cupboard outside again.