Mammals in your garden

Working towards Natural Englandfor people, places and nature

Front cover photographs: Main shot: Fox cubs are usually bornin March, Paul Keene/Avico Ltd. Topleft: Young bank voles on garden log,Dave and Brian Bevan. Bottom left:Hedgehog © Stephen Oliver.

English Nature cannot and will notaccept liability for the accuracy ofinformation given in this leaflet.

English Nature, the RuralDevelopment Service, the CountrysideAgency. Working in partnership toconserve and enhance our landscapesand natural environment, to promotecountryside access and recreation aswell as public well-being, now and forfuture generations.

This is one of a range of publicationspublished by: External Relations TeamEnglish NatureNorthminster HousePeterborough PE1 IUA

www.english-nature.org.uk

© English Nature 2005

Printed on Evolution Satin, 75%recycled post-consumer wastepaper,elemental chlorine free.

ISBN 1 85716 887 9

Catalogue code IN17.9

Text by The Mammal Society andMammals Trust UK.

Designed and printed by AstronCorporate Solutions, 6M.

Mammals inyour gardenFar more people are now

gardening with wildlife in mind

and mammal visitors are often

seen as a real bonus.

Almost all gardens, including thosein the heart of any city, will receiveat least occasional visits from somemammals. The closer you live toplaces where mammals are oftenfound – woodland, a park, a railwayline or piece of rough ground – thegreater the likelihood of a variety ofmammal visitors. But wherever youare, and whatever the size of yourgarden, with a little work andpatience you should be rewardedwith sightings of at least some of ournative mammals.

Most species of British mammal arenocturnal or crepuscular (active atdusk and dawn) and many visitors,especially the smaller ones, will gounseen – however they will leavesigns that they have been present,such as the remains of their prey,marks in the ground, hairs ordroppings.

In 1998/9, a survey of mammals inthe garden was carried out by TheMammal Society and the People’sTrust for Endangered Species. This

3Mammals in your garden

The hedgehog should be welcome in every garden. Daveand Brian Bevan

2

showed that the most commongarden visitors that people wereaware of were mice, grey squirrels,hedgehogs, foxes and bats. However,shrews and voles are often presentand several other species can alsomake an appearance. Some gardens,even in urban areas, are visited bybadgers and deer; and weasels andstoats – together with the rather lesswelcome rabbits, moles and rats –may also be seen.

This leaflet will help you find outmore about the mammals coming toyour garden. It offers some tipsabout making your garden moreappealing for mammals and suggestswhat you can do to deter undesirablevisitors, or at least to control thedamage they sometimes cause.

Is it a mouse?

The small mammals that you aremost likely to find in your garden fallinto three broad categories: shrews,voles and mice. Shrews areclassified as insectivores (togetherwith hedgehogs and moles) whilevoles and mice are rodents.

The tiny animals with long pointednoses often left dead by cats areshrews. These eat invertebrates likeworms, snails, woodlice and spiders.Shrews taste unpleasant to manypredators and often remain uneaten –although owls are undeterred!

Both the common shrew andthesmaller pygmy shrew like densevegetation through which they make‘runways’ at about ground level.Their nests are made of woven grass.To stay alive, both species need tokeep feeding virtually all the time,with only brief periods of rest.

Slugs are among the many creatures eaten by the commonshrew. Dave and Brian Bevan

From top: The pygmy shrew is only about 60mm long andweighs less than 4g. Derek Middleton. Bank vole. Dave andBrian Bevan. Short-tailed field vole at entrance hole to nest.Dave and Brian Bevan. The now rare water vole may stillturn up in gardens close to water, although often betweenthe jaws of a cat! Paul Keene/Avico Ltd

5Mammals in your garden4

Mouse-sized mammals with bluntnoses and short tails are voles. Theytend to be more active in the daytimeand prefer long grass and unkemptareas. Bank voles are far more likelyto be seen in your garden, but short-tailed field voles will turn up in ruralareas. The reddish-furred bank voleseat herbage and berries but will alsotake insects. Short-tailed field volesare generally tawny in colour andmostly eat grass. Water voles areoccasional garden visitors in someareas but are rarely found far fromcanals or streams. Sadly, these arenow far less common everywhere,the decline in their numbers beingmainly due to habitat loss andpredation by American mink.

Not all mice found indoors are housemice. In more open suburbs andrural areas, wood mice and yellow-necked mice may also move into ahouse, especially in the autumn. Allthree species eat seeds by preferenceand thus have a liking for cereals,often spoiling food as a result.

You can catch mice in a humane trap– these are available from many petshops – but ensure you check itregularly. Release captured animals acouple of kilometres away or theywill return. However, mice ‘dumped’in the countryside like this willprobably die fairly quickly so it maybe kinder to use an old-fashionedsnap trap. An alternative is anultrasonic deterrent to keep mice out

of the house altogether. However,these devices are rather expensiveand their efficiency is not fullyproven.

True mice, either brown (such aswood mice and yellow-necked mice)or grey (the house mouse), havepointed noses, long hairless tails andlarge ears and eyes.

More rarely seen is the tiny, red-brown harvest mouse whichoccasionally turns up in ruralgardens. Its tail is its mostdistinctive feature as it can be used asa fifth limb to hold on to grass orsmall twigs. As is the case withsome monkeys, this prehensile tailenables harvest mice to move rapidlythrough vegetation. Harvest micemake round nests suspended inclumps of grass at about knee height.

The house mouse always appreciates spillages! Dave and Brian Bevan

Wood mouse. Dave and Brian Bevan

The yellow-necked mouse closely resembles the wood mouse. Dave and Brian Bevan

7Mammals in your garden6

Hazel dormice

A furry tail and golden coatdistinguish the tiny hazel dormousefrom true mice. More like a smallsquirrel than a mouse, the dormousehas large ears and prominent eyes.These attractive animals are foundmainly in the south, the south-westand the west Midlands with isolatedpopulations elsewhere, especiallywhere they have been re-introduced.They may turn up in garden hedgesand are sometimes attracted intogardens to feed on nuts and seedsfrom bird feeders. Dormice havebeen known to hibernate in pampasgrass and even garden sheds!

Lewis Carroll’s portrayal of thedormouse in Alice’s Adventures inWonderland was fairly apt. Dormicehave a long hibernation period,lasting from October to April, and,even in their active season, sleepextremely deeply during the daytimein a state known as torpor. They eata variety of foods, concentrating onflowers in the spring, invertebrates inthe early summer and fruit and nutslater in the year.

Hedgehogs

The hedgehog is our only spinymammal species, the spines beingmodified hairs. Gardens with a lot ofcover offer them ideal homes andtheir finger-sized black droppings,containing glistening beetle parts,may often be seen scattered on thelawn. Hedgehogs are very usefulanimals to have around as theyconsume large quantities of snailsand slugs. They will also take avariety of other foods includinginsects, fruit, worms and even birds’eggs.

The hours immediately beforemidnight see most hedgehog activity.They can be surprisingly noisy whenfeeding and even more so whencourting! The young – generally fouror five in a litter – are born in a nestof grass, leaves and moss.

Hedgehogs can move quite quickly,at up to 40 metres a minute (justunder two miles per hour) when the

need arises, making use of theirsurprisingly long legs. This is notfast enough, however, to allow themto escape from their major predators,foxes and badgers. Foxes kill mainlyyoung hedgehogs in their nestswhereas badgers take adults. Thismay be upsetting but it is, after all,part of the natural cycle and there isno real reason to interfere with it.You can, however, providehedgehogs with fox- and badger-proof nesting sites made with bricksor stout timber and with a longentrance tunnel. For furtherinformation, contact the People’sTrust for Endangered Species. See‘Useful Organisations’ at the end ofthis leaflet.

The harvest mouse was first described by the famous eighteenth century naturalist, Gilbert White. Dave and Brian Bevan

Hazel dormice may take advantage of bird baths andfeeders! Betty McKay

Gardeners with weapons: another danger to hedgehogs!Dave and Brian Bevan

9Mammals in your garden8

Hedgehog-friendly gardeners willleave at least some autumn leaves inquiet corners where the animals mayforage, shelter or even hibernate.Besides ponds and bonfires (see thesections on pp 22 & 23) the maindangers to hedgehogs in gardenscome from netting and strimmers.All these hazards can be greatlyreduced by taking a few basicprecautions. Hedgehogs can easilybecome trapped in garden netting sopeg down edges tightly and remove itwhen it is no longer needed. Whenusing strimmers, disturb the targetareas with your feet beforehand toensure that any hedgehogs shelteringin the long grass or shrubby edgeswake up and move out of harm’sway. This is extremely important as

carelessly-used strimmers can inflicthideous, often fatal, wounds onhedgehogs.

Rats

Brown rats have large eyes and earsand long scaly tails. They dig orgnaw holes and leave hard, black,cylindrical droppings. They are oftenattracted to food that has fallen frombird tables or been thrown on tocompost heaps and, since theyemerge during the daytime, they aremore likely to be seen in the gardenthan other rodents.

In contrast to the brown rat, the blackrat or ship rat is now a rarity, almostexclusively confined to a few ports.

Putting out bird food can attract rats.This problem can be avoided byusing specialist, hopper-type, hangingfeeders or a bird table that keeps thefood out of their reach. If you feedbirds on the ground, try to gauge theamount that they will take in a dayand restrict your offerings to thatquantity.

If you find rats living in yourcompost heap, keep them out withfine chicken mesh and a strong lid.Remove potential hiding places suchas old buckets and flower pots. Ifrats become a problem, contact thepest control department of your localauthority.

Bats

Growing warmth from the sun wakesbats from hibernation in March orApril. In many gardens, they canthen be seen at dusk – andoccasionally even in daytime – rightthrough to October or even later.Their diet consists entirely of insectswhich they detect by echo-location,usually in flight. The sound wavesissued through their mouths or noseshelp them to navigate, as well as tofind food.

Britain has 17 species of bat. Manyof these have been recorded ingardens and several species mayroost in houses, the most likely beingpipistrelles and the brown long-earedbat. Bats normally remain hiddenduring the day and their small, black

droppings in your roof space oftenprovide the only evidence of theirpresence. Mice droppings are hardbut those of bats consist of insectskeletons and crumble to dust ifrubbed between finger and thumb.

All bat species and their roosts areprotected by law because they are sovulnerable. British bats are quiteharmless to humans and should notbe disturbed. If you are doing workon your roof and find bats, contactyour nearest English Nature office.For more information, refer to theEnglish Nature leaflet, Focus on bats.See ‘Useful Organisations’ at the endof this leaflet.Brown rats appreciate any food left overnight on bird tables. Dave and Brian Bevan

The three species of pipistrelle in Britain are distinguishableby their calls but only by experts using specialisedequipment. Dave and Brian Bevan

11Mammals in your garden

Moles

These interesting creatures spendvirtually all their lives underground.Although they rarely livepermanently in gardens without largelawns or orchards, they can be foundin gardens on the edge of built-upareas where the enriched soil offersvisiting moles a plentiful source ofearthworms, their main food. This isparticularly true of gardens neargrassland or woodland,especially in the summer whenthe young are searching fornew territories.

A mole digs its tunnels mainlyto create a giant undergroundtrap for invertebrates. Thefamiliar molehills appear whenthey dig new tunnels to extendtheir ‘trap’ or search for molesof the opposite sex. You canlegally kill moles using trapsor poison but both methods arerather inhumane.

Ultrasonic deterrents do notscare moles away and neitherdoes the noise made by thewind blowing over the top of abottle sunk into a mole tunnel– a commonly cited homespundeterrent! The live-trappingand removal of moles is alsounlikely to be effective asother moles will probablymove into the empty tunnelsand may even extend them.

It is better to live with the problemand remove molehills as they appear,generally in the autumn and winterwhen it is damp and easy to dig.Why not use the soil for pottingplants? Leaving moles undisturbedmeans that they are less likely to dignew tunnels. Moles can actuallybenefit the garden by eating harmfulinsect larvae like leatherjackets andhelping to drain and aerate heavysoils.

Ready-made bat boxes may encourage brown long-earedbats to your garden. Frank Greenaway

Top: New molehills are often dug by young animals establishing territory. Daveand Brian Bevan. Bottom: Moles use their hugely powerful front legs likeshovels. Dave and Brian Bevan

12 13Mammals in your garden

Stoats and weasels

These predators are probably morefrequent visitors to gardens,especially in rural areas, than mostpeople suppose. Often they come insearch of prey like voles, moles, ratsor mice but they may also take fishor frogs from ponds. They can beactive in daytime but are rarely seen,preferring generally to stay in thecover of long grass or thick hedges.

Both stoats and weasels are small,long and lithe. Each species has agingery-brown coat and a cream orwhite belly. The larger stoat, whichtakes many rabbits – especiallyyoung ones – has a very distinctiveblack tail tip. Both species climbwell and stoats sometimes scalecreeping plants like ivy to raid birds’nests in the roof spaces of houses.They may then take up residence and

even breed there, leaving behindlong, curly droppings full of theirvictims’ fur or feathers.

Squirrels

In most of England, the only squirrelyou are likely to see will be the greysquirrel, introduced from NorthAmerica in the nineteenth century.These animals are extremely agile,using their long fluffy tails to assistbalance. Some are tinged withginger, leading people to confusethem with our native red squirrels,

which are rich chestnut in colour and,in winter, have distinctive red tufts offur on the tops of their ears. Greysquirrels also spend much of theirtime on the ground, whereas thenative reds generally remain in trees.Red squirrels in England are nowlargely confined to a few northernareas and, in the south, to a couple of

islands in Poole Harbour and the Isleof Wight. Both species build nests(dreys) which resemble large, domedbirds’ nests but with the leaves stillon the twigs.

Squirrels may enter houses byclimbing creepers or adjacent trees,gaining access to lofts where tiles orbricks are missing. Lofts provide warm, safe places to give birth, but –

once installed – squirrels can doconsiderable damage, chewingwiring, wood and even pipes. Live-trapping them is not an option. It isunlawful to release a grey squirrelinto the wild and any animal capturedhas, therefore, to be humanely killed.Excluding them altogether ispreferable.

This is a characteristic stance of the weasel, probablyenabling it to put its acute sense of small to best use. Daveand Brian Bevan

Stoats are generally longer than weasels and may be twice their height. Derek Middleton/Avico Ltd

The red squirrel is now a great rarity in England. Paul Keene/Avico Ltd

15Mammals in your garden14

Squirrels tend to be active in the mid-morning and mid-afternoon so this isthe time to block all their entry pointswith balls of chicken wire. Wait untilall the squirrels have gone out andstuff wire balls tightly into the holes.Ensure that all the squirrels have leftand that there are no nests containingyoung in the roof-space. You willnot want to shut their mother out andtrap them inside to starve.

If there are young, wait until they areold enough to go out with theirmother before sealing the entrances.Grey squirrels have two litters a year,which means they will havedependent young for much of thespring and summer.

Grey squirrels eat a wide range offood, including bulbs, insects, fungi,fruit and birds’ eggs. Their liking forseeds has led them to become adeptat raiding bird tables, evenovercoming physical obstacles. Whynot provide your squirrels with theirown feeding station and make it areal puzzle so they have to work outhow to reach it. This way you cankeep them off your bird feeders whileadmiring their ingenuity.

There are now several genuinelysquirrel-proof bird feeders on themarket. Alternatively you can mixsquirrel deterrents with bird food.One is made with peppers whichrepel squirrels but not birds.

Badgers and foxes

Badgers are unmistakable, with theirwhite faces and broad black stripesrunning through their ears and eyesand down to their noses. Althougheach hair is black and white, theirbody fur appears grey or even brown.They have short powerful legs andlarge, five-clawed feet.

Evidence of the presence of badgersincludes small pits called ‘snuffleholes’ produced when they dig forearthworms and other invertebrates.Occasionally, they may dig a smallsett under your shed. Badgers areless active in winter but, unlike some

mammals, do not hibernate. Cubsare usually born in late January orFebruary but stay underground forabout two months.

Foxes are now a common sight inmany gardens, perhaps more so inurban areas. They are highlyintelligent and extraordinarilyadaptable animals, eating whatever isavailable, animal or vegetable.Whereas badgers are very rarely seenbefore dusk, foxes are bold enough toturn up at any time, although they aregenerally nocturnal. Cubs are born inMarch and remain in the den (calledan ‘earth’) for almost a month beforeemerging for exercise and play.

The agility of grey squirrels means they can get virtually anywhere. Dave and Brian Bevan

Above: Badgers are present in every English county and arefound in the parks of outer London. Hugh Clark/Avico Ltd.Right: Fox on hen house in search of an easy meal. Daveand Brian Bevan

17Mammals in your garden16

Both badgers and foxes come togardens in search of prey items suchas earthworms (the badger’s mainfood), beetles and cranefly larvae.Their droppings are distinctive. Fox‘scats’ often have a ‘tail’ at one endand are left in prominent places,while badger droppings are ratherloose and left in shallow holes knownas dung pits.

Mammal droppings may contain theeggs of intestinal parasites. Those offox cubs especially can contain theeggs of the roundworm Toxocaracanis. In theory, these eggs can bepassed to children. There is not asingle known instance of thishappening but droppings shouldnevertheless always be removed fromplay areas.

If you want to discourage foxes andbadgers from visiting your garden,avoid using fertilisers containinganimal remains, such as fish, bloodor bonemeal. Both species have anacute sense of smell and will come insearch of the source. For the samereason, put heavy lids on yourdustbins and compost bins and blockany large access points to the garden.Remove items leaning against fencesand fill in gaps underneath them.Some of the commercially availableanimal repellents may work well anda radio tuned to a voice station mayalso be an effective deterrent. Anextreme measure would be an electricfence. These fences need to havetwo strands set 75 mm and 200 mmabove the ground. You can get afence – and a 12 v battery to power it

– from agricultural suppliers, whowill also advise you how to erect it.Unearthing the urban fox has moreinformation. See ‘Finding out more’at the end of this leaflet.

Where badgers are causing damageto land or property, the RuralDevelopment Service (RDS – a partof Defra) can issue licences formeasures that will exclude them fromtheir setts and prevent them fromreturning.

Deer

Deer are frequent garden visitors incertain parts of the country, temptedin to eat tasty flowers and shrubs. Ofthe six species now found wild in theUK, the most likely to be seen ingardens are the roe deer and themuntjac.

Badgers can rapidly create havoc with a rubbish bin! Dave and Brian Bevan

Roe buck at rest. Dave and Brian Bevan

Young roe deer. Paul Keene/Avico Ltd

19Mammals in your garden18

The roe deer is one of our two nativespecies, the other being the muchlarger red deer. Roe deer are abright, foxy red in summer and dullgrey in winter. The males have short,gnarled, spiky antlers. You mightalso see their distinctive droppings,which often look like little fat winebottles with a dimple at one end anda point at the other. Their footprints,called slots, resemble those of sheepbut are more pointed.

The muntjac is our smallest deer,standing no higher than 42 cm at theshoulder – about the height of alabrador. Chestnut in summer anddarker brown in winter, it has twodistinctive black lines running downits forehead. Males have two short,single-spiked antlers and very shorttusks protruding below the upper lip.Muntjac escaped from the Duke ofBedford’s estate at Woburn more than100 years ago and have since spreadto much of southern England and theMidlands. They are now turning upin suburban and even urban areas.

Making gardens more attractiveto mammals

For many years, it was fashionable tohave orderly, manicured gardens withdeadwood, cuttings and fallen leavespromptly cleared away – the veryopposite of what mammals need!However, with the gardening public’sinterest in wildlife developing sorapidly, more people now have agreater understanding of its needsand are less fussy about tidiness.Ideally, you should allow at least onearea of your garden to go just a littlewild, cutting shrubs and trees backless frequently.

If you have a large lawn, you couldconsider letting one part of it growlong, only mowing it every couple ofyears. This may encourage fieldvoles into your garden to live in themat of dead stems at the bottom ofthe grass clumps. Undisturbed areaswill give cover to shy, elusivemammals and will also offer nest-building materials – in the form oftwigs and leaves – and quiet cornersin which to build them. These refugeareas will provide small mammalswith a base from which they canventure into neighbouring gardensand other areas to forage, the animalsreturning to your garden to rest,hibernate and even breed.

Coming and going

Most mammals have fairly largeterritories so an individual gardenmight only be part of a larger habitat.Boundaries around gardens will notbe a serious impediment to mostmammals, which can usually getover, under or through them. Deercan jump fences and even hedgehogscan climb walls. However, if you aretrying to encourage mammals intothe garden, make access as easy aspossible. Ensure there are gaps at, orbelow, ground level in any fences orhedges. These don’t have to be largeand you can camouflage them withplants and shrubs. A badger needs agap about 200 mm deep and 300 mmwide in order to squeeze under afence, and many other species willuse the same route. Walls are more

difficult but a log pile in a corner, ora trellis, can help mammals climbover them; even a gap under a gardengate may be enough. If it’s your wall(or, if not, if your neighbour isunderstanding!) try knocking out acouple of bricks near ground level tomake it easier for small mammalsand also – to come and go.

Plant foods for mammals

Many of the trees, plants and shrubswe grow in our gardens will providefood for mammals throughout theyear. However, the best ones to plantare native species (even if they aredomesticated varieties) as Britishmammals may not have a taste forsome alien flowers or fruits. Hazel,crab-apple, hawthorn, privet, guelderrose, wayfaring tree and spindle areall small to medium-size shrubs ortrees useful to small mammals.Bramble is excellent, too, though itneeds to be kept under control as itspreads rapidly. Ivy is valuable forits cover, autumn flowers and winterberries. All these species will also beof benefit to birds, as well as insectssuch as moths and butterflies.

In spring, many mammal speciesfeast on buds and fruit blossomswhile in autumn, they gorgethemselves on ripe berries and fruitbefore the hardships of winter. Forvery small mammals, even brief foodshortages in periods of cold weathercan be fatal. You should aim to havea variety of trees and shrubs in yourThe introduced muntjac is now common in much of southern

England. Dave and Brian Bevan Weasels like to hunt in long grass. Dave and Brian Bevan

21Mammals in your garden

garden fruiting at different times tohelp ensure that food is constantlyavailable. In addition, floweringplants such as honeysuckle – andespecially night-scented blooms suchas stocks, evening primrose andNicotiana (tobacco plant) – will attractinsects, so providing food for bats.

Artificial feeding

Feeding can be a good way to attractmammals to your garden on a regularbasis, although it is not without itsproblems. Artificial feeding will alsocreate many opportunities for you tosee visiting mammals. Cooked foodsand sugary things should almostalways be avoided although woodmice have a taste for chocolatedrops! Some of the simplest foodsare best. Peanuts and raisinsscattered in the grass will keep foxesand badgers busy for long periods asthey sniff them out, and badgers areequally fond of windfall apples.Badgers are more likely to come to

gardens during prolonged periods ofdry weather, when earthworms areharder to find. Supplementaryfeeding may be particularlyappreciated at this time, especially bythose animals with cubs to support.

It has to be said that badgers andgardens do not always mix well.Once lured into a garden by the offerof raisins, they may start lookingaround for other food. They have norespect for strawberry beds orraspberry patches!

They may also tear up your well-tended lawn in search of cockchaferbeetles in late summer or earlyautumn. What’s more, if they smellsomething tasty in your rubbish binthey can easily knock it over andscatter the contents about. But for allthis they are wonderful to watch and,if fed routinely, can become quitetrusting. They will, though, remainwary at all times. However, take careif there’s a sett on the other side of abusy road from you, then makingefforts to attract badgers to yourgarden is eventually almost certain toprove fatal for some of the animals.

Special foods for hedgehogs are nowavailable although they are happywith pet food. Put a dish of foodunder a milk crate or somethingsimilar to keep the local cats away.Milk, however, is probably bestavoided as it may make hedgehogssick.

Garden fruits like apples and rose hips provide food forseveral species of small mammal, including the wood mouse.Above: Dave and Brian Bevan/Left: Paul Keene/Avico Ltd

This badger was lured into a garden by peanut buttersmeared on the fence! Dave and Brian Bevan

Hazel dormice are fond of all sortsof fruits, including blackberries.Hugh Clark/Avico Ltd

23Mammals in your garden22

Water

All mammals need to drink and oneof the best ways of encouragingmammals into your garden is tocreate a pond. These are simple toconstruct and enormously beneficialfor all wildlife. A pond should not besited under trees, as falling leaveswill clog it up in autumn. Instead,locate it next to cover such as a lowshrubbery or a rockery. Alternatively,provide cover nearby after you’vemade the pond. This protection willenable mammals to reach your pondwithout having to cross wide openexpanses of mown lawn, where theyare most vulnerable to predators suchas cats. Ensure that your pond has at least

one shallow end from whichmammals like hedgehogs can easilyget in and out. Hedgehogs swimwell but may get trapped – anddrown – in steep-sided ponds. Ifyour garden already has a pond withsteep sides you can create an escaperoute with a plank of wood. Make aramp by resting one end on the bankand putting the other into the water.Add a few aquatic plants and plantsome wetland species on the pondmargins – native species in bothcases. However, try to resistintroducing fish, which will eattadpoles and other pond animals.

For detailed information on wildlifeponds, refer to the English Naturepublications, Ponds and boggy areas:havens for wildlife and Amphibiansin your garden (see ‘UsefulOrganisations’ at the end of thisleaflet).

Garden chemicals

Chemicals can help control unwantedplant growth and garden pests.However, almost all poisons will killfar more than their target species andmay remain toxic in the soil for longperiods. Hedgehogs eat largenumbers of invertebrates every night,including slugs that may have fed onslug pellets. It is believed that thepoisons from these pellets mayaccumulate in hedgehogs and harmthem. In the same way, slug pelletsmay also be linked to the fallingnumbers of song thrushes.Controlling weeds and pests is more

difficult without chemicals, butalternative methods do exist and areavailable from garden centres. Bychoosing these alternatives, you areacknowledging that wildlife isimportant in your garden.

Shelter

Many mammals make homes forthemselves underground or in trees.Remember that hedgehogs inparticular are often attracted to thewarmth and safety of unlit bonfiresand compost heaps so it is essentialto check both before disturbing themor setting a bonfire alight. A log pilein a quiet spot, with lots of gaps andholes, offers hedgehogs and othermammals an alternative safe place toshelter. If the pile is at least 1 mhigh, about the same across andaround 1.5 m long, hedgehogs mayeven choose to hibernate beneath it.

A sheet of corrugated iron or a largeboard placed on the ground in anundisturbed corner will often attract

This bird feeder is no challenge for a grey squirrel. Dave andBrian Bevan

Hedgehogs are good swimmers and can easily get out of ponds if theedges are shallow. Dave and Brian Bevan

Reflecting weasel! Dave and Brian Bevan

Hedgehogs may be affected by slug pellets. Dave and BrianBevan

25Mammals in your garden24

small mammals to nest underneath,safe from most predators. It can beeasily covered with vegetation toavoid creating an unsightly feature:its effectiveness will be unaffected bywhatever is placed over it.

Predators and prey – cats

There are about eight million cats inBritain. Their inclination to hunt –and their skill in doing so – varieshugely from one individual toanother but there is no doubting theircumulative impact. A survey by TheMammal Society in 1997 concludedthat cats kill no fewer than 250million creatures in Britain every

year! Among mammal species, mice,voles, shrews and rabbits are themost frequent victims. However,grey squirrels, bats and – surprisingly– weasels and even stoats aresometimes taken, as well as declining

species like water voles and dormice.Whatever its overall effect on thepopulations of particular species,keeping a cat is rarely compatiblewith encouraging small mammalsinto a garden.

If you own a cat you should takeresponsibility for your pet and not letit roam freely. Most small mammalsare killed at night and most birdsearly in the morning so providingyour cat with its main meal late inthe afternoon – so that it gets used tocoming home before dusk – is a goodploy, and it can then be kept indoorsuntil well after dawn.

This restriction mayalso help your cat itselfas it will then be lesslikely to get run over orinto fights with othercats. Bells andultrasonic devices fittedto the collar may helpalso, although theireffectiveness seems todecline over time ascats learn to cope withthese devices.

If you are not the catowner, then try one ofthe ultrasonic cat

deterrents on the market to deter theanimals from high-risk areas in yourgarden. They are expensive, though,and will only cover a fairly smallarea.

Mammals through the seasons

Mammals come to your gardenthroughout the year. Although manyBritish mammals are far less activein winter, only hazel dormice, batsand hedgehogs can be said tohibernate, and even bats may wake invery warm spells. No hibernatinganimal should be disturbed – theprocess consumes the reserves ofenergy it needs to see it through thecold weather.

Mammals and the law

Of the mammals likely to come togardens, badgers, the hazel dormouseand all species of bat have full legalprotection. This means they may notbe caught, disturbed or killed withouta licence and that their roosting andbreeding places may not be interferedwith. The burrows of water voles arealso fully protected, as are theanimals themselves when they areinside them.

The domestic cat is the most dangerous garden predator of all. Dave and Brian Bevan

The brown long-eared bat is one of the most widely distributed species in Britain. Frank Greenaway

27Mammals in your garden

Problems and concernsEven very tolerant gardeners mayencounter difficulties with somemammal species. There is not always a simple answer but you can alleviatesome problems. Some concernsspring from a desire to protectvulnerable animals from predation.While this is understandable, it has tobe recognised that the mammals inyour garden – cats aside! – are wild

and that interfering with the naturalcycle in which some kill while othersare killed is generally not helpful.

Damage to plants by rabbitsand deer

Deer are very hard animals toexclude – and rabbits even more so.The only certain method is secureperimeter fencing and this comes

Wood mice are amongst several garden mammals with ataste for bulbs. Dave and Brian Bevan Rabbits will eat almost any garden plant. Stephen Oliver

29Mammals in your garden28

with a high price tag! Enclosingespecially vulnerable garden areas,such as vegetable plots may be morerealistic, with chicken mesh availableat a reasonable price. Otherwise acompromise solution, such ascultivating plants less attractive torabbits and deer, may be the onlyoption. The drawback is that rabbitswill eat almost any plant, and ifhungry will take all but the moststrong-smelling or spiny material.

Gathering information

Most garden mammals live their –often very brief – lives out of oursight and hearing. Some high-pitched squeaks from theundergrowth may suggest thepresence of a shrew but such smallanimals are rarely seen alive out inthe open. Much the same can be saidof mice and voles. Relatively fewpeople, too, are capable ofidentifying mammal species and farless is known about small gardenmammals than is the case with otherwildlife such as birds or even thelarger invertebrates.

Without adequate knowledge,successful conservation of ourwildlife is made far more difficult, soit is vital that we gather as muchinformation as possible.

Both The Mammal Society andMammals Trust UK regularly runsurveys asking people all over theUK to send in records of mammalsthey see in gardens and elsewhere.You don’t have to be an expert to dothis and there are simple andinexpensive guides to help you. See‘Finding out more’.

Finding out more

Bullion S. 1998. A key to British land mammals.The Mammal Society/FSC.

Bullion S. 2001. A guide to British mammal tracksand signs.The Mammal Society/FSC.

Clark M. 1988. Badgers.Whittet.

Baker P. & Harris S. 1986. Urban foxes.Whittet.

Jones K. & Walsh A. 2001. A guide to the identification ofBritish bats.The Mammal Society/FSC.

Morris P. 2004. Dormice.Whittet.

Morris P. 1983. Hedgehogs.Whittet.

Morris P. & Sargent G. 2003. How to find and identify mammals.The Mammal Society.

Richardson P. 2001. Bats.Whittet.

Strachan R. 2002. Mammal detective.Whittet.

Williams T. & Wilson A. 2000.Unearthing the urban fox.The Fox Project.

All of the above are available fromThe Mammal Society, which alsosells a range of books on individualmammal species. Furtherinformation, including free factsheets on individual mammal species,is also available on the respectivewebsites of The Mammal Society(www.mammal.org.uk) and theMammals Trust UK (www.mtuk.org).

Guards for fruit trees are one way of protecting them fromrabbits. Dave and Brian Bevan

Pygmy shrew on moss. Dave and Brian Bevan

30

Useful organisations

The Mammal Society2B Inworth StreetLondon SW11 3EPTel: 0207 350 2200enquiries@mammal.org.uk

Mammals Trust UK15 Cloisters House8 Battersea Park RoadLondon SW8 4BGTel: 0207 498 5262enquiries@mtuk.org

The Bat Conservation Trust12 Cloisters House8 Battersea Park RoadLondon SW8 4BGTel: 0207 627 2629Bat Helpline: 0845 1300 228www.bats.org.uk

The Wildlife TrustsThe KilnWatersideMather RoadNewark NG24 1WTTel: 01636 677711www.wildlifetrusts.org

English Nature

This English Nature leaflet is one ofa series about gardening with wildlifein mind.

The others are: Wildlife-friendlygardening: a general guide; Plants for wildlife-friendly gardens;Amphibians in your garden; Reptiles

in your garden; Mini-beasts in yourgarden; Focus on bats; Compostingand peat-free gardening; Meadows –how to create them in your garden;Garden pond and boggy areas:havens for wildlife; Dragonflies anddamselflies in your garden; Enjoyingmoths and butterflies in your garden.

In preparation: Birds and yourgarden; Wildlife on allotments; Bees,ants and wasps in your garden;Fungi in gardens; Living roofs; Notall bad: slugs and snails in thegarden; Mosses and lichens ingardens; How does your gardengrow? Children and wildlife.All leaflets are freely available fromthe English Nature Enquiry Serviceon 01733 455100/101/102 or emailenquiries@english-nature.org.ukThey may also be downloaded aspdfs from the Engliah Nature websitewww.english-nature.org.uk

English Nature also produces aninteractive CD: Gardening withwildlife in mind. This has detailedtexts and photos of 500 plants and300 of the more common garden‘creatures’, and shows how they areecologically linked.

Details from The Plant Press, 10Market Street, Lewes, BN7 2NB.Alternatively, call John Stockdale on01273 476151 or emailjohn@plantpress.com

Opposite: Bank vole (Clethnonomys glareolus) coming out ofhole in tree. Dave and Brian Bevan