Wildlife In Your Garden?

[Detomah]

Ok, it's that time of year at the moment, where a lot of animal lovers are probably tuned into BBC2 most weeknights watching Autumn watch with Bill Oddie and Kate Humble...

Personally I religiously watch both SpringWatch and AutumnWatch, especially Deer Diaries as I love the ongoing story of the ruck with Caesar, Percy, Brutus and the gang, but overall I like it simply to see all the seasonal activity of Britains wildlife.

Anyway, I don't currently have a garden, instead i'm stuck with a carpark where a garden should be, but I still get robins, blackbirds, magpies, a collar dove and even a grey squirrel that all frequent within visibility from my back window, which is better than nothing and a lot better than what I had at my last house.

What sort of critters do you get visiting you? Do you encourage them by feeding them and making a natural habitat for them or do they just come along anyway?

Has/is anyone been involved in one of those lottery funded grant thingy's that SpringWatch has been trying to get people involved with?

[Sash]

We get lots of birdies and squirrels in our back garden. Woodpeckers and owls and bats in the woods at the back of the house too. I darent feed the birds as it would be like luring them into the jaws of death seeing as the cat is very good at catching them for the pies he likes to make. Wood pigeon being his favourite. I do think that it is rather funny though when the squirrels chase him off, you can just imagine the swear words.

[llll]

I have bats in my garden at night ;D i noticed a few months ago 2 bats flying around when i went out there for a cigarettte, it was reallly weird i didnt realise they flew so quick..they were swooping all over the place.
Im presuming they were bats anyway because they didnt stay still for long enough to have a real look. Ive seen them a cpl of times since..id forgottten actuallly..and im wondering where they sleeep now because all the property around here is new.
I had mice living under my decking for a while which was nice and i think if i plucked up the courage to go into my garage since i saw a dead mouse in there last year..id probably find a whole farmyard of animals ><

[shabbychic]

we live in the sticks, so get all sorts, hedgehogs, fox, hares, rabbits, and at times we've even had baby deer stray into our gardens from the forest near by.
you got to watch them squirrels though, vicious little things if they feel cornered

[Seth]

We tend to just get hedgehogs, which we occasionally put food out for if they stick around the bottom of our garden for long enough. Also see squirrels pretty often, but that's about it.

[Mars]

from the back of my house, (faces north) it's all countryside until carlisle!

we get foxes, hedgehogs, bats, mice,voles, squirrels, rabbits,
the bats have a roost in my loft somewhere, but it's too small for me to get into,
we have a large tree across the old courtyard where the magpies and crows have an
annual battle to nest in, it's been magpies for the last 6 years on the trot,
we also have a pair of wood pigeons that come every year, i like the noise they make,
there's also an enormous frog that lives down the hole where my water stop valve is in the garden,
every time i put my hand in to turn off the water, i get slimy skin xD

we have deer further up the hill, but they don't hang around if they see or hear ppl,
i'm a big fan of otters, and if i could i'd work with them, or run a sanctuary for them,
i'd have loads!

[draganess]

Hedgehogs are a right pain in the butt, we live in a village with a very big garden, we have hedgehogs and cos of them we have to make sure the dogs are kept up to date with injections and flea and tick stuff. AND my stupid 9 year old dog likes to pick them up in her mouth and bring them in the house!

We have bats in our tree at the bottom of the garden, or someone over the backs has them and they just rest there, we get them more when the plumbs on the tree start to appear, I didn't know they ate fruit!!

[Laz]

Our local claim to fame is a large collection of swans. One morning last winter, we counted 24 adults at the river's edge. We get the usual collection of songbirds: robins, cardinals, doves, chickadees, and the occasional gold finch.

Recent dog control ordinances have resulted in many more rabbits!

We have lots of deer - they are a traffic hazard. We also have hedgehogs and their cousins. Some backyards will have a fox or two - rare. The most recent "invader" has been the coyote, which is halfway between a fox and an wolf, with none of the personality. Down in New Jersey, they also have a problem with black bears.

You've probably read about the peregrine falcons living in New York City, and we have bald eagles (USA symbol) returning to many waterways. Very elegant birds, and they eat the rodents.

[Tagred]

right now, its storks and alligators, with a few squirrels thrown in, not seen much else in the past week

[Ferrari]

Originally Posted by Tagred

right now, its storks and alligators, with a few squirrels thrown in, not seen much else in the past week

Hey where do yuo live Tagrid?

[Cintaria]

Squirrels... Magpies... the occasional spider...

I've been trying to convince my g/f to break up the bread she doesn't use (eats sour-dough bread and leaves the two end bits. I would put a bit of jam on them and have 'em as a snack or something?) and chuck it in the garden to attract more birdies