Attracting Mammals to the garden

[J-Williams]

Hello All,

I really want to attract small mammals eg. Hedgehogs, Mice, Shrews, Squirrels etc. to the garden, and I thought you guys would hold the answer of how to do so! First, let me fill you in to my history, locations etc.

LOCATION: I live in the North West of England, near Warrington. I live in a semi Rural area, as just behind my estate is a forestry commision site. On this site there is deer and a number of other things. I also live (about 5 minutes walk) from Pennington Flash, a 500 acre site with a 200 acre flash (lake). There are meadows, wetlands and forests there. We have seen Fox in the area aswell as mice at Pennington and Deer on the Forestry commision site. We are in the middle of the estate, but both the forestry commision site and Pennington Flash site are within a half a mile radius of my house.

HISTORY: A few years back we did have a hedgehog in the garden, and when we had rabbits, we always saw tiny mice climbing through the small holes in the mesh and inbetween the wood. The mesh was 1cm x 1cm! We have had mice and the odd rat in the street.

FUTURE: The whole garden is being transformed into a wildlife garden, including a butterfly garden, bee garden, large gunnera (for the dog) and working patio with insect friendly plants. A fern and insect area, a large pond, meadows, shrubs and maybe a hedgerow, and vegetable patches.

I also plan to have a few pets outside in aviaries.


There you go, that is my history and current plans and location. Now you know my situation, how can I attract more mammals to the site? What do they need? I love rodents, how can I have a mouse population in my garden? Any help would be fantastic!

PS. This is also in the wildlife gardening section. I was not sure on which section to put it in, as I knew you lot would have a greater knowledge on mammals, but the wildlife gardeners would know what to do with the garden.

[aeshna5]

It sounds as though you are doing a lot of the right things in terms of habtat creation. Do you have some log piles- these can be useful for small mammals? I'd be surprised if you don't already have some Wood Mice + maybe some voles on your property as you seem to have good habitat surrounding you.

You could also bait areas with seed, nuts, etc.

Good luck + let us know how you get on attracting mammals + other wildlife. I have a small sububan garden in west London + have recorded Fox, Hedgehog, Pipistrelle sp, Grey Squirrel, Wood Mouse + less desirably Brown Rat in it.

Within a couple of miles I've also seen Muntjac, Weasel, Mole, Rabbit + Field Vole.

[J-Williams]

I also forgot to mention, bats fly over the garden quite often, this is why a largish tree (including bat boxes) and a pond are planned for construction in October...

The large fern area including a very large log pile will be later on in the year as this will have to be constructed after an aviary is constructed.

[healfdan]

From your description you are well on your way to establishing a mini nature reserve. But be patient, for despite your obvious enthusiasm, attracting wildlife onto a new site not directly linked to countryside will take a fair amount of time. Remember the maxim; You can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink. On the plus side if your neighbours have gardens, or if there are green spaces, canals or leafy lanes between you and the surrounding countryside then these will serve as a corridor and facilitate the movement of wildlife. Wishing you the best of luck.
Healfdan

[J-Williams]

Originally Posted by healfdan

From your description you are well on your way to establishing a mini nature reserve. But be patient, for despite your obvious enthusiasm, attracting wildlife onto a new site not directly linked to countryside will take a fair amount of time. Remember the maxim; You can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink. On the plus side if your neighbours have gardens, or if there are green spaces, canals or leafy lanes between you and the surrounding countryside then these will serve as a corridor and facilitate the movement of wildlife. Wishing you the best of luck.
Healfdan

This is very true for example, I got my first Butterfly on my Butterfly Garden yesterday. The first one since it was completed, 4 months ago! We have had plenty of moths though!

[dampflippers]

Access.
Make sure there are gaps under each fenceline and gates.
A 5 inch gap by sawing off the bottom of a fence plank is ideal for hedgehogs which need around 10 to 12 gardens to forage round.
If there are fence base boards, you will need more ingenuity- ramps and widened gap, or burrowing under.
Foxes, badgers or otters will need much larger gaps.

Always make sure there are several water bowls round the garden even if you have a pond.

A rock pile for amphibians.

You sound a handy sort of person, so make a hedgehog house or two.

If the logpile is on a damp area, have one with a ariety of sized spaces in it in a dry area.

When you dig the pond, bank up some of the soil for bank voles.

It sounds a great project, good luck!

[J-Williams]

Originally Posted by dampflippers

Access.
Make sure there are gaps under each fenceline and gates.
A 5 inch gap by sawing off the bottom of a fence plank is ideal for hedgehogs which need around 10 to 12 gardens to forage round.
If there are fence base boards, you will need more ingenuity- ramps and widened gap, or burrowing under.
Foxes, badgers or otters will need much larger gaps.

Always make sure there are several water bowls round the garden even if you have a pond.

A rock pile for amphibians.

You sound a handy sort of person, so make a hedgehog house or two.

If the logpile is on a damp area, have one with a ariety of sized spaces in it in a dry area.

When you dig the pond, bank up some of the soil for bank voles.

It sounds a great project, good luck!

Thanks for the tips! Its not a large site, but big enough to fit in what I want! Thanks for the info and I will take it in!

[Tracey.A]

Hi J, hedges are great for encouraging birds to nest and will encourage wood mice. You probably have wood mice, the best time I find to see them is in the evening.

It sounds like you have a fantastic project ahead of you. You've already got the moths, which the bats will love and now you have seen a butterfly. I'm full of envy and wish you all the very best with this. Can't wait to hear how your garden develops and what wildlife you will see.

Tracey

[citychick]

Hi There,

Sounds like your in a similar (ish) situation to me about 10 months ago - apart from I live within a 1 mile of a city centre so your location has more of an advantage to me.

Maybe post some photos of your garden and annotate with your planned area's so we can give you various feed back/suggestions to help.

All the Best

Lauren

[STYRBJORN]

I don't want to be a Jeremiah here, but your aviary will likely attract cats, Moggies regard small mammals as prey. Leave the dog out at night!

Ric