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!

[Jez]

Informations sheets like this http://www.naturescape.co.uk/poster.htm are a handy way to help you create a wildlife garden and there are plenty of books out on the market. I can be of some help when it comes to recreating meadows though I doubt any of us have gardened to encourage mice perhaps door mice or wood depending on peoples perception towards them (I haven't)! Any chance of some images of your garden this is usually the best way to help you get that ever bit closer to your goals esp since your wanting to achieve a fair amount!?

Cheers Jez

[paulinemiller10]

You can leave food out for small rodants j.williams, I have fed woodmice for many years, I made a mouse house and cam to watch them, leaving food for small rodants will also attract rats which will see the lot off, they also eat them, so to feed them you can make a small or large feeder with a mouse hole size into the box, that way only small animals can get through and its a safe place for them to eat their supper.

I have a mouse bed which has small holes into it, and also into their kitchen which is open, but if a ratty turns up I can cover it with a wooden box with small holes for the mice, there are always mice sleeping in the bed, but it does take time to get them to sleep there, but they will use it right away to store their food, posting some pics to give you some idea's.
Its not so easy to feed hedgehogs, the rats will take all the food, I have to catch any rat that turns up and relocate to the country where there are no buildings.
Pauline.