Helping Garden Wildlife Through Snow and Freezing Weather in Scotland

You come down one morning and the bird bath is a solid disc, the pond has a lid on it, and there is a queue of blackbirds on the fence. That first hard frost is the moment garden wildlife stops being a pleasant background and starts needing something from you. Water locks up, the ground goes hard, insects vanish, and every bird and mammal that stayed active is burning energy faster than it can find it. The help that matters is small and cheap, and much of it is a matter of what you leave alone.

When the cold actually bites

The window that matters runs from the first hard frosts of late autumn to mid-spring. Most of northern Scotland sees snow between November and April, so a cold snap is a live risk for about half the year rather than a few days in January. Reserves are lowest late in winter, so a hard spell in February can be harder on wildlife than one in November, though how bad any given week is depends on the weather and the animal.

Scotland is not uniformly cold. Cold air drains into hollows, so a glen floor can be far harder than a hillside above it, while the west coast and islands stay milder.

A garden in a Highland glen, an inland strath or on higher ground will spend far more of the winter frozen than a sheltered west-coast one, so start the water and feeding routine when the hard frosts arrive rather than by the calendar.

Garden birds

What to put out

Birds need high-energy food in the cold. Oil-rich foods, such as fat balls, suet, sunflower hearts, mixed seed, nyjer seed and good-quality peanuts, are the core. From 1 November to 30 April the full range of foods, including seeds and peanuts, is fine to offer. Peanuts belong in a proper feeder rather than loose on the ground.

Feed regularly. A feeder that is full one day and empty the next wastes the energy of birds that turn up to nothing. Put out only what will be eaten in one to two days, and use suet products within seven days. Fat blocks in wire cages work well. Avoid plastic nets, because birds' tongues can get caught in them.

The RHS suggests finely chopped bacon rind and grated cheese for small birds such as wrens, but the RSPB advises against salted food, so unsalted fat and mild grated cheese are the safer choice.

Water

In hard frost, water can matter as much as food. Offer a shallow dish or container of water at ground level. Freshen it daily, keep it ice-free and top it up with clean tap water.

To keep a bath from freezing solid, float a ping pong ball on it, because even a light breeze keeps the water moving. If it does freeze, melt the ice by adding warm water. Never add salt, soap or chemicals such as antifreeze, because they can be toxic or damage feathers.

Placement, cover and roosting

Birds use feeders best where there is cover close by: dense hedges such as privet and hawthorn, or ivy and holly left to grow, and nestboxes as communal roosts on cold nights. Hanging feeders are better than flat tables and trays for hygiene, and moving feeders each week stops droppings building up in one spot. The full cleaning routine is in the bird feeder and bath hygiene guide.

Visitors from further north

Redwings and fieldfares arrive from colder parts of Europe looking for berries such as hawthorn, rowan and holly, plus fallen fruit like apples. In harsh weather they turn up in gardens. Leaving windfalls and berry-bearing shrubs untouched gives them something to eat that a seed feeder does not. A poor berry crop in Scandinavia can send flocks of waxwings into the UK as well. Blackcaps, traditionally a summer warbler, now winter in around 13% of monitored UK gardens and take food put out for garden birds.

Ponds and ice

Do not smash the ice

Breaking pond ice sends shockwaves through the water that can harm or kill the animals below. Use hot water instead: sit a pan of hot water on the ice until it melts a hole, and do not pour boiling water on the surface.

What a hole does and does not do

A melted hole lets wildlife drink and enter and leave the water. Froglife says a hole does not increase how much oxygen gets into the water, though it does help newts reach the surface to breathe. Warm or boiling water can also prematurely rouse dormant animals, so keep any thawing gentle.

What does help is sweeping heavy snow off the ice with a brush, so light reaches pond plants and they keep producing oxygen. Without that, toxic gases from rotting leaves can be trapped under the ice, and in a hard, long freeze frogs can die of what is known as winterkill.

The most reliable protection is built in beforehand. A pond at least 60cm deep does not freeze right through, giving amphibians deeper water to overwinter in. See building a wildlife pond for the full design.

Amphibians out of the water

Most frogs, toads and newts spend cold weather on land, not in the pond. Frogs may bury themselves in the mud at the bottom of the pond. Leaf piles, dense vegetation, scrub near the pond, log piles, rockeries and compost heaps are their winter shelters. If you disturb one, put it somewhere frost-free with cover from predators, not somewhere warm, and leave it alone. If frogspawn freezes solid in a shallow pond, lift it into a bucket of pond water in a garage or similar frost-free place, then return it to the same pond once the cold passes. Do not move spawn or animals between ponds, because that risks spreading disease. A purpose-built winter refuge for amphibians and reptiles is covered in building a hibernaculum.

Other pond life

Water beetles, water boatmen and dragonfly larvae go dormant in deeper pond water over winter.

Hedgehogs

Leave them asleep

Hedgehogs find quiet spots to hibernate from October or November through to March or April. In a cold snap, avoid anything that disturbs them. Leave log, twig and leaf piles alone. Be careful when turning a compost heap, because a warm heap is an attractive winter refuge. Bonfires are a serious hazard. Build the pile just before lighting, or take it apart and rebuild it on the day, checking through carefully. Light it from one corner so anything left inside can escape.

When a hedgehog needs help

A hedgehog out in the daytime is in trouble even if it looks lively. The British Hedgehog Preservation Society (BHPS) says hedgehogs out in daylight in autumn or winter should be rescued regardless of weight. It also says a hedgehog found anywhere other than a well-built leaf nest that looks to be hibernating should be helped. Kitchen scales will tell you the weight.

• Out in daylight in autumn or winter: rescue, whatever the weight.
• Below 450g from late October: may need rescue, depending on the weather and how it is doing.
• Healthy, above 450g and only active at night: leave it outside and keep the food going.

If you find one, line a high-sided box with newspaper, keep it in a warm room, handle it with a towel and give it a warm (not hot) water bottle. Phone the BHPS helpline on 01584 890 801 for advice on whether to rescue and for a referral to an independent rehabilitator near you. It is a UK-wide line, not a Scottish one. Rescued animals should go to an experienced rehabilitator as soon as possible.

Whether to feed

Putting food out for hedgehogs in winter is a judgement call. Feeding in early autumn lets hedgehogs build fat before hibernation, and the BHPS says to keep putting food out for garden hedgehogs in autumn, because there may be late juveniles using it. It also says the best support is wild, leafy corners and log piles where they can find grubs and insects.

If you do feed, offer good-quality meaty hedgehog food, meaty cat or dog food, or dry cat biscuits, and check that meat is the first ingredient. Provide fresh water, and use an upturned box with an entrance hole to keep cats and foxes off the food. Keep hedgehog dishes separate from your own, well away from food preparation, and wear gloves. The evidence on how much winter feeding helps hibernating animals is thin, so treat feeding as a support for animals still active, not a way to keep them awake.

Red squirrels

If red squirrels visit your garden, the red squirrels in your garden article covers foods, calcium and feeder placement. If a grey squirrel turns up, do not feed it; the details on keeping greys off feeders are in grey squirrel proofing for bird feeders.

Insects and other overwintering wildlife

Hollow stems and seed heads are winter hideaways for small insects and spiders, so cutting them back in autumn removes the shelter. Leave healthy herbaceous and hollow-stemmed plants unpruned until early spring. Fallen leaves feed worms and other decomposers, and compost heaps and leaf piles provide warm, damp places for bugs. Log piles support a multitude of insects and give refuge to small mammals, reptiles and amphibians. A bug hotel in a sheltered spot adds more. A no-mow strip keeps a tidy-looking border and still leaves stems standing. For leaf management see autumn leaves for wildlife, and for planting that supports insects through the year see pollinator-friendly gardening in Scotland.

A quick guide by animal

Other visitors and what to leave alone

Foxes and badgers may be visible on frosty nights. The advice for living alongside them is in foxes and badgers in your garden, and bats are covered in bat-friendly gardens in Scotland. Heavy snow is hard on shrubs and structures too: see what to do when it snows in your garden.

Common questions

Sources