Make Winter a Wonderland for Wildlife!

When the temperatures nosedive and you start piling on the layers, it’s important to remember your wild neighbors. Wildlife can’t crank up the heat or throw on a parka, so they may need a little help from you to survive winter storms and cold snaps. Here are a few steps you can take to help wildlife cope with wintry weather:

• Provide a source of water for wildlife, who may have a difficult time finding drinking water during winter months. Purchase a heated birdbath or water bowl to prevent it from icing over, or break the ice at least twice a day.

• Buy nontoxic antifreeze made with propylene glycol instead of ethylene glycol, which can kill animals even in small doses. Safe brands include Sierra and Prestone Lowtox. Animals are attracted to antifreeze for its sweetness, so clean up spills quickly, and buy brands with the bittering agent denatonium benzoate.

• If mice take up residence in your home, don’t use glue traps or snap traps, as mice often break or bite off their legs to escape, and glue irritates and scars their eyes. Mice whose faces become stuck in the glue slowly suffocate, dehydrate, and starve. Humane “Smart” Mousetraps are nonlethal, so mice can be humanely trapped and released outdoors in a protected area, such as a shed or barn. Store food in rodent-proof containers, and keep trash in tightly covered receptacles. Patch up any holes that are at the bottoms of walls, including exterior holes. Squirrels make homes in attics, chimneys, and small openings in buildings. You can prevent this by installing chimney and vent covers and mending any outdoor openings.

• While it’s best to provide natural sources of food and shelter for birds by planting flowers, shrubs, and trees that produce seeds and berries, birds may need an extra boost during the winter, when they are burning extra calories to keep warm. Use a blend of seed that includes oiled sunflower seeds, which are high in calories. Remember to stop the feeding come springtime. An artificial food source causes wild animals to congregate in unnaturally large numbers in areas where they may be welcomed by some, but not others, and it can also make them easy targets for predators. Eventually, they may lose their ability to forage for food on their own entirely.

• If you venture out to feed the ducks at a nearby pond or the gulls at the beach, do not feed them bread or corn. These foods don’t have enough nutritional value for wintertime eating. The best thing to feed ducks and gulls during the winter is dry dog or cat food moistened with water. The birds love it, and the extra fat in their diet helps them replenish the water-repellent oil in their feathers and the fat they burn to stay warm.

• Contact your local wildlife official if you notice that a steel-jaw or body-gripping trap has been set in your neighborhood. Trappers often set them up illegally in residential areas. Because the traps are completely indiscriminant, they are capable of capturing and/or killing any animal who wanders by, including a cat or dog.
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