Illustrated by Abigail Phoenix

Helping Wildlife – World Wildlife Day

World Wildlife Day is the 3rd of March 2023, and what better way to celebrate than learning how we can…

World Wildlife Day is the 3rd of March 2023, and what better way to celebrate than learning how we can help our local wildlife. We can make a positive impact in many ways, some of which involve doing nothing!

The University of Lincoln is a hedgehog-friendly campus, with grassy areas which are allowed to grow without being cut down, which is great for insects and little animals.

Log Piles

Making a log pile is a great way to help the local wildlife, as it creates an environment for burrowing animals, and toads can use them as homes! All you need to do is grab some logs and sticks from outside and place them in a pile in your garden, or in natural habitats. Another benefit to helping the wildlife by building them a log pile is being able to see them more often!

Feed Birds

Birds in cities, such as Lincoln, may have difficulty finding food due to the development of buildings in their habitats. You can help them by leaving out some bird food in your garden, or going around town and feeding some of the birds. If you put a feeder in your garden, make sure it’s high off the ground and away from any predators.

It’s important to note that in some areas you can get fined for feeding birds, this is due to the fact that an increase in birds in these areas can create more mess, such as bird poo on pavements. Another thing to be aware of is a current surge in Bird Flu, although this doesn’t present much of a threat to humans, it is killing many birds across the country right now (you may have noticed an egg shortage in shops recently). Try to avoid touching any of the birds as you could aid the spread of the disease unwillingly.

Let The Grass Grow

As I mentioned previously, there are ways you can help wildlife without doing anything! Letting your garden grow naturally is a great way to provide extra food and habitats for wildlife. If you want to take this a step further, you can buy wildflower bombs to add diversity to your garden. Bees and butterflies love flowers like lavender, and birds will eat flowers and plants with berries!

Litter Picking

If you and your friends have some spare time one afternoon you could go litter-picking or get involved in the litter-picking society. This is especially important in wooded areas and places with a large wildlife population.

The Brayford is an unfortunately common spot for litter, and swans have been seen eating litter that was discarded into the water. Due to the increase in litter, and the decrease in focus on the Lincoln swan population, their numbers have decreased drastically in recent times. It’s important to create a peaceful and functional habitat for the swans and geese in Lincoln, and by litter picking, we can help to increase their numbers.

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