How to Draw Wild Animals in Your Garden?

If you love sustainability and helping the planet, you might want to know how to draw animals in your garden?

 

This is actually very easy because the animals are very pleased to receive a space where they can live and multiply. My fairy garden is changed into a paradise for animals over the years. If you look for the right plants, you draw bumblebees and bees, and butterflies into your garden, which already helps these insects to increase their population. However, if you buy plants, look for pesticides because these little insects will not survive the toxins. The toxins will also kill small mammals and birds.

I love the sound of the bees in spring and summer. Our garden has become an oasis for us to relax and for the animals a home all year round, leaving me with a peaceful feeling. Needing these animals so much, I do everything I can imagine to increase their population.

In all the years we live here, I have observed that birds live here you wouldn’t have been able to observe in a garden. These birds normally live in the forest, but nowadays  I see them in my garden. Birds don’t find enough food anymore because insects have decreased over decades due to pesticides and herbicides decreasing the bird population.

I would never do this to my animals. 🙂 If you know how to choose the right plants, I tell you that nature takes care of everything.

What is Wildlife in The Netherlands?

We have amazing beautiful animals here in the Netherlands. Even the wolf has come back, not as much as in Germany because we have in Germany more forests and space for the animals that you don’t have in the Netherlands; however, wolves are coming back. Of course, we have deer and wild cats, small cats, similar to our housecats.

There are many different birds, hedgehogs, bats, mice, bees, few butterflies, and other insects in my garden. Frogs don’t want to settle; I believe they hear the frog concert a little further away from our house, where frogs live in small canals, which are more attractive than my pond. I love frogs, and their sound lets me sleep deeply and peacefully.

Trying to do everything to settle frogs in our pond, we actually give up on them due to repeating leave of our garden as they hear the other frogs in the distance. I can’t blame them!  We hear them very loud on the summer nights talking to each other, beautiful to listen to them. 🙂 So we still try to trick them, but they know what they want! 😉 Little stinkers! 🙂

Have you ever seen a frog catching a fly in reality, not on television? It is amazing how these little guys are talented at catching insects. They sit very quietly, not moving at all, sometimes for a long time, observing the movements of the insects, finally catching them by rolling out so quickly their long tongue towards the fly, like a spear, rolling the tongue back into their mouth with the caught fly. It is so beautiful to see them in action in nature.

Or did you ever watch a hedgehog in the twilight coming out of his bed, jawning, stretching his muscles, scratching his little body? Beautiful little animals, so cute! Walking around, they make such a noise, smacking while eating snails and other insects, something I don’t want to miss.

They don’t see very well and are so busy with themselves that they aren’t aware of you sitting on a garden chair observing them, giving us lovely moments viewing God’s creation. Having animals and insects in your garden is better than watching television.

How to Draw Bees and Other Insects Into Your Garden?

I said already that is really easy! Inviting bees and other insects into your garden, you need to have many plants, ponds, tree trunks, branches in the corner of your garden, and some open sand spots where the insects can hide and raise their breed. I put holes into branches and the trunks so that bees could find a house. It is always good to have a wild garden, not to clean up too much.

Sand bees are making holes in the sand where they make a corridor to put their eggs in. These wild bees can only fly some meters, making them depending on certain plants, like thyme or thistles. Kitchen herbs are the favorite of many bees, and bumblebees, and butterflies. I have lots of different plants in my garden, providing a variety for the bees.

Installing bee hotels onto the walls or placing a big standing hotel where they can find a home is a great opportunity to observe these little insects.  It is beautiful watching them entering their house, being busy building a suitable home for their breed. Absolutely beautiful to watch!  Maybe you would love to observe the wildlife sitting in your garden or on your balcony. You will be amazed, how beautiful all these animals and insects are.

Every spring, I see many bumblebees queens in my garden visiting the first flowers, like crocus, hyacinths, anemones, strengthening themselves by collecting polls and nectar.

These beautiful big queens are seeking a home to build their population. They use old mouse nests and walls in your house, mostly on the south side, but it could be anywhere due to a lack of possibilities.

Please don’t close a hole in the wall when you see them entering it. They are lovely insects doing you no harm if you don’t touch them. They are only interested in flowers, sorry, not in you, and certainly will not sting you if you leave them alone. I have already for years with these bees, and they have never done any harm to me, even they landed on my hand to relax and energize.

One summer, we had a bumblebee nest in the wall nearby our terrace. When we were sitting on our terrace, they just passed us flying to the flowers and back to their hole, not interested in us, but in the polls. So, please let them live! You want to live too! They are so important to us!

Three years ago, we had a great year of blossoming trees and flowers, a honey bee population moved to one hole in the wall of our house, wild honey bees, meanwhile quite seldom in the Netherlands, and they still live there, waking up every spring and disappearing in late autumn. They are happy bees finding so much nectar and polls in our garden and neighborhood, helping to pollinate our plants.

Thank you, dear bees and bumblebees! You are so very welcome! 🙂

When the insects increase, our birds will find enough food to feed their youngsters and themselves. I give them a hand during wintertime, but also in spring and autumn. I feed them organic raisins in summer, and birds, like sparrows and blackbirds, love them to charge their energies because feeding their children costs them much strength.

They have many nests, and observing the young birds is so uplifting. I take care of water for them and watch them bathing and drinking; they always seem so happy. One problem is the neighborhood cats, and we have our hands full to keep them away from the birds.

How to Draw Birds to Your Garden?

First of all, by increasing the population of insects you certainly will help birds and small mammals. Having a wild by plants overcrowded garden helps the birds finding places where they can build their nests and catch insects.

We are now thinking about a rooftop garden to create more green spaces for insects and birds. In many cities, there is not much green left, so that every green space will help, and we will feel more peaceful and relaxed having a green environment.

In my town, they do quite a lot for the animals, but they do the maintenance work at the wrong time, making many victims while sorting out plants, cutting the trees, mowing grass and flowers, killing lots of hedgehogs, and bees. Other cities do a great job creating a green sustainable environment, leaving it alone.

There are projects like an urban vegetable garden where the people living are coming together to work for their own vegetable and fruit supply, which is a great opportunity to help the animals finding an area where they can live. Butterflies and bees love vegetables and fruits.

Many people are still using chemical products to clean their terraces and pesticides for their plants, killing all insects and finally animals depending on them. People need to get educated about nature life and the importance of insects and animals to our wellbeing.

Many organizations work to protect our environment and the planet, and I am very pleased to know some people are also trying to create a better place integrating wildlife. Thank you very much!

Inviting Bats and Hedgehogs into Your Garden!

What does a bat need to be able to settle in your neighborhood? Trees with holes, or a hole in your house wall, but also a box or a bird’s house. There are special houses made for bats, and if you want to help these cute little animals, you could place them in your garden.

We have a problem in the Netherlands. Companies specialized in the insolation of houses are using a new method, injecting insolation material into the cavities of the houses, killing lots of bats and bees living in these cavities. They shouldn’t be allowed to do this to keep the bat’s population, but many human beings are not thinking about the animals but money. It is a horrific death for these cute animals being stuck into the insulation materials. My heart bleeds!

We have bats here in our surroundings, under the roof. In summer, I have seen them flying in the twilight, trying to catch insects a beautiful scenery. I heard that they want to insulate our houses too, but I hope I can prevent it, especially for my bees protected by the law of nature conservation, the same as bats. So I am already have armed myself using the law to save them.

Another cute animal coming to our garden is the hedgehog which also needs insects for its diet. Having fewer gardens in our cities, often only containing tiles and a terrace, some pots with plants, does not help the hedgehog settle. The gardens are often not available for the little animals because of the fences with no holes where the hedgehog can cross gardens to get around in the night.

A hedgehog is a night animal and sleeps during the day, as a bat does. It needs a wild garden to find enough food, a place for sleeping, and a shelter in the winter to hibernate. Many beautiful hedgehogs are dying in the traffic in autumn, having problems finding suitable shelters for winter.

If you want to help this little guy, you might set up some houses for the hedgehogs to sleep in and feeding it with the right food you can buy in garden and animal centers. He will be so grateful; maybe you will see a mother with her children in your garden. 🙂

Don’t feed milk! Their stomach can’t digest milk, and they might die.

Final Thought

Having a garden or balcony, you might want to create a paradise for birds, insects, and other animals who have difficulties finding enough food and a home. Start with many different organic plants that will attract insects and birds to feel at home in your garden or balcony.

Making your garden attractive will draw bees and butterflies, pollinating your plants if you have vegetables and fruit trees. Improving the population of the insects will invite other animals, too, like birds, hedgehogs, and bats. It is a win/win situation for you and the animals, but also your neighbors and the planet.

Please let me know how you think about attracting wildlife into your garden or balcony. Do you help the insects and animals? Do you have any advice you would like to share? I would love to hear from you! Please feel free to comment below in the comment section!

All the Best,

Sylvie