Gardeners urged to protect wildlife

20 August 2008 01:51pm

Gardens may provide a haven for wildlife but everyday gardening tasks and equipment are putting the lives of wild animals in danger, the RSPB has warned.

The conservation charity is urging gardeners to take care when strimming, cutting hedges, mowing the lawn or using netting for ponds or vegetable patches - because of the risk they pose to garden wildlife.

The RSPB said it gets hundreds of calls a year from gardeners who have discovered wild animals with horrible injuries, which in many cases could have been avoided.

Among the most common accidents are people who have trimmed their hedges before birds have finished nesting in them, causing damage to nests - or even the birds themselves.

Val Osborne, head of wildlife enquiries at the RSPB, said many gardeners were very upset when they realised they had harmed wildlife - but there were easy ways to avoid many of the accidents which occurred.

"Try not to trim hedges until late in the summer, as many birds are late nesters and are still raising their young even now.

"When you do need to cut your lawn or bushes just be careful and check overgrown areas for any signs of wildlife," she said.

She urged wildlife enthusiasts to buy their bird feeders from reputable organisations, where they will have been tried and tested to make sure accidents cannot occur.

"Netting in gardens is also lethal - fat balls, fruit and vegetable netting and pond netting are the main culprits - please take your fat balls out of the nets before putting them out and ensure that crop and pond netting is pulled taut," she added.

© The Press Association