Dove, that sitting quietly and watching is so important.
As a kid, I would take the dog a walk, and sit quietly in a patch of the old sand quarry near the house, on the edge of a farm field, and just watch the comings and goings.
Now I can settle and watch a small area of a coral reef and watch behaviour underwater. I see more activity in a square yard, than some divers who will cover a mile of reef in an hour. The trick is to sit still like a rock. This technique works just as well in a garden setting.
I've gone a long way off original post here. I see the question was about hibernating animals. I take the view they should be left alone. I get really grumpy being woken in the middle of the night. Waking a hibernating animal, even by accident could kill it.
I absolutely agree that teaching a child to be aware, be considerate and *just* to sit quietly is the most important thing to learn.
My father was passionate about all things to do with nature and wildlife and I spent years of my life all over the world getting to somewhere interesting and tracking, looking for poo, listening and then just sitting for hours and waiting with binoculars at the ready.
I also don't have a "wildlife" garden as such but I'm VERY "aware" and that's my excuse for keeping my wooded area unmown.
About the only thing I do "specially" is feeding birds, having nesting boxes... over 70 at the last count and also we've got boxes for red squirrels (we're in a conservation scheme) and special entrances for bat access and barn owls with boxes for them. No cameras though.
My passion for wildlife came from my father who basically taught me to be considerate, observant and quiet if I wanted to see and hear anything.
I hate zoos and dophinariums and tourist centres where they take people to go bugging wildlife and "swim with dolphins" or "see an orangutan" etc. I'm definitely in the camp of "leave them where they should be and leave them alone!
Posts
A nesting box with a camera in is good. Also you can get cameras that take infra red pictures or video in the dark, when triggered by a motion sensor.
Ponds are brilliant for attracting amphibians, and insects and even birds that like to bathe in the shallow end.
At the really simple end of the spectrum, put in a buddleja to attract feeding butterflies and buy a good bug identification book.
Dove, that sitting quietly and watching is so important.
As a kid, I would take the dog a walk, and sit quietly in a patch of the old sand quarry near the house, on the edge of a farm field, and just watch the comings and goings.
Now I can settle and watch a small area of a coral reef and watch behaviour underwater. I see more activity in a square yard, than some divers who will cover a mile of reef in an hour. The trick is to sit still like a rock. This technique works just as well in a garden setting.
I've gone a long way off original post here. I see the question was about hibernating animals. I take the view they should be left alone. I get really grumpy being woken in the middle of the night. Waking a hibernating animal, even by accident could kill it.
I absolutely agree that teaching a child to be aware, be considerate and *just* to sit quietly is the most important thing to learn.
My father was passionate about all things to do with nature and wildlife and I spent years of my life all over the world getting to somewhere interesting and tracking, looking for poo, listening and then just sitting for hours and waiting with binoculars at the ready.
I also don't have a "wildlife" garden as such but I'm VERY "aware" and that's my excuse for keeping my wooded area unmown.
About the only thing I do "specially" is feeding birds, having nesting boxes... over 70 at the last count and also we've got boxes for red squirrels (we're in a conservation scheme) and special entrances for bat access and barn owls with boxes for them. No cameras though.
My passion for wildlife came from my father who basically taught me to be considerate, observant and quiet if I wanted to see and hear anything.
I hate zoos and dophinariums and tourist centres where they take people to go bugging wildlife and "swim with dolphins" or "see an orangutan" etc. I'm definitely in the camp of "leave them where they should be and leave them alone!