How to help wildlife in spring: Tips for hedgehogs, frogs and bees

When hibernation comes to an end in March, animals such as hedgehogs and toads start to emerge. So, what can you do to help them as they look for food or a mate?

According to Marianne Evans, Wilder Engagement Officer at the Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales, the first step is to create a habitat and provide food and water. These simple actions can make a real difference.

How to create wildlife-friendly spaces at home

Leave dandelions for bees

Leaving dandelions to grow on your lawn provides a much-needed source of nectar for bumblebee queens as they get ready to start a new colony.

Build a woodpile for hedgehogs and invertebrates

Stack sticks, leaves and twigs to encourage nest building in hedgehogs and create a home for invertebrates, which hedgehogs will eat along the way.

Add a small garden pond

Building a pond with an aquatic plant or two will provide water for passing birds and also a home to amphibians.

But what if you don’t have a garden, or have already done all of these things? It could be time to get involved in some citizen science!

What is citizen science?

Citizen science is when ordinary people help collect information for real scientific research. It allows anyone, regardless of background or experience, to contribute to wildlife conservation.

By recording what you see while out walking or spending time outdoors, you help experts track changes in species’ numbers and habitats. This data helps them decide where conservation efforts should be focused.

How you can get involved in citizen science

Look for frogs

Springtime is crucial for logging records of frogspawn. There is a dramatic decline of amphibians in the UK so keeping tabs on their locations and numbers is essential to protect them.

The Freshwater Habitats Trust is asking people to get involved in the PondNet Spawn Survey. This survey runs until the end of May and all you need to do is go for a walk near a body of water such as a pond, ditch or lake and see what you can find.

If you find frogspawn, toadspawn or an adult frog or toad:

• Take a photo carefully

• Count the number of spawn clusters

• Note any adult frogs or toads present

It takes about 5 minutes to fill in this survey and you have done your good deed for the day.

Tip: Frogspawn appears in clumps while toadspawn looks like long lines.

Go on a bee walk

To support bumblebees in spring, you can take part in monthly BeeWalks for the Bumblebee Conservation Trust.

Insects like bees are threatened by pesticides, habitat loss and climate change. By reporting where and what species of bee you’ve seen, it helps to keep tabs on their numbers and contributes to their conservation.

BeeWalks surveys:

• Monitor the abundance of bumblebees across fixed walking routes of 1-2km across Britain

• Rely on more than 800 volunteers to help identify and count bumblebees

• Take place once a month from March to October

Or if you’d like to record bumblebees even when the survey isn’t running, download the iRecord app and get recording today!

On the highway to hedgehogs

Finally, everyone’s family favourite, the hedgehog. These hibernating hogs emerge between mid-March to early April and they are often hungry and thirsty.

You can help hedgehogs by:

• Putting out shallow trays of water

• Providing food such as meat-based cat food or special hedgehog food

• Creating a ‘hedgehog highway’, a gap of at least 13cm x 13cm between property boundaries to help them find food and shelter more easily

Whether or not you spot them in your garden or down a lane, it is important to record you’ve seen one. Hedgehogs are in decline in the UK and are now listed as vulnerable on Britain's red list of mammals.

In urban areas hedgehog numbers have fallen by 30%, and by half in rural areas in the last 25 years.

You can help by recording your hog sightings on the BIG Hedgehog Map by the People’s Trust for Endangered Species.

Every action counts

Whatever action you decide to take, everything counts towards helping your local wildlife and protecting it for generations to come.

Find out more

Check out our biodiversity and nature section for more wildlife stories, or find out how even 20 minutes a day outside in nature can boost your wellbeing.