All I want for Christmas.....

All I want for Christmas...

Lots of us are busy making Christmas lists of presents for ourselves (here's hoping!) or of ideas we have for gifts for loved ones. Which got me thinking, if animals were to ask for gifts from us, what would they be? Here are some ideas.... are there any you can help with this Christmas?

All we want for Christmas is... a pile of logs

The human race is either obsessed with making things unnecessarily tidy and spotless (where it needs to be left a big messy) or leaving rubbish everywhere it can. Please leave your garden a little bit messy at least in one corner and leave us not a stocking but something better - a pile of logs to live in.

All I want for Christmas is....a nesting box

With all the new buildings going up, builders haven't taken into account our needs - for nesting places. For example, old barns where we used to find places to nest and rest have been converted so we've lost those as homes. So I'd love a nesting box for Christmas - nothing fancy, or quaint - just a good old nesting box I can shelter in. The RSPB Online Shop has all sorts of different varieties you can buy. They also have habitats for wildlife, too.

The RSPB have a special offer on many of their nest boxes until 15 Feb 2022

All I want for Christmas is.....a hedge

Hedgerows are our M25, our M23, our M62... call it what you will. Mind you, there's less traffic jams on our hedgerows - and fewer hedgerows. Hedges are our wildlife corridors - we scuttle along them, use them for shelter, rest and find food there. So you can adopt a hedgerow for us, and get some planted so we can have our own motorway network with resting stations along them. Or plant one yourself in your garden! Or you can support the efforts of charities such as the Woodland Trust who are already planting hedgerows.

All I want for Christmas is.... a hole

Hedgehogs need holes between gardens so that they can get from one garden to another - their own hedgehog highway or motorway. The problem is, lots of people have fenced their gardens in so it's impossible for hedgehogs to pass from one garden to another. Can you give a hedgehog a hole in your garden fence? It only needs to be 13 cm in diameter, so it's not a big hole to ask for. Or you could become a Hedgehog Champion

All I want for Christmas is.... a pond.

It doesn't need to be a big pond for wildlife - something the size of a bin lid or a washing up bowl would do. And preferably it would have a sort of ramp on one side so if I fall in, I can easily climb out again. Ponds have disappeared over the last few decades, so we need some ponds back. And if you can put a couple of plants in, that would be lovely! It will help frogs, toads & newts, Dragonflies & damselflies, Bats, Birds and Pond creatures

Make a small pond for wildlife - here's how

All I want for Christmas is.... for you to "send me some flowers"

Did you know that lots of online garden retailers now sell bee and buttefly friendly seeds and flower bulbs? Spend some time rummaging for them on their stores - you don't have to have a big garden - flowers in a pot or a tub will do fine, so we can come and visit and go buzzing or fluttering. We found some very pretty cyclamen in a pot the other day - fine to buzz around and so pretty on a doorstep. And believe it or not, there's a bumblebee on this cat nip in the garden..

Yes, there's a bumblebee on this cat nip

All I want for Christmas is treatment

There are a number of wildlife charities, including Tiggywinkles in Buckinghamshire and the Wildlife Ambulance Rescue Service in East Sussex. Tiggywinkles have virtual gifts you can give, including Deer Leg Bandages, Rescue Kits, Swan Rescue Kits, a Bucket of Maggots, various treatments, and diagnostic tests. C lick here to hop off to Tiggywinkles. (who also have a need for certain high demand items which you can see here