Garden wildlife traps – Otherwise known as bird feeders and netting

20/08/2008 16:14:12 August 2008. The RSPB is warning of the potential dangers to wildlife that we can unwittingly set up in our own gardens. Even bird feeders can be deadly, and many of the most common items in our sheds and garages can be potentially fatal to birds, hedgehogs, reptiles and a whole host of other wildlife.

Every year, the RSPB's wildlife enquiries team gets hundreds of calls from horrified gardeners that have found wildlife with horrible injuries from a variety of avoidable accidents.

Hedge trimming & strimmers destroying nests
Among the most common are people that have started trimming hedges and bushes with hedge cutters or electric devices like strimmers before the birds' nesting period has finished and have unwittingly destroyed the nest or worse still harmed the birds themselves. Long grass can also be a haven for nesting field mice.

Heron in heron proof netting. Les Stocker Tiggywinkles.

Netting is biggest problem
Netting used for fatballs and across ponds or vegetable crops cause countless bird injuries as beaks and feet get caught.

Cheap bird feeders
Cheap bird feeders are responsible for hundreds of birds getting trapped and unable to escape, as well as squirrels.
Strimmers and lawnmowers are also responsible for nasty injuries and deaths to hedgehogs and frogs and in extreme cases hedgehogs have been completely cut in half.

Val Osborne, Head of Wildlife Enquiries at the RSPB says: "People are very upset when they realise they have harmed wildlife and in many cases it can be avoided.

"Try not to trim hedges until late into 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. Sadly, there are many cheap and nasty bird feeders available now and people don't realise the damage they can do. Buying them from reputable organisations such as the RSPB and lots of other alternatives means the feeders have been tried and tested and accidents will be avoided.

"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."