Following St Jude's Storm that hit Britain last week it is safe to say we are fully set into Autumnal weather. Both insulation and winter warmers have seen a drastic rise in sales over this past week as Britain seems to be preparing for the cold and wet months to come. Not unusually enough, we do not seem to be the only animals preparing for the cold weather ahead. In these months you may get some unexpected guests in your garden.
In the UK we only have three hibernating animals being the dormouse, the hedgehog and the bat (although it is extremely unusual to find bats hibernating in residential areas). However the dormouse and the hedgehog are common to find in your garden with approximately ten of each species entering your garden every night. When the cold weather starts drawing in, they start to build their hibernation nests and in bad cases go straight into hibernation. When these animals go 'nest hunting' they look for three main conditions being somewhere sheltered from wind and rain, a place where they are protected from predators and lastly somewhere where they are not likely to be flooded out.
You will find the majority of hibernating animals in the UK in woodland areas, however in built up locations these animals have found much more convenient locations to take shelter. The most popular choice being the garden shed. Both animals although very cute looking have extremely sharp teeth and claws making it easy to gnaw their way through wood and burrow into a garden shed which when padded out with some leaves and branches etc turns into a hibernation paradise, although not so great for the owner of the shed. Once these animals have access into a shed they may look for things to pad out their nest in the form of your stored items such as outdoor furniture cushions and cable wires. Leaving you with a hole in your shed and a few damaged goods. Unfortunately in addition, once they have gained access once no matter how many times you border your shed up they will continue trying to get in as they do not give up their hibernation locations lightly.
One way to deter these animals from setting up camp in your shed is to dedicate a corner of your garden for a wildlife friendly zone. This can be done by piling up leaves and wood which are the two materials they primarily build their nests out of when they find a place to hibernate so if they come across a half started nest they are much more likely to settle there.
However, the best possible way to prevent animal intrusion of your shed and damage to your possessions is to simply invest in a shed that isn't made out of wood. Here at Asgard we have a wide range of metal garden sheds that are completely 'hibernation proof' due to their heavy duty metal panels which are near impossible for any human to break into let alone for any animal to gnaw through, leaving your shed both hole free and your possessions intact. Our Asgard metal sheds are also great for keeping animals out due to having additional metal floor panels meaning animals aren't able to burrow underneath the wall panels either.
If you would like any more information in the prevention of animal activity in your shed or would like to enquire about one of our products please do not hesitate to call us on 03456 580 730 or talk to one of our experts via our online live chat on our website.
