Back on Christmas Eve we put out loops of popcorn as a treat for the animals in our neighbourhood. A couple of weeks ago we put our Christmas tree in our backyard with a suet bird feeder for our winter birds. It is only logical that when we were at the library last week, my eldest daughter was drawn to the books that were all about winter animals. Where do they go? How do they adapt? What do they do to survive?
We came across this awesome book Animals in Winter by Henrietta Bancroft. Animals in Winter is part of a series of books called “Let’s Read and Find Out Science.” We haven’t come across this series of books before, but we will be searching out the other books in the series at our local library. Animals in Winter is a great starting point for understanding how animals survive the cold months. They discuss the ways that animals store food, prepare their homes, how animals hunt for food and hibernation. At the end of the book the author provides two pages of suggestions of ways to assist winter animals. We already do a couple of the things they suggest.
Hang suet – we put out a suet feeder this year
Nail a sunflower head to a post or fence – we’ll have to plan for this one next year
Plant shrubs with berries for food and shelter – we keep ornamental grasses, plants with seeds available for food and bedding for animals and birds to use.
Put a bird feeder in a tree – we have never had success with bird feeders in our yard
Make an apple, cranberry, raisin and orange garland – this is what we decided to do
There are a few more suggestions in the book. When we were done reading through the list, I asked my daughter to pick which of the suggestions we could do in our garden. She picked the fruit garland. This was a great learning opportunity for my daughter.
She peeled and sectioned the oranges.
She sliced the apples.
She threaded the oranges, apples, raisins and cranberries.
She placed the garland into our backyard Christmas tree for our neighbourhood birds and animals to enjoy on this cool January day.
We also learned that it is important to be consistent when putting food out in the winter. When you put food out for birds they rely on your food source. If you stop putting food out the birds will suffer because they depend on your food. So, we have committed to providing food to our neighbourhood birds. My daughter has volunteered to keep an eye on our fruit garland and replenish the food when we need to. Awesome!