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BBC Breathing Places is a major BBC Learning campaign to inspire and motivate you to create and carefor nature-friendly green spaces where you live.Getting out and enjoying nature can have greatbenefits for you and there are lots of excitingways you can get involved.

Go wild with Breathing Places at:bbc.co.uk/breathingplaces

“Being directly involved with animalsdoes the soul good – it remindsyou that humans are just anotherspecies on this planet. It makes youfeel insignificant in a positive way.”Martin ClunesActor

Your home is your castleWherever it is you call home, there’s probablyone room where you like to head after a hardday and bed down for a full night’s sleep.

Have you ever considered where wildlife winds down?

Most mammals, for example, are mainly activeat night. And all land mammals are ‘endothermic’which means they make their own body heat.Their fur helps them keep warm, but so do theplaces they call home.

Did you know?

– Badgers live in setts– Foxes live in an earth– Hedgehogs and dormice live in nests– Otters live in holts– Pine martens live in a den– Rabbits live in warrens– Squirrels live in dreys

Some homes will be used occasionally orseasonally. Although these homes have differentnames, they all provide shelter and security,particularly important when young are born.

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The hole storySome mammals make permanent or temporaryhomes in holes and burrows – using the groundfor protection. Look down when you are nextout on a walk and you could discover a wholenew world beneath your feet:

– Holes in grassy banks and tussocks, aroundthe size of £2 coins, are likely to be used bysmall voles and mice.

– Holes near fresh water, around the size oftennis balls, could be home to water voles.

– Larger holes, no bigger than footballs, in earthybanks and on field edges, are probably usedby rabbits. Usually several of these entrancesexist, all leading to an underground burrowconsisting of a series of interlinked tunnelsand chambers.

– When in woodland, look out for entrances tobadger setts and fox earths. They are usuallybigger than a football. Badgers will often diginto an existing hillside.

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Green housesSome of the features mammals look for in ahome, like shelter and security, can benefit otherwildlife too. So, by helping them in your garden,you could be well on your way to creating anature haven for lots of creatures.

Try making a log or rock pile, let grass grow longer,put in native plants, encourage ‘wild’ patches,build a compost heap or create a wildlife pond.

Hedges also provide shelter and security. Smallmammals will travel up and down them, using alllevels, and larger ones, like rabbits and badgers,will burrow underneath.

Ensure features don’t become hazards:

– Avoid ponds with steep sides, or provideramps for wildlife to climb up.

– Never trim long grass without checking for ‘visitors’.

– Always check underneath bonfires beforelighting them.

– Never plunge a garden fork into a compost heap.

– Avoid using slug pellets and other pesticides.

Hedgehog hideawayAlthough there are many hedgehog homes youcan buy, creating a hideaway doesn’t need tobe expensive.

A good pile of leaves under a hedge or a logpile, with a sheltered cavity, is great. However,why not have a go at this very simple affair,which is easy to make out of bits and bobs youprobably have lying around the house?

What you’ll need:

– A large cardboard box with thick sides

– Some old newspapers

– Clean, dry grass and/or straw and leaves

– A plastic carrier bag

– Lots of twigs

1. Cut two side air vents about 15cm by 5cm in the cardboard box.

2. Next, cut an entrance, about 15cm in diameter.

3. Shred the newspapers and put them inside,with some clean, dry grass or straw on top.

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4. Tuck the box near a hedge – ideally theentrance should face south.

5. Cover the top of the box with some plasticsheeting. An opened-up plastic carrier bag isperfect to protect the box from getting soggy.

6. Put the twigs all round it, building them upto make a dome.

7. Next, cover it with dry grass and leaves.

8. To encourage hedgehogs to use yourhideaway and stick around, we recommendyou don’t disturb the box – or surroundingarea – once it’s in place.

9. If you want to know if your hideaway is beingused, you could check for tracks (see the‘Keep on track’ idea on page 8).

10. Looking for something a bit more challenging?Try making a hedgehog hideaway out ofwood. The British Hedgehog PreservationSociety (BHPS) is a good place to go formore information.

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Look out for these mammals or try and spotsigns of their presence – including their homes.

Brown long-eared bat –Bats are the only mammalsthat fly. They are not blind butuse their ears more than theireyes. This bat hibernates incaves and tunnels in winter.

Dormouse – This rare UKmammal travels throughbranches and rarely comesto the ground. Usually foundin woodland but can be seenin hedgerows.

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Mole – You are more likely tosee a molehill created whenit makes its feeding burrow.Moles don’t live in Ireland ormany of the Scottish Islands.

Stoat – Builds its den in hollowtrees, burrows and rockcrevices. Sometimes turnswhite in winter, except for theblack tip to its tail. During thistime, they are called 'ermine'.

Water vole – Lives in burrowsystems dug into the banksof rivers, streams, canals andditches. You won’t find themin Ireland.

Wood mouse – Most woodmice live in undergroundburrows. They’re good forgardeners because they preyon harmful insects.

Do One ThingFancy doing more mammal-relatedactivities? Try these:Build a bat-chelor padBats need a range of roosting sites, includingones for summer daytime, ones for winterhibernation and others as breeding sites. Help them out by putting up a simple bat box.The Bat Conservation Trust can put you in touchwith your local bat group who should be able tohelp you create the perfect home.

Keep on trackDiscover which mammals visit your garden by creating a mammal tracker. Just cover a small strip of ground with sand and leaveovernight. Any mammals that walk across it will leave prints.

Get plasteredGo one step further and make a plaster caste of the tracks by putting a circle of card aroundeach one. Pour in some wet plaster of paris andleave until dry. Lift off the plaster and youshould see a footprint sticking out.

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Mice to see you, to see you mice!Harvest mice may nest in an old tennis ball. Cut a small hole and secure it in a hedge. Themice can make their nests in relative safety frombirds of prey and weasels which are too big toget through the hole.

Squirrel watchTry looking for squirrel dreys in tree branches.Most of the year they live in flimsy abodes but in winter squirrels build more robust homes toshelter from the elements. Spot them nestled instronger branches, near the trunk. In spring andearly summer, females will use the drey for nesting.

Monitor a mammalHelp organisations keep track of the 60+ speciesof mammal that live in and around the UK. From dormice to deer and moles to mice, lots of organisations, like the People’s Trust forEndangered Species, run mammal-relatedsurveys that you can get involved with.

For more details regarding these and other ideas,check out: bbc.co.uk/breathingplaces

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For more ideas of what you can do for nature, why not check out other Do One Thing activities at:

bbc.co.uk/breathingplaces

With thanks to:

The Wildlife Trustswww.wildlifetrusts.org

Design: red-stone.comPrinted on 100% recycled paper

© Published by BBC Learning 2009