How to Help Garden Wildlife During Bonfire Night

Bonfire Night can be great fun for families, but the noise, bright flashes and bonfires can be frightening and dangerous for the wildlife living in our gardens.

Hedgehogs, frogs, toads and insects may shelter inside piles of logs and leaves, while fireworks can disturb birds and other animals. A few thoughtful precautions can help everyone enjoy the celebrations more safely.

Build your bonfire on the day

A pile of logs, branches and leaves can look like the perfect shelter to a hedgehog preparing for winter.

Where possible, store your materials separately and build the bonfire on the day it will be lit. Place it on clear, open ground rather than over leaves or long grass. The longer a bonfire is left standing, the more opportunity wildlife has to move inside.

Check before lighting

Carefully inspect the entire bonfire immediately before lighting it, paying particular attention to the centre and the bottom of the pile.

Use a torch and gently lift sections with a broom handle or pole. Avoid using a garden fork or anything with sharp prongs, as this could injure a hidden animal.

For the most thorough check, carefully move and rebuild the pile on a clear piece of ground.

Light it from one side

Light the bonfire from one side rather than from several places or directly in the centre. This provides a possible escape route for any animal that may have been missed during your checks.

Keep fireworks away from wildlife habitats

Avoid setting off fireworks close to trees, hedges, ponds, bird boxes, log piles and other places where wildlife may be sheltering.

If you are holding a display at home, consider choosing lower-noise fireworks and keeping the display short. Never release sky lanterns, as they can injure animals and start fires after landing.

Attending an organised display instead of holding one in your garden can also reduce the number of separate disturbances in your neighbourhood.

Provide somewhere safe to shelter

Make sure wildlife has quiet places away from the celebrations.

Leave established hedgehog houses, log piles and leaf piles undisturbed. Dense hedges, mature shrubs and evergreen planting can also provide valuable cover for birds and small animals.

Place fresh water in a shallow dish and leave it somewhere sheltered. Specialist hedgehog food or meaty cat or dog food can also provide extra energy, but never offer milk or bread.

Clear up afterwards

Once everything is completely cold, collect spent fireworks, wires, packaging and other debris from the garden.

Soak used fireworks before disposing of them safely. Clearing litter prevents wildlife from swallowing it, becoming trapped or suffering burns from material that is still hot.

Check lawns, borders, hedges and ponds the following morning, as debris may have travelled beyond the area where the fireworks were launched.

What should you do if you find a hedgehog?

If you find a hedgehog inside an unlit bonfire, remain calm and put on thick gardening gloves.

Gently place the hedgehog and its nesting material inside a secure, high-sided box with air holes. Keep it somewhere quiet and safely away from the celebrations, with fresh water and a little meaty cat or dog food.

Once the bonfire site is completely cold and quiet, the hedgehog can be released beneath a hedge or beside a safe log pile close to where it was found. If it appears injured, unwell or unusually active during daylight, contact a local wildlife rescue centre or vet for advice.

Enjoy a wildlife-friendly Bonfire Night

Building your bonfire at the last moment, checking it carefully, reducing unnecessary noise and clearing away debris can make a significant difference to the wildlife sharing your garden.

With a little preparation, you can enjoy Bonfire Night while helping to keep hedgehogs, birds and other garden visitors safe.