Take a look around during the early days of winter and it's easy to see animals gearing up for the season. Geese and many varieties of birds fly along in formation, honking and tweeting as they head towards warmer climes. Squirrels are out, gathering up food, as well as leaves, paper and soft material, to help insulate their winter quarters. Homeless cats find their way through gratings and small spaces, to take up residence in warmer, dryer areas like basements, laundry rooms or under porches. To learn more about how wildlife survives winter, check out the Britannica article from the photo below.
People Can Help Them Out This Winter
When nature is busy getting ready for stormy days, humankind can help out. Give animals presents straight from the heart--by making a bird feeder or honoring a friend with a gift to a humane organization. Today, one can even give an animal as a gift, through an organization like the Heifer Project, that helps build sustainable communities.
Ideas that Help Feed Birds and Squirrels this Winter
In the winter, it is hard for animals to find what they like to eat, especially if it's under snow or ice. There are ways to help out. Some are very simple, like tossing a handful of birdseed or oaten cereal on the ground by a tree.
A few other basic ideas are:
- string up (bagged or freshly prepared) popcorn and then drape it around a bush or small tree
- spread a bagel with peanut butter and sprinkle it with sesame seeds, then hang it from a twig
- use a cookie-cutter to shape a piece of bread, then cover it with honey and seeds
Below are a few more ideas to craft various styles of bird treats and feeders:
- make a cute and colorful Birdie Snack Shack from paper plates See Artists Helping Children for full directions
- make a backyard bird feeder out of an empty 1-liter soda bottle. This project can be found at Family Fun.
- build a handsome birdhouse from an empty cocoa powder container. Visit Nesquick for directions
Give a Gift that Gives Back to Wildlife
Another way to help animals this winter is to make a donation to a non-profit humane organization in honor of a friend or loved one. This is a wonderful way to mark a special winter holiday, say Hanukkah or Valentines Day. First, figure out the type of wildlife that suits the honoree, and whether he or she would like to receive a gift in return, such as a stuffed animal that represents the breed. A few organizations to look into for this type of honor are:
- support various species of marine life
- donate to a group which helps train and place service dogs (mainly Labrador Retrievers)
- help save an endangered wildlife species like the snow-white and fluffy arctic hare
- provide food or support to domestic animals in a given metropolitan area and help promote education, spay/neuter and adoption programs
Keep in mind that while animals might hibernate in winter, people should not; humans need to wake up and take action. Go to work making a gift, or giving a gift, and help the animals out this winter.
Even the smallest gesture will spread kindness, and keep animals supplied with food. Some things people can do, like donate to a wildlife-focused organization, make kindness and ripples of change spread even further.
Jeri Dayle-Rabinowitz - Jeri Dayle is a writer mom, or should I say a mom writer? I worked in advertising both full and part-time while raising my family, jobs ...
