Cool weather and Saturdays mean humans sleeping in late under warm, toasty blankets and comforters.
It means catnip plants comes inside to spend the weekend on the sun porch.
Cooler weather also means that animals living outdoors are looking for warm places to stay.
So what can you do to help those who will spend the winter outdoors?
Leave the leaves, dead flowers, and branches where they are. They provide food and protection to birds and small animals. If you simply MUST rake the yard, leave a brush pile in an out-of-the-way part of the yard to provide shelter.
Check your car for sleeping animals inside. Pound on the hood and check around the tires. The warmth of your car will attract feral cats and small animals. Even if your car is in a garage, there could be mice or other small animals inside.
Watch that antifreeze! Antifreeze is poisonous if ingested. Sadly, many antifreeze products still have an attractive taste to animals. The good news is there are now some antifreeze products that have a bitter taste, so check the label and buy animal-safe products!
Stock up on animal-safe ice melt products. Animals that walk through ice melt will later lick themselves clean, and that’s not good. So buy the safe stuff. Be creative too. When we lived in Tennessee, Jen saw animal-safe ice melt at a pet goods store for more than four times the price the same product was sold at a local discount store. Start shopping around now to get a good deal.
If you care for feral cats, Alley Cat Allies has some great tips for helping you help ferals.
What do YOU do to help animals during the cold weather months?
Dogpaddling Through Life 
Displaying what I’m sure is a reprehensible discriminatory attitude towards rodents, this is the time of year when mice will infiltrate … unless: your house is full of hunting cats and diligent terriers — and you have traps all over the house. We tried being nice about it. They ate all the plastic containers, the wiring in the cars, destroyed anything stored (even in so-called mouse-proof containers) in the attic and basement, got into the kitchen cupboards. Thousands of dollars worth of damage, not to mention that mousy smell is really hard to get rid of. Being nice to mice does NOT pay. Have-a-heart traps means they will come right back. Generosity isn’t your friend where the mice are concerned.
And mice aren’t the only problem. Squirrels have also caused a great deal of damage to cars and homes, as have opossums, raccoons, etc.
I NEVER clear my flower beds of debris, many people are shocked at this but I even throw rotting firewood, tumbled into heaps into the garden, the toads and snakes hibernate in amongst the leaves and fallen branches. And the birds eat from the plants for ages into the winter. I always leave apples and berries on unpruned branches, and prune late late in the winter. I am sure i would be shocked if i could see what was hiding out in my barn in the winters! Very good post! c
And you certainly know how important it is to help those animals survive, because they are beneficial to your farm in the warm weather months!
They are! esp the snakes, they LOVE mice! c
Sure are. Jen’s great-grandmother once told her that every building should have a snake living underneath to keep the mice down.
Sensible woman. When i first came here i was turning the compost and unearthed a huge bull snake (they are not poisonous) I got such a fright I dropped the fork and fell shrieking over a fence to get away. (stop laughing) anyway I called John at work and breathlessly told him how I had fallen over a fence in fright/flight from an enormous snake. He said “You didn’t hurt it did you!” All he cared about was the snake!.. c
And yet, you’re still with him. LOL
I have achieved snake status!! c
Great post Rumpy,xx Speedy
Thanks Speedy!
You are amazing! I love your blog!
Woof! Woof! Thank you!
This is VERY TIMELY advice. We just brought our Snow shovels and PET SAFE.. Melting Stuffs outta hiding.
You are sure ready for winter! I wish we had snow!
Thanks RUMPYDOG,,,,, I had planned to cut back my flower garden but now after reading your post, I will not….,,
The birds and other outdoor animals will thank you for it!
We have a small box with some blankets in which used to be for our kitties who were all feral but now all of them are inside cats. We still keep it for the other feral kitties to keep them warm during winter. 🙂
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Thank you!
I now know why I live in an apartment building in a big city and my car is parked in a concrete garage. I hate snakes. I’m no too fond of mice. All in all i’m okay. And, if I do park in the suburbs, I promise to bang on the hood and look under the car for any cats or other small animals.
Are you sure there are no ferals there?
We have a small box with some blankets in which used to be for our kitties who were all feral but now all of them are inside cats. We still keep it for the other feral kitties to keep them warm during winter. 🙂
Keep checking those blankets, Kevin, because blankets hold moisture. If you have access to some straw, it would be good to put that in your box too.
Thanks for the comment, Rumpy! We don’t have any straw here, so we will keep chacking those blankets more often !