Some time early on in the history of my almost daily walks around and across the old cemetery close to where I live (since 15 years now), I recall wondering to myself why they kept the taps at their "watering stations" in such bad repair - always leaking...
Just as I'm not sure when I first asked myself that question, I'm also not sure how long it took me to come up with the answer: It is of course for the birds inhabiting all the big old trees. And other small animals, likes squirrels. And even the insects...
This very dry summer, it all seems a lot more obvious!
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| Insect hotels (photos from 2022) |
“Thousands have lived without love,
not one without water.”
– H. Auden
“When the well’s dry,
we know the worth of water.”
– Benjamin Franklin
8 comments:
What a great thing to do!! And I'm sure it does not go to waste either.
great idea, we keep water in back yard for all the wild critters. some drink from the pool I saw an article this past week to put water out for bees and butterflie, by putting marbles or small stones in a container and just cover the marbles. so they dont drown trying to drink. had not thought of that. with he drought there are no puddles or leaves catching water for them. we see a lot of bees drown in the pool
Sorry, Monica - there was a big fat error in my original comment, so I deleted it.
I know many animals do not need nowhere near as much water as humans do, but they still need SOME, and it is up to us to provide it for them in our increasingly dry summers.
There is always a water bowl on my window sill, and it is frequented by birds and insects.
At the cemetery, the water basins have twigs laid across them so that squirrels and other small animals don't drown when they want to drink there.
The cemetery administration has put a sign up to explain about the twigs/branches, asking people to please leave them there and not think they accidentally fell from a tree and need to be removed.
Probably worth it, Ginny!
Sandra, that's sad with the bees drowning in the pool - maybe now you can take up that idea and make them a "bee bath"? I suppose in your climate the water evaporates rather quickly from a shallow bowl with marbles/stones, though...
Meike, that sounds like another good idea! :)
When I read about people claiming to live totally "off grid" , I always wonder how they manage for water - unless they have a natural supply, it must be delivered. It's the one thing man, and animals alike, can't survive without.
A shallow bowl with stones in the bottom so that bees and butterflies can drink is something I've never thought of. With the heat we're now experiencing, I find the water in the bird bath and water put out for the garden cats evaporates very quickly, so I'm constantly topping up bowls all over the place! I notice the garden cats prefer to drink out of the pool, and it's amazing to watch them cling on to the top and lean right over!
Carol, from another hot summer I recall seeing the big birds like magpies drink from vases on the cemetery - and tossing out the flowers within if they were in the way... (Which gave me the answer to "who would sabotage grave decorations like that?"...)
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