Garden Water Safety For Wildlife, Pets & Children
Use these simple tips to keep children, pets and wildlife safe in gardens.
Read up on pet-friendly gardens and wildlife-friendly gardens. Also know trees to avoid near horses (including yew, oak and sycamore).
Safe and Hygienic Bird Baths
Birds often like to drink and bathe in birdbaths, which are also used by tiny creatures like bees and butterflies. So avoid deep water and create sloping sides and rough surfaces, and drop in a few large flat stones that poke above the waterline, so creatures can rest and climb out.
Fill with fresh water daily and use a plastic-free scrub brush keep it free from dirt and algae (avoid chemicals).
Read more on safe havens for garden birds (includes info on preventing bird strike and providing natural food and shelter).
Provide Shallow Water Bowls
The Wildlife Community’s hedgehog water bowl is made from hi-fired frost-resistant ceramic, and easy to rinse clean, finished with a green glaze.
Go through your garden and ensure all water sources are safe. Common items are bird baths, water bowls, buckets and watering cans, water butts or barrels, ponds and pools and rain gardens. Also check that outdoor taps don’t form large puddles underneath.
Also check less obvious places like underneath decks, behind garden furniture and sheds, under shrubs that collect water and children’s toys (like sand tables).
Measure how deep each water source is, then note if any creature has an escape route, if the water is filled with algae and there are rough sides.
Pet‑Friendly Water Safety
Ensure buckets are empty, and avoid letting pets drink from puddles. Ensure water bowls are heavy enough not to tip over, and place away from ponds, pools and water butts.
Wash bowls daily with warm soapy water and rinse well, then ensure fresh water is available. For small animals and chickens, use secured bottles that are topped up, change water daily, and ensure drip-feed bottles are not blocked or frozen (not bowls knocked over).
Garden Pond Safety
Keep pond edges visible and clear. Avoid thick plants or ornaments that could hide the water’s edge, and leave one side clear with sloping sides. Read our post on wildlife-friendly ponds.
SafaDeck is safer than netting (nearly all has holes larger than recommended by wildlife rescues). This grid also protects garden fish from herons.
Made from reinforced glass polymer that’s clipped into place on black aluminium beams, the grids can be removed using child-resistant retaining clips, and the legs can be cut to length. The triangular holes within each grid allow most plants and fish to exist as normal.
The guard can withstand the falling impact of an average 8-year old child, and the meets water safety guidelines set by Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents.
If you move house, ask the new householders if they plan to upkeep the pond. If not, move amphibians to a neighbour’s pond with permission (not faraway, as this could transmit disease and invasive plants).
Water Butts and Rain Barrels
Quality Water butts and rain barrels are great ideas to help save water in the garden. But ensure they have child/pet locks. Check the lids properly after garden chores and storms, and avoid open buckets and barrels of water (which also attracts mosquitoes).
Garden organically to avoid chemical water run-off from pesticides or fertilisers. You can recycle empty bottles, take half-empty bottles to hazardous waste disposal. Also use humane and non-toxic slug/snail deterrents (organic gardens will also attract natural eaters like birds and hedgehogs).
Raincan is a nifty watering can. Made from recycled plastic, the sloped design helps it collect rainwater. But it’s best to keep all watering cans empty when not in use, and fill from your water butt. But this can has a little ‘frog ladder’ inside, to help small critters escape, if they fall in.
ACO Wildlife Gully is an ideal purchase for councils. Made from stainless steel, this is a ladder that migrating creatures like amphibians and reptiles can use, to escape from drainage gullies. Couple with their ACO Guide Wall, or ACO Wildlife Kerb systems, for extra safety. The weighting bars are supplied, to prevent the ladder from rising, during heavy rainfall (one pack is enough for 25 ladders).
Safety Around Pools and Ponds
Choose paddling pools with shallow sides, set on level ground, and empty after each use.
If you have natural swimming pond, rake off algae on a regular basis, and use sloping sides (and rough liners, for easy grip). Keep pools covered when not in use.
Frog Log was invented by a US wildlife biologist, placed around pool decks for quick escape for small critters (buy the recommended number, based on pool size).
Use with Critter Skimmer (which prevents small creatures getting sucked into skimmers), FrogLog recommends turning off the skimmer at night (or if regulations only allow brief shutdown, to ‘cycle off’ at dusk).
