The topic is how to help animals in winter. How to help birds and homeless animals survive the winter

In the face of species loss and habitat destruction, it is easy to feel powerless to change the situation for the better. But any action you can take, no matter how small, will help restore the natural balance of the world - and if millions of other people do the same, the hope is that we can continually influence current trends. In this article, you will discover the 10 best actions that will promote wildlife conservation.

1. Think twice before developing your plot of land

If you have just purchased a house or land, you may be tempted to cut down unsightly trees, remove weeds, or drain puddles and swamps. But unless it's a real safety issue - say, a dead oak tree is ready to topple over on the roof of a car during the next hurricane - keep in mind that what's unpleasant to you is a home, a sweet home, for squirrels, birds, worms, and other animals that exist which you may not know.

If you want to develop your yard, do it gradually and wisely so as not to drive away the local, small tenants.

2. Keep your cats indoors

It's ironic that many people who profess to love wildlife allow their cats to roam freely outside - after all, cats are animals, and it seems cruel to keep them indoors. The fact is that cats do not think about preserving the population of wild birds, and they do not even always eat their killed victims. If you're thinking about "warning" birds by attaching a bell to your cat's collar, don't even bother doing it - birds will run away from a loud noise or cracking branches, but not from a jingling piece of metal.

3. Don't feed wild animals other than birds.

If a wild animal that comes into your yard seems hungry and helpless, DO NOT feed it, it is a bad idea. Giving food to animals is to accustom them to human contact, but not all people are as warm-hearted as you - next time, a wild animal may encounter not a sandwich, but a gun.

Feeding wild birds is completely normal as long as:

  • there are no cats on your property;
  • you feed the birds according to their natural diet (which may be nuts and seeds rather than bread).

4. Don't use insect killer

Nobody likes to be bitten by mosquitoes or bothered by flies on their front porch, but that doesn't always justify using a bug killer. The fact is that light and warmth attract even those insects that were never going to visit you, and when they fry, other wild animals (frogs, spiders, lizards, etc.) are deprived of their usual food.

This point applies especially to compassionate people who are willing to make such sacrifices, but if flying insects are truly a problem, you may want to consider using a mosquito net on your porch or using various creams and sprays to protect your body.

5. Pick up trash (and not just your own)

If you're concerned about protecting wildlife, you already know enough about not littering. But it's not enough to keep your own yard or picnic area clean; you will have to walk around the neighborhood and pick up cans, bottles and trash left by other, less thinking people. The reason is that small animals can easily become trapped or damaged, making them easy prey for any predators or doomed to a slow death - and of course, when piles of trash accumulate beyond human control, the result is loss of animal habitat .

6. Plant a garden

Most people who grow a garden don't want wild animals destroying their trees, flowers and shrubs. However, there are web resources that will teach you how to plant a garden that will feed bees and butterflies without harming it. And unlike the case with food (see point No. 3), having fresh water on the site is a great idea, since animals will be able to quench their thirst in the summer heat.

But there is one significant problem: fresh water breeds mosquitoes very well, and you have already given up the flying insect killer!

7. Create your own corner of nature

If you want to go beyond the previous slide (planting a garden), you might consider building a shelter for birds, bees, or other animals. This will involve building birdhouses of the appropriate size, hanging them at the right height, and stocking the right food. If you want to make a home for bees, you will need to invest in a fair amount of equipment.

Before starting construction, familiarize yourself with the legislation; Some laws restrict certain types of animals from being allowed on your property.

8.Join a wildlife organization

Different wildlife organizations have different goals:

  • protection of natural habitats;
  • conservation of specific species;
  • creation of appropriate environmental policy by local governments.

Choose an organization that deals with wildlife issues that are close to your heart. Most of these organizations are interested in volunteers (to find new volunteers, run an event, interact with government agencies, etc.), so you will always have something to do.

9. Reduce carbon emissions

Pollution is one of the biggest threats to wildlife, with carbon dioxide emissions making the oceans more acidic (a threat to marine life) and polluted air and water negatively impacting land animals. Using less air conditioning in the summer and heating less in the winter, and driving only when absolutely necessary, will help reduce your exposure to greenhouse gases and slightly slow the rate of global warming. And the more people follow these recommendations, the faster the revival of many species of wild animals around the world will occur.

10. Make the right choices

The easiest thing you can do to protect wildlife is to vote for candidates who not only support conservation efforts, but also willingly fund wildlife organizations and don't deny the true cause of global warming. If we don't have people in government who are invested in restoring the balance of nature, then in the long run it will take much more effort to preserve our planet's ecosystem.

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Decreased immunity, increased drowsiness, lack of vitamins - these phenomena are typical for many of our smaller brothers during the cold season. How to help animals in winter? This question is asked not only by dog ​​or cat owners. If your son found a stray animal on the street and brought it into the house, you should also know how you can help animals in winter.

Caring for homeless animals

Every day you can see a dirty, frozen and hungry cat or dog warming themselves on a hatch or pipe of a heating main. Often such a “gift” is brought home by a child from a walk.

You don't have to be a veterinarian to know how to help animals in winter. In this situation, it would be useful to take care of your own health and the health of your family.

It is necessary to examine the animal. Signs of the disease may be:

  • damage to skin or fur;
  • bald spots;
  • discharge from the eyes and ears;
  • bloated belly.

If this occurs, then a trip to the clinic cannot be avoided.

Symptoms such as lethargy, loose stools, and sneezing require a detailed examination. Often stray animals have a fungus, the presence of which can only be determined by a doctor. It would be useful to measure the temperature, which in a healthy individual is 38-39 degrees. How to help animals in winter if a cat or dog has a high or low temperature? You definitely need to go to the clinic. A low temperature may indicate exhaustion.

Fleas will definitely be found on the animal. For such cases, we have a variety of tools that quickly and efficiently solve the problem. As a rule, these are sprays that are sprayed onto the animal’s withers, or special impregnated collars.

How to help animals in winter if they are homeless? Of course, shelter. However, this is not always possible. This means that the best option is to start looking for an owner for a cat or dog. Submit an ad in the media with an offer to give it to good hands, contact your friends who live in the private sector.

Do you suspect that the animal has escaped from its owner? Look through the advertisements in the newspaper. While walking on the street, pay attention to the notice boards, perhaps someone is looking for their pet.

As a last resort, you can place the animal in a shelter that specializes in finding owners. Under no circumstances should you let your dog or cat go outside again. The animal will lose the chance to find its owner and after a while it will end up in the same deplorable state.

Give a helping hand

How to help animals in winter, since it is impossible to warm them all? The best way is to feed. Think about it, buying chicken bones or small fish will not hit the family budget, but it can save someone’s life.

“You are responsible for those you have tamed...”

If you want to have a pet, the question of how to help animals in winter must be studied in advance.

Your pet will require proper nutrition and vitamins. Heating in apartments and houses leads to the fact that animals begin to shed heavily. Regular walks and a balanced diet can ease this unpleasant process. Vitamin A, biotin, taurine and saturated fatty acids are an excellent prevention of vitamin deficiency.

After walking, be sure to wash the animal’s paws, since the sidewalk sprinkles contain a chemical reagent that can cause burns.

With the onset of cold weather, pet hamsters, chinchillas and guinea pigs begin to stock up on food. Regular inspection and cleaning of the cage will keep your pets clean. In winter, sprouted grains, vitamins and herbs are added to the food of rodents.

Even fish require increased attention in winter. This is due to decreased daylight hours and colder weather. A decrease in room temperature by 5-7 degrees can kill the fish, and lack of lighting makes them lethargic.

In cold weather, poultry shed heavily, refuse to eat, and do not tolerate lack of lighting well. Include minerals, amino acids, and multivitamins in your birds' diet, and place the cage close to the lamp.

In reptiles, a complex restructuring of the entire body occurs during the winter. Turtles and frogs, lizards and snakes all hibernate, slow down their metabolism, virtually stop eating and reduce their mobility. To prepare such a pet for hibernation, it is necessary to gradually reduce the daylight hours in the terrarium, bringing it to 4 hours a day. During this period, turtles are fed once every four to five days, lizards and snakes - once a month.

How to help animals and birds in winter

If the winter is not snowy or frosty, birds that are sedentary and winter in the forests are able to take care of themselves. When particularly difficult weather conditions arise, they need to be fed: a third of the daily ration for birds is already salvation.

Nomadic birds not accustomed to feeders, such as the bullfinch, thrush, goldfinch, bunting, fly in search of their main food. These are the fruits of trees and shrubs, weeds. Helping such birds in winter is simple: do not completely collect the fruits from the trees in the fall, leave the berries on the branches.

There is an opinion that city birds are able to feed themselves in the cold. This is wrong. In winter, when there is no natural food, junk food is not the best option. And here, by the way, there will be feeders, wooden or plastic, placed in parks, squares and just in the yard.

What foods should you not give to birds?

Salty food is dangerous, since the peculiarity of the excretory system in birds is such that excess salt causes poisoning in them. Fried foods are strictly prohibited, since such products change the structure of the birds’ liver. Black bread causes bloating and fermentation. Cleaned millet or grain should not be given either; oxidation of fats on the surface of the grains leads to the birds getting sick.

Feeding wild forest animals

Gamekeepers know best how to help wild animals in winter. For deer and roe deer, forest and meadow hay, grain, silage, root crops, and acorns are placed in the feeder. Hang branches from trees such as willow, aspen, and birch. They are harvested from May to June. Wormwood is added to each such broom.

Moose ignore feeders, so feed for them is piled up. Deer are also fed with branches of deciduous trees. The favorite delicacy of wild boars is roots and acorns. During the cold season, food is under snow and ice. How do people help animals in winter? Potatoes and corn cobs are poured in one place in the fall, then the animals get used to the feeding place. Elks, roe deer and deer need mineral nutrition. With a deficiency of table salt, the animal loses strength, its metabolism deteriorates, and its horns and hair grow poorly. Salt licks are made for them in a stump by cutting out a funnel.

As you can see, helping animals during the cold season is not at all difficult.

Decreased immunity, increased drowsiness, lack of vitamins - these phenomena are typical for many of our smaller brothers during the cold season. How to help animals in winter? This question is asked not only by dog ​​or cat owners. If your son found a stray animal on the street and brought it into the house, you should also know how you can help animals in winter.

Caring for homeless animals

Every day you can see a dirty, frozen and hungry cat or dog warming themselves on a hatch or pipe of a heating main. Often such a “gift” is brought home by a child from a walk.

You don't have to be a veterinarian to know how to help animals in winter. In this situation, it would be useful to take care of your own health and the health of your family.

It is necessary to examine the animal. Signs of the disease may be:

  • damage to skin or fur;
  • bald spots;
  • discharge from the eyes and ears;
  • bloated belly.

If this occurs, then a trip to the clinic cannot be avoided.

Symptoms such as lethargy, loose stools, and sneezing require a detailed examination. Often stray animals have a fungus, the presence of which can only be determined by a doctor. It would be useful to measure the temperature, which in a healthy individual is 38-39 degrees. How to help animals in winter if a cat or dog has a high or low temperature? You definitely need to go to the clinic. A low temperature may indicate exhaustion.

Fleas will definitely be found on the animal. For such cases, veterinary pharmacies have a variety of products that quickly and efficiently solve the problem. As a rule, these are sprays that are sprayed onto the animal’s withers, or special impregnated collars.

How to help animals in winter if they are homeless? Of course, shelter. However, this is not always possible. This means that the best option is to start looking for an owner for a cat or dog. Submit an ad in the media with an offer to give it to good hands, contact your friends who live in the private sector.

Do you suspect that the animal has escaped from its owner? Look through the advertisements in the newspaper. While walking on the street, pay attention to the notice boards, perhaps someone is looking for their pet.

As a last resort, you can place the animal in a shelter that specializes in finding owners. Under no circumstances should you let your dog or cat go outside again. The animal will lose the chance to find its owner and after a while it will end up in the same deplorable state.


Give a helping hand

How to help animals in winter, since it is impossible to warm them all? The best way is to feed. Think about it, buying chicken bones or small fish will not hit the family budget, but it can save someone’s life.

“You are responsible for those you have tamed...”

If you want to have a pet, the question of how to help animals in winter must be studied in advance.

Your pet will require proper nutrition and vitamins. Heating in apartments and houses leads to the fact that animals begin to shed heavily. Regular walks and a balanced diet can ease this unpleasant process. Vitamin A, biotin, taurine and saturated fatty acids are an excellent prevention of vitamin deficiency.

After walking, be sure to wash the animal’s paws, since the sidewalk sprinkles contain a chemical reagent that can cause burns.

With the onset of cold weather, pet hamsters, chinchillas and guinea pigs begin to stock up on food. Regular inspection and cleaning of the cage will keep your pets clean. In winter, sprouted grains, vitamins and herbs are added to the food of rodents.

Even fish require increased attention in winter. This is due to decreased daylight hours and colder weather. A decrease in room temperature by 5-7 degrees can kill the fish, and lack of lighting makes them lethargic.

In cold weather, poultry shed heavily, refuse to eat, and do not tolerate lack of lighting well. Include minerals, amino acids, and multivitamins in your birds' diet, and place the cage close to the lamp.

In reptiles, a complex restructuring of the entire body occurs during the winter. Turtles and frogs, lizards and snakes all hibernate, slow down their metabolism, virtually stop eating and reduce their mobility. To prepare such a pet for hibernation, it is necessary to gradually reduce the daylight hours in the terrarium, bringing it to 4 hours a day. During this period, turtles are fed once every four to five days, lizards and snakes - once a month.

How to help animals and birds in winter

If the winter is not snowy or frosty, birds that are sedentary and winter in the forests are able to take care of themselves. When particularly difficult weather conditions arise, they need to be fed: a third of the daily ration for birds is already salvation.

Nomadic birds not accustomed to feeders, such as the bullfinch, thrush, goldfinch, bunting, fly in search of their main food. These are the fruits of trees and shrubs, weeds. Helping such birds in winter is simple: do not completely collect the fruits from the trees in the fall, leave the berries on the branches.

There is an opinion that city birds are able to feed themselves in the cold. This is wrong. In winter, when there is no natural food, junk food is not the best option. And here, by the way, there will be feeders, wooden or plastic, placed in parks, squares and just in the yard.

What foods should you not give to birds?

Salty food is dangerous, since the peculiarity of the excretory system in birds is such that excess salt causes poisoning in them. Fried foods are strictly prohibited, since such products change the structure of the birds’ liver. Black bread causes bloating and fermentation. Cleaned millet or grain should not be given either; oxidation of fats on the surface of the grains leads to the birds getting sick.

Feeding wild forest animals

Gamekeepers know best how to help wild animals in winter. For deer and roe deer, forest and meadow hay, grain, silage, root crops, and acorns are placed in the feeder. Hang branches from trees such as willow, aspen, and birch. They are harvested from May to June. Wormwood is added to each such broom.

Moose ignore feeders, so feed for them is piled up. Deer are also fed with branches of deciduous trees. The favorite delicacy of wild boars is roots and acorns. During the cold season, food is under snow and ice. How do people help animals in winter? Potatoes and corn cobs are poured in one place in the fall, then the animals get used to the feeding place. Elks, roe deer and deer need mineral nutrition. With a deficiency of table salt, the animal loses strength, its metabolism deteriorates, and its horns and hair grow poorly. Salt licks are made for them in a stump by cutting out a funnel.

As you can see, helping animals during the cold season is not at all difficult.

Animals need help!


According to statistics, nine out of ten tits die from hunger in the winter season.

We sadly saw off the migratory birds, but there were those who would delight our eyes all winter.
Animals and birds spend winter in different ways. In the cold and hungry seasons, caring for our little brothers will save the lives of many animals. If you organize a craft lesson at home with your dad, you can make a bird feeder. Having found it, the tits will have a chance to survive until spring. Tits should be fed unsalted lard - salt is toxic to them. Suitable food for rooks, pigeons, sparrows is bread and grain.

Let the toys rest.
We are on a frosty winter day
My brother and I will make a feeding trough
And hang it outside the window.
It's not easy for birds in winter,
They have a lot of trouble in the cold.
We are waiting for you, dear tits,
Fly in for lunch.
We will pour you some wheat
And anything else.
Come to us, tits,
You are very good!

V. Gvozdev

In the forest, deer and elk have a particularly hard time when crust forms on the snow - during this period they injure their legs on the hard, sharp edge of the crust and cannot quickly run away from predators. So, if you have to walk in the winter forest, don’t forget to take treats for the animals: grain, bread and sprinkle salt on the stumps for the moose along the way. The forest dwellers will definitely appreciate your treat.

But we must not forget about the city’s stray animals, who are looking for food so as not to die of hunger. You can place bowls for them near the entrance or in the yard of the house. And remember: you can’t kick pets that bother you out of the house in winter!

You also need to prepare hay for farm animals in the summer: cows, rabbits, sheep, horses.

People can make life much easier for our little brothers. Everyone can help!

Each of us has more than once encountered dirty, hungry animals on the street. We bypass these unfortunate creatures, blaming anyone for what is happening - first of all, the state, which does not monitor their reproduction. But few of us have wondered how people help animals and who is really to blame for the current situation.

There are many known cases of dogs attacking people. Where do these adult individuals come from, maddened by hunger and cold, gathered in flocks for the sake of survival and so hating people? Aren't these former pets that were once tamed by us, humans? And we are left to the mercy of fate.

These cases are the rule rather than the exception. But the exceptions that appear in news reports from time to time are truly terrifying. Rare, exotic species of animals, acquired for their own entertainment and thrown into an environment unfavorable for them, are doomed to death. This can only be compared to how a mother throws a helpless child into a garbage can. There is no justification for such actions; they are inhumane, immoral and, as a rule, unpunished.

But it’s one thing to condemn someone for inhumane actions, it’s another thing to do at least something yourself to solve the problem of how to help homeless animals. You can feed homeless cats and dogs, as compassionate old ladies often do, or you can join a volunteer organization: volunteers help animals consciously, in an organized manner, and at the same time completely free of charge.

How people help animals in winter

Of course, assistance to animals is required in any season, in any weather conditions, but in winter it is especially necessary. Defenseless creatures, not provided with housing, cannot independently provide themselves with a warm kennel, and the entrance to basements is often blocked for obvious reasons: uncontrolled reproduction of animals leads, accordingly, to an increase in the population of fleas and damage to the thermal insulation of pipes (which serve as scratching posts for cats). How to help animals in winter without harming people - this issue is dealt with by volunteers who place dogs and cats in pet shelters.

How to help animals in winter if you are not a member of the volunteer movement? Make sure there are bird feeders in your yard so that basements are not blocked when stray cats or dogs are likely to be in them. Of course, this will not save them from the cold, but they will not die of hunger while locked up.

If you are concerned about how to help animals in winter, the answer lies on the surface: shelter them. If you do not have this opportunity, give the animal to a shelter or find a new owner for it yourself (through social networks, through advertisements or through friends).

How can you help animals without seeking help from shelters?

Many of us are convinced that the state should decide how to help the animal world. It is government organizations that must control the timely capture and sterilization of abandoned pets. However, the state cannot be responsible for the fact that animals end up on the street; the owners themselves are primarily responsible for this. Remember: we are responsible for those we have tamed.

Let's help the animals on our own: for example, let's try to find the owners of lost pets, not abandoned ones. This is not so difficult, since domesticated, tame animals run away from their owners for random reasons and... therefore, not so far away. Take a photo of the puppy or cat you find, post a notice on poles - there is a high probability that they are already looking for him.

People help homeless animals just by posting their photos on their social network page. Often such advertisements attract the attention, if not of shelter volunteers, then of simply good people who are not indifferent to the fate of four-legged animals.

If you are concerned about what devices help animals, take a look at the following list:

  • bandage or cotton wool - having such medical products with you, you can easily help the animal, for example, bandage its wound, wipe dirty areas - ears, eyes;
  • it is necessary to help animals that have a bleeding wound - for example, a cut; it can be treated with a gentle antiseptic - Chlorhexidine;
  • purchase a special comb for animal fur - both dogs and cats simply love to be combed, this way you will give the fur a well-groomed appearance, get rid of tangles, and at the same time attract potential owners to them.

Let's do a good deed - help animals together

If you cannot shelter a four-legged animal or do not have the opportunity to take it to a shelter, you can always donate funds to charities that purposefully redirect financial assistance to shelters.

The “Help Animals” project from various charitable centers is aimed at attracting the attention of the state, the public and individual citizens to this problem. Irresponsibility for leaving four-legged animals in dangerous situations, unattended, gives a free hand to unscrupulous breeders who get rid of unsold puppies, or to owners who have “played enough” with the animal. Imposing a heavy fine would certainly reduce the number of stray dogs. Think about it.

There are many different ways to help animals. Sometimes it is enough to repost a post from a specialized group on a social network, place an ad on a thematic website or on the doors of the nearest pet store - and the unfortunate pet will find a caring and loving owner.

If the same thought has been spinning in your head for years: “I want to help animals!” - but you didn’t find the strength or opportunity to implement it, it’s time to think about whether it’s really that difficult. Don't waste time: the sooner you make a gesture of goodwill in support of helpless four-legged animals, the sooner you will feel like a real person.