Building Homes for Wildlife
looking to nature to design more suitable homes for wildlife
Capacity building - LEP23_015_LLC_6
The issue
In a small but vibrant peri-urban reserve in Thirlmere NSW, there is a housing shortage. A lack of suitable hollows is forcing residents to shak up with less desirable housemates, causing conflict between residents, and leading to the younger generation questioning if they will ever achieve a hollow of their own.
The solution
Under the AWS-funded Restoring Catchment and Community Resilience Program, we created 15 new wildlife homes in Lin Gordon Reserve. An Arborist used the Hollow Hog method to construct 7 hollows in standing stags. Each varied from 10-30 cm² in diameter and was built at a height between 4-15 m from the ground. The Hollow Hog method was chosen for its natural aesthetic compared to boxes, and its superior insulating qualities against heat and cold. Large dead branches were removed from the stags for public safety but retained on the ground for habitat.
We also installed a bat tube, A large open tube for cockatoos, and an enclosed tube suitable for smaller possums or birds. We didn’t forget our rodent friends with two antechinus hollows closer to the ground. A devastating storm destroyed one of the largest natural hollows in the park, so we did a complete rebuild, which should keep our largest residents happy too.
Next we wrap interpretive education around this work in the form of a habitat trail.
The impact
Fifteen new hollows to house local birds, possums/ gliders, bats, rodents and more. It has been just six weeks since the hollows were constructed. A recent visit to the reserve with BirdLife Southern Highlands discovered two spotted pardalotes entering and exiting one of the smaller hollows, and chewing/ scratching was seen around a second. The new homes are being discovered. But we will have to wait till spring, when we will be setting up trail cameras, to finally discover who’s found a place to call home.