Consider escape routes for tiny creatures

I obsessively add escape sticks to any containers holding water that bugs might fall into, but I didn't consider what might get stuck in dry containers.

Glad I noticed this lil skink stuck in one of our sprouting tubs.

Good post.
I've recently  found a dried lizard in an empty container,rather sad.
I try to cap pipes I use vertically  ever since I rescued a bird from inside one.

Hi Amy,

Great idea.  I often find various creatures in side the water for the livestock.  Inserting a piece of wood could help the situation.

It's true: plastic containers make a perfect trap.

I put branches and floats in our open water barrels; we have lost songbirds in them in the past.

Our little plastic pond attracts frogs and salamanders, which is fun; I make sure there is an escape route made of rocks.

I have no idea how snakes got in our basement, which is unfinished and we almost never open, but I found a bunch of dead ones down there. Made me sad. I love snakes.

Hi Douglas,

It is odd, I suppose. Death is part of the homestead existence.  But it bothers me when there is needless suffering or pointless death.

We had an issue with the septic tank, it's a modern plastic one and the two access holes sit inside concrete rings. the number of toads and frogs that end up down there trapped between the septic cover and the ring was insane. We ended up putting some rusted angle iron down the sides so they could climb out.

Hi John. What you say is true.

My thinking runs this way: I try to create an oasis for life to flourish. If my stuff increases habitat and diversity, I'm doing my job. If my stuff interferes with that, I need to take steps.

Another example: we have a real problem with songbird strikes and deaths on our many windows. The only effective solution I've found is to run monofilament fishing line across the windows in a rectangular pattern. The best stuff is a night fishing line I got from Cabelas; it glows in ultraviolet light, which birds can see clearly as a barrier.

I'm installing a barrel pond and this thread inspired me: