Easy-to-make shelters for wild animals

Making shelters for wild animals is easy. It is a fun and rewarding project for you and your kids to work on together. You can make one in your backyard. Or take a walk in the woods, find dead tree branches on the ground, and stack them into a pile. It's great exercise, and you can feel good knowing that you are helping wild animals. Here are some animal shelters that you can make:

Animal shelter type	How to make it

Simple brush pile	Toss branches into a pile. It is a good idea to add leaves after every layer or two of branches. The random nature of the bottommost voids creates cavities of various sizes. Animals will find one that is right for them. Tip: Add branches from your discarded Christmas tree rather than sending it to a landfill. If you are building a home on a wooded site, have your excavator create a brush pile for you — doing so may actually save you money because it eliminates the need for him to haul the brush away or to chip it up.

Brush pile with log base	Arrange short log sections into a "U" shape, placing the logs either horizontally or vertically. If possible, place a scrap board over the logs as a roof, then cover this structure with branches and leaves as above. Use rot-resistant logs, such as those from cedar, locust, or oak trees, if they are available. You can prolong the life of any brush pile by leaning logs against a stump, which keeps most of the logs off the ground and provides a space below for the animal shelter. Step-by-step illustrated guide to making a brush pile with a vertical log base.

Brush pile with A-frame base	Step-by-step illustrated guide to making this animal shelter. The roof of this shelter shields the resident animals from any rain or snow that might otherwise drip through the overlying brush pile.

Shelter beneath a shed	If you build a shed, you may wish to provide openings for animals to access the area under your shed. Otherwise, animals may tunnel underneath the shed anyway, and create a bit of a mess as they dig.

In the future, we will add even more easy-to-make shelters for wild animals.

The next page provides frequently asked questions and answers about making shelters for wild animals.

Next >>

Easy-to-make shelters for wild animals

Animal shelter type

How to make it