Things to look out for in the garden - February

If you have central heating and a conservatory or south facing windows, you may find yourself hosting a few surprised and dozy butterflies on unusually sunny days in February. The hibernating species that may be hiding in the nooks and crannies of your house include the Red Admiral and the Small Tortoiseshell, while the garden may be concealing the Peacock, which favours sheds, barns and outhouses, the Comma which lurks through the winter in hollow trees and the Brimstone which hides in hedgerows. If a hibernating butterfly wakes up, don't disturb it or try to catch it. If there are curtains or blinds, close them to persuade the poor creature it's woken too early. Most will simply return to hibernation as the sun fades and not wake again until the weather is truly warm enough to support them.

Young male badgers are travelling now, and may be seen in the early evening, seeking out a new site to dig a sett. Once the home is dug, by the male, he will begin to seek out a mate, in around April. She will extend the sett (trust a woman to get into home improvements) before settling in to raise a family.

Snowdrops abound at this time of year. We've got so used to this first sign of spring that we forget what a miracle it is, but scientists are currently investigating just what power the cells of the galanthus have, to allow them to punch their way through up to five inches of snow and emerge unscathed. Snowdrops don't suffer from wind or frost damage either, and it is hoped that when we work out why, we'll have found a way to preserve things, like short-lived vaccines, for longer.

As the first buds emerge on the trees and bushes in your garden, you may also see the tiny footsteps of voles and shrew in the snow. If you have a cat, make it wear a bell to preserve the lives of these tiny creatures as they begin to locate their caches of food after the winter.

Garden February snowdrop photograph by scoobygirl, used under a creative commons attribution licence.

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