Which animals are at particular risk right now

For animals, fireworks are noise without warning. Every year dogs and cats run off in panic on New Year’s Eve; wild animals and birds flee for kilometres.

• Walk dogs only on a lead and double-secured in the days around New Year.
• Keep cats and dogs indoors in the evening, close the windows, offer a place to hide.
• Check the microchip and the registration with Tasso or Findefix – that is how a runaway animal finds its way back.
• Do not set off fireworks near stables, pastures, woods and water.

As soon as nights turn mild and damp, amphibians migrate to their spawning waters – often across roads. Even the air pressure of fast cars kills them.

• On signposted stretches drive no faster than 30 km/h in the evening and at night.
• Do not step over or move toad fences; the buckets are emptied every morning and evening.
• Helpers are needed every spring – ask the local nature conservation groups.
• Fit cellar shafts and drains in the garden with an escape aid.

Young hares, fawns and fledglings often sit alone for hours – the parents are nearby and come back. Taking them away takes away their best chance.

• Do not touch, do not take. Watch from a distance.
• Feathered young birds on the ground are still being fed. Only move them out of danger (road, cat) into the nearest bush.
• Keep dogs on a lead in woods and fields – in many places this is compulsory during the breeding season.
• Naked, injured or fly-covered young animals need help: call a wildlife rescue or us.

A car heats up quickly in the sun: at 30 degrees outside it is about 37 degrees inside after ten minutes and over 45 after half an hour. Outdoors, wild animals and insects also lack water in dry weather.

• Never leave an animal in a car – not briefly, not with the window open.
• Dog in a hot car: have the owner paged, otherwise call the police (110) or the fire brigade (112).
• Put out shallow water bowls for birds, hedgehogs and insects, with a stone as a way out, fresh every day.
• Move walks to the morning and evening. Test the tarmac with the back of your hand.
• Grazing animals and rabbits in outdoor runs need shade and plenty of water.

Winter hits animals outdoors directly – and some dangers come from the garage: antifreeze tastes sweet and is deadly even in small amounts.

• Rinse paws with lukewarm water after a walk; road salt irritates and gets licked off.
• Wipe up spilled antifreeze immediately and store containers closed.
• Knock on the bonnet before driving off: cats and martens warm themselves in the engine bay.
• Animals living outdoors need a dry, wind-protected shelter and water that is not frozen.
• Do not let dogs onto frozen water.

Fawns press themselves into the grass instead of fleeing. That is why very many of them are killed during the first mowing in May and June.

• If you mow: tell the hunting tenant and the local fawn rescue the date beforehand.
• Have meadows searched with a drone and thermal camera on the morning of mowing.
• Mow from the inside out so that animals can escape.
• Only touch fawns you find with gloves and tufts of grass, and secure them at the edge of the meadow.

Stacked wood and brushwood is a popular hiding place for hedgehogs, toads, birds and mice.

• Stack the wood only on the day of the fire – or move the whole pile shortly before.
• Do not simply light it: animals inside cannot escape in time.
• At public bonfires, raise it with the organisers.

Every year after the holidays, animals that were given as a surprise are handed in or abandoned.

• Never give an animal as a surprise. Whoever takes one in decides that themselves – for many years.
• Instead: a voucher for a visit to the animal shelter together, or a sponsorship.
• Clarify beforehand: time, costs, holidays, allergies and whether the landlord agrees.