SHOULD we be worried about the warm weather affecting our wildlife?

According to Katie Wilkinson from the Dorset Wildlife Trust (DWT) the answer is not yet.

“Most animals won’t start hibernating until late October early November,” explains Katie.

“So the fact that the weather is still quite warm won’t have a much effect on those animals that hibernate.

According to Katie most wildlife is currently just preparing for hibernation – which means we will still be able to see animals in the garden.

“You will still be able to spot hedgehogs in the garden if you put food out for them. BUT if you are going to have a bonfire this fireworks night make sure you always check the bonfire for sleeping hedgehogs.

“Birds will appear on seed heads throughout the winter and if the weather remains mild people will still be able to spot the Ivy Bee buzzing in the garden and the Red Admiral butterfly.”

However if the warm weather continues into November and December then it could have a detrimental effect on wildlife.

“The warmer weather can affect bats,” says Katie.

“If it’s warmer they won’t go into hibernation but there won’t usually be any food available for them. This means they are wasting energy which can be detrimental.”

However this is not the first year we have seen a warm winter.

The temperature on Christmas Day last year was around 13 degrees – and this is not good for wildlife according to Katie.

“If animals come out of hibernation early then there’s not going to be any food around,” she said.

“Hopefully it will start getting colder in the next few weeks.”

What about spiders will we be seeing more or less?

“Autumn is the time things start coming into find shelter so naturally people will probably start to see more spiders in their homes,” explains Katie.

She is also warning people not to tidy up the garden too much.

“All those nooks and crannies and dead material is perfect for all those little critters to find shelter this winter,” she said.

“If people tidy and cut back their gardens then they will leave nothing for wildlife to shelter in.”