Often we overlook the natural world around us so much that we come to take for granted the natural habitats and environment the eco-systems right under our noses.

In this week’s wildlife feature, we take a look at something very topical as the leaves go brown and piles start to gather outside our houses and workplaces during these autumn months. You will, no doubt, notice that the seasons are changing but so are the habitats of so many of the creatures and species we share our villages and towns with.

Luckily, the Cumbria Wildlife Trust is on hand to make sure we look after the animals and insects that could be living side by side with our homes in the various piles of leaves that we pass by on a daily basis here.

If you have a garden you’ll be familiar with the frustrating task of clearing up the leaves in autumn. Does it sometimes occur to you not to bother?

Well you might not be onto such a bad thing: although it is true that leaving them to rot on the lawn will kill your grass, there is actually no harm, and arguably a lot of benefit, to leaving them piled up in the corners or under hedges where they have a tendency to gather naturally.

From the point of view of wildlife those heaps of leaves provide both shelter and food: hedgehogs are probably the species you think of first in terms of shelter, but really this will depend on how dry or wet the leaves are.

Hedgehogs probably prefer them dry but damper leaves will attract earthworms, slugs and many species of insects which of course provide an excellent food source for ground-feeding birds such as blackbirds, thrushes and robins – and indeed for the hedgehogs.

Toads, frogs and newts all seek dark damp places to hibernate so could also be found in the wet leaves, or beneath your log pile.

All three of our native snake species hibernate: up here in Cumbria we have only adders and grass snakes and although you’re unlikely to find them under a dry pile of leaves, they will take shelter in piles of cut vegetation, or manure or compost heaps which stay warmer (as they rot they generate heat). Similar in habit are slow worms so you might be lucky enough to be sheltering these too.

Although centipedes prefer to burrow into the soil, millipedes feed on dead leaves or fungi and for this reason are commonly found under piles of leaves – especially where the leaves are starting to rot so there is plenty of food for them.

Woodlice and earwigs of course will be found anywhere damp and sheltered: they might even lay their eggs there, though they would probably prefer there to be a few logs, chunks of bark, or stones for that.

All these creatures using your pile of leaves, and we haven’t really touched on the plant and fungal life: fungi will inevitably be beginning to break down the leaves, and any seeds which are left there – perhaps by a bird dropping – will have a warm and well fertilised place to germinate. Provided of course that they can avoid being attacked by the fungi!

So if you’re looking out of your window in the coming weeks and months and feeling guilty about not tidying up your garden, don’t! Consider rather how much good you’ll be doing for all that wildlife over the winter.

If you are looking for any more information about how to look after the creatures that live in and amongst us all, make sure to check out the Cumbria Wildlife Trust’s website!