Caution is advised in the Sihlwald. The heavy snow load can cause branches to break suddenly. Winter service is reduced at Langenberg Wildlife Park.

Sand lens

Sand lenses are habitats created from sand and serve as nesting sites for lizards and wild bees in particular.

Material:

When setting up sand lenses for small animals, it is important to choose a sand that meets the needs of the species you want to keep.

Gravel for drainage
Lizards: unwashed sand from a DIY store
Wild bees: special wild bee sand (e.g. Ricoter wild bee sand)
Optional: stones, tree trunks, rootstocks and/or thorny branches

Construction:

A sand lens should be installed between October and February, as the wild bees start to build their nesting tubes in March and therefore need to be undisturbed. The wild bee season begins in March and the first bee species build their nesting tubes.

Dig a pit approx. 50 cm wide and 35 cm deep
Add 5 cm of gravel to the pit to prevent waterlogging
Fill the rest of the pit with the appropriate sand
To prevent erosion of the sand lens, secure the edge with stones, tree trunks or rootstocks
Leave a strip of meadow or herbaceous border around the sand lens. This allows small animals to hide from predators such as birds of prey
To prevent the sand lens from becoming a cat litter box: cover with a few thorny branches

Function:

Serves as a nesting site for reptiles, wild bees and other insects

Location:

Sunny
For lizards: next to reptile burrow or herbaceous border
For wild bees: on a ruderal area

Care:

Cut off the plants that grow too densely or too quickly by hand, but do not weed or mow
Mow the herbaceous border only once a year in two stages in the fall to provide sufficient cover for small animals
If the sand pile is overgrown or washed away: build the new sand lens in a different place and do not pour new sand onto the old location so that wild bees or larvae that are already in the soil can hatch and are not buried alive