BOSSES at a pet store in Prestwich are advising residents to take extra care and consideration for local wildlife as summer approaches.

Staff at Pets at Home, Bury New Road, are offering guidance on how they can turn their gardens and outdoor areas into a wildlife haven.

The store is also offering local schools an opportunity to participate in a unique workshop, where children will be taught about the different needs and behaviours of local wildlife species.

Schools can register interest, by emailing petslocal@havas.com

Store manager Adam Wolstenholme said: “As winter starts to fade, and warmer weather is round the corner, hedgehogs will be starting to wake up from their winter hibernation and become frequent garden guests.

“These spiky friends enjoy nothing more than taking shelter in a pile of leaves, so take extra care when raking up winter leaves.

“Slugs and worms are a delicacy for hedgehogs but they would really appreciate a small saucer of water left out for them.

“When visiting the local park or river, you might be lucky enough to spot a duck or two. More than six million loaves of bread are fed to ducks in England and Wales and, despite popular belief; feeding them bread is bad for their health and pollutes the waterways. Instead try feeding them our specially formulated floating nuggets.”