To protect the critters you attract to your home, take steps to ensure your feeders, water sources, and shelters stay clean.

Feeders

A feeder should be cleaned at least twice a year. Heavy-use feeders should be cleaned much more often. Moldy food or a feeder visit from one diseased critter can hurt many a fellow animal.

Empty out and trash (or compost) the old food. Rinse the feeder with a 1:9 bleach-water solution, then rinse with water and air-dry

We recommend smaller feeders because they're easier to clean in compact living quarters. However, you can clean larger feeders with a friend's hose or at a coin car wash.

Water Sources

Any shallow critter-watering container should be rinsed at least every other day and should be cleaned periodically with 1:9 bleach-water solution and rinsed dry.

Ponds or water containers with filtration systems do not necessarily need to be cleaned.

Shelters

After wild bird nestlings have fledged, the nest material should be removed from most nest boxes and birdhouses. Roosts, too, may need to be checked for debris once a year as well.