• Search
  • About us
  • Jobs
  • Contact Us
  • Shop
  • Donate
  • Join Us
  • Wildlife
      • Local Wildlife
        • Wildlife Directory
      • Record Your Sighting
        • Nature Counts
      • Injured Animals & Emergencies
        • Local Wildlife Rescue Centres
        • Reporting Wildlife Crime
        • Wildfire safety advice
        • The Countryside Code
      • Image of Wildlife in Sheffield and Rotherham Reserve
        Wildlife in Sheffield and Rotherham

        Take a look, through some of the common species of wildlife that live in the South Yorkshire area around Sheffield and Rotherham.

  • Our Work
      • News
        • Conservation
        • Nature, Health & Wellbeing
        • Schools, Education & Outdoor Learning
        • Nature Reserves
        • Partnerships
        • Nature Recovery
        • Campaigning & Appeals
        • Events & Activities
        • Videos
      • Nature Recovery Programmes
        • Nature Based Solutions
        • Rotherham Rivers
      • Nature, Health & Wellbeing
        • Green and Blue Social Prescribing
        • Wild at Heart
        • Nextdoor Nature
      • Schools, Education & Outdoor Learning
        • Primary and Early Years
        • Secondary Schools
        • Further and Higher Education
        • Training and support
      • Evidence-led Conservation
        • What is Evidence-Led Conservation?
        • Working with Nature: Woodhouse Washlands
      • Partnerships
        • South Yorkshire Woodland Partnership
        • South Yorkshire Local Nature Partnership
        • Sheffield Street Tree Partnership
        • Sheffield Lakeland Partnership
      • Advice & Consultancy
        • Wildscapes
        • The BNG Hub
        • Land Management Advice Service
  • Nature Reserves
      • Nature Reserves in Sheffield
        • Blacka Moor
        • Carbrook Ravine
        • Carr House Meadows
        • Crabtree Ponds
        • Fox Hagg
        • Greno Woods
        • Moss Valley Woodlands
        • Salmon Pastures
        • Sunnybank
        • Wyming Brook
      • Nature Reserves in Rotherham
        • Woodhouse Washlands
        • Centenary Riverside
        • Kilnhurst Ings
      • Special Conservation Spaces
        • Agden Bog
        • Hammond’s Field
      • Nature Friendly Farming
        • Ughill Farm
      • Image of Fox Hagg Reserve
        Fox Hagg

        A recently extended patch of heathland and woodland, neighbouring Wyming Brook.

  • Events & Activities
      • What's On
        • Volunteer Work Days
        • Family Events
        • Guided Walks
        • Online Events
        • View All Events
      • Activities
        • 30 Days Wild
        • Activities for Children
        • Activities for Adults
        • Nature Detectives!
  • Get Involved
      • Nature Recovery
        • Nature Recovery Community Toolkit
        • Nature Recovery Sheffield
        • Nature Recovery Rotherham
        • Sheffield Swift City
        • New Government Priorities for Nature
      • Volunteering
        • Volunteer with us
      • Campaigning for Wildlife
        • # Defend Nature
        • Action for Insects
        • Badgers and bTB
        • Birds of Prey
        • Go peat free!
        • Our Moors
        • Wilder Future
      • Image of Acorn Fund Reserve
        Acorn Fund

        Think of a number and multiply it by ten. This could be the value of your gift to local wildlife.

  • Support us
      • Become a Member
        • Individual Membership
        • Joint Membership
        • Family Membership
        • Gift a Membership
        • Renew your Membership
      • Corporate Partnerships
        • Corporate Membership
        • Wild Work Days
        • Employee Wellbeing Packages
      • Make a Donation
      • Appeals
        • Taking Action for Nature Appeal
        • Acorn Fund
      • A Gift in Your Will
        • A Gift in their Memory
        • How Gifts Can Help us
      • Image of Kingfisher Magazine Reserve
        Kingfisher Magazine

        Unveil the hidden world of insects in Sheffield & Rotherham with the newest issue of Kingfisher magazine.

  • Donate
  • Join Us
  • Online Shop
  • About us
  • Jobs
  • Wildlife
    • Wildlife Directory
    • Nature Counts
    • Local Wildlife Rescue Centres
    • Reporting Wildlife Crime
    • Wildfire safety advice
    • The Countryside Code
  • Our Work
    • News
      • Campaigning & Appeals
      • Conservation
      • Events & Activities
      • Nature, Health & Wellbeing
      • Nature Recovery
      • Nature Reserves
      • Partnerships
      • Schools, Education & Outdoor Learning
      • Videos
    • Nature, Health & Wellbeing
      • Wild at Heart
      • Green and Blue Social Prescribing
      • Nextdoor Nature
    • Evidence-led Conservation
      • What is Evidence-led Conservation?
      • Working with Nature: Woodhouse Washlands
    • Schools, Education & Outdoor Learning
      • Primary and Early Years
      • Secondary Schools
      • Further and Higher Education
      • Training and Support
    • South Yorkshire Woodland Partnership
    • South Yorkshire Local Nature Partnership
    • Sheffield Street Tree Partnership
    • Sheffield Lakeland Partnership
    • Nature Based Solutions
    • Rotherham Rivers
    • Wildscapes
    • The BNG Hub
    • Land Management Advice Service
  • Nature Reserves
    • Agden Bog
    • Blacka Moor
    • Carbrook Ravine
    • Carr House Meadows
    • Crabtree Ponds
    • Fox Hagg
    • Greno Woods
    • Hammond’s Field
    • Moss Valley Woodlands
    • Salmon Pastures
    • Sunnybank
    • Wyming Brook
    • Woodhouse Washlands
    • Centenary Riverside
    • Kilnhurst Ings
    • Ughill Farm
  • Events & Activities
    • What's On
    • 30 Days Wild
    • Activities for Children
    • Activities for Adults
    • Nature Detectives!
  • Get Involved
    • Volunteer with us
    • Nature Recovery
      • Nature Recovery Community Toolkit
      • Nature Recovery Sheffield
      • Nature Recovery Rotherham
      • Government Priorities for Nature
    • Sheffield Swift City
    • Campaigning For Wildlife
  • Support us
    • Become a Member
      • Individual Membership
      • Joint Membership
      • Family Membership
      • Gift a Membership
      • Renew your Membership
    • Make a Donation
    • Corporate Partnerships
      • Corporate Membership
      • Wild Work Days
      • Employee Wellbeing Packages
    • Appeals
      • Taking Action for Nature Appeal
      • Acorn Fund
    • A Gift in Your Will
      • A Gift in their Memory
      • How gifts help us
  • Home
  • About us
  • News
  • Busy Bloggin’
  • Lions of the Lawn

Lions of the Lawn

Discover some of the predators stalking through your garden’s grassland.

© Email header – Wild About Lawns
  • Ambition 1
  • Ambition 2
  • Ambition 3
  • Contact Us
  • News
    • Busy Bloggin’
  • What We Do
  • Who We Are
  • Work For Us

Discover some of the predators stalking through your garden’s grassland.

We’re always fascinated by predators, and the dramatic battles for survival that take place every day in the animal kingdom. Documentaries show us prides of lions chasing buffalos across the Serengeti, or jaguars pouncing on caiman in the Pantanal. But we don’t have to turn to the television to see hunters in action. Every habitat has its predators and their prey, including our garden lawns – especially when we let them grow a little wilder. The scale may be smaller, but the stakes are just as high!

Birds

Starlings in a garden ©Gillian Day
Starlings ©Gillian Day

Birds are the most obvious predators prowling our lawns. You might have seen blackbirds hopping around the garden, searching for worms. When they spot one, they pounce, pluck it from the ground, and slurp it down like wriggly spaghetti. If they have chicks to feed, they might collect whole beakfuls of worms to carry back to their nest. Earthworms make up an important part of the diet of many birds, especially thrushes and robins. Tawny owls have even been spotted hunting them on lawns after wet weather.

It’s not just worms that birds are seeking in our gardens’ grassy areas. They’ll snatch spiders and insects from taller patches and even dig creatures out of the soil. Starlings specialise in hunting leatherjackets – the larvae of craneflies, which burrow into lawns. They probe the soil with their beak, feeling around for their insect prey.

Beetles

Jon Hawkins/Surrey Hills Photography

Many insects are also predators in their own right. With more than 4,000 species of beetle in the UK, there are plenty you could find in your garden. One of the most familiar is the ladybird – though there are many different species of ladybird in the UK. Ladybirds are voracious predators. Both adults and larvae feed on aphids, which can be found on all manner of plants. If you’ve got a flower-filled patch of long grass in your lawn, there’s a good chance you’ll find ladybirds roaming in it.

Some predatory beetles are harder to spot. At just 2-3cm long, a violet ground beetle might not seem that fearsome, but to slugs, snails, and other invertebrates these beetles are bad news. They spend the day lurking under logs, beneath bark, or in the soil. At night they emerge to prowl around the garden, on the hunt.

Amphibians

Common frog
Common frog ©Sheffield & Rotherham Wildlife Trust

We tend to think of amphibians like frogs, toads, and newts as pond creatures. Water is essential for their lifecycle, but as adults they spend a lot of their time on land. Patches of long grass provide them with both shelter and a hunting ground. The tall grass hides them from predators, as well as trapping moisture that helps prevent amphibians from drying out in warm weather. It’s a home with a well-stocked larder, as these conditions are also perfect for the worms, slugs, spiders, and insects they like to eat.

These are just a few of the predators that could be prowling your lawn. The wilder your lawn, the more life it’s likely to support. Try letting some patches grow longer, and allowing wildflowers to flourish even on the shorter sections. For more tips and advice on bringing your lawn to life download our free booklet from wildaboutgardens.org.uk

Let your lawns grow a little wilder!
About us

In This Section

  • Ambition 1
  • Ambition 2
  • Ambition 3
  • Contact Us
  • News
    • Busy Bloggin’
  • What We Do
  • Who We Are
  • Work For Us

Contact Us

Call us: 0114 263 4335

Find us: Sheffield & Rotherham Wildlife Trust, 37 Stafford Road, Sheffield S2 2SF

Follow Us

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • X
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
    • Nature Reserves
      • Nature Recovery Sheffield
      • Nature Recovery Rotherham
      • Nature Recovery Community Toolkit
    • Wildlife
      • Local Wildlife
      • Local Wildlife Rescue Centres
      • Reporting Wildlife Crime
    • About us
      • Who We Are
      • What We Do
      • Contact Us
      • Events & Activities
      • News
      • Work For Us
      • Wildscapes
      • The BNG Hub
    • Support Us
      • Become a Member
      • Corporate Support
      • Make a Donation
      • A Gift in Your Will
      • Kingfisher Magazine
    • Get Involved
      • Volunteer with us
      • Campaigning For Wildlife
      • Nature Recovery Sheffield
    • Online Shop
      • Online Shop Size Guides
      • Online Shop Delivery Information
      • Online Shop Terms, Delivery & Returns
  • © 2025 Sheffield & Rotherham Wildlife Trust
  • Registered in England Number 2287928. Registered Charity Number 700638.
  • Privacy Notice
  • Design By Ink & Water
Manage Consent
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behaviour or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Manage options Manage services Manage {vendor_count} vendors Read more about these purposes
View preferences
{title} {title} {title}