Not only for the safety of little thirsty critters, I’d really rather not have to deal with picking dead animals out of water buckets at 5AM in the morning. Here’s the brainstorm I came up with to end this dilemma once and for all.
Problem
Water is scarce in the desert and I don’t like wasting this precious and costly resource. I re-use water from the horse troughs for the birds and small wildlife that visit our ranch. Even condensation from the AC unit is caught in a bucket for watering plants. But this practice can be a death trap for birds and small wildlife who fall in and drown. Just in the last week I found a Prairie Dog and two birds dead in buckets of collected water.
Solution
- Flat back bucket & paint can grate
It’s called a paint can grate, I found it at Home Depot where the rollers and paint brushes are. It hangs nicely on the side of a flat back bucket and provides a perfectly suitable ladder.
