Over the next four months, the Umweltladen will be focusing on the following questions: Why do wild animals leave the woods and fields and move into the city? Which wild animals can be observed in Wiesbaden? And how can we shape our coexistence for the benefit of all?

More and more often we can observe wild animals in urban areas - parakeets in the castle park, raccoons in the garden behind the house or garden dormice on the balcony. Some blend unobtrusively into the urban environment, while others occasionally come into conflict with others. But why do animals leave the woods and fields and move to the cities? The main reasons are the expansion of our cities, but also the intensive use of agricultural land and our forests. As a result, the natural habitats of many wild animal species are shrinking. In search of food and safe retreats, they are colonizing parks and gardens. As cities have extraordinarily diverse structures, they offer a wide variety of habitats.

More background information can be found in the exhibition at the Umweltladen. The exhibition invites you to get to know twelve animal co-inhabitants that you can also encounter in Wiesbaden. Illustrative exhibits on other "wild neighbors" and a wide range of information material complete the offer. The exhibition also provides suggestions on how we can live well together - for the benefit of all.

The exhibition can be seen from March 7 to June 30, 2025 at the Umweltladen Wiesbaden, Luisenstraße 19. Workshops, guided tours, readings and lectures on urban wildlife provide more in-depth information.

• May 23, 4 to 5.30 p.m.: Guided tour of the white storks in Wiesbaden-Schierstein
  Storks feel at home where meadows are regularly flooded and they find tadpoles, frogs and insects to feed on in hollows. Food and nesting sites can be found on the waterworks site, which is looked after by the stork community.

  Speaker: Hubertus Krahner, 1st chairman of the stork community Wiesbaden-Schierstein e.V.

  Meeting point: Flood protection dam between Schierstein and Walluf at the showcase of the stork community.

  Registration required by May 19 by e-mail to umweltberatungwiesbadende or by telephone.

• May 23, 6 p.m.: Excursion "Streams, beavers, biotopes"
  Beavers are masters of dam building. With their work, they dam up streams and create new habitats for dragonflies, frogs, birds and fish.
  The nocturnal woodcutters are also out and about in Wiesbaden, reshaping the landscape. As part of an excursion along the Käsbach stream and in the Delkenheim gravel pit, you can see the work of the beavers and also how space for new biocoenoses is created within a short space of time.
  
  Excursion leader: Siggi Schneider; Chairman of the Wiesbaden Beekeepers' Association
  
  The meeting point for participants is the parking lot on the grounds of the Hochheim fishing club on the country road between Delkenheim and Hochheim/Elisabethenstraße (50.033485, 8.347574).
  
  The number of participants is limited to 20 people. Participation is free of charge.
  Registration required by May 10 by e-mail to umweltberatungwiesbadende or by telephone.
  
  
• June 4, 6 to 8 p.m.: Everything you always wanted to know about striped insects!
  at the Umweltladen
  Advice on bumblebees, hornets, bees and co. with Yvonne Maack, Wiesbaden Environmental Agency, Nature Conservation, Nature and Landscape
  
  There are more than 560 species of wild bees in Germany. Over half of them are on the Red List. Our expert explains how you can help the animals. She also gives tips on how to avoid unpleasant encounters with wasps and hornets. Both species are useful insect hunters.
• June 27, 7 p.m.: Reading "Wild animals in the city - who comes in from outside?"
  at the Umweltladen
  Reading with Armin Nufer. The "cultivated" domestic animals in the city and countryside are now joined by the "uncultivated" and wild (animals) from the suburbs, villages, forests and meadows.
  
  Morgenstern knows a lot about them, as do Loriot, Kästner, Kirchhoff and Thielemann. In addition, there are reports, factual and wild things about wild boar, raccoons and wild rabbits. Perhaps also from the official mold, the spectacled snake and the inheritance sneak.

The Umweltladen, at Luisenstraße 19, is open on Mondays, Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays from 10 am to 2 pm and on Wednesdays and Thursdays from 1 pm to 6 pm. Reservations for the event can be made by telephone on 0611 313600 or by e-mail to umweltberatungwiesbadende