When the weather’s cold and wet, it’s time to hide and huddle. I found five 7-spot ladybirds and a Hairy shieldbug in this rolled-up leaf. (And, don’t fret, I rolled it up again so they could get back to their snoozing.)

And they’re not the only ones choosing leaves for home and shelter as the colder weather approaches. All sorts of creatures creep or crawl or slide inside a conveniently place leaf-roll. Like these earwigs and, below, those snails.

Though these leaves will eventually fall to the ground, they’ll be home to a diverse abundance of creatures during the winter months, which is why it’s always best to let some leaves remain on the ground – please don’t be tempted to rake or blow them all away for the sake of tidiness. Nature is not tidy and, given there’s been a 60% decline in flying insects in the UK in the last 20 years (just one example of Nature’s overall decline), leaving leaves in place is the very least we can do.