Wildlife Friendly Yards

[WQ Project Coordinator]

One way to take action is to have a wildlife friendly yard. What does it mean to have a wildlife friendly yard?

The National Wildlife Federation has a program to certify your yard as a wildlife habitat. They list the requirements as having food sources, water, shelter, and sustainable gardening.

Food: Planting native forbs, shrubs, and trees is the easiest way to provide the foliage, nectar, pollen, berries, seeds, and nuts that many species of wildlife require to survive and thrive.

Water: Wildlife need sources of clean water for many purposes, including drinking, bathing, and reproduction. Water sources may include natural features such as ponds, lakes, rivers, springs, oceans, and wetlands; or human-made features such as bird baths, puddling areas for butterflies, installed ponds, or rain gardens.

Shelter: Wildlife require places to hide in order to feel safe from people, predators, and inclement weather. They also need a sheltered place to raise their offspring.

Sustainable Gardening: How you maintain your garden or landscape can have an important effect on the health of the soil, air, water and habitat for native wildlife - as well as the human community nearby. You can make your yard more sustainable by using mulch, reducing lawn (grass) areas, using rain barrels, planting native species, and reducing chemical usage on your yard.

This is just one organization's take on making a wildlife friendly yard.

What are you doing to make your yard wildlife friendly?

[Songdog]

Ooh, I've heard a lot about this (we did an entire section on it in class) I live in Florida, and a lot of people who move here think that anything will grow in Florida. Very wrong. Plants must be suited to long periods of drought as well as long periods of floods. Also, our planting seasons starts earlier than the north. One of the biggest problems we have is when people plant the really springy grass here. However, that grass requires a lot of water, is very invasive, and kills native plants. It is not suitable for Florida, and is not native.

If you live in Florida, here is a helpful website all about Florida Friendly landscaping, including some interactive stuff as well:
http://www.floridayards.org/

[WQ Project Coordinator]

That looks like a great web site Songdog. Grass can be hard on the environment if it isn't suited for it.

[Rikkuzilla]

Fortunately, I live in a heavily wooded area, so there is plenty of wildlife around our home. A few months ago, we had a pond built on our property, and now we have mallards hanging out around the pond, as well as a huge crane! And I recently built a large bat box near the pond, so the bats can eat any of the mosquitoes that may be attracted to the pond. (^-^)

Here's a link to a PDF file from the college I went to (UT), regarding ways you can help attract wildlife to your own backyard. Now, granted, it's mostly directed for people that live in TN, but people can get the "general idea" about setting up your own backyard ecosystem. (^-^)

http://www.utextension.utk.edu/publicat ... /SP530.pdf

I had a lot of luck with wildlife around our property when I lived in Florida, because we had a huge natural lake in our backyard. Sadly, due to growth and construction, many species seemed to disappear from the lake. I really enjoyed seeing the alligators and the snake birds, etc. (>.<)

[SunlightsRock]

i think there used to be an animal planet show called 'backyard habitats' or something i used to watch it all the time but i think it was canncelled

[Blindseer]

unfortunately, where I live, such a yard really isnt too possible... but it is suited to the animals that live here xD

[WQ (BaltoSource)]

I put out a bird feeder on the porch and two birds built a nest on the neighbors house and now theres a family of 5+ birds that come every day. Now Im motivated to put a hummingbird feeder, and bird house. (I already have water out there) ^^ dunno if the neighbors would like it though... they dont really mind, so far.
wheres the best place to put a bird house? (on my porch cause its a close together neighborhood)

[Kaiji]

Because I love wildlife, and especially studying birds, I make sure to put up humingbird feeders, birdfeeders, bird baths, and plenty of birdhouses. I mean, nearly every tree on my property has a birdhouse in it. I want to get into ornithology when I'm older. I spend a lot of time outside, journeling about birds I see. ^^

[Fawn]

We have a bunch of birds they nest in all of our trees and bushes, and hang out in our jacuzzi and fountains and we got a raccoon, who tries to eat the chickens, and we have this big thicket thing in corner that stuff lives in. Its pretty wildlife friendly, but mainly birds and rabbits live in the yard. Although we have a stupid gopher too......

[Kyuubi no yoko]

Yes I like landscaping for wildlife and it drives me not when someone cuts down shrubs and tree for more "pretty" plants

[pawnee]

awww my bird feeder cracked from ice damage! dang it. but there are some bats around neighbourhood, which I enjoy watching. anything that eats bugs is welcomed to live near me

[timber wolf4321]

I dont have a back yard. I live in a townhouse.At least animals walk about on that path.Can somebody help me out?I need an idea.(Back in my old house in Virginia,we had a BUNCH of wildlife in our back yard.we had a huge backyard!

[WildFire]

I planted a tree in my yard when we first moved in about 3 years ago so birds can build their homes in it and now it is quite tall and a home to 2 families of birds

[Lucrisha01]

I have some trees in the back of my old barn house and it is home to alot of birds....we also have quite a few bunnies running around at times

[WildFire]

yeah, there is a house down the street that almost always has bunnies in it since it is next to the wash.