Happy Monday everyone!  You Can Help Protect Wildlife And Their Habitat In Your Home And Yard is the last of my three part series on animal protection and ending animal cruelty.  There has been a wealth of information that I’ve given you and putting it into bullet points has helped many of you.  You wrote in to tell me this makes for easier reading so I thank you.  

 

I set out the last two summers to create a yard full of blooms, color, and to bring in the butterflies and hummingbirds.  I not only brought in the birds and butterflies, I now have bumble bees, a mama and baby rabbit, and a family of deer.  And speaking of wildlife, the bunnies are taking shelter under my hostess, the bees are buzzing from flower to flower, and the deer have made their homes in the thick brush at our property line.  We pile our grass clippings at one end of the property and mamma deer is loving that!

• Seek humane solutions when a conflict arises with wildlife in your home or yard.
• Support migratory birds and other wildlife by replacing unused areas of lawn with native trees, shrubs, wildflowers, and grasses that provide food and cover.
• Maintain a birdbath with clean, fresh water to help your backyard birds and migrating birds needing a rest stop.
• Install bat houses – happy bats, fewer bugs.
• Provide wildlife cover and shelter by creating a brush pile with cut fallen branches.
• Don’t allow hunting or trapping on your property.
• Recycle yard waste, but when doing spring cleanup, leave behind twigs and leaves for nesting birds to use.
• Feed pets indoors, or keep pet food in securely covered containers to reduce temptation for raccoons and skunks.
• Keep cats indoors – for their own safety as well as for the sake of birds and other wildlife.
• Reduce or even eliminate the need to use pesticides and fertilizers in your garden by choosing native plants and natural pest control methods.