You Can Have Wildlife in Your Backyard

As I said in the previous post about backyard birdwatching, anyone with an average backyard can attract creatures of all sorts to provide endless watching (and meditative) pleasure.  However you will need to be committed to certain activities if you wish to have a backyard that is a safe haven for animals, birds and other creatures like frogs and lizards.  The first is to protect all species from marauding domesticated pets like dogs and cats.

Every now and then, I take pity on the dog next door which is lonely and bring it over to spend the day with me and my elderly terrier.  The dog next door has had to learn to leave the lizards, frogs, birds and so on alone when she is here at my place, because they have right of way.  Our terrier just wanders around among them and every now and then there is a bit of a kerfuffle when she comes upon an unsuspecting bird, but they all know that she knows the rules.  No animal chasing in this backyard!  That is essential if you want to have a natural backyard.

Next thing to think about is a protective place to sleep and breed.  I have planted both natives and introduced plants so that there will be variety and plenty of food.  For birds it is essential to have dense, small and large plants, open plants that are taller for perching and watching and some grasses as well.  For lizards it is important to have a place for them to hide as well as safe sunny spots for warming up.  Any sort of bark, hay, mulch will work as will small pipes or logs, whichever is easy to come by.  Now frogs are a specialist matter and well beyond my capacity to advise however I will say that removing all poisons from use in your area will definitely see frogs returning.

Remember a natural habitat is a delicate balance between food for the wildlife and an excess of pests.  If you want to have wildlife to watch, you have to be prepared to let them have food to eat!  And this includes bugs.  If there are no bugs to eat, the wildlife do not come.  So be prepared to tolerate some bugs and just let the wildlife clean them all up.  In the midst of all of this, we grow vegetables and have very little concern about bugs.  Along with bugs, be prepared to tolerate some seeding weeds and overgrowth.  Wildlife love to have cover and they must have the full range of food, including seeds and all sorts of weeds produce seed which our native birds find very tasty.

Now this tip is a bit controversial, but I do put out some seed most days and we have a continuous parade of visitors coming to see what is on offer today.  Some people say that you should not do this because the birds become dependent, others say it is ok if you do not do it every day.  I have found that putting out a small amount seems to work as we have varying numbers of birds coming to the feed and also varying varieties.  And we do not feed every day.

Finally, provide water in shallow, open containers and be prepared to wait until the birds get used to them.  We have had one pot drainage tray sitting on a post for a long time and the birds used it all of the time.  We then introduced a large, deepish bird bath and I had to make it shallower, by adding stones, and wait for ages before the birds finally adopted it and now use it equally.  Water and birds are a delightful mix and as they are very relaxed in our yard, they bath for ages and some even just sit in it on a hot day.  I also spray the leaves of a few bushes in the afternoons for those birds that love to bath that way.  It is great fun to hold the hose while they come in close, however it is also important to be aware of water restrictions.  I hold onto this activity for really hot weather.

So just go for it, attracting the wildlife back into suburbia is both lots of fun and good for the planet.  Not to mention a great meditative experience watching to see who is coming to visit and what they do while there.  Meditation made easy!  Start out with what you can do and then add to it as you see what works in your area.  Experiment and have fun.