Attracting Wildlife To Yard And Garden
As cities encroach more and more on natural habitats, The National Wildlife Federation is actively encouraging homeowners to provide safe havens for small animals. Here's the things you need to attract critters to your
Attracting Wildlife To Yard And Garden
As cities encroach more and more on natural habitats, The National Wildlife Federation is actively encouraging homeowners to provide safe havens for small animals. Here's the things you need to attract critters to your yard.
As natural habitats are being cleared away in the name of development, native wildlife also grows scarcer. A growing trend, encouraged by the National Wildlife Federation is for homeowners to plan home landscapes that attract and provide for all types of critters. An added benefit is that gardening for wildlife makes yards extremely low-maintenance -- shrub beds reduce the amount of lawn to mow, and organic practices eliminate the spraying of chemicals.
Basically, all kinds of wildlife have four basic needs to survive: food, water, shelter and a safe place to raise young. How you meet each of these needs determines which species you will attract. For example, to attract birds, you may be able to provide shelter as easily as providing a few nesting boxes. To attract small mammals like chipmunks, however, you might have to add a brushpile. The greater the variety of these four elements in your yard, the more diverse your wildlife visitors will be.
Water. The key here is to maintain a clean, dependable water source through all four seasons -- even in the dead of winter when you don’t feel like trekkin