Many homesteaders are lovers of the beautiful, nonhuman, natural world and want to see this world thrive on their land. They put bird and squirrel feeders, birdbaths, and perhaps, salt licks on their property to encourage birds, squirrels, and deer (among others) to feel welcome. These are great ways to attract wildlife to your homestead.
如果我告诉你还有更多的选择呢?一旦建立,它们将继续欢迎我们的野生朋友——之后几乎没有维护?
There’s a huge benefit to incorporating wildlife habitat on your property.
What Is Meant by ‘Wildlife Habitat’?
大自然中的野生动物栖息地就是你所看到的一切。是树林本身和小溪里的岩石。它是野生动物(或昆虫)用来栖身、食物和筑巢的任何地方。野生动植物栖息地可以定义为野生动植物的家园。2022欧洲杯葡萄牙vs德国不过,有意指定的野生动物栖息地看起来有点不同。
Many modern homes and properties are highly manicured, prim, and proper, with mowed grass lawns, square bushes, and sparse trees (I’m thinking of white picket fence lawns). They aren’t particularly friendly to wildlife as they don’t offer much diversity, protection, or foraging opportunities.
Wildlife thrives best with access to diversity: diverse shelter options, diverse foraging opportunities, and diverse nesting areas. The more diverse the better because it ensures that when one option runs out, there are more to replace it. Diversity offers security, and it caters to more than one species. What I’m describing is called biodiversity.
For example, imagine how you might feel at a place with only one food available, say, corn? You’d probably wanna leave after the third meal — and humans can prepare corn in a variety of ways. Other species would simply be eating good ole’ corn on the cob. Or, let’s say every room in your house looked exactly the same, and the replica room wasn’t your preferred choice to start with. You may be getting the idea now of what the “white picket fence” lawn offers to wildlife.
野生动物的栖息地会是什么样子?它可以像允许在草坪上生长更多的草一样简单(想想三叶草,莎草,酢浆草),或者它可以更大一点,有灌木和树,产生浆果,在自然边界的森林周围创造“边缘”空间。这可能意味着允许灌木丛堆留在你的财产,而不是烧毁它们,保留老树(又名断枝),而不是砍伐它们。
Unfamiliar with some of these concepts? No worries! We’ll cover them in greater detail.
Allow Grass to Grow on Your Homestead
When caring for your lawn, consider what might be best for the birds, bees, small mammals, reptiles, and more. Traditional grass lawns are often cut and constantly managed to keep out any other species of plant. This means the grass isn’t allowed to flower and seed (i.e., provide pollination availability to bees and butterflies, or food sources to birds and small mammals), and won’t provide nesting material or shelter.
If you want the most environmentally friendly lawn, you’ll allow more than grass to grow. You can start by letting those common weeds come back without pulling them or applying toxic herbicides. You can begin growing clover (red and white), sorrel, plantains, dandelion, nettles, or sedges. One awesome thing you can do for this is to research what turf is traditionally native to your location and allow it to start growing instead.
允许一些草坪植被长得高,同时保持一些修剪得低,可以很好地提供生物多样性,以及为你的院子提供一个令人愉快的外观和设计。
Incorporate Shrubs and Bushes on Your Homestead
Allowing shrubs and bushes to grow wild (i.e., not trimmed back to extreme shapes and manicures) can offer the most shelter and safety to wildlife species. If you are interested in planting shrubs and bushes on your homestead, there are a couple of things to consider: species and location.
Shrub and Bush Species
When selecting a species, you may want to first consider what species are locally native. Second, depending on what wildlife you seek to attract, research what plant species are good for them. For example, some bushes produce berries that birds and squirrels love. Others produce fragrant flowers that will attract pollinators. Certain species are evergreen and can provide shelter year-round. Know your goals and objectives when selecting species and remember to have fun. You can often combine many of your goals with a single species, you just have to find the right one.
Shrub and Bush Location
广阔的开放空间对野生动物来说是一种威胁,因为它们不得不冒险离开安全的保护区域。为了他们的安全,当在你的院子和周围种植灌木时,最好避免创造广阔的开放空间。一种常见的趋势是把它们种在房子周围,而不去管其他的。家里有灌木和灌木丛是完全没问题的(也很漂亮),但最好让它们分散在你的院子里。试着在树旁种植一些,这样也可以提供垂直多样性。在你的院子里散布灌木可以看起来粗犷自然,美丽。
Add Edge to Your Homestead
One of the key things to help promote wildlife habitat is incorporating edge on your homestead.
What Is Edge?
Edge is a broad term that refers to a gradual transition between different habitat types. Most commonly, it is between a wetland and dry area, or between a forest and nonforested area. A good way to explain edge is to first explain what edge is not: An abrupt transition between a forest and field (where there’s forest and suddenly, there is not). Edge creates a soft border between the two different habitats.
Edge allows a slow transition, and within this transition is a vital habitat for wildlife. Edge not only provide homes and nests for various species; it also provides a safety zone for animals who are tentatively trying to leave the forest (or water body).
Incorporate Old Brush Piles on Your Homestead
Now let’s talk about one that maybe doesn’t sound too beautiful. While (aesthetically) it isn’t the most pleasing option to us humans, it is appealing to a wide variety of species. Opossums, raccoons, snakes, lizards, turtles, skunks, rats, mice, birds, the list could go on, all utilize old brush piles. If the brush pile is close to a water body, it can be used by beavers and otters, too. The brush pile needn’t be located in the middle of your yard, it can be tucked away out of sight if you like, and you can still be providing vital habitat for our wild friends. It’s simple and easy to make — whenever you pick up branches and sticks, rake leaves, weed the garden, or whatever, throw them on the pile and allow it to build. It’s great for a wide variety of species.
Incorporating Snags on Your Homestead
“snag”指的是一棵枯树。枯树对野生动物来说是极好的,尤其是鸟类。某些鸟类(最常见的是啄木鸟)会在树枝上挖洞筑巢。一旦这些蛀洞空出来,许多其他鸟类就有机会使用它们。鸟可以在慢慢腐烂的木头里捕捉昆虫。某些种类的蛇和蜥蜴喜欢在树枝周围的松散树皮中度过它们的时间。允许障碍物留在你的宅基地上是一种不用做任何工作就能给野生动物提供栖息地的好方法。
*Likewise, if you allow fallen dead trees to stay, it can provide burrowing space for small mammals and reptiles underneath.
Adding a Water Source to Your Homestead
Another lovely way of incorporating wildlife sanctuary on your homestead is to add a water source. This water source can be as simple as adding a birdbath. Depending on your goals and available resources, you can, however, go bigger and create a pond or a seasonal wetland. If you notice an area of the yard that tends to have drainage flow, you can create diversions so that after a nice rain, water pools there temporarily before it drains. Believe it or not, temporary rain puddles can create vital nesting grounds for certain species. For example, spadefoot toads specialize in laying their eggs in temporary pools.
如果附近有水源,蝙蝠更容易被蝙蝠箱吸引,而蜜蜂更有可能在有永久水源的地区定居。海龟、青蛙、蝾螈和蛇都依赖于永久水体生存。附近有一个水源对于在你的财产上有更多的野生动物是至关重要的。
How to Attract Different Species to Your Homestead
如果你想吸引特定的物种,比如蝴蝶、松鼠、乌龟、鹿和鸟类,有很多方法可以做到。我将简要介绍一些为这些常见的野生动物提供栖息地的简单方法。
Butterflies
Planting any type of flowers will automatically attract a wide variety of pollinators, including butterflies and bees, to your homestead. It is best to plant a variety of flower species for biodiversity reasons (as mentioned above). Planting certain flower species will attract certain pollinators. For example, if you would like to attract the quite famously known monarch butterfly, you simply need to grow milkweed. If you plant milkweed, monarchs will come. It can be a really awesome learning experience for you (and kids if they’re involved) to witness the life cycle of monarch butterflies. They will go through their entire life cycle in your front yard.
Squirrels
I’ve noticed a trend of dislike toward squirrels, so I’ll include this section to perhaps, help buck the trend. Squirrels are vital to our natural ecosystems as they have been deemed “nature’s gardeners.” Really, squirrels help keep the ecosystem intact. How? Well, a squirrel’s ecological niche is taking seeds and nuts and burying them throughout the forest. Part of the reason forests look the way they do (a maple tree here, an oak tree there) is because of the squirrel’s unique ability to feng shui the forest. This isn’t only good for the trees, but every other species that relies on the forest. Other species sometimes find the buried seeds and nuts later and are able to eat. To attract squirrels to your yard, all you really need are trees. Nearly any species of tree will attract squirrels, and if you haven’t noticed, bird feeders are a squirrel’s peculiar favorite (bird food is also squirrel food).
Turtles
吸引海龟的一个好方法是拥有多样化的草坪和可从地面获取的水源。草坪上的生物多样性(如三叶草、酢泥草、蒲公英、车前草等)为海龟提供了理想的觅食栖息地。吸引海龟的一个很有趣的方法是让草莓在野外生长——你见过海龟吃草莓吗?这是超级可爱!如果你有一个池塘,添加部分淹没的岩石或圆木,让海龟有机会整天晒晒太阳,并在需要时迅速潜入水中。
*As a note, the best way to keep turtles away from your homestead is to have fences that go all the way to the ground. This will effectively keep them out (or in), so if you desire turtles on your property and you have fences, ensure the fences do not go all the way to the ground. Leave 3 to 6 inches of gap on the bottom for turtles to scoot under.
Deer
如前所述,多样化的草坪是吸引鹿的好方法。鹿喜欢红三叶草和白三叶草,并且喜欢走自己的路去获取它们。另一个诀窍是在你的草坪上撒生菜、萝卜和胡萝卜的种子,让这些绿叶蔬菜和蔬菜野生生长。鹿(在这里提到的几乎所有其他物种中)喜欢这样,这有助于吸引它们。让这些植物开花也很好,这样它们就会年复一年,几乎不需要任何努力。生物多样性通常是吸引鹿的一个好方法,而鹿特别喜欢边缘栖息地。鹿在开阔的空间会感到焦虑,在你的院子里有边缘栖息地和灌木,可以帮助减少它们的焦虑。
Birds
The attractants for squirrels are the same as for birds. So, if you’re keen on one species and not the other this may be hard to read: Generally, if you have birds, you’ll have squirrels. Planting trees, shrubs (especially berry or fruit producing) and placing bird feeders, bird houses, and bird baths will all help attract birds to your yard. If you pay attention, you may notice species changing throughout the year as different migratory birds fly in and out on their way to summer or winter grounds.
Avoid Using Chemical Pesticides and Herbicides
避免化学杀虫剂和除草剂对拥有一个健康的、生物多样性的、专门吸引野生动物的家园很重要。If you’re adamant about not having certain plant or wildlife species present on your homestead, here are some great, eco-friendly options:
Nonchemical Herbicides
Hand Removal
This may sound like a drag, but hand-pulling weeds and getting all the roots out can be an effective method — and is also meditative. Perhaps slow going, but fulfilling.
Vinegar
把纯醋倒在院子里的杂草上是清除杂草的可靠方法。每株植物大约一汤匙或更少的醋,倒在靠近根部的地方,应该有助于去除它们。
Insects
引入专门吃你遇到问题的植物的昆虫可能会成功。你需要做一些研究,以确定什么物种对这个有好处,以及如何获取它们。
Ducks
如果你的水源植被过度生长,你可以在里面和周围安装鸭子盒子。调查一下你所在地区的鸭子,看看它们是食草动物,这样它们就能帮助你解决过度生长的问题。和往常一样,确保你创建/购买/订购了正确的鸭子盒子并正确安装它是很重要的。
Nonchemical Pesticides
Ladybugs
You can quite literally, order ladybugs online and they will help get rid of a wide variety of common garden and fruit tree pests such as aphids.
蝙蝠
这听起来可能很奇怪,但相信我,如果你被昆虫困扰,蝙蝠会帮助减少它们。你可以订购,购买当地的,或者建造蝙蝠屋,安装在你的土地上,然后等待。重要的是要确保你正确地安装了蝙蝠屋——这是我们现在不讨论的事情。However, here is a great, easy-to-follow, instructional website that will teach you how and where to install a bat house in order to successfully attract bats athttps://www.wikihow.com/Attract-Bats-to-a-Bat-House
Neem
Neem of any kind. Planting a neem tree, harvesting neem leaves and scattering them around problem pest areas, making/buying/ordering neem oil and applying it to problem areas, there are many options. Neem is a natural insect repellant and can be great to eliminate pests from your homestead.
Lemon Grass or Citronella
Planting these species can add a nice touch to your lawn, and you’ll have a successful insect repellant ready when you need it.
Chickens
Chickens can be a great way to help reduce pests, and a fun animal to have around in general. If it agrees with your dietary preferences, you can also collect eggs. And coops make a great composting component easily available with chicken poop. You do need to make sure you have a safe roost for them to return to at night or to seek shelter from harsh weather conditions.
Kestrels and Birds of Prey
Odd choice, perhaps? But an awesome one, nonetheless. You can easily buy, order, or create a kestrel box and install it on your homestead to help draw kestrels. Kestrels have a keen eye and will specifically target insects if you have a pest issue. Larger birds of prey will hunt larger pests.
Owls
与上面一样。你可以安装一些特殊的盒子来吸引猫头鹰来你家。它们是伟大的猎手,有助于消灭害虫(特别是小型哺乳动物)。
*It’s interesting that the eco-friendly pesticide and herbicide methods that are in place to help create wildlife habitat actually bring wildlife to you.
A famous quote that perfectly sums up this article:
“If you build it, they will come.”
– Field of Dreams
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