Wild animals need care too!

With constant weather changes and the continued destruction of land, mother nature needs help from you to care for her wild critters! This winter was hard for even many of the southern states so there was less growth of food for animals in the area. Even if you have a small space, you can help. My mom has an average house in the middle of the city but her back yard is a peaceful haven for many wild critters. She tells me that they are her pets too. Because of all the new construction in the area, animals are being run out of their natural homes. Rabbits, hawks, squirrels, butterflies, hummingbirds, and even ducks are showing up in areas they wouldn't normally. Setting up your yard for the animals is pretty simple and even better, is that when you plant the native plants for the wildlife, you save on water bills too!

Even Florida got hit hard this year. If you go to the store, you may notice that sunflower seed has almost doubled in price. This may mean that people who normally feed the birds, can't afford to feed them anymore. However, growing sunflowers in your yard is easy. Pick a small space in your yard to grow the sunflowers. Once they finally grow seed, they may hang down and not look as pretty, but it is a lot of fun to watch the birds hang upside down and eat from the flowers. You could also harvest the seed and put it in a feeder.

There has been a reduction in butterfly populations because of construction and also because of chemicals used on our lawns. Butterflies need host plants to feed on as caterpillars and nectar plants to feed from as adults. Each species prefers different kinds of plants. The Dallas discover gardens is always offering classes about how to fix your yard up to attract the butterflies and not use poisons. Check out a list of events here: http://texasdiscoverygardens.org/upcoming_events.php. You can also download an app for your smart phone to take a garden tour here: http://texasdiscoverygardens.org/index.php

The DFW Wildlife Coalition offers presentations to groups on how to coexist with animals in the city. If you are interested in scheduling a presentation for a group that you are a part of, check them out here: http://www.dfwwildlife.org/wildspeak.html

Just a reminder: Even though animals are coming to our yards to feed, we must remember that they are wild and should stay that way. The more natural we make their food sources, the better. We should not feed them by hand. We don't want them to become too comfortable with humans as there are still people who will hurt them.

If you have any questions about setting up your yard, let me know. If I don't know the answer, I will find out!