Sunday, June 12, 2011

Wildlife Habitat

Renewing the Earth begins at home. Political leaders may not listen to my convictions on global warming and conservation of creation, but I am the steward of my garden. I love the creatures that live here and the ones that pass through on their mysterious daily rounds. The birds and the butterflies are showy and easy to appreciate. But I also like the invisible raccoon that picks the sunflower seeds out of the bird feeder, the skinks that skitter on the dry stone wall, and the fireflies that glow at nightfall.


I haven't been buying many things lately, but I did succumb recently to an impulse purchase. It isn't a beautiful peony, though I've been tempted. One day I was reading a blog, and a click or two later, I was on the web site of the National Wildlife Federation filling out a questionnaire to certify my garden as a wildlife habitat. A week later this sign arrived.


On one level, I know the whole thing is a bit silly. Wildlife can't read. They already know that my garden is a good place. But I was childishly pleased with the sign. I want others to care about wildlife, too, and what better way to start than a sign that might make someone think, even for a few seconds, that we share this land, this life on earth?

We don't have a lawn. Loblolly pines, sweetgums and tulip poplars cluster thickly in the front yard, and I let the pine needles and leaves accumulate as natural mulch. Bluebirds and robins and wrens and towhees and catbirds easily find insects in the leaf mulch, and I suspect that is part of the reason we have so many birds nesting in our yard.


Yesterday, I hung the sign on a sweetgum tree in the front yard near the street. I got the camera and stepped into the fallen leaves in front of the tree. Immediately I felt something sting me, looked at my leg and saw a yellow jacket attached. Wasps were swarming around me. I went flying up the driveway into the house, pulling wasps out of my leg, arm and the back of my head. Clearly I had stepped on a ground nest.

Now that the pain has subsided, it is easy to appreciate the irony in this. Wasps may not be able to read, but they sure do know how to defend their natural habitat. I mean, their certified wildlife habitat.

Adult yellow jacket, James Castner March 2003  http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu
I read later that yellow jackets build nests underground or at ground level, often in meadows on the edges of forests. Adult yellow jackets feed mainly on nectar from flowers. They also are important predators of other insects that can become garden pests.

Yellow jackets are aggressive when people threaten their nest. Females do the stinging, and unlike bees that die after one sting, they can sting repeatedly.

Still, I'd rather have a few yellow jacket stings and some healthy pollinators breeding in my yard than a property with a chemical-soaked lawn and few insects or birds or butterflies. All creatures have their place in nature, and who am I to interfere? We'll talk about the deer fence another time.


If you're interested in learning more about gardening for wildlife, I recommend Douglas Tallamy's book Bringing Nature Home and Sara Stein's Noah's Garden: Restoring the Ecology of Our Own Backyards.

11 comments :

Karin / Southern Meadows said...

I love your woodsy garden! Congratulations on getting it certified! I have had that on my to do list for ages. Thanks for the reminder...I simply must go to the website and complete the "paper work". Glad you have such a positive outlook on your wasp sting. They can be very painful. We have lots of wasp and I always try to be careful around them as I have severe reactions to stings.

pumpkydine said...

Looks like you have a great little garden osais there and cudo's on the sign and what goes into making your place a great place for critters. I love your pics on the bird bath. I enjoy watching birds play in the birdbath in my own yard. They just seem like little kids having fun. Great site! I will visit again.

Sheila Read said...

Karin, I've been wanting to get it certified for awhile. I presumed that I wouldn't be able to because I don't have a natural water source. But I found that a birdbath counts ... It only took about five minutes to fill out the form to get it certified.

I wasn't so positive about the wasp stings the day it happened! They are very painful, and I get severe localized reactions (fortunately, not the systemic, life-threatening reactions). But after a few antihistamines, things looked better. I'm not going anywhere near that nest, though :)

pumpkydine, thanks for your visit and comments! The garden is an oasis and place of peace. The birds do seem like kids playing ...

Donna said...

I still have to figure where I am putting my sign...it is exciting and so easy to certify your yard....yours certainly looks more like a wildlife habitat than mine though...wonderful post...I will be looking back at older posts I may have missed as my life returns to just crazy normal soon...

Sheila said...

Donna, we are fortunate to live in a older neighborhood where builders did not raze the trees. So everyone, even the non-gardeners, has substantial wildlife habitat in the form of mature trees. I have mainly worked to add to the diversity of plantings, introducing native shrubs and perennials to provide more food and habitat for wildlife.

Carolyn @ Carolyn's Shade Gardens said...

Congratulations on your certified natural wildlife habitat. I love your front yard full of trees. My love of wildlife no longer extends to deer because of lyme disease.

greggo said...

congratulations also. Your garden space looks very comforting. Wasps are so beneficial, however not always loved. lol. I was sting by red hornets once, my hand swelled up like a catchers mitt. I didn't go back either. Thanks for stopping by my post on edging

Stacy said...

Sheila, I'm sorry about the yellow-jackets--just as you were certifying their habitat for them, too!

I love the idea that we are stewards of our gardens--it's a different perspective than gardening for pleasure.

Sheila said...

Carolyn, the deer had to be excluded or I wouldn't have a garden! ... Fortunately, Lyme disease is quite rare in the South - the ticks here can carry Rocky Mountain spotted fever, but that's not as severe, from what I understand.

Greggo, yes, the garden is comforting. Sometimes I wish we had more sun so I could have a riot of colorful flowers and lots of veggies. But it's peaceful and the shade is welcome in the summer heat.

Stacy, those ungrateful yellow jackets! I forgot to mention I got five stings ... No way to treat a steward :)

Juliet said...

I love the idea of the sign - and also your idea of putting it at the front of your garden - hopefully it will encourage your neighbours to think about what they can do for wildlife too.

I hope you've recovered from the stings!

Sheila said...

Juliet, I think the wildlife federation had a good idea with the signs ... The sting after-effects are long gone, but the sign remains :)