Wild Thing, You Make My Heart Sing!
Photo credit: Wendy Hamrick
While we are preparing our homes, vehicles, and closets for the cold winter season ahead, let’s not forget about our wildlife friends that bring us so much joy during the more temperate months. Over the next 90 to 120 days, they will endure bone-chilling winds, frozen ground, and limited access to fresh water or easy foraging. It is time to get up off the couch and winterize your backyard for their benefit. The most susceptible of our critters, particularly those not hibernating or flying south, will thank you.
Help your furry friends by putting away your rake and putting off the bagging of leaves and brush for later. The leaves and brush are primary sources of shelter and food. A better choice would be to leave them where they lie or use a mulching mower. Left in place, this yard debris can eventually be incorporated into the soil. It’s a win-win for you and your animal friends.
If you have room in the corner of your yard, create a brush pile of some of the items you normally compost, like leaves, sticks, and dead grasses. This loosely constructed mound will serve as a headquarters for ground birds, rabbits, hibernating insects, and reptiles. Have an old woodpile? Stacking a fresh new cord? Arrange the layers in a crisscross or similar pattern to create a wood hotel for small mammals and insects. Birds also use small sticks, twigs, and dead grass to prepare for spring nesting. Some birds that reuse their nests may opt for a DIY redo by replenishing the old materials with this year’s fallen bits. The needles of conifers provide a “thermal cover” and protection from the biting winds as they provide a natural mulch.
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Annually, susceptible wildlife struggles to make it through the frigid temperatures dictated by “old man winter.” As the usual sources of food lay hidden under heavy snowfall or freezing rain, insects die off and some fruits and berries become rotten, winter becomes an ideal time of year to support wildlife. Hold off dead-heading and nipping those late-blooming perennials. The seed heads and stalks provide an abundance of food for birds. Likewise, critters, rabbits, squirrels, and raccoons particularly enjoy native plants that are waning. Rudbeckias, Sedums, purple coneflower, Joe Pye weed, bee balm, and sunflowers provide a bonanza of nutritious treats as they die back. Native ferns can also provide nourishment, and many remain an attractive green when other varieties have disappeared. Shrubs such as bayberries, cotoneasters, and junipers offer fruit all year long.
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Give creatures a helping hand by offering good quality and varied seeds, nuts, and fruits in the form of a suet bar. A coconut, cut in half and strung from a tree, makes an inexpensive feeder and bite-sized peanuts are a good source of fat. Dried fruit, peanuts, and dried cracked corn delight the squirrels. Black oil sunflower seeds are particularly attractive to many birds for their high-fat content and nutrition. Mealworms are loved by bluebirds, robins, and wrens. Birds and small mammals are caching their stores of food. Some birds, especially the tiny chickadees, have been shown to hide thousands of seeds to later recall and retrieve them. Your extra aid will help.
When evaluating your outdoor sanctuary, don’t forget a water source. Keep your ponds and birdbaths filled with fresh, unfrozen water. A best practice would include installing a heater and changing the water daily in bird baths. New water sources can be created by filling a trash can lid or shallow bucket to about three inches in depth. Create safety for avian visitors by tossing in a few round stones to improve their footing. Clean your bird feeders weekly with a solution of one part bleach mixed with nine parts warm water to mitigate the spread of disease. Another more organic option for cleaning calls for mixing equal parts apple cider vinegar with water and rinsing well.
Prepare for next year. Consider planting a hedgerow populated with native perennials, shrubs, and Virginia trees. This will provide an attractive border while supplying a smorgasbord and sanctuary for our creature friends year-round. You do not need to incorporate all of these ideas at once. By doing just a few items a year, you will slowly convert your backyard into a lovely sanctuary that will attract a steady flow of wildlife to your yard and community for years to come.
Resources:
Landers, Lauren. Gardening.org: “Twelve Tips for Creating a Winter Bird Habitat.” November 14, 2022.
Lawson, Nancy. The Humane Society: “What Do Wildlife Need in Winter? Plants!”. November 2022.