In our location, we have noticed a disturbing and growing trend among many homeowners; they are removing mature forest trees from their property in order to plant grass lawns. This removes valuable nesting, cover and food resources. When we bought our home it had two fairly large areas of grass. Knowing what I do now I may have looked at this property differently - I would have looked for something that had more native trees and vegetation. When I discoverd the Backyard Wildlife Habitat Program I knew I had to do something that would help restore some of the lost habitat. In addition to drastically reducing the size of our lawn we are planting trees, shrubs and flowers. (Of course it will be impossible to grow a 75 foot pine in my lifetime!) We have left one small grass lawn - the robins and bluebirds are attracted to this area. They like to feed and bathe in the open area - they seldom if ever go to the backyard which is surrouned by pines.
One of the first problems we ran into was finding native plants. I had done a lot of research to find out what plants are native to this area but could not really find the plants I wanted. There are several nurseries in the area and once in a while they will offer natives and I have also found several good mail order nurseries. We are adding natives slowly as I am able to find them. Some have not done too well - perhaps the wrong location or too much or too little water - I'm still learning what will work for us.
The squirrels have also eaten what I consider more than their fair share. In addition to raiding the bird feeders they cause all sorts of mischief - they have chewed garden hoses in half; they dig little holes everywhere; they have dug up many newly planted flowers and left them to dry in the sun; they have chewed to the ground several small tree seedlings and they have burried acorns and nuts all over the yard (hence the little holes everywhere - they must be looking for their burried treasures). But I try and keep things in perspective - this is their home after all - and they don't have any other place to go. They are just trying to live and raise their young. I was watching a young squirrel the other day (probably one of this year's babies). He was in the empty lot next door and he found an empty glass bottle someone had thrown out. He climbed on it and was jumping and rolling around and around - he looked like he was trying out for the log rolling competition. He played that way for quite some time - jumping on and rolling the bottle this way and that. How can that not bring a smile to your face and touch your heart? They can be frustrating at times - but they are one of God's little creatures.
