Wild Life Habitat

A Wildlife Habitat can be defined as that collection of plants, water sources and terrain that provides wildlife with the three essentials for life - water, shelter and food. Almost any backyard, front yard or even a small patio can become a wildlife habitat, however, anyone contemplating this idea must accept both the benefits and the drawbacks with equal appreciation. If you are the kind of person who both loves and respects nature, creating a wildlife habitat of any scale on your property can be both enchanting for adults and educational for children.

Some of the most rewarding aspects of my work have been to create natural water features specifically designed to be inviting to wildlife. "If you build it, they will come" is not only a great line from a movie but also the best way to describe the inevitable result of creating a Wildlife Habitat, only in this case it's the animals that appear.

Even a modest little pond or fountain can serve as a magnet to a veritable menagerie of life. By supplying wildlife with a suitably larger and properly designed water feature, the amount and the type of life attracted to the area is greatly increased. Another important item impacting your backyard Wildlife Habitat is its proximity to wild or semi-wild areas. The photos featured on this page were taken in and around a nature-friendly pond and stream in Tehachapi, California which is adjacent to open land. These examples are by no means definitive of all the different types of mammals, birds, reptiles, snakes and insects that visit from time to time or live within the immediate area of this water feature.

Go to www.nwf.org for the National Wildlife Federation for information and the way you can be awarded a plaque certifying your property as a Wildlife Habitat.