Helping Local Wildlife

Here at Team Floofins, we love animals – but that’s not limited to pets! Caring about local wildlife benefits us all, so we’ve compiled some easy ways that you can protect and nurture everything from bees to skunks. Fall is a perfect time of year to plant a native garden or get involved at your local forest preserve, so read on to see how you can help!

Wild Birds

When we think about birds, we often think about putting out a bird bath and a feeder, but birds need so much more than that! They face many threats, including windows, outdoor cats, and disease. Why should we care? Of course, we love listening to birds singing and enjoy their pretty colors, but they’re also an important part of our ecosystem. They keep the insect population under control and disperse seeds.

Windows: Birds don’t understand what windows are, and window collisions are responsible for more than a billion bird deaths each year. That’s right. A BILLION. Most of these occur during times of migration, so spring and fall. How to Help: Put clings on your windows so that birds can see that there is an obstacle. These days you’re not limited to black silhouettes and can get decals in all shapes and colors. There is even a range of clear clings, which are effective for birds without obstructing the window. During mass bird migration, turn off your outside lights and draw the curtains if your indoor lights are bright. This will help migrating birds steer clear of windows. Finally, keep bird feeders and baths either less than three feet from a window or more than ten feet. Anything in between is the danger zone, where birds can become startled and not have time to avoid crashing into the window.

Outdoor Cats: Being outdoors is dangerous for cats, but it’s also dangerous for the critters they hunt. It’s estimated that cats kill another 1.5 billion birds every year. How to Help: Keep your cats inside! Cats are perfectly happy to remain indoors if they’re provided the proper enrichment. Check out our blog here for ideas on how to keep your kitties entertained.

Habitat Destruction: Many bird species depend on specific conditions for nesting. When trees are cut down and wetlands are filled in, to make way for development, birds lose their homes. Pesticides applied to lawns kill off important food sources. How to Help: Plant trees and provide alternative nesting locations for birds. Check out the Cornell Lab website to learn more about which birds require what type of nest. Provide mealworms and other high-quality food in your feeders. Avoid using pesticides and other chemicals on your lawn. Plant native flowers that provide seeds for finches and nectar for hummingbirds.

Rodenticides and Other Pest Control: Whether they’re birds of prey like hawks and owls or scavengers like crows, many birds rely on rodents as part of their diet. Unfortunately, the use of rodenticides (rat poison) is extremely damaging to these birds. Rodenticides are a cruel way to kill rodents anyway, as they cause the animal’s organs to slowly stop functioning, leading to an agonizing and slow death. When a predator eats a poisoned rodent, they absorb the poison and can suffer the same slow death. Smaller birds can become stuck in glue traps and die of starvation and dehydration. How to Help: Implement humane rodent control! Snap traps are still the most efficient and cruelty-free way to rid your house of mice. If you have a significant rodent problem, hire a pest control business to inspect your entire home and seal up any cracks or loose siding. Ask your local hardware stores to stop selling glue traps and rodenticide.

Insects

Bees, moths, flies, and other pollinators are among the smallest wildlife, but while they can be considered undesirable, given the correct conditions, they are both harmless and beneficial! In addition to pollinating food and flowers, insects provide food for birds and other insects such as spiders and praying mantises.

Habitat Loss: Native insects require native flowers to feed from. Perfectly-manicured lawns and gardens full of European plants provide no food for most native insects. How to Help: Plant native plants! Shop your local native plant sales like this one or purchase from a reputable online retailer. You may think that attracting bees to your yard is a disaster waiting to happen, but they are more interested in high-quality flowers than you, and are very unlikely to sting even when disturbed.

Pesticides: Pesticides designed to kill mosquitoes are not selective and will kill other insects as well. This is bad for native plants and birds as well as our own food chain. Herbicides applied to lawns to kill weeds are also bad for insects – AND pets! How to Help: To control mosquitoes without using pesticides, remove standing water and create a mosquito trap using a mosquito dunk. It’s highly effective! Lush lawns may look pretty, but they are essentially dead zones for wildlife. To offset this, add in more native plants and remove weeds manually.

Reptiles and Amphibians

Because they keep to themselves, reptiles and amphibians often go unnoticed, but they’re very important to the ecosystem! They rely on healthy ecosystems not only for food but shelter.

Turtles and Tortoises: Habitat loss and roads are a huge problem for these guys! They often end up getting smushed by cars on the road. Pollution in ponds and creeks as well as chemical runoff isn’t good for them. Sometimes people also release captive-bred turtles into the wild, which can introduce disease. How to Help: Be cautious when driving near ponds or out in rural areas. If you see a turtle trying to cross the road and it’s safe to do so, pull over and help it across the road in the direction it’s going. You can pick up a small turtle and carry it or block traffic (again, if it’s safe) for a snapping turtle (who can bite through your hand, so stay clear!) Participate in creek clean-ups and refrain from using chemicals on your lawn to prevent them from ending up in wetlands and waterways. Do not release any pet turtles; if you can no longer care for them, rehome them instead.

Snakes: Snakes are misunderstood! They’re great at keeping the rodent population down. In our area, we mostly see garter snakes, fox snakes, brown snakes, and milk snakes. Along a waterway you may also see a northern water snake. Give them space, but don’t be afraid! The snakes in DuPage County are non-venomous and generally will not bite unless surprised or mishandled. They often hide beneath fallen logs and branches. How to Help: Create a snake-friendly habitat with plenty of hiding places in a secluded area of your yard. If you come across a snake, leave it be.

Amphibians: Animals like salamanders and frogs live around water. Unfortunately, they also are experiencing a high rate of habitat loss due to new construction and poor water quality. These guys are super important for the environment, as they consume insects like mosquitoes and help filter water. Unfortunately, the invasive European buckthorn grows in abundance in our area – it was an attractive hedge option for a long time – and it leaches a chemical into the soil that damages frog eggs once it reaches the waterways. How to Help: Keep chemicals off your lawn and out of the waterways! Consider adding a small pond to your yard. Remove any buckthorn growing in your yard or sign up for a workday at your local forest preserve, where volunteers focus on removing invasive species. If your subdivision or gated community uses buckthorn as privacy hedges, talk to your HOA about replacing them with a native hedgerow of snowberry, dogwood, or elderberry.

Mammals

When it comes to habitat loss, mammals suffer the most. With the loss of forests and prairies, they are forced into our yards, where they can be seen as nuisances. Rabbits, squirrels, and chipmunks eat our flowers and nibble on the produce growing in our gardens. Skunks want to keep to themselves, but often end up in confrontations with dogs. Raccoons go through our garbage and find their way into our roofs. Coyotes and fox are seen as threats to small pets. How can we peacefully co-exist with these critters?

Rabbits: These critters don’t seem to have a lot of preservation skills, and often put their nests right in the middle of the backyard. They also breed like crazy and subsist on our gardens. How to Help: If you have a dog who loves to hunt rabbits and find a rabbit nest, don’t disturb it. Erect a chicken wire fence around it with a small opening so that Mama Rabbit can get in to feed her babies. Once they start hopping around, be sure to take your dog out on a leash. Once rabbits leave the nest, they move on within a week or so. If your pup does catch and injure a rabbit, call DuPage Wildlife Conservation Center to see if they can help. As far as nibbling on plants, a lot of native plants thrive after a rabbit is done snacking on them – just one more reason to plant native gardens!

Skunks, Raccoons, and Opossum: Larger critters really suffer from habitat loss. New developments push them out of native areas and into our yards, as they have nowhere else to go. They’re beneficial, too! Like birds, they help spread seeds. Raccoons are scavengers and eat dead animals; skunks eat the larvae of wasps and other “undesirable” insects as well as rodents, serving as a natural pest control. When they dig for larvae, they help aerate the soil. Opossums also eat lots of ticks, making them a very important species. How to Help: Support habitat restoration projects that protect local native areas so that these critters have a place to live that’s not your yard! Speak up against new developments that will displace native animals. Discourage skunks and raccoons from coming into your yard by securing all garbage cans tightly. Skunks are denning animals, so they will burrow beneath a deck or shed, so close these areas off. Inspect your yard at night before letting your dog out to avoid potential interactions. If you do have a raccoon, skunk, or opossum family move into your yard, keep your pup leashed and avoid the areas where the animals hang out. If you don’t like them digging up your yard, consider replacing your lawn with native plants. Remember that opossums play dead, so if you see one lying still, leave it alone and keep your pet away. If these critters do present a big problem, you can potentially trap and release them, but just remember: they have as much right to be here as you do!

Fox and Coyote: Again, habitat loss is the biggest threat to these guys. However, though they may seem scary, they are generally going to avoid humans whenever possible. They’re also a huge benefit. Remember those pesky rabbits? They’re a great food source for these predators, which is a win for your garden. If they don’t have rabbits, chipmunks, and squirrels, guess what they’re going to start hunting? That’s right – outdoor cats and small dogs. How to Help: At the risk of sounding like a broken record, plant native plants and support local habitat restoration! Voice your concerns about new developments that will reduce their habitat further. Take your small dogs out on a leash at night or get them a spiked harness to discourage coyotes from seeing them as a snack, and keep your cats inside.

Final Thoughts

Native areas and wildlife benefit us ALL. Even small actions have a big impact; something as simple as adding in a few native flowers can provide a tremendous boost for the entire ecosystem. Native flowers are just as pretty as non-native ones and attract beautiful butterflies, hummingbirds, and cool insects. Providing healthy native habitats causes a chain reaction of positive results. Lots of flowers for insects means lots of food for birds and small mammals, which provide food for predators, which means they have little interest in human activities and pets. To learn more, we highly suggest reading Bringing Nature Home by Douglas Tallamy. If we all work together, we can protect our ecosystem and live in harmony with wildlife!