Backyard Wildlife Habitats | Choosing The Wildlife You Want

Wildlife is not always predictable. That’s Why it’s called “wildlife”! The inhabitants of the great outdoors do act in fairly predictable patterns though.

They will almost always follow food, water and shelter. Like human beings, each species has one type of food it prefers over other types of food. If, on your property,  you offer the type of food that a particular type of bird likes, and the type of shelter it likes, with a safe source of water nearby, the chances are very high that you will have that type of bird either living in, or visiting your property on a regular bases.

The same is true for the creatures that you might not want on your property such as rodents, and snakes.

The way you choose your wildlife, is by making a habitat suitable to the wildlife you prefer, and making it unsuitable for the ones you prefer to keep out.

What about habitats adjacent to your habitat, which might be encouraging the wrong wildlife, over which you might have little control? In that case, you would practice exclusion, or predation. Exclusion would be such things as fences or other barriers. Predation would be creating a habitat that would encourage predators of whatever species that you are trying to keep out. There is no guarantee that everything will stay exactly within the property boundaries since animals do not understand property boundaries.  Before you get too exotic, you might want to talk it over with the neighbors.