Wildlife in Your Back Yard

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Wildlife in Your Back Yard
Its Habitat, its Habitat, its Habitat
Its Habitat, its Habitat, its Habitat
Rental Property for Kermit and the Crew
http//cowboys.beloblog.com/archives/kermit.jpg
http//cowboys.beloblog.com/archives/kermit.jpg

• Gary J. San Julian
• Extension Wildlife Specialist
• Penn State

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What do you want to do?

• Watch birds
• View small mammals
• Enjoy reptiles and amphibians
• See big game
• Gather fruits and nuts
• Consume organic, free ranging, low fat, small
  carbon foot print nourishment
• All of the above

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Habitat, Habitat, Habitat

• Food
• Water
• Shelter
• Cover
• Juxtapositiona measure of horizontal diversity.
• Where are the above located?

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Make a map

• Inventory your property
• Check out your neighbors
• What do you have and what do you need?

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son/4.JPG
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http//fwie.fw.vt.edu/rhgiles/Images/EdgeClearing0
3.gif
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Food
This is NOT what biologists want as a backyard
food source!
http//www.simplyoutdoors.net/simplyoutdoors/wp-co
ntent/uploads/2007/11/dnrbait.JPG
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Food
http//marineecology.wcp.muohio.edu/earthsys02/suc
cession/images/Backgr11.jpg
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Foodsoft mast
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bush.jpg
http//homepage.mac.com/cohora/plants/image/elderb
erybery.jpg
http//www.oldiceworks.com.au/zencart/images/Black
berry.jpg
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Foodhard mast
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lves.jpg
http//homepage.mac.com/cohora/plants/image/walnut
nuttree.jpg
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http//mofep.mdc.mo.gov/overview/mofep7.gif
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http//www.wildernesscottages.co.uk/CountryDiary/u
ploaded_images/Beech-Leaves-and-Mast-778923.jpg
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Wolf
Tree
http//www.lakeshorepreserve.wisc.edu/photo-galler
y/woodyvegetation/images/after20clearing20IMG_66
96_JPG.jpg
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http//www.timberwolfconsulting.com/pics/todd_plot
_1.jpg
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http//www.biokids.umich.edu/images/signs/build/re
dsquirrel_den.jpg
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Favor your mast trees
http//www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profiles1205/images/A
pplepruning1.jpg

• Trim, Fertilize and Release

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ardening/Issues_91-100/041095080-01_med.jpg
http//www.fs.fed.us/pnw/pubs/pnw_gtr666.pdf
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Favor your mast trees

• Plant and protect them

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Foodforest opening

• Characteristics of Small Forest Openings
• Prepare the site for seeding by disking, applying
  lime and fertilizer (if needed), and disking
  again.
• Plant native grasses or agricultural varieties
  such as
• birdsfoot trefoil
• white clover
• rye grass
• millet
• sorghum and buckwheat.

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Foodforest opening

• Size one to three acres mow around July 4th to
  control.
• Shape long and narrow, taking on an "s" or a
  'j" pattern.
• Width at least 1-1/2 times the height of
  adjacent trees. For example, if trees are 15 feet
  tall, width should be at least 22 feet.
• Orient in an east to west direction to allow
  maximum sunlight penetration.

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Water in the landscape
http//wgntv.trb.com/news/weather/weblog/wgnweathe
r/archives/Dry20Creek2000120(Small).jpg
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Water in the landscape
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Water in the landscapeProtect It
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y2-12.JPG
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Water in the landscapeProtect It
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Water in the landscapeProtect It
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y2-12.JPG
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Water in the landscapeProtect It
http//www.underwaterfishphotos.com/images/rainbow
trout730.jpg
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Water in the landscapeProtect It
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l_1.jpg
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Water in the landscapeProtect It
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Water in the landscapeProtect It
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Water--enhancement

• The most important management practice for
  spring seeps is to protect them from any
  activities that could degrade the seep, such as
  clear-cutting beside the seep or agricultural
  pollution.

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Water--enhancement Protect It
http//www.syngenta.com/social_responsibility/imag
es/recovered_spring.jpg
http//www.dec.ny.gov/images/wildlife_images/seep.
jpg
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Water--enhancement

• Options for enhancing the habitat associated
  with a spring seep include releasing or planting
  beneficial trees and shrubs around the seep and
  encouraging the growth of herbaceous vegetation
  around the seeps perimeter.

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Water--enhancement Protect It
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stream.sized.jpg
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Waterbuild it
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Waterbuild it
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JPG
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Cover---edge
http//www.co.ozaukee.wi.us/planningresourceslandm
anagement/landconservation/OzaukeeDirt/Summer2000/
WeissBuffer.jpg
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Cover--edge
ftp//ftp-fc.sc.egov.usda.gov/WHMI/WEB/wildlife/NC
FieldBorder.pdf
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Edges and borders
http//www.dgif.virginia.gov/habitat/landowners/in
fosheets/10-natural.jpg
http//www.dgif.virginia.gov/habitat/landowners/in
fosheets/3-indiangrass-planted.jpg
Natural Planted Rotation cut
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fosheets/4-cutback-borders.jpg
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http//www.nwk.usace.army.mil/tc/gif/slide10.jpg
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Cover edge concerns
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sel.JPG
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Cover edge concerns
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/BlackSnake-715963.jpg
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Cover edge concerns
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Cover--Shelter--Brush Piles
Mark Bennett IN. DNR
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Brush piles
http//www.in.gov/dnr/fishwild/hunt/Wildlife_Brush
pile_Jobsheet.pdf
http//www.iowadnr.com/wildlife/pdfs/wlguide_pp24t
o25.pdf
http//www.kdfwr.state.ky.us/pdf/brushpiles.pdf
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Brush piles--Where to put them

• Open fields, fence corners, edge borders,
  clearings, food plots, area lacking natural cover

http//www.hsus.org/web-files/landscapes/281x144_B
rushpile.jpg
http//www.forestry.state.al.us/publication/TF_pub
lications/TFfall06/Wildlife_Hotel_The_Art_of_Build
ing_a-Functional_Brush_Pile.pdf
http//myfwc.com/viewing/images/brushpiletop.gif
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Brush pile--Benefits
http//www.fish.state.pa.us/water/amprep/snake/bla
ck_rat/black1x500.jpg
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Brush pile--Benefits

• Brush piles can benefit many species of wildlife,
  including bobwhite quail, cottontail rabbits,
  ruffed grouse, wild turkeys, skunks, raccoons,
  opossums, woodchucks, chipmunks, mockingbirds,
  white-throated sparrows and juncos. Predators
  such as foxes, bobcats, hawks, owls and coyotes
  benefit from the small mammal and bird
  populations found in or around brush piles.
• http//ct.gov/dep/cwp/view.asp?a2723q325980dep
  Nav_GID1655

http//www.dnr.state.md.us/wildlife/wabrush.gif
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Brush pile--Benefits
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Cover--Snags

• Snags are dead trees at least 6 inches DBH and 10
  feet tall, with little or no timber value.
• They are extremely valuable as feeding, perching
  and nesting sites for numerous species of
  wildlife, including woodpeckers, wrens, warblers,
  owls, hawks, wood ducks, mergansers, raccoons,
  bats, squirrels and opossums.

Safety for people
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Snags--hard and soft
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es/wsr1-fig2.gif
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Cover--Shelter--Snags
http//main.nc.us/nas-hpc/wood20duck20nest20cop
y.jpg
http//www.dnr.sc.gov/news/Yr2006/dec25/dec25_snag
.jpg
http//www.unbf.ca/forestry/centers/cwru/soe/flysq
r2.jpg
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HumanAdd-Ons
http//www.runnerduck.com/images/bird_feeder.jpg
http//www.drsfostersmith.com/images/Categoryimage
s/normal/p-29132-38403-wild-bird.jpg
http//www.fws.gov/yazoo/images/Wood20duck20male
20looking20into20box.jpg
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HumanAdd-Ons
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HumanAdd-Ons
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tos/allboxes.JPG
http//www.greenworks.tv/radio/todaystoryimages/ba
t_box.jpg
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DownloadItemg2_itemId5699g2_serialNumber2
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mages/bathead.JPG.jpg
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Positive Attributes
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Negative Attributes????
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egorized/2007/11/27/p1120080.jpg
http//www.eatonvillenews.net/images/Bob/ARLEN20D
EER20AT20FEEDER20ON20HIND20LEGS20(OP203)20
IMG_0658.jpg
http//wdfw.wa.gov/wlm/living/graphics/bear2.jpg
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e-bear-jj-001.jpg
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And you are worried about squirrels?
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e-bear-jj-001.jpg
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Juxtaposition
No man is an islandor what happens in your yard
DOESNT stay in your yard
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Cultural Carrying Capacity

• Deer Density is determined by various groups in
  the community
• Hunters
• Observers
• Farmers
• Foresters
• Homeowners

As land owners, we do have a responsibility.
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http//www.pgc.state.pa.us/pgc/lib/pgc/wildlife/ph
otolib/black_bear_Adult.jpg
Any Habitat Questions?
http//www.igsb.uiowa.edu/portrait/8trends/cracoon
slw.jpg
http//www.pgc.state.pa.us/pgc/lib/pgc/wildlife/ph
otolib/ruffed_grouse.jpg
http//tbn0.google.com/images?qtbnOUSYkc16KhlHtM
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PG