City Wildlife

If you think living in a big city removes you from wildlife you're wrong. We live in a large city - actually IN the city, not the 'burbs. Our yard is filled with grey squirrels, fox squirrels, grackles, cardinals, mourning doves, sparrows, other songbirds and butterflies. We've spotted a hawk or falcon (flying too fast toward a rabbit to see which), a racoon and opossum and a woman a few blocks away swears a red fox family took up residence in her backyard. Of course there are tons of rabbits, but we have them blocked from our yard after the devastation they caused in our native woodland and prairie gardens last year. Coyotes and deer live in nearby forest preserves.

Now we can add a new species to the list - the Painted Turtle (Chrysemys picta marginata). I found this little guy in our native woodland garden this morning. Probably one of the neighborhood kids brought it home from camp - it is native to our area and after work we'll take it to a wetland area where there are others of its kind.

I can't wait to share my love of wildlife with our child - if I can't foster a similar passion in her, I hope to at least foster a respect that she will carry throughout life and that will encourage her to make choices that help wildlife and the environment.

Visit these links to learn more about the advantages of Native Gardening and creating your own Backyard Wildlife Habitat.