Paul James, host of HGTV's Gardening by the Yard, offers tips on sharing your garden with wildlife. Millions of Americans maintain birdfeeders, and as long as seeds are available year round, birds are less likely to dine in the vegetable garden. By supporting healthy populations of birds, you can significantly reduce the number of bugs that attack your crops. Birdhouses provide shelter and nesting sites, and though different species have different housing requirements, you can find houses for everything from orioles to owls. Make sure houses are weather-resistant and well ventilated, and place them with the entrance hole facing away from prevailing winds. Clean out houses after each nesting season. Natural nesting sites are especially important to birds, particularly trees and shrubs that serve double duty as both homes and food sources. Dozens of landscape plants provide dense cover for nesting during the spring and summer, and many produce berries that provide food during the fall and winter. Dead trees play an important role in attracting birds too because they're often loaded with insects. Despite your best efforts, some birds will choose to nest wherever they please. Another great way to attract wildlife is to leave an area of your yard wild, whether it's a fence line or an isolated corner. Wild areas needn't be messy, but they shouldn't be manicured. Without a source of water, birds won't be as plentiful, no matter how much food or cover or how many nesting sites you provide. Place a birdbath somewhere, or install a water feature Bat Houses At first glance, bat houses may look like birdhouses, but the only way to get into them is at the bottom. Bats shouldn't be feared: in the past 30 years only a dozen cases of human rabies in this country have been traced to bats, and those were the result of victims' trying to pick up and handle the animals. The most common North American bat, the little brown bat, has teeth so tiny it can't even bite a human. Bat houses should be installed 15' to 20' high, on a pole or the side of a house, and should face east or southeast. Bats will enter the house through the bottom. It may take a year or two before they feel comfortable enough to move in, so be patient. To confirm their arrival, quietly inspect the house from the ground, peering up and into it, or look down, where you'll find their droppings. Butterfly Houses Butterfly houses provide a place for butterflies to pupate. It's easy to attract all kinds of butterflies by planting nectar-producing flowers, many of which also attract hummingbirds. Toad Houses Another unique house to consider is a terra-cotta hut, or toad abode, placed in the garden near a source of water to attract a hungry toad. A single toad can eat several thousand grubs, slugs, beetles and bugs every month. Coping With Rabbits, Squirrels, and Raccoons These mischievous animals can destroy a garden in no time, but getting rid of them is next to impossible. You may as well try to provide them with alternate food sources. A mound of tree trimmings makes a good rabbit habitat because it offers excellent cover. To encourage rabbits to eat something other than your vegetables, sow white clover (one of their favorite plants) in the lawn. White clover is good for the grass too because it's a legume, which means it adds nitrogen to the soil. To discourage squirrels from eating your vegetables, place a variety of treats, including corn, acorns and other nuts, near their favorite hangouts. Raccoons are nocturnal, which means they come out only at night; and when they do, they eat just about everything in sight. Raccoons have large appetites and are the number-one carrier of rabies in the United States. To discourage them, Paul sometimes resorts to placing a boom box in the garden at night and playing tunes that send them scurrying.
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