Attracting Birds, Butterflies and Other Backyard Wildlife

ATTRACTING BIRDS, BUTTERFLIES AND OTHER BACKYARD WILDLIFE BY DAVID MIZEJEWSKI CREATIVE HOMEOWNER 2004, 128 PAGES, $12.95

When I was a 12-year-old paperboy, a family on my route had a substantial outdoor vivarium that housed a dozen or so box turtles. After I began appearing in their backyard every day to visit, they finally showed me how to build one of my own, and even gave me a few of their turtles as a sort of starter set. My trio of hard shells lived several more years before I ultimately set them free at a nearby pond.

Twenty years later, I've graduated to bats. Each summer evening at dusk, like clockwork, two winged denizens of the night, one large, one small (the kids have named them Eldridge and Matt, respectively) swoop down on our backyard, circle the swimming pool a couple of times, and then disappear into the approaching darkness.

The point of these two stories? Simply that nature--especially when it's unfolding right where you live--is just so cool. Thus, it was with great anticipation that I picked up this National Wildlife Federation book that describes in full and fascinating detail how to get the varied citizens of Mother Nature to set up shop on your property, whether it be a big spread in the country or a modest yard in suburbia.

For starters, even if this entire volume was devoid of any text, it still would be valuable and attractive just based on the 170 full-color pbotographs of various wildlife. The author, however--who manages NWF's Backyard Wildlife Habitat program--has more ambitious goals, including 17 nature-attracting projects the entire family can participate in. To be honest, we haven't the desire or wherewithal to build an Amphibian House, Stormwater Wetland, or Birdbath Stump, but the Brush Pile, Butterfly Garden, and Bird Feeders look quite do-able and fun to boot.

It's also neat to recognize how certain threads connect so many living things. To attract certain birds, you need specific kinds of insects. To ensure the right type of bugs come to visit, it takes particular flowers and shrubs. For these plants to thrive, the soil has to have the proper mixture of water, sun, and nutrients. On and on it goes. (Thanks, but we'll pass on the greenery that's eaten by the black-tailed jackrabbit, who, in turn, serves as a main course for the red-tailed hawk. If I want to see that kind of carnage, I'll watch the Nature Channel.)

The book is broken up into seven commonsense chapters. We found most to be informative, and yes, entertaining: Habitat Basics; Providing Food, Water, and Cover for Wildlife; Designing Your Habitat; and Places to Raise Young being among the best.

Enough from this reviewer, however. Let the author speak for his purpose: "There are few places on Earth that have not been affected by the way and the rate at which we build and maintain our homes, farms, and cities.... It is easy to feel as if there is no hope for wildlife in our modern world of asphalt, smog, and traffic. But there is hope.... Creating a wildlife habitat is more than just planting a pretty garden, it's actually restoring one small piece of the ecosystem."

Admittedly, we're not ready to join Greenpeace, but we're certainly not opposed to a few more creatures enjoying the comforts of home in our own backyard.

WAYNE M. BARRETT

Publisher and Editor-in-Chief

COPYRIGHT 2004 Society for the Advancement of Education
COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group