Wildlife In Our Backyard

Being urban dwellers most of us live in very artificial environments compared to our origins. Yet we have emotional, physical and perhaps even spiritual connection to nature. Which is why so many of us undertake activities such as gardening or fishing to fulfil that connection.

Pets have moved into our homes and are now often considered part of the family. A significant change in just a few generations given that cats and dogs traditionally performed very functional roles in our society. As the pace of life has accelerated our pets offer us an important link to the natural world from which we have been distanced. As many of us are finding out such links are also stimulated by the wildlife we encounter in our environments.

Experiencing wildlife brings colour and excitement to our daily lives. Stopping to watch an Adelaide Rosella, have an early morning drink from your bird bath. Watching a Garden Skink dart across the path and into the relative safety of the leaf litter in a nearby flowerbed. Or having Monarch Butterflies sailing through the summer sun doing its own private dance can all provide a moment of delight. In Adelaide we are fortunate to have a vast array of wildlife literally on our doorsteps, if you take the time you may well be astounded by what you will find.

What is wildlife? If you ask ten people on the street you are likely to get ten different answers. We will consider wildlife to be any native plants or animals that occur in the Adelaide region. The focus for this column will be principally on native fauna.

Wildlife can offer many of the same attributes that we find attractive in our pets. A more interesting environment, provide us with considerable pleasure and increase our knowledge or understanding of our environment. Additionally many of us feel compelled to provide for wildlife as a form of compensation for the damage we have inflicted on the environment.

Most of us welcome the presence of wildlife in our lives and would like to increase the level of that experience. While National or Conservation Parks are important, we typically would like to enjoy wildlife where we live - our front or back yard, a local park or the children’s school.

While most of us would like to enjoy an increase in the number and frequency by native wildlife we do exhibit preferences. Birds are almost universally appreciated and 90% of us would like to see more of them. Butterflies are then next most popular group, but interestingly caterpillars, from which these extraordinary creatures develop, are amongst our least favourite. Other animals that we were most interested in discouraging from entering our properties were reptiles (especially snakes) and cats.

Our pets can have a significant impact on not only our neighbours, but also on native fauna. This is not the case with all pets, many are relatively benign, however, others are not. The key to reducing the impact of our pets on wildlife is responsible pet ownership.

We have the opportunity experience, interact with and enjoy wildlife whenever we are out doors. Unfortunately the magic often just passes us by. I implore you to at some stage over the coming week at stop for a few minutes and see what creatures are able to coexist with us in suburbia and share our space. By taking the time to appreciate some of those creatures with whom you share space will be a truly rewarding experience.

Our pets regularly encounter wildlife, in our own yards, in local reserves, even on the street. In future articles we will be looking at some of the species our pets are likely to encounter and what the implications for both might be.

How do we relate to wildlife:
• Over 80% of us feel having wildlife in our immediate environment is important.
• Most of us would like to see more birds (90%) and butterflies (74%).
• The animals we would most like to discourage are snakes (12%).
• The provision of water and native plants are the most common way we attempt to entice wildlife (26%).
• Approximately 1/3 of us provide supplementary food for wildlife and another 1/3 are interested in doing so.

James Smith lives in Adelaide, South Australia and is an expert, author and researcher of the urban habitat for Australian wildlife. A graduate of the Masters in Urban Habitat Management Course he has created his website http://faunature.com.au devoted to helping people enjoy the exceptional wildlife in their backyard. If you are interesting in promoting the survival of wildlife in urban areas he has a lot of information and items to assist you including books, nesting boxes, and bird feeders available on his website: http://faunature.com.au/ fauNature PO Box 357 Magill, SA 5072