Homesteaders often operate under the assumption that wildlife in general is incompatible with the productivity of the land and the welfare of livestock. After all, a lone rabbit could quickly multiply into a warren, or a visiting coyote could pave the way for family or friends to follow in search of a free meal. This fear fosters the view that welcoming wildlife will bring unwanted visitors that feed on or infest our plants or prey on pets and livestock.
The problem of unwanted wildlife has intensified in recent years due to the increase in human population, which translates into less room for them. As their living spaces shrink, many species have been forced to move closer to people, appearing in places where they didn’t exist just a few decades ago, often putting them in conflict with those people. Too, migration patterns can change. Such is the case with porcupines, a non-native species that began showing up in West Virginia in the 1980s and has been expanding into new areas ever since. The coyote is another resilient predator that has expanded its range so widely they are now found in every state except Hawaii.
I’m not advocating inviting coyotes, bears, and other predators onto your property. If you have livestock or pets, of course you need to take steps to protect them. It’s more about being accepting of birds and bees and the fairly gentle creatures like possums, raccoons, squirrels, rabbits, etc. that may wander onto your property. It’s about respecting wildlife—and their right to be here—and creating an environment that allows for coexistence, while at the same time protecting the homestead.
Some animals are not so much a threat as they are a nuisance. Squirrels, for instance, hog the bird feeder, dig up the garden, and tend to chew on things like wires, wood, and house siding. It’s not that they enjoy eating your house; they chew on things because their incisor teeth grow throughout their lives, and the only way they can keep them trimmed is by gnawing on hard objects. There are many ways to discourage these rodents with bushy tails, but I have found that by installing squirrel-proof bird feeders, fencing garden plots, and removing any food sources like garbage or pet food their numbers are kept fairly manageable.
While creatures like beavers, groundhogs, weasels, and badgers are generally unwelcome due to their destructive behaviors, many species benefit your yard, garden, and landscape. The list is long, but here are a few to consider making welcome—or at least tolerating for a time—so they can do their part to maintain the balance of nature.
Bats: Bats have been misunderstood and maligned for centuries, seen as creepy harbingers of disease and omens of bad fortune. But times have changed, and thanks to the efforts of conservation groups and federal and state wildlife agencies, bats are being seen in a different light for the valuable ecological role they play. Bats devour thousands of insects per night, and contribute to plant pollination and seed dispersal, making them essential to healthy ecosystems. You can attract bats to your yard or homestead by installing bat boxes and minimizing light pollution at night. With many bat species declining from loss of habitat and white-nose syndrome, providing them a safe haven can help boost their numbers.
Insect-eating birds: Most birds seek out insects to meet the high-protein diet needed to feed their young in the spring. Species that are especially useful for bug control include Purple Martins, swallows, mockingbirds, phoebes, robins, and any and all members of the woodpecker (Picadae) family. Attract these garden allies with bird feeders, native berry-producing plants, a brush pile for shelter, and a bird bath during hot weather. Woodpeckers will be regular visitors to your suet feeder in winter, and can be seen throughout the year boring into standing dead trees (snags) and rotting stumps to reach the beetle grubs and ants inside.
Vultures: Feeding on animal carcasses, vultures are nature’s hazmat service. These scavengers are adapted to efficiently dispose of rotting flesh and bone, as well as other organic waste, thereby reducing the spread of disease amongst wildlife and livestock and reducing the risk of pathogen spill-over to humans. Several species are in decline due to low reproductive rates, loss of habitat, and human activity. The greatest threat, however, is poisoning from toxic chemicals. Vultures often feed on the carcasses of livestock treated with these substances. Another killer is lead fragments ingested from spent hunting ammunition. We can help to curb the decline of vultures by being informed and spreading the word about the valuable services they perform.
Birds of prey: Without birds of prey we would be overrun with mice and rats. Overpopulation of disease-carrying rodents can pose health risks to humans, so it’s important that we protect this group of birds that includes hawks, eagles, kestrels, owls, and falcons. They help maintain the balance of ecosystems, especially when insect, rabbit, amphibian, or snake populations explode due to mild weather and a surplus of food. The best way to attract these birds is to provide a diverse habitat that supports a broad spectrum of bird and insect populations. We can also lessen the risk of lead poisoning to this group of birds (raptors can ingest lead in prey or fishing gear) by picking up spent ammunition and retrieving lead fishing sinkers and tackle.
“Good” bugs: Much has been written about beneficial bugs in the garden. Knowing the evildoers from the “guardians” of the garden will go a long way toward improving both the quality and quantity of your produce. The best book I’ve found on this subject is Good Bug, Bad Bug: Who’s Who, What They Do, and How to Manage Them Organically sold on Amazon. Some of the garden helpers include assassin bugs, praying mantis, lacewings, hoverflies, spined soldier bugs, and ground beetles. It’s the ladybug, though, that might be considered the “poster child” of beneficial bugs—one ladybug can eat fifty to sixty aphids per day! Research the plants and flowers preferred by these beneficial insects and they’ll reward you by killing garden pests, thus reducing the need for pesticides.
Honey bees: There are thousands of species that play a role in pollination. Of all the pollinators, though, honey bees top the charts. They pollinate our crops, providing us with one-third of the food we eat. They also pollinate wild plants, enabling them to produce the berries, fruits, seeds, and other foods that form the natural food web. Unfortunately, the number and diversity of pollinators has decreased due to the combined effects of pesticide use, destruction and degradation of habitats, invasive species, and pollinator diseases. The loss of bee populations poses a significant risk to both our agricultural system and ecosystems that support wildlife diversity. We can create bee-friendly habitats by practicing organic gardening techniques like planting natives to attract pest predators, hand-picking pests, using physical barriers like netting or row covers, and building healthy soil to increase plant resistance to pests.
Opossums: These habitat generalists can live almost anywhere. They will take shelter under porches and storage sheds, but being nomadic, they will only stay as long as food and water are available. Whatever undesirable characteristics opossums might have are offset by its virtues. They are voracious eaters of ticks that can carry Lyme Disease, as well as mice, rats, cockroaches, shrews, and moles. Immune to snake venom, they kill and eat rattlesnakes, copperheads, and cottonmouths. These benign creatures typically go about their business so quietly you won’t even know they’re around. If you can keep them from where you don’t want them, opossums are actually pretty amazing creatures to have around.
Skunks: Although known for aiming their stinky jets and spraying any hapless victim perceived as a threat, skunks are really passive in nature and actually try to avoid confrontation. They tend to be nocturnal but can be seen during the day as they search for food, which includes rodents, carrion, insects, berries, plants, and fish—just about anything dead or alive. If they can gain access to a chicken coop, they will eat the eggs and have been known to hurt or kill the birds. On balance, they keep many unwelcome critters in check, consuming moles, mice, cockroaches, scorpions, and even some poisonous snakes. They benefit farmers and gardeners by eating grasshoppers, crickets, snails, and beetle grubs. For the most part, skunks only become a nuisance when their burrowing or feeding behaviors cause us problems. If you can keep them away from your chickens and your dogs, they can make short work of many undesirables.
To understand why wild animals frequently conflict with people, we must realize that they don’t stay in one place. Most lead nomadic lives, traveling their territory in search of three basic things: food, shelter, and a mate. They would prefer to steer clear of people altogether. Their instinct tells them that humans are their enemy, and most animals will go out of their way to avoid confrontation with humans.
Perhaps instead of shooting the fox that is hanging around because you fear for your chickens, take a step back and observe for a bit. A few years ago, when I lived on a farm in Virginia, despite all our efforts to eradicate the mice, their numbers grew exponentially. One day we spotted a fox in the field playfully rolling around on the ground as if just enjoying the day. Done with that, he walked across the top of the snow, stopped, and jumped high into the air. He repeated this maneuver a couple of times, and on the third pounce, emerged from the snow with something hanging from his mouth—he was catching mice!
Part of our low-tech, anti-predator plan included two energetic dogs that persuaded Mr. Fox to keep his distance from the house and chicken coop. Our second line of defense was to lock the chickens up for a few days until the fox had caught all the mice and moved on. We soon realized that our mice numbers were going down. No more mouse problems and Mr. Fox’s life had been spared.
The takeaway here is that everything in nature is connected, like a finely woven tapestry. Mother Nature is designed to be perfectly in balance, and within that perfect balance, everything has a purpose. Even the tiniest, most annoying plant or animal plays a role in nature’s grand design. Mosquitoes, for example, might seem pointless and irritating to us; yet, they are an important part of the food chain. Without them as a source of food, many other species like birds, bats, frogs, fish, and even some plants, would suffer. It’s when we work against nature that there’s a problem.
A rich array of species on the homestead strengthens ecological balance and resilience, supports soil health, lessens the need for weed killers, and aids in the pollination of crops, enhancing yield and diversity. Taking steps, even baby steps, to support and coexist with wildlife will pay off over time. Nature’s plan works if we let it.