Bears on the homestead is a unique problem to have, but a challenging one too. These predators are big, strong, scary, and can be incredibly persistent. If you have bears frequenting your homestead, it’s time to get it on lockdown. Take every step possible to encourage them to move on.

I do hope this article is taken as it was written, I’m an avid adorer of bears and have been since I was a little kid.

I do not condone harming them in any way, shape, or form.

My efforts in writing this article are to give you some tools to bear-proof your homestead for two reasons. One is to save you the financial and emotional pain of bears doing damage to your property. The second is to protect the bears. 

Bears that frequent human areas are more of a danger to themselves than they are to others. These types of bears learn that humans provide easy food and humans aren’t scary. This leads them to come around more and more often and eventually either die from scared homeowners shooting them or eating harmful things.

We want to avoid all of this. Keep you safe, keep your homestead safe, keep the bears safe.

Why are bears drawn to homesteads?

The reasons for bears to be drawn to any particular area are always the same. They’re looking for food, and the easier the meal, the less energy the bear has to invest.

Homesteads are full of easy meals, from livestock and pet food sitting out to beehives full of honey to piles of fresh fruit growing. There are a lot of reasons homesteads are of particular interest to a bear. 

What kind of homesteads are most at risk for bears?

People living in bear country are quite obviously the most at risk for bears on the homestead, but honestly, bears can become a problem practically anywhere. 

Bears have been spotted in the suburbs and more populated rural areas as well from time to time, but they clearly don’t belong there. 

If you live in a more densely populated area that isn’t known for having a bear population, don’t hesitate to call your local cooperative extension to see about a humane capture and release of the bear to a more suitable area. 

This isn’t so much for your benefit as it is for the bears. Bears that hang out in populated areas can die from eating trash or be killed by nervous homeowners. 

If, however, you’re homesteading in bear country, you’ll have to learn to homestead alongside the bears.

It’s not exactly fair to expect the bears to be removed from your area; they have as much of a right to live there as you do. 

Bears are most likely to become a problem on homesteads that border big expanses of forest. 

There are many ways to coexist with black bears. These animals, while intimidating, very rarely attack people, and mostly want to be left alone. Follow the steps below to set up your homesteading activities in a way that will naturally prevent bears from wanting to lunch on your property. 

What to do if bears are frequenting your homestead

If you see the bear on your property, stay at a safe distance and make as much noise as possible to try to scare it away.

It’s a good idea to always carry bear spray while outdoors on your homestead if you live in bear country. You just never know when you might run into a bear, and it’s better to be safe than sorry. 

Follow the tips below to make your homestead unappealing to bears. If you stop feeding them, they’ll stop visiting. 

How to Prevent Bear Visits

If you have bears coming to your property, it’s likely for one big reason, you’re feeding them, whether you mean to or not. Black bears can smell food from up to 20 miles away, so it’s really no wonder that they frequent homesteads, which are chock full of food.

Biggest bear draws on the homestead:

• Trash or food left outside
• Compost
• Beehives
• Livestock food
• Animals giving birth
• Newborn, injured or dead livestock
• Crops, Berry bushes, fruit trees & nut trees 
• Stocked ponds

Never Leave Trash or Recycling Outside

A fed bear is a dead bear, as the saying goes. Bears are very attracted to garbage, and once they realize you have it on your property, you’ll have a hard time getting rid of them. 

Bears that eat trash die an early death, either from ingesting something non-edible or becoming so habituated to human areas that they’re killed. 

Our neighborhood bear always seems to know when someone is about to head to the dump with their trash. They’ll leave their trash out on the front porch, waiting to get it into the car. And like clockwork, there’s the bear, waiting for a treat. 

The only way we’ve found to combat this is to always keep our trash and recycling locked in our shed until it’s time to go to the dump, and then the trash goes straight into the car. It’s a simple system, but it works. 

Bear-Proof as Much as Possible. 

While black bears are generally not tempted by livestock (unless they’re desperate for a meal), they may be tempted by newborns, chicks, eggs, and especially livestock food. 

Bears are wicked strong and can be very determined, especially in their most desperate seasons to eat. Make the effort to build strong animal structures with bear-resistant doors and windows so you don’t have to deal with break-ins. 

Related Reading: 10 Common Chicken Coop Mistakes I Wish I Knew Earlier

Lock Animals In at Night and During Baby Season

Black bears don’t all follow the exact same activity patterns, and you can certainly see black bears at any time, day or night. However, black bears are most active during dawn and dusk, and that’s when you’re most likely to have them visit your homestead. 

They start foraging in the early hours of the day, before the sun comes up, and forage a lot into the night. It’s important to make sure your animals are locked up tight in a bear-proof enclosure while they’re vulnerable and sleeping.

If your goats or sheep are close to kidding and lambing, or you have a broody hen sitting on a clutch of eggs, it’s important for those extra vulnerable animals to be protected from bears. Keep these animals inside of their pens, coops, or barns while they’re giving birth and raising newborns. 

Use Electric Fencing Around Livestock Living and Beehives

Unfortunately, standard chicken wire and hardware cloth are not strong enough to keep out a hungry bear. 

Installing electric fencing around chicken coops and livestock areas is the best way to prevent bears from trying to get in. 

Electric fencing is the number one way to deter bears from vulnerable areas on your homestead. I know it can be expensive to install, but it’s worthwhile if it protects your animals and your crops from hungry bears. 

Don’t Leave Livestock Feed Out

Most bears aren’t drawn to livestock because they’re interested in eating your chickens and goats. Although they could, most black bears are more interested in the easy meal that is your livestock feed. If you have buckets and bags full of feed sitting around outside, you can bet it’s going to draw bears. 

Keep all livestock feed in a locked and secure shed or inside your garage or home. 

Try your best to only feed the animals as much as they can eat in one sitting. I know this isn’t always possible. If you can’t limit feeding times, at least bring feeders inside and lock them up at night. Make sure your chicken coop and animal pens are as clean as possible and don’t have lots of feed mixed into the bedding. 

Use Livestock Guardian Animals

Livestock guardian dogs can help protect your animals from bears, but beware that this is not a perfect solution and can lead to other problems. 

Bears and dogs don’t tend to get along, and bears may attack a livestock guardian dog who’s barking or lunging at them. 

The plus side is that livestock, even simple ones like chickens, quickly come to understand that when the dog is barking, they’re in danger and need to hide. A barking dog on your homestead may be enough to save your livestock from bear attacks or keep curious bears off your property, but a hungry or desperate bear may do its worst and fight your dogs. 

Related Reading: How To Train Your Chickens to Come When Called in One Week

Know When Bears Are Most Active 

Spring and fall are the two times of year when bears are most active and most grumpy. In the spring, they’re coming out of hibernation, some females may have a cub or two with her, and they’re in dire need of some food. In the fall, they’re racing against the clock to eat as much as possible before denning up for the winter. 

The vast majority of our bear experiences have been in the late spring and early summer, when bears are roaming our mountain in search of berries. 

Simply knowing the bear’s most active times can help you to be on high alert and put in extra effort to protect your homestead. 

Compost Properly

Compost is an easy meal for lots of different wild animals, including bears. Making your compost pile unappealing to wildlife will help reduce the number of visits they make to your property.

How to bear-proof your compost:

• Compost in a tumbler. There are many bear-resistant compost tumblers on the market, using them can drastically cut down on bear interest in your compost system. 
• Don’t add meat scraps or bones to your compost. This is a general compost rule anyway, but following it will help to keep bears away too. 
• You can also make a natural bear deterrent by soaking a rag in ammonia and placing it in a bucket near your compost pile. 

It’s also important to keep your compost pile well managed by adding brown materials regularly and turning it frequently so the pile doesn’t smell of food. 

Be Smart with Pet Food

Pet food is a big draw for wild animals of all sorts. Make efforts to take away this temptation for bears. Don’t feed pets outside, or if you have to, don’t leave their food outside for long periods. Try to only feed dogs and cats as much as they can eat in one sitting. 

Don’t leave bags of pet food outside, even in bear-proof containers, as the smell of it can draw bears to your property.

Don’t Feed Birds During Peak Bear Season

If you’ve had bears coming onto your property in search of food or raiding whatever food they find, it’s important to take every step imaginable to make your property undesirable for future bear visits. 

This includes taking down bird feeders in the spring and fall when bears are most active and most in need of food. 

Protect Berries or Grow Enough to Share

Black bears are berry-crazy. Berries are one of the biggest staples in their diets, and they munch on them all summer long. 

Keep your berries inside electric-fenced areas if possible to keep out the bears. 

If you can’t or don’t want to try to protect the berry crop, you can do what we do, which is to grow enough to share with the local wildlife. Blueberries grow very well in our climate, so we have many bushes that fill with berries every year. 

We have some growing right in our yard, but also have some growing on the margins of our property, near the woodline, and those are the berries that are most targeted by wildlife. We see birds, chipmunks, squirrels, and bears munching on those berries a lot, and they rarely come into our yard to forage from the other bushes. 

The animals prefer to eat close to the woods, where they can run for cover if they need to. 

Bears on the homestead can certainly be a nuisance, but they don’t need to be a consistent problem. If you take steps to remove food temptations and make it clear the bear is not welcome by making noise every time it comes around and setting up electric fencing, it will find somewhere else to go. 

The most important thing is to stop feeding the bears so they’ll find somewhere else to eat.

The post How to Deter Bears from Your Property appeared first on Rural Sprout.

As summer fades and autumn takes center stage, big changes start happening in the world of our feathered friends. Some species prepare for migration and take flight, while others get ready for colder weather. Both require a change of diet.

Whether you feed the birds all year long or break out your feeders in the fall, there are a few things you need to keep in mind to provide the right diet and environment for birds visiting your yard.

Changing Dietary Needs

All through the summer, birds feast on high-protein insects and fresh berries, just what they need for their growing fledglings. But in the fall, as the insects go quiet and the birds’ needs change, a whole new way of eating emerges.

Birds need to pack on weight and store fuel, whether for a long migration or a long winter. To that end, these tiny creatures eat seeds and nuts, which are both high in fat and carbohydrates. And they eat a lot! Especially migratory species.

Feeding Birds Does Not Prevent Migration

Contrary to a popular myth, feeding birds in your backyard does not prevent migratory species from doing just that. Migration is chemically hardwired into them, and no amount of sunflower seeds and peanuts at your backyard feeder will keep them around. However, having food sources available via backyard feeders along their route can help these travelers along the way.

Hyperphagia

It’s believed that hormonal changes triggered by the changing seasons cause migratory birds to undergo extreme, insatiable hunger or hyperphagia. They eat and eat and eat, storing fat and fuel for their long flight, sometimes doubling their body weight before they take flight.

Caching

Other birds who face a daunting winter will begin hiding seeds and nuts. In the crooks of trees, under leaves, and in the ground, birds will “squirrel” away food to be eaten during lean times in the winter and when weather prevents them from foraging for food. Chickadees, bluejays, nuthatches and titmice are just some examples of birds that exhibit caching behavior.

It’s no wonder that fall often seems like the busiest time of year at your feeder! Here’s how you can help your local feathered population as the weather cools off.

Related Reading: 7 Tricks To Keep Squirrels Out of Bird Feeders + Best Squirrel-Proof Feeders

1. Keep Those Feeders Topped Up

Between hyperphagia in migratory birds and caching in local birds, they need extra food as they prepare for winter. Check feeders frequently and top them up as needed. It’s always a good idea to have several feeders offering different types of food to appeal to the various species visiting.

You can prevent spoilage by filling feeders more frequently with smaller quantities of feed. Adjust how much you put in by how much the birds eat. Of course, depending on how many birds visit your feeders, a full feeder may be empty within days.

2. Offer High-Energy Food

Birds need high-energy foods with plenty of carbs and fats in the fall. Some great options to offer in your feeders and around your yard are:

• Sunflower seeds, shelled and with the kernel on, are a great option for fall feeding.
• Peanut Butter
• Suet cakes, you can easily make your own
• Peanuts
• Thistle
• Raisins
• Cracked corn

Inspire a new generation of bird watchers and outdoor enthusiasts by getting the kids and grandkids to help make these easy birdseed ornaments. Take a walk and hang them around your yard, noting the birds you see while you do so.

3. Keep Hummingbird Feeders and Oriole Fruit Stations Topped Up

When tidying up your yard for the fall, it’s tempting to pack up hummingbird and Oriole feeders for the season. After all, both birds migrate south for the winter. However, that’s the very reason to keep both feeding stations clean and at the ready.

Even if your regular summertime visitors have left for the year, other hummingbirds and orioles passing through during migration will be happy to find sustenance to help them along on their long journey. This is especially true if everyone else has packed their feeders for the year. Your yard could be a saving grace for weary, feathered travelers.

A good rule of thumb is to put away seasonal feeders if you haven’t had any visitors for at least three weeks.

4. Continue to Offer Fresh, Clean Water

A birdbath is a great way to attract birds to your yard all year. Providing fresh water to visiting birds is just as important in the fall. Adding a birdbath heater will ensure birds visiting your yard can access water even when temperatures drop below freezing.

Even in the colder months, it’s still important to clean your birdbath regularly to prevent the spread of avian diseases.  

5. Fall Tidying Do’s & Don’ts

Fall is a great time to clean out nest boxes, as birds will have left by then. Keeping nest boxes clean keeps them safe for the next generation. Storing them indoors, out of the elements, until next spring will also help them last longer.

However, when tidying up your yard and garden, leave it a bit messy for the birds. Leaving flowers that have gone to seed will provide another source of food. Leaving a few piles of leave litter and dead plant matter standing for the winter provides a home for insects, which the birds will happily eat all winter long.

6. Provide Extra Food During Bad Weather

When the weatherman brings news of a winter storm, the first thing everyone does is run out and buy eggs, bread and milk. This winter, don’t forget your backyard visitors. Top up feeders before inclement weather and keep them full while it lasts. Birds need the extra energy, especially in frigid temperatures.

7. Consider Planting Wintertime Food

Birds love berries, especially in the winter. And there are numerous species of trees that provide wintertime fruit for wild birds. Consider planting one or several to keep your feathered friends happy and beautify your backyard in the winter.

Of course, don’t forget the most important thing to do this fall. Make yourself a cup of tea, sit by the window and enjoy watching all the visitors to your feeders.

The post 7 Fall Bird Feeding Tips for a Busy Backyard appeared first on Rural Sprout.

For many backyard bird watchers, feeders sit empty during the summer months. But for birders in the know, this is a great time of year to attract birds to your yard. Many migratory species may only visit during the hottest months of the year. Welcome these colorful guests by meeting their specific warm-weather needs, and you’ll have more than the colorful wings of butterflies to enjoy this summer.  

What’s On the Menu?

One of the more fun aspects of feeding birds during the summer is switching up the menu to see what birds you can attract. Many people worry about making birds dependent by offering food in the summer. That’s simply not the case; birds rarely make up more than 10-20% of what they eat from backyard feeders.

Think about it this way – would you go out of your way to buy a pasty old tomato at the store when you have a whole garden bursting with sun-ripened tomatoes in your backyard and farmers’ markets in every town all summer long?

Food is everywhere for wild birds in the summer.

As I write this, I’m watching a hummingbird sipping nectar from the bee balm while completely ignoring my sweetheart’s hummingbird feeder. What you feed birds in the summer is simply another choice on their buffet and a ticket to viewing them in your yard.

1. Provide Clean, Refreshing Water

Birds need water for more than just drinking. You’ll find songbirds enjoy a cool dip on hot days, too. But if you want in on these little pool parties, you need to have the right setup.

It goes without saying that clean water is essential, so during the hotter months of the year, you’ll need to change the water more often—at least every two to three days. Not only does this keep local birds happy and healthy, but it also prevents mosquito larvae from growing in the water.

Set your bird feeder where it won’t be in direct sunlight all day, as this will cause an algae bloom.

For a birdbath that will really make your bird visitors sing, add an inexpensive solar-powered birdbath fountain. The birds enjoy the light spray of water, the fountain aerates the water, keeping it fresher longer, and the movement prevents mosquitoes from laying eggs in the water.  

2. Feed Specific Birds

Hummingbirds

Hummingbirds are always a favorite summertime visitor, and it’s easy enough to attract them to your yard with feeders and flowers alike. Check out our Ultimate Guide to Attracting Hummingbirds to Your Yard.

Orioles

Orioles are a favorite with their flashy orange wings. These birds love all kinds of fruit, probably from all the tropical fruit they eat in the winter in Central America. Place orange halves or slices of orange at your feeders. If fruit is a bit spendy to feed to the birds this time of year, try grape jelly, Orioles love the stuff!

Bluebirds

If you want to attract bluebirds, don’t forget the mealworms. These insect-loving birds are happy to find a steady supply of dried worms to snack on.

3. Feed More Variety

Birds are busy raising families during the warmer months, and others will go through a molting period. All these activities require extra protein and nutrients, so be sure to offer a wide variety of seeds and fruit. You may even be rewarded with a glimpse of babies at the feeder.

4. Feed More Frequently in Less Quantity

Because birds have so much fresh food to forage during the summer, a full bird feeder may go to waste. Don’t fill feeders completely during the summer; instead, keep them at a quarter full. Offering smaller portions during the summer ensures what you put out is eaten before it can spoil.

If you’re offering suet in the summer, consider adding a quarter of a block at a time rather than putting the full block of suet out where it could potentially spoil.

5. Clean Bird Feeders More Often

Even though you may provide less feed during the warmer months, cleaning your bird feeders more frequently is important. Hot temperatures, more rain and humid summer days can cause bird seed to mold or grow bacteria faster. This is even more important with hummingbird feeders, which can grow mold quickly in the hot sun.

I’ve changed our feeder and found sprouted seeds growing after a day or two of warm rainy days.

To prevent the spreading of disease among your feathered visitors and deter the unwanted attraction of vermin, clean your bird feeder at least once a week. Clean it more often if you get a period of warm, rainy days.

6. Move Feeders to the Shade

Placing bird feeders in the shade keeps the seed from spoiling as fast and offers birds a cool respite from the hottest parts of the day. Suet is also appreciated during the warmer months by some birds; just be sure to place it in the shade, as well. Even the no-melt varieties will spoil quicker if they’re out in the sun.

7. Keep Feeders in a Safe Location

Try to keep feeders somewhere birds will feel safe. As many are raising young, they may not stray too far from their nests. Keeping feeders where cats and dogs can’t get to them will also keep your feathered friends feeling safe and welcome, along with their hatchlings.

8. Consider Moving Feeders Periodically

As droppings and empty shells accumulate below feeders in the summer heat, there is a chance it can attract vermin or, worse, breed disease. To ensure the safety of wild birds, consider moving the feeders around your yard every couple of weeks. Don’t move them too far, and keep them within sight of where they were.

9. Grin & Bear It

If you live in a location where bears are an issue, you’ve probably woken up to an empty or wrecked feeder before. We had a season when a local bear decided our hummingbird feeders were his personal drinking fountain.

To discourage bears from becoming regular visitors, it may be best to skip feeding birds during the summer and save it for a wintertime activity.

Enjoy the presence of beautiful songbirds all year long by following these tips for warm-weather bird feeding. Consider adding new plants to your yard to keep birds returning all year through.

The post 9 Tips for Feeding Birds During the Summer appeared first on Rural Sprout.

What could be better than a beautiful dragonfly zooming about the garden to brighten your day?

Well, a flight of dragonflies or a static swarm has been known to top that. I can’t think of much more that would surpass that momentary delight of having incredibly skilled hunters in my garden.

It’s said that when you see a dragonfly, whether in real life or your dreams, it is a sign of good luck coming your way.

I think we could all use some of that.

Symbolically, dragonflies also represent the power of transformation, new beginnings, hope and change.

But if they haven’t been coming on their own, there are ways to attract dragonflies to your garden. Water, food and flowers are just part of the secret.

What are Dragonflies?

You have probably seen a dragonfly or two in your life, if not out in nature, then on stationery, prints, watercolor paintings, stickers, ceramics, mugs and more. They are a popular subject for artists to paint and draw all around the world.

Dragonflies (Anisoptera) are most noticeable in summer, particularly around ponds and lakes, often seen perched on a cattail waving in the breeze. At least, that’s where I usually see them. I’ve also observed them down by our creek, though they don’t live there. They must live out their larval stage in a pond not so far away.

Living on every continent except Antarctica, dragonflies can easily be seen, and sometimes heard, from afar.

Most notable is their slender and elongated abdomen, followed by their 4 wings (two pairs) and large eyes, which make up most of their head. Be careful not to confuse them with damselflies which are similar in appearance.

Have you ever had the chance to come up close to their amazing dragonfly eyes?

Imagine for a moment that you are a dragonfly, each of your eyes would be the size of a football helmet. Oh, what you could see! The truth is, dragonflies still don’t see as well as humans, but they do have better vision than most insects.

Each eye is comprised of up to 30,000 ommatidia – that’s a complex word to say that an insect’s eye is made up of many hexagonal units (lenses) packed together. This allows dragonflies to see in a way that we can’t. With their 360-degree vision and sensitivity to motion, combined with their ability to hover, they are excellent hunters not only in daylight but also at night.

Life Cycle of a Dragonfly

There are three stages in the lifecycle of a dragonfly: eggs, larva, and adult. It’s really only the short-lived adults that you see flying around.

For the other stages of life, you’ll need access to a pond, or creek, along with some experience for finding the eggs.

It begins like this: female dragonflies lay eggs in or near the water, on floating plants or closer to the edge plants. In about two weeks, the eggs hatch. They are then called nymphs, or immature dragonflies.

The dragonfly nymphs live in the water, molting their old skins as they grow. The length of the nymph stage depends on the species, ranging from a couple of months to several years.

With internal gills, they can survive underwater, using extendable jaws to catch mosquito larvae and other invertebrates, even tadpoles.

When their time as a nymph is up, they metamorphose into an adult, often climbing a reed or cattail at night.

It’s this time in the open air that induces the larvae to begin breathing. To see it happen is quite an experience, sort of like a snake shedding its skin, or even more similar to watching a cicada molt.

Once it crawls out of its tight skin, it waits until sunrise to begin flying around, ready to feast on midges, flies and mosquitoes.

Benefits of Attracting Dragonflies to Your Garden

The beauty and intrigue that dragonflies bring are part of the allure of attracting them to your backyard.

And as you already know, they eat mosquitoes, just as bats do. However, bats will also eat dragonflies, so there you’ll have to find balance if you are attempting to attract both at the same time.

One of the best reasons to create more habitat for these ancient insects, the oldest species being at least 200 million years old according to fossils, is that their natural ecosystems are in decline.

Dragonfly conservation promotes the construction of wetlands, which have been removed for the sake of agricultural land. There’s also the issue of contaminated and polluted water from chemical runoff due to farming, as well as residential and factory contaminates being released into nature. Dragonflies are indicators of a healthy environment. Once it’s gone, they will be too.

If insect decline concerns you at all, it’s time to start giving something back to nature. Creating a small plant-filled wetland or garden pond is a great start.

1. Mosquito Control

You might be thinking, if I add a pond to my yard, then I’ll have mosquitoes to deal with. That’s true, but there’s a high probability you will have dragonflies too.

Since a single dragonfly can eat hundreds of mosquitoes a day, it seems like a good idea to me. Because not only would the addition of a pond bring mosquitoes and dragonflies about, but it would also interest other insects and critters such as toads, frogs, newts, hedgehogs, birds, turtles, etc.

When you consider that the nymphs also eat mosquito larvae, well then, go for it.

2. Insect Predators

Dragonflies have a hunt-and-catch success rate of 95%. That’s among the best of any species. Their ability to fly fast, hover and sense movement with their eyes, along with their specialized catching style, contributes to their agility in the air.

Some dragonflies scoop up insects with their spiny legs in the air, for a meal on the go. Others open their mouths for a bite in flight.

Besides mosquitoes, you’ll also find adult dragonflies dining on flies, midges, butterflies, moths and other flying insects.

In some of the same ways you can attract birds to your garden, you can also provide shelter and resting spaces for beneficial dragonflies too.

3. Add Beauty to Any Garden

Dragonflies can be found in bright blue, purple, red, orange, yellow, gold and striped specimens.

But, it’s their iridescent wings that really shine. Made from chitin, the outer (harder) layer provides structure and support, whereas the inner, more flexible layer, helps the wings to flutter at 30 to 50 cycles per second. Compared to a honey bee whose wings beat at 230 times per second, or a mosquito with a wing beat cycle of 300 to 600 times per second, it’s amazing to see the speeds at which dragonflies can fly.

As they perch among the flower stems, they will appear as momentary jewels adorning your garden.

4. Sign of a Healthy Ecosystem

There are 307 species of dragonflies in North America. Perhaps you’ve only seen a handful of them, yet they are out there, somewhere where the land and water are healthy.

Think about it, almost the entire lifecycle of the dragonfly is carried out in the water. The only way they can make it to a couple of months of adulthood is to have access to clean water – water that is free of chemicals, fertilizers, insecticides, physical garbage and sediment erosion.

Now, think about all the water sources you know locally around your home. Do they qualify as being clean enough to attract dragonflies? If not, what can you do about it?

If you are lucky enough to see mature dragonflies in the wild, consider yourself lucky for finding a safe haven in the ecosystem.

How to Attract Dragonflies to Your Garden

Not sure if your garden qualifies as a dragonfly habitat? Well, they pretty much need three things for survival: water, food and flowers.

All things considered, that’s not too much to ask for.

Let’s get to some more specifics, so you can give those visiting dragonflies anything they’d like from the menu.

Dragonflies need a water source.

The number one thing that dragonflies require, is a pond, or other source of standing water. The water doesn’t even have to be all that pristine; they actually prefer it sort of swampy and full of life – not at all like a swimming pool, or fresh water in a bird bath. They need to find the best spot to hide their eggs.

If you have a pond or are thinking about installing one, that’s great! But, it isn’t necessary to attract a swarm of dragonflies. Even an old bathtub filled with aquatic plants will do.

If you live within a mile of someone else’s water source, that’ll do nicely too, since dragonflies will fly far in search of food.

They may, however, come less often as they will get distracted by other tasty bites along the way.

Remember what I said about swampy water? That’s all good and fine as long as their breeding water isn’t polluted with chemicals and other nasties. The amount of dragonflies you find flying about the land is a good indicator of stream and river health.

In addition to having a constant source of wetness, the water should be at least 2 feet deep.

Dragonflies will not find rainwater in the gutters sufficient for supporting their lifecycle. Save the water in the hanging birdbaths for the birds and bees while you are at it.

If you do go the pond route, be sure to plan for plenty of plants around the edges. This foliage will aid the vulnerable dragonflies and protect them from predators when they first emerge – it takes a few days for their bodies to harden up.

Using a combination of vertical and horizontal hiding places will give them the best start in their very short adult lives, ranging from 7 to 56 days. A few species can live up to a year. It’s in their aquatic larval stage that lasts for 2 years when they need water the most. Now it starts to make sense why they need so much and so consistent water.

Supply some mosquitoes and other insect prey.

Mosquitoes are tasty at all stages of life, at least from a dragonfly’s perspective. If they can find them, they’ll eat 30 to more than a hundred a day. Adult dragonflies will also eat just about anything else they can catch, including butterflies, moths, flies, midges, bees, and, quite possibly, other dragonflies.

A large dragonfly can eat their own body weight in insects every single day. I bet you couldn’t, or definitely wouldn’t want, to do that.

If you’ve been working on reducing the mosquito population, but haven’t found a good balance yet, perhaps it’s high time to encourage dragonflies in your garden.

Don’t pay too much energy to them eating other beneficial insects, for you can’t have one without the other. Besides, it’s fun to watch them catch prey in midair while speeding along at 10 mph.

Did you know that larger species of dragonflies, like hawkers, can accelerate to 35 mph (54 km/h)?

Plant flowers.

The last way to attract more dragonflies to your garden is to plant flowers, pretty flowers. You can never have too many flowers in your garden or backyard.

Here is a quick list of some potential flowers that will help attract dragonflies to your garden:

• aster
• borage
• coreopsis
• irises
• ironwood
• Joe Pye weed
• meadow sage
• pickerel weed
• purple coneflower
• yarrow

If you are familiar with these plants, you’ll notice that most of them have isolated leaves and/or flower stalks that make for easy landing and resting. Also, a majority of these flowers are sun-loving plants. Dragonflies will often be out hunting under the sun. Make sure they have plenty of open areas to zoom about, as well as a water refuge as listed above.

Do Dragonflies Sting or Bite?

This question always comes up when the thought of inviting a new creature into your garden comes along – will it hurt me?

Though dragonflies are voracious hunters, humans are far too big a target. Besides, they really like eating mosquitoes and fruit flies. That being said, dragonflies cannot sting without a stinger, though they can bite, and they will if they are provoked or threatened. Who wouldn’t?

Never fear; while a dragonfly bite may startle you, it is still a very small bite. Do be careful with larger species, though. In the rare event that you do get bit, simply clean the wound, apply some wet clay or a bandage and be on your way. It’ll heal in a few days.

If you leave dragonflies at peace in the garden, there will be very little to worry about.

The biggest problem that may arise, is whether or not you have enough mosquitoes.

The post 4 Reasons You Need Dragonflies In Your Backyard & How To Attract Them appeared first on Rural Sprout.

A century ago, bluebirds experienced a steep decline due to habitat loss. We’re lucky to have them with us still today.

Before our contemporary understanding of ecology, narrow management goals like eliminating all standing dead trees to prevent forest fires, or killing every insect that might reduce crop yields, seemed helpful.

But eliminating our human worries almost wrecked the bluebird’s world.

Thankfully, in the mid-1900s, public concern emerged over nature’s losses, and we began to rethink some of these damaging management practices.

Even with a recovering food supply, the lack of suitable nesting sites for bluebirds to raise their young presented a massive challenge. In 1978, the North American Bluebird Society (NABS), under the leadership of founder Dr. Lawrence Zeleny, began to build, install, and spread the word about bluebird nesting boxes as a key to their recovery.

Millions of bluebird boxes and thousands of bluebird trails later, within the lifespan of Gen X, this traditional symbol of love, hope, and happiness has returned from the brink to become a common resident wherever the habitat is favorable.

To attract bluebirds to your backyard, keep reading to learn the keys to success.

Where Do Bluebirds Live?

Bluebirds are cavity-nesters, meaning they build their nests within sheltered spaces away from predators – cavities or small chambers. Their diet consists of mostly insects.

North America is home to three distinct bluebird species that share many similarities but differ in appearance and range: the Eastern bluebird, Mountain bluebird, and Western bluebird.

Only those of us who live within their range can expect to attract them to our yards, and the good news is that most Americans and Canadians live in bluebird country.

Eastern Bluebird

Eastern bluebirds are found east of the Rocky Mountains from southeast Canada to the Gulf of Mexico. They mostly live in open grassy meadows with widely spaced trees or fields surrounded by trees. Eastern bluebirds are often found in farm fields, golf courses, along roadsides, and along power lines. In the southern parts of its range, it does not migrate, but those in the coldest areas search out more productive feeding grounds for winter.

Mountain Bluebird

Mountain bluebirds breed in an area that extends from southern Alaska to Manitoba to western Nebraska to California. They can be found in prairie, sagebrush, and even tundra – any open country with some trees that offer nesting cavities. Mountain bluebirds are the most migratory of the three bluebird species. They are commonly seen in high elevations during the breeding season but seek lower altitudes and more southerly latitudes for the winter. 

Western bluebird

Western bluebirds live in an area extending from British Columbia and western Alberta in Canada to Baja, Mexico, eastward throughout the Rocky Mountains to eastern New Mexico. They prefer open evergreen or deciduous woodlands. Birders also find them in backyards and farmland, from the coast to the mountains. Western bluebirds are considered partially migratory in that many are year-round residents, but those that breed in the colder portions of the range will seek mild weather for overwintering.  

How to Make a Bluebird Habitat

Habitat includes all of the elements that a species needs for survival: sources of food, water, shelter, and a place to raise young. As noted earlier, bluebirds generally prefer open country dotted with trees. If you live in a dense forest, chances are slim that bluebirds are in your immediate area.

Still, most suburban landscapes offer many structural elements that bluebirds recognize as home: a grassy lawn and other low groundcover areas, a shade tree or two, and a few shrubs. You simply need to hone in on the specifics. 

1. Add Native Plants

The best landscapes for bluebirds are heavy on native plants. In addition to a wide expanse of (preferably weedy) lawns, set a goal of planting 70 percent or more native trees, shrubs, and perennials. This is another reason to rewild your lawn.

But not just any native plants.

Choose trees like oaks and cherries that support a diversity of insects throughout the growing season that will, in turn, serve as bluebird food. Add berry-producing plants like hollies, dogwoods, hawthorns, sumacs, junipers, and others for a balanced diet year-round.

2. Add a Feeder

Bird feeders are less about offering a primary food source and more about bringing the birds to a central location for convenient viewing.

The most important considerations are feeder type, location, and type of bird food.

As primary insect eaters, birdseed feeders are not attractive to bluebirds. They want insects; more on that in a moment. As for the feeder type, choose a platform, tray, fly-through, or ground feeder so that the birds can see what you have to offer. Place the feeder in an exposed part of the yard at about waist height.

When setting up feeders, it’s a good idea to be mindful of your pets as you don’t want to create a bird buffet for your cat or dog.

3. Use Bluebird Food

One of the best foods to attract bluebirds is mealworms. Mealworms are darkling beetle larvae that you can raise at home for live/fresh feeding or purchase freeze-dried and packaged as bird food. Some folks mix the two to get bluebirds used to the dried product and gradually change the ratio until it’s all dried.

Another good bluebird food, especially in winter, is suet. Suet is a mixture of fat and other food products like dried berries and insects. The high-fat content gives the birds added energy for cold weather. You can easily make your own suet blocks with our recipe. Don’t forget to add mealworms!

4. Add a Birdbath

Water is critical for survival, especially in drought and extreme cold. Set up a birdbath near, but not beneath, your feeding station with just 1 or 2 inches of water for bluebirds to drink and bathe year-round.

Change the water every two or three days to keep it fresh. Maintain sanitation by scrubbing the birdbath every couple of weeks with a stiff brush and a solution of one part white vinegar and nine parts water.

If birds aren’t visiting your birdbath, add a solar fountain pump for a subtle bubbling noise that will pique their interest. The running water will also deter mosquitoes. In cold weather, use a birdbath heater to keep it from freezing solid.

5. Install a Nesting Box

Bluebirds are cavity nesters, but they cannot excavate their cavities. Before we set out to eliminate every dead and dying tree from the landscape, they used existing cavities in dead trees, abandoned woodpecker holes, and even holes in wooden fence posts.

Since the 1970s, more bluebirds have likely fledged in human-made nesting boxes than in natural cavities. If bluebirds live in your area, install a bluebird box, and you can enjoy watching the annual progression of nesting, feeding young, and fledging – perhaps two or three broods per year – in your backyard.

If you plan to set up a bluebird house, build or buy one designed specifically for bluebirds. They require specific interior dimensions, ventilation, and entry size, and the house must be placed between 4-7 feet above the ground. Even the orientation matters, east-facing is best. Care must also be taken to guard against predators and cavity-nesting competitors.

Monitor and Maintain the Area

Once you’ve attracted bluebirds to your yard, keep them coming back year after year with a bit of routine maintenance. 

• Evict house sparrows and starlings that attempt to nest in bluebird houses
• Use baffles and entrance guards to protect nesting boxes from predators like cats, raccoons, and squirrels
• Keep grassy areas mowed for stress-free feeding
• Provide 3-4 foot high perches for bluebirds to forage from
• Avoid using insecticides
• Allow standing dead trees and dead tree limbs to stay, if they don’t present a safety hazard

The post 5 Ways To Attract Bluebirds To Your Yard appeared first on Rural Sprout.

Attracting ladybugs to your garden is one way to maintain diversity and manage it organically. Organic gardening always involves recognizing that we are not alone in our gardens. Successful gardens are diverse ecosystems that teem with life.

And all of that life has its role to play in helping the system to thrive. 

Ladybugs are one creature that can help us, but what exactly are they? What do they do in our gardens? How can we attract them? Should we introduce them? And when we have them in our gardens, how can we encourage them to stay? Read on to find out.

What are Ladybugs?

Ladybugs, also called ladybirds, ladybird beetles, or lady beetles, are a range of small insects in the Coccinellidae family. Most members of this family are considered to be beneficial to your garden. However, there are some sub-family members that can cause problems for crops.

Identifying different ladybugs can be important. It can allow you to determine whether you’re looking at species native to your area or ones that have been introduced or are invasive.

It’s important to understand which ladybugs should be encouraged in your garden and which may pose more of a problem.

While ladybugs in the garden are generally a good thing, identifying different species can help you understand the ecology of the area and do your part to encourage good balance in the ecosystems.

How the Ladybug Got Its Name

Many people think of the ladybug as a red-colored creature with black spots. (A creature that often features in children’s books and children’s tales.)

The name Coccinellidae comes from the Latin word ‘coccineus’, which means ‘scarlet’. This led to an association with Mary (Our Lady) in the Christian world. (She was often depicted wearing a red cloak in early paintings.). Hence the ‘Lady’ in the name.

But ladybugs actually come in a wide range of colors. Often, they are red, orange or yellow, with small, black spots. But some have whitish spots on a brown background, some have stripes, and some are entirely black, brown or gray and have no spots at all.

It’s not always easy to recognize all the members of this family as being part of this family at all. However, the most common members of the ladybug family are easily identified.

The Benefits of Ladybugs in the Garden

Many ladybugs are hugely beneficial in your garden because they are a predatory species that eat common sap-sucking insect pests such as aphids and scale insects. They’re also the natural predators of a range of other pest species.

For example, Stethorus black ladybugs can pray on mites, like Tetranychus spider mites. They are also predators of the European corn borer (a moth that causes important crop losses in the US each year).

Larger ladybugs attack caterpillars and beetle larvae of various types. Some feed on insects or their eggs.

Different types of ladybugs have different favored prey. But almost all can help control pests and maintain a balance in your garden ecosystem.

Ladybugs also have other secondary food sources, such as nectar, and some also feed on mildew. As ladybugs come to eat from flowers, they also carry pollen from one flowering bloom to another. Unlike bees, ladybugs are not primarily looking for nectar, they will eat some, and pollination is a side effect as they go about their business.

In their turn, ladybugs are also a good source of food for other beneficial creatures in your garden. The main predator of ladybugs is usually birds. But frogs, wasps, spiders and dragonflies may also make a meal of these insects.

Are All Ladybugs Good For Gardens?

While ladybugs are generally a boon for gardens, it’s important to remember there are certain ladybugs that will not be as beneficial.

The Mexican bean beetle, for example, is part of the ladybug family but is a common and destructive agricultural pest.

Some others may be partly welcome – but partly harmful.

For example, the Harmonia axyridis (the Harlequin ladybird) is now the most common species in the US. But this is an introduced species. It was introduced from Asia to North America in 1916 to control aphids. This type of ladybug now outcompetes native species.

It has since spread through much of Western Europe and reached the UK in 2004. This species has also spread to parts of Africa. In some regions, it has become a pest and gives cause for some ecological concern.

Coccinella septempunctata, the seven-spot ladybird, or seven-spotted ladybug, is the most common ladybird in Europe. In the UK, there are fears that the seven-spot ladybird is being outcompeted for food by the harlequin ladybird.

In the US, this European ladybird has been repeatedly introduced as a biological control. It has been designated the official state insect of Delaware, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Ohio and Tennessee. But there are some ecological concerns surrounding the fact that this species has outcompeted many native species, including other members of the Coccinella family.

What is a great native species in one area can be invasive and a ‘pest’ in another. So it’s always important to think about your geographical location when determining which ladybugs are good in your garden.

How To Attract Wild Ladybugs To Your Garden

Though there are a few exceptions (like the Mexican bean beetle), encouraging native ladybugs is almost always beneficial in your garden. And the more different ladybugs you can encourage, the better.

The first thing to remember when you want to protect native biodiversity is it’s important to garden organically. Chemical controls for pests or weeds can harm all insect life (and other wildlife) in your garden.

When trying to attract predatory insects like ladybugs to your garden, it’s always best to begin by thinking about where you live.

Which ladybugs and other insects are already present in your area? The more you can learn about local wildlife and ecology, the better. A great resource for learning which ladybugs are native to your region is your local agriculture cooperative extension office.

It’s also important to think about the insects themselves. Which will be most effective in balancing the local ecosystem and helping you deal with particular pest species? Which ladybugs will help maintain a diverse and resilient ecosystem in the short-term and long-term?

To attract ladybugs to your garden, you should:

• Not entirely eliminate the pest species they prey on. (It may seem counterintuitive. But attracting a certain number of pest species can actually make it easier to garden organically over time. Ladybugs and other predatory insects will be drawn to a garden with aphids and other pests to feed on. They will then be present to feed on them and help make sure their numbers do not get out of control.)
• Create wilder and more natural corners in your garden where wildlife can flourish undisturbed.
• Sow and grow a wide range of plants to attract ladybug prey and ladybugs.
• Create structures such as ladybug feeders or ladybug hibernation ‘hotels’.

Planting For Ladybugs

There is a wide range of plants you should sow and grow to attract ladybugs to your garden. The plants you should choose can be broadly divided into the following categories:

• Good aphid attractants (and plants that attract other ladybug prey).
• Plants that are good places for ladybugs to lay their eggs and make a good habitat for them to live on.
• Plants that provide nectar as a dietary supplement for ladybugs.

Some plants will fit all three of these criteria, while others may provide some of what a ladybug needs and wants. Broadly speaking, it is best to introduce a good range of plants (including plenty of native plants) with as much variety as possible. 

Some great plants for ladybugs include:

Herbs such as:

• dill
• fennel
• parsley
• cilantro
• mint
• chives (and other alliums)
• tansy
• yarrow
• angelica
• caraway

Flowers such as:

• dandelions
• nasturtiums
• calendula
• marigolds
• Queen Anne’s lace
• alyssum
• cosmos
• statice
• butterfly weed
• bugleweed

Of course, these are just a few examples of the hundreds of plants that will attract and aid ladybugs in your garden. 

Remember, it’s important to choose the right plants for the right places and to think about which plants will be best where you live. 

Creating a Ladybug Feeder

Planting for ladybugs and attracting their natural prey is the best way to encourage them into your garden and keep them there. But to help out ladybugs when natural food sources are scarce, you could also consider creating a ladybug feeder.

Ladybug Feeder @ apartmenttherapy.com.

Creating a Ladybug Hibernation Zone

Another thing to think about when making your garden a ladybug-friendly zone is where your ladybugs will be able to rest up for the winter. Most ladybugs overwinter as adults. When they go into diapause, they are sluggish and mostly inactive. 

They commonly excrete a chemical that attracts other ladybugs to congregate close by. So if you can encourage a few ladybugs to stay in your garden over winter, you may well find that this attracts more that will emerge come spring. 

Ladybugs need a moist and sheltered environment that will remain frost-free and ideally above around 55 degrees F. They seek out somewhere which offers a degree of protection against predators. 

One good way to encourage overwintering ladybugs in your garden is to leave brush and hollow-stemmed dead plant matter in place so they have a place to hide. 

But you can also consider making a ladybug house for these beneficial insects to use.

How To Build a Ladybug House @ wikihow.com.

Making a Ladybird Hotel for Your Garden @ wikihow.com.

Make a Simple Bug or Ladybird Home @ schoolgardening.rhs.org.uk.

Whether or not a ladybug house will be beneficial will depend on where you live and the ladybug species that are found in your area. 

Introducing Ladybugs To Your Garden

If you create a thriving ecosystem with plenty of pests species to prey on and plenty of diverse plant life, it is likely that ladybugs will arrive on their own. But in certain circumstances, the surrounding ecosystem may have been degraded to the point that wild ladybugs in the area are in short supply. In these cases, it may be a good idea to introduce ladybugs to your garden.

Before you decide to introduce ladybugs to your garden, however, think very carefully. It’s always best to try to encourage wild ladybugs to arrive. It is only where such measures have not been successful that you should even consider introductions.

Introducing ladybugs to your garden can also be problematic in a range of other ways. The choices you make can cause more harm than good. So it is very important to make the right decisions.

Choose Native Species

The first thing to get right is the particular ladybug species you choose. Of course, you should always choose a ladybug that is native to your area. Introducing the Harmonia axyridis or European ladybug is common in the US. Unfortunately, as described above, these are non-native. They can cause ecological harm by outcompeting native species.

Avoid Wild-Harvested Ladybugs

Another thing to be aware of is that most of the ladybugs sold in the US are wild harvested. Hippodamia convergens and Harmonia axyridis are all wild harvested, and the only commercially reared ‘red’ ladybugs usually available for home gardeners are Adalia bipunctata and Coleomegilla maculata. 

Research has shown that 3–15% of ladybird beetles harvested in the wild carry the internal parasite Dinocampus coccinellae. The same study found many of the harvested beetles to be infected with Microsporidia. This shortens the lifespan of ladybugs and reduces the number of eggs they lay. Introducing ladybugs that are infected could introduce pathogens to wild populations in your area.

To avoid supporting the sale of ladybugs collected in the wild, it is important to choose ‘farmed’ ladybugs from a specialist supplier. You can get tubes of pink spotted ladybug (Coleomegilla maculata) larvae from Insect Lore, for example. 

(Remember, ladybugs are not the only predatory insect to consider for biological control. You could also, for example, consider introducing green lacewings for pest control. You can get these from Beneficial Insectary.)

Introduce Larvae, Not Adult Ladybugs

Introducing ladybugs at the larval stage is generally more effective than introducing adult ladybugs during diapause. There are no guarantees that ladybugs introduced as adults will stay on the plants you want them to. Nor is there any guarantee that they will feed on the pests you wish them to.

Many gardeners who introduce ladybugs forget to do the groundwork to ensure that the ladybugs will want to stay. Remember, if your garden fails to attract wild ladybugs, it will likely not be a good environment for introduced ladybugs either.

Introducing native ladybugs may be a solution in certain very limited cases. But generally speaking, it is best to take a more holistic view. You should not think of introducing any species as a ‘quick fix’ but should generally work more broadly to encourage ladybugs (and a range of other beneficial, predatory insects) to your garden. 

Read Next:

How To Release Ladybugs Into Your Garden (& Why You Should)

The post How To Attract Wild Ladybugs To Your Backyard & Why You Need To appeared first on Rural Sprout.

Can you automatically recall, with a shiver down your spine, the sound of an object flying straight into your living room window? The thud, followed by the drop, and the quick rush outside to see what sort of bird it was? Perhaps with the relief that it had quickly recovered and flown away, or distressed to see the poor creature still lying there.

It’s happened more than once, and it’s likely to happen again. Windows can be confusing reflective things, mostly for birds, but a clean floor-to-ceiling glass sliding door has also bewildered many a human too.

It’s said that habitat loss poses the greatest threat to birds, unfortunately, the numbers are unknown.

Luckily, there’s something you can do to prevent habitats from being destroyed, it’s called rewilding, and it’s easier than you think.

The second cause of bird related deaths is domesticated cats. On average they take down more than 2 billion birds a year! That’s the star-crossed existence of cats in nature. Not much you can do about that one, except keep your furry-friends inside, or try putting a bell on your cat’s collar.

If you have cats, but also love birds, here are a few more ways you can try and stop your cat(s) from killing birds and other wildlife.

Finally, windows, are the third biggest danger to birds. About 600 million birds a year perish this way. Here, you have a variety of options on how to prevent birds from flying into your windows.

Before you take actions on blinds, stencils or engraving, let’s find out what makes birds fly into windows in the first place.

Why Birds Fly Into Windows

Usually it happens in the morning hours, that a sudden crash disrupts the mid-sip of your favorite brewed drink.

All too often it happens that birds accidentally fly into windows because they see confusing trees, branches, bushes, etc. in the reflection. They may also see your vast array of potted houseplants through the glass.

Sometimes that dreaded crash also happens in the evening hours when the lights are on. This is when nocturnal migrants tend to fly into the window in a confused state.

There are far too many windows in the world to go about condemning them. And there’s no good reason to put the blame on either side of the glass. So, what can you do about it?

Well, for starters, if you are actively attracting birds into your yard, try and find the best possible place for the bird feeders. While it’s fun to watch birds from the window, a feeder right next to the window probably isn’t the best location. Be careful not to make these other bird feeding mistakes.

Outside of that, there are several ways to make your invisible or reflective windows visible to birds.

What Do You See From Outside?

In order to find out what birds might be seeing, it’s wise advice to step outside your own home at different times of day to check the reflections that occur in morning or afternoon light.

If you see branches, birds will see branches.

If you see yourself, they will also see their own bird image. Although rare, some birds will attack their own reflection, believing it to be another bird. This often happens when they are vying for territory. Luckily, this seldom hurts the bird and they can easily fly away.

In spring, it often happens that swallows, searching for a safe place to nest, sweep into our home.

They enter either through the front door or windows as we are refreshing the air. If we give them a few minutes, they often find their way out, but not always. In panic mode, they may hit the window repeatedly from the inside.

In that case, we turn off the lights and my husband catches a single swallow with a towel and releases them back outside to search for a new home.

It’s happened with bats before as well, that they flew right in through our open door in early morning and circulated around the room for a couple of minutes. It took them some moments to realize how to leave.

The point is, an open door can be an invitation, just as much as a freshly washed window can be. When you see it from another perspective, it opens up all new possibilities.

How to Prevent Birds Flying Into Windows

If you have windows which are notorious for birds flying into them at a certain time of day or a particular time of year, be sure to note those times in the back of your mind. Maybe you can help prevent bird collisions by employing a few of the following tactics.

Note that birds often experience this confusion in spring and fall, during their mating and migrating seasons. So, it may be the case that some solutions need only be used for parts of the year.

1. Decals

One of the easiest and cheapest ways to break up reflections on your windows is through the use of decals. These most often come in the form of large black birds in a flight position. Though you can also find leaves, snowflakes, circles, just about anything you can imagine to dress up your windows.

These decals should be used on the outside of the window.

You can purchase unobtrusive bird-deflecting decals online or in hardware and gardening stores. Heck, you can even make your own window decals in any shape, color or size that you choose to help migrating birds not fly into your windows.

The downfall with decals, is that you may need a lot of them to prevent bird-to-window collisions, as birds may still try to fly through larger gaps. It all depends on the size of your windows.

2. Tape

If you have a lot of large window surfaces, or even a glass-walled balcony, perhaps it’s not decals of birds you are after, rather a textured tape that can be extended vertically.

There are collision-proof tapes, which make glass surfaces visible to birds, without obstructing your view. Here’s how you can install it.

3. Mosquito Screens or Netting

Again, not all windows need screens. Certainly where we live in Romania it would be more of a burden than a blessing, given the low number of mosquitoes. However, I’m originally from the Midwest and cannot imagine keeping windows open all night without something to keep the bugs from flying or crawling in.

Birds that hit screens or other netting are less likely to suffer damage. So, if your climate calls for mosquito netting, by all means accept it as a form of preventing bird collisions. Screens by themselves will already minimize reflections.

4. Washable Tempera Paint or Soap

If you are a true DIY-er, this one is for you. Make any pattern you want with a dry bar of soap on your windows, just be sure to not leave gaps wider than 2″.

Get creative with painting, making brush marks with washable tempera paint on your windows. It’s fun, easy and crafty. Be sure to come up with a design you don’t mind sharing with your neighbors or passersby.

5. Etched or Sandblasted Windows

Now, that we’ve covered a handful of low-cost or free options, let’s look at one that’s more of a long-term investment. Since most of us don’t have the tools to etch glass ourselves, this is one you are going to have to outsource, but maybe you can still put some of your own artistic thoughts into the process.

Etched glass not only helps to prevent birds from flying into your windows, it can also be a source of privacy and decoration all in one.

6. Transparent Film

Several companies make privacy films and plastic-etched window deflectors. Some are transparent from inside your home, whereas others are not.

Basically, they are decals that cover larger portions of your window. They can be whimsical, featuring a practical design, or both. Shop around to find what best suits your windows and your style. After all, it’s still mostly you looking at your windows, not the birds.

Remember, all you are trying to do here, is to break up a potential flight pattern. Minimal work and materials, along with a little common sense is all that is needed.

7. External Shutters

Not every home has shutters, though if you are fortunate enough to have them, use them. When they are closed, not only will they prevent birds from colliding into glass panes, they’ll also help you sleep better at night by blocking external light. Plus, shutters may even help you keep your home warmer in winter.

8. Vertical Blinds

Anytime you can break up the surface of the window, go ahead and do it for the birds. Vertical blinds can be turned in a way that lets light in, at the same time breaking up the outside reflections.

Always be sure to close your blinds or curtains when you don’t need to let daylight in. By all means, close them at night so you don’t let light pollution out.

9. External Shades or Awnings

Most windows are equipped with some set of blinds or curtains, though you may want those open to let in sunlight at the same time when birds are flying. Based on prior bird-striking history, you may then want to opt for a sun shade or awning, on those windows which are most frequently hit.

These shading devices will almost entirely eliminate any reflection of sunlight. That, in combination with potted flowers on the edge of a balcony, will surely prevent any birds from flying directly into the windows.

How to Help a Bird That’s Hit a Window

If you do happen to encounter a bird that’s flown into your window, approach it slowly. Often times it’s dazed and confused, in need of a few moments to shake off the temporarily stunned feeling. If it appears okay, give it some time to fly off on its own.

However, if the bird seems to have taken more of a severe hit, visually check for signs of movement before attempting to touch it.

If it is alive, yet not moving, place it gently in a small box (with gloved hands or with the use of a towel), along with several air holes. Make if comfy by adding grass or a clean cloth. Allow the bird to rest in the safety of the box, checking on it every half hour or so.

When the bird recovers, this may take a few minutes up to two or three hours, remove the lid (outside) and allow it to fly away. If it doesn’t, go ahead and contact a wildlife rehabilitator.

Never offer food or water to an injured bird, refrain from giving it any kind of medication and never release a bird inside while trying to check its progress.

Rather then dwelling on past bird collisions, think about how you can prevent them in the future, then take actions to do so.

Read Next:

5 Bird Feeding Mistakes That Mean They’ll Never Visit

The post How To Stop Birds Flying Into Your Windows appeared first on Rural Sprout.

Ask any child over seven, and I’ll bet they can tell you what plant the Monarch butterfly eats.

At 43 years old, I still remember learning about the Monarch butterfly’s life cycle in Mrs. Potter’s second-grade class. The caterpillars eat milkweed, the only thing they eat in their larval stage.

Somehow, we forgot this lesson over the years, as we’re seeing a massive decline in Monarch butterfly numbers due to the loss of native milkweed. Folks everywhere, including many parents of seven-year-olds, are asking what they can do to help.

Luckily, it’s as easy as growing milkweed in your backyard.

What Happened to All the Milkweed?

Humans have this habit of labeling plants as good or bad on their usefulness to us. Usually, we make it our life’s mission to get rid of the bad ones – the weeds.

It’s only in the past few decades, as we’ve watched pollinators disappear at alarming rates and insect populations decline on the whole, that we’ve started to realize those plants are pretty important.

The three biggest culprits for milkweed loss are agricultural growth, urban development and roadside vegetation management. And most of this comes down to the abundant use of glyphosate, the most commonly used herbicide.

By far, the biggest culprit in the loss of milkweed is the agriculture industry through commercial farming.

No matter your views on eating GMOs, it’s clear their existence is causing environmental problems. Back in the late 1990s, my favorite corporation to hate on, Monsanto, released two brilliant new crops – glyphosate-resistant soybeans and glyphosate-resistant corn. The crops were genetically engineered to stand up to the herbicide application. So you could plant acres and acres of corn and soybeans and then spray those acres and acres with glyphosate and not have to worry about it destroying your crop.

Instead, it destroyed milkweed habitat, 120 million acres across the Midwest. Just by clearing and planting that land, we lost a lot of milkweed habitat. But by planting all that farmland with these genetically engineered crops and then spraying those fields year after year with glyphosate, we’ve made it nearly impossible for milkweed to grow in them.

“According to researchers, the utilization of these GE crops has all but eliminated milkweeds from these fields”

beyondpesticides.org

While that might be great if you’re a farmer, it isn’t very good if you’re a Monarch butterfly.

Milkweed is Important to More Than the Monarch

Milkweed is important to the Monarch because it’s the only food the caterpillar will ingest. But many other insects feed on milkweed, most being native bees. Other butterflies and moths beyond the Monarch also prefer to nibble milkweed leaves.

Even predatory insects beneficial to gardeners everywhere can be found sipping nectar from milkweed. Bugs like aphid mites, the braconid wasp and the assassin bug, can all be found on a cluster of milkweed flowers.

What Milkweed Should I Grow?

Monarch butterflies eat two types of milkweed – Common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) and Butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa). But there are over 70 species of milkweed native to the United States and Canada. Once you take care of the Monarch’s needs, consider planting another milkweed native to your region. You can reach out to your local extension office for more information.

Where Can I Get Milkweed Seeds?

Thanks to concerned conservationists, more native seed suppliers are propagating milkweed for seed collection and distribution. A few reputable sources for milkweed seed are:

Rare Seeds – Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds

Park Seed

Hudson Valley Seed Co

Select Seeds

Of course, the easiest way to source milkweed seeds is to go outside and look for them.

How to Harvest & Save Milkweed Seeds

Before you head out to collect milkweed seeds, it’s important to know that the sap from milkweed is an irritant. Consider wearing gloves if you have sensitive skin. Always wash your hands well after handling milkweed if you don’t wear gloves.

Collect milkweed seed pods in the fall. You may need to check them a few times to see when they’re ready. If you pick them too soon, the seeds won’t be viable. The seeds must be dark brown. If you pop open a pod to find white or light brown seeds, you’ve picked it too soon.

Look for brown pods that are just starting to crack open. Of course, if you wait too long, you’ll find an empty pod, as the wind will have done its job.

Separate the seeds into a bowl and allow them to dry thoroughly. You can store them in a paper bag while waiting for them to dry.

There are plenty of recommendations on the internet for how to remove the fluff from milkweed seeds. I find this bizarre. Nature plants milkweed every year with the fluff attached. Why go to all the trouble of removing that tiny bit of silk attached to each seed? It makes a great handle when you’re plucking out individual seeds to plant.

If you feel you must remove the fluff, place the seeds in a paper bag with a few pennies and give it a good shake. Snip a corner off the bag and shake out the clean seeds.

Store your completely dry seeds in an airtight container in the fridge.

Vernalized Seeds – Plants Sense the Seasons

Milkweed seeds need to go through a process called vernalization. Basically, a plant needs to experience winter via environmental cues to time important reproductive development – such as flowers. If the seeds don’t experience prolonged exposure to cold temperatures, the plant won’t germinate and produce flowers.

This is why those on the east coast can plant bulbs in the fall and have flowers in the spring, but west coasters with milder winters need to put their bulbs in the fridge for six to eight weeks.

Since we’re collecting the seeds before they get to winter over outside, they’ll have to experience winter in our refrigerator. Be sure to store them in a completely airtight container so moist air doesn’t get in and cause your seeds to rot. If you purchase seeds online, note whether the seeds are vernalized or not.

Vernalization vs. Stratification

These are both scientific terms that involve how plants experience winter. This extended cold signals seasonal plant changes, triggering different developmental changes. Many people have heard of stratification before but are unfamiliar with vernalization.

So, what’s the difference?

We won’t get super technical, but it depends on whether a plant produces flowers. Stratification is needed for seeds to germinate, whereas vernalization is key in flowering plants producing flowers next season. For instance, a pine nut, the seed from pine cones to make baby pine trees, doesn’t produce flowers, so we use the term stratification. As milkweed is a flowering plant, we use the term vernalization even though the plant also needs to be cold-stratifed for the seeds to germinate.

Planting Milkweed Seeds

Milkweed is quite easy to grow and be sown directly. If you’re planting seeds in the spring, be sure they have had a “winter” in your fridge first. If you’re planting seeds in the fall after harvesting them, nature will do the work for you. For the best possible results, I suggest planting seeds in both the fall and the spring.

Surface sow the seeds about ½ an inch apart and cover them lightly with soil. Keep the seeds moist until they have germinated. Once your seeds have sprouted, water them frequently until the plants are established.

Milkweed transplants well. Consider starting your seeds indoors in the spring to give them the best chance of growing up big and tall so a tiny Monarch caterpillar can munch on them. Don’t forget to harden them off before transplanting them outside once the danger of frost has passed.

Milkweed Bombs

If you want to get militant about saving the Monarch butterfly and take this fight beyond your backyard, it’s easy to do. For over a decade now, guerrilla gardeners have been greening up their local habitats using seed bombs – small balls made up of clay, potting medium and native wildflower seeds. This brilliant method for dispersing native species of plants on the fly can easily be converted to milkweed.

You can use my seed bomb recipe and swap out wildflower seeds for milkweed seeds. However, don’t forget to choose an appropriate native species for your region. You will also need to take into account the time of year you plan to use your bombs to figure out if you need cold stratified seeds or not.

Power to the plants and the butterflies!

Eating MilkWeed

One of the benefits of growing milkweed is you get to eat it. Because of the decline of milkweed, many foragers opt not to pick it wild. But if you’re growing it in your backyard, you should definitely enjoy a few tender shoots in the spring and new seed pods late in the summer.

As always, when trying new wild foods, only eat a small amount. Moderation is key.

Of course, the Monarch butterfly isn’t the only one whose habitat is threatened. Consider planting other butterfly-friendly plants in your garden.

The post How To Collect & Grow Milkweed Seeds to Save the Monarch Butterfly appeared first on Rural Sprout.

What was supposed to be a feast for your favorite feathered friends ends up being an all-you-can-eat buffet for a “tree rat.” (My sweetie’s nickname for squirrels that get into his feeders.) Squirrels can be a real pain for backyard bird enthusiasts. They empty bird feeders, scare away the birds and can even damage your feeders, making them unusable.

We had one squirrel who liked my homemade suet so much that he stole the whole suet feeder. In short, squirrels can be a real pest.

There are ways of making your feeders less appealing to squirrels.

But as anyone who has been feeding birds long enough will tell you, there is no such thing as a squirrel-proof bird feeder. With enough determination, they will get to the seed eventually.

That’s why keeping squirrels in check requires several barriers to birdseed. By employing at least three of these tips, you’re much more likely to succeed in keeping squirrels out of your feeders. Use all the tips, and you’ll have a backyard anti-squirrel fortress.

1. Place Your Feeder Out in the Open

Squirrels are pretty skittish and are less likely to approach a feeder in an open, well-lit area where predators can easily see them. Placing a feeder in the middle of the yard is a great way to make squirrels think twice before heading over for a snack.

2. Hang the Bird Feeder From a Pole

Squirrels have difficulty climbing smooth, vertical surfaces such as metal poles. Placing your bird feeder atop a pole is a great way to deter them. There are a few caveats here. The pole needs to be larger in diameter than a squirrel could easily wrap its arms around.

A squirrel can climb small skinny poles; not easily, but it can be done. A 4” diameter pole is a good place to start. The larger, the better.

It also helps to use metal rather than wood or PVC pipe. Both wood and plastic can be scratched and provide enough resistance for the squirrel to climb. Metal stays slick.

And the final caveat involves an aerial attack; we’ll get to that in the next tip.

3. Place Your Feeder Out of Jumping Reach

Squirrels are incredible jumpers; they were built for it. Even if you place your bird feeder on a pole, if it’s within jumping distance of trees or buildings, squirrels will get to it. Placing feeders out of jumping reach is probably one of the most important tips for keeping your bird feeder squirrel-free. They can jump about four feet vertically and ten feet horizontally.

4. Add a Baffle to Your Feeding Setup

A baffle is a dome or cone-shaped device (like this one) that can be placed above or below a feeder to prevent squirrels from reaching it. If you’ve got a serious squirrel problem, I suggest you go with a double-whammy approach and place a baffle above and below your feeders.

Using baffles is especially important for feeders within jumping distance of trees or buildings or feeders placed at the edge of woods for more shy birds.

Speaking of shy birds – learn how to attract the Northern Cardinal to your feeder with this important tip.

5. Don’t Overfill Your Feeders

Only put out a little seed in your feeders at a time. Squirrels are looking for a constant supply of food. If they learn that the pickins are slim at your place, they will search for a better supply elsewhere.

Not overfilling your feeder is also important for the health and safety of your birds. Spoiled and moldy birdseed can make birds sick and spread disease. Unless you have enough feathered visitors that you’re refilling your feeders daily, there’s no need to put out a feeder full of seed.

6. Pepper Spray Your Setup

Birds can’t taste capsaicin; they lack the taste receptors to feel its heat. But if you’ve got a persistent squirrel, you’ll make it think twice before coming back to your feeders if you add a little heat.

Put capsaicin-based pepper spray on the bird feeder poles, which will make the poles too hot and spicy for squirrels to climb. Be very careful doing this. Wear goggles, gloves and a mask. Pay close attention to which way the wind is blowing. Do not touch the poles when you’re refilling the feeders.

Use suet with cayenne pepper in it – you can use my recipe and add a couple of teaspoons of cayenne pepper to it. Once they get a bite or two, they won’t want anymore.

7. The Best Squirrel Resistant Feeders

As I said in the beginning, there is no such thing as a squirrel-proof bird feeder. Given enough time, these determined creatures will find a way. However, some good designs out there will certainly make it tough for squirrels to do. Along with these other tips, it may be enough to discourage them entirely.

The best squirrel-resistant designs have weighted perches. The squirrel’s weight on the perch closes the ports to the seed.

This is probably the most popular weight-activated perch feeder, but you’ll notice all the decoration gives squirrels a lot to hang on to. That being said, the ports are firmly closed under the squirrel’s weight.

This weight-activated feeder is great because it’s a slick tube with a small baffle on top.

This feeder takes a different approach. It’s also weight-activated, but rather than closing the ports, the squirrel’s weight activates a motor that spins the perches…and the squirrel.

If You Can’t Beat ‘Em

You know the old saying. And for many backyard birding enthusiasts, squirrels are just as welcome as the birds.

Plenty of people give up on trying to outsmart these brilliant animals and instead make them welcome. Once you make the mental shift from pest to pal, you’ll find squirrels are often as entertaining as your feathered friends, sometimes more so.

My kids and I thoroughly enjoy watching YouTuber Mark Rober set up the wildest mazes in his backyard to make the squirrels who visit work for their treats. He even created a Backyard Squirrelympics. (It’s worth watching for the hilarious squirrel bobblehead commentators.)

Put a squirrel feeder far away from your bird feeder. As long as you keep it filled, this will usually be enough to discourage them from stealing from your birds.

Of course, once you get the squirrels sorted out, you may find other visitors at your feeder.

Read Next:

5 Bird Feeding Mistakes That Mean They’ll Never Visit (Or Worse!)

The post 7 Tricks To Keep Squirrels Out of Bird Feeders + Best Squirrel-Proof Feeders appeared first on Rural Sprout.

Setting up suet feeders is a great way to attract birds to your backyard. With their high metabolic rates, these tiny creatures need high-fat food content.

Think of how quickly they move and the energy required for all that flitting about, compared to their overall size, and it’s no wonder they consistently need high-energy food sources to keep them going.

Most of the seeds in commercially available birdseed blends are high in fat; sunflower, safflower and nyjer.

Suet feeders allow birds access to quality high-fat foods, such as lard, tallow (birds easily digest animal fats) or nut butters. (Check out Cherly’s excellent tutorial on how to render tallow.) Access to high-energy foods is especially important in the cold months when other natural food resources are scarce.

For a quick and fun project, you can easily make your own suet cakes at home.

Plenty of commercially made suet cakes are available, but making your own means you can control the quality of the ingredients and choose your own extra additions to attract specific types of birds. Plus, they’re fun to make. (I mixed this batch up on the back porch in the snow!)

These suet cakes use a base recipe that only requires four easy-to-find ingredients.

You might already have them in your pantry. But you can add extra ingredients to make the cakes more appealing. Keep them as simple as you want, or go all out and make up a deluxe suet treat.

I sliced mine into squarish rectangles, but you can easily roll these into balls or other shapes to fit whatever type of suet feeder you have.

You can even smash some of the mix into cookie cutters and freeze them to make hanging suet treats in the winter. (They’ll melt in the warmer months.) Don’t forget to make a hole for a string before you put them in the freezer.

What Types of Birds Like Suet?

Quite a few birds appreciate a suet feeder. You’ll likely find nuthatches, chickadees, flickers, woodpeckers, blue jays, wrens, goldfinches, titmice, cardinals and brown thrashers.

Be patient if you’re just setting up your feeder and don’t see many birds visiting. It can take a while for word to spread among the feathered folk in your area where the good food is. Once you get regular visitors, keep your suet feeder filled; otherwise, you’ll have to start the process all over again. It’s a good thing you can make several batches and freeze them.

Skip the Suet During the Hotter Months

We take our suet feeder down in the summer. By this time of year, plenty of natural food sources are available to the local bird population. And the heat causes the suet to melt, or worse, go rancid, causing a mess to clean up that’s no longer good for the birds to eat. It’s better to keep suet out during the cooler months of the year.

Add-Ins

You can make this suet recipe up as is or mix in a few of these add-ins for extra energy and to make the cakes more appealing. Using a few add-ins will also give you a sturdier block of suet that will hold its shape better.

• Raw, unsalted peanuts
• Cracked corn
• Sunflower seeds or hearts
• Your favorite wild birdseed blend
• Dried fruit pieces such as apples, blueberries or cranberries (no sugar added)
• Dried mealworms or black soldier fly larva
• Scratch Grains

Squirrel-Proof Suet Cakes

To keep squirrels out of your suet, mix in a tablespoon of red pepper flakes to a batch of suet. The birds can’t taste the capsaicin, so it doesn’t bother them. But the squirrels sure don’t like it.

4-Ingredient DIY Suet Cakes

• 16 oz lard
• 16 oz natural (no sugar added) crunchy peanut butter
• 1 cup of cornmeal
• 1 cup of flour
• 2-4 cups total of your preferred add-ins

Tools

• Large mixing bowl
• Gloves (optional, but makes the process less messy)
• Wax or parchment paper
• Baking sheet
• Knife

Directions:

• In a large mixing bowl, add the lard, crunchy peanut butter, cornmeal, flour and add-ins. Using your hands, mix everything together and incorporate all the dry ingredients well.

• Don’t worry if there are chunks of lard that aren’t perfectly mixed in. Overall, you want to make sure the cornmeal and flour are mixed throughout to help hold everything together. In the end, you should have a nice sticky ball of suet dough.

• Transfer the dough to a wax paper or parchment-lined baking sheet. Squash the suet dough flat and form it into a rectangle, keeping in mind the size of your suet feeders and how many blocks you can cut from the rectangle. I have a standard suet basket, and this recipe easily made four blocks that fit the feeder perfectly.

• Place the baking sheet in the freezer for 2-4 hours.
• Remove and slice the frozen rectangle into individual cakes.
• Wrap the remaining suet cakes in wax or parchment paper and keep them in the freezer or fridge. The suet cakes will keep in the freezer for six months and in the fridge for two weeks.

If you freeze your suet cakes, you can thaw them in the fridge for a day before putting them in the feeder. While this isn’t necessary, during the coldest months of the year, your birds may appreciate it.

And that’s all there is to it. Making these suet cakes takes about ten minutes. Get creative and try different combinations of add-ins to see what’s popular with the birds in your area. If it’s especially cold out, mix up a batch with plenty of cracked corn, which will help raise the birds’ internal body temperature.

Once you get one suet feeder going, you’ll soon realize the value of having several suet feeders available to your feathered friends. And with this quick and easy recipe, you’ll have no trouble filling them. Just be sure you have the binoculars and your bird guide handy!

Read Next:

5 Bird Feeding Mistakes That Mean They’ll Never Visit (Or Worse)

The post 4 Ingredient DIY Suet Cakes Backyard Birds Will Love appeared first on Rural Sprout.