1. Inviting Wildlife to Your Garden Key elements needed to attract a wide variety of wildlife.

2. NWF Certified Wildlife Habitat Water Food Cover Place to Raise Young Sustainable Gardening

3. Water Features Deep Water Beach Slow-moving Shallow Water Bog/Puddles Splash Drip Misters

4. Food Trees/Shrubs: Nuts, Berries, Fruit, Sap, Foliage, Twigs Plants: Seeds, Nectar, Foliage, Flowers, Pollen Insects/Invertebrates: Dragonflies, Butterflies, Grubs, Worms Birds, Small Rodents, Amphibians, Fish

5. Cover Weather/Predators Woods/Large Trees Evergreens Thickets/Brambles Ground Cover Caves Meadows/Prairies Ponds Burrows Roosting Boxes Toad Abodes Brush/Log Piles Rock Piles Water Garden Leaf Litter/Mulch

6. Place to Raise Young Allow for Mating/Courtship Behavior Habitat & Materials for Nest Building Food Sources for Young Encompassed in “Cover” but with variations

7. Sustainable Gardening Reduce Water Usage: –Xeriscaping, Rainwater Capture, Drip/Soaker Irrigation Reduce Erosion Reduce Chemical Pesticides & Fertilizer Reduce Non-native Plants & Turf Area Compost Mulch

8. Butterflies & Moths Best Website: www.butterfliesandmoths.org

9. Butterflies & Moths Protected sunny, non-windy area Low traffic Specific Host Plants for caterpillars* Nectar Plants for adults* Boggy puddles Citrus wedges/nectar feeders

10. Caterpillar Host Plants Swallowtail: Dill, Parsley, Fennel, Queen Anne’s Lace Monarchs: Milkweeds (asclepias) Silvery Blue: Lupine Zebra Swallowtail: Pawpaw (asmina) Buckeye: Snapdragons (antirrhinum), Monkeyflower (mimulus), linaria Hummingbird Clearwing Moth: Honeysuckle, Hawthorn, Cherries/Plums Great Ash Sphinx Moth: Lilac, Aspen, Ash

11. Butterfly Adult Nectar Sources Perennials Azaleas/Rhododendron Bee Balms (monarda) Butterfly Bush (buddleias) Honeysuckle Phlox Milkweeds Vibernums Annuals Lantana Snapdragons Verbenas Petunias Nasturtiums

12. Dragonflies & Damselflies Still Water (beach to 2 feet deep, 5-10 feet diameter) Protection from wind Underwater Vegetation (nymph hiding) Water’s edge perching plants Light-colored flat sunny basking rocks Area free from fish Feeds on smaller insects (mosquitos)

13. Amphibians & Reptiles Best Websites: www.herpnet.net/Minnesota-Herpetology/ www.dnr.state.mn.us/reptiles_amphibians

14. Salamanders & Newts Eastern Newt Tiger Salamander Blue-Spotted Salamander Habitat/Food –permanent woodland ponds –leaf & rotting log litter –eat fish & frog eggs, crawfish, water insects, earthworms, snails

15. Frogs & Toads Spring Peeper Eastern Gray/Cope’s Gray Tree American Toad Northern Leopard Green Bull

16. Frogs & Toads Eat: Insects & Invertebrates Great for controlling garden pests Habitat: Permanent or Semi-permanent Ponds Burrows in cool damp leaf litter and loose soil More active at night, landscape lighting attracts prey

17. Snakes Plains/Eastern/Red-sided Garter Snake –Habitat: Pond edge, animal burrows, Log piles, Damp woods, Tall grass/meadows –Eats: Anything. Earthworms, Frogs, Toads, Salamanders, Mice, Bird Eggs, Fish, Carrion Redbelly Snake –Habitat: Flat boards/logs in woods, dry sandy, near marshes –Eats: Slugs, worms, insect larvae

18. Skinks Prairie Skink (5-8” long) Habitat: Burrows under rock piles, boards or logs in sunny prairies, under railroad ties Eats: Grasshoppers, Crickets, Beetles, Caterpillars

19. Hummingbirds Multiple feeders, 4:1 water:sugar Bright Ribbon in Trees/Shrubs (mid-march) Year-round blooming plants* Snags within 50 feet of feeders Water misters & drippers Encourage spiderwebs Large tree with horizontal/downward branches facing open area

20. Hummingbird Plant Favorites Annuals in baskets (plant extra early!) –Petunias, Verbena Tubular Perennials –Honeysuckle, Trumpet Vine, Bee Balm, Cardinal Flower, Red Columbine Native Annuals –Spotted jewelweed Other favorite annuals –Nicotiana, Snapdragons, Nasturtium, Zinnia, Cleome

21. General Songbirds Feeders that include both hanging and platform, away from windows Feed within 5-15 feet of dense shrub or evergreen Black sunflower, white millet, peanuts Add variety such as suet, mealworms & fruit Slow-moving water 2-3 inches deep with rough surface

22. Suet Recipe 1 cup Lard/Suet 1 cup Peanut Butter (crunchy or smooth) 1 cup cornmeal 3 cups oats 1 cup sugar Dried fruit (optional)

23. Cardinals Feed: –Prefer platform, but will do perch –Seeds: sunflower, safflower –Peanuts, raisins, meal worms, grape jelly Nest 4-6 feet above ground in dense low-traffic shrubs edging open areas Stake territory from tallest structure in neighborhood Attracted to shallow moving water year-round

24. Baltimore Orioles April 15-May1st put out food: –oranges halved on spikes in trees –grape jelly on platforms –Hummingbird feeders with perches June 1 st and beyond: –Add insects (mealworms) and suet Nesting material = string pieces 8-12” in length

25. Bluebirds Feed: insects in a protected feeder Fall: add berries, shelled seeds and suet (love raisins, dried cranberries and cherries) Nest boxes: hole 1 ½ ” no perch, mounted on predator-proof pole within 5-10 feet of woods overlooking mowed grass/meadow, paired boxes for each bluebird Remove twiggy dummy wren nests from one box Monitor box weekly for blowfly larvae

26. Waterfowl A resting spot in the sun –Island in pond, Driftwood Tall grass near pond’s edge –Preferably with only water access and protection coming from other direction Underwater pond plants Bait in spring with barley or corn Variety of nest boxes

27. Rodents Mice & Voles Chipmunks Red Squirrels

28. Native Mice & Voles Northern Grasshopper Mouse Deer Mouse (Prairie & Woodland) Western Harvest Mouse Meadow Vole Southern Red-Backed Vole Meadow Jumping Mouse* Plains Pocket Mouse*

29. Native Mice Northern Grasshopper Mouse Grasshoppers, beetles, moths, flies, wasps, spiders Hunt in packs, defend against intruders, “howl” Deer Mouse (Prairie & Woodland) Seeds (bush clover), keep stashes Burrows, under logs, hollow stumps Western Harvest Mouse Weed & grass seeds, caterpillars, hide for later Grass nests at base of dense shrub or tall grass

30. Native Voles Meadow Vole Greens & seeds, garden produce Create tunnels in grass Southern Red-Backed Vole cache food: seeds, nuts, fruits, leaves, bark, roots, fungi, and insects Forest dwellers, territorial, favorite source of food for predators

31. Other Rodents Chipmunks Black-oil sunflower seeds, berries, other plant seeds Burrows, natural boulder walls, log piles (firewood) Solitary, fight over food, semi-hibernate, leave territory where born Red Squirrels insects, seeds, bark, nuts, fruits, mushrooms and pine seeds or cones. Young birds & mice. Forests, hollows of trees, solitary, vocal

32. General Predatory Birds Attract both nest habitat and food source Place the prey’s food source open travel distance from it’s habitat Provide a vantage point for the predatory bird to wait it out

33. MN Suburban Predatory Birds Birds that feed primarily on smaller birds –Cooper’s Hawk –Sharp Shinned Hawk Birds that feed on rodents, amphibians, reptiles & small birds –American Kestral –Barred Owl –Broad-winged Hawk

34. Fish-eating Predators Great Blue Heron Snowy Egret Green Heron Kingfisher Raccoons Mink

35. Location, Location, Location Best Laid Plans…

37. Put bluebird houses here

40. 612-865-0440 www.happyponds.net