Wild Animals Around Your Home

Living with Wildlife identifies and describes more than 100 species, explains how wildlife-human interactions can lead to conflicts, and offers proven advice for how to resolve them

In this eloquent plea for compassion and respect for all species, journalist and gardener Nancy Lawson describes why and how to welcome wildlife to our backyards. Through engaging anecdotes and inspired advice, profiles of home gardeners throughout the country, and interviews with scientists and horticulturalists, Lawson applies the broader lessons of ecology to our own outdoor spaces. Detailed chapters address planting for wildlife by choosing native species; providing habitats that shelter baby animals, as well as birds, bees, and butterflies; creating safe zones in the garden; cohabiting with creatures often regarded as pests; letting nature be your garden designer; and encouraging natural processes and evolution in the garden. The Humane Gardener fills a unique niche in describing simple principles for both attracting wildlife and peacefully resolving conflicts with all the creatures that share our world.

Make a Home for Wildlife helps you see your property in new ways and is the resource you need to take the sometimes daunting steps to improve the quality of your land. According to U.S. Forest Service, 250 million acres of woods and forests in the U.S. are privately held by 10 million individuals/families. Whether you live on a quarter-acre lot in the suburbs, own a 20-acre woodland retreat, run a farm of 100 acres, or belong to an outdoor club with hundreds or thousands of acres, you can make changes to the land, improvements that will turn your property into a better home for wildlife. Habitat projects can be simple or complex, short-term or spanning decades. Cost can be minimal, a few hours of your time spent doing pleasant work in the outdoors, or can run into the hundreds or thousands of dollars. And there is funding to help landowners make wildlife habitat. Focusing on the eastern US, from Canada to Florida and west to the Great Plains, this book describes basic habitat types—forest, shrublands, grasslands, and wetlands—and highlights over 150 select native and introduced trees, shrubs, and plants and explains how they are used or not by wildlife. The book includes 100+ profiles of prominent and interesting species of insects, reptiles, amphibians, birds, and mammals with info on animals and their habitat needs. Large and small mammals, resident and migratory birds, and insects are covered. Fergus relates stories of landowners who have made habitat in different states and regions in different ways.

Table of Contents Preface Chapter # 1: Reducing the Risk of Fire Chapter # 2: Minimize the Risk of Falling Chapter # 3: Prevent Poisoning Chapter # 4: Reduce the Risk of Drowning Chapter # 5: Keeping Wild Animals Away Chapter # 6: Minimizing the Risk of Electrocution Chapter # 7: Secure the Garden Chapter # 8: Protect Your Home from Storms Chapter # 9: Protect Your Home From Burglary Chapter # 10: Minimizing the Damage From Floods Conclusion Author Bio Publisher Preface In life, there are a lot of things that have the potential to destroy us in the blink of an eye. We could talk of lighting, earthquakes, tsunamis, and more. While many are of the belief that being on the road increases the chances, we have to realize that danger also awaits us everywhere, even in our homes. From poisoning to house fires, the list is really long. But, it is not supposed to be that way. Home is supposed to be where you can rest and enjoy some quality time with the family. The good thing is you have the liberty to secure your home as much as you want. In this book, you will discover how you can reduce some accidents likely to occur in your home. This is not an assurance that by following the advice given in this book, you will never have accidents in your house. Think of it as wearing a seatbelt when in a car - it does not mean you will survive if an accident is to happen. Rather, you only increase your chances of surviving. Enjoy the reading.

Observations of wild animals and stories about their behavior.

Wild Animals at Home is a collection of stories about wild animals in their natural habitats, written by Ernest Thompson Seton. Each chapter focuses on a different species and offers insights into their behavior, instincts, and interactions with other animals. Seton's vivid descriptions and illustrations bring the animals to life for readers of all ages.

If you draw a line around the region that is, or was, known as the Wild West, you will find that you have exactly outlined the kingdom of the Coyote. He is even yet found in every part of it, but, unlike his big brother the Wolf, he never frequented the region known as Eastern America. This is one of the few wild creatures that you can see from the train. Each time I have come to the Yellowstone Park I have discovered the swift gray form of the Coyote among the Prairie-dog towns along the River flat between Livingstone and Gardiner, and in the Park itself have seen him nearly every day, and heard him every night without exception. Coyote (pronounced Ky-o'-tay, and in some regions Ky-ute) is a native Mexican contribution to the language, and is said to mean "halfbreed," possibly suggesting that the Coyote looks like a cross between the Fox and the Wolf. Such an origin would be a very satisfactory clue to his character, for he does seem to unite in himself every possible attribute in the mental make-up of the other two that can contribute to his success in life.

Forever Wild, Forever Home invites readers to discover the magic of The Wild Animal Sanctuary in Keenesburg, Colorado, the premier large carnivore sanctuary in the world. In 1980, Pat Craig rescued a baby jaguar he christened Freckles and took his first bold steps on a forty-year journey to combat the growing crisis of exotic animal captivity, abuse, and trafficking – one rescue at a time. Today more than 200 bears, 60 African lions, and 70 tigers, as well as jaguars, leopards, mountain lions, wolves, and other exotic animals, both large and small, enjoy peace, comfort, and contentment in enormous habitats on thousands of acres of The Wild Animal Sanctuary’s prairie and canyonlands. Rescued from mostly horrific situations, they are survivors, with much to teach us about courage, resilience, and hope. Their lives resonate with our own. With over 100 color photos, this absorbing, thoughtful, and timely narrative offers an unprecedented, behind-the-scenes look at what it is really like to care for wild carnivores. Both heartwarming and humorous, Forever Wild, Forever Home honors the nobility and wellbeing of the animals who call the Sanctuary home, and the heroic and gratifying labors of those who care for them. Join Sanctuary teams on rescues of giant Alaskan Kodiak bears languishing in the Florida tropics, a lion held captive by a fortune teller in a tiny Mexican town, two big cats marooned and starving on a typhoon-ravaged island in the Pacific Ocean, and thirty-nine tigers owned by Joe Exotic, the “Tiger King” of Netflix fame. Meet Colo Colo, an angry African lion from Bolivia; Tasha Joy, a tiger who didn’t know she was a tiger; the ever-busy grizzly bears, Tiny who tips the scales at 1,000 pounds and his friend Natasha; Diego, a white tiger; Jumanji, a black leopard; Lambert, a lion who finally learns to roar – and many more. Learn how the Mile into the Wild Walkway, the longest elevated pedestrian footbridge in the world, enables sky-high visitors to see wild animals in vast habitats; how staff and volunteers create cozy houses and unique playgrounds for the Sanctuary’s (mostly) furry residents; and what happens when it’s time for a large carnivore to visit the doctor or dentist. At The Wild Animal Sanctuary, tigers chuff in greeting, bears bask under brilliantly blue skies, mountain lions purr with joy, and African lions roar in winter. The Sanctuary is often seen as the last hope for the animals who are rescued and brought here to their forever home. But the thousands of people who visit, support, work, and volunteer here know that this is the place where hope begins.

My travel in search of light on the 'Animals at Home" have taken me up and down the Rocky Mountains for nearly thirty years. In the canyons from British Columbia to Mexico, I have lighted my campfire, far beyond the bounds of law and order, at times, and yet I have found no place more rewarding than the Yellow Stone Park, the great mountain haven of the wild life. Contents: The Cute Coyote; The Praire-dog and His Kin; Famous Furbearers, Fox, Marten, Beaver and Otter; Horns and Hoofs and Legs of Speed; Bats in the Devil's Kitchen; The Well-meaning Skunk; Old Siler-grizzle, the Badger; The Squirrel and His Jerky-tail Brothers; The Rabbits and Their Habits; Ghosts of the Campfire; Sneak-cat, Big and Small; Bears of High and Low Degree. Appendix: Mammals of Yellowstone Park. Illustrated with over 150 Drawings and Photographs by the Author.