Habitat Conservation baby! That’s the name of the game. You want to create a good worldfor your children, your grandchildren, and even yourself? Two words: Habitat. Conservation! When we talk about such an ubiquitous project, I think it’s fun to start in our own backyards, literally. I must say, this is the issue that is most near and dear to my heart.
If you are lucky enough to own your own piece of wildlife lands, hopefully you will be okay with sharing your fortune and not consuming all the space by cutting all the trees, using all the water, or fencing all the space. Habitat Conservation is having the wildlife in mind when taking down that native coffee berry bush (seriously, the coffee berry bushes get mad bees, it’s their favorite I think).
Or that manzanita that all the everybody loves to eat, you maybe keep it, or just cut it back or don’t cut aaallll of them. You may be familiar with some wild members of our community: Frogs, bees, bats, birds, and squirrels to name a few. Those people can live in your backyard symbiotically with you, easily! They are your backyard wildlife. Unlike the bears and bobcats, you can hang out and enjoy these guys. You can even promote them! Have you ever seen a weeping mulberry? Bird paradise! Have you ever planted a trumpet vine? Hummie heaven! By providing alternative sources of food, if coffee berries and manzanita berries aren’t your thing, it completely counts as habitat conservation, even though it’s a different habitat.
Preserving your backyard is one thing, but wildlife needs contiguous swathes of wilderness to be truly healthy. A single male mountain lion needs 100 square miles of land and females less. A male black bear needs between 10 and 59 square miles of unbroken land. Check out our blog at Mendowildblog.com and see these two male bears talking it out. It’s sooo good!
By supporting habitat conservation, you not only support a healthy ecosystem and watershed, you save something special for our future. It’s a matter of perspective. I understand that industry and corporate rules dictate that what matters is the bottom line. I understand that people need to eat and feed their family. So does wildlife. I think here, for me, are a couple of different angles. Can we be okay with less? is the first question. The second one is, is not saving these pristine forests and rangelands quite valuable as well? We are at a fundamental pivotal point in time. We make our history. Let’s live respectfully in alignment with our wildlife friends, having a healthy understanding of what the words “For the Good of All” mean. If it’s healthy for the land, it’s healthy for you, yours, and all our wild peeps.
Please also do not put out water for wildlife unless you use something like a DIY chicken watering station (check it out on line)or go over to the Long Valley Feed store and get one of those ready to use chicken watering devices. By not having the water standing still in a vessel we cut down the possibility of sharing disease. We are the gatekeepers for our future. It’s up to us. I don’t know if you are interested in local politics, but if you are, be sure to keep up. That helps. Also, please watch your water consumption. We are in for a hot one folks, we think we’ve got it bad, imagine being a big furry fox and all the creeks are dry… eeeks! Lastly, if you find orphaned or injured wildlife, call the Mendocino Wildlife Association at 707-984-6363 or 707-513-7818. Any pictures or backyard wildlife you’d like to share, please feel free to send in! tpellar@gmail.com
