I was perusing the Butler Eagle this past week when I came upon Penn State Master Gardener apprentice Larry Sassone’s article on Wildlife Habitat and Back Yard Gardens to support wildlife. I was immediately interested in what he had to say and I must admit I sort of chuckled as I recalled my effort along with my wife’s wish to be a Certified Wildlife Habitat.

We sent for the information and the National Wildlife Federation was quick to respond to our request. We were in an ideal situation from the beginning as we had much of the backyard wildlife habitat basic needs in place already. Eventually we were able to become a Certified Wildlife Habitat with the National Wildlife Federation.

We had three of the four primary requirements in place and had plans to add for the fourth need to be addressed as well.

The food, cover and places to raise the young were the three that we had in place but we still needed the water source near us. A man-made pond was going to be the answer to the water needs for the wildlife and it was going to take some labor and expense to do it right. I studied some aqua culture literature and decided that a couple of hundred gallons of a small pond would do the trick. A pick and shovel were put to work and a nice hole in our backyard was started. I worked on that form until it shaped up into the outline of a liner that we purchased to keep the water levels full. A little work with the hose and natural rain fall did the job nicely.

The excavated soil was soon put into cover with mulched ferns, Hosta’s and shade loving plants. Among the plants I placed rocks and other native plants for a really pleasing appearance.

We planted irises, violets and coneflowers as well as cardinal flowers to attract bees and butterflies. Somewhere along the way I decided to put some fish in the pond and a small fountain to circulate the water.

It didn’t take long for the wildlife to find the small garden area and we had some bright moments watching the birds and squirrels drinking and bathing in the shallow edges of the water.

I should have known that my idyllic version of a backyard wildlife paradise would be affected by the good and not so good results of attracting wildlife. My first bubble to burst was when I looked out the kitchen window and saw a visitor at the pond. It was my first and only visit of a Great Blue Heron. He made short work of my small fish population and I believed that he winked at me as he squawked in his exit from the pond.

Carefully exploring the pond proved to be fruitless as my water was void of any fish or swimming creatures. Later in the summer I was happy to see that some frogs called the pond home only to meet a similar fate compliments of the raccoons who loved the water as well.

Between evaporation and providing drinks for the neighborhood wildlife it took about 50 gallons of water to adequately keep the pond’s water level up and was a weekly maintenance duty.

My next reality check was that the local deer population not only came for a drink at the pond but really enjoyed many of the plantings.

The Violets, Cardinal flowers and Hosta’s really were decimated and made me really reconsider what can be planted for pollinators to be attracted to the backyard habitat. Cone flowers were good choices as were daffodils and iris varieties. Later I found that Black-eyed Susan’s, Daisey’s, Salvia and Zinnias could hold up pretty good as well. This was a lesson learned but helped me decide what to do with many other plantings around the entire area.

I took advantage of the food sources in my lot including oak trees, hickory, butternut and black walnut stands. We planted apple trees, blue berry bushes and ornamentals that produced fruit that the birds and deer enjoyed as well.

The plantings also attracted wild turkey, wood ducks, pheasant and the occasional grouse or bobwhite quail over the years. Many of the game birds were released by dog trainers but they seemed to gravitate to the habitat and also enjoyed what it provided to them.

For cover and nesting I left many old growth trees and brushy areas that should have been cut down and we used old tree tops tossed together as brush piles.

We eventually had quite the assortment of cavity loving birds and animals that visit our lot every year and eventually call it home, including flying squirrels.

Managing the backyard habitat took some initial work and patience. However, once the wildlife decides to make it their home, they rewarded us with their presence regularly and showed off their young to us each year. It has become our own special place to enjoy and share with our friends and family, both people and wildlife.

Jay Hewitt is an outdoors columnist for the Butler Eagle