How to provide a Wildlife Sanctuary

My husband and I both try to live in harmony with nature and respect all living beings. After we were married, we bought a small piece of land in the country and have tried to make it as hospitable as possible for the wildlife here. We only cut down trees needed to place our home and a small garden and left the rest standing. People in this area have become aware of our compassion for animals and will bring us orphaned and injured animals which we raise and release on our land. To provide these and the other animals in this area a safe environment, we have kept them in mind in everything we do.

When planning our garden each year, we always make allowances for the wild rabbits, squirrels and opossum, to make sure everyone has enough to eat. Even Mika our dog will eat from it. We do not use any pesticides in our vegetable garden. I will not even use them on my flowers, which has prevented any success with roses.

We had to fence in about an acre so Mika would not wander up near the road. We decided on a farm fence. Farm fences are made of wire fashioned into large 6 inch squares at the bottom and each row the squares decrease in size so that near the top they are about 2 inches. This would allow rabbits and opossum to still come in and eat from our garden.

We had to build a birdfeeder on a pole made from landscaping timber because there are so many squirrels that will feed at once they end up breaking any store-bought feeder. Some people view squirrels as a nuisance but they are a constant source of amusement, especially in the spring when the little ones come out. Quite a few of them, the ones we have raised, will come and eat from our hands. The next concern was a water source for all these animals. This gave me a good excuse to buy a fountain. It runs year-round, which Mika prefers over her own dish in the house. Since I live in the south, the fountain rarely freezes. We also are lucky to have some natural artesian wells in the back of the property. They are small, but they allow water for the rabbits.