frequently asked questionsAttracting Wild AnimalsWe noticed a wild rabbit in our yard and would like to put out carrots and fruit for him but wonder if that’s the right thing to do? We generally do not recommend feeding wild mammals. It can often lead to problems for them as they very quickly adapt to humans and become reliant on your hospitality. Putting out vegetables and fruits could also attract other less desirable animals thereby creating problems for you. The best way to entice rabbits and other wildlife to your garden is to create a welcoming environment by including aspects of their natural habitat in your yard. Rabbits prefer woody and shrubby areas or the border areas of woodlots. If you would like to increase shelter for rabbits you can easily add a brush pile. You can also plant more shrubs if necessary. In the summer, rabbits eat mostly grasses and weeds, such as goldenrod, wild strawberries, dandelions, and clover. To provide food for them, don’t cut your lawn too short, allow some weeds to grow, and let a corner of your garden go a bit wild with longer grass, weeds and/or wildflowers. In winter, rabbits turn to the bark, twigs, and buds of shrubs and young trees. In fact, they can do a lot of damage to your garden. If you’re worried about any particular plants, you can protect them with hardware cloth or chicken wire. To provide rabbits with a winter food source, place any branch trimmings from fall pruning on the ground for them. We would like to support the deer population in our area and were wondering what plants we could incorporate into our garden to provide a food source for them? Deer are not particularly fussy eaters, so you may find attracting them isn’t all that difficult. In winter, deer tend to live on the buds and twigs of shrubs and saplings. They prefer edge habitat (the area at the edge of a forest that leads to meadow), since these areas contain a lot of young trees and shrubs for them to eat. Deer like forest clearings for the same reason. Mature forests don’t have enough small trees or shrubs to sustain them. In the summer, deer supplement their diet with young grass and plants such as jewelweed, asters, and goldenrod. A wildflower meadow will also add to their food sources. In the fall, deer will eat fruit where available. Apples are particularly attractive to them, but you can also plant cherry, blueberry, or blackberry. Trees such as hemlock, cedar, and fir are good for deer. They also like mountain, striped, and red maple, sumac, oak, mountain ash, aspen poplar, and willow. A winter of heavy snow can devastate deer populations if there isn’t adequate cover for them. A large clump of cedars can provide both food and shelter. Check our plant encyclopedia to see which of the above-mentioned plants are native to your particular area. By choosing an assortment, you should be able to please the local deer population. |