DM For Descript-1

Crystal: [00:00:00] [00:00:00] Hi, Dave, thank you so much for joining me on forces for nature. It’s great. Yeah.

David: [00:00:04] Hey crystal, I’m so thrilled to be here.

Crystal: [00:00:06] So in the last couple of years, studies have come out saying that there have been huge declines in animal species. Be it mammals, birds, insects, you name it. Can you talk to

David: [00:00:18] that a little bit? Yeah. I mean, unfortunate reality is that we human beings , um, , continue to have a pretty massive, unfortunately negative impact on.

, our fellow species. , there’ve been a whole bunch of studies in recent years, looking at that decline of biodiversity, , over a million species globally, or at risk of extinction. Um, here in the U S where I’m based, we, , have one third of our wildlife species that are at increased risk of extinction in [00:00:45] just the next few decades.

It’s a big part of the work that the national wildlife Federation my organization is working on. Um, , unpacking that further. Um, there’ve been studies recently looking at the North American bird population, which is down by about 3 billion birds just in the last 50 years. So there’s 3 billion, less birds in North America than there were in 1970.

Um, the Monarch butterfly, , beautiful iconic species. That probably is the first insect that most people can identify. Maybe after the lady bug has children and their populations have. Totally plummeted. The  Eastern population East of the Rockies is down by as much as 90%. I mean, a fluctuates from year to year, but the Western population is even in worse shape.

There’s less than 1% of the Western Monarch butterfly population left. Um, so [00:01:30] it’s, it’s scary. Uh, the bee populations are disappearing and I’m not talking about the domesticated honeybee. ,  globally, we’ve got about 20,000 bee species. In North America, roughly around 4,000 and many of them are starting to disappear.

So. A lot of bad news. Um, and I only share that because I think it’s important to understand kind of what we’re up against, but the good news is that this particular issue where we’re looking at species like songbirds, like insects that can actually cohabitate with us, they can share our habitat, our cities, our towns, our neighborhoods.

Um, these are groups of wildlife. That pretty much every one of [00:02:15] us have a really tremendous opportunity to do something, to help turn the tide on those,  massive declines in their populations. And , it’s an action that not only will help wildlife, but I think is pretty enjoyable.

For people to, and it doesn’t matter where you live, , how much expertise you have, , even what your budget is. Pretty much anyone anywhere can do very basic things to restore habitat for wildlife by doing what we call it, the national wildlife Federation, gardening for wildlife.

Crystal: [00:02:46] Can you tell me,  what’s causing these huge declines?

David: [00:02:50] Sure. Yeah. So, I mean, it’s,  a whole bunch of different things, right? Um, it depends on the species  and that kind of thing, but , um, big picture it’s habitat loss is,  the big one , for [00:03:00] almost all species. And , that’s kind of a big umbrella in and of itself. Cause lots of different things cause habitat loss, but , at its most basic level, just.

Taking natural habitat. And mostly again, because of human activity, converting it into something that isn’t as useful for wildlife species. So whether that’s cutting down, , large areas of forest or converting, , uh, grasslands into agriculture or, , frankly just, , turning those old farm lands into housing developments with tons, more cars,  , all of those kinds of activities.

Are causing habitat loss for lots of different species. Um, ,

Crystal: [00:03:37] spinning off of the habitat decline.

It creates these habitat islands that are just completely [00:03:45] disconnected from one another. And so this habitat fragmentation It doesn’t allow species to meet each other and reproduce. And what have you , um, yeah, yeah,

David: [00:03:55] no for, yeah, for sure. I mean, you know, if you look at where the densest human populations are, oftentimes they are in what used to be the best wildlife habitat.

They oftentimes are along like major waterways or other sort of migratory routes of wildlife. And so. , we, human beings are taking up , uh, , a pretty significant footprint and as I mentioned, there’s actually still a lot of species that can coexist with us. They can live right alongside us. If we just give them some habitat. And so , the idea of [00:04:30] taking again, our cities or towns or neighborhoods, sort of , that what I call like the human dominated landscape , um, and thinking about.

Not only how we can make those functional for us humans, but how do we think about reconnecting those spaces into the greater ecosystem? Uh, because they are, whether we like it or not, and it’s our choice ecosystem. Yeah. Right. And so it’s our choice on , how far, or we want to take that integration.

And so. As you were mentioning, fragmentation of habitat is a big factor in that overall habitat loss.

And, , for folks that maybe don’t understand that, that term, , it’s kind of what it sounds like. It’s, , you take a big area of good habitat and you slice it up with roads or logging areas [00:05:15] or, , a strip mall and. There still might be habitat around, but the habitat quality , is less beneficial to wildlife because it’s in pockets that are now separated and individual animals might not be able to get from, , habitat chunk a over to habitat chunk B to find food or a mate  but , the garden for wildlife work,  it’s really focused  on the birds and the butterflies and, , the smaller mammals that,   makes  sense that they would be our backyard neighbor.

Crystal: [00:05:43] Right. And, despite. these huge fragmentations and urban sprawl. And what have you. We have such an incredible ability to, , help mitigate that problem. And.  You have written a book, , a gardening, [00:06:00] how to book called attracting birds, butterflies, and other backyard wildlife that helps people to make their properties more wildlife friendly.

Um, tell me about that.

David: [00:06:10] Yeah. So, , I’ve mentioned a couple of times, this idea of gardening for wildlife. Um, this  is a program that the national wildlife Federation has been doing since 1973. And it’s all about everything we’ve been talking about. It’s all about helping. , the average person, who cares about animals, cares about wildlife, , and, , maybe selfishly, which is not a bad thing once to see them, , once they look out their window and see beautiful birds and sea birds or flies, and, , go out into their yard and hear the call of birds or the songs or frogs and , that kind of thing.

And so garden for wildlife is all about helping people restore. [00:06:45] Habitat for all sorts of wildlife, that are appropriate to be our neighbors. Um, and ,  this idea that, , that old phrase of think globally act locally. That’s what this is all about. So we need to continue doing the big picture work.

, we need to be, , getting good, strong wildlife policy in place. We need to be tackling climate change. We need to be protecting, , pristine wilderness areas. But the reality  is that , the human footprint is pretty huge. And so we probably actually can’t save. All the species that we need to save.

If we just focus on, , the national parks and wildlife refuges and things like that. So what we really need to be doing in addition to those things is focusing [00:07:30] on how we can make the human habitat better for our fellow species as well. And so the idea for the book. Is really about  this garden for wildlife idea.

And , it’s funny because I’m a wildlife conservationist, but I’ve written a gardening book and a lot of people get confused by that. And they think, , don’t you not want wildlife in the garden? , our conventional, , gardening , uh, rules say that no, , get rid of the wildlife, they’ll eat your plants, they’ll destroy everything.

But the reality is, is that in nature, plants are the core, the foundation of wildlife habitat. Right. Think about it.  , wherever animals exist, there’s a plant community and the plant community is sort of at the base of the food web.  And even [00:08:15] more specifically than that, not every plant is created equally. And the sad reality is that most of the plants that are common in the, in the horticulture industry for, , your landscapes and at home gardens are actually. Of no use whatsoever to wildlife.

And in fact, many of them, , sort of developed as popular landscape plants  for the very reason that they actually don’t support any wildlife. , but the idea is just that wildlife need the plants that they co-evolved with. And some wildlife, even more than others, like they specifically need that plant and that plant does not exist in the landscape. Then that wildlife can’t survive there either. And so again, the plants and the animals are really, really relate it.

. Um, , the garden world and the [00:09:00] horticulture world really never looked at that as it, as a sort of evolved to what it is today. And so usually it was looking at things like, is this plant ornamental? Does it look nice? Does it have a function in the landscape?

, does it provide shade or block wind or whatever? And no one was really looking at or caring about like, Oh, and does it support the birds? Does it provide habitat for the bees? That kind of thing.

Um,   but yeah, I mean, if we just gave up a little bit of our lawn, And replace some of our non-native plants that again, either don’t support anything or even worse, don’t support anything and are invasive and are escaping out into the wild and put in some good native plants that provide habitat for our local wildlife species.

If all of us did that, even on a [00:09:45] small scale level. The amount of habitat that can resolve from that could actually be significant. And, , when we all do it, the benefit becomes exponential. Um, , it’s not the magic wand solution to the biodiversity and extinction crisis that we’re seeing on the planet, but , uh, it is something that can help and it’s something that we can all do.

And that personal action I find is just so powerful. , it’s really hard to, , look at, , polar bears disappearing because of climate change and feel like the thing that I’m doing today is really making an impact there. Um, but when you plant a native milkweed, And then you see the Monarch butterfly caterpillars feeding on it.

It’s the only plant that they can eat. And so without the milkweed plant in the landscape, the Monarch butterflies, can’t finish [00:10:30] their reproductive cycle and the population starts to disappear. And that is exactly why the Monarch butterfly is starting to disappear. One of the main reasons, at least.

Um,

even if you don’t have  a. Suburban yard. , you can do this anywhere , if you can plant something, you can create some habitat for wildlife. Um,

Crystal: [00:10:47] .  , so tell us what are some do’s and don’ts that people need to consider when making their  property more wildlife-friendly?

David: [00:10:55] Well, , the first thing is, , what do you want to. Having your yard in order for it to be supportive of wildlife.

There’s really four things that all wildlife species need to survive their food, water, cover, and places or resources to raise their young or reproduce know all animals of [00:11:15] all kinds. Need those four things.

If they’re going to actually survive and have healthy populations. And , your plants are going to do most of the work for you because your native plants are going to provide food in the form of seeds, nuts, berries, nectar, SAP, in some cases, yeah. The foliage is going to get eaten. Um, , and then secondarily those plants, those native plants are going to support insects, which are important wildlife in and of themselves.

But they’re the first. Uh, like protein step in the food web, right? So it starts with the plants and then insects are next. And , just to illustrate how important insects are as part of the food web 96% of our backyard, birds feed their babies, a diet of insects or invertebrates, insects, and spiders.

[00:12:00] One study that was done recently , under Dr. Doug Ptolemy’s , uh, purview was looked at Carolina chickadees and concluded that one pair of chickadees needs to catch between six and 9,000 invertebrates to raise one nest of baby successfully.

Wow. And that’s only over like a two week, 16 day nesting period from when the eggs hatch to when the babies fledge and they only really hunted forage for those, invertebrates within say 150 feet of the nest.  So this idea of garden for wildlife is wildlife conservation. On the scale of your own yard or whatever garden space , you have,

in many cases, it’s just picking the right plants, , one or two of the [00:12:45] trees and shrubs that are best able to support say the caterpillars that those chickadees are going to feed their babies that are also going to turn into the butterflies and moths. ? And all of a sudden you have this little mini ecosystem, this little food web happening, , right outside your own door.

And if I do it and you do it and the neighbors do it again, you get to this idea of fragmentation, , on that small scale, you begin to create these green corridors, , through our yards and along our property lines, that then connect into the local park system, which then connect into,  the wild areas outside of our neighbor.

And it all kind of becomes as green infrastructure. And um, , um, so. Your plants are going to provide food. As I was mentioning, they’re going to provide cover, , places where animals can hide from predators, or if they’re predatory, where they can hide [00:13:30] and catch their prey. And again, we’re not talking about, , mountain lions and bears.

We’re talking about, , red foxes or gray foxes. We’re talking about , um, , possums, things like that. Um, and frankly, songbirds they’re predators too, right? They’re eating these insects and they have to on for them and they have to get a meal. And so your plants are going to provide that element as well.

And cover is really, , it’s less about what you plant , ,  more about how you plant it. So the just plant densely mimic the way that mother nature. Has plants out in nature. Right. And so usually you don’t just see, , one plant plunked out on this vast nothingness of lawn, right? Usually there’s, , maybe a big canopy tree and then there’s smaller trees underneath it and then shrubs under that.

And so right away, you can [00:14:15] begin to see how layering plants in that way creates a lot of cover or shelter. Um, and it’s not just about predators and prey to animals need.  , cover from the elements, whether it’s super hot out or high winds or cold or snowing, and they hide in the plants. So  native plants are going to provide food.

They’re going to provide cover, and then places to raise young, same thing. That’s your plants, birds nest in trees or in the branches of trees. Insects use plants as host plants for their babies. I mentioned the Monarch butterfly needing a milkweed. , without milkweed, they can’t lay their eggs.

It’s the only thing their caterpillars can eat. And every single butterfly and moth has a limited list of Caterpillar host plants that they have co-evolved with. And that’s the only thing their caterpillars can eat. [00:15:00] So plant the, the right host plants, and you’re going to provide places to raise young just through what you plant water.

That’s the extra one, , You can have a water garden or maybe a backyard pond, but a simple bird bath works. And, , that provides just a little bit of  that resource that, that wildlife need. So those are the four things. And if you put them and create a garden space that have them , um, and then you commit to what we call sustainable gardening.

So in other words, don’t create this beautiful habitat and then spray it with pesticides, , think about organic gardening, water conservation, don’t plant things that are not native to your area and need a lot of extra watering. Right. Um, Yeah, you can use mulch , um, and particular the natural leaf litter as mulch is the best thing that you can do [00:15:45] that, , limits the amount of waste to leaving your yard.

And you’re recycling everything right back into your yard. And , those fallen leaves, they fall from the trees right around the root zone, where they preserve the soil moisture, where they suppress weeds, where they break down and put nutrients back right into the roots of the plants. Sounds an awful lot like mulch.

And fertilizer. Yeah, we’ve been taught by again, the conventional gardening system, every fall. Now of our much of this continent, people spend all their fault weekends out there raking, or even worse leaf blowing all the leaves away. And then they turn around and they buy mulch and fertilizer. It’s kind of,

Crystal: [00:16:22] and it also provides maybe you were just going to say it.

Oh

David: [00:16:26] yeah. Yeah, I was just going to say, the leaf litter is [00:16:30] habitat in and of itself. So many species need it. Yeah. As part of their, , where they’re going to be foraging or even their entire habitat. Um, a lot of  which are declining around the globe faster than any other group of vertebra, wildlife, , many of them live in the leaflet or salamanders, frogs, toads.

Um, Lots of other critters, you know, forage in the leaflet are lots of birds. For example,  you can see like even Robbins, , common bird, they can’t just survive on the one worm they find in your lawn. They’re naturally looking in the leaf litter for those worms and other invertebrates. And most people don’t realize  that the majority of moth species and many butterflies actually pupate, or overwinter in the leaf litter.

So, if you get rid of all the leaves on your property, you’re [00:17:15] eliminating not only some pretty awesome wildlife in their own, right? But those are the insects that the birds are going to be feeding their babies. The next spring. So it’s all connected. Again, your yard, your garden is an ecosystem. So food, water, cover places to raise young and then sustainable gardening.

. If someone was just getting started, what should they focus on first so as to not get overwhelmed and then end up tossing the idea.

,  I’ve just given everybody a ton of information. . There’s a lot of information to absorb. So my first bit of advice is don’t feel overwhelmed. You do not have to do this in one fell swoop.

Um, , , a lot of times people think, Oh my gosh, I’d love to do that, but I don’t know all the plants or I don’t have a,  big enough yard or I don’t want to rip out my entire landscape and start from scratch. You don’t have to do any of that. , my advice for people that are just starting [00:18:00] out are interested in this, but don’t really know where to start is  just start small, , maybe you, ,  plant that garden bed, you make it a goal to dig up that one patch of lawn and put in some native wild flowers or maybe yeah. You make it a goal to plant a tree on your property?

Um, that kind of thing. So start small , is , my first advice. Um, and the other, I guess the other misperception that stops a lot of people is that when you say wildlife habitat garden, you know, it’s easy to envision kind of a wild. Weedy looking mess that a lot of people just, they don’t want , that aesthetic.

Right. And so you don’t have to [00:18:45] have a very overgrown garden or landscape in order for it to be beneficial to wildlife. Now, wildlife love natural habitat. Right? So if you do want to have a more wild aesthetic. There’s nothing wrong with that, go for it. Um, but we also recognize that a lot of people that’s not going to work for them.

Right.

Um, but if you plant native plants, even if it’s in a very conventional looking garden design, It’s still going to help. It’s still going to have an impact. And then, , think about all like the entirety of, , , your property or wherever it is that you’re gardening. , you might have opportunities to go a little bit more wild than one part, , usually, maybe in the back of your yard, where maybe in the front, you, , you keep it a little [00:19:30] bit more tidy looking and on our mental, but again, if you’re planting the right native plants and, , You’ll still be providing habitat.

And that leads me into my third kind of , um, mistake to avoid. And that is thinking that again, native plants are weeds just cause they grow in nature. So that’s not true. Either many native plants are absolutely beautiful and ornamental and many of them are some of our tried and true garden blends.

 , um,

 , don’t feel like you have to bite off more than you can choose. Start small. Don’t assume that the wildlife garden means that your yard is gonna look messy and don’t assume that native plants are just weeds. Cause there are not, many of them are very, very beautiful and commonly cultivated and available [00:20:15] at garden centers.

If you just ask.

Crystal: [00:20:17] also mentioned pesticides and I want to circle back on that. Um, , for people who live in the suburb, just in general um, , um, it takes a mosquitoes are not only pesky. They can be dangerous, which makes it hard to justify, to not spray pesticides in order to kill them.

How can we protect our families from them while also protecting the environment?

David: [00:20:42] Yeah, this is a great question. And, , we could do an entire podcast just on pesticides and, , I think we have to start by. Kind of looking at them for what they are, which is a tool. Um, they’re, they’re not good or evil. It’s, it’s how we use them. And , the reality is, is that oftentimes [00:21:00] pesticides are a critical tool for conservation to help control invasive species.

 , um, I think when it comes to using them around the home, we want to think about a few different things. We want to think about. The amount that we’re using. Um, we want to look at what the specific chemicals are that we’re using and critically, I think we always need to look at, , is this the best and most effective way to achieve the goal that I’m trying to achieve?

And oftentimes. There are solutions that don’t require the use of pesticides that will get you the same result or even better result without having the negative side effects of pesticides.

So , um, , , even kind of. [00:21:45] Quote, unquote, organic pesticides or botanicals. , these are still chemicals and, , it’s less about what they’re made of sometimes and more about the impact that they’re having.  , I see this a lot. Particularly , with this sort of rise of the companies that will come around and spray your yard for mosquitoes.

Uh, there’s been a proliferation of these companies in the last few years and , um, , a lot of people say, Oh, well, they,  have an organic solution. So, it’s fine. that  is an oversimplification and it’s unfortunately, A great business plan for these companies because organic and natural are buzzwords and people really want to do that.

And that’s a good thing, but most people, frankly, are not very  knowledgeable about what that means. [00:22:30] So they get kind of , um, tricked in a way to do this quote unquote organic option, which, , may be better than the synthetic chemical on many fronts, but it doesn’t mean it’s without impact.

Crystal: [00:22:41] , I remember when I, so there’s organic sprays that use essential oils and they’re labeled organic and they’re labeled all natural and they can actually be very detrimental to bees and other beneficial insects if you don’t know how to properly apply them.

I remember being surprised, pointed because you’re like, ah, so what do I do? Right. .

David: [00:23:05] ,  and a lot of times to your point, they, if they’re not applied properly, they can a not kill the things that you want them to kill or be killed a lot of [00:23:15] other things that were not targeted in the first place. Right. So , , you do have to be.

An educated consumer. If you’re going to use these things and you do really have to kind of read up on them and figure out what the impacts are and you can’t trust what the company who’s trying to sell you, the product or the service is going to tell you, because a lot of times in my experience, they’re not even particularly knowledgeable and their job is to sell you the package where they’re going to come .

Broadcast spray, insecticides all over your yard all summer long, because they’re going to sell you on, Oh, you know, it’ll kill all the mosquitoes. Right. And so you’re going to say, Oh, and we’re using the organic, right. But little, do you know that it’s also killing the bees and the butterflies and the moms?

, I guess what I’m saying is that. There is no magic wand solution. [00:24:00] When it comes to using pesticides, they all have a negative consequence. They are all going to potentially kill things that you don’t want to kill.

They could potentially be dangerous for you, your pets, your family, as well, depending on how they’re applied. Um,

Crystal: [00:24:15] and then  it also   impacts the bird populations because of , the beneficial insects that you do want there.

Get killed as

David: [00:24:22] well. Correct. Absolutely. , the idea is that everything’s connected , your yard, your garden, your neighborhood, your town, your city is an ecosystem, right?  That’s just the reality. ? And so we can have healthy ecosystems that support lots of diversity of life, or we can have sort of degraded ones where it’s just human beings and pigeons and rats and cockroaches.

[00:24:45]. My advice  is when it comes to pesticides. Try to avoid them, . They are tools. And so sometimes, , there might be a scenario where like, this is the only thing that’s going to work.

Um, but there are a lot of really tried and true organic gardening techniques that will eliminate the need to use. Whatever kind of pesticide it is that you were thinking about using, ,  say like a vegetable garden you can use plant covers. Um, , you can handpick, you can use natural substances, something like diatomaceous earth, which is just really, really finely , uh, ground. I think it’s actually shells or something like that. It’s like a silica type thing that actually will.

Cut the, the bodies of things like slugs and they won’t [00:25:30] cross it subs won’t cross copper either. So you put a little bit of copper stripping down around your tender greens at the slugs might be eating it’s completely non-toxic it’s not going to kill anything, but it deters.

So there’s a lot of alternative solutions to using pesticides in some of these instances. Um,  we were talking just a minute ago about the whole. Absolutely. I mean, a lot of the pesticides. They don’t just stay on your yard, especially if they’re over applied, which oftentimes happens when people put them say on their lawn, , um, people tend to think, Oh, more is better, but it isn’t.

And these things can pollute the soil and they can persist in the soil. They can run off our yard and get into the waterways where they build up and then they have negative [00:26:15] consequences far beyond your own yard. So. , generally speaking, avoiding the use of pesticides is the  best thing that you can do

Crystal: [00:26:22] Um,

David: [00:26:22] . Um,

Do you have any practical tips for the listener to protect against some specific pests?Now, let me give you some tips on mosquitoes, because this is what it’s all about. It’s the practical info. And I cover this in my book.

So mosquitoes, they go through this aquatic larval phase depends on the species. There’s lots of different mosquitoes, but usually it takes them about five to seven days to go from larva. To the winged adult form. So think about that , rather than just spraying a bunch of pesticides everywhere, how else could we minimize the mosquitoes in our yard?

We’ll look for breeding spots and eliminate them, mosquitoes, Brita, water. And again, it depends on the species. Some only need like an inch of water, some need bigger [00:27:00] bodies of water, but look around your property and find spots that are holding water. Your gutters are one of the top places that mosquitoes are breeding, the leaves get caught up in there.

It CA forms little pools of water when it rains. And oftentimes they’ll last long enough for the mosquitoes to go through that. So, , you might not need to be spraying all these pesticides everywhere, killing off all the beneficial insects. Just clean your gutters and put a leaf guard on your gutters.

Things like that, any kind of debris, kids, toys, play equipment, even garden equipment sometimes can kind of keep these little pools of water, look and see if there’s any puddles or areas that aren’t draining properly in your yard. And address those. And usually you can  minimize [00:27:45] the amount of mosquitoes right around your yard, where you are other non chemical ways of controlling mosquitoes or managing them are fans. Mosquitoes are not particularly strong fliers. So, , if it’s a patio or a deck or something, get a big strong oscillating fan and put it outside.

And have a blow and that will actually blow a lot of the mosquitoes away.  Use repellents,  you can also use. Uh, more of a botanical , uh, repellent  ingredient needs to be oil of lemon eucalyptus.

And that has shown in studies to be just as effective as the synthetic chemicals . You just have to apply it a little bit , more frequently, but it smells really good too.  So there’s a lot of different solutions that we can do [00:28:30] to minimize the problems that we have with wildlife that aren’t like, full-blown nature, palming your yard. You know what I’m saying? Um, one last tip on mosquitoes.

Is that again, I talked about water being one of the habitat components that we encourage people to provide for the birds and other wildlife. And so. You know, people are like, well, if I put out a water feature, it’s just going to breed mosquitoes. No. So number one, the most common way that people are providing water, and it’s a totally legit way to provide water.

It’s just a bird bath, , simple, shallow dish that birds and other wildlife can come drink in and Birdwell Bay, then that kind of thing. Well, remember what I was saying about the timeframe. It takes , five to seven days for mosquitoes to complete their larval phase in the water and emerges the winged adults.

All you have to [00:29:15] do is dump your birdbath out every two or three days and all the mosquitoes go bye-bye if there are any in there at all in the first place, right? So that’s simple to do. If you have a pond or a water garden, you can use products that are known as mosquito, dunks, or mosquito bits, and what these are, are a natural soil bacterium called , bacillus.

Thuringiensis is really, I believe is the subspecies name. And it’s actually a strain of this soil bacteria that targets mosquitoes and fungus gnats and a few other biting flies. So you can inoculate your pond. Or your water garden with that. And it’s pretty much non-toxic to all other forms of life and [00:30:00] it will control the mosquitoes.

So your pond will never be producing mosquitoes and you won’t be poisoning, you know, everything else. So again, lots and lots of different options. You just have to do a little bit of homework. And again, I include all of this in my book, and you can find a lot of this information on the national wildlife Federation website too.

So there are alternatives  to using pesticides that will minimize our exposure to pests , um, and also allow us to enjoy the outdoors and not be poisoning, lots of the beneficial wildlife that we want around.

Crystal: [00:30:30] one thing I always talk about in spring and summer is I tell people.  Who  consider possums pests, but they actually love to eat your ticks, the ticks on your lungs.

So you want those animals there. Keep them there,  [00:30:45] make the habitat friendly to possums because then they’ll come and eat the ticks. So you don’t have to worry about

David: [00:30:50] it. Okay. A hundred percent. I love opossums. They’re the coolest animals ever. They get such a bad rap. I want to come back on and do a whole show with you just about them.

In fact, I’m working on a video for my YouTube channel, all about how amazing possums are, but , um, but yes, you are. Absolutely right. There was a study done a few years ago that looked at , um, it basically looked at. Mammals , that , sort of co-exists with humans , um, you know, foxes and raccoons and skunks and opossums and maybe a few others.

The study concluded that one possum, within its little habitat range, which is not super big. So, you know, your yard and your neighbors’ yards can take out about 5,000 ticks in , one season, one spring to summer [00:31:30] season. Wow. That’s a lot of ticks.

Right. So give the possums and habitat and you will have a natural control on things like ticks, , so yeah, there’s other solutions by supporting wildlife by having a natural ecosystem. And this is one last thing that I didn’t mention , um,

if you have a natural landscape, a natural garden, you typically don’t have pest problems. Pests happen when there’s like, things are out of balance, ? So when you have like this amazing resource and there’s nothing else around the, the insects for example, are going to come to your vegetable garden.

. But if you have a lot of native plants around that are supporting the predatory insects, Then they’re going to help keep the pest insects and check the birds are going to help [00:32:15] keep the pests, insects, and checks. The possums are gonna help keep the ticks and check the dragonflies are going to help keep the mosquitoes in check.

? So if you just have a barren wasteland of lawn, and if you weren’t a mental plants, that’s a prime scenario for you to have a pest problem. But if you have some lawn, but you also have. Blooming native plants and native trees and shrubs and some ferns. And, , you got the things that the other animals need.

They tend to keep each other in balance. So you never have  a proliferation of any one kind of insect or other, , critter that could be a pest. So, , again, at the end of the day, it’s all about balance.

,

Crystal: [00:32:51] we are at a critical moment regarding the Earth’s biodiversity, as we have been discussing. What brings you hope despite these harrowing [00:33:00] statistics?

David: [00:33:00] Another excellent question. And I’ll be the first to tell you that it there’s a lot of bad news out there, and it’s really easy. To lose hope, , those of us who work , in conservation, on environmental issues and protecting animals and wildlife , um, it’s very easy to become despondent. Um, but here’s what I know is that just because it’s hard work and just because we oftentimes have an uphill battle does not mean  it’s not important. And it does not mean that we should give up because we might not be able to save every species. And we might not be able to turn everything around, but every action that we do does have a positive impact. And I, I take hope in [00:33:45] that. And I take solace in the fact that I have choice. , I can make decisions that are either going to support the life on this planet or not.

And, , sometimes you have to focus on , that, like I said earlier, think globally, act locally and,  focus on the small actions and know that they are helping and that others are doing them as well. And that is why I am personally so passionate. About  fighting for our planet starting right in our own backyards.

These,  local actions can really kind of be the first thing that kind of builds and get some momentum and lots of other people get involved. And then suddenly we start seeing, , big picture change , for wildlife and the planet. So , um, , I do take hope in that. And, and I mentioned the pandemic a second ago too. [00:34:30] I also take hope and what I am seeing, , with everybody being, , forced to be at home a lot more, the interest that has really blown up since this pandemic started in.

Experiencing nature around where people live. Um, , at the national wildlife Federation, we’ve seen a huge uptick in people seeking out this information on how to plant a butterfly garden and how to create, , a habitat for the birds and the butterflies and people are really excited about that.

Look, nature is all around us. It’s not just off in the wilderness areas or hidden away in, , the national parks or something like that. Those are amazing places to go experience nature. But if you walk outside your door, nature’s there too. And [00:35:15] you can really have more of it. If you create these wildlife habitat gardens and maintain your yards and gardens in this natural way, and you can have your own little Oasis.

Crystal: [00:35:26] I a hundred percent agree. And also , for people who are very interested in getting their property wildlife friendly, I do want to say that national wildlife Federation has , um, wildlife friendly plaques or certifications so that , you can post to your neighborhood that , what you’re doing is , um, Friendly for the wildlife and studies have shown that the more you bring awareness around things and make it a social norm, more people will do it.

So that’s something to keep in

David: [00:35:57] mind. Yeah. I’m glad you mentioned that. I didn’t [00:36:00] want to do a hard sell on, on what we call certification. Um, but part of our garden for wildlife program is this recognition component that we call certified wildlife habitat. , and you can do this anywhere . It could be your yard. It could be at your kid’s school. It could be at your place of worship. It could be at an office building. If you can plant something, you can create a wildlife habitat garden, and we’ll recognize it as a certified wildlife habitat.

This has been great, Dave? Any final thoughts?

.  Um, I was looking at the birds this morning in my yard and it’s just , Lifts your spirits. So you benefit the wildlife benefits, the planet benefits. It’s really a win-win and I really do hope that everybody out there listening.

This year, make it a goal,   just start small,  , and it’s might seem small and insignificant, but again, yeah. It’s having an impact and when more people do it, it has an [00:36:45] even bigger impact. So it’s all about gardening for wildlife. Um, , national wildlife Federation, like I said earlier, we’ve been doing this program since 1973. So we’ve got a ton of resources on our website, which I’ll plug it’s nwf.org/garden.

And of course I have a whole how to book on it called attracting birds, butterflies, and other backyard wildlife, which every purchase. Goes to support the national wildlife Federation conservation program. So it’s like a double do good deed. You know, you’ll learn how to help the wildlife in your own yard or garden, and you’ll be supporting our work and the big picture to protect America’s wildlife.

Crystal: [00:37:22] all right. Cool. Dave, thank you so much. This was really exciting.

And I. Can’t wait to be able [00:37:30] to implement , some things myself, even though I live in a city and in an apartment, , you can do things. So thank you for all you do. You’re making a difference.

David: [00:37:40] Thank you. And I back at you, I’m so excited to have been on today and hopefully everybody listening learned some stuff and I am so thrilled.

Because everybody that you have on the podcast is so inspirational. And so , um, I want to say thank you for giving us all a platform  to get these messages out and hopefully inspire people to get a little bit more involved in saving our planet and our fellow species.