Carol Buie Jackson, the owner of Bird House on the Greenway in the shops at Piper Glenn, believes we are losing our relationship with nature and with it, the understanding that how we live impacts the world around us. She said her goal is to get people to reduce the grass in their years and create more natural areas with native plants to support our native wildlife.
Birds are the canary in the coal mine as indicators that the environment is out of balance, she said. Habitat loss is the single biggest threat to wildlife, yet we continue to clear cut land for development, removing the natural habitat for the wildlife. Concrete is a contributing factor to drought as the water runs off vs. soaking into the ground and replenishing the ground water.
Grass is the single largest crop the US grows – 40 million acres. By using a regular gas powered mower for 1 hour it produces the equivalent pollutants of driving 650 miles in a car.
Wildlife needs four things to survive:
* Habitat – trees, bushes and other plants
* Food – each bird, animal, butterfly and insect is dependent upon different food sources
* Water – clean water at different levels. Note: water in bird baths needs to be changed every other day. It takes 3 days for mosquitos to form in standing water. Changing water every other day will help eliminate mosquitos
* Shelter – birds nests, houses, underbrush for rabbits, wooded areas for snakes. They need a safe place to raise their young, where mother birds can see predators coming
The biggest thing you can do: Reduce your grass and plant native plants. Find a list of native plants at ncwildlifenetwork.com and ncwildflower.org.
Want to watch the butterfly life cycle? Plant parsley and watch and wait for a caterpillar to begin eating it (the Eastern Black Swallowtail love parsley). Capture the caterpillar and place it in a glass jar with holes in the lid with a piece of the parsley. You can watch the caterpillar create the chrysalis and then the butterfly will form.
Want more information? Carol's website is http://smelllikedirt.wordpress.com.
