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🏠🐾 Celebrating National Doghouse Repairs Month! 🛠️🐶 Whether it's a cozy shelter or a backyard haven, our dogs' houses deserve some TLC too! This month, let's ensure our furry friends have a safe and comfortable space to call their own. Your dog’s outdoor house should meet these requirements: • Adequate room for your dog to stand, turn about, and lie down with legs extended. • Shelter from inclement weather–both summer heat and winter cold. Building your doghouse in a shady spot can cut down on excessive heat in hot weather. • A secure roof that doesn’t leak. Grab the garden hose and give the roof a good watering to check that the inside remains dry. From simple fixes to full renovations, every effort counts in making their home a sanctuary. Share your doghouse upgrade projects or tips below! 🌟🐕 #NationalDoghouseRepairsMonth #DogHouseRenovation #PamperedPups

Summary: Another way to attract birds to your backyard is to provide nesting possibilities. Join Kiersten and Cheryl as they talk about what kinds of nest boxes you can provide for your backyard birds.   For our hearing-impaired listeners, a transcript of this podcast follows the show notes on Podbean.   Show Notes: Birdhouse Features: Features of a Good Birdhouse: https://lnkd.in/dCsbjNtW Find the birds near you and the best house for them: Right Bird, Right House:  https://lnkd.in/dXsg5sRW Nest Box designs by species: https://lnkd.in/dhUZzRct Troubleshooting birdhouses for landlords: https://lnkd.in/ddywa5kt Winter Roost Boxes: https://lnkd.in/ds_S7_Px   Transcript  Kiersten: Intro: We started The Feathered Desert to inform listeners in the southwest about how to feed wild birds successfully and responsibly. We wanted our listeners to know what kind of food to feed to attract the kinds of birds you wanted to see in your backyard. It occurred to me the other day that Cheryl and I have yet to talk about the other way to attract birds to the backyard and that is using nest boxes. So, today’s episode is all about the nest box.   Cheryl: Just like bird feeding, putting up birdhouses in your yard has evolved over the years to incorporate seasonal bird behavior and new scientific discoveries. To truly give the birds outside the best chance at surviving our constantly changing world, there are new guidelines for putting up birdhouses. It’s not a one size fits all device any more. You don’t just put up something that looks great to you and has a hole with a perch under it and see what happens. By observing bird behavior in the wild we’ve determined the best ways to offer birds a safe and secure home for raising young. Following these guidelines is the best way for you to attract even more birds to your yard and enjoy them for generations to come.   Kiersten: First of all, let’s start off with features of a good birdhouse. These features are specific to birdhouses used for nesting, also referred to as nest boxes. There are a few important features for usable nest boxes and they apply to a box you make yourself or one that you purchase. First make sure the wood is untreated and unpainted. The best woods to use are cedar, pine, cypress, or for larger boxes, non-pressure treated CDX exterior grade plywood. Second, use galvanized screws for construction. These hold up better than nails and are easier to remove when repairs are needed. Third, make sure the roof is sloped and hangs over the main body of the house by 2-4 inches over the opening and 2 inches along the sides. This will help keep out rain even when it gets heavy and the wind is whipping wildly and will also help de

Check out the interview below to discover why leaving leaves in your garden is beneficial. Instead of prioritizing a tidy yard in the fall, embrace a little messiness. This will provide habitat for birds, critters and insects that depend on leaf litter. 👉 https://lnkd.in/gxEn3Y5F #lawncare #rocny #fallseason

Be Mindful of Nesting Sites 🍂 During fall, bees search for suitable locations to build nests and hives. Here's what you can do to keep nesting sites safe: ✅ Inspect your property for bee nests in outdoor structures like sheds, attics, or tree hollows. ✅ Seal any potential entry points and repair gaps or cracks to prevent bees from nesting indoors. ✅ If you find a nesting site, call a professional bee removal service, like The Bee Man, for safe relocation. ✅ Let's ensure their homes are in safe places! #TheBeeMan #BeeManBuzz #BeeRemoval #BeeRemovalAndRelocation #BeeRemovalOrangeCounty #YellowjacketRemoval #WaspRemovalOrangeCounty #SafeNestingSites #FallBeeSafetyTips #ProtectTheBee

Thanks to my local paper, Transylvania Times, for publishing my letter on how to save #fireflies in Thursday’s edition: Protect fireflies We all love seeing the bright glow of fireflies in the late spring and summer, but I’m sure many of us have noticed that they seem to be fewer and fewer in number each year. Now that it is autumn and the leaves are beginning to fall, here is an important notice about how to ensure we protect our firefly population for next year. Fireflies spend 95% of their lives in their larval stages before becoming the adults that we love to watch glow. Adult fireflies lay their eggs in leaf litter and moist soil, where they hatch and live as larvae for 1 to 2 years before becoming the glowing adults. This autumn please don’t rake or blow the leaves off your lawn. Instead, allow them to lay on your lawns so that they can provide #habitat to fireflies and many other creatures. Here is a list of tactics we can deploy to protect fireflies, from the website of the Arlington Regional Master Naturalists, ARMN.org. Some inventive tips for attracting fireflies: •Don’t rake leaves and put them on the curb. You are raking up firefly larvae and throwing them away. •Collect paper bags of leaves to make “bag compost.” Collect five-15 bags. •Wet bags down in a shady lawn area. Keep moist/wet for three to six months or up to a year. •Bags will attract snails/slugs. This is food for growing fireflies •In spring, put bag compost in your #garden. Put it in mounds and work it into your soil. •Repeat each year. It might take as long as five years, or as quick as that same year, to get fireflies in your garden. For more information, go to www.firefly.org. Even if you don’t want to do the bag compost, simply leaving fallen leaves on your #lawns will go a long way toward supporting our fireflies. Thank you for doing your part to protect this cherished #insect. James Carli, Brevard #SDG15 #ThirdNatureHoldings #REALifeFramework #Biodiversity

🌟 Family Fun Friday: 15/03/2024 🌟 Hey everyone, 🌟 Welcome to this week's edition of #JOCFamilyFunFriday. This weekend, why don’t you get creative and make some seed bombs with your family. It's a simple yet engaging process, perfect for adding a splash of wildflowers to your space. These seed bombs are not just a way to beautify your garden, but also a fantastic method to attract and support local wildlife, providing an educational spectacle for kids. To start your seed bomb adventure, combine three parts compost with one part flour. Add just enough water to make the mixture malleable. Shape your mixture into balls, then roll them in your seeds so that the seeds stick to the surface. Once they've dried, throw the bombs into your garden beds. Watch as they gradually transform into a vibrant display of wildflowers, creating a charming and lively habitat for your garden's visitors. 

Spring is here 🌷 and birds are looking for cozy spots to construct their nests. 🐦 If you are going on vacation - remove your door wreath and cover your planters. The lack of foot traffic while you are gone, can convince songbirds that these are quite safe places to raise babies. 🐦 Open up that BBQ cover and clean It out - making sure the rotisserie hole on the side is covered. 🐦 Cover basement window wells with mesh. 🐦 Fix vent covers to your dryer, add steel mesh to cover the entrance to the chimney and any pipes leading into the house. 🐦 Fix holes In soffit, loose siding or missing pot lights. 🐦Get someone up on the roof if you live near the water or an area where gulls reside - to ensure there are no beginnings of a nest. These animals are doing what comes naturally, watching baby birds grow and leave the nest is a beautiful experience! So If you find a nest with eggs - in a less than ideal location … please give them some space in a few weeks they will hatch and a couple weeks after that, they will leave the nest and move on. 😊 #BirdNest #PreventionIsKey #DryerVentMaintenance #TipTuesday

Wildflowers evolved to thrive in less-than-ideal spots without the aid of gardeners. Their tenacity and beauty make them great, low-maintenance additions to a garden. While wildflowers take little effort to maintain, they require a bit of work to start. Here are some steps to infuse your garden with wild whimsy. https://lnkd.in/gwXHTZPh

12 Types of Bird Feeders Every Backyard Birder Should Know from Bob Vila. https://ow.ly/he0F50PLPlh

Here are a few winter garden prep essentials to keep in mind: Shield potted plants from the cold by moving them to a sheltered spot, and clean up fallen leaves and debris to keep your garden healthy throughout the chilly season!