The growing interest in supporting wild creatures is new
for some of us and old as the hills for others.
CHILDREN AT HOME
If a child plants a plant and then watches it regularly to see how insects and birds interact with the plant, the child will feel a connection with the greater world that is likely to be satisfying. This experience will also help the child embark into the habit of inquisitive observation and self-teaching.
A child who grows (from seed) and eats a tomato has learned something wonderful.
If a child has no access to a garden at home, he or she may choose to record instead patterns of bird and insect interactions with plants in parks and neighbor's yards.
If the child has access to even a simple microscope, he or she may wish to look at a droplet of water from a pond or puddle. If he or she finds a land or water snail, perhaps her parent may help her figure out to keep the new friend alive in the house for a week or so by creating a habitat in a large glass jar. Spiders are always patient in their webs in the fall, for anyone who wishes to watch them. Butterflies and moths may be harder to see, because some of them don't often sit still.
The history of human interactions with the land is longer than recorded history, and the path is made of of many braided winding paths. There is nomadic life; there is settled farming. There is the concept of ownership, and entitlement. Over long period of time, humans have domesticated plants and animals
and bred the characteristics that seemed best to support human
welfare. Humans have cleared out space and natural resources for these domesticated species. Then chemistry produced artificial fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides and rapid development of new crops to increase the dominance of domesticated species and to support skyrocketing human population growth (currently roughly 80 million more people per year).
Then the organic movement started, so now there are fewer pesticides and herbicides. There are plants selected for low water and fertilizer requirements so there may be less disruption for other species. We began to pay more attention to the fact that pesticides and herbicides, and other forms of pollution were wiping out wild species, such as bees, that turn out to be critical to our well-being.
Now it seems a new strain of thought is gathering traction among us: What if we were to view our land as serving not just ourselves, but also other creatures, not for how they serve us, but for how they serve themselves and each other? Science has discovered that our well-being depends on the survival of wild species, so the dichotomy is somewhat false, but the attempt to think of wild species without a human-centric spin is a an amazing mental and physical journey. We step forth, somewhat naive most of us, at the newness of this exploration, and we feel excited, like children, like creatures in a very large wilderness as we begin to learn and participate newly, returning also to something ancient. Wild creatures have been hiding in plain site all around us. Now we open our eyes. Now we look. Now we open our hearts.
BOOKS & RESOURCES FOR ADULTSWebsites abound on which plants and bushes and trees support insects and bird and tend to offer advice based on garden climate zones. If you would like to recommend a website or book, a video or a podcast, feel free to contact us.
iNaturalist is a website that allows people around the world to share photos of nature. Experts may help you identify what you are showing in your photograph, and you may help others identify what is in their photos. Setting up an account and using the website is free. The platform brings together the amateur and the professional on a common ground. It's fun. http:///www.inaturalist.org
Guide to Observing Insect Lives, by Donald Stokes, 1983. A delightful book that's easy to understand and fun to read. Each chapter gives detailed descriptions of behavior and life cycles of a particular kind of insect. This book is packed with answers to questions you may have often asked yourself without having had an answer readily at hand.
Nature's Best Hope; A New Approach To Conservation That Starts In Your Yard, by Douglas W. Tallamy, 2020. Tallamy's book is what got us going. It offers a fair amount of concrete advise, but it starts with a history of environmental conservation, and isn't by any means a straightforward "how-to" book. We feel that it is beautifully written . https://www.amazon.com/Natures-Best-Hope-Approach-Conservation/dp/1604699000
Wilding; The Return of Nature to a British Farm, by Isabella Tree, is about a couple who are returning a large farming estate in England to a landscape dominated by wild animals. Tree also talks about the people in other countries who have inspired her. https://www.amazon.com/Wilding-Return-Nature-British-Farm/dp/1509805109/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1ZWIPK1Y8Y640&dchild=1&keywords=wilding+isabella+tree&qid=1612488747&s=books&sprefix=wilding%2Cstripbooks%2C222&sr=1-1
Man and Nature; Or, Physical Geography as Modified by Human Action, by George Perkins Marsh, 1864. Marsh writes a history of human influence on his environment, and the resulting problems that evolve over and over for civilizations. https://www.amazon.com/Man-Nature-Physical-Geography-Modified/dp/1727110617/ref=sr_1_1?crid=5Q2CG11RM8JY&dchild=1&keywords=man+and+nature+george+perkins+marsh&qid=1612489185&s=books&sprefix=man+and+nature%2Cstripbooks%2C227&sr=1-1
The Leaf and The Cloud, by Mary Oliver, 2000. Oliver's poetry begins to link humans to nature, and nature to humans, in a way can be useful to those who like to grow through verse. She shakes my cage.
