Living with Wildlife Tasmania

The main threats to your wildlife are land-clearing, fragmentation of bush habitat (ie no bush ‘corridors’ that they use to move about) and pets/feral animals such as cats. Wildlife-proof fencing of your property, and/or clearing, also results in starvation or roadkill because they can only find food on roadsides. And the use of toxic baits often kills wildlife too, either directly or by wildlife eating poisoned animals, leaving their babies orphaned.

Encourage (particularly native) grasses and marsupial lawns* around your house, that can be kept ‘mown’ short by herbivores and are great for fire protection, providing cooler surfaces and no fuel. Why spend the weekend on your mower when wildlife will mow it for you? (above picture)

*Marsupial lawns contain grasses, herbaceous plants and mosses.

To avoid harming wildlife such as kangaroos and wallabies, pastoralists (and gardeners) can create a buffer zone around their fenced areas that will feed native wildlife. While wildlife may live in forests and bush areas, many need grasses for food. If hungry they can damage pasture fences, but if there is an unfertilised grassy buffer zone outside fences where they can feed, the problem is much reduced. Costs of reducing pasture area a little will be offset by reduced losses of grass and fencing damage, not to mention landowner time.

See the book ‘Habitat’ by AB Bishop, for more great information in creating a habitat garden (picture above). Many tips here come from this book.

Make sure your habitat garden is topped with organic mulch for soil health, bugs, beetles and lizards. Small sticks and twigs make useful mulch too.

Plant local indigenous trees and care for your mature ones. Acacias can be short-lived but provide food and shelter for a lot of wildlife.

Grow clumps of dense prickly shrubs where small birds can shelter and nest. For example, prickly moses (Acacia verticulata).

Include some nectar plants that feed birds, possums and insects, eg eucalypts, emu bushes, correas, grevillea, hakea and callistemons. But plant too many of these and you’ll end up with aggressive, territorial birds such as New Holland Honeyeaters that drive away other birds.

Encourage a variety of native grasses for the seed eaters, such as Lomandra and Poa.

Plant dense, open and long-flowering natives for insects such as butterflies.

Have a source or three of fresh water for drinking and bathing. And a frog-friendly bog or pond.

Install nesting boxes and insect hotels as nurseries for new generations. Include rockpiles or paving for lizards to sunbathe on or hide in.

Manage introduced predators and pets. Stop using harsh garden chemicals.

Include a place for you to sit and enjoy, and paths you can stroll and observe your wildlife neighbours.

Encouraging wildlife in the garden can also help with plant care. When native animals eat the flowers from plants, they are effectively dead-heading the plant, which in turn means more flowers next season.

Use more plants of fewer species to ensure there’s enough food to sustain your preferred critters. We also need to get used to having our plants eaten! But protect plants when young.

Director of Bonorong Wildlife Centre, Greg Irons, says a lot of native plants work well in suburban gardens to provide food and habitat to local wildlife. Some favourites include:

Bottlebrush (Callistemon sp) – loved by possums and birds alike. These trees can be used as screening plants, grow to 3- 5 metres high with a 3 metre spread and flower throughout much of the year.

Bushy Yate (Eucalyptus lehmannii) – The flower heads and seed pods are enjoyed by many native animals.

Wattle (Acacia sp.) – The flowers attract birds, insects and small native animals like possums, gliders and even wallabies.Nicknamed ‘Wally Lollies’ by Greg, the flowers are a real treat for native fauna. Black cockatoos particularly like eating the galls that are often found on branches.

Yellow Gum (Eucalyptus leucoxylon) – The flowers are an irresistible treat for many native animals. It’s like chocolate for native birds and animals.

(sourced from an ABC Gardening Australia Fact Sheet)

A trick is to not plant only 1 or 2 plants of many species. It’s better to plant fewer species but more individual plants for a given area, so wildlife have a solid resource of preferred foods.