For more information about Patoka Lake contact:
Department of Natural Resources
District 8 Headquarters
3084 N. Dillard Rd.
Birdseye, IN 47513
(812) 685-2498
email: ico8@tds.net

Indiana Wildlife

Indiana is a wildlife-rich state. Unlike a couple of decades ago, deer, turkeys and waterfowl are common sights. Wildlife is flourishing and abundant.

But, what is equally important as abundance is diversity. This is why Indiana Department of Natural Resources is continually and actively reintroducing native wildlife such as ospreys and river otters, which were once destroyed completely from Indiana, and researching rare fish and wildlife species.

How your voluntary donation will mean even more for wildlife this year.

Now, more than ever, your tax-deductible donation is important to Indiana wildlife. New federal funding is helping to make wildlife research projects possible, but the program cannot continue without your donation. For every $4 you donate, the federal Wildlife Restoration and Conservation Program will contribute $3. That's right. The federal government will match your donation 75 percent to help Indiana wildlife thrive.

Your donation will be multiplied and effectively used to conserve and restore Indiana wildlife diversity. But most importantly, you will see your donation come to life in Indiana's skies, waters, woods and fields.

Backyard Wildlife Habitat

Receive a Backyard Wildlife Habitat Certification

1. Food

A Backyard Wildlife Habitat site is a mini-ecosystem with multiple food chains. You should supply as much food as possible through native vegetation in order to meet the year-round needs of a variety of species. Trees, shrubs, herbaceous plants, succulents, and even grasses produce foods such as acorns and other nuts, berries, fruits, and seeds. Buds, catkins, foliage, twigs, sap, nectar, and pollen are all other important wildlife food produced by plants.

For birds, natural food sources can be supplemented through feeders. The best feeder foods are sunflower, thistle, proso millet, cracked corn, and suet. In summer, you may provide sugar water (sterile) in hummingbird feeders to supplements the insects and natural nectar that seasonal flowers produce.

2. Water

Like food, every living thing needs clean water, for drinking, bathing, and sometimes breathing! Nature provides water to wildlife in a multitude of ways that can be replicated in your habitat.

How you provide water will depend upon how much space you have and how much money you want to spend. Water can be provided in something as simple as a shallow dish, like the drainage pan of a flower pot or the classic bird bath. If you have a lot of space and can afford it, a large, professionally excavated pond can be installed.

Be sure to keep in mind the different types of wildlife that might use your property when selecting and designing your water feature. An elevated birdbath is fine for flying and climbing animals, but creatures like toads, rabbits and turtles will need water provided closer to the ground to meet their needs.

3. Cover

Wildlife needs protective cover just as people need the shelter of a house - both as protection from predators as well as extreme weather. Plants again play an important role in creating this component of habitat. The same plants that provide food will do double-duty as cover. Native evergreens can provide excellent cover throughout the year. Densely branched shrubbery can provide cover even if the plants are not evergreens; thorns add another elements of protection. Meadow and prairie areas also provide cover for a multitude of species. A brush pile is easy to make and provides good cover for wildlife.

A variety of wooden boxes designed to house wildlife can be built or purchased. Bat boxes provide excellent housing for bats whose natural cover has been removed. Roosting boxes will be used at various times throughout the year by many species of birds and mammals, like squirrels.

4. Places to raise young

Places to raise young are needed to make your Wildlife Habitat area complete. These are places where wildlife can engage in their courtship behaviors and where they can safely nurture and raise their young. Without this unique type of cover, wildlife may pass through your habitat area to utilize food, water, and cover resources you've provided, but will not be able to take up a truly permanent residence in all stages of their life cycles.

Brush piles, mature trees, ponds, tall grasses, and dense shrubbery will all be used by some species as places to raise young as well as for cover. Dead or dormant plants, such as dead tree snags or dormant meadow and prairie plants are also great places for wildlife to raise their young.

Bird nesting houses for native species provides a place for birds to nest and raise their young. Many species of insects and amphibians require standing bodies of water to lay their eggs. Tadpoles are fully aquatic for the first stage of their lives, as do dragonflies.

Article courtesy of the National Wildlife Federation

For more information on how you can receive certification for your Backyard Wildlife Habitat site call the NWF at (800)347-3445 or send e-mail to:

info@indianawildlife.org