Seven Ways You Can Help Wildlife Today

Who doesn’t want more wildlife in our natural areas? Whether you hunt, fish, like to observe wildlife or just enjoy the sounds of birds and frogs in the early spring, most people enjoy wildlife and want animals to be healthy and present in the world at some level. With reduced habitat and increasing urban encroachment into the places wildlife used to frequent, caring about conservation is more important now than ever. Here are some easy starting points to benefit the wildlife in your area.

1. Be reasonable about feeding wildlife. Not all wildlife feeding is created equal, but in many cases it’s just not a good idea. I love hummingbird and winter songbird feeders! But giving wildlife too much human food can cause them to lose their fear of humans, making them bold and at times dangerous. Animals that learn to associate people with food can become aggressive and may need to be removed as a human safety hazard. It’s better to keep wildlife wild! Another instance when feeding wildlife is a poor choice is when it can lead to disease. Concentrating too many individuals can lead to the spread of disease, like Mycoplasma gallisepticum, an eye disease in house finches.    
2. Put out nest boxes for wildlife. Whether you purchase it or build it yourself, nest boxes are a great way to keep wildlife around! Wood duck boxes, bluebird houses, purple martin houses and bat boxes are some examples. Cleaning out the nest box between seasons is important for animal health. 
3. Keep pets indoors. Outdoor/feral cats kill BILLIONS of birds, small mammals and amphibians each year in the US. They’re excellent predators! Dogs can be an excellent conservation tool but untrained canines can harass and kill wildlife. 
4. Keep your distance when watching wildlife. We all love watching animals and with everyone equipped with a phone camera in hand, it can be tempting to try to approach wildlife to get a good photo. We’ve all heard the never-ending stories from Yellowstone about people getting too close to wildlife, which usually ends up badly. Use good judgment even when the animal isn’t a dangerous one—constant intrusion of wildlife spaces can interrupt breeding, feeding or cause animals to move to less desirable habitat to avoid people. 
5. Do some habitat work! If you own or have permission on a property to do some habitat modifications to benefit wildlife like burning, planting trees or shrubs, food plots or forestry/timber work, do it! Private lands conservation and habitat enhancement is so important. Volunteering with groups that need help with this kind of work on public land is another great option. 
6. Donate to or volunteer with conservation groups. There are tons of excellent wildlife-minded conservation nonprofits out there. If you’re a sportsman, you’re probably already familiar with Duck Unlimited, National Deer Alliance, Delta Waterfowl, NWTF… Basic membership is usually pretty affordable and then the sky’s the limit on conservation projects to work on. 
7. Buy a hunting or fishing license. License sales and the excise tax on the gear you buy for hunting and fishing goes right back into conservation. These funds allow wildlife management agencies to improve habitat, do wildlife research and overall have better means to manage wildlife in your state. Many states also have a “nongame fund” where money can be donated to help with projects related to nongame species or species of concern especially. 

We all love wildlife and want to leave the places they live better than we found them. Being thoughtful about conservation and how our daily actions impact wildlife makes a huge difference at a big scale!

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