The idea that you would want any wild animals living on your property seems a little strange. After all, isn’t the whole reason our homes have walls to prevent unwanted critters from making their way into our kitchens and stealing our food?
Well, it turns out that some creatures are better than others, primarily because they keep the creatures you don’t want away.
In this post, we take a look at some of the wild animals that can help to keep your property safe. Check them out below.
Frogs
Frogs might seem cute to us, but to insects, they are a mortal enemy. These attractive amphibians have a tremendous diet and enjoy nothing more than capturing insects with their tongues and gobbling them down in a single gulp.
You probably won’t want frogs in your house – and it is unlikely that they will ever voluntarily make their way inside. But if you have a pond, they can be a great addition. Usually, they’ll make their way to the pond by themselves as the water naturally attracts them. But you can also encourage them into your garden by adding a bit of frog food to the water.
Once you have toads and frogs in your garden, you’ll notice that the insect population appears to be under better control. They won’t get rid of the problem completely, but they’ll undoubtedly help balance things out if your garden is struggling.
Spiders
Nobody wants spiders in their homes, but it turns out that these terrifying eight-legged creatures are among the best tools out there for preventing bugs from taking over your home and garden.
Having the odd spider lurking in the corner of your room seems like a bad thing. You’d prefer your rooms to be clean. But depending on where you live and the time of year, it might be better to leave them where they are.
Remember, not all spiders weave webs. Many simply capture their prey in their mandibles and then devour it piece by piece in their burrow. Ideally, these are the ones that you want in your home, guarding all the entrances. Other insects will naturally stay away if they detect the presence of a spider.
Owls
Having an owl on or near your property is perhaps the best thing you can do to stop rodents from infesting your property. Some experts think that they might be an even more effective control measure than cats.
Owls, for instance, have extremely sensitive eyes that allow them to see prey on the floor in the moonlight. They also have special feathers that allow them to glide through the air in complete silence before tackling unwary mammals, like mice and rats.
If you don’t have an owl in your garden at the moment, you might be able to attract one with an owl box. These items are essentially homes that owls like to use. And the size of the box determines the size of the owl that it can accommodate.
Once an owl moves in, it will continue to feed on any small mammals in the environment. Rodent populations decline rapidly when owls rear their young in the spring because they need to feed their chicks continually.
Assassin Bugs
Assassin bugs fulfill a similar role to spiders. They’re generalist predators, meaning that they feed on a wide selection of garden pests, including insects that attack your vegetable plot.
What’s more, they’re harmless to people and pets. They’ll just silently go about their business in the background, slashing insect populations and leaving your plants much healthier.
Lizards
Like assassin bugs, lizards aren’t interested in eating your plants. Instead, their primary food source are all the bugs in and around your property.
Lizards will usually wait until they find a suitable perch in your garden. Once they do, they’ll wait around for their meals to come their way and then gobble them up with a sudden attack of their tongue.
If you want to attract these creatures into your garden, try constructing piles of rocks here and there. Lizards like natural perching spots because it gives them a good view of their surroundings. Just be wary that predatory birds will sometimes target lizards, so if you have a bug problem, you might not want to encourage them to live on your property.
When it comes to maintaining a thriving ecosystem in your garden, balance is essential. You want to have a few top predators and then plenty of other creatures to keep pest populations under control.
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