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Wildlife stewardship refers to actions that support animals.
Click on the below topics to learn about specific actions you can take to support different animal groups
Bat House
Bat House
Attracting bats to your property is an excellent way to reduce mosquitos. A single bat can consume up to 600 mosquitoes per hour. Some of our bats are endangered and face dramatic challenges with diseases such as White Nose Syndrome. According to Bat Conservation International, "You can welcome bats in your very own backyard by providing food, water, and shelter – creating bat habitat in even the smallest of spaces. In return, insectivorous bats will eat many of your unwanted yard and garden pests."
Providing supplemental housing for bats can be an interesting and fun way to help these important animals. Be aware, however, that "Bat houses are complicated to get right. They can go unused for years, attract pests, and even harm bats when installed incorrectly, however thoughtful construction and placement can increase their chances of being occupied, allowing you to observe bats and grow your understanding of these fascinating animals and the resources they need to survive." Bat Conservation International provides best practices for bat house design and placement on their website.
Attracting Birds
Attracting Birds
Cornell Lab's summary of The Audubon Society Guide to Attracting Birds, MoBot’s Native Gardening for Hummingbirds, and Audubon’s 10 Plants for a Bird-friendly Yard are all good resources with tips for attracting birds to your property.
Nest Boxes for Birds
Nest Boxes for Birds
An artificial nest box provides supplemental nest opportunities for the birds while giving you to see them up close. Quality houses are built to accommodate specific birds. You can learn more about the specific types of birdhouses here.
For small birds such as wrens, be aware of encroachment by non-native English House Sparrows and Eurasian Tree Sparrows. They are aggressive and will take over most nest boxes that are available. To exclude sparrows from wren houses, be sure the entrance hole is less than 1 ⅛ inches in diameter. This will allow entrance by smaller native birds such as the Downy Woodpecker, White-breasted Nuthatch, Tufted Titmouse, Carolina Wren, and House Wren but prevent use by non-native English House Sparrows and Starlings. If your existing nest boxes feature entrance holes larger than 1 ⅛ inches in diameter, you can purchase metal plates specifically designed to affix over the openings with holes cut to the proper diameter.
Non-native English House Sparrows and Eurasian Tree Sparrows are also problems for nesting bluebirds. Unfortunately, entrance holes for bluebird houses must be greater than 1 ⅛ inches in diameter to allow bluebird entry. See the North American Bluebird Society and Sialis.org for information on managing House Sparrows for bluebirds.
Reduce Artificial Light at Night
Reduce Artificial Light at Night
Artificial light at night (ALAN) negatively affects bats, moths, migrating birds, and plants and other organisms.
Follow these five principles to provide better habitat for nocturnal wildlife:
Useful – Use light only if it is needed: All light should have a clear purpose. Consider how the use of light will impact the area, including wildlife and their habitats.
Targeted – Direct light so it falls only where it is needed: Use shielding and careful aiming to target the direction of the light beam so that it points downward and does not spill beyond where it is needed
Low Level – Light should be no brighter than necessary: Use the lowest light level required. Be mindful of surface conditions, as some surfaces may reflect more light into the night than intended.
Controlled – Use light only when it is needed: Use controls such as timers or motion detectors to ensure that light is available when it is needed, dimmed when possible, and turned off when not needed.
Warm-colored – Use warmer colored lights where possible: Limit the amount of shorter wavelength (blue-violet) light to the least amount needed.
You can do a Home Lighting Assessment from DarkSky to help you identify problematic lighting and determine solutions.
Native Bee Stewardship Practices
Native Bee Stewardship Practices
There are over 100 native bee species in the region. Unlike non-native honeybees, most of these bees are solitary and only in incredibly rare circumstances will sting you. They do not form a colony, instead a single female builds a nest, lays eggs and provisions the eggs with pollen she collects from plants.
Here are some actions you can take beyond planting native plants to support native bees:
Leave stems over winter for -nesting bee habitat: How to create habitat for stem-nesting bees.
Keep dead wood on site such as logs, stumps, snags (standing dead trees) for wood-nesting bees.
Instead of wood mulch, use leaf mulch or compost which is just as effective but is light enough for ground-nesting bees to pass through. Increase Nesting Habitat for Native Bees.
Leave some bare ground. Even 1 inch of wood mulch is too much for many native ground-nesting bees to burrow through.
Do not use garden fabric. Bees cannot build nest through fabric. Instead, use materials such as cardboard which will degrade over time
If you want to install a bee hotel, make sure you are following good practices. Bad practices can lead to more harm than good.
Co-existing with wildlife
Deer and rabbits
Deer and rabbits
You may want to shelter your first- and second-year shrubs from deer or rabbit browse by fashioning a fence around and over your young shrubs and trees. Once they are into their third year of age, they will be less susceptible to mammalian browse.
According to the late Cindy Gilberg, a respected native landscaper in the St. Louis area for many years, each planting should be 70% to 80% browse-resistant natives to be effective. You’ll find her article Creating a Deer-Resistant Native Garden in the March 2012 issue of The Healthy Planet helpful in making your plans. Creating A Deer-Resistant Native Garden « The Healthy Planet
Yet Cindy does point out there are no absolutes to hungry browsers, especially in early spring. Everything newly sprouted is tender and juicy. At that time, it is best to use a spray deterrent until the plants are established. Several of our volunteers have found a rotation of treatments to be the most effective approach, with no single repellent used for more than a month or so at a time, possibly avoiding the deer becoming conditioned to the treatment. It is good to place repellants “deer-nose height.” one to three feet off the ground can work well.
Native Plants to Use or Avoid
Native Plants to Use or Avoid
Shaw Nature Reserve conducted a three-year study in Wildwood, MO and created a list of native plants sorted by how much deer browse they sustained. In general, consider that deer tend to avoid hairy or aromatic vegetation. The leader of the Shaw Nature Reserve study, Diane Donavan, along with fellow Missouri Master Naturalist Nancy Newcomer, give specific plant suggestions in their 2025 Partners in Native Landscaping webinar, “Oh Deer”
Repellents
Repellents
We recommend repellents that are non-toxic to plants and have a strong smell, such as peppermint, which deer and rabbits avoid. Some commercial brands include Deer Out, Ortho, and Liquid Fence. Some gardeners have had success in spreading the organic lawn fertilizer Milorganite around the planting area. Others swear by cut-up Irish Spring soap bars hung directly from plants or stakes or enclosed in small mesh bags hung from the same.
Scare Devices
Scare Devices
There are a growing number of devices such as a motion-activated sprinklers and ultrasonic emitters that can be used in combination with other strategies to startle deer and rabbits away from native plantings.
Buck rub
Buck rub
Buck-rub can be an even greater challenge which may not be addressed much at all by repellents. Many nurseries sell spiral plastic trunk protectors to help minimize this. If you put a major investment into a tree or shrub, you might go further and create a sturdy fence around it when planting. For small numbers of plantings, consider investing in a quantity of rebar and install three posts per plant, equidistant around it. Attach hardware cloth. Install in early autumn. These guards can be removed and reused once you feel the plant is tall enough or large enough to survive on its own.
More information
More information
Partners in Native Landscaping video on landscaping with deer
Squirrels
Squirrels
The biggest problem for naturescaping with squirrels is their digging. They dig mostly to hide and find food. They especially dig in looser, recently dug soil around transplants, and often leave transplant roots exposed. Some scents, such as capsaicin (from hot peppers) and peppermint oil, may deter squirrels, but not reliably and you’ll need to reapply after rain. It also helps to change scents regularly. See “How To Stop Squirrels From Digging Up My Lawn” for options and recipes. Note that it is inhumane, and illegal in some areas, to trap and relocate squirrels. Physical barriers are the best solution to deter squirrels; for example, circle each new transplant with chicken wire, hardware cloth, or a wire basket, and stake it down. These “cages” can be removed after a season and reused.
Moles and Voles
Moles and Voles
Moles eat grubs, earthworms and other “animal” matter and are “meat eaters” while voles eat roots and other plant matter and are vegetarian. Which means that while both can create unsightly tunnels and distort the look of your landscape, and moles may dislodge plants before they get established, voles are the ones that can actually kill some of your plants from the roots up. Here is a helpful online resource which emphasizes organic/non-chemical control of a variety of common pests, including moles and voles: How to Humanely Protect Your Garden from Moles, Voles, Gophers and More. Simply scroll about half-way down the initial page for a variety of options.
Mole
Voles
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