Orphaned Wildlife in the Garden

The other day, I was gardening at a customer's home. While working in the garden I kept noticing a very bad odor. After looking around I discovered a dead opossum in the hosta bed. The mother opossum had probably been dead for a couple of days. Next to her body was this little face peering up at me. Being a animal lover I really felt for this little baby. It has been hot in the high 90's and we have had little rain. The next question was what to do with the baby.

If you ever find a baby animal in your yard, the best thing to do is observe the animal from the distance. Most baby animals that you see in your yard alone are not orphaned. The parents are near by searching for food and they will return. If a parent does not return over a long period of time or you know that the parent is dead, only then take action. I know that many people want to help a baby by trying to care for it themselves. You can actually be doing more harm than good. The best thing you can do for a baby mammal or bird is to take it to a local licensed animal rehabilitator and let them care for the animal. In Indiana, wildlife is protected by law and you cannot keep the animal. You can find a licensed animal rehabilitator by

• Calling a local veterinarian


• Call the Department of Natural Resources in your area


• Look in the phone book or try searching on your computer for a local rehabilitator

Always remember that even baby animals can bite, carry disease and insect pest. You may want the professional to pick up and remove the animal for you.

What happened to the baby opossum that I found? The baby is now safe in the hands of a trained rehabilitator and when it grows up and can survive on it's own, it will be released back to nature again.

Happy Gardening!

The Creative Gardener

Many animal rehabilitators will always appreciate a small donation of money, food or supplies to care for wildlife. Please make a donation.

Baby Robin Update 6-3-09

We need a BIGGER nest!

Mother Robin and Her Family

May 25, 2009
Moving your houseplants outside for the summer has always been a tradition with many gardeners. This mother Robin decided to take advantage of building her nest in a potted Weeping Fig tree (Ficus Benjamina) on the porch. She built the nest about 4 feet up from the ground in the tree giving us a birds eye view of her new family of four.

May 25, 2009

May 25, 2009

May 30, 2009

May 30, 2009


Check back for future photos of mom and the kids.

Happy Gardening!

The Creative Gardener

The Toad Patrol

If you do not have a pond in your garden, you do not know what you are missing. Ponds do require some maintenance, but the benefits out way the work required to maintain the pond. I installed a small pond with a liner years ago. The pond contains goldfish and some water plants that I enjoy. Over the years, one of the benefits that I have received from my pond is what I call the "Toad Patrol". Each year around April, the toads come to my pond and lay their eggs. The male toads arrive first and start singing for their mates. For around two weeks they sing night and day. After they have mated, they all leave and in the pond are strings of toad eggs. Two years ago I enlarged my pond area with two additional preformed ponds. One preformed pond contains no fish. I move the toad eggs to this pond as a tadpole nursery. Hatching of the toad eggs occur within 3 to 12 days and the pond will be filled with hundreds of tadpoles. The tadpoles group together and feed on plant life in the pond. They will remain in the pond from 40 to 70 days depending on the temperatures before they change to toadlets and leave the pond and move out into my gardens. The baby toadlets are about the size of a small pea when they leave the pond. In about two to three years these toadlets will become mature enough to mate in the pond for future generations. Most will not make it to become adults.

I know that many people would not want these warty cold blooded creatures in their gardens, but they serve a purpose eating all the insects and slugs that damage my garden plants. I seldom have slug or snail holes in my hosta leaves due to the toad patrol. If you would like to have toads in your garden, here are some suggestions.

1. Install a pond that has sloped sides that allow toads to easily enter the pond and toadlets to easily leave the pond.

2. Do not use chemical pesticides in your garden or use chemicals in your pond water.

3. Toads like slow moving water. I turn my pumps off during the time I have tadpoles to keep them from getting into the filter system.

4. Add some pond plants to your pond for breeding purposes. The toads will attach their eggs to the plants.

5. Female toads prefer to lay their eggs in ponds without fish.

6. Tadpoles feed on plant material like algae. I do not clean my pond algae from my nursery pond during this time. The tadpoles feed on it and help maintain a good balance in the pond. When the tadpoles leave the pond they will now be feeding on animal material.

Did you know that one American Toad can eat up to 1,000 insects a day! They prefer snails, beetles, slugs and earthworms as part of their diet. Most animals will not eat toads due to a defensive chemicals in the toad's skin. This chemical is toxic to garden animals, humans and pets. Make sure that you always wash your hands after holding a toad and "no" they will not give you warts. However, don't be surprised as your toad population increases in your garden that you might see a garter snake arrive in your garden. Garter snakes can eat toads. Just remember that a garter snake can also serve a purpose in your garden! Maybe that will be a post for another day.

Happy Gardening!

The Creative Gardener

The Fox That Lives in My Garden

In my garden, I have a visitor that comes every year. She is a fox that I have named "White Sock". White Sock get her name from the fact that her one back foot is white. I always know that it is her from year to year. She lives in a den in the woods next to our property. In the spring, the woods flood from the local river and she and her pups leave the den to live in a den she has made under my back deck. In 2007 she had three pups and when she returned in 2008 she was the proud mother of two. You will see in the video that fox pups are black and not red like mom. She and her pups show up in the spring and stay for several months. When she first arrives she keeps the pups in the den. During that time she is feeding them on her milk. She leaves the den during the night and day searching for food for herself. She is a mooch! She like to visit the neighbors and get a hand out. She is not afraid of people at this time because she needs to eat for herself and the pups. As the weeks go by, we wait to see her family. When the pups emerge on warm days, mom keeps them close to the den and she watches over them. The pups love to play and chew on everything. They are very curious about the thing in the garden. At night you can hear her barking at them because they have waundered off to far from the den.

Last year I was walking in the garden and found my flower pots had all been dumped and the plants and soil was everywhere. I thought it was kids till I discovered teeth marks all over my flower pots. The pups had a great night of fun. After replanting everything, the next morning my four legged friends had dumped the pots again. My lemon tree finally died after being torn out of the pot and chewed on several times. I finally figured out that the reason the pups and mom were dumping my pot was because I had watered using fish emulsion. The lesson to be learned is that fish emulsion may be good for the plants but it smells like dinner to a fox!

As the pups continue to grow, mom introduces them to real food like moles, birds and road kill. White Sock is very good at catching birds. She leaps into the air and grabs them in flight. I don't have problems with rabbits or moles because she keeps them under control. Road kill on the other hand can be very smelly in hot weather under my deck. When mom is teaching the babies to catch their own food, she kill a mole or bird and leaves it on the ground for the pups to find. For those of you who love your birds, understand that this is the way of nature and survival.

When the middle of summer has arrived, the pups are as big as mom. They resemble her and sometimes it hard to tell the difference. One day they all just disappear back to the woods and we never see them again.

It's February now and sometimes when I pass the window at night, I stop and look to see if I see her or her mate running in the shadows of the garden. I also look for tracks in the snow to see if she has been around. Now we wait for her return to the garden this year.

The Creative Gardener