wildlife garden

E

ellejay

We've bought a ppor in Victoria to move into later this year. We saw a big snake crossing the road outside when we were last there, and now the tenants are reporting possums in the roof. The possums will be moved out of the roof space but I'm so excited about the creatures that we might see and I'd like to maybe attract them to stay longer with nice trees and bushes, maybe a pond. Obviously I'm not including snakes in that statement. Anyone have any tips on what wild life we might see and things we could do with the garden?

The house is east of Wangaratta in a village and has a lovely garden with mature trees. I'd love to know about any books that people could recommend for learning more about local flora and fauna.
 
westminster said:
Google showed me a nice nursery in Wangaratta that stocks native plants to the area so may well know what will attract.

Generally it's native flowering trees and bushes that attract birds and nectar seeking mammals

http://www.parklanenursery.com.au/

The local council is also always a good place to start for local resources

http://www.wangaratta.vic.gov.au/living/sustainable-living/guide/garden/indigenous_garden.asp
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Thanks WM. That's perfect. Actually the local council link is really helpful so thanks for that. There was also alot of info about possums on the nsw environmental page that was really interesting. Thinking about putting one or two little boxes in the trees maybe.
 
Roof access!

Could I suggest that you dont have any wires or anything "jumping distance to the roof"

I had a colony of possums, and they had so much fun at night I couldn't sleep!

The neighbours used plastic bottles attached to the electricity / phone wires as a deterrent to the little darlings!

Have a natural boundary around your house, so that animals will be deterred from, other wise it will be "Mi Casa e tu Casa.. (sorry my Spanish isn't great)

Keep your compost a long way from the house.


Enjoy the wildlife!

I hope this helps!
 
SeafordSunshine said:
Could I suggest that you dont have any wires or anything "jumping distance to the roof"

I had a colony of possums, and they had so much fun at night I couldn't sleep!

The neighbours used plastic bottles attached to the electricity / phone wires as a deterrent to the little darlings!

Have a natural boundary around your house, so that animals will be deterred from, other wise it will be "Mi Casa e tu Casa.. (sorry my Spanish isn't great)

Keep your compost a long way from the house.


Enjoy the wildlife!

I hope this helps!
Click to expand...

ha ha, yes I love them but nobody gets in the way of my sleep.

Not that I would have compost close to the house but any other reason apart from the smell?
 
A pond is a great place for frogs :) but frogs attract Brown snakes :eek:
the eastern brown is a very nasty customer and will take up residence under any ground cover near your pond http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_brown_snake

We have had great success attracting parrots by planting grevilleas all over the place, we have a mixture of types so that they flower at different times.

The local council and nurseries will be able to advise you of suitable types but big flowers bring the parrots, just don't ever start to feed them anything.

Plant the trees and watch is strongly recommended.
 
ellejay said:
The possums will be moved out of the roof space but I'm so excited about the creatures that we might see and I'd like to maybe attract them to stay longer with nice trees and bushes, maybe a pond.
Click to expand...

lol - oh man, don't get me started on possums!

I have one visit my roof most nights - he likes to hang off the window near my bed and scream at me at 2am in the morning. I love animals/nature and I'm not a violent person - but I could KILL that bloody possum.
 
Phar Lap said:
Can that be used on humans?
Does it have to be registered?
I thought snakes were a protectd species?
Click to expand...

Can a knife be used on humans, or a shovel?

Registration of all boomsticks obviously.

Depends on the State's legislation, but in SA and a couple other State's that I know of allow for protecting yourself from *venomous* snakes who are threatening life or safety.
 
ellejay said:
We've bought a ppor in Victoria to move into later this year. We saw a big snake crossing the road outside when we were last there, and now the tenants are reporting possums in the roof. The possums will be moved out of the roof space but I'm so excited about the creatures that we might see and I'd like to maybe attract them to stay longer with nice trees and bushes, maybe a pond. Obviously I'm not including snakes in that statement. Anyone have any tips on what wild life we might see and things we could do with the garden?

The house is east of Wangaratta in a village and has a lovely garden with mature trees. I'd love to know about any books that people could recommend for learning more about local flora and fauna.
Click to expand...

I have a small property in nth nsw,early morning and late in the afternoon is when most animals wildlife come out,the big problem is paralysis ticks they can bring a city dog down in a matter of hours,the only way to cure them is feed them the ticks till they develop a resistance,and king brown red belly blacks snakes and all the old farmers no-feral people I have talked too over the years with snakes like king brown and red bellies if you kill one the mate will come looking for you..:)..
 
willair said:
I have a small property in nth nsw,early morning and late in the afternoon is when most animals wildlife come out,the big problem is paralysis ticks they can bring a city dog down in a matter of hours,the only way to cure them is feed them the ticks till they develop a resistance,and king brown red belly blacks snakes and all the old farmers no-feral people I have talked too over the years with snakes like king brown and red bellies if you kill one the mate will come looking for you..:)..
Click to expand...

Hi Willair,

As one day it may be a matter of life and death I provide a link for you to have a look at http://www.snakecatchers.com/KingBrownSnake.html

It is very rare to have a King Brown on the eastern side of the ranges. This side of the range virtually every brown snake is an Eastern Brown, doesn't sound as exciting but is in fact, way more dangerous.

The King Brown is actually a member of the black snake family and consequently black snake anti venom must be used. Black snake venom is quite different to brown snake venom and if bitten on the east coast by a brown snake you want brown snake venom ASAP !!

I hope this information is never used by you or any of your family :)
 
Macca said:
Hi Willair,

As one day it may be a matter of life and death I provide a link for you to have a look at http://www.snakecatchers.com/KingBrownSnake.html

It is very rare to have a King Brown on the eastern side of the ranges. This side of the range virtually every brown snake is an Eastern Brown, doesn't sound as exciting but is in fact, way more dangerous.

The King Brown is actually a member of the black snake family and consequently black snake anti venom must be used. Black snake venom is quite different to brown snake venom and if bitten on the east coast by a brown snake you want brown snake venom ASAP !!

I hope this information is never used by you or any of your family :)
Click to expand...

Macca,thanks for the link,myself I have had snakes stand up in front of me when walking around the property,and I'm no hero I just do a quick uturn and run as fast as I can ,i have had a few red bellies go me while spraying the lantana and they can move very very fast,they also get browns over on the beaches around Byron Bay,and they don't take a backward step when they smell fear..
 
We get brown snakes here on a regular basis.

Only one I did shoot was the one that got into the kitchen.
Blood and guts everywhere!:eek:

But still, Happy wife, happy life.

Sadder note, the jack russell was winning 6-0 against the browns until it went 6-1, game over.

Brave (but mad) little thing she was.

That was 2 years ago now and funny thing, only had 1 snake visit since, just a couple weeks ago. It got caught up in the bird netting we put around the chook pen. That works well.

I guess if we replaced the jack russell with another JR we would likely "see" more.
The Border Collie does not seem to be interested. Sure hope so anyway.

Consequently, our nature garden abounds with wildlife, including the odd visit from echidnas, large goannas, lizards, frogs, myriad species of birdlife, and yes, cockatoos that have wreaked havoc in just 2 minutes destroying plants and trees including our only Norfolk pine, stripping the top leaves. They are growing back thankfully.
Another place we lived a few klms away we had koalas on a very regular basis. None here yet but a neighbour had one a few weeks back so they are coming in.

Cats and foxes are the biggest threat overall and by far.

There is a new neighbour coming soon and the other neighbours and I will be informing them that all cats will be destroyed on sight, irrespective of their "domestic" status.
 
Jamie M said:
lol - oh man, don't get me started on possums!

I have one visit my roof most nights - he likes to hang off the window near my bed and scream at me at 2am in the morning. I love animals/nature and I'm not a violent person - but I could KILL that bloody possum.
Click to expand...

Mmmm yes maybe you can go off possums. :D Didn't realise they can scream. Reminds me of a walk in the woods one day. We heard a bizzare, really loud grunting like sound. Tip toeing bravely towards the sound we thought we'd find a wild pig. It was a blooming koala up in one of the trees. Couldn't believe the sound.
 
Kinnon Bell said:
Watch out for cockatoos - they'll pull apart your house beak bite by beak bite.
Click to expand...

lol, life in this country is about facing frequent and potentially devastating threats to your house, your sleep or your life. I won't tell my hubby what you've said about cockatoos or he'll veto my feature bird bath.;)
 
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