#2386 "Porcupine Smorgasbord"

Our lawn is green. By that I mean it is free of chemicals and hopefully most invasive species. I am okay with the invasive daisies. I planted clover because everyone loves clover. The lawn is full of white and red clover although some more typical grass type plants have infiltrated the area. The clover is typically green and does well in drought situations as well. 

The flowers tend to dry out and turn brown during dry spells but the creatures still love them. The porcupine in particular will gently draw the head of the clover into its open mouth and clip off the entire flower. He emerges just before dusk and is often still feeding when I get up at dawn. The deer love the clover as well. There are not many honey bees but the bumble bees that are around certainly enjoy the clover-filled lawn. 

This could be Porky or Piney delicately browsing off the heads of the red clover in the lawn. They both look the same to me and seldom are they together grazing at the same time.

You might wonder why we have a lawn at all out in the sticks of Singleton. Many birds but especially the blue birds and phoebes love a cut, short field to hunt over. The stakes I have to protect the small trees are perfect from which to perch like vultures waiting for an unsuspecting bug to come by. The adult ticks also prefer the taller grasses from which they attach to their favourite hosts, the white tailed deer or some unsuspecting, unconscious human . The cut lawn is all natural and we rely only on the rain to keep it green. If it is dry even the clover will eventually turn brown. 

Just some of the nature that enjoys the Singleton Sanctuary

I try to cut the clover lawn as infrequently as possible and we seldom cut all of it at one time - trimming only the clover that has gone to seed and leaving a patchwork of blossoms for the wildlife. Deer, turkeys and porcupine can be seen together at one time munching on the flowers. The insects that the clover attracts are feed for all of the birds. Eastern kingbirds love the bees. The phoebes and bluebirds are not picky and seem to enjoy almost anything that flies or crawls. I encourage the mulleins... by not discouraging them. They are perfect hunting perches for the birds and the insects love the little yellow flowers. The bears like to feed on the seed heads of the tall grasses while walking along the edge of the cut grass. There is a place for everyone in the Singleton Sanctuary. 

Lately I have been employing the turkey flock as edge trimmers. For a bit of corn they will trim the "lawn" along the sidewalk and spot fertilizer as well. It takes a crew of ten to twenty birds and they come twice a day to manicure along the sidewalk. 

That's my story and I am sticking to it. I would rather paint than cut it. 

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