The Serpent and the Hare
Planning for conflict when hosting wildlife
I’ve been posting a lot of rabbit and snake videos and images this week on my social media. The Eastern Cottontail rabbits in the back yard raised a herd of tiny hoppers who began venturing from their nest. At the start it should have been a herd. By the time they were big enough to explore, only two were left—statistically consistent for a litter of 4-5 buns. We’ve had foxes and raccoons at night, both of which prey on juvenile rabbits.
As soon as the two little ones were moving about, the daytime predators began to show up: hawks and snakes. The crows would probably eat a small rabbit if given the chance, but they also prey on the snakes and are mostly visiting for the mealworms I set out. They’re also able to clear the area of hawks; this time of year, our crows are all traveling in family packs to teach fledglings how to survive. And so enters the Eastern Black Rat Snake.
This is the rat snake’s breeding period. Everything is warm, they finished mating, and the females are needing more food and sun than they’d typically require. They head out of safe, wooded areas and into more open and sunny spots. Healthy, food-filled spots for mom mean healthy, food-filled places for babies to emerge after she’s left.
What Wildlife Wants
Notice that our pending conflict revolves around four specific needs: cover, food, water, and a safe place to raise young. At the core, this is all anyone needs for bare survival of their species.
For cover, we let the lawn grow long where we don’t need to use it. Rabbits use the tall grass to make nests and beds. Snakes use it to creep around, somewhat—they prefer to use the fences lining our backyard as a highway. The crows take advantage of the tight walls and porches of our townhome neighbors to stay cool in shade and control what sees them. Soon we’ll have shrubs and other plants growing in to provide more cover, especially for birds.
The songbirds get the bulk of our supplemental food, as we’re waiting on the shrubs to provide berries and caterpillars. Crows come for the mealworms and peanuts, and the boiled eggs, fruit, and meat I sometimes leave them. The rabbits munch all day long on the grasses and sometimes the plants—no asters or violets are safe. They pick up seed the birds leave, too. The snakes are here for any mice attracted by the seeds, and for other occasional prey like small rabbits. A baby rabbit can feed a rat snake for nearly two weeks!
We keep fresh water out in several places, refilling each daily. I’ve thought about a small pond, but we’re nowhere near being able to maintain it. Everything uses the water in this heat. Typically, many species live off the water gained from their prey.
Finally, safety to raise young. Has everything I described above sounded safe? The rabbits and snakes know that crows are here. The rabbits are very aware of the snakes and crows. The crows are actively bringing their young to our backyard to train them.
Side note for a funny story: two days ago, a crow taught its fledgling to eat the mealworms we’ve set out. The next day, the fledgling came alone but there were no mealworms. I brought a mealworm refill and some peanuts. The fledgling ate the mealworms, but moved the peanuts aside—it had not been taught that they were food!
When Safe Spaces Overlap
I expected to lose a rabbit to snakes. That didn’t surprise me at all when it happened, though I was still a little saddened. The fluffy things are so cute, and since they’re relatively good at communicating with humans, we bond with them even from a distance.
What did shock me? How the mama rabbit proceeded to beat that massive snake so badly, it scaled two plants and a wall to get away. I had read so much about how timid cottontail rabbits are, how often they die of fright, how they don’t protect their young, they never form family units… The problem with species summaries is that a lot of situational behavior gets buried. Cottontails do form family units while rearing young. They do stay nearby, and the absolutely will protect them if possible. The next day, she beat up another, younger snake who left hungry but didn’t come back. As a friend said, “your backyard’s a rough neighborhood.”
Anyway, this is a reality of life. Places where the rabbits feel safe making a nest become places the snakes feel safe laying eggs. Many species of songbirds prey on each other’s nests. Everyone loves to eat eggs.
We do our best to give everyone a fair chance at survival, using the same four resource needs listed above.
Cover
We vary the amount of cover across the lawn. More cover in the edges, less near our door. Things have a chance to run away from predators, even though predators have areas to hide and hunt. I’ve created spots where the shrubs and flowers flow into the middle of the yard, and spot that are completely clear behind them.
We layer everything vertically—a lesson learned from having decades of multi-cat houses. There may be more cover and perches higher up our fence, or hidden in the brush with clear spaces above.
Food
Everyone gets supplemented food at their favorite height. I’ve found it’s best with birdfeeders to give one type of food per feeder, and only fill what will be eaten in a day or two. Some prefer foraging in bushes, so they have a bush-height mesh feeder with their favorite seed. Ground foragers get food on the ground or in platforms. I adore Grey Catbirds, and use a twist tie to attach stemmed or vine fruit to poles.
The squirrels kept getting into anything with sunflower seeds, so they now have their own mesh feeder near the ground to work at. It’s super effective!
The ideal and our goal is to grow a fully native landscape that feeds local wildlife entirely.
Water
As mentioned before, we offer fresh water in multiple places and layer vertically again. Some on the ground, some suspended or mounted.
Safety
Here is the greatest responsibility.
We have to make space for wildlife to raise young, wherever that may be. Birdhouses have to be kept safe from climbing snakes and parasite birds. Grass has to be checked whenever we’re walking, to make sure we’re not opening or crushing a nest of some sort.
Where animals congregate has to be cleaned regularly and kept free of disease. I’ve learned not to get wooden feeders, because metal or recycled plastic can be quickly sterilized. I also have to be able to remove them all, as I did earlier last month when I found a dead Brown-headed Cowbird in the water. With my monitoring camera showing it sitting by the water for several hours before falling in dead, we bleached everything and went into quarantine for several days.
We have to keep disturbances to a minimum. No running around and shouting suddenly, or throwing things. We keep things predictable and in the same area at all times. This is how we’re able to present ourselves as not a threat, and why the animals let us get within a foot or two before fleeing. It’s our yard, it smells like us, and we don’t act threatening.
On that note, we have to keep them wild. As tempting as it is to go out with treats and pet baby bunnies, we can’t. Actually, the rabbits are probably the biggest threat to us humans. They’re the ones with ticks, and with deadly diseases that can cross species. Plus, we have an indoor rabbit—we absolutely cannot risk spreading anything to him. But for their survival, they must keep those instincts that make them run from humans and protect themselves without intervention.
We still watch their health. Too many ticks, a squirrel with half a tail, birds with missing legs—there are many times we need the help of a licensed wildlife rehabilitator. We have supported Second Chance Wildlife Center for years—since finding a lost gosling wandering a parking lot pre-pandemic. They have been amazing and very patient answering questions.
A Conclusion, I Guess
I do want to be clear that turning your entire property into a wildlife habitat is not for everyone. Landscaping for wildlife is a specific choice we made. No one is required to garden for wildlife if they are not comfortable. There are plenty of changes to traditional landscaping that are great for the environment and do not involve openly welcoming critters.
However, please consider that habitat destruction by humans is one of the greatest threats to wildlife. If you’ve ever thought “we really don’t need a lawn this big”, giving back a few yards at the edge of your property could be life-saving for an urban animal, or existence-saving for threatened species.
If you’re looking to make your landscape wildlife-friendly, consider pursuing a National Wildlife Federation certification. Their lists offer many options and ideas, and the resulting certification is rather satisfying.