Ideas to become a better steward of the land?

[Steppenwolfe]

I spoke to a Texas State Biologist and he told me that over the last hundred years, the natural state of our forests has been so severely modified that it is no longer healthy for wildlife because of all of the saplings that are chocking out the under story. Turkeys no longer live here and the deer numbers are very low. Perfect for wild hogs, which are invasive and shouldn't exist here. One of the best things that I can do on my land is to thin out the timber and allow the mature trees to develop. Before I started, you couldn't see 20 feet into the woods. Now you can see hundreds of yards and it's been amazing seeing the wildlife take over. Too many trees can be a bad thing.

Agreed, excellent point, Eddie ... I have kept some area's of what I call thickets for the deer to hide out in and for the birds to roost. I would also offer to keep your land as free from chemicals as possible, easy on the fertilizers and bug sprays.

 

[Jstpssng]

Oak chips donot make good mulch, they take forever to break down and add acidity to the soil. Much better to leave the whole branch to decay naturally.
Others have already said to add plants/flowers indigenous to your area and I'd like to suggest to you "Earth Worms" if you don't have enough.

Believe it or not earthworms aren't native to this continent, but were brought over by European settlers. Some claim that they are causing problems. Invasive earthworms - Invasive species - Minnesota DNR - MN Department of Natural Resources

Up here whitetail deer thrived when we started clearing land and settling; like us they are pioneer species and the population peaked in the 1950's when a lot of farms were abandoned and started going back to forest. It's a real controversy in Northern Maine, where there were no deer until the mid 1800's; for the past 30 years the population has been declining for various reasons and many people want the state to do something about it. Meanwhile the southern part of the state has more than they want, and the deer population is excaberating the tick problems as well as the accompanying Lyme's disease.

 

[plowhog]

We have many deer on the property, plus bears, coyotes, fox, raccoons, rabbits, a mountain lion, and it keeps going on ...

For some unknown reason, we have had an explosion of ticks on our property in recent years. We did have 4+ years of terrible drought which killed many pine trees, and I wonder if those are linked. When we walk the dog in the morning, mostly staying on roads and trails but with a little contact with vegetation, he always comes back with 5 or 6 on him.

Years ago the ticks were maybe 1/4 inch across. The explosion of ticks now are ones a little bigger than a grain of pepper-- very small.

 

[dodge man]

Sometimes it is not just what you do but what you DO NOT do. Since you are asking I bet you are more careful with the environment than some slobs. Examples include dumping used oil, antifreeze, furniture and general litter.

We have lived in the country for about 22 years and I have tried to clean up the area a little bit. For example several years ago they had a day they would take used tires. I climbed down in a couple of gullies and drug some old tires out even though this was not on my property. I could see them from the road and it ragged me off that some one dumped them. I would rather do something about rather than call someone and complain.

 

[Jstpssng]

^^^^
Old tires = Mosquito nurseries.


Ticks are spreading up here also. Small ones like what you describe could be deer ticks, which spread Lyme disease.
I had an area where a used to work that was laden with ticks. Every night I would take about 30 off my dog and as many more off myself. Until recently I never found anything which would work for any length of time; but for the last few years I've been buying "Bravecto" BRAVECTO(R) (FLURALANER) | 12-Week Flea & Tick Protection For Dogs & Cats, which is a pill that he gets every 3 months. I'm usually pretty **** about what my dog eats and leary about this kind of thing. I doubt that it's hurting him anymore than what the ticks can spread however, and he's already been treated for Lymes once.

Sorry, I didn't mean to hijack your post. It appears that you are doing a pretty good job of achieving your goals. You also should consider that biodiversity depends on your land not being the exact same as everybody else's.

 

[plowhog]

I bet you are more careful with the environment than some slobs.

I don't knowingly do anything to harm the property. About the worst habit I knowingly do is starting winter burn piles with a mixture of diesel and motor oil. I know this is frowned on but I use a small amount and only on the things getting burned-- not the ground.

I liked turning (undesirable) branches and clippings into (desirable) mulch. I'm hoping to find more things like that.

 

[Trillium Farm]

Believe it or not earthworms aren't native to this continent, but were brought over by European settlers. Some claim that they are causing problems. Invasive earthworms - Invasive species - Minnesota DNR - MN Department of Natural Resources

Even though it appears in this article, I don't believe it! It's impossible, earth worms are present everywhere in the world except Antartica & the Arctic or where the weather makes impossible for them to live. What the writer may have meant is that certain strains or types may not be indigenous, but not the whole species. See...

There are two genera of Lumbricid earthworms that are native to North America. The family Lumbricidae includes most of the earthworms familiar to people in North America and Europe, including the red worm Eisenia fetida and the nightcrawler Lumbricus terrestris. In the US and Canada, there are about 182 taxa of earthworms, about a third of which were introduced. These introduced species include some of the most common species seen in North America today. (http://bio-eco.eis.ynu.ac.jp/eng...) The imports could have been transmitted in any number of ways from Europe to North America - livestock, soil samples, food supplies, other ship cargo - so it's not really surprising that earthworms, which are often quite hardy, made their way over.

 

[boomer1025]

We have many deer on the property, plus bears, coyotes, fox, raccoons, rabbits, a mountain lion, and it keeps going on ...

That's why you have so many ticks. They have lots of food, take the food away and less/no ticks

 

[jfh28]

we call the small ticks deer ticks as they seem to be the carriers around here......we have a steady "healthy" population of deer all year long but what I have noticed is that some years the ticks are really bad and then other years like this past year there have been hardly any.......same amount of deer each year.....so I think the tick population is more cyclical and dependent on the weather like hard winters......ticks also seem to be more attracted to lighter colored dogs then darker colors......and also longer haired dogs then short haired breeds.....I can walk our dogs all together and the wheaten colored wolfhound will come back covered with ticks.....the grey brindle wolfhound will only have one or two.....and the brown greyhound won't have any at all....our white pyr was absolutely the worst in getting them and with his thick double coat it was impossible to find the ticks until they had been on him for a couple of days......yuck......lol........Jack

 

[jfh28]

I think you have to decide what you want to focus on with your land in terms of being a good steward.......ours is all wooded and we decided that we wanted to concentrate on wildlife habitat.......so everything we do is geared to improving the land for the animals.....if a tree falls I leave it where it falls as it provides a snag for smaller animals to nest in and also protective cover from the deer for the first couple of years as the new saplings emerge......if a tree falls on the drive then I will cut it up and drag it to a snag pile I make throughout the woods which animals will turn into their nest......had a breeding pair of coyotes nest in one pile over the winter......rotting trees provide a place for insects which in turn provides food for woodpeckers so as long as the tree is not in danger of falling on the house, barn or car I leave it where it is......our hemlock population is being decimated by the woolly adelgid disease but what I have noticed is that when a hemlock falls new white pines spring up in its place so the forest will continue on......I have a bat that roosts over the side door to the barn each year that I'm happy to welcome and yeah it means I have to sweep the bat poop off the porch each day but the bat helps control the insect population so I let it continue to nest there.......in general our philosophy is if you don't bother us we won't bother you........seems to work for us........we enjoy seeing the animals and the animals seem to know that they have a safe haven here......and hopefully when its my time to leave I have left the land in a little better shape then when I came.......thats about all you can ask for.....so I hope you are able to choose a direction for your land that will bring a smile to your face each day.........Jack