Thursday, April 22, 2010

Helping Mother Earth



Happy Earth Day everyone. This is Sky posting about how we try to help the earth at our house.


Mom says we all have to help or the poor old earth will get too tired to keep being a fun place for doggies to live. We thought digging a really big hole would be a good way to help, but Mom didn't think that was a good idea. Here is what she told us we can do to help.


At the last house she lived in and again here at our house, Mom made a plan and submitted it to the National Wildlife Federation. After a few suggestions, they certified our yard where we play as a Backyard Wildlife Habitat. That means we supply the four essentials for wildlife, food, water, cover and a place to raise their young.


This is the Yew hedge that runs across the front and side of the house. Lots of birds live in the hedge. They scurry around when we walk by and they come onto the porch with their baby chicks to eat from the feeders. This provides cover and a place to raise young.


This is the super gigantic Forsythia bush at the back corner of the house. This thing is huge. Mom won't let us investigate it because there are a couple of families of rabbits that live under there. Sometimes Mom sees the baby bunnies hopping around and they make her smile.

Mom and Dad love to plant trees. I think Mom likes it better than Dad, because he has to dig the holes.


This little tree is new this year.


These trees are a few years old. We like to lie in the shade they give. It's nice on a hot day after a tough game of chase to lie in the shade and nap.


Mom says when some of these trees get older, they'll shade a lot of our yard and make it more comfortable in the hot summer. They also help clean the air and give the birds a place to hide and build nests.


Mom and Dad don't use chemicals on the yard. They say those chemicals can get into the drinking water. Chemicals can get on our feet, too. Then if we lick them off, we can get very sick. Because we don't use them, we have these pretty yellow flowers growing in the yard. We used to eat these when we were puppies, now we roll on them.


These weird orange thingies grow on one of the trees in the side yard. Our neighbor thinks we should put something on them to get rid of them, but Mom says they're just Mother Nature's tree ornaments. They only last a few weeks then they go away till next year.


Mom and Dad feed the birds and the squirrels. This feeder holds suet. The Woodpeckers really love this stuff. Mom likes to sit at the window and watch them eat. Sometimes they drop a piece in the grass and we get to eat it. It tastes really good.


Here are a couple more feeders that hold different kinds of seeds. Some birds like big seeds and some like little seeds. Some birds don't like to eat from feeders, so we put seed on the deck rails and they can sit there and eat.


When it rains, like it did this morning, water comes off the roof in these things called downspouts. We'd like to drink from them, but Mom says no. Dad puts these long black pipes on the ends of the downspouts and directs the water to the trees and bushes. This one sends water to the Crepe Myrtle. Mom says we might get a rain barrel to collect rain water for the garden.


You all know how much we like to play in the water. Mom says that's OK, but when we're finished playing, we must put the muddy water on the plants in the yard so that we don't waste water and the plants can have a drink.



So that's how we help our earth. Do your humans let you help take care of the earth?

14 comments:

LizzieJane said...

Happy Earth Day Sue. I think we should all do our part to help out. You are doing such a great job.
x

Rocky Creek Scotties and Rocky Creek Ramblings said...

Happy Earth Day. You set a wonderful example for the rest of us. All dog owners should refrain from chemicals on their lawns and let the dandelions grow!

Lynn

the many Bs said...

you are an inspiration to our mom! we love your yard and we're so proud of you for having your very own wildlife habitat! our mom is at war with those dandelions. she wants to know how your mom gets rid of them. we like trees and bushes too. maybe we can have a wildlife habitat someday.

woofs.

Lapdog Creations said...

Great post Sky!!!! You and your humans sure do some wonderful things! :)

Marjie said...

Thor's humans have been using nothing but CF bulbs since 1998, before they became trendy. I can't begin to tell you how much money that has saved on electricity - more for dog treats! We also don't use chemicals in our yard. Dandelions get mowed down and the leaves are green like the lawn anyway. We mulch our grass clippings and leaves, and remulch the leaves in the spring. The cranky old lady across the street and down some says "our" leaves blow into her yard, but she has never given us any identifying marks on the leaves. And since they are not oak leaves, which are the closest of our trees to her yard, we're not buying it. No salt on the driveway in winter. We only water the veggie garden (total: 64 square feet). And the tree planting? Well, let's just say the humans here are nuts! So we're kinda green, too!

Molly the Airedale said...

Happy Earth day! Mom has seen those orange tree ornaments around here and have no clue what they are.
We used the dandelion poker to poke out a few dandelions today. We toss them to the ducks and geese and Dauby on our pond! They think they're a delicacy!

Love ya lots,
Maggie and Mitch

Anonymous said...

Sue I just love your post! It was great ♥ Happy Earth Day! I love the fact that you have a wildlife
habitat. I too would really like to have one some day.
Thanks for stopping by today. We changed one of our bedrooms into an office but it does have some book shelves and a comfy chair. Your idea of a library sounds marvelous.

gMarie said...

We do all sorts of stuff to help protect the earth. Mom says she drinks beer in recyclable bottles! Oh - you mean for real stuff, well we grow some of our food. We are supporting local, seasonal produce by joining a co-op, we compost and recycle - in fact, everyone around here is having a fit because the garbage trucks aren't running right now - but our garbage can is rarely full. Lucy.

Dianne said...

Wonderful post, Sky! I'm still wondering what those orange things are and what kind of tree that was? Ask Mommy, okay? I like all the trees in your backyard.

Bella Roxy & Macdui said...

Our back garden has lots of bird attracting plants. But we chase the birds away! We have a rain water tank and drink that. We pull the flowers off the dandelions so they don't seed.

XXXOOO Daisy, Kendra & Bella

SissySees said...

Wow! That's something else that you live in a certified environment. I think we do too - but psychiatric certifiable means something very different!

We don't use chemicals either, and we have LOTS of trees.

Martha said...

Belated Happy Earth Day from us bassets.
We are very impressed with your efforts.
How cool that you provide a haven for wildlife.
We also plant trees - well in fact our Dad plants them!
Sometimes our mum thinks we have too many and you can have too much shade but it is an important task.
Sorry we have fallen so far behind - we have been trying to catch up with all our friends but it is proving difficult.
Our human is now banned from any further holidays!
love
Martha & Bailey xxx

soulbrush said...

great post sue, love the 'i'm with stupid'. happy spring time to, you, rob
and the gang.

Scout and Freyja said...

You do lots of great things to help our world survive for future generations of humans and animals.