Dr Jonathon Howard, NPA Executive
Spring is the perfect time to prep your backyard to attract and support local wildlife. Particularly if you have already built a welcoming spring habitat by planting local native flowers to attract pollinators and provide fresh water sources with sticks and rocks.
I’ve already noticed the noisy miners collecting small twigs from my garden to build their nests so I thought I would write an article for NPA about two coconut fibre ‘instant hits’ that can encourage possums and birds to your yards.
The first ‘instant hit’ are coconut fibre totem plant poles. These poles are available in most nursey superstores. While they are great poles for plant support and can help boost the height of climbing plants, the coconut fibre is fabulous nesting material. So, grab a few of these poles place them in your garden early spring, and watch over the coming weeks as the honeyeaters and other birds come and steal the coconut fibre for use in their nests. If these poles are not available, simply judiciously placing some coconut fibre basket liners in forks of some of the bushes in your garden will also do.
The second ‘instant hit’ is coconut fibre hanging baskets. These are great for making ‘dreys’ (homes for ringtail possums). The design emulates the natural homes these possums might build- but when habitat is lost, they are forced to sleep out in the open or even on the ground. To make a drey you will need some equipment: two steel wire coconut fibre hanging baskets that will provide the structure for their new home. You will need to join them together using cable ties. The first step is to remove the tags and chains from each basket. You then clip the wire on one of the baskets to allow for entry and exit points. You then get a sharp knife to cut the coconut fire so there is an entrance and an exit. Next you join the top and bottom basket together. You then go out in the garden and install the drey in a tree no less that 2 and a half metres high.
It’s a great activity to do with the kids during the holidays. Full instructions: