There are so many ways you can be a Habitat Hero and save our wild spaces! Using a few recycled items from around your house, you can transform your backyard into a nature viewing spot.
We would love to see your creations. Tag us on Instagram or Facebook using #ITMN or #TexasMasterNaturalist
Make a Butterfly Puddler
Butterflies will flock together on muddy puddles. It’s called “puddling”. They drink water and collect salt & other minerals their body needs.
To make a Butterfly Puddler you’ll need a small pie tin and some rocks.
Find a shady spot in your backyard for the dish, then add pea gravel or other small rocks until it’s half full.
Pour enough water to cover the rocks but give the insects somewhere to land without drowning.
You can add some garden dirt, manure, and/or a pinch of salt.
Add more water when it runs dry.
Make an Egg Carton Bird Feeder
Save an egg carton and re-make it into a bird feeder.
You’ll just need some cotton string, round cereal, like non-flavored Cheerios, and bird seed.
Cut the egg carton in half. You can use the other half to make a gift for a friend or neighbor!
Poke holes on the 4 corners for your string. You can add cereal to the string for added bird treats.
Hang it in your yard and fill with bird seed.
Make an Insect Hotel
Recycle a food tin can into a home for native bees.
Fill the tin can with straws cut to the same length as the can, or roll your own paper tubes the size of drinking straws.
You can decorate the outside with colorful duck-tape or paint it.
Tie a string around the can, leaving enough string to hang horizontal from your favorite tree.
Native bees are solitary, they don’t live in a hive. They will use the tubes to lay eggs, making more pollinators for your garden’s fruits and flowers.
Make a Toad House
Using an 8″ plastic plant pot, cut an arched opening about 4 inches wide by 3 inches high. Remember toads get big.
Do the same on the opposite side for an exit door.
Invert the pot and place in a shady spot in your yard.
This will give garden toads a place to rest from the heat of the day.