Mequon Nature Preserve Field Guide
Streich Family Wetlands: 7
PieperPower Education Center, which catches precipitation, uses it to water the plants on the roof, and then releases the extra water slowly). Farming replaces the great diversity of native plants with a small number of cultivated crops that may deplete the nutrients in the soil. With no plant roots to hold the soil after the harvest, soil erosion by water and wind becomes a problem. When native plant communities are disturbed, their animal inhabitants leave because they can no longer find what they need to survive. Introduced or alien plants get a foothold on disturbed ground, and some become invasive and crowd out native wldflowers. The Mequon Nature Preserve is a green island, a green space increasingly surrounded by homes and businesses. As it is now, it is a sanctuary where animals and plants have room to live. The long-range restoration plan of the Preserve is to return the land to the grasslands and the mixed forests of beech, basswood, sugar maple, oak, and other trees that grew here historically.
Mourning Dove
Copyright Š2010 Mequon Nature Preserve 8200 W. County Line Road Mequon, WI 53097
6. Who goes there Must we choose between people and wildlife? Today, squirrels, chipmunks, opossums, deer, and Wild Turkeys compete with songbirds at bird feeders that provide a buffet for both resident birds and migrants. Raccoons raid trash cans, and foxes sun themselves in suburban backyards. Coyotes, which have dodged bullets, traps, and poisons for the past 150 years, have increased both their populations and their range; they now live in cities and countrysides from the Pacific to the Atlantic. The Red-winged Blackbird, a bird of the cattail marshes, now nests in subdivisions. Canada Geese, which were only seen during migration by the people who settled Wisconsin, now occupy parks, golf courses and farm fields all year. Bats emerge at night to feed on backyard mosquitoes. For wildlife watchers, there is plenty to see in the zone where urban meets rural.
A chipmunk helps itself to a mouthful of seeds at a bird feeder.
A red fox relaxes at the edge of a suburban lawn.
As human populations increase, animals that need special foods, solitude, or large chunks of wilderness become scarce. Today’s urban sprawl has forced some animals out of their historic ranges. The animals that succeed are the