It's official - we'll be doing new episodes of Backyard Habitat this spring!

We'll be in the Tucson, Chjcago, and Charleston, SC.

If you live within an hour of these areas and want to get on the show, click on "Get on the Show" on the left hand side of this site to access the application. If you don't live in those areas or know of someone who lives in these areas and would be interested, please pass this on.

Thanks everyone for watching Backyard Habitat and getting us more episodes!

David Mizejewski
Naturalist, National Wildlife Federation
Host, Backyard Habitat on Animal Planet

I love the show and would love for our backyard to be more of a natural habitat for birds, butterflies, dragonflies and frogs. I live in Columbia, SC and would love to get on the show; however, I have had a few problems trying to log on to "Get on the Show". For instance, I can't get past entering my DOB. It will let me enter the month and date but there isn't a submit button. Hopefully it will be resolved. I also have friends who live in Mt. Pleasant on a canal, who would be perfect. Thanks for your time.
Tammie

Hi Tammy - I will let the web folks at Animal Planet know about this right away.

In the meantime, you can access the application from Rivr Media's website at:
http://www.rivr.com/backyardhabitat/application.html.

David Mizejewski
Naturalist, National Wildlife Federation
Host, Backyard Habitat on Animal Planet

i live in northeastern new york and was wondering when you will coming up around our way???

We did an episode in Woodstock, NY on living with black bears and white tailed deer and attracting luna moths. Check the episode listing on the left hand navigation bar to see when it will air.

Our new episodes will be in Arizona, South Carolina and Illinois. Click "Get on the Show" (also on the navigation bar to the left) to learn more.

David Mizejewski
Naturalist, National Wildlife Federation
Host, Backyard Habitat on Animal Planet

Do you guys know when you will visit the Washington Maryland Area? I have a koi pond with 173 koi. I attract some birds but I would love to make the area more attractable to other wildlife.

We did 5 episodes on the Washington DC area that are currently airing. Check the episode list to the left to see when they'll air next.

And let Animal Planet know that you're interested in being on the show, even if we've already been to your state, and we might get a chance to come back.

David Mizejewski
Naturalist, National Wildlife Federation
Host of Backyard Habitat on Animal Planet

Hi David: My daughter Caroline, who is seven, and I are big fans of your show. Too bad we're not living in one of the locations for this spring. We have multiple bird feeders and water for the birds, also lots of ground cover and foliage in our one acre yard--a habitat of sorts. Mainly, I would like to get in touch with Molly. I am a childhood friend of Molly's--I lived one street over from her in Maitland and went to school and summer camp together, even acted in our first play together. I wonder whether she answers messages on the board? Could you please let her know that Lauren Nagel would like to get in touch? I'm a lawyer and teacher in Gainesville. My email is richardsonlawyer@yahoo.com Best of luck to you both. We can only watch when school is closed, as you run at 11am in Gainesville.

Hi Lauren! I will be seeing Molly today and will tell her you wrote in. We are in Tucson shooting new episodes, which is going really well. There is SUCH cool wildlife here. I think these are going to be some of our best episodes - but I won't tell folks more than that now and give it all away. You'll all have to keep watching!

David Mizejewski
Naturalist, National Wildlife Federation
Host, Backyard Habitat on Animal Planet

This is one of my very favorite shows. I love the bird episodes the most. We always joke that if we were ever chosen for the show we would probably get the rattlesnake and scorpion habitat! Here in Utah we have many migrating birds along the Great Salt Lake. Someday you may enjoy coming here just to see all the interesting birds that show up every good Summer day.

Now this is controversial, but I love the common pigeon too-Yes, the pigeon. We had Roller Pigeons that do somersaults in the air. It would be neat to see a show on making a pigeon loft-maybe octagonal. The show could include details on how the bird was served on the Titanic, how pigeon lofts fed people in times of old, information on rollers, etc.

J Rowe
Salt Lake

If you ever come to Utah, visit Antelope Island in the Salt Lake where you can see a lot of birds. Also the Marina on the South end has a lot of bird watching. There is also an island bird sanctuary.

Another little known fact about pigeons: In "The Lost Battalion", a World War I movie, The pigeon Mi Cherie helped save a battalion and end World War I when it delivered a cease fire message because of a friendly fire attack. That battalion the bird saved behind the lines opened a break through the front that effectively ended the war.

You know I just thought of this. I live in a somewhat depressed area of Salt Lake County. We have a very barren small park, Mountain Man Park, in the Kearns, Utah neighborhood with nothing but some trees planted. The county has little money to improve it. Would you be interested in creating a community wetland project (Maybe a duckpond) together with birdseed vending machines and natural shrubs, thornless blackberries and pecan trees for wildlife? This would be a wonderful thing for the community. Thank you so much for your thoughts. If you are interested the person at the county to contact is Samee Garee: dogrdog2@yahoo.com

Hello,
Me and my 3 children love this show! I was wondering if you will ever be coming to the Austin-San Antonio, Tx area? I would love to be on the show. We have tried to make our yard attractive to wildbirds for years. We have lots of doves, cardinals, mockingbirds, green anoles, humming birds and some frogs in our yard. We especially love watching the birds and lizards in our yard. We have two bird nests in our trellis! We have several bird feeders, and the main one always has a waiting line of birds ready to eat. I would love to add a pond to my yard, to add an additional water source to help attract more wild birds. Do you have any suggestions on how I can keep the mockingbirds from eating my dogs food. They seem to love it!
Thanks,
Deedy in Texas

I live in Stillwater Mn and I,m wondering if you have already done shows In Minnesota. If Not when do you plan to come this way. My Mother lives 2 blocks from me and I know she would benifit also although without even trying she steals my birds. Thanks for a great show- it's my favorite!! Brenda

Hi Samee - Our show focuses on native wildlife so we'd probably won't do feral pigeons - unless they're a native species like the band-tailed pigeon, which we featured in an episode. If you like pigeons, check out Cornell's PigeonWatch site:
http://www.birds.cornell.edu/programs/urbanbirds/ubs_PIWMainEN.html

Here are some links to some Utah wildife resources for you:

Utah Division of Wildlife Resources:http://wildlife.utah.gov/index.php

Utah Wildlife Federation (NWF's State affiliate)
P. O. Box 526367
Salt Lake City, UT 84152-6367
Business: 801-487-1946 Fax: 801-773-0412
E-mail: uwfhall@xmission.com

Thanks for watching!

David Mizejewski
Naturalist, National Wildlife Federation
Host, Backyard Habitat on Animal Planet

Hi Deedy! So glad you're enjoying the show. Austin was a potential location for episodes for our second season but it unfortunately didn't make the final list. Keep watching and let Animal Planet know you want more episodes and maybe we'll still make it there.

In the meantime, NWF has a regional office right in Austin. You can contact my colleague Bill Stout for questions about creating backyard habitats in Texas.

National Wildlife Federation
44 East Avenue, Suite 200
Austin, Texas 78701
512-476-9805 Voice
512-476-9810 Fax

Bill's email address is stout@nwf.org.

Texas Parks and Wildlife, with whom NWF has a backyard habitat partnership, is an excellent resource for you as well.

As for how to keep the mockingbirds from eating your dog food, the only real solution is to feed your dogs indoors or only feed them quantities that they'll eat immediately.

Good luck!

David Mizejewski
Naturalist, National Wildlife Federation
Host, Backyard Habitat on Animal Planet

Hello Brenda! Thanks for watching our show. I'm glad you're enjoying it. As I've said, the best way to have a chance of getting on the show is to let Animal Planet know you're watching and that you'd like to see more new episodes. Maybe we'll make it to Minnesota at some point in the future.

In the meantime, sounds like your mom is doing something right in her yard. Maybe you can pick up a few tips from her!

David Mizejewski
Naturalist, National Wildlife Federation
Host, Backyard Habitat on Animal Planet

Hi David!
I love watching Backyard Habitat. I think what you and Molly do is great. I was curious to see if you would be making it to Chesapeake, VA or anywhere close to it sometime in the near future. I have this huge backyard with tons of differant wildlife and it's just so plain back there. Everytime I go to walk my puppy, I'm greeted by lizards of many shapes and sizes, there are also many species of birds and snakes.
Could you give me any tips to bring these wildlife animals closer so that my neices and I could veiw them from our windows or on the porch?
Samantha.

I have a very special request. I purchased two acres of land north of New Orleans proper. Hurricane Katrina devastated that area, destroying over 80% of the trees. The area now has pine beetles and other problems due to the natural disaster and the stresses it placed on the flora and fauna in this area.

Has anyone considered coming to this area to help some homeowners restore their lands? This would be a mjor task, but one that is well worth the effort. Any chance you have consdiered coming here? I would love some help in restoring the land around my home.

quote:

Originally posted by habitat4u:
I love watching Backyard Habitat. I think what you and Molly do is great...[snip]. Could you give me any tips to bring these wildlife animals closer so that my neices and I could veiw them from our windows or on the porch?.

Hello Samantha! Thanks for watching the show. We're just about finished shooting our second season, but if you continue to post here and let Animal Planet know that you'd like to be on the show, we might get the opportunity to do a third season of shows and possibly come to your neck of the woods.

Thank you also for wanting to help the wildlife. The basic concept of habitat is providing food, water, cover and places to raise young for them. If you do that you will definitely attract the critters closer to your house. How you do that depends on what kinds of wildlife are present.

First, allow the native plant community to grow naturally. Native plants will provide food, cover and places to raise young for the local wildlife. You can add native plants to an existing garden or simply let things go "wild" (but be on the lookout for invasive exotics plants that you should try to eliminate).

For lizards and snakes I'd recommend a brush and/or rock pile. These places will provide shelter and hunting grounds for these reptiles. Rocks have the added benefit of absorbing heat during the day and slowly releasing it - cold-blooded reptiles will use rocks as a basking area to warm up in the cool morning.

A water feature will also attract these animals, as well as birds, mammals and amphibians. You can start with an on-the-ground birthbath. Simply empty, rinse and refill every couple of days to keep the water clean and mosquito-free. A larger garden pond will also be attractive, especially to amphibians such as frogs.

Check out the project and craft how-to information from the show right here on this site. You can also visit NWF's backyard habitat page for lots of ideas too: www.nwf.org/backyardwildlifehabitat.
Good luck!

David Mizejewski
Naturalist, National Wildlife Federation
Host, Backyard Habitat on Animal Planet