“Psst! Moe… you up?” Moe DeGrasse shook a wheel and roused himself from his noontime nap. “Do you know if your guy plans to make you mow the back section of this yard?” Polly Nator asked. “That’s my home! And dozens of my relatives live there too. Where will we go if it’s all cut down?”.
Moe was sympathetic to Polly’s situation but frankly, he was a slave to his owner’s whims. He had often chased Polly around this yard and several of the neighbor’s plots. “Gosh, I don’t know what he plans to do,” Moe replied. “Ever since he got me last year he rides around mowing down anything in sight. Seems like riding on me makes him feel like he’s doing yard ‘work’ while sitting on his behind and never breaking a sweat. I’m not so proud about all of that or of the fumes his excessive mowing blasts into the air. It’s literally making the planet hotter.”
Polly settled on to Moe’s deck. “Yeah, I get it. Humans like seeing tidy, green expanses, but they forget that those ‘immaculate’ expanses make poor homes for me and my relatives. We need places to raise our families too!” Polly sighed. “They forget that one out of every three bites of their food is grown with the help of us pollinators. Yet pollinator populations are dropping by 1 - 2% every year. Instead of constantly chasing us out, they could be helping us like Bess Practices does. She’s over on Livewell St. and has a very homey yard.”
Bess’s yard has a beautiful display of native plants with over-lapping bloom times so there’s always a variety of nectar and pollen sources. At the back, a small patch of well-drained bare soil is left open for ground-nesting bees. That’s next to a little brush pile where cavity-nester bees, beetles and flies can make their homes.
And Bess is smart. She waters only when it’s needed and keeps pesticide use to a minimum. Instead, she practices integrated pest management – a system that matches pest biology with her yard’s environment. That way, she reduces pests while minimizing risks to people, property, and the ecosystem.
“Honestly,” Moe concluded, “I’d be just as happy napping here in the sun instead of mowing down stuff unnecessarily because this is our only home. It’s where we’re all forever… Earthbound.”
Moe was sympathetic to Polly’s situation but frankly, he was a slave to his owner’s whims. He had often chased Polly around this yard and several of the neighbor’s plots. “Gosh, I don’t know what he plans to do,” Moe replied. “Ever since he got me last year he rides around mowing down anything in sight. Seems like riding on me makes him feel like he’s doing yard ‘work’ while sitting on his behind and never breaking a sweat. I’m not so proud about all of that or of the fumes his excessive mowing blasts into the air. It’s literally making the planet hotter.”
Polly settled on to Moe’s deck. “Yeah, I get it. Humans like seeing tidy, green expanses, but they forget that those ‘immaculate’ expanses make poor homes for me and my relatives. We need places to raise our families too!” Polly sighed. “They forget that one out of every three bites of their food is grown with the help of us pollinators. Yet pollinator populations are dropping by 1 - 2% every year. Instead of constantly chasing us out, they could be helping us like Bess Practices does. She’s over on Livewell St. and has a very homey yard.”
Bess’s yard has a beautiful display of native plants with over-lapping bloom times so there’s always a variety of nectar and pollen sources. At the back, a small patch of well-drained bare soil is left open for ground-nesting bees. That’s next to a little brush pile where cavity-nester bees, beetles and flies can make their homes.
And Bess is smart. She waters only when it’s needed and keeps pesticide use to a minimum. Instead, she practices integrated pest management – a system that matches pest biology with her yard’s environment. That way, she reduces pests while minimizing risks to people, property, and the ecosystem.
“Honestly,” Moe concluded, “I’d be just as happy napping here in the sun instead of mowing down stuff unnecessarily because this is our only home. It’s where we’re all forever… Earthbound.”
RSS Feed
