An approximate 95-percent of natural habitat within the lower-half of the United States has evolved into urban landscape, according to a recent article published by The Washington Post.
These staggering figures have some wondering if certain conventional practices, such as mowing the yard is a good idea, considering the loss of habitat it can create.
One woman in Ohio has faced scrutiny after refusing to keep the grass in her yard manicured and in compliance with the state’s legal standards.
“Ohio law allows local governments to control any vegetation on private property that they deem a nuisance, after a seven-day warning to the property owners,” writes Sarah Baker, who recently fought to preserve the natural habitat of her own property, located near Alexandria, Ohio. Sarah’s family is also said to own a plant nursery named Baker’s Acres Greenhouse.
“But the main point of growing a natural yard is to attract wildlife and build a self-regulating environment,” Baker explains. “The un-mowed plants in our yard attract plant-eating bugs and rodents, which in turn attract birds, bats, toads and garter snakes that eat them. Then hawks fly in to eat the snakes. Seeing all this life emerge in just one growing season made me realize just how much nature manicured lawns displace and disrupt.”
Baker leaves readers of the Washington Post with some stark facts relating to habitat loss.
“Honey bees, which we depend on to pollinate our fruits and other crops, have been dying off at an unsustainable rate. Because one in three bites you take requires a pollinating insect to produce it, their rapid decline is a threat to humanity. Monarch butterflies have been even more affected, with their numbers, dropping 90-percent since the 1990s.”
To see more, visit the Washington Post.
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