Wildlife

If you’ve been following this blog, at some point you might have wondered at some point, what’s with all the animals? Isn’t this a river organization? And isn’t this blog supposed to be about a historic house? Are they just trying to woo me with cute animal pictures?


Well, on a really simple level, we do think it is kind of fun to follow and photograph all of the creatures who live around our home. And we hope you enjoy discovering along with us.

But beyond that, they prove an important point (or two). If twenty condominiums had been built on this property, between the construction process and the finished project, many (or most of) the animals we’ve documented would have lost their habitat. Sure, there’s a park next door, but you can only fit so many turtle or chickadee nests in one place. Members of many species (such as owls and hawks) don’t like to live too close together because they compete for limited resources.

Willow Hall also demonstrates that a surprising number of species can be found in suburban habitats. A research project conducted by two interns last summer found 17 bird species, 4 amphibians, 2 reptiles and 6 mammals live or pass through our property. Despite all that had been written about Willow Hall, no one had any idea of this before.

We think that’s pretty impressive for living on the fringe of an urban area such as Morristown. And there are probably more creatures living with us that we haven’t found yet. This summer we would like to begin the process of applying for a Wildlife Habitat Certification for Willow Hall through the National Wildlife Federation. (We’ll have more on that in another post.)

Protecting wildlife habitat is also important to the Passaic River Coalition for a few reasons. Many species, especially amphibians, turtles, and fish, can give us clues about the quality of water in streams, rivers, and wetlands. Habitat that’s healthy for animals is usually healthy for people as well. And protecting predator species also helps keeps other less desirable populations in check. It is much better for our waterways to let birds and bats control the mosquito population than to drain wetlands or douse them with pesticides.

And to us, the world is a richer place because of all the other creatures who share it with us.


A snapping turtle sunbathing on the lawn this morning