We all share our backyards and neighborhoods with wildlife.  Santa Barbara is home to a variety of wild animals, from gophers to great horned owls to the endangered steelhead trout.  Sometimes, when humans and wildlife live closely together, conflicts result, such as when rabbits damage a garden or a skunk finds its way through a cat door.  This can be problematic for both the people who have to deal with the situation and the animals that end up misunderstood as "pests" and targeted with unnecessary control methods like poison.  

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However, this does not have to be the relationship we have with wildlife.  By using more holistic methods to manage the wildlife around us, such as enclosing our gardens to keep animals from digging things up and sealing off possible animal entry points in our homes, we can avoid human-wildlife conflicts and coexist with the local critters more peacefully as we would with our human neighbors.  The benefits of this approach are many.  We solve the problems more effectively and permanently than we would with lethal control, we get to enjoy the ecological services that the native wildlife provide us and the fun of observing local flora and fauna, and we take a step towards maintaining biodiversity.

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I have always enjoyed observing local wildlife, from creek life in Rattlesnake Canyon to owls in La Mesa Park to the skunks that once burrowed in a corner of my own backyard.  I created this website to inspire others to do the same, and to help people find a healthier relationship with the local flora and fauna.

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~Anne Burdette

Santa Barbara Wildlife Enthusiast

B.S. Environmental Studies, UCSB, 2023