Thanks dirt_dew for the info and link.
I have been maintaining my backyard as a wildlife habitat for many years. Mostly for birds. I did have alot of Hyla californica (tree frogs) but they disappeared. I have found a worm salamander once so i know that there is alot going on that I have no clue about. I am planning on posting a web journal on some of it in the next few days under the Ponds forum in case you wish to check it out. I will title it Select Aquatic Plants-the aftermath.
What has been some neat experiences are the opposums that I have been able to help raise from babies to adults. I hope that the cycle will continue but I have not seen any of the adults for sometime now. It is dangerous for animals in my neighborhood. I live in a small city near a park and it is hard for all other life forms as most people use pesticides. I try to keep my front yard (I took out the lawn and installed boulders and was going to put in a pool but have yet to follow through on this.) as a butterfly garden but it means I have plants that some call weeds growing up large up to my chest and I have an evening-primrose that grows to 8 feet tall for the finches to gather seed out of the pods. It is looked down on by many people. I have been condemned by some because of it. Just last week some guy wanted to work for me to clean up my weeds! I told him I like it this way!!! Guess I need to put up a sign saying Jerry's Butterfly Range! Hey can't have the beautiful insects if they don't have the plants they need! Anyhow I have rambled on enough. Cheers.

I know what you mean. I get MANY good compliments but a few complaints. What are weeds? American Kestral Falcons are nesting right now in my palm trees as they have for many years. Many residents here in a city of palms in the desert consider the palms weeds.
I let carrots naturalize years ago. If you eat fresh carrots, cut off an inch at the top and push this top into the soil. When they bolt your butterflies will love them.
Thanks for sharing and keep up the good work!
Happy gardening!

I got a message earlier today that the "wildlife" link was not working.
I just tried it and it is working again now.

I would love to! I xeriscaped last year so my plants are still quite young, but I'm redoing a few things which include adding some plants that are hummingbird/butterfly friendly (Vitex, etc.) The only problem is that I have a small urban backyard and would need to go *find* animals to release into my yard once the plants have grown enough to provide enough cover. I was thinking just lizards to start with.

How do you do this with small yards?

I sure am: I counted 21 feral cats in my yard today. I removed the 5 bird feeders this spring, leaving only the hummingbird feeders, but that hasn't lessened the feline population. On the other hand, no rodents.