This Is Your Cape Cod—Keep It Natural | The Humane Society of the United States

	This Is Your Cape Cod—Keep It Natural

Cape Cod has many beautiful species of plants and animals, from mayflowers and lupine to piping plovers and eastern box turtles. The natural character of Cape Cod is what attracted many of its residents, and preserving it is the responsibility of residents and visitors alike.

In the last 50 years, a growing portion of Cape Cod has given way to urban, residential, and industrial development—an increase from less than 10% to more than 30% of all Cape land.

The Cape Wildlife Center was founded out of concern for the unique ecosystems of Cape Cod and the welfare of the wild animals who live here. Naturally, the center promotes open space and native plantings to benefit all Cape residents—human and wild alike. We all need places to live, and our lives are richer when we share those places with plants and animals. Here are some suggestions for how you can make your yard and neighborhood hospitable to wildlife—Cape Cod style.

Plantings in Your Garden

Here is a list of some native Cape Cod plant species and the wildlife they attract. Many of these species, including cardinal flowers and swamp milkweed (or ice ballet), are readily available from specialty nurseries; others, like touch-me-nots, are considered "weeds." Please don't remove plants from the wild without considering the ecological and legal consequences. Some plants, such as mayflowers, are protected by state statutes.

American white waterlily: shorebirds, browsing mammals, and large mammals
Cardinal flower: honeybees and hummingbirds
Coastal sweet pepperbush: butterflies and moths, songbirds, shorebirds, upland ground birds, and small mammals
Common buttonbush: butterflies and moths, honeybees, songbirds, shorebirds, small mammals, and browsing mammals
Frost aster: butterflies and moths, honeybees, caterpillars, and upland ground birds
Groundnut: small mammals
Jack-in-the-Pulpit: songbirds and upland ground birds
Mayflower: upland ground birds, small mammals, and browsing mammals
Spotted Touch-Me-Not: butterflies and moths, honeybees, hummingbirds, songbirds, upland ground birds, small mammals, and large mammals
Steeplebush: butterflies and moths, songbirds, shorebirds, upland ground birds, small mammals, and browsing mammals
Sundial Lupine: butterflies and moths, hummingbirds, caterpillars, songbirds, upland ground birds, small mammals, browsing mammals, and large mammals
Swamp Milkweed: butterflies and moths, honeybees, and caterpillars
Water Willow: small mammals
Wild Iris: butterflies and moths, hummingbirds, shorebirds, and large mammals
Wood Lily: butterflies and moths, hummingbirds, and songbirds

Tasty to Wildlife

It's satisfying to grow native plants to foster wildlife in general, but sometimes you may want to attract a particular wildlife species to your yard. For that purpose, here is a list of plants that attract and provide food for certain wild animals.

Chipping Sparrow: crabgrass and bristlegrass
Eastern Box Turtle: wild strawberries and fungi
Eastern Chipmunk: oak, hickory, maple, hazelnut, basswood, and beech trees
Eastern Gray Squirrel: oak, hickory, maple, and beech trees
Eastern Red Fox: apple trees
Flying Squirrel: oak and beech trees
Hummingbird: wildflowers
Muskrat: cattails, bulrushes, and burreeds
Opossum: grapes
Raccoon: oak trees and corn
Red Squirrel: oak, hickory, maple, beech, and spruce trees as well as serviceberry and fungi
Striped Skunk: grapes
Tree Swallow: bayberries
Woodchuck: clovers, grasses, and vegetables