A Nature-Lover's Haven for Animals

By Betsy Lehndorff

Drive through the tangle of most suburban streets and the homes seem to blur together. But there are exceptions, and Bob Forrey's modest brick ranch tucked into a Broomfield neighborhood is a standout example.

A tall canopy of trees wraps the home's backyard. Roll down your windows when you drive by and the songs of birds fill the air. At night, you might glimpse a raccoon darting through the yard, or a snake slithering by on a hot afternoon.

"OK. There goes a swallow-tailed butterfly through the back yard right now," says Forrey, sitting at a kitchen table in front of a large window.

Like hundreds of nature-lovers, Forrey has spent years creating a habitat for animals — everything from birds to bees, snakes to squirrels — around his home. In 1985, the National Wildlife Federation certified his property as a backyard wildlife habitat.

Hundreds of certified habitats in Colorado include everything from a 5,000-acre ranch to an apartment balcony, says Julie McGarvey, senior educator for the National Wildlife Federation's Rocky Mountain Natural Resource Center, in Boulder.

It's clear at a glance why Forrey's yard earned the distinction. A dozen whimsical birdhouses and feeders hang from his porch roof. Forrey built many of them in his basement wood shop. Others are simple, like a plate of seed or a tuna can full of suet and seed.

In the yard, even more feeders and birdhouses hang from a dense forest of trees.