What to Expect The kinds of wildlife that visit your backyard will vary depending on its location and size, stage of habitat development, and other factors. For furious action, try going on an antlion safari. These pits are usually found in the soil near the base of a house or other building where they are somewhat protected from direct rainfall. Predation in action can be observed by dropping an ant into the edge of a pit. Antlion larvae eventually pupate in the soil, becoming adult insects that look somewhat like dragonflies.
Antlions are beneficial to man because of their ant diet and they cause no problems.
Squirrels, although sometimes a nuisance, can be a source of much enjoyment in the winter. If you feed sunflower seeds, they'll be out scheming how to get at them, even during snow storms. Feeding them sunflower seeds can be expensive, however, but ear corn is a good alternative. Observing and photographing butterflies in one backyard led to a small book about the complete life history of monarch butterflies. The same author is now taking pictures and writing the life story of thirteen-lined ground squirrels, and again the work is being done in his backyard.