WILDSCAPING -- WATER: If you want to attract wildlife to 
your yard, just add water ... details on Passport to Texas ... 
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Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

You planted native trees, shrubs and flowers in your yard 
to provide wildlife shelter and food. It's almost ready to 
be called a wildscape. All that's missing is water, and a 
birdbath is one way provide it.

"Well, a birdbath is nice as long as it's maintained and it's kept 
in an appropriate manner."

Mark Klym oversees the wildscaping program at Texas 
Parks and Wildlife. He says it's important to continually 
refresh the water in your birdbath, and keep the basin 
clean.

"We really prefer to see that water start moving. Because once it 
starts moving, more wildlife will be attracted to it; it cuts down 
on the possibility of that birdbath becoming a mosquito haven, 
and, it creates a fresher birdbath, and you're not having to 
replace the water constantly."

A pond with a waterfall or fountain is an ideal wildscape 
water feature ... .but ... 

"A lot of us can't do that though. So the moving water can be 
nothing more than a little drip that's created, and allows that 
water to continuously move, breaks that surface tension a little 
bit, allows some oxygen into the water, creates a sound that's 
going to attract the wildlife, and cuts down on the mosquito 
use."

You can find more information about wildscaping - 
including a native plant database -- on the Texas Parks 
and Wildlife web site. 

That's our show for today ... For Texas Parks and 
Wildlife ... I'm Cecilia Nasti.