How to turn a backyard into a wildlife sanctuary?

I have an acre that I want to turn into a place where deer, turkey, pheasants, etc will come and feed and/or bed down. I live in Mid-michigan.How to turn a backyard into a wildlife sanctuary?
A pond would be a great start.How to turn a backyard into a wildlife sanctuary?
Wildlife are looking for three main things:





1. Food


2. Shelter


3. Water





Provide these three and they will come.





In Michigan, you should consider a tallgrass prairie restoration project. Native plants are very popular with wildlife and all three of the animals you mentioned LOVE the native tallgrasses like Big Bluestem, Switchgrass, and Indiangrass.





Sites you might find helpful:





http://www.nwf.org/gardenforwildlife/


http://hubpages.com/hub/Attracting-Wild-鈥?/a>


http://www.squidoo.com/prairierestoratio鈥?/a>
First of all, you need to start with a simple thing that will let the wildlife know that you welcome them.


1. A Birdhouse.


Birdhouse's are great ways to get birds but make sure to purchase multiple ones because only one is pesky and does not attract many birds.


2. Start going for the bigger animals!! Get a deerlick.


They are huge blocks that deers enjoy licking for some reason.


3. Start throwing things like: Rabbit food, squirrel food, bird food, racoon food just to see if you can attract any.


4. Plant tree's and plants.


5. Actually buy turkeys and pheasants.


hope i helped
no fence, a pond, bushes and plants attracting butterflies and


bees ( your garden store will help with the choice ), a natural


hedge and some higher plants for animals to hide and - most


important - as little intrusion as possible
1) keep humans out of it.


2) make sure the critters can come and go as they please. You can't fence 'em in, and obviously you can't fence 'em out


3) make sure it's clean and quiet.
just make sure all plants and animals included are of local origin.
I like Gertrude's answer. Natural debris is great. Don't mow or trim. Orchards which have been pulled out and left make a great habitat for pheasant and quail.
water source and local plants/bushes that they r fond of eating.