High Road Wildlife: Building a Pollinator Paradise on a Mountainside

When we first set foot on our 10-acre slice of mountainside back in 2023, we saw beauty—but we also saw responsibility. The trees were mature, towering, and packed together a little too tightly; the underbrush was dense enough to make even a mule deer reconsider its route. And like so many people who now live in what used to be an unbroken wildlife habitat, we knew we had some work to do.

So the first year at High Road Wildlife was all about reducing crown-fire risk—a sweaty, muscle-building, back-aching labor of love. Picture us hauling slash, limbing trees, moving logs, dragging branches uphill (why is everything always uphill?), and then stepping back at the end of the day covered in pine needles like human-sized porcupines. Glamorous? No. Worth it? Absolutely.

Because for us, this wasn’t just “property improvement.” This was about creating a safe, healthy wildlife pause point—a refuge along the ancient migration routes that run through these mountains. As wildlife lovers and conservation nerds, we wanted to do more than “live alongside nature.”

We tried to rebuild the space for it actively.

What Is a Wildlife Corridor—and Why Does It Matter?

As cities expand, roads multiply, and remote areas fill with houses, natural habitats become broken into smaller and smaller pieces. Instead of wide, connected wildlands, we end up with islands—patches of habitat that wildlife struggle to travel between. This fragmentation isolates populations, reduces genetic diversity, limits food sources, and increases the risk of dangerous human–wildlife encounters.

A wildlife corridor is any stretch of habitat that helps animals move safely from one natural area to another. They come in all sizes and forms:

• Large-scale green corridors, such as the Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative, provide wide-ranging animals—like wolves, grizzlies, and elk—with hundreds of miles of connected habitat.

• Mid-sized regional corridors link forests, wetlands, and migration routes.

• Small-scale stepping stones, including private gardens and small acreages, provide rest stops and resources for birds, bats, pollinators, and large/small mammals (such as those found on High Road).

High Road Wildlife proudly serves as one of these stepping stones—one patch in a much larger ecological quilt.

We hope to see the resident elk herd using our corridor for safe passage to their breeding grounds in the near future.

Rewilding, One Habitat at a Time

With a mix of studying, experimenting, and occasionally Googling “how many nesting boxes are too many?” we set out to create habitat layers for as many species as possible. Today, the preserve includes:

• Nesting boxes of all shapes and sizes for owls, bluebirds, chickadees, and cavity nesters

• Bat houses for our nighttime insect-control squad

• Native grasses and browsing plants that feed deer, elk, and moose

• Pollinator-friendly shrubs, trees, and flowers to support bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds

  
  

Two summers of planting and watering have paid off—our pollinator corridor is now buzzing, fluttering, and humming with life. This year,

The gardens felt like a festival ground for native bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds, and hummingbird season was nothing short of spectacular.

And because we had no ecological baseline for what lived here before, every new track, feather, or wingbeat has become a tiny discovery.

Muffin the Moose morning on her visit

A sunset over the forest and surrounding mountains

One of our Anna's Hummingbird visitors in August, the Anna's were the last to leave for their annual migration in late August. Suddenly it became quiet :(

🌿 2025 Wildlife Report: Who’s Visiting the High Road Corridor

Our trail cameras, early morning walks, and obsessive note-taking paid off this year. Here’s a snapshot of the incredible wildlife we’ve documented so far:

Large Mammals

• White-tailed Deer: 18–26 resident individuals. Live observations reveal a stable and healthy herd utilizing the property as both a feeding and resting habitat.

• Moose: 2 adult females + 1 calf. Documented through trail cams and live sightings, suggesting reliable seasonal use of the land.

  
  

Small Mammals

• Columbian Ground Squirrels: An annual spring–summer pupping visit from a pair (May–August). Their presence brought in a surprising chain reaction of predators and scavengers.

• Coyotes: Both live sightings and trail cam confirmations.

• Golden Eagles & Bald Eagles: First-time visitors, attracted by increased ground squirrel activity.

• Skunks

• Racoons

  
  

Absent Species (So Far, in 2025)

Though common in the region, we’ve had no sightings of:

• Black bear

• Mountain lion

• Bobcat

• Elk

We’ll continue to monitor; the absence of evidence is not evidence of absence—but it does provide us with a helpful data point for understanding local predator dynamics.

Birds & Pollinators

• Hummingbirds: Five documented species—a joyful blur of color and energy.

• Bees: Masses of native bees, bumble bees, and honey bees thriving in the gardens.

• Monarch Butterflies: Eight confirmed sightings—a hopeful sign of their continued regional presence. The milkweed is growing and spreading. We look forward to having more Monarch visitors around.

• Butterflies: Countless other species use the pollinator gardens as refueling stations.

These observations reveal something important: safe, connected habitats are effective. Wildlife is finding us—and choosing to return.

How You Can Create Your Own Backyard Wildlife Corridor

You don’t need 10 acres to make a difference. Even a balcony garden can become a stepping stone in the ecological network.

Here’s how:

1. Plant Native

Your local pollinators will thank you—and show up quickly.

2. Add Water

Birdbaths, shallow dishes, or small fountains go a long way.

3. Build Habitat Layers

Ground cover → shrubs → trees. Wildlife needs vertical variety.

4. Avoid Pesticides

Let nature balance itself.

5. Don’t Over-Manicure

Leave a little wildness—leaf litter, brush piles, seed heads.

6. Provide Nesting Spaces

Bird boxes, bee hotels, bat houses, and brushy thickets help species thrive.

Every home garden, acreage, ranch, or shared green space that participates in the corridor strengthens it—connecting neighborhoods to natural areas and the natural regions to one another.

Where We’re Going Next

As the preserve matures, we’ll continue to document species, restore degraded areas, and expand our pollinator and browsing plantings. Perhaps we’ll discover other species that have been here all along. Maybe new ones will arrive. Hopefully, we’ll uncover forgotten ecological stories written long before we came.

What we know for sure is this: Rewilding isn’t a project. It’s a partnership. And we’re in it for the long haul.

Here’s to another season of planting, watching, listening, and celebrating every wingbeat, hoofprint, pawprint, and buzzing arrival that tells us we’re on the right path at High Road Wildlife.