I would say that you have to start with a good location for your home. You are not going to find a lot of diversity in a metropolitan area. I live in a development that is located in a rural area that was farmland 15-20 years ago that is currently bordered by about 150 acres of woodlands.



Next step is to create transitional "edge" habitat. I own about a lot that is split into three parts: 1/3 hardwood/pine bottomland with a creek, 1/3 old field habitat, and 1/3 finely manicured yard with several mulchbeds and plants.



Things that seem to have helped...mulching around the house, planting lots of flowers and flowering shrubs around the house and the edge habitat, planting fruit trees and blackberry bushes in the old field habitat, having a couple of tons of rock hauled in for my ditches, plus I put some nice tin, boards, and woodpiles in the edge of the old field and the woodlands. I routinely put nuts, seeds, and cereal under my tin to encourage the rodents. I have several bird feeders and bird houses around the edge habitat. I also have a garden and a compost pile in the old field habitat, which both encourage insects and therefore food for reptiles.



I think the guys above are right that cutting back/out insecticides are good because it increases the lizard/frog populations (saw 9 lizards around the house on Sunday while washing the car) and keeping the yard looking nice keeps the wife happy.



I have managed to find 8 species of snakes on my property in four years since moving here, which is decent diversity for the foothills. Here are a few:

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