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"I've seen animals do things in my backyard you don't get to see on National Geographic," says Barbara Thuro, whose garden in Vista, California, is a sanctuary for a variety of creatures, winged and wild. Dragonflies perform aerial acrobatics over the pond. Raccoons sleep under her deck; at night they join skunks, opossums, and other prowlers rustling in the bushes while crickets serenade them.

Up north in Pleasant Hill, California, the chirping sound of white-crowned sparrows fills the air every fall in Pamela Simonds's garden. Simonds, who lives near one of the Pacific flyways, welcomes these seasonal visitors to her garden by offering them food, water, and respite from the noise, congestion, and lawn-filled gardens that surround her small, suburban oasis. "I can identify the season by the kinds of birds that appear in the garden," says Simonds. "When they arrive, I hear their presence before I see them."

Thuro and Simonds are two of a growing number of Westerners who are turning their gardens into backyard wildlife habitats, then having them certified by the National Wildlife Federation. Make your garden creature-friendly enough to be certified, says Thuro, and animals will come. The longer they stay, the more accepting they'll become of your presence. Then they'll behave in your garden as they would in the wild. That, say habitat gardeners, is when the entertainment--and education--begins.

In Simonds's garden, for instance, birds feel so at home that they perform mating rituals, build nests, hatch young, and nurture fledglings.

With all this live action going on, it's no wonder that owners of habitat gardens would rather watch critter comings and goings in their gardens than on TV.

Elements of a habitat garden

As housing and commercial developments spread into wildlands, they encroach upon the habitats that would supply--in their natural state--all the food, water, and shelter that birds and other creatures need to live. By incorporating these resources into your garden, you can help many critters survive as their true habitats disappear.

Food. To keep wildlife in the garden, you need to offer a year-round food supply "Diversity is the key to enticing the greatest variety of wildlife," says Judy Adler, environmental educator and owner of a backyard wildlife habitat in Walnut Creek, California.

Are my pets at risk of acquiring West Nile virus?

Until recently, reports Jeff Bay, D.V.M., an internist at Rowley Memorial Animal Hospital in Springfield, a division of the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals/American Humane Education Society (MSPCA/AHES), West Nile virus was limited to the Eastern Hemisphere, but it seems to be on its way to becoming endemic in the northeastern United States. Wild birds are the primary hosts for West Nile virus, which is passed among animals via mosquito bites. Although domesticated fowl and other birds, including household parrots, budgerigars, and cockatiels, are also susceptible to the disease, infection in domestic birds has not yet been reported in the United States. Infection in horses and humans has been reported in the Northeast, however. Mammals are, in general, less susceptible to the virus, although contact with the mosquito vectors may be extensive. In rare cases, species such as cattle, dogs, donkeys, gerbils, mice, pigs, rabbits, rats, sheep, and squirrels have acquired West Nile virus elsewhere in the world.

The virus typically infects the central nervous system and causes neurological symptoms. Clinical signs in birds include weakness, incoordination, abnormal head posture, circling, and convulsions.

Affected horses can show signs of lethargy, hind-limb weakness, incoordination, and convulsions. Although West Nile virus infection is rare in the Northeast, you should contact your veterinarian if you observe neurological dysfunction in any of your pets.

The best way to prevent infection is to limit exposure to mosquitoes. In pet birds or small mammals, this can easily be achieved by limiting their time out of doors. You can use mosquito repellants on a dog just as you would for a child, taking special care to avoid contact with the dog's eyes or mouth and to keep the dose and frequency of administration within those recommended by the manufacturer. A variety of methods help limit mosquito exposure to livestock species; consult your veterinarian for the method most suitable to your situation.

I have a four-year-old Lab mix that had a seizure last year. She became very rigid and glassy-eyed and couldn't walk. She had another one recently that lasted about six minutes. The next day she seemed like her usual self. What triggers these seizures and what can I do to prevent them?