Golf, it's good for everyone and everything

Ever walked through a thick forest and wonder why you do not see all the wildlife that you see on a golf course? The answer is simple and it has to do with edges. Edges create diversity and diversity creates welcoming habitat for animals.

If you think about the golf course compared to the forest, it makes sense. You can't go 50 yards on the course without running into a variety of different edges; the edge of the littoral, the edge of the lakes, the edge of landscape grass beds...they're everywhere as compared to a forest that has massive amounts of land that is all the same.

Look at the pictures and see where the birds are hunting. They are not hunting in the middle, they're hunting on the edge. They are hunting there because this is where the smaller fish live. If you were a little fish and didn't want to get eaten, where would you hide? You'd hide on the edge because that's where all of the aquatic plants are that provide you cover. During the reconstruction I planted all the lakes with aquatics to help stabilize the banks, but also to increase the diversity of the aquatic eco-system knowing that there would be an increase in wildlife activity as a side effect. When you are out on the course and you see a hawk or eagle, where are they roosting? They usually are roosting in a tree that is on the edge of a stand of trees, right?  They are waiting to spot their prey that is also attracted to the edge of the stand of trees.

You can see in the pictures nature using the edge effect to perfection. The Great Blue Heron, the Craine, the Cormorants and the Wood Stork all know that the edge is where all of the activity is going to happen. Wildlife does not typically look to hunt and feed in a mono-stand environment. This is why you see more wildlife on a golf course than you do in most pristine national forests.