Wild creatures thrive in refuge

The Howland woman has preserved her parents' undeveloped land.
By TIM YOVICH
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
HOWLAND -- This once-quiet farming community has attracted development, bringing snarling traffic and noise with it, yet there remains an isolated place of quiet filled with wildlife.
"I just grew up with nature. It's always been a sanctuary," said 54-year-old Susette Liddle, who has followed in the footsteps of her parents, David and Helen Liddle, in attracting wildlife.
Wildlife abounds throughout the 56 acres she owns along Mines Road, about a mile and a half from the sprawling Eastwood Mall.
Liddle and her friend Carol Babyak, a bird authority, have seen or heard 50 species of songbirds that are attracted to the property, which is dotted with birdhouses that lure bluebirds, chickadees and wood ducks.
A family of wood ducks cruises along the surface of the pond Liddle and boyfriend Lyle Hefner built 10 years ago. A tiny hummingbird pops up from some weeds along the pond, does a curious look around and speeds off in a blink.
A name in spirit
Although the sanctuary has no name, Liddle has been thinking of calling it "Green Spirit."
Liddle's father, an orthodontist, built the family home on 21 acres in 1939. He was a farmer during his youth, and that made him a wildlife enthusiast.
"It's always been a sanctuary," Liddle said.
After her parents died, Liddle wanted to keep the land from developers. She purchased 35 more acres on either side of Mines and had it all designated as a natural conservation area.
In this way, she explained, the land's value significantly decreased because it can't be developed.
In addition to the usual raccoons and opossums, regulars are deer that she feeds, red foxes, hawks and owls. There weren't any foxes, hawks or owls until the area began to attract birds and other wildlife.
"They have to eat, too," Liddle conceded.
There are few mosquitoes during the summer despite three streams and the pond. Dragonflies are abundant, and they eat the mosquito larvae.
The pond attracts about 200 mallard ducks in the fall. Also, Liddle has seen as many as 10 turkeys at a time that are attracted by the corn she puts out.
When not watching the birds and animals, Liddle makes use of the sandstone from three streams on her property, which feed Mosquito Creek.
There is a large market for her flat sandstone carvings of wildlife, Liddle said.
Improvements continue
She and Hefner, whom she affectionately calls her "property manager," seem to always be making improvements.
One is a wooden bridge with concrete supports that spans one stream. They named it "Hurtenbach," because of the strain on their backs during construction.
In a corner of the sanctuary is the former Kiwanis Fresh Air Camp that operated in the 1930s and early 1940s.
Liddle explained that while adult patients were treated at the Trumbull County Tuberculosis Hospital in Howland (now Forum Health Hillside Rehabilitation Hospital), their children needed a place to stay. The Kiwanis operated the summerlong camp for children from mostly Girard and Niles; camp was closed when tuberculosis was eradicated.
Now, a renter makes one of the old camp buildings his home, and another building is used for storage.
Liddle doesn't mow much of the yard. She finds it boring, saying "I don't like to cut anything that lives."
One of her white oak trees has a 12-foot circumference; Babyak believes it is 200 years old.
The sanctuary has a small apple orchard. Liddle's father was fond of apples and planted the apple trees. She doesn't spray pesticides on the trees, so the apples are small. The apples provide a food source for deer during the winter.
What attracts creatures
It's the small things that attract wildlife, Liddle explained.
She doesn't even cut the milkweed plants, so butterflies have a place to lay their eggs.
There are two beehives so she can collect honey to give away as gifts. She raises laying hens so she can have fresh eggs for breakfast every morning.
Babyak, who wears a bush hat and carries binoculars to watch the wildlife, admires what Liddle is doing. Too often, when a parent dies, their children sell off the property they inherit to developers, Babyak noted. But Liddle didn't sell out, choosing to improve upon what her parents started.
yovich@vindy.com