Orrington couple strive to create backyard wilderness

ORRINGTON — To Shaun DeCesere, there is no time to “sit back and feel sorry” about the environmental problems facing the Earth and say there’s nothing an individual can do. “That’s just not true,” she says of conservation efforts.

Shaun and her husband, Van, have had their 14 acres in Orrington declared a certified Backyard Wildlife Habitat by the National Wildlife Federation, an environmental group active since the 1930s in preserving nature.

It may appear strange that a small piece of land in a large rural area is designated a wildlife habitat, but there is a reason, DeCesere said.

Last year Shaun saw an advertisement by the federation in a magazine inviting people to join the backyard habitat movement. She filled out an application and the DeCesere land became designated.

There is more to certification than obtaining a piece of paper in the mail, DeCesere explained. The DeCesere land is posted against trespassing and hunting without the owners’ permission, and Shaun began a program of planting specific trees and other vegetation.

“We do not take down or remove any live or dead trees because they act as food and nutrient for each other and the animals and birds here. I try to be as conscious as I can of what is required of animals for living quarters and try to provide it,” DeCesere said.

“Much of that is done by not removing live flora, and I try to keep neighbors’ animals out of here.” She laughed at the thought of chasing stray dogs, which she yells at whenever she sees them wandering.

Selecting plants to help preserve the character of Maine means not picking exotic specimens from other areas. Wild blueberries, wild cherries, raspberries, oak and fir trees are some of the things DeCesere has planted. Picking an unusual specimen might result in that plant’s overcoming and destroying the native growth.

DeCesere is a lifelong resident of Orrington, raised to respect nature and one who should know what is a native Maine plant or animal.

Keeping track of the local dogs probably is no more difficult than keeping the DeCesere garden safe from the depredations of raccoons, Shaun admitted. “The animals are going to get more than you do,” she observed about gardening in Maine.

The DeCesere garden has a new pattern found during the last two years. It is raised above the ground around it on old rail ties. For some reason, the raccoons, although curious, have been discouraged from sampling the menu. At least part of the reason the DeCesere garden has been safe may be the late planting that resulted in the corn’s not filling out last year, she said.

Whether the raccoons get the corn is of less concern to DeCesere than the animals around her home. “I know I can buy from the local people, so I really don’t mind. It’s like feeding the birds.”

Only the birds are fed intentionally, DeCesere said. Raccoons sometimes raid the fallen seed from the birdfeeders and are interesting to watch, but nature basically is left to fend for itself around the DeCesere home.

“A lot of people look at nature (especially as it appears on some television programming) as that of predator and victim and find it very cruel. It’s hard to accept the reality that the weak do not survive, but that’s for a specific purpose. If they were to survive, it would be the end of a species,” DeCesere said. Natural selection precludes survival of the weak and proliferation of animals and plants that are not up to the task of survival.

Van DeCesere is a self-employed carpenter who does remodeling and building jobs. Shaun soon will start a shop in Lincolnville Beach, The Sea Lily. Like her home in Orrington, the shop will feature some natural things, native Maine products, gifts, clothing and crafts, DeCesere said. It will be “a little bit of everything.”