Watching those southern hunting shows on television can make you jealous. Must be nice, you think, to be able to plant a food plot that's a magnet for deer and watch them pour into it at dusk.

Well, you can plant a food plot that's a magnet for wildlife. It will just be a smaller magnet, but just as powerful. And although you may not bring deer to your backyard, you can make it a better place for all kinds of animals and birds.Wildlife has four basic needs: food, water, shelter and space. If you don't have the grounds to provide shelter and space, you can certainly do your best to fill the other two requirements, even if it's just in your backyard.A typical food plot encompasses lots of acreage, but you can attract wildlife even in a small area. Granted, you may not attract the big animals such as deer and bear, but your family will enjoy more frequent sightings of small wildlife, such as squirrels and rabbits.Take a trip to a farm or feed store and concentrate on plants that have food value for wildlife. Fruit-bearing native shrubs or trees are good values. Seedlings are very inexpensive but often fall victim to wildlife before they even get a chance to bear fruit.I speak from sad experience. Last year, I bought four dozen apple tree seedlings and spent two days planting them. When I was finished, I tied little orange flagging tape on them and proudly observed how orderly my "orchard" looked.The next day, I took some friends out back to show them the orchard. Not one remained; and deer poop had little scraps of orange in it.Instead of buying 20 seedlings, spend $20 to buy a potted apple tree, which should already be about five feet tall. You can purchase a protective shield for the main trunk, or construct one yourself using scraps of wire fencing. Another advantage is that the more mature tree will bear fruit much sooner than the seedlings you'll be skipping ahead by about four years.The children in your family will enjoy a sunflower project, and the plants are easy to grow. With one seed packet and some starter peat pellets, you can soon have quite an array of sunflowers to move outside. If the soil is warm enough, the seeds can be planted directly outside.Another terrific project for the youngsters is raising tadpoles. You'll need a trip to a pond or stream, carrying containers or baggies to tote them home. See below for tips on how to raise the tadpoles until they become frogs.You'll attract all wildlife, and especially birds, by simply adding a water source. You'll have plenty of choices for ready-made bird baths. Or, you can make one using simple materials, even a pie plate or cake pan you can pick up at a yard sale. The water source should be no deeper than three inches, and it should include some sort of structure that birds can use as a perch.If you want something more substantial than a bird bath, you can pick up a small pond or waterfall. These small-scale kits are simple to set up and add a lot of character to a backyard.It's said in real estate - location, location, location - and that's true in the location of your water source. Locate it so that it's not surrounded by dense vegetation, where a predator could hide in ambush.Last, take that trail cam you use in the woods during hunting season and set it up overlooking your little wildlife oasis. You'll be rewarded with images taken both day and night, and you never know what may make an appearance after the sun sets!Raising the TadpolesYou'll need a place to keep them, such as an aquarium or wading pool, which should be kept in an area that has a lot of shade. Don't place it near a pine tree, because the needles can be toxic to the tadpoles.The most important ingredient in the process is clean, fresh water. You can start with the water you've brought home from the pond or stream, but you'll have to clean their living area and use fresh water. If you use tap water, it should have been exposed to sunlight for about a week, to allow any chlorine to be removed.Feed them lettuce. Prepare the lettuce by boiling it for ten minutes, then drain it. Chop it up and freeze it. Give the tadpoles a pinch of lettuce every few days. If you're feeding too much the water will get dirty; if you're feeding too little, it will seem that the tadpoles are attacking each other.From egg to tadpole to frog takes between six to twelve weeks. When they start developing legs, they'll need a way to get out of the water. You can create resting areas using stones or branches. When they're big enough to crawl out of the water, they may start to eat small insects or you can feed them bloodworms, which you can find at any place where fish are sold.