'Beautiful' detail in Aussie's garden photo captured 'purely by chance'
We spoke to the photographer about the exciting creatures thriving in his backyard wilderness.
After a suburban Aussie couple's kids left home, they realised having a lawn “was a waste of time” and he decided to transform his backyard into a wilderness. “There was no one playing cricket or using the swings, and I didn’t want to mow it,” Alan Ventress told Yahoo News.
That was 25 years ago, and now Alan and Kathy's backyard is flourishing with birds, bandicoots and possums that have been attracted to the large trees that tower over their house. Rather than watching television or playing on his phone, 74-year-old Alan instead delights in photographing the creatures that live outside his home in the northern Sydney suburb of Manly Vale.
Although he’s taken many beautiful photos over the years, the most remarkable one was snapped four years ago, showing a ringtail possum trying to get the attention of a fluffy koala toy his wife placed inside their window.
The image was taken in 2020 as families around Australia were locked down at home. “It was just the beginning of Covid-19, and people were suggesting that as a way of entertaining passing children, people could put stuffed toys in their windows,” Alan recalled.
“My wife put the koala there and purely by chance a possum ended up on our front window and I quickly took a photo of it. I was very happy.”
After Alan rediscovered the photo he shared it to social media this week, where it’s delighted many other animal lovers. “Beautiful,” one person wrote. “Lovely photo!” another said.
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The other reason wildlife is attracted to Alan's garden
When it comes to his success, Alan says there’s a simple reason wildlife feels so comfortable in his yard — he doesn’t have any pets.
“The takeaway is not to have a dog or a cat. And the other thing is to not have a garden where you’re constantly maintaining it in its pristine fashion and trimming everything to an inch of its life, and instead letting nature takeover,” he said.
“Really it’s a no brainer. There’s much less work, and you’re sustaining a mini-micro-climate in your backyard and the payback is the attraction of the lizards and birds which you can see everyday.”
While Alan loves his wild garden, not all of his neighbours are fans of his work, with some worried about the height of his trees.
“One was particularly concerned about my liquid amber tree and he offered me a large amount of money to get rid of it. But I refused and said even if you give me $20,000 I won’t get rid of it because it provides habitat for wildlife and fabulous shade from the afternoon sun,” he said.
Sadly, Alan doesn’t think his yard will survive after he eventually sells his house, as there’s a growing trend of homeowners replacing green space with larger buildings.
“I think it’s almost 100 per cent certain that it will be destroyed. I just regard my wife and I as custodians and when you sell you have no say over what happens to the place. You just close the door and move on,” he said.
“My neighbour out the back bought the house about five years ago, and there was a little cottage on it with trees and shrubs. But he completely redeveloped it and built a Hamptons-style house and a granny flat. There are no trees there whatsoever now.
“With the population increase, it’s becoming increasingly difficult for people to do what I’ve done.”
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