Whether you’re cultivating a sprawling sanctuary or tending to a tiny patio, it’s only natural to envision a garden that feels like a true expression of your personality. Perhaps you pick out your favorite blooms, or fill a vegetable patch with the produce that you love to eat – but you might not have thought about looking out for your birth month backyard animal.
Your birth month can guide plenty of gardening choices; think birth month flowers and birth month herbs, for example. If you like to think about zodiac signs (and corresponding personality traits), however, it’s these fundamental characteristics that will help you to discover your birth month backyard animal in our very own curated list.
So, the next time you take a peek at the wildlife in your garden, make sure to keep an eye out for the animal (or insect) that corresponds to your birth month. Whether it’s the deer, the fox, or the humble mouse, read on to find your birth month backyard animal – and what it says about you.
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January: Deer
(Image credit: All Canada Photos / Alamy Stock Photo)
Pragmatic, intelligent, and a little mysterious, the deer is the backyard animal associated with January babies.
Symbolically, the deer often represents intuition and grace, but it also speaks to renewal – which makes it the perfect birth month animal for January.
(Though you may love to spot deer in the wild, however, you’ll likely be less thrilled about them getting to close to your precious crops – so you’d be forgiven for incorporating a few deer-resistant plants into your garden.)
February: Owl
(Image credit: Krzysztof Baranowski / Getty Images)
Widely believed to represent wisdom, patience and thoughtfulness, the owl is the birth month backyard creature for February.
Attracting owls to your yard can be a challenge, but it only emphasizes the enviable power and solitude of these elusive birds. They form a crucial part of woodland ecosystems, helping to feed on rodents and insects.
Owls will prioritize sheltered environments, moving under cover of darkness; installing a specialist nesting box, like this screech owl nesting box from Amazon, can help them feel safer in your garden.
March: Rabbit
(Image credit: Michael J. Cohen, Photographer / Getty Images)
What’s more uplifting than spotting a bunny hopping around your yard? March babies can count the rabbit as their birth month backyard animal. If you’re playful, energetic and curious, you’ll feel a strong kinship with these charming creatures.
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Granted, you’ll often find yourself trying to protect your lawn from rabbits – or using rabbit-repellent plants to shield seedlings – but rabbits are, in fact, essential for improving the biodiversity of your yard.
Plus, they can help to tame weeds and invasive plants by feeding on them.
April: Squirrel
(Image credit: Marco Scocco / Moment / Getty Images)
If you’re an April baby, you might be known for your resourcefulness and determination, which is exactly why the squirrel is your birth month backyard animal.
Eager, ambitious and diligent, squirrels form the foundation of many ecosystems by collecting and distributing seeds.
Of course, they can also cause a bit of chaos – and many gardeners will wish to get rid of squirrels – but just like rabbits, they serve a vital function in your yard.
May: Fox
(Image credit: mlorenzphotography / Getty Images)
Renowned for being smart, adaptable, and fearless, foxes are the birth month backyard animal for May.
Naturally, their boldness and self-sufficiency makes them a little intimidating to gardeners (you might be keen to stop foxes digging up your bulbs, for example). Yet at their heart, foxes are loyal and impressively quick-thinking.
June: Dragonfly
(Image credit: LEE BEEL / Alamy Stock Photo)
While not technically a backyard animal, dragonflies are closely associated with June babies – and you’re most likely to see them dancing around your yard as the summer begins.
You might not expect it, but dragonflies are incredibly strong and agile. (They’re also particularly helpful if you want to get rid of mosquitoes.)
Knowing how to attract dragonflies won’t only reward you with a buzzing and beautiful garden; it will also significantly increase biodiversity. Installing a water feature is a brilliant place to start – you can add a solar fountain kit, like this one from Walmart, to an existing bird bath or basin, or invest in a decorative option like Amazon’s cascade hanging fountain.
July: American Badger
(Image credit: Gerald Corsi / Getty Images)
Tenacious, hard-working, and dependable, badgers are a brilliant mascot – and July babies claim them as their birth month backyard animal.
If you’re independent and goal-oriented, you have a lot in common with the humble badger. These industrious creatures are brilliant at protecting their habitats and foraging for food.
Their digging is known to help aerate soil and promote plant diversity (though it might not always be good news for your seedlings).
August: Butterfly
(Image credit: Roc Canals / Getty Images)
Who doesn’t want the gorgeous butterfly as their birth month symbol? August babies will be thrilled to know that this honor falls to them – especially as butterflies are known for being charming, vibrant, and inquisitive.
If you spot even a few butterflies in your yard this spring, it’s proof that you have created a successful pollinator garden. Butterflies aren’t, after all, just a pretty sight; they are vital pollinators that will help your plants to thrive.
(You can, however, help them out by prioritizing the best plants for pollinators, which include lavender, milkweed, and bee balm. You’ll find ‘sensational’ lavender plants at Fast Growing Trees and ‘bubblegum blast’ bee balm at Nature Hills.)
September: Groundhog
(Image credit: Bryant Aardema -bryants wildlife images / Getty Images)
While groundhogs might not sound quite as romantic as butterflies, you could call this powerful creatures the underdogs among backyard animals.
As the largest species in the squirrel family, groundhogs are sharp and strong-willed. Like badgers, they are known as ‘ecosystem engineers’, since they help to redistribute minerals and improve soil moisture while they dig their burrows.
October: Bat
(Image credit: Stan Tekiela Author / Naturalist / Wildlife Photographer / Getty Images)
You’ll be unsurprised to find out that October’s birth month backyard animal is the bat.
While they may seem spooky, bats are the heroes of the wildlife world: they protect plants by eating insects, and they even pollinate plants like bananas, mangoes and agave. (This means that they are particularly valued by the tequila industry.)
If you want to attract bats to your backyard, you can set up bat houses (like this wooden bat box from Amazon) or create your own. Bats prefer safe, dark roosting spots, and they will gravitate toward clean, fresh water sources, feeding on insects like mosquitoes and moths.
November: Crow
(Image credit: DESPITE STRAIGHT LINES (Paul Williams) / Getty Images)
Another seemingly spooky symbol? The crow. Yet November babies will be happy to know that these birds are rather misunderstood: far from ominous, they symbolize intelligence, transformation, and creativity.
American crows can be spotted everywhere from farms to dense urban spaces. They are excellent scavengers, and they often form large social groups.
And when it comes to your backyard, crows can act as a natural method of pest control by feeding on grubs and other insects.
December: Mouse
(Image credit: Mark Chivers / Getty Images)
Cute, clever, and often underestimated: December’s birth month backyard animal is the mouse.
Like squirrels and rabbits, you’d be forgiven for using mouse-repellent plants in your garden, but they can help balance the wider ecosystem.
Plus, when it comes to symbolic associations, mice are are an excellent spirit animal: they are usually linked to humility, wit, and discipline.
Want to discover even more birth month symbols? Check out our guides to birth month houseplants, birth month succulents, and birth month fruit trees.
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