Your backyard might have more neighbors than you think.
Across Lake Highlands, our residents are sharing their yards with some unexpected visitors — bobcats, coyotes, owls, opossums, raccoons, bunnies and even the occasional family of ducklings.
For Rebecca Hamlin, president of the North Texas Wildlife Center and attorney Sarah-Michelle Stearns, these backyard visitors have become more than just a surprise sighting. They’ve sparked a deeper appreciation for the wildlife living alongside their families.
How did you first realize you had wildlife visiting your backyard?
Hamlin: I knew that we had coyotes and other animals, but I had never really seen them firsthand. And then one day, my husband was in the backyard, and we saw this old opossum come through, and he was struggling. We had a water bowl out there, and the opossum actually fell and tipped into the water bowl. I panicked, and my husband’s like, “Oh my gosh, go get him!” and then we took him to North Texas Wildlife Center.
Stearns: I started noticing it because I have a child now, and so I’m taking more interest in what’s around her when she’s outside. We’re kind of encroaching on wildlife, and with all the development, wildlife is getting pushed into residential areas.
Have you had any memorable or surprising encounters with the animals?
Hamlin: I was driving home about two months ago, and I was just thinking, “Man, I wish I would see like a big bird. I wish I would see an owl or something,” and I saw a big, beautiful barn owl fly right in front of my car and enter my neighborhood. And it was just so majestic.
Stearns: A memorable one for me is when these mallard ducks just kept visiting our house. I think partly because we have a pool. One day, I woke up, and I saw a mama mallard duck with like six or seven little baby ducklings in the pool, and we have one of those Critter Savers, and she and the little ducks got right out on it and got out from the pool onto our yard. It was just so cute, and I just remember having this moment — I was pregnant at the time — where I was like, “You know what, you can stay in my yard, mama.”
With the new animals in your backyards, have you given them nicknames?
Hamlin: We have a opossum that I first saw outside of our garage, and I named him Garage Possum, which then evolved to G Poss. And then we have a dove — I just call her Lovey Dovey — she’s missing some tail feathers. The names are very unoriginal. Like Rocket the Raccoon. Every raccoon is named Rocket by someone at some point.
Stearns: Sadly, we do not name our animals because we’re still in the process of learning the identification. So, we’re really just in the identification phase rather than the naming phase. But I aspire to get where Rebecca is.
What have you learned about caring for wildlife through your own experiences?
Hamlin: I feel like if people spend more time learning about the ecological value of these animals, they would have a different perspective of them. For example, people do not like vultures. Vultures have been historically seen as a bad omen. But in reality, vultures are vital contributors to our ecosystem. They’re going to clean up roadkill and dead animals in your neighborhood, which stops the spread of disease.
Stearns: For me, I would say just caring for them means giving them their space and teaching my child to observe from a distance and also just to appreciate the ability to observe their systems. On a granular level, I’m a dog owner, so keeping my dogs away from bunnies.
Do you think your neighbors are comfortable with wildlife in the area or do you see some concerns?
Hamlin: It blows my mind that people live at White Rock Lake and put poison out, or trap and relocate wildlife. At North Texas Wildlife Center, we see so many animals from Lake Highlands that have been poisoned. And when we look at a map, it’s almost always along White Rock Trail, which has a water source, or White Rock Lake, and so people make these decisions to live by a lake because it’s beautiful, and they fail to realize that you are going to be living with wildlife, and you will have to learn to coexist with those animals.
Stearns: I think most people in Merriam Park North are OK with the wildlife. I love the free rodent control that our resident bobcat provides. But I will say that there’s one exception to that — the coyotes. I think for me, it’s trying to figure out how I feel about coyotes because I understand that they have a place in the ecosystem, but it’s hard when there’s no natural predator.
What would you like more Dallas-area residents to understand about the wildlife living around them?
Hamlin: In general, I would encourage people to look into why those animals are here and look into the history of them. I encourage people to maybe just slow down and see the animals a little bit more. Just give them a place. You don’t have to love them. You don’t have to go out of your way. You don’t have to feed them. But if you see them, just let them be.
This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.
