Wildlife you may see in Fredville
Residents who live near open fields, creeks and lakes often spot wild animals. Fredville does not trap large wild animals; however, you can take steps to make your neighborhood less inviting to them.
Coyotes
Stay calm if you see a coyote. Even when they live in cities and suburbs, coyotes usually keep their distance from people.
What draws them into yards is easy food. Pet food and garbage left outside can convince a coyote that your backyard is a reliable place to eat.
Take away the food and other attractants, and any visits will be short and infrequent.
Do not ever feed a coyote. Coyotes that are fed by hand lose their fear of people, and that usually ends badly for the animal.
Bobcats
Bobcats are shy by nature, though their numbers have been growing across the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Like coyotes, they tend to fear people, and attacks are almost unheard of.
Bobcats hunt many kinds of animals, small rodents most of all, so keeping rodents away from your home is the best way to keep bobcats away too.
Never put out food for a bobcat.
Opossums
An opossum in your yard is nothing to worry about. Opossums are harmless and will most likely move along soon. To discourage return visits, store trash in the garage until collection day, bring pet food in at night and pick up fruit that falls from your trees.
Opossums can actually help your garden. They eat snails, slugs, insects and sometimes small rodents, and they will tidy up spilled garbage and fallen fruit.
Preventing wildlife problems
Wild animals visit yards because food there is abundant and easy to get. Knowing what attracts them helps cut down on nuisance animal problems in your neighborhood.
- Do not feed wild animals, birds included. Spilled birdseed brings in rats and other rodents, which in turn draw predators such as coyotes.
- Always feed pets indoors. Food left outside attracts everything from skunks to coyotes and can put your pet at risk of an attack.
- Keep trash secure. Do not set it out overnight or the day before collection; store it in the garage or a sturdy, lidded can (not just bags) until collection morning.
- Gather any fruit and vegetables that have fallen to the ground, since many animals like to eat them.
- Keep pets indoors or under your control at all times. A pet roaming off-leash, even in the front yard, is easy prey.
- Have your pet spayed or neutered. Female dogs in heat attract coyotes, and unaltered male dogs may follow the scent of female coyotes. The city also offers low-cost pet vaccination clinics.
- Clear overgrown vegetation and brush so animals have fewer places to nest or den.
- Light up your backyard. Most wild animals stay away from bright areas at night.
- Skip mothballs and ammonia as repellents; they smell so much like animal urine that they can draw animals in. Do not use coyote urine to scare off other animals, either.
- Close off crawl spaces and attic openings with heavy-gauge, rust-resistant wire mesh rather than chicken wire.
- Check the eaves and the places where the roof meets the walls, and repair rotting boards, warped siding and loose shingles.
- Put a secure cap on your chimney. An open chimney looks like a hollow tree to a raccoon searching for a place to raise its young.
- Keep animals from digging under a deck with an L-shaped barrier: fasten heavy-gauge wire mesh to the bottom of the deck, bury it six inches deep, bend it outward at a right angle for 12 inches, and cover it with soil.
Baby wildlife
It can be hard to tell when a young wild animal truly needs help. In most cases the best choice is to leave it alone. Step in only when a pet has carried the animal to you, when it is injured or bleeding, or when a parent is lying dead nearby. In those situations, either capture the animal safely and take it to a suitable wildlife clinic, or ask the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) for guidance.
Do not give a baby wild animal food or water, even if it seems hungry or thirsty. The wrong food can make it choke, and an animal in shock can be harmed by being fed.
In an emergency, if you cannot reach a licensed rehabilitator in time, a veterinary clinic may provide emergency care. Keep in mind that you will likely be responsible for the bill, because veterinarians are not reimbursed for treating wildlife.
For advice on helping baby animals, call a regional wildlife rescue hotline at (555) 010-3984.
Capturing and moving a baby animal safely
Always wear gloves and never handle a wild animal bare-handed. If you have no gloves and it is an emergency, wrap your hands in a towel or old shirt. Place the animal in a cardboard box lined with a towel and punched with air holes. Then contact TPWD, or look on the state wildlife department's website for a nearby rehabilitation center.
Kittens
Mother cats often leave their kittens alone during the day to find food and come back to nurse them at night. If you come across kittens, watch from a distance to see whether the mother returns. If she has not come back by the following day, you can try to catch the kittens and bring them to a shelter or rescue group.
Baby squirrels
When a baby squirrel or its whole nest falls from a tree, give the mother a chance to come back and move it. If the baby is not hurt, keep people and pets away and watch from afar. If it is injured, or the mother never returns, call TPWD to learn where it should go.
Baby birds
If an uninjured nestling has fallen, you may gently return it to its nest, wearing gloves, as long as you can do so safely. If the bird is hurt or in danger, reach out to TPWD so staff can direct you to a rehabilitator. A young bird hopping on the ground is usually a fledgling; leave it be and watch for its parents to feed it. Fledglings can spend up to a week on the ground before they fly.
Baby rabbits
Mother rabbits visit their nest only a few times a day so they do not lead predators to it. Do not touch the babies, since the mother may abandon them. If the nest sits in a risky spot or somewhere your pets can reach, contact a wildlife agency for advice on relocating or concealing it.
Baby opossums
Before getting close to a baby opossum, make sure no adult opossums are nearby. An opossum that is 7 to 8 inches long is old enough to live independently, so leave it alone. If it is smaller than that or appears injured, you can carefully move it into a box with air holes and call a local wildlife agency for next steps.
Remember: never give food or water to a baby wild animal, no matter how hungry it seems. It could choke on the wrong food, or be further harmed if it is in shock.
Animal Help Now
Animal Help Now is an online directory and smartphone app (for iPhone and Android) that lists licensed wildlife rehabilitators near you and can help in an emergency.
Texas Parks and Wildlife
The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department publishes a statewide list of permitted wildlife rehabilitators to use if you come across a wild animal that needs help. Separate lists are available for each county in our area.
Fredville is a demonstration city built by Talk to Fred. Names, numbers and details on this page are sample content.