Everyone expects a little wildlife in their communities. This list includes the obvious ones like rabbits, squirrels and birds. But some of the more elusive ones such as snakes, opossums, raccoons, skunks, armadillos, bobcats, fox, coyotes, rats, mice and mountain lions are beginning to make an appearance. The mountain lion is rarest and with a range of about 150 square miles they will come by a given point about twice a year. They are not looking for trouble, they’re just checking out their turf and looking for a meal. There have been reports of black bears sightings that stretches north of a line from Throckmorton to Sulphur Springs and down to Nacogdoches. Odds are we won’t be seeing bears in north Dallas any time soon. Bobcats and Coyotes are becoming more of a regular occurrence in the North Dallas area. Remember that in most cases wildlife was here first and they just put up with us humans!

But these animals are amongst us, so how do we deal with them? First, control the environment. If you are having trouble with these critters  you need to look at is food sources. Don’t leave pet food outside and if you feed the birds stop for a month or so. The birds knock feed on the ground which bring in the small animals (prey), which brings in the small animal eaters (predators). Remember that cycle of life thing?  If you find yourself overrun by one of these critters, call the animal control department in the city where you live. If you find a critter acting strange, don’t approach it, and call animal control. When all else fails call Texas Parks & Wildlife.

With the start of summer just around the corner everyone always thinks of shade. I guess that comes from my landscaping days when I was the guy installing the shade. Trees have been going through some tough times with the continuing drought and this summer will be no different. Proper watering of established trees is essential if they are going to survive another dry, hot summer. Yes, this can be done within the regulations of stage 3 water restriction.

One of the first signs of lack of water is a dry / burned area around the outer edge of the leaf. This is called marginal leaf burn and should not be ignored. It indicates that the tree needs more water. If you find this type of damage, don’t just turn the hose on for a day. If you have a sprinkler system double check the heads around the tree. Add more heads if needed or redirect the heads you have. For those who water by hand, watering in the morning is preferred to the evening.

The other side of this stress is too much water. Water logged soil displaces oxygen around the root system and the tree will slowly drown. When trees are stressed they are more susceptible to insects and disease damage. The bottom line is to keep the tree properly watered.