Remodeling & New Construction Talk...

Bella Vista Company cordially invites you and a guest to join us for a catered luncheon seminar:

Wednesday, March 20 12:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.

6318 Gaston Avenue, Suite #202 Dallas, TX 75214

Please set aside this date to spend an enjoyable remodeling your home, and show you what many of your neighbors are doing to improve theirs. Bring planning, structure, and design team.

RSVP by Friday, March 15. Please call Jan Breedlove at 214-823-0033. Seating is limited.

Murder in … Lake Highlands?

In early February, the Advocate’s daily news blog ran a post about a double homicide in “the Lake Highlands area,” at an apartment complex at Abrams and Northwest Highway. The first few commenters didn’t care so much about the murders, it seemed, but they did take issue with that area being called Lake Highlands.

(For our 2011 story about the boundaries of Lake Highlands, visit advocatemag.com and search “official boundaries Lake Highlands Texas.”)

Why does “Lake Highlands” or words “Lake Highlands area” always seem to be used as the neighborhood location of a crime [“Lake Highlands area couple shot and killed by their downstairs neighbor,” lakehighlands. advocatemag.com, Feb. 5]? I bet that the crime scene is located in the DISD and not the RISD. Shouldn’t this qualify the crime scene to be in Lakewood? —Llavots

For more information on Remodeling or Custom Homes, read our blogs at www.bellavistacompany.com.

Lake Highlands, as seen by those who live in the area, is very closely tied to the LHHS/ RISD attendance boundaries. Pull up the RISD attendance map and start using that.

—LH Mom

I guess the compassion for the victims, including the orphaned children will come after it’s decided whether they actually lived in Lake Highlands. Wow! —a neighbor

Why does a high school get to define a neighborhood? Why does your “Lake Highlands” not include Old Lake Highlands, Lake

Highlands Drive, or Lake Highlands Baptist Church? Why is the “Lake Highlands Jake’s Hamburgers” not in Lake Highlands? —stuart

I bet 90 percent of these commenters shop at those Targets, Home Depot, McDonalds and so forth that are right next to this complex, so they should care about scary news out of there. Whether it is in LHHS boundary or not, it affects the LH area (or should).

—LHNeighbor

Cat food left outdoors leads to sick raccoons

Last month we reported that the citycontracted 911 Wildlife had removed more than 100 distemper-infected raccoons from the Lake Highlands area. Food left outside for pets apparently exacerbates the problem. We noted that cat food frequently is left outside near the Skillman-Abrams Super Target, a practice the wildlife expert we interviewed called “very bad.”

This makes complete sense after we had a raccoon enter our home through the chimney while we were eating Sunday dinner in November. We shooed it out, but it would not leave our yard. Came into the backyard and was scratching at the back windows to get back in.

—Ginger Greenberg

I thought that feral cat colony by Target was managed by people who trap, neuter and release the cats that were abandoned by apartment dwellers. Yes, it may not be great to have food out that the raccoons get into, but these people are volunteering their time and money to try to control the population, not encourage it.

—Sar2002

“Lake Highlands overrun with dead and dying raccoons,” lakehighlands.advocatemag.com, Feb. 5] radio personality corby Davidson, a Lake highlands resident, recently broadcasted a story about coyotes lounging on his lawn and, allegedly, scattering the mutilated corpses of small rodents. and a neighbor of his, Karen clardy, reports that a coyote trailed her on a morning walk. “he was no farther than 50 feet and I couldn’t scare him away,” clardy says. coyotes frequently are spotted hanging around our populated running/biking trails and parks, and if you’ve heard their howls, you know the racket can disturb a quiet evening with the effectiveness of a siren. Urban wildlife is simultaneously fascinating and frightening. If we are to peacefully cohabitate with the local fauna, we need to get to know them. To that end, master naturalist Bonnie Bradshaw who founded nonprofit DFW Wildlife as well as 911 Wildlife, a company that partners with the city of Dallas to tackle wildlife dilemmas answers our most pressing questions.

How do you expect a coyote to behave, and can they hurt us?

There is a fascinating study going on in Chicago. Today they have tagged and are tracking 360 urban coyotes. The findings in that study reflect what we see around here. Coyotes have adapted to living in residential neighborhoods. Their main food source is rodents. There are more rodents in developed neighborhoods. Therefore, coyotes will live longer, produce more offspring and those offspring will live longer in residential areas. They are not a threat to people. They occasionally will take a cat or small dog, but their danger to pets is greatly exaggerated. Cats make up less than 1 percent of the coyote diet. Cats are far more likely to be killed by a car. They could also become prey to a great horned owl or a bobcat.

I went years never seeing a coyote in the neighborhood, but in recent years I have encountered several. Are there more now?

A couple of things go on that you might notice. For one, they react to the seasons. Like us, they don’t want to be out during Texas summers, so you won’t see them much then. In the fall, winter and spring, they could be out any time of day. The coyote is extremely intelligent and has learned that humans in the city are no threat. In a rural area, someone will shoot them if they show themselves. Here, people will just pull out their cameras and shoot photos.

You say they are smart — just how wily are these coyotes?

I would say they are smarter than your typical domestic dog. They have learned traffic patterns and patterns of homeowners and house pets. They find the properties with overflowing birdfeeders and fruit trees. Some people don’t know that a significant part of their diet is fruit. They thrive on a wide variety of food they find in the neighborhood.

One evening at White Rock Lake I heard what sounded like a big pack of coyotes howling. It freaked me out. But I’ve never seen them in packs. What is up with that?

The Latin name for coyote is canis iatrans, which means singing dog. The coyote has 12 different vocalizations, some of them torturous to our ears, but to them it is a mating call. Two coyotes can sound like a dozen or more. Coyote mating season starts sometime around mid-February. Valentine’s Day. That sound you heard was probably coyote love.

When a coyote becomes a nuisance or a safety hazard to tiny pets, how do we get make them go away?

Over the past 250 years, man has tried various means — hunting, trapping, killing, moving — to rid urban areas of wolves and coyotes, but for coyotes it has had the opposite effect. The more we do to try to eliminate them or force them into hiding, the more they breed. The best way to eliminate them is to eliminate food. Don’t leave pet food outside. Don’t leave overflowing bird feeders. Eradicate any den sites. Often they will build a den under a shack or a porch. And finally, we can use aversion conditioning. When one is following you, or sitting on your lawn, yell at it. Throw something at it. Teach it to flee from humans. If someone has fed them, they will follow people, hoping to be fed.

OK, some non-coyote wildlife questions: I hear scampering in my attic. What is it?

Choose Success, the 1st time!

“I spent the past year working with realtors. The realtor that we chose in Dallas was respected in our part of town. We liked that he supported a wife and kids. He had a business sense about him that he got things done and he assured us that he would work hard for us to sell our home. The sign went up in our yard and then silence. I expected my phone to be ringing off the hook for showings but it did not. When I tried calling our realtor to brainstorm, it quickly became clear that I was a nuisance and we began to ask friends for referrals.

After a very strong recommendation, I called Dani Hanna We met with Dani and she explained to us how she would market our house. We felt very confident in Dani, and I knew from my friend that the actions Dani was promising weren’t just for the sake of getting our listing. Dani had worked hard to sell my friend’s home and she did the same for us.

Dani tirelessly called agents that she knew and never stopped keeping my house top of mind with other agents. When it came time to negotiate and close on our home she handled the entire process with professionalism, organization and fabulous communication. Our deal was difficult the entire way through and Dani never gave up or let up.

I can not say enough about Dani Hanna. We owe Dani for the sale of our home and the peace of mind that she gave us through the entire process.”

- Jill Keuth

Squirrels, if it is scampering. If it sounds like a person running around up there, it is a raccoon. They are large and clumsy.

Last summer, my chimney was chirping and squawking. It went away after a few weeks. What was in there?

Oh! Those were chimney swifts. They are very loud but very tiny. They are one of four birds totally dependent on human structures. Their little feet are incapable of perching, so they do everything in flight. They construct nests from tiny twigs. They will leave for winter. I suggest putting an old blanket in the damper to quiet the noise next year!

What other animals cause alarm?

Most common calls we get are about coyotes, bobcats and possums. Especially possums. People are terrified that they are carrying rabies. But possums don’t carry rabies. In fact they are nice to have around. They are like a little neighborhood sanitation crew. They eat road kill [and other nasty stuff]. They eat roaches and other things we don’t necessarily want to see.

What about armadillos?

A lot of people call and say a possum is digging up their yard. I tell them the possum was framed. The armadillo did it.

Snakes?

The most common snake is a rat snake. It’s 99 percent of what we see in this area. And they can be as big as six feet long, which can be pretty intimidating. But they are not aggressive toward people. Again, keeping the snakes away is a matter of keeping the food sources away. Snakes eat rodents. Rodents eat trash, pet food and birdseed.

—Christina Hughes Babb

Interview has been edited for brevity.

IF YOU HAVE A WILDLIFEISSUE, contact 911 Wildlife through 911wildlife.com or at 214.368.5911.

TO READ ABOUT RACCOONS and the distemper epidemic in Dallas, visit advocatemag.com search: distemper