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City hosting urban wildlife conference
The Colony Animal Control Shelter has teamed with Texas Parks and Wildlife to host an Urban Wildlife Community Conference at 6:30 p.m. Sept. 23 at the police department headquarters on North Colony Boulevard./File photo
By BLAINE CRIMMINS, bcrimmins@acnpapers.com
Incidents of encounters with urban wildlife are well-documented in The Colony. From bobcats to bats, the city’s proximity to Lewisville Lake ensures residents and wild animals are likely to cross paths with some frequency.
As part of an ongoing effort to educate the public about how best to approach those interactions, The Colony Animal Control Shelter has teamed with Texas Parks and Wildlife to host an Urban Wildlife Community Conference at 6:30 p.m. Sept. 23 at the police department headquarters on North Colony Boulevard.
The Colony Animal Control Division has conducted similar forums the past few years but is planning to develop this conference as an annual fall event.
“We get quite a few calls for urban wild animals, especially bobcats and coyotes. People tend to worry about those,” Barrington said. “We’re hoping this (information) will give people some tools to handle that rather than just panicking and wanting the animals removed.”
The conference’s featured speaker will be Texas Parks and Wildlife Urban Biologist Jessica Alderson. Her presentation will cover common wildlife species residents may encounter in The Colony. From coyotes and bobcats to rabbits and opossums, Alderson will provide facts about those species as well as tips on how to live among them aimed at changing the future of traditional nuisance wildlife management.
“Traditionally, wildlife management used to be trapping and relocating (nuisance animals), or in rural areas sometimes people would just shoot them,” Alderson said. “But in urban communities those practices aren’t acceptable, and in some cases are illegal. So we have to get a little more creative, and we have to deal with the human component as well.”
Alderson received her bachelor's and master's degrees in wildlife and fisheries sciences from Texas A&M University. As an urban wildlife biologist with Texas Parks and Wildlife, she performs professional planning, management, research and public outreach associated with wildlife, habitat and natural resource management specific to the Dallas/Fort Worth metropolitan area.
Barrington said a representative from the Animal Control Division also will be available at the conference to answer specific questions regarding city ordinances.
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