Another happy new resident

Opossum in North Carolina

Yes, it was a possum. "A young'un," said the polite young woman in the Plano Animal Services uniform. She had carried it in the cage trap from the Animal Services van down to a wooded area at the tip of the lake to release it. The ground was too wet from recent rains to drive in. When she opened the door, the new Oak Point resident ambled off to find the Welcome Wagon.

I asked how many critters she released at Oak Point in a week, and she replied vaguely that it was many. Oak Point and Arbor Hills receive many of the creatures trapped in residents' yards and "returned to the wild," by Animal Services.

Baby agave plants

I love watching wildlife when I walk at Oak Point, from herons and turtles to newts and spiders. Back home, I've been tickled to spot bobcats at the swim pool and vultures on a chimney top.  Possums and rat snakes at my former condo were briefly alarming, but no real threat.

What are the City of Plano's urban wildlife policies and procedures? Check this statement encouraging residents to be more responsible for pets, and for decreasing attractions for wildlife in their yards. But employees continue releasing trapped wildlife in the nature preserves.

© 2014-2018 Nancy L. Ruder