Most urbanites fail to notice the predators in their midst

DALLAS — Charlie Dana was relaxing in his backyard at about 5:45 p.m. on May 7 when he noticed a sudden flurry of wings over Bent Tree Country Club's golf course, which backs up to his yard.

Thinking that a hawk may have caught its dinner in the wide-open hunting grounds of the course, Dana grabbed his camera and hurried over to investigate. What he found was a red-tailed hawk leisurely devouring a squirrel that had wandered too far from cover.

"I didn't see the actual strike, which occurred just over the green in front of the sand trap," Dana said.

Urban wildlife dramas like the golf course squirrel hunt occur on a daily basis, but most urbanites are too busy to notice. They'd rather see their wildlife on HDTV, preferably recorded on DVR so they can slow down the action or replay a particularly interesting segment.

As urban America expands to incorporate more wildlife habitat, some wild animals adapt successfully to the presence of humans. Golf courses make good hunting grounds for hawks, which, like most predators, take an easy meal however they can find it.

The red-tailed hawk is the ubiquitous large Texas hawk. It's the one you're most likely to see soaring over fields. It often perches on power lines while hunting for mice or other rodents on highway right-of-ways. The red-shouldered hawk is another common Texas hawk that will move into the neighborhood.

In fact, a story was published recently about red-shouldered hawks nesting beside a dental office in Austin. A storm blew their nest down, and the dental staff scooped up the nestlings, dried them off, then carried the downed nest to the top of the office building and placed the baby birds back inside.

The parents found their relocated brood and went on about the business of raising them. Before you say, "Aw, isn't that sweet," you should know that the dental crew had been watching that nest for years. The staff reports that the most common prey species brought to the fledgling hawks by their parents have been baby mockingbirds and baby blue jays. In the unemotional world of predatory wildlife, one parent's loss is another's gain.

Another Dallas reader, Dick Ferrell, had an entirely different encounter with backyard wildlife. Ferrell e-mailed photos of mallard ducks in his swimming pool. They look like wild ducks, but the fact that they later joined Ferrell for a swim indicates they've at least been fed by humans. Ferrell lives near Cooper Aerobics Center, which has a pond and a large population of waterfowl. He suspects the ducks came from there.