{"id":419099,"date":"2026-08-28T09:26:19","date_gmt":"2026-08-28T09:26:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/419099\/"},"modified":"2026-08-28T09:26:19","modified_gmt":"2026-08-28T09:26:19","slug":"advocate-columnist-patti-vinson-shares-about-dallass-neighborhood-wildlife","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/419099\/","title":{"rendered":"Advocate columnist Patti Vinson shares about Dallas’s neighborhood wildlife"},"content":{"rendered":"

There are many forms of wildlife around our neighborhood. Our guest writer Patti Vinson<\/a> checked in with some resident experts about a few animals that share our spaces. <\/p>\n

Opossums<\/p>\n

They lurk in the dark, have sharp teeth and a menacing hiss and look like giant rodents. But if you happen to spot an opossum in your backyard, consider yourself lucky. These little guys are fascinating creatures that benefit our shared ecology and are worthy of our appreciation.<\/p>\n

Opossums,<\/a> as a group, are among the oldest, most primitive mammals. They walked the Earth with dinosaurs, looking pretty much the same in today. Some scientists call them \u201cliving fossils\u201d because they have survived relatively unchanged for at least 50 million years.<\/p>\n

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Getty Images<\/p>\n

Another unusual feature: its scaly, nearly hairless tail is prehensile, meaning it can grasp things. \u201cThey\u2019ll use it to carry leaves for their nests and dens or hold on to branches as they climb,\u201d explains Sam Kieschnick, an urban wildlife biologist.<\/p>\n

Perhaps most intriguing of all is this mammal\u2019s defense mechanism: \u201cplaying possum.\u201d Kieschnick says, \u201cOpossums lower their heart rate, slow their breathing, keep their mouth open and even stick out their tongue. Not only do they look dead, but they \u2018smell dead,\u2019 too,\u201d by emitting a foul-smelling odor from their anal glands. <\/p>\n

\u201cOpossums have adapted to living with us \u2013 using some of our decks or sheds as a shelter, using the ditches along the roads as corridors, and even using some of our refuse as nutrients. They are a remnant of the past, the same sort of animal that early explorers or Indigenous peoples would interact with \u2013 and we can still do that today.\u201d <\/p>\n

Armadillos<\/p>\n

Kieschnick gets excited over the official small mammal of Texas. \u201cArmadillo<\/a> talk! I love armadillos \u2014 they\u2019re such cool animals,\u201d he smiles. \u201cI\u2019d argue that they\u2019re one of our most recognizable and charismatic animals here in Texas. How many times have you seen a cartoon of an armadillo with a cowboy hat to represent Texas?\u201d<\/p>\n

Highly recognizable by their protective shell made of tough, bony plates covered by leathery skin, the species found most often in these parts is the nine-banded armadillo. Contrary to popular belief, not all species of armadillos can roll into a ball when threatened, and any of these critters in this area will likely rely on their surprising speed to scamper away from danger.\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Kieschnick says, \u201cThey typically are nocturnal, but it\u2019s not uncommon to see them during the day, digging in leaf litter and in forested areas looking for bugs and grubs and worms to eat. They\u2019re insectivores \u2014 so they\u2019ll actively search for these.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s true that holes dug on your property aren\u2019t always a welcome sight. \u201cUnfortunately, sometimes they\u2019ll be hunting for grubs in our yards and lawns. It can be frustrating, no doubt,\u201d Kieschnick sympathizes, \u201cbut I\u2019d argue that they\u2019re benefitting the soil by aerating it and eating some of the grubs that could also damage the plants.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rio Grande Chirping Frog<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a neighborhood mystery that seems to roll around about this time every year. You\u2019re enjoying a warm summer evening outside when you hear a loud, high-pitched chirp. Or maybe you\u2019d describe it as the sound of rubber-soled shoes on a gym floor. Or is it the call of an unfamiliar insect?<\/p>\n

Mystery solved: Let\u2019s all welcome the Rio Grande Chirping Frog (RGCF)<\/a> to the neighborhood.<\/p>\n

East Dallas neighbor and Master Naturalist Whitney Wolf first became aware of the RGCF several years ago. \u201cI started hearing chirping at night when we took the dogs walking around the neighborhood. The chirping has always sounded like sleepy birds to me. As a long-time birder, I knew that was unlikely,\u201d she remembers. She conducted a bit of detective work and found recordings of a frog with an identical call, but every range map in field guides didn\u2019t show them in North Texas.<\/p>\n

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Rio Grande Chirping Frog<\/p>\n

Sometime later, Wolf attended a master naturalist meeting in Corpus Christi, where one of the training sessions was about frogs. She learned that the Rio Grande Chirping Frog had extended its range into North Texas but published field guides hadn\u2019t caught up yet.<\/p>\n

It was at this conference that she finally glimpsed the frog. \u201cThey were having a mothing event (i.e. \u2013 attracting, observing, photographing, identifying and documenting moths, according to the National Moth Week website) led by Kieschnick. And they found a Rio Grande Chirping Frog. It\u2019s the only one I\u2019ve ever actually seen.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wolf is glad to help clear up the mystery. \u201cAny number of my friends and neighbors have asked me about the \u2018bird chirping at night.\u2019 They\u2019re surprised to learn it\u2019s a tiny frog making that peeping noise. RGCFs have been living in my yard for years and even survived Icemageddon.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There are many forms of wildlife around our neighborhood. Our guest writer Patti Vinson checked in with some…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":419100,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[115383,102,104,103,115385,145987,145988,145989,145990,145991],"class_list":["post-419099","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-dallas","tag-armadillo","tag-dallas","tag-dallas-headlines","tag-dallas-news","tag-opossums","tag-patti-vinson","tag-rio-grande-chirping-frog","tag-sam-kieschnick","tag-urban-wildlife","tag-whitney-wolf"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/419099","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=419099"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/419099\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/419100"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=419099"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=419099"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=419099"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}