December 24 2014 Issue
December 17 2014
Sharing Four Points with wildlife, bobcats vs mountain lions
By KIM ESTES, Four Points News
Recent predatory attacks on family pets and reports of wild animals seen in the area have created a greater sense of vulnerability in Four Points and Steiner Ranch especially.
While this once rural setting continues to develop as a suburban retreat, residents wonder what wildlife is being displaced, what is actually adapting, and what protective measures should be taken.
Bobcat
Jacob Hetzel, a Texas Wildlife Services wildlife biologist, says known wild animals in Steiner Ranch include coyotes, gray fox, raccoons, skunks and ringtail cats. “Most likely,” he adds, “there are bobcats too.”
The most recent concern of residents, mountain lions, is not on the list.
Last month, a violent attack on a Welsh corgi in her family’s Hills of West Ridge backyard had some indicators similar to the work of a large cat. However, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department wildlife biologist, Blake Hendon, said last week it is unlikely TPWD will be able to identify the specific type of predator responsible for the pet’s death.
Mountain Lion
“Is there a possibility that there are mountain lions here? I think it is highly unlikely,” TWS’s Hetzel says, “but anything is possible.”
The TWS office gets 12 to 15 reports a year of mountain lions in Travis County. None have been confirmed.
District 6 Runoff Forum Zimmerman & Flannigan
By LYNETTE HAALAND, Four Points News
A District 6 Candidate Runoff Forum featuring Austin City Council candidates Don Zimmerman and Jimmy Flannigan took place a couple of weeks ago in Four Points. The candidates hashed out the issues in anticipation of gaining more votes for the runoff election.
Early voting started last week and Dec. 16 is voting day for runoffs.
Election results in November showed that Zimmerman received 24.21 percent of the vote and Flannigan received 24.05 percent.
About 35 people attended the forum on Nov. 18 which was held at Austin Baptist Church and sponsored by the Four Points Chamber of Commerce.
“It went great. It covered a lot of issues relevant in Four Points and beyond,” said Brian Thompto, Steiner Ranch Neighborhood Association chairman.
The SRNA Facebook page has a link to the video of the forum including the questions asked by local residents at: www.facebook.com/Steiner.Ranch.Neighborhood.Association
Questions were submitted beforehand via email and during the event to a panel which included Scott Crosby, head of the River Place HOA, and Tiffany Speaks, Four Points business owner including Trails at 620 and Moviehouse & Eatery.
Paul O’Brien moderated the event. He is a Steiner Ranch resident, chief marketing officer of MicroVentures and author of the Steiner Ranch Post.
The issues at the recent forum revolved around traffic, transportation, utilities and development.
This is the first Austin City Council election with geographic representation. Four Points now has representation in District 6, which sprawls from Brushy Creek near Round Rock and Cedar Park in the north, southward through Anderson Mill and the surrounding commercial areas, all the way down a corridor to Bee Caves Road. It includes all or portions of River Place, Grandview Hills, Comanche Trail, homes in Steiner Ranch within 100 feet of Lake Austin, and older areas outside and nearby Steiner Ranch including south of Selma Hughes Park Road.