PLANO, Texas — Brian Hughes loves to golf.
From the backdoor of his home that sits along the course at Gleneagles Country Club in Plano--he gets to watch the sport every day.
Yet--last week--he spotted something a little more wild: a mama bobcat and her three kittens hanging out near the fairway.
Thankfully--he was able to capture video of the wildcats enjoying the space with his phone, which Texas Parks and Wildlife told WFAA was pretty rare.
"I saw them from the back of my house, and we've seen bobcats in the area walking around before. But this kind of sight was unusual because it was a mother and her three kittens," Hughes said.
"I was like, 'get the camera, Brian!' "
Hughes admitted he took the video primarily to show his grandchildren.
The video shows the kittens playing as the mother lounges in the curated grass of the course.
"They were playing so much they sometimes fell into the creek water," Hughes said. "I was fortunate to see it, and it was awesome to film it."
Hughes said it's not uncommon to see wildlife on the course. A creek that runs through the fairway eventually hits a nature area on the other side of the George Bush Turnpike.
Rachel Richter, part of the Urban Wildlife Program with Texas Parks and Wildlife, told WFAA that sightings could be more common as North Texas grows and invades natural habitats for the wildcats.
"Bobcats are found throughout North Texas," Richter said. "But we don't want them to get so comfortable around humans that they're regularly hanging out where wild animals aren't supposed to be."
"We still want to ensure they have a healthy fear of people, and we don't want them making a den in someone's yard."
Richter said if a bobcat is spotted in your neighborhood--to be sure not to intentionally or unintentionally feed them.
Leaving out pet food or easily accessible trash is an example of unintentional feeding.
Letting small pets roam freely without supervision is also a bad idea. Richter said attacks on humans are rare because bobcats are skittish.
They can be valuable to an urban ecosystem, however, by feeding on mice and rodents.
A spokesperson for the City of Plano told WFAA reported bobcat sightings haven't been more than usual this year.
But the city's animal control highlighted that kittens are usually born in the spring, and now would be a time for the mother to teach them how to hunt.
That checks out from what Hughes saw, who also had done his research about the wild cats.
"At 11 months, a kitten is usually kicked out of the territory to fend for its own," Hughes said.
For Hughes, the moment he captured was one where he kept his distance and just enjoyed the view.
"I felt like it was an example of man getting along with nature," Hughes said.
And it's an example he won't forget.