Wildlife's Focus Is On Survival In The Winter Woods

Print

Snowmobile riders and others who use winter trails regularly tend to be optimistic that their winter trail use doesn’t have a significant impact on wildlife. But hoping and knowing are two different things.

  “A couple of years ago a group of wildlife biologists and others made the commitment to compile all the information available on the impacts of recreation on wildlife,” said Heidi Youmans, a Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks biologist.

The result, titled Effects of Recreation on Rocky Mountain Wildlife—A Review for Montana helps trace the ripple effects in a wildlife community when human activities result, for example, in packed snow trails leading to an otherwise remote area or repeated disturbance of wintering wildlife.

The packed snow trails created by snowmobiles or skis can make isolated wintering areas used by bighorn sheep, moose, or elk more accessible to predators such as coyotes, lions or wolves. Use of these trails may also increase competition between predators for the same foods. For example, coyotes could compete with lynx for snowshoe hare.

“We also know that activities in foothill wintering areas can impact deer, elk or moose, especially if they occur off-trail and are unpredictable,” Youmans said.

  “Everything we humans do in nature has some impact, but the better we understand the potential impacts on wildlife the more we can do to reduce them,” Youmans said.

Outdoor enthusiasts can help prevent stress on wintering wildlife by:

* planning their recreational trips to avoid deer and elk winter ranges;

* sticking to trails in order to make human presence predictable and less threatening and stressful for wildlife;

* leaving dogs at home or keeping them under control and on the trail; and

* watching for tracks and other signs of wildlife in order to avoid disturbing sensitive wildlife areas—for example areas where moose and their young might be feeding on red willows this time of year.

“While a wild animal may appear calm or still when you encounter it, that is not an accurate indicator of its stress level,” Youmans said. “A lack of response is typical for an undernourished animal with no energy to spare. In some cases, the animal has so little energy it is unable to flee.”

Youmans said the kindest thing people can do for wild creatures in the winter is to avoid disturbing them so they can go about the business of conserving their energy to survive the winter.

Stress can have serious consequences in a wild animal, including weight loss from higher than usual energy demands, a weakened immune response, smaller newborns and other subtle changes that affect the long-term vitality of a population.

Effects of Recreation on Rocky Mountain Wildlife—A Review for Mont ana, and an online bibliography, are available on the web at www.montanatws.org , or may be ordered in hard copy from the same web page.