Most Saskatchewan wildlife benefitting from mild winter

Many people might have enjoyed the exceedingly mild winter for the extra barbecuing opportunities it afforded, or because they didn’t have to shovel much snow – but it turns out most wild animals liked it too.
 
Darrell Crabbe is the executive director for the Saskatchewan Wildlife Federation. He said almost all animals will benefit from the warmer temperatures.
 
For example, he said it’ll be good for fowl like upland game birds.
 
“They haven’t had to fight the severity of the winter and probably are going to come out of this very, very healthy and without any winter mortality that might have occurred.”
 
Crabbe has already noticed the effects of the winter, that some migratory birds have started coming back already.
 
“They seem to be moving in, nesting early, which in some cases might give them the opportunity to have two clutches instead of one.”
 
As for animals like elk, deer and moose, Crabbe called this winter a blessing. It’s especially so for white-tailed deer, the population of which has dwindled thanks to the last few harsh winters.
 
“A lot of times when we’ve got this great weather like this, they come into the spring very, very healthy and probably carrying a couple of fawns instead of one.”
 
Because hunting quotas are done so early in the year, Crabbe doesn’t think it will effect hunting numbers this year.
 
There are only a couple of animals he said this weather might not be good for. One is fish, which tend to do better when there’s more snow and thus more runoff. The second is bears, which Crabbe said might have to come out of hibernation to forage before they normally would.