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It takes grit

Local experts say wildlife doing fine — so far — this winter

Photo by Jenny Kirk A wild turkey prepares to roost overnight in a tree recently as dusk approaches on a cold winter night.

MARSHALL — It’s been a tough winter for just about everybody in southwest Minnesota — with record amounts of snow this month and the extremely difficult traveling conditions and snow removal efforts that go with it — so it’s only natural that people have been especially concerned about the well-being of wildlife in the area as well.

Fortunately, like so many Minnesotans, most of the critters are quite resilient. But winter isn’t over yet.

“I was driving around recently out to some of the Wildlife Management Areas and the deer wintering areas to take a look and I think the deer herds are doing pretty well,” said Troy Dale, Marshall area assistant wildlife manager for the Department of Natural Resources. “The deer are faring pretty well because they were able to get into those wintering area early, like November into December, when winter really started to settle in.”

Dale said the deer oftentimes come from miles and miles around to take refuge in the wintering areas. If they don’t find suitable winter shelter, he said it can really stress the deer out.

“They focus on those areas because they have major thermal cover, adequate food sources and open spaces so they can still get out and paw around in the fields,” he said. “Those areas are doing really well this year.”

Despite widespread concerns, Dale said pheasants also appear to be handling the extreme winter season well so far.

“We’re having a lot of calls come in from the public concerned about pheasants this winter and looking to find corn from somebody, but overall, the birds are faring pretty well,” Dale said. “They’re up on the roads, looking for grit and are still cautious and wary when cars come along. If the birds look like they just ran through a car wash, they’re struggling and it’s not a good thing.”

According to the Sioux Falls, South Dakota, National Weather Service, Marshall has received a record-breaking 36.8 inches of snow in February, along with an above-average 12.9 inches in January.

“The snow is deep everywhere,” said Loren Peterson, president of the Southwest Sportsmen’s Club in Minneota. “It’s just white for miles.”

On his zig-zagging route home due to unplowed roads on Monday after blizzard conditions the day prior, Peterson said he saw a couple of hen pheasants.

“I’ve been seeing a lot of pheasants in the area coming up to the road,” he said. “That’s a good indication they re hungry and can’t get to any other food. I would assume the deer are hungry, too. I’m not seeing a lot of deer around right now, but I’d think everything is pretty well stressed.”

Dale said there had been some reports of dead pheasants along Minnesota Highway 23, in the higher traffic areas, which is a reminder for people to avoid the urge to put corn near busy roadways.

“It’s more of a detriment to the pheasants because of the higher speed vehicles,” he said. “It might feel like you’re doing something good at the time, but it has a negative impact in the long run.”

Dale said it can also be a downside to have birds coming out in the open.

“The farther they have to travel during the day, the more exposed they are to predators, especially avian predators,” Dale said. “If we can get some days with more sun, that’ll open up the fields and gravel roads more so they can get food and grit.”

While the DNR doesn’t necessarily encourage people to put out corn or other food sources for pheasants and other wildlife, it’s not against the law to do so — as long as it’s not around hunting season.

“You can put out piles of food now,” Dale said. “You can also leave a standing food plot. But you can’t put out stock piles of any feed for animals during the hunting season. You have to know that putting out corn once or twice is more of a detriment to pheasants because they get very used to that and will expect it. So it’s not good if you’re not replenishing those food piles.”

Peterson said the Southwest Sportsmen’s Club location has corn available to the public for feeding wildlife.

“There’s corn in the wagon and if you bring your own container, you can take some as you need,” he said. “We just don’t want people to be greedy about it. Leave some for other people, too.”

Peterson encouraged people to be patient if the wagon goes empty.

“I think we just had it filled late last week — for the third time in the last month,” Peterson said. “It’s about 100 bushels each time, which I’m sure is more than we normally go through each winter. We do have some barrel feeders, too. You put the corn in and the birds and animals can come up and get it.”

Last week, Peterson said he saw about 50 pheasants in about four-mile stretch near Wood Lake.

“They were just on the road looking for something to eat,” he said. “There wasn’t food left out there or anything. But if people do feed wildlife, they should take it back a ways.”

Peterson is concerned that the presence of so many birds may not be a good thing.

“If you’re not seeing pheasants, they’re probably doing fine,” he said. “It means they have shelter and are finding food. There aren’t a lot of wild turkeys in my area, so I’m not seeing them, but I’d assume they’re hungry, too.”

Peterson said several club members leave food plots for the wildlife to consume annually during the winter months. The club also maintains quality habitat for wildlife to shelter in.

“It all comes down to habitat,” Peterson said. “They need a place to live. Mother Nature is tough on them. As sportsmen, we do as much as we can to help them. But we can only do so much when the snow gets so deep.”

About three or four years ago, Dale said the area DNR started taking a difference stance to providing winter food sources for wildlife.

“We used to get truckloads of corn, but we’re unable to do that anymore,” Dale said. “We’re still doing food plots and all-natural food sources, though. Just about every WMA around here has some sort of food source, like alfalfa, corn, beans, sorghum and sunflower. They’re all on a rotation and we work with farmers to contract how much they’ll harvest and how much they leave.”

Dale said the DNR makes sure standing corn is a top priority in order to help deer get through the winter season. He added that the alfalfa plots are typically in smaller strips and are also used for fire breaks.

“They’re both benefits, so deer can browse around in them during the winter,” he said. “Deer are using (the plots) pretty heavily, to paw down and access the food. Overall, we try to keep those at a high priority, so we have food on the landscape.”

Surprisingly, Dale said he hasn’t seen many wild turkeys this winter, but he’s optimistic that they are handling the snowy and cold winter just fine.

“You’d think the wild turkeys would be easier to see in the wintertime, but I rarely do,” he said. “I only seem to see them in the spring or summer. But I haven’t heard any negative reports or anything.”

Despite all the snow this year, Dale said that the wild birds will still go out in the open field and paw down for grain.

“Even with all this snow, you’d be surprised how those birds can paw around and get down to find waste grain,” Dale said. “You’ll see their heads and tail feathers pop up and down. They’re resilient birds.”

For the most part, Dale said he believes the pheasants and other game birds have adequate winter cover.

“We’re seeing good hen to rooster ratios,” he said about the pheasants. “During real severe winters, the roosters, since they are the more dominant ones, go into survival mode and they will push the hens out if there’s not enough room. If you see skewed rooster to hen ratios, that’s usually why. But (this winter), we’re seeing that hens are still able to compete and have access to that winter cover.”

Oftentimes, winter cover in southwest Minnesota means cattail sloughs.

“That’s because cattail sloughs are the most prevalent,” Dale said. “They’re the best, but winter cover can really be anything that can stand up and block the snow and wind.”

Peterson said a lot of game birds will also seek out evergreen trees.

“They oftentimes burrow down in the snow,” Peterson said. “Pine trees are also good shelter for them. It cuts down the wind.”

Dale said heavy, wet snow or ice would be a different story for a lot of wildlife in the area.

“Dry snow is better,” he said. “If there’s freezing rain, the ice forms on the birds’ beaks and it can suffocate them. It’s really hard on the birds and deer, too. The deer can’t dry out and they lose their insulation. They can deal with the cold and lack of food — they just have to limit their activity — but getting wet isn’t good.”

While deep snow can be problematic, thick layers of ice can really hinder deer and other wildlife from successfully foraging throughout the winter. The worst part is that there’s no way to know what weather conditions are yet to come this winter.

“Most of the deer are probably grouped up,” Peterson said. “There’s safety in numbers, but they’re still susceptible to getting killed by coyotes, especially the weak ones. The coyotes can operate better on top of the snow.”

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