Potential Impacts of Global Climate Change on Abundance and Distribution of Elk and Mule Deer in Western North America, 2007(pdf) – It is incumbent on the natural resource community to become aware of the expected changes caused by global warming, inform the public about the consequences of global warming and its effect on wildlife populations, and develop and implement plans to ensure that habitat components critical to mule deer and elk survival remain a viable component of the biological communities and ecoregions of western North America..
Outdoor Life, 2011 – The West suffered a brutal, unrelenting winter and now Fish and Game officials are starting to pull in data on how badly big-game populations were affected. The results are devastating. According to a report from Reuters, there were tens of thousands of winter kills across northeastern Montana, the upper Snake River basin in Idaho and the high country of northwestern Wyoming. Populations for elk, whitetails, mule deer and pronghorn were all ravaged.
h/t Michael S.
Thank god the elk and deer in I know managed this winter with only a slight freezer burn.
Wouldn’t a place like Cranbrook love a little winter kill. They are overrun with Mule deer.
My Sister in Law was a Disney wimp when it came to any hunting until she was moved into a wildlife job.
What changed her mind was the fact that thousands of deer starved to death during winters. As well to large of a herd causes illness. Hunting was she found abenefitt, not a detrimentt to wildlife. Since most bigger predatorss can’t handle the ruminantt populations.
JMO
About 5 years ago I read a book about the Qu’ Appelle valley and the author was lamenting the fact that due to man, the Richardson Ground Squirrel (Gainer the Gopher’s relatives) were dissapearing and the next year the farmers were complaining about over population of the little varmints. Go figure!
I’m puzzled why elk and deer don’t seem to be as affected by the more severe weather here. Were they over populated in those areas down south to begin with?
Much colder than normal winter here in northern BC with much higher snowfall than normal. (Global cooling). No shortage of whitetail deer or moose though.
How do you figure they weren’t?
This past winter was absolutely horrible.
“How do you figure they weren’t?”
I could be wrong, but locally at least I’ve seen no more or less than anyother year. Seems the population often cycles regardless of the weather. Must be some other factors involved.
Fewer coyotes & rabbits here though.
I think you’ve missed the point. The recent cold weather was caused by global warming. So were all those tornadoes, the earthquake in Japan, the middle east unrest, and the high price of gasoline.
Healthy populations of deer are moving further North and bison and elk are thriving. Climate always changes.
The planet has been gradually warming since the last ice age. Cooling and warming cycles are superimposed on that gradual warming. It has very little to do with human activity.
Try to understand the science of the planet’s climate and don’t confuse it with the politics of climate. That distinction can be very hard for some people to grasp.
Robbie Lester, I drove through Cranbrook area a few weeks ago and was astounded by all the mulies I saw. So I’m not the only one who found that unusual.
Look at the money and time that has been wasted on Gores garbage, the fact that this SCAM got any traction, is proof of the stupidity of the so called MSM and the gullibility and simpleness of our polititians who believe this crap just for a vote, unreal. There could have been a cure for cancer found, but no lets give money to idiots (Suzuki) and villify decent men (Ball). We have so many deer and elk around here, they are as big a hazard as environMENTALists, and just as stupid.
Idiots are blaming Assiniboine flooding on AGW. Like that’s NEVER happened before.
Globull Warming was invented to enslave people. Rationality has no presence in a ‘game’ like this; Kate had Mr. Monckton’s testimony re: the Hope- in – hagan Climate thingie up here months ago; anyone who is still believing that the human hating elite are concerned about the environment for future generations of humans is sadly disillusioned – the whole show is about getting rid of people; saving only passive, indoctrinated fools to use as slaves and entertainment for the ‘elites’ (patterned on the Soviet model).
“Populations for elk, whitetails, mule deer and pronghorn were all ravaged.”
Jeeze, they say that like its a -bad- thing. Around here anything that “ravaged” the white tail population would be hailed as the Saviour of the forests. Ancaster conservation area doesn’t have a green stick in it less than 6 feet off the ground.
M
aybe I won’t see so many of ’em sticking out the front of Honda Civics on the side of the road.
The thousands of consensus scientists can study the effects of something that hasn’t happened yet for another 25 years, or forever, it still won’t make the climate change crisis true. Yes we DO study the projected effects of climate change on the planet. There is billions donated to scientists by politicians who make it look like they are doing something for you, liberal and conservative. So the scientists are busy studying and speculating what the heating effects will look like. But just as there are tropical fossils under the ice, calling all bad weather our fault, gives the social psychotics of witch burning, omen worship, paganism, superstition and sacrificing virgins, a new meaner brother by the name of climate change.
History will say we condemned our kids with CO2 death threats, just to get them to turn the lights out more often. SAVE THE PLANET! TURN THOSE BLODDY LIGHTS OUT!
History will have jokes about this era of CO2 environMENTAL ism:
How many climate scientists does it take to change a light bulb?
None, BUT they DO have consensus that it WILL change.
Or
How many climate scientists does it take to realize that it was the scientists themselves with their pesticides and cancer causing chemicals that polluted the planet in the first place? Scientists made environmentalism necessary.
Or
How many climate scientists does it take to realize that it was the scientists themselves who also brought us cruise missiles, cancer causing chemical cocktails, plastic, land mine technology, nuclear weapons, germ warfare, cluster bombs, strip mining technology, Y2K, Y2Kyoto, deep sea drilling technology and now climate control?
The good news is that scientists have been reluctant to admit that because of the global economic slow down since 2008, human contributions of the evil CO2 have dropped, yet global levels still rise? Do the math or is there now enough doubt that you can stop condemning your kids while believing in unstoppable warming, as in death.
Even better news is that the new denier is anyone who still thinks voters will vote yes to taxing the air to make the weather colder. Even Obama himself made not one single mention of the climate change crisis in his state of the union speech. And since the scientists didn’t speak up to Obama, I now have a good enough reason to stop threatening my kids. How stupid was I to think scientists were truthful. How irresponsible was I to so flippantly tell my kids the planet is dying, it’s their fault and only they can save it, for their children.
Call them deniers or former believers but the voting majority is what they are called now and if we don’t back off of this CO2 mistake soon, it will keep us out of power for a decade. This was liberalism’ s Iraq War of climate WMD’s and criminal exaggerations. Shouldn’t somebody be arrested for leading us to war against a false enemy? Sound familiar?