blake
Life Member
Iowa deer, young birds suffer in drought
By Tess Gruber Nelson
WORLD-HERALD NEWS SERVICE
SHENANDOAH, Iowa — In addition to rain over the past few months, there’s something else people in southwest Iowa haven’t seen a lot of: wildlife.
Iowa Department of Natural Resources wildlife biologist Carl Priebe said wildlife has been suffering from the heat and drought just like everything else has. The last time Priebe said he recalled drought as bad as this year’s was in 1988.
When it comes to the deer population, Priebe said the body weight of deer might have been compromised by the hot, dry conditions, and males’ antler growth might also have been held down.
“One thing we can already tell is that the drought has not affected the fawn survival. From that standpoint, things seem to be going well,” Priebe said.
However, Priebe added that this summer has provided perfect conditions for a tiny midge fly that carries epizootic hemorrhagic disease, or blue tongue, which often kills deer.
“We’re starting to get reports all around the Midwest, but here in Iowa we’ve started to document them. We’re had 10 reported dead in Page County, two in Montgomery, four in Pottawattamie, three in Mills and three in Fremont County.”
When it comes to waterfowl and birds, Priebe said the hot and dry weather makes it difficult for young birds to survive.
Pheasant chicks, for example, get their moisture from the morning dew and from insects. Because of this summer’s weather pattern, there wasn’t much moisture, and there weren’t many insects, either.
As wetlands dry up, Priebe said, places for ducks and geese dry up as well. During migration, Priebe said, this will either cause the birds to all concentrate where there is still water or, in some cases, migrating ducks and geese might bypass the area.
“The difficult thing for them is if there’s no water from South Dakota to Texas, there won’t be many places for them to stop, and they’ll face some real stress.”
Priebe said the Riverton Wildlife Refuge usually dries up in the summer, but Nishnabotna River water is used to fill it up again. However, because river levels are down, there are questions about whether there will be enough water to pump the wetlands area full.
“We’re pumping right now and it’s going to take 60 days to fill, and I don’t know if we’re going to have enough water for 60 days. We’re just going to have to go day by day and hope for the best.”
Priebe said a pair of trumpeter swans with their five young had nested at Forney Lake in Fremont County. However, as Forney Lake dried up in August, the swans disappeared.
By Tess Gruber Nelson
WORLD-HERALD NEWS SERVICE
SHENANDOAH, Iowa — In addition to rain over the past few months, there’s something else people in southwest Iowa haven’t seen a lot of: wildlife.
Iowa Department of Natural Resources wildlife biologist Carl Priebe said wildlife has been suffering from the heat and drought just like everything else has. The last time Priebe said he recalled drought as bad as this year’s was in 1988.
When it comes to the deer population, Priebe said the body weight of deer might have been compromised by the hot, dry conditions, and males’ antler growth might also have been held down.
“One thing we can already tell is that the drought has not affected the fawn survival. From that standpoint, things seem to be going well,” Priebe said.
However, Priebe added that this summer has provided perfect conditions for a tiny midge fly that carries epizootic hemorrhagic disease, or blue tongue, which often kills deer.
“We’re starting to get reports all around the Midwest, but here in Iowa we’ve started to document them. We’re had 10 reported dead in Page County, two in Montgomery, four in Pottawattamie, three in Mills and three in Fremont County.”
When it comes to waterfowl and birds, Priebe said the hot and dry weather makes it difficult for young birds to survive.
Pheasant chicks, for example, get their moisture from the morning dew and from insects. Because of this summer’s weather pattern, there wasn’t much moisture, and there weren’t many insects, either.
As wetlands dry up, Priebe said, places for ducks and geese dry up as well. During migration, Priebe said, this will either cause the birds to all concentrate where there is still water or, in some cases, migrating ducks and geese might bypass the area.
“The difficult thing for them is if there’s no water from South Dakota to Texas, there won’t be many places for them to stop, and they’ll face some real stress.”
Priebe said the Riverton Wildlife Refuge usually dries up in the summer, but Nishnabotna River water is used to fill it up again. However, because river levels are down, there are questions about whether there will be enough water to pump the wetlands area full.
“We’re pumping right now and it’s going to take 60 days to fill, and I don’t know if we’re going to have enough water for 60 days. We’re just going to have to go day by day and hope for the best.”
Priebe said a pair of trumpeter swans with their five young had nested at Forney Lake in Fremont County. However, as Forney Lake dried up in August, the swans disappeared.