2017 winter kill

[dino]

Hi everyone. I am just wondering how the winter has been on our wildlife this year. I know it's still early and a bad spring is a killer but I am wondering how things are so far.

[showtimebc]

Deep snow and cold temps. Gotta be the worst winter for wildlife in many years.

[todbartell]

In the Omineca we got our first snow today in 4-5 weeks, maybe 2". Very low snow levels, have had some cold weather but nothing crazy

[Drillbit]

Pretty easy so far in the cariboo. Parked the sled a month ago and have been going on ATV trips instead.

[Ddog]

so much snow here in the kootenays,,,saw deer pushing snow ,,just the tops of their backs showing,,mid- lower chest on the elk I've seen from Cranbrook to Canal flats.... its bad right now here,, there will be some of the smaller ones dying off for sure

[Sitkaspruce]

Peace area is very mild so far, with maybe 10-14" in the bush up north and 3-6" in the farmland. Starting on Saturday, the weather will be +temps for the next week or so.

Deer and other animals are pretty resilient and are a lot tougher than we give them credit for!! If we have a late, cold spring, that will put the biggest stress on the animals. The positive is that the animals went into the winter fat and sassy and in great shape, which will help.

Wait to see what happens in the next month to see if the winter has any affect on the animals.

Cheers

SS

[two-feet]

No snow in smithers, just ice. Not too many animals in the valley bottom this year compared to many.

[HarryToolips]

2016 was wet and forage seemed good in region 8 here, so like SS said, the ungulates went into winter in good shape from my observations...however, snow levels are higher here than in quite a few years, iirc, so that is concerning....have seen good numbers of whitetail and muleys, and good moose sign thus far though, so hopefully that snow starts melting soon at the lower elevations..

[Clint_S]

measured 35" on the level in my yard today. Some mild weather coming which may compact it somewhat but likely just enough for the preds to move easily. Next couple weeks could see some heavy losses.

[digger dogger]

Well here in Cancun, there is no winter kill here.
But Chilliwack, may see 1-2 winter killed deer:-)
Things to do in mexico??
Lion fish hunting in Cozumel?
In all seriousness, i think the coast will be fine!

[campking]

Hi Digger;
Are you in Cancun right now?

[russm]

Well here in Cancun, there is no winter kill here.
But Chilliwack, may see 1-2 winter killed deer:-)
Things to do in mexico??
Lion fish hunting in Cozumel?
In all seriousness, i think the coast will be fine!

2 weeks and I'll be in cancun too, can't wait to get out of this weather.

[Husky7mm]

Lots of snow interception out on the coast under the big trees. I hazard a guess they will be fine. I lived in the LML in 96-97 , the snow was up to the second story of the houses, it was nuts , the hunting was terrible for many years following.

[kilometers]

Been cold and dry in terrace all winter. Very little snow. Long dry cold snaps with no snow cover might kill off some of the ticks that are coming our way. I assume winter kills were very low.

[Buckmeister]

On the drive home from work today around 4:30 (Fintry, down Westside of Okanagan Lake) saw over 20 deer milling about, mixture of Mules and Whiteys. It had finally stopped snowing and the temps were rising. The deer were out getting a good feed. Snow was belly deep for some.

[leadpillproductions]

Hardly any snow up here, been seeing a lot of animals along hwys . Must have seen 60 elk and 30 deer tonight

[hunter1947]

For me there is to much snow on the ground to go out will get back to this thread when I can get out latter...

[sausage lover]

Deer tracks all over the yard this morning! Deep snow pushing them down lower lookin for food i guess. They would have had to cross the #1 hyw to get into this area,sketchy for drivers and hungry deer considering road conditions.

[j270wsm]

so much snow here in the kootenays,,,saw deer pushing snow ,,just the tops of their backs showing,,mid- lower chest on the elk I've seen from Cranbrook to Canal flats.... its bad right now here,, there will be some of the smaller ones dying off for sure

Close to 3' of snow in the last week, freezing rain and now it's above zero....... not looking good in the elk valley

[dino]

Thanks guys

[boxhitch]

The last two weeks has certainly changed this picture no doubt


http://bcrfc.env.gov.bc.ca/bulletins/watersupply/SnowIndexMap.jpg

[Dannybuoy]

These graphs only show a piece of whats really happening as well as not being able to measure the snow variances from valley to valley . Where I am now the locals haven't seen this much snow for 20-30 years yet graph shows 73% . Yet in the mountains , I hear about average ...

[REMINGTON JIM]

We have had some COLDer weather here in the South Boo but Nothing to Bad to Long - Short on snow - all of the Deer & Moose i see around LOOK Well ! :smile: RJ

[boxhitch]

Danny, keep in mind this is a index looking at the water content of area snow pack for river level forecasting. Lots of deeper cold fluffy snow this year in some areas, gives the appearance of more snow, but not as problematic to critters as the dense wet coastal snows..........maybe? )
Full report has more intimate detail, another new report out march 1st

[CaribooBC]

Not much snow and not really cold. Seeing some deer in summer habitats already, there have been lots of preds in their winter ranges though. Need to whack more K9s and kitties!