SCHIESS: How much snow is too much? - East Idaho News
Living the Wild Life

SCHIESS: How much snow is too much?

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More snow is predicted in the forecast and the phones at the local Idaho Fish and Game office are ringing off the hook — not from sportsmen, but from farmers and ranchers whose haystacks are being invaded by deer, elk and jackrabbits.

During breaks between storms when the roads are mostly clear of snow and ice, a drive from Idaho Falls or Rexburg to Arco, Dubois or Howe, or visiting the Market Lake and Mud Lake Management Areas or Camas National Wildlife Refuge can be very interesting. The snow has forced wildlife to move out of the deep snow areas to hunt and feed and are more visible to travelers. It also means more human/wildlife encounters.

Whitetailed Deer
Bill Schiess, EastIdahoNews.com

“The other day my wife and I took off work a little early and made a drive to Camas where we saw a lot of different animals and birds,” Rick Excell from Rexburg said. “It was a wonderful trip.”

An early morning or evening drive from Dubois to Howe may reward you with the view of hundreds of elk and deer moving from or to the area haystacks with even pheasants looking for morsels of feed in the bales. Hundreds of hawks and eagles are gathering what food they can. Two birders enlisted to do winter raptor counts last week reported seeing “300 to 400 common raven, 225 rough-legged hawks, 57 bald eagles and two golden eagles” along with a smattering of other raptors and some songbirds.

Pheasants
Bill Schiess, EastIdahoNews.com

The hard winter coincided with an explosion of jackrabbits across the desert. Each morning some of the roads are littered with fresh killed rabbits that attract raptors and scavengers getting their meals before the remains become frozen. While traveling, look for herds of these hay eating machines in pockets of willows, usually near a haystack.

One of the most fascinating aspects of the abundant snow is the visibility of owls. More than 40 barn owls have been seen around Mud Lake, pockets of Short-eared owls are showing up in many marsh areas and the Great gray owls, forced out of the mountains, are found in backyards and desert areas.

Barn Owl
Bill Schiess, EastIdahoNews.com

“We have a ton of barn owls around Mud Lake and many of them are dying,” Kevin Calloway of Mud Lake said this week. “I am finding dead ones around the haystacks and I think it was the cold that it killing them.”

“We have even seen a couple of the Great grays in the Springfield area near American Falls Reservoir,” Boyd Larsen of Springfield said while on a photography trip to Camas NWR. “This is a rare observance.”

On a recent road trip looking for wildlife, I observed two Great Grays in a yard in the Hibbard area, two miles further I saw two on fence posts, then three along the Henrys Fork of the Snake River and another two on the Moody Creek area. On a trip to the lower Medicine Creek west of Dubois, one was sitting in a tree near a herd of elk.

As the snow piles up, be aware not only of the problems it may create, but enjoy the opportunities to view and enjoy the wildlife – from a safe distance.

Elk Winter
Bill Schiess, EastIdahoNews.com

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