It's been relentlessly cold since early November around here, with good amounts of snow to boot. I'm seeing close to 100 elk come down to the CRP above the farm for the first time since I started there in '99. Turkeys are around daily, vs rarely before. Huns are foraging along the open ditches, and they usually stay higher. I had to lift a doe out of a raceway last week, and my farm manager had to help a doe out of a ditch a few days ago, and salvaged one that got caught in a fence. Elk and deer are hitting unprotected haystacks with a vengeance. And hay is dear, very dear this year. F&G has started to feed the herds on the other side of the Bear river. Which, incidentally is almost completely frozen over, pushing out the wintering swans, geese and ducks.
We desperately need the water, but at this point, I don't expect much of the fawn crop to survive. It's just too rough on the little ones. Just hoping that the adults will make it ok at this point. Warmer weather would help, but we're back to below zero next week, along with some fresh snow. Neighbor just started calving. It's going to be rough for a while, I'm afraid.
Nature is unforgiving, I suppose. Hate to see animals struggle like this.
