Snowfall brings wildlife into Utah cities
It’s been a wild winter along the Wasatch Front. In a single weekend, a mountain goat wandered into Cottonwood Heights, three cougars—one of which peered through a window—visited a home at the mouth of Mill Creek Canyon, and Division of Wildlife Resources (DWR) biologists and officers tranquilized and moved a cow moose and its calf from Bountiful.
What’s going on this year? And what should you do if wildlife shows up in your backyard? Darren DeBloois, the DWR biologist who oversees the management of cougars and bears in Utah, provides some answers.
Increased snowfall
After years of dry winters, the mountains along the heavily populated Wasatch Front have finally received some snow. As snow piles in the high country, deer, moose and other wildlife are moving to lower elevations, looking for food. Cougars, which prey mostly on deer, are following the deer into the valleys.
“It seems like something unusual is happening,” DeBloois says, “but given the conditions this year, it’s predictable. The mountains have finally received a decent amount of snow. That’s pushing the animals to lower elevations, where the snow isn’t as deep and food is easier to find.”
DeBloois says three additional factors—healthy wildlife populations, an increasing human population and more people with cameras on their houses—come into play too.
“Wild animals along the Wasatch Front are doing well,” he says. “Healthy populations of cougars, deer and moose are scattered along the foothills.”
DeBloois says historically, Utah’s lower-elevation areas—places with less snow and more woody vegetation—served as winter habitat for wildlife. “These areas still provide winter habitat for the animals,” he says, “but many of them are also filled with people and their homes. And more and more houses are now equipped with security cameras. The photos and videos these cameras capture can make it look like the number of animals in urban areas is increasing. In reality, many of the animals have been there all along. You just weren’t aware they were there.”
What to do
If you see wildlife in your backyard or in your town this winter or spring, what should you do? DeBloois provides the following tips:
Tip 1 – Keep your distance
Keep a good distance between you and the animal. Keeping your distance is the best way to stay safe and not cause the animal undue stress.
“Bad things can happen when people get too close to wildlife,” DeBloois says. “Closing the gap between you and an animal can cause the animal to feel threatened. If it feels threatened, it will sometimes attack to protect itself.”
DeBloois says it’s important to keep your distance from all wildlife, especially moose. “Moose often appear to be docile animals,” he says, “and they usually are, right up until the moment they feel threatened. Then, they can get aggressive. Moose are strong and fast. A moose can easily run you down.”
This is true for pets too. Dogs walking off leash have been known to provoke moose attacks that can escalate to attacks on people as they try to rescue their pets.
More often, the wild animal will flee, and that can be bad for animals like moose and deer, especially in late winter and early spring.
“It’s harder for some wildlife to find food in the winter,” DeBloois says. “And the food that is available might have limited nutritional value, or it could contain toxic compounds that limit the amount an animal can eat. That means the animals have to live off their fat reserves.”
By the end of the winter—even a normal winter—DeBloois says an animal’s reserves are nearly gone. “This is especially true for young animals that are using most of their energy to grow,” he says. “They have very little fat stored, even at the beginning of winter. If you scare an animal, like a moose or a deer, and cause it to run away from you, you’ve caused it to use up some of the essential fat reserves and energy it needs to survive.”
Tip 2 – Visit wildawareutah.org
In addition to keeping your distance, there are several things you can do to stay safe and not cause animals undue stress. For tips, visit www.wildawareutah.org/utah-wildlife-information.
Tip 3 – Only call if you feel threatened
The DWR receives many calls in the winter from people who have spotted wildlife in their backyards or somewhere in their town. Unless you feel the animal poses a threat to you or to others, there’s probably no reason to call. “Give the animal plenty of space,” DeBloois says, “and enjoy watching it. Having wildlife so close to us is one of the great things about living in Utah.”
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See and hear wild swans in Utah
Free viewing event on March 9
Ogden -- Wild swans are winging their way through Utah.
Both tundra swans and trumpeter swans, which are more rarely seen, stop in Utah's wetlands for critically needed rest and refueling during their annual spring migration. The migration takes the swans from wintering grounds in California to nesting sites in Canada and Alaska.
You can see the birds, and learn more about them, at this year’s Wild Swan Day.
Wild Swan Day – March 9
The Division of Wildlife Resources will host the event on March 9. Admission is free. The event will be held at two DWR waterfowl management areas: Salt Creek, southwest of Tremonton, and Farmington Bay, southwest of Farmington.
Mark Hadley, regional conservation outreach manager for the DWR, says viewing runs from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. If you attend the event, you’ll likely see and hear thousands of tundra swans and maybe even a few of the more rarely seen trumpeter swans.
"If you’ve never seen swans in the wild before,” he says, “you need to come to the event. Swans are gorgeous, graceful birds. And you’ll have no problem spotting them: they’re huge and almost pure white in color.”
Hadley says spotting scopes will be available so you can get a close look at the swans. “If you have your own binoculars or a spotting scope, though, please bring them with you,” he says. “DWR staff and volunteers from Wasatch Audubon will be available to answer your questions.”
In addition to seeing and hearing swans, if you attend the event at Farmington Bay, you can learn more about the birds at presentations at the Eccles Wildlife Education Center, 1157 South Waterfowl Way. The 30-minute presentations—which talk about where the swans came from, why they stop in Utah and where they’re going—will be offered at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. You can also take your kids into the center’s Wetlands Discovery classroom, where they can make their own paper swan.
In addition to the two DWR viewing sites, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is holding a swan viewing event on March 9 at the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge. The refuge is west of Brigham City. To learn more about the event, visit www.fws.gov/refuge/bear_river_migratory_bird_refuge.
A preview of what you’ll see at Wild Swan Day is available in two videos on the DWR’s YouTube channel. You can view the swan videos at http://bit.ly/1Ap4fXEand http://bit.ly/1Js23Gb.
Locations
Viewing at the Salt Creek WMA will happen at Compton’s Knoll, a small hill on the northeast side of the WMA. From the knoll, you can scan the entire marsh.
At the Farmington Bay WMA, managers will scout the area and then set spotting scopes up at the best location to see swans.
If you have questions about Wild Swan Day, call the DWR’s Northern Region office at 801-476-2740.
Directions
To reach the Compton’s Knoll viewing area at the Salt Creek WMA, exit Interstate 15 at Exit 365, and travel west on state Route 83 through Corinne. Stay on SR-83 until you get to 6800 West (Iowa String). Turn right on 6800 West, and travel north to 6800 North. Turn left on 6800 North, and travel west for about 3.5 miles. The Compton’s Knoll Watchable Wildlife site will be on your left side.
The Farmington Bay WMA is at 1325 W. Glovers Lane in Farmington.
Seeing swans on your own
If you can’t attend the March 9 event, swans should stay in Utah through most of March. Compton’s Knoll at the Salt Creek WMA is always a great place to see swans. The 12-mile auto tour route at the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge is also a good choice.
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Fishing reports - available at http://wildlife.utah.gov/hotspots .
Refurbishing nest structures for Canada geese at Farmington Bay (space limited)
What: Farmington Bay’s Canada goose population is about to get a helping hand from people who love hunting, watching and photographing the birds. This Saturday, the Utah Airboat Association, waterfowl hunters, wildlife enthusiasts and DWR biologists will work together to refurbish Canada goose nesting platforms at the Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area (WMA). Airboats piloted by the Utah Airboat Association will get volunteers into the wetlands. This annual project is designed to restore nest structures for geese before the nesting season begins. Canada geese are the earliest waterfowl to begin nesting in Utah, and they start pair bonding in early March. The goslings typically hatch in mid-May
Giving pregnant doe deer ultrasounds and transmitters for fawn-survival study
What: Next week, DWR biologists will work with a helicopter company to capture approximately 40 pregnant deer in Cache Valley. After the deer arrive at the Hardware Ranch staging site, the biologists will give them a thorough checkup — including an ultrasound — and then insert transmitters vaginally. When the deer give birth this spring, the transmitters will drop out right before the fawns do. The biologists will be able to quickly locate and collar the fawns, who will join a statewide fawn-survival study that’s been underway since 2012.
Wildlife watching: see migrating tundra swans
What: Each spring, thousands of wild tundra swans rest and refuel on Utah’s marshes as they return to their Arctic breeding grounds. The swans have arrived in Utah and are fun to photograph and film. Next Saturday, the DWR is holding Wild Swan Day in northern Utah. This event is free and open to the public.
Catching northern pike at Yuba Reservoir to help Utah’s tiger muskie program (space limited)
What: The northern pike at Yuba Reservoir play a key role in producing Utah’s tiger muskies. (Tiger muskies are the sterile offspring of true muskellunge and northern pike.) In early March, our biologists will use nets to catch the northern pike, which will be tested for disease. Assuming the fish are healthy, they will be used as brood stock to produce tiger muskies at the Lee Kay Fish Hatchery this year
