Drought harms more than just the landscape

Drought impacts wildlife, too.

As we enter the season of complaining about the snow and cold, reminders of this summer’s drought remain in the form of haystacks, cows and pocketbooks that are all far too thin. The same is true for deer and other wildlife species. Some impacts of the drought were immediate, like low chick survival for pheasants and sharptails. Lack of moisture meant low numbers of beetles and other bugs that provide protein critical for chicks to grow during the first couple weeks of life. Poor chick production equates to disappointed hunters, since young-of-the-year birds typi...