Even though it doesn't seem like it outside, it is spring and more animals are on the move.
Bears are starting to show up in people's backyards and deer are also popping up in urban centres, just last week there was a fawn in downtown Sudbury.
A lot of nature's creatures are awakening from their slumber and they will be on the move, crossing northern highways.
After a series of crashes involving wildlife, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry, along with the OPP are holding an information session south of North Bay Monday night.
Ron Arnold is a MNRF Conservation Officer in the Niagara Region.
“There’s some feeding stations going on in certain areas, where landowners are making a choice to put out non-natural source of food for wildlife. This inadvertently attracts them to these areas, crossing our highways and causing fatalities, even to the animals themselves.” said Arnold.
His message for people is to not feed the deer or other wild animals.
“Even though it’s not illegal to feed wildlife, the MNRF strongly advises the public to NOT feed wildlife, removing them from their natural food sources, inadvertently changing their digestion systems. If we’re feeding them the wrong food, we’re causing them more harm than good and we certainly don’t want to see the public injured as a result of vehicle collisions with wildlife because of our actions as humans.” said Arnold.
Because there is still snow on the ground, animals will be looking for different types of food.
“Well, right now, at this time of the year, believe it or not, they’re consuming about 50% less than what they did in September. They’re browsing on twigs and buds, and low-level brush. In the near-north, they are wintering over in areas where they have access to good browsing areas, as well as escape routes from other predators like wolves and coyotes. So, their diets are less than what they used to be right now and that’s a normal thing for deer to be showing signs. They also consume a lot of their body fat that they stored up in the fall to survive our winters.” said Arnold.
With the deer out grazing, they need to feed, they’re hungry. Drivers should be aware of where they are likely to encounter wildlife on the road.
“In areas where you see water courses, bush near the side of the road, you see an animal on the side of the road. If you see one big-game mammal, think two, think three. In the winter time, these deer do yard up, as well, as we get into the spring months, our big-game mammals, such as moose and deer, will move closer to our roadways, near the ditches where vegetation is growing because they want the minerals and salts that they’ve been missing over the winter time. So, they begin to feed heavily on the new growth.” said Arnold.
There are times of day in which you will see more wildlife this time of year.
“Yeah, early morning, late evening, you will want to keep two hands on the wheel and eyes straight ahea,d because those are the best times for wildlife to approach the sides of our highways.” said Arnold.
