MANITOULIN—It is a case of so far so good for deer on Manitoulin this winter.
“Fortunately the clock has just started ticking in some areas of the Island where there are higher amounts of snowfall on the ground, and if we have any thawing it will mean things are even better for the deer,” said Ian Anderson, a member of the Deer Save program on Manitoulin, last Friday. “For now people can help out the deer by breaking trails from one food source to another, but we are not talking about using bulldozers or anything like that at this time.”
Mr. Anderson said there is quite a variance in the amount of snowfall on the group in different areas of the Island. For instance in the Burnt Island Road area and snow depths in Robinson Township and Billings Township there is a huge variance. “In some areas there is more than 20 inches of snow on the ground, and lots of areas where there is 12-14 inches. Overall on Western Manitoulin there is likely close to 15 inches of snow on the ground. It is a typical winter on Manitoulin.”
“However, most of the snow is the light and fluffy stuff and will not impact deer,” said Mr. Anderson.
“I was talking to some people who say in their area they already have quite a bit of snow on the ground,” said Sue Meert, coordinator of Deer Save Manitoulin. She is working on volunteer list, trying to get more people to help out the deer this winter, if it is necessary.
Ms. Meert noted that one thing Deer Save doesn’t want is for people to start feeding deer at this point.
Mr. Anderson explained, “notably there needs to be 20 inches of snow on the ground before the clock starts ticking towards an impact on deer. If we have 90 days of 20 or more inches of snow on the ground that is when you see deer losses because they can’t put enough weight on in the fall to get through the winter.”
People can start breaking trails for deer (not using bulldozers) where there are concentrations of deer, from one food source to another, said Mr. Anderson. “What we do now will help the deer later. You can’t start too soon and just breaking of trails to food sources will not hurt a bit.”
In terms of breaking browse for deer Mr. Anderson emphasized this isn’t needed at this point. This is only required when there is deep snow for a long period of time and terribly cold temperatures.
“Again, if anyone wants to help out the deer by volunteering, they can sign up on our Facebook page, Deer Save Manitoulin,” added Ms. Meert.
