It snowed a little here this past week...

DallanC · Site Admin Joined: Jan 18, 2005 Posts: 3572 Location: Utah

LMAO... +26 ft of snowfall in some places! FEET!

People at the resort in the link were snowed in for a few days before DOT could dig out the road up the canyon.

Its getting pretty crazy around here... 2 more months of winter to go still! Sadly the deer and elk are starting to winterkill in Utah and surrounding states.

www.ksl.com/?sid=42993...up-to-name

-DallanC

Vince

DAMN...I can't even begin to comprehend snowfalls like that. How long did it take to dump 26 feet of snow on the ground? I remember a tropical downpour we had in Cairns when living up there...we got something like 17 inches of rain in a day...but 26 feet...that's outa control.
Haha

Dallan wrote:

...Sadly the deer and elk are starting to winterkill in Utah and surrounding states.

When you say "winterkill" mate, does that means the winter season is now open, or does it mean something else?

Gil Martin

I hate it when that happens. What ever happened to global warming? Take care. All the best...
Gil

TRBLSHTR

Vince-that means that mother nature is starving and freezing them to death.I can remember a year like this when I just got out of the service,and the state game commission (in its infinate wisdom)were going to help out the deer from starvation.They fed the animals alfalfa hay from bales!The deer usually died within 100 yards of the feeding station and water sources!Reason is called bloate!Elk can handle the alfalfa a little better!Typical state employees,"If you can't get a job anywhere else-you can always work for the state"! wtf

DallanC · Site Admin Joined: Jan 18, 2005 Posts: 3572 Location: Utah

Vince wrote:

When you say "winterkill" mate, does that means the winter season is now open, or does it mean something else?

It means wildlife are dying due to winter conditions, starvation, sickness, etc etc. Most of our hunting seasons ended by Nov.

-DallanC

Elvis

them that survive will be hardy critters.
the ski bunnies will be happy I guess,personally snow is wonderful stuff way up the mountains,filling up the glaciers and snow fields to replenish the water courses and aqafers later...as for living in it....yea nah no thanks.
a 6-8" dumping once or twice a winter is enough for me.

gelandangan

WOW.. thats a lot of snow !!
here in Oz we sweat bad.

Pumpkinslinger

A sorta rule of thumb is that it takes 10 inches of snow to make 1 inch of water, but that can vary quite a bit.

Vince

DallanC wrote:

Vince wrote:

When you say "winterkill" mate, does that means the winter season is now open, or does it mean something else?

It means wildlife are dying due to winter conditions, starvation, sickness, etc etc. Most of our hunting seasons ended by Nov.

-DallanC

WOW...That is not good. I suppose it becomes a case of 'survival of the fittest', but I wonder just how much it depletes the herds of deer?

I note that Troubles said they have tried feeding the deer lucerne (alfalfa), but they couldn't digest it properly causing bloat or colic. Apparently too much clover can cause colic in horses, so I suppose it all comes down to the type of feed the animal consumes.

A feed that I see quite common out here is called Rhodes Grass (Chloris gayana) a summer-growing, stoloniferous perennial, native to Africa but it can be found throughout the tropical and subtropical world as a naturalized species capable of growing in many types of habitat. Both cattle and horses appear to do quite well when fed on Rhodes Grass. It is bales easily, is cheap to buy, and could be a good option for property owners who want to feed wild deer during winter to maintain the herd stocks.

Suzanne

I got snow and then freezing rain on top of it then more snow and then more freezing rain.....nightmare but nothing like 26+ feet of snow. A month later
and we're just getting the trees that were toppled on homes and cars taken off, the clean-up will take months because of the ice damage. Then there are also trees that are teetering on the brink of collapse that need to be taken care of. I guess if you have a wood burning stove then you're in luck.

Never seen a winter like this since I've been here and Arizona sounds pretty good right now. But you can't have beautiful forests without rain and snow I guess and summer is heaven here. The snow melt is always the challenge too with flooding and mud slides....good luck with that Dallan. Didn't do so bad here, just minor flooding and squishy roads. The ice was the worst tho. How did you fare around your house?

Suz

slimjim

Dallan, thanks for sharing and letting us know. You and Suz stay warm and save.

DallanC · Site Admin Joined: Jan 18, 2005 Posts: 3572 Location: Utah

Suzanne wrote:

I got snow and then freezing rain on top of it then more snow and then more freezing rain.....nightmare but nothing like 26+ feet of snow.

Yea the snow / rain / freeze / snow / rain / freeze cycle is what really hits our wildlife hard. They cant dig down through it for food. the big snow fall is up in the resorts, we've had drought conditions for years so bit snow is welcome, but we are running 140% of average snowfall in some spots... with 2 months of winter snow left to go.

Quote::

How did you fare around your house?

Ironically, my town usually gets most of the storms and snowfall due to how the mountains lay... but this year its been missing our tiny spot and hitting hard 10 miles north and 10 miles south of me... but right where we are you could see the grass until a week ago. Got 14" inch on it atm so not too bad. Certainly no need to worry about our roof (thank goodness, we had it completely re-roofed this past summer). I keep an eye on the weight though.

-DallanC

DallanC · Site Admin Joined: Jan 18, 2005 Posts: 3572 Location: Utah

Oh yea, DWR is starting to feed some deer herds through their emergency feeding program. Mule deer are difficult to feed though, their stomachs are complex systems and their bacteria only works on certain kinds of feed. Feed a deer alfalfa and alot will die with full stomachs because they cant digest it.

Supposedly the new pellets work better for them, guess we will see.

wildlife.utah.gov/wild...areas.html

-DallanC

Vince

DallanC wrote:

Oh yea, DWR is starting to feed some deer herds through their emergency feeding program. Mule deer are difficult to feed though, their stomachs are complex systems and their bacteria only works on certain kinds of feed. Feed a deer alfalfa and alot will die with full stomachs because they cant digest it.

Supposedly the new pellets work better for them, guess we will see.

wildlife.utah.gov/wild...areas.html

-DallanC

WOW, I didn't realise that deer have such complex digestive systems. You would think that if they were to make a pellet or feed using the native grasses etc that deer feed off then it wouldn't be a problem. I can understand now why a deer farm is a difficult and expensive proposition.

DallanC · Site Admin Joined: Jan 18, 2005 Posts: 3572 Location: Utah

Yea thats the problem, mule deer dont eat grass. They eat "browse" off of various other plants / brush. Its a complex thing for a unique animal for sure.

Elk or Whitetails seem to shrug off various food sources... but mule deer evolved into something unique. Biggest problem is the historical winter range where they would spend their winters is all taken up by McMansion houses.

-DallanC