Winter in the Rocky Mountains is always a tough time for wildlife.
Biologists say these cold months are basically a controlled decline for mule deer, elk and other big-game species, pitting them against an ever-present enemy: starvation.
So, in winters like this one, with its above-average snowfall and steadily deepening snowpacks statewide, the threat can become downright perilous, pushing wintering ungulates into direct conflict with humans.
Over the past week, local biologists with the Idaho Department of Fish and Game have had their hands full responding to various winter-related big-game issues.
"The calls are picking up," local Fish and Game conservation officer Lee Garwood said late last week.
Garwood said he has begun to receive calls related to injured big-game animals, road-killed wildlife and, most troubling of all, people reporting dogs chasing deer and elk through deep snows.
Last Thursday, he said calls came in about a dog harassing two deer in the hills at the mouth of Quigley Canyon east of Hailey. Garwood said he and fellow conservation officer Rob Morris were elsewhere when the call came in so a Blaine County sheriff's officer and the county animal control officer investigated the incident.
Garwood said the two officers found one deer severely injured by the dog and the other caught in a nearby fence. He said the injuries were so severe that they had to euthanize both deer.
Garwood said the owner of the dog is being tracked down and will likely receive a civil citation due to the incident.
On Sunday, Garwood and Morris were also kept busy late into the day trying to catch two dogs seen chasing a herd of deer near Hangman's Gulch east of Hailey. He said the dogs reportedly chased the deer through deep snow from the gulch all the way to the summit of Red Devil mountain.
"We couldn't get them off by dark last night," he said.
On Monday, Garwood said he hadn't received any reports of injured deer from that incident. He said they finally caught the dogs around 11 a.m. Monday. He said the owner of the dogs will likely be fined because of the incident.
Garwood described the issue of energy loss in big game as an insidious problem.
"We can't measure energy lost," he said.
Garwood said a deer or elk that is run all over a hillside may not show signs of the energy loss until weeks later when it finally succumbs to starvation.
"It's just a major energy loss if they have to push through a lot of snow," he said.
Garwood said the next six weeks will be a very crucial time for wintering deer and elk in the valley. He said heavy snows are keeping them from moving around or reaching much-needed vegetation.
"This is really crunch time for these animals," he said.
Garwood said people need to turn around and recreate elsewhere if they come across wintering deer or elk. He said dog owners also need to be responsible and keep their dogs on leash or under direct voice control when out in the hills.
Garwood said owners often express surprise when their dogs chase big game, but it's not the dog's fault its predatory instinct takes over.
"The dog is not quite as well-behaved as they thought it was," he said.
On Monday, retired Fish and Game conservation officer Roger Olson of Hailey said he saw a hiker snowshoeing in the Hangman's Gulch area. Olson said the hiker pushed a large herd of elk all the way to the summit of Red Devil.
These instances of deer and elk being pushed around due to pressures from humans and dogs have happened next to two large properties that are either under development or being proposed for development.
Developers of the Old Cutters subdivision are already in the process of constructing a nearly 150-home development directly west of Hangman's Gulch, the site of the recent deer and elk conflicts. Just to the south, a plan by developers to have more than 1,000 acres in lower Quigley Canyon annexed into Hailey is near the site where officers had to euthanize the two deer. The developers of the Quigley Canyon property have proposed to develop more than 350 homes in what is now open farmland next to winter range used by deer and elk.
These developments will undoubtedly bring more recreationists and dogs next to areas frequented by wintering big game. How local officials will deal with these kinds of human-wildlife conflicts remains to be seen.
A Fish and Game news release indicates what steps can taken when dogs chase wildlife. It says Idaho law covers such wildlife harassment issues and that as a control measure dogs harassing wild game can legally be shot.
Out the Warm Springs Creek drainage west of Ketchum signs that the winter is becoming tough are also becoming apparent.
Garwood said about 172 elk are now being fed at the Fish and Game's Bullwhacker winter feeding site near the mouth of the West Fork of Warm Springs Creek.
The agency established the Bullwhacker site in 1980 to encourage elk to remain further up Warm Springs and not in residential Ketchum.
Garwood said the number of the elk is among the highest the Fish and Game has seen at the site in years, and that is likely partially due to the loss of forage from last summer's 48,520-acre Castle Rock Fire.
Valley motorists are also witnessing the effects of the harsh winter. On Sunday, five deer were reportedly found on the east side of state Highway 75 south of Hailey. The deer were apparently killed in a collision with a vehicle.
Wintering elk feed in deep snows near The Community School?s Sagewillow campus in Sun Valley last weekend. Photo by Willy Cook
