Failed to execute CGI : Win32 Error Code = 3
It's been a good year for wildlife in Central Oregon. A mild winter, sufficient
summer water supplies and good forage have made life easy for deer and elk and
non-game animals are doing well, too.
Nature is taking it easy on her offspring, at least in the short term. And,
according to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, human activity poses a
greater long-term threat to wildlife in the region than periods of drought or
harsh winters.
"Our biggest concern locally is urban sprawl," said ODF&W biologist Steven
George. "That takes away habitat from game animals and non-game animals...Right
now we're probably losing ground when it comes to deer population," George
said. According to George, growth in the region may mean Central Oregon cannot
continue to support its current level of deer population.
George said ODF&W works with county planners to mitigate human impact on
wildlife habitat. The primary tool for reducing that impact is concentrating
development where impact is lowest.
"There's not much you can do to mitigate once something is there," George
said.
Elk are doing well, George said, with increasing numbers wintering on the east
side of the Cascades. George noted that elk migrations don't often take them
across major highways.
Road kill on the region's highways is another real concern for the wildlife
agency. Deer in particular are vulnerable to increasing traffic and speeds on
the roads.
But despite growing pressure from human activity, wildlife are doing well in
the region.
Coyotes, hardened survivors that they are, are populating at an astonishing
rate.
"We've counted more coyotes than we ever had," George said. Part of the
population increase can be attributed to prey abundance, George said. But the
breeding mechanism that causes coyote populations to leap to huge levels
remains a mystery.
An increased coyote population is not good news to livestock producers.
George said that predator control in Deschutes County is generally left up to
individual landowners.
"There's not a whole lot that can be done," George said, noting that coyotes
fall under the jurisdiction of the Department of Agriculture.
The agency anticipates a good deer hunting season this fall, depending as
always on weather conditions. If current conditions continue, George said,
hunters should find "animals spread throughout the units in good numbers."
The archery season opens Saturday, August 24. Last year, bow hunters in the
Metolius unit north and west of Sisters harvested 96 deer for a 24 percent
success rate. Rifle hunters, who start their season Saturday, September 28,
took 567 deer on the unit for a 27 percent success rate.
According to George, sport hunting "helps keep the animal population in check"
to a level the habitat can support. Loss of habitat means a gradual diminishing
of hunting opportunities, George noted.
