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By ALI SIMPSON
PLATTSBURGH — During this mild winter, we unbutton our coats early and turn down the heat.
For wildlife in the area, things are a bit more complicated.
UP EARLY
Bears and other mammals are waking up sooner, their life cycles disturbed by air that feels downright muggy compared to previous winters, Department of Environmental Conservation wildlife biologist Joe Racette said.
Melted snow can seep into dens and disturb these creatures, who will wake to an environment with too little food to support them, he said.
"While the warmer temperatures and lack of snow are good for foragers like deer, some animals fare worse."
Small animals, such as rabbits, skunks and squirrels, actually benefit from harsh winters and are most active then because the snows help protect them from predators, DEC wildlife technician Andy Preston said.
FOOD PLENTIFUL
On the other hand, a mild winter is good news for deer and turkey, Preston said.
"A really harsh winter is horrible for deer because they use up all of their available browsing. In a mild winter, deer spread out and have more food available to browse."
The same goes for turkeys who "hunker down in a harsh winter and scratch the snow for food."
He says deer and turkey will both be plentiful this year for hunters and wildlife watchers.
WARMER LAKE
Lake Champlain has also been affected by this year's milder temperatures, which is bad news for more than the ice anglers in our community.
According to the Lake Champlain Committee, the number of times the lake freezes each year has declined drastically in the past 70 years.
Cold water retains more oxygen than warm water, and the warming lake is gradually suffering from oxygen depletion, according to the committee.
This is additional bad news for fish that need a specific temperature for their eggs to hatch.
These small and gradual changes add up over time.
"There are quite a few cold-water adapted species that are affected even by very small changes in temperature: freshwater shrimp and plankton," Racette said.
While he said it is difficult to prove a trend, it is a fact that frozen water absorbs less energy (i.e. less heat). Since Lake Champlain has been freezing fewer times over the past few decades, its waters have been collecting more heat.
If these changes are indeed happening, Racette said, it could affect the entire ecosystem in and around Lake Champlain.
"The effects would be profound and would reverberate up through the food chain."
