{"id":96274,"date":"2019-01-11T23:53:58","date_gmt":"2019-01-12T06:53:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/feeding-wildlife-during-winter-does-more-harm-than-good\/"},"modified":"2019-01-11T23:53:58","modified_gmt":"2019-01-12T06:53:58","slug":"feeding-wildlife-during-winter-does-more-harm-than-good","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/feeding-wildlife-during-winter-does-more-harm-than-good\/","title":{"rendered":"Feeding wildlife during winter does more harm than good"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Human-provided
Human-provided food can kill deer in the winter. Colorado Parks and Wildlife asks residents not to feed deer and other wildlife.<\/span>Photo courtesy Colorado Parks and Wildlife<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cNative species are well adapted to survive the winter months on natural food sources,\u201d said J Wenum, area wildlife manager for Colorado Parks and Wildlife in Gunnison. \u201cFeeding big game, especially deer, whether it\u2019s hay, corn, dog food or other livestock-type food, can kill them. Their digestive systems aren\u2019t designed to handle these types of rich foods.\u201d<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, every year, people see deer in their yards or near their property and some people decide to feed them; and every year deer die as a consequence.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople want to help. But the reality of it is that feeding generally doesn\u2019t help wildlife, it harms them,\u201d Wenum said. \u201cWinter is a tough time of year, and it has always been how nature eliminates the sick, the weak and less-fit animals from the population. It\u2019s ironic, but the toughest time of the year is what makes wildlife populations healthy.\u201d<\/p>\n

In some areas of Colorado, bighorn sheep get close to residential areas during the winter. Bighorns, also, should not be fed.<\/p>\n

Feeding animals can cause other problems. Deer crowding around a food source can transfer diseases or parasites from animal to animal. When animals bunch up they also become easy targets for predators, including mountain lions. While deer and mountain lions have evolved naturally together, having large predators in residential areas is not natural and is never a good idea.<\/p>\n

Feeding big game can draw them away from their natural habitats and disturb migration patterns. In some areas, deer that have been fed during the winter haven\u2019t moved on as they should when spring arrives.<\/p>\n

Feeding is not just a concern with big game. CPW also advises people to refrain from feeding small animals such as coyotes, foxes, squirrels, rabbits, chipmunks or turkeys. These animals also aren\u2019t equipped to eat human-provided food. And just like deer, animals can bunch up, draw in predators and create unnecessary conflicts.<\/p>\n

Wild animals are unpredictable and can be dangerous to people who decide to get close to them. They can be particularly aggressive or defensive around food sources, during breeding seasons and when they have dependent young nearby.<\/p>\n

\u201cWinter in Colorado is often a great time to watch big game animals. They are more visible when they congregate on low-elevation, more open winter ranges,\u201d explained Wenum. \u201cPlease, observe them from a distance, keep your dog on a leash and don\u2019t be tempted to offer any food,\u201d<\/p>\n

For more information about wildlife in Colorado, see cpw.state.co.us<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Human-provided food can kill deer in the winter. Colorado Parks and Wildlife asks residents not to feed deer and other wildlife.Photo courtesy Colorado Parks and Wildlife \u201cNative species are well adapted to survive the winter months on natural food sources,\u201d said J Wenum, area wildlife manager for Colorado Parks and Wildlife in Gunnison. \u201cFeeding big […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":96275,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5843],"tags":[2343],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-96274","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-living","tag-sports-group"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96274","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=96274"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96274\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/96275"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=96274"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=96274"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=96274"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=96274"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}