Fort McMurray Fires

[DSG85]

First things first I want to say how sorry I am for the residents of Fort McMurray. I’d like to think I speak for the majority of the people on this board or even Western Canada when I say we are here for you and hope to help in any way we can for the families in need.

I got to thinking on my lunch break, with how much land was scorched by fire, what happens to all those animals. Deer, moose, squirrels, bears, beavers, foxes etc etc. You hear stories about how animals can sense danger and I’m sure they booted it well in advance but you’d have to think between them all there is unreal movement through the forest as they have to go somewhere?

I have never hunted the area and don’t know a ton about the repopulation timelines. Are there any CO’s or Forestry guys on here that can comment? How long does it take for the animals to start repopulating?

Cheers,

DSG

[broadfieldpoint]

Im no wildlife expert but I believe that it is commonly understood that the animals of the bush.....run, fly, crawl, vamoose....I would be really surprised if any animals were casualties. They are hardwired to escape

[dmcbride]

I agree most animals will escape.

On a positive note in a couple of years the burnt area's will provide more food for animals than it did before the fire.

[waterhawk]

I have thought about this. I do not know how the animals would know which way to go to get away from the fire. If the fire was heading to them, so would the wind. Smoke would go with the wind and I wonder if the near black out visibility would effect an animals escape.

[mercury001]

Heart goes out to those People who have lost their homes.

As far as the future, it will certainly be a changed landscape!

[pikeslayer22]

Depends on a number of things especially the intensity of the fire, but generally large animals are able to escape, smaller ones not so lucky. Animals have a sense of such things and are able to take action before the fire hits.

[catnthehat]

Right now the area is larger than the city of Edmonton area
Cat

[silver lab]

Hope all is well Cat.

[Abe89]

It will be interesting to see if the wildlife biologists/forestry guys notice a dramatic increase of animal population other areas, and where those areas might be as the animals track out of the danger zone. On a side note, my Grandparents in montana had buffalo show up on their lawn in town during some big wildfires in yellowstone.


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[woods_walker]

When I worked in the house river fire doing salvage logging work in the fall of the fire we came across deer and moose everywhere. Lots of lush green sprouts and the aspen regen was being heavily browsed. That was a huge area with lots of burned ground so the animals must have moved around lots during the fire. It was close to 260,000 hectares. I don't recall the little critters at the time but they were present years later. It's part of the natural cycle. Lots of small fires, some big ones, and the odd massive fire like we are seeing now. It's what formed the landscape we have now and we have always had the animals.

[Spinnel]

It will only take sometime, Animals will come back

[cacty]

Bear hunting will be affected in N alta and N sask at this time. No question.

[bark4]

Real life isnt like disneyland where all animals have a 6th sense. Forestry did a persc ribed burn on a portion of our line and had people positioned to do an animal count on the hiway that parralled the fire. The other side of the fire was a mountain range. Only a hand full of deer crossed the hiway. Better hope the northern animals are smarter than the mountain animals.

[Talking moose]

Fire in the bush(not city's...) is a good thing. It rejuvenates. The only reason they are put out is because of proximity to people and timber for logging. There are some species but not many that don't benifit from fires. Caribou for one need the old growth forests. Years after a big fire, deer and moose flourish.

[Talking moose]

Originally Posted by woods_walker

When I worked in the house river fire doing salvage logging work in the fall of the fire we came across deer and moose everywhere. Lots of lush green sprouts and the aspen regen was being heavily browsed. That was a huge area with lots of burned ground so the animals must have moved around lots during the fire. It was close to 260,000 hectares. I don't recall the little critters at the time but they were present years later. It's part of the natural cycle. Lots of small fires, some big ones, and the odd massive fire like we are seeing now. It's what formed the landscape we have now and we have always had the animals.

Yup.

[Mistagin]

All I can say is that 'my' favorite local hunting areas will likely be devoid of animals in the fall; it's all burnt!

When the Richardson fire was burning a few years ago there were a lot more bears in and around town.

[catnthehat]

Originally Posted by Mistagin

All I can say is that 'my' favorite local hunting areas will likely be devoid of animals in the fall; it's all burnt!

When the Richardson fire was burning a few years ago there were a lot more bears in and around town.

You are welcome to come with me next fall, a Preacher!
My foots do far are still good!
Cat

[Mistagin]

Thanks Cat. Might have to take you up on that a bit.
It will be interesting to get out there and see what it really looks like. From current satellite pics it shows pockets of bush survived (like my house and crescent). And if we get rain I'm sure new growth will start pretty quickly, being that it is early in the year. That'll attract critters!

[catnthehat]

Your house is still there?
I was told it was gone by another guy that was up there at the time!
Cat

[Mistagin]

Originally Posted by catnthehat

Your house is still there?
I was told it was gone by another guy that was up there at the time!
Cat

Yup! Satellite imagery taken yesterday shows it is fine! The whole crescent looks good! Not so north and south of us though.

Link: http://www.google.org/crisismap/2016-fort-mcmurray-fire

[Mistagin]

It's all good from the condos at the corner of Athabasca to the cemetery!

[avb3]

Originally Posted by Mistagin

Yup! Satellite imagery taken yesterday shows it is fine! The whole crescent looks good! Not so north and south of us though.

Link: http://www.google.org/crisismap/2016-fort-mcmurray-fire

Good to see! Interesting map; didn't know they did that stuff, but thanks for sure.

If Ft. Mac thought is had a housing crisis before, man, I wonder what it will be like now? A huge rebuilding effort obviously, but I suspect the whole character of the town will change. This will take a long time to recover from, and I hope all the positive efforts happening now won't wane. But they will.... human nature.

Alberta Strong!

[JD848]

Lotsa animals get out,but the young are not so lucky along with many others get caught when the wind turns on them plus the heavy smoke is a killer,2000 square kilometers a is big area and the weak the young and even healthy ones don't make it,on the day it triple in size lots died.

If there was no smoke they can run for a long ways,but if the smoke is to thick and confusion sets in ,it's all over ,there tough .but there lungs can't take heavy smoke,it's only natural.Heavy winds changing in different directions just plays them out.They have good senses and many stay ahead of the fire,but when something that hot and that much smoke at rapid speeds spells death.

In some fires it's good for mother nature ,but in some cases the bush grows back to thick and trees stay small lotsa animals can't live in area's like this,first few years all animal life is well feed with all the new growth and after that they move on,just depends on the type of area or ground soil.

Also to many bears end up in some area's and this can be a problem.

[elkhunter11]

With the number of homes destroyed or damaged, it makes a person wonder what will happen to housing prices in the city?

[KegRiver]

Just a thought, but the area burnt is a fraction of the total forested area in the north east.

We are talking a couple hundred thousand acres in an area of several hundred thousand square miles.

My connection is acting up right now, and has been for a few days so I can't access google to give an exact number but I know the over all area will not be effected much, wildlife wise.

Last year there was a 600,000 acre burn in that area. Did anyone notice a change in animal populations?

That is. in light of the situation at present.

I would not be surprised if this fire exceeded 1,000,000 acres burnt before it is all over. Even that amount would not have a big effect, although I suspect you would definitely notice a change in animal populations if it got that big.