Wildlife and The Great Drought

[Bev Wigney]

All,

I'm writing this note, in part, to test whether my email gets through to the naturelist as most of my emails seem to be disappearing into cyberspace.  But I'm also writing to ask whether some of you have been noticing unusual behaviour by wildlife, possibly as a result of the drought which is in many areas.

As most of you know, I am out here in Nova Scotia now.  I have a couple of acres of woodland next to the Round Hill River in the Annapolis Valley.  You may have heard that there is a large fire burning here -- it's about 20 km. from my place.  So far, it has burnt about 8,000 acres.  Some of the winds from Hurricane Erin are supposed to blow through the fire zone tomorrow.  There's a lot of concern about the impact on the fire.

Anyhow, for about a year, I have had 5 trail cameras set up in my woodlot.  I get everything from shrews, to deer, to bobcat, coyote, bears, flying squirrels and much more.  For about 2 weeks, I've been noticing lots of wildlife activity as animals have been making their way through my woods to a spot where they can easily access the Round Hill River alongside my property.  They are showing up on my trail cameras every day.  I have one set up pointed at the path where animals coming and go down to the river.  Yesterday, when I checked my cameras, there was a large bear walking past 2 of the cameras.  I noticed that it looked sort of distressed -- not sure if it really was, but it's mouth was open as it went by the cameras (photo attached of one view).  I also saw a coyote in front of one of the cameras, sniffing the air and looking around.  I'm thinking maybe the fire smoke may have them feeling anxious.  

In any case, here is a photo of the bear.  Maybe one or two of you can reply if this went through as Aleta is trying to fix the problem with my emails getting hung up.

Thanks,

bev wigney

formerly of Osgoode, Ont.

and now in Round Hill, Nova Scotia

[fbr...@sympatico.ca]

Hi Bev,

What an interesting and sad story. I suspect that all your animal neighbours are aware that something is not quite right and are worried in their own ways. We hope for a good drenching rain in Nova Scotia and wherever the parched land needs it.

Best wishes for a fire free year.

Fenja

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[I Macaulay]

There has been some weird stuff happening on the inet re email and web servers.

One thing has been caused by google selling off its web service  to a new provider.

I have no idea  about any of it save that it has caused me problems and some of the people I converse with are complaining.

If you are bouncing you emails through to or from a third party server that might be the cause.

Ian

Senility has been a smooth transition for me.

Note New Hours

Ian Macaulay   Carp, Ontario

Open at 11:AM   Close at 5:00 PM

45.2397 N long: 76.0991 W Elv 137 M UTM
    Don't Forget to Save the Stamps

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[Aleta Karstad]

On Aug 21, 2025, at 4:13 PM, Bev Wigney <bkwi...@gmail.com> wrote:

 … Yesterday, when I checked my cameras, there was a large bear walking past 2 of the cameras.  I noticed that it looked sort of distressed -- not sure if it really was, but its mouth was open as it went by the cameras. 

Maybe the Bear was feeling hot and cooling off by panting. Or maybe it too was sniffing the air (like a dog does, in through the nose, out through the mouth) in an attempt to decide which way would be best to go. Maybe you might consider heading that way too - having the fire 20 km close… 

Hoping the fire doesn’t come any nearer,

Aleta

<bear-drought.jpg>

[Bev Wigney]

Aleta and all,

I do think the bear may have been trying to figure out which way to go.  The smell of smoke was quite bad that day.  On the same day, one of the trail cams shot video of a coyote standing very still for a full 40 seconds as it scented the air -- coyote almost never stand still for more than a few seconds.  A few days ago, my brother saw a bear walking northward -- crossed the road and went down through a meadow in mid-afternoon.  I think animals are on the move as they don't really know where the fire is -- just which direction has less smoke.  Am hearing reports of animals walking along roads, especially in areas with the worst smoke.  The smell from the smoke can be pretty awful.  I've been very lucky that the wind direction has kept it away from my house most of the time, but it's supposed to be blowing toward my place late today.  It must be very confusing for animals that are trying to flee from the fire and smoke -- trying to figure out which way to go.  WIth the Long Lake Fire now at over 8,000 hectares, there has been a lot of forest destruction and I'm sure that many animals must have perished, especially the day the fire grew by about 3,000 hectares.  That was the day when strong winds from Hurricane Erin caused the fire to explode and blow through all the fire breaks.  

bev

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