Posted on 12/14/2005 3:11:08 PM PST by SmithL
Billings, Mont. -- Most elk, bison and trumpeter swans are unfazed by the presence of snowmobiles in Yellowstone National Park, a new study suggests.
Researchers from the park and Montana State University observed more than 2,100 interactions between snowmobiles and wildlife last winter.
In 81 percent of the interactions, the animals either had no apparent response, or they looked and then resumed what they were doing, the study said.
The study, commissioned by the National Park Service and conducted between December 2004 and March 2005, is one of several that park officials say they will take into account as they develop a long-range plan for winter use in Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks.
The study suggests wildlife can become habituated to the machines over time.
"We suggest the debate regarding the effect of motorized recreation on wildlife is largely a social issue as opposed to a wildlife-management issue," the study said.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
"Snowmobiles May Not Impact Wildlife"
That sounds like not only a good regulation to protect wildlife, but it would also cut down on operator injuries.
Sounds like a case of honest science. It is rare for the environmental whackos to let facts and the truth get in the way of their agenda.
Probably because it's so easy to hear those things coming but I bet if you caught a deer out in the open in deep snow you could impact some wildlife quite nicely.
"In 81 percent of the interactions, the animals either had no apparent response, or they looked and then resumed what they were doing, the study said."
We should have enough snow after this current storm to take the sleds up to the top of the Big Hill on the Back Forty.
I'll ask the deer (who normally IGNORE us as we drive by) what they think and will let you know, LOL! They pretty much ignore ME when they come into my orchard to help themselves to apples. :)
However, they ARE allowed to impact domesticated animals, fences, and boulders.
Reminds me of the sign, "Fine for littering".
What did they expect? Wholesale stampedes? Riots? A rush of wildlife to the ranger's office to apply for permits? A rash of picnic basket thefts?
I don't know about that. In my younger days snowmobiles, Irish Whiskey and the fields on a farm in upstate NY definitley impacted a wildlife.
I may not post a comment...
Most elk, bison and trumpeter swans
Well duh. I don't know what a trumpeter swan is, but elk and bison are pretty damn big and the last think I want to hit while snow mobiling. On the other hand, there's nothing quite like the thump and subsequent honking of a Canadian Goose. They sound like an accordion being dropped off the Washington monument when you whack those bastards.
Owl_Eagle
"You know, I'm going to start thanking
the woman who cleans the restroom in
the building I work in. I'm going to start
thinking of her as a human being"
That's a relief. I can finally get a good night's sleep tonight.
There was a picture on the wall up in Old Forge of a ski-doo that hit a moose... not much left.
Domesticated boulders? Mind you, I'm not claiming that fences and boulders cannot be domesticated, but I do wonder how you would notice the difference if they were. ;-)
They simply don't care.
If that critter is flying, or thinks he's flying, he's a reindeer ~ an elk ~ and not a white tail deer.
There's a picture in an old photoalbum showing one side of my uppr body a scab and the other perfectly normal and almost perfectly symmetrical. It happens when the driver and the snowmobile switch places.
The boulders in my yard are domesticated. The ones out in the woods are wild. Same for fences.
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