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Wednesday, August 5, 1998

Wildlife also suffering from drought

COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) -- As cattle producers are wondering how to feed their livestock because of drought, wildlife throughout the state are having a difficult time feeding themselves, the Texas Agricultural Extension Service reports.

Dale Rollins, Extension specialist and associate professor of wildlife management in San Angelo, said rainfall is now one of the most important factors affecting wildlife populations in Texas.

"Drought years like this one are usually characterized by low nesting success and survival in game birds," he said. "Similarly, fawn survival and antler development in deer is usually lower during dry summers."

Rollins added that wildlife management during a drought is an extension of what should be practiced in wetter years.

"Populations of grazing animals like deer should be managed at or below "carrying capacity" to satisfy the animals' requirements without hurting the range," he said. "Keep in mind that deer can't be put in a trailer and carried to the sale barn when pasture conditions become insufficient."

Rollins said deer are browsers and prefer to graze upon forbs or broad-leafed plants, which are often unavailable during drought. He said the impacts of drought can be reduced by supplemental feeding in bad years and developing a variety of browse species in good years.

Rollins cautions against the potential exposure of wildlife to aflatoxins when feeding corn. He said aflatoxin levels tend to be higher when corn matures under dry conditions like those seen this year.

"Deer are less susceptible to aflatoxin poisoning than are game birds but are still in danger,"he said. "A doe can pass on the toxin to her fawn through the milk, and these toxins can lead to reproduction problems."

Rollins said that practicing some type of deferred rotation grazing system not only benefits livestock production, but also reduces competition for food between deer and livestock.

"Rested pastures offer better forb availability and also benefit game birds by providing better nesting cover and allowing seed-producing plants to mature,"he said.

Water is another concern for wildlife during droughts. Many species of wildlife benefit from livestock watering troughs and farm ponds.

"If producers pull livestock off of a pasture because of a drought, watering facilities should be maintained for use by wildlife," Rollins said.

He said it is often desirable to adjust the float valve on the tank so that the trough overflows and forms a seep on the ground.

"These moist soil areas may provide the only green plants in the area, which makes them important attractants for the insects,"Rollins said. He said the large grasshopper and cricket populations this summer are beneficial to game birds.

Fish in the state are suffering where water levels in farm ponds are quickly depleting. Rollins said ponds with low water levels are more likely to have low levels of oxygen as well.

"Warm or hot water also tends to stress fish, reduce oxygen levels and increased the incedence of disease and parasites in a pond," he said.

Farmers can alleviate the stressful conditions by reducing the feeding rate, adding well-aerated fresh water to the pond from wells or other sources and by increasing the oxygen levels by spraying water over the pond surface.

On the Rolling Plains, Galen Chandler, district Extension director in Vernon, said temperatures were over 100 degrees Fahrenheit daily with only a few exceptions.

"Soil moisture is very short and cotton is wilting badly in most of the area," he said. "In irrigated cotton, bollworm pressure is constant."

Chandler said range and pasture continues to decline and potential for wildfires remains very high.

Tony Douglas, district Extension director in Overton, said drought conditions continue to worsen.

"Farm ponds are low and cattle producers are searching for hay,"he said. "Supplemental feeding has increased and producers are selling cattle in record numbers."

In the Coastal Bend, Lin Wilson, district Extension director in Corpus Christi, said corn harvest is nearly complete.

"We had a very poor crop and aflatoxin levels have been high," he said. Wilson said cotton harvest is under way and yields are fair to poor.