Weather Effect on Sheep-Polar Vortex

[wlane87]

Anyone have any thoughts on the extreme cold temps to hit Canada and the Northern US. Worried it might cause a die off or since it should only last a week do ya'll think the sheep could manage?

Heading the NWT in July. Thanks!

 

[4ester]

To be honest I think people are overreacting to the whole thing.

-25 degrees in Chicago.......close the schools, buy milk, bread, and stay indoors

-30 degrees in Wyoming.......Anybody want to go coyote hunting?

 

[Yellowknife]

Yeah, "extreme" cold is the norm in the NWT and AK mountains, and temps are actually pretty mild right now. Just because is relatively cold in Chicago doesn't mean much in the NWT.

It's actually the warm weather that causes die offs. Freezing rain or chinooks that crust the snow are brutal on them.

 

[wlane87]

Ahhh gotcha. Just checked the weather in Norman Wells and it was dropping from -6 to -31

I completely agree on the media over reacting to this stuff tho. My only concern was the sheep. I'd heard about die off's in AK from some really harsh winters. I'm sure the coastal weather is much worse though.

 

[SLDMTN]

There are several theories on sheep die offs. The one that seems to make the most sense to me is as follows:

Warm (relatively speaking), humid winters with lots of wind and snow loading is the perfect breeding ground for pneumonia and starvation. The wet snow loads onto the hills, the wind kicks up and forms a crust. The sheep are then forced to dig for their food. Avalanches are also high risk during the wet, heavy snow years. Additionally, predators can stay atop the snow much better than sheep which only adds to their struggles.

Conversely in colder, dry winters, there is little snow cover and when the wind does kick up, it exposes their food source to be consumed with little effort. Additionally, there is little avalanche risk and the low snow allows them to access escapement terrain from predators.

Coldest temp I can remember seeing in sheep country was on the north side of the Brooks Range at -57* F without any windchill. There were sheep all over the Brooks during that timeframe. During that same time, they took fat measurements on sheep from the Chugach (warm/wet) and the Brooks (cold/dry), the Brooks sheep had substantially more fat cap on their backs when compared to the Chugach population.

If you're ever bored, ADF&G has LOADS of info online regarding dall sheep.

 

[VernAK]

A very mild winter with little snow here in DCUA and TMA ........the real danger to sheep is a winter rain that freezes the grass down.

 

[fatbacks]

Like others have said, relatively warm winters with freezing rain seem to be the worst enemy of sheep. Freezing rain can build up ice and make their food inaccessible. At least this is my understanding.




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