Delta's Senior VP: Pray for Cold & Snow "Up North"
1/13/2012
We at Dogs, Shotguns and Other Vices have been praying for a cold front to save our duck season since Thanksgiving, and yet here we are: January 13 and it's still 10-15 degrees above normal without a snowflake in sight across much of the country. This wacky weather cycle has persisted for so long that, according to Delta Waterfowl Senior Vice President John Devney, it has even become a conservation concern. Ducks reaped the benefits of last spring's flooding across the Prairie Pothole Region, but, Devney says, "Mother Nature has flipped the switch."
"Areas of prairie Canada were drying as fast as they flooded this late summer and fall, and the Dakotas started to lose moisture almost as quickly," Devney wrote in a blog post. "Now monitoring by the U.S. Department of Agriculture indicates a short-term drought. ... It’s my guess that the small seasonal and temporary basins [which are the most important to breeding ducks] will be dried out by the time the ducks come back if we don’t receive significant moisture in the next couple of months."
So let's continue praying for snow to send a few ducks our way, but also because we need moisture to prime the prairies for spring. If this warm, dry weather continues for another two months, its ramifications could extend well beyond the 2011-2012 season.
