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Professor of Biology Josef Hamr lives on the French River, 10 kilometers from the Parry Sound 33 Forest Fire since July 19th.
Currently, fire is approximately 5,600 hectares and is not yet under control
Hamr is an badistant professor in the Department of Biology at Laurentian University. His research focuses on large wildlife, particularly the restoration of the elk population in the Sudbury area, including south of Sudbury to Burwash to Georgian Bay. He has also worked with bears and wolves.
Although the area he surveyed witnessed smaller fires, he saw nothing of what was seen in the Key River and French River areas this summer. These small fires can be controlled fairly quickly. Parry Sound 33 was an exception in terms of size and duration.
MNR hired 535 support staff and firefighters from Minnesota, Wisconsin and Mexico to help fight fires.
Wildfires and Wildlife
Fires are not a new thing. The forests and creatures that call them have evolved in this environment. Hamr said that animals have adapted their response to fire and that their behavior is quite predictable.
"Fires are part of nature, they have always been there and animals have learned to adapt to fires". "If there is an immediate danger, the larger animals will run or the amphibians and reptiles will go into the water and wait outside." 19659002 "" Many animals can escape fire or survive fire if it does not last a very long period of time. Some are killed, no doubt, especially small animals, reptiles and amphibians.
Mice, salamanders, frogs, turtles and snakes are some of the small animals that have been studied. All Ontario turtles are clbadified at some level of risk: some are endangered and others at risk.
Which animals are threatened?
Hamr says that it is usually the small animals that suffer the most because they can turtles should be healthy, he says, since they will generally go to sources of food. and wait for the fires to cease.Hamr predicts that the fires may have an impact on the Mbadbadauga Rattler, which lives in part of the fire zone around Georgian Bay and is on the endangered species list and says that It is difficult to say what impact the fires will have on the rattlesnake population
. the following amphibians and reptiles live in the area affected by northeast forest fires this summer: the Eastern Foxsnake (endangered in the Georgian Bay region, endangered in the forests) Carolinian); Grbadhopper snake (threatened); wood turtle (endangered); Northern Map Turtle (Special Concern); and the Spotted Turtle (endangered).
Fleeing the Animals
A popular message on Facebook suggests that animals fleeing fires could end up in people's courts, and suggests being prepared for this, leaving eg water for those scary woody creatures to drink.
It is quite possible that fleeing animals may end up in the backyards of the area and that the water will not be damaged, but the animals are generally well equipped to meet their needs. even in the middle of a fire
. "If you are in the immediate area of the advanced lights, you can see animals on the run, but in general, I talk to people … who live all the time here and no one has saw animals flee the fire, "Hamr told me. "As for the water (as the post suggests), there is so much water in this area, there are ponds, swamps, rivers and lakes, I think They will go to natural sources of water rather than drinking.
Generally, Hamr is not alarmed by the potential impact of fires on animals in the area. He recognizes that some small animals will die in a fire, including squirrels, social hares and small predators such as marten and fisher.
"Overall, even though it has an impact on individuals and it's going to kill individuals, it does not really impact the populations of these animals because there are many elsewhere where there are no burns. "
What is happening now also can not be compared to the fires of the distant past, before technology and resources combined become so capable of attacking forest fires
"If you look at the past, "There was no fire extinguishing," Hamr said in an interview. "Historic fires have probably had a lot more impact than these fires here."
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