A heavy snowfall this winter in the Pacific Northwest and other parts of the West has caused travel delays and other problems for people. But wildlife are also suffering, from deer and elk whose food sources are buried under snow and ice to cougars that had to forage in an Oregon town.

In eastern Oregon, state wildlife officials are feeding elk, but the weather makes accessing them difficult. When highways and the Interstate are closed because of the snow, the workers must still get to the rural feeding stations where they feed the elk alfalfa hay.

And heavy snow has forced Idaho's fish and game department to begin emergency feeding of big game animals in southern Idaho.

Recommended for you

Welcome to the discussion!

The Idaho State Journal invites you to take part in the community conversation. But those who don't play nice may be uninvited.

Comments that are:

  • off topic
  • defamatory
  • libelous
  • obscene
  • racist
  • abusive
  • threatening
  • an invasion of privacy (doxxing)
  • profane (including attempts to misspell profanity in order to get around the profanity filter)

will be deleted. Repeat offenders will lose commenting privileges.

Comments are opinions of the author only, and do not reflect the opinions or views of Idaho State Journal.