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From the south central US through much of the southeast the drought of 2011 has been described as comparable to the drought of the Dust Bowl days of the 1930s. The U S Drought Monitor, (see link at end of article), shows the effects of the severe shortage of water all the way across the southern tier of states from Southern California to North Carolina, with some areas on the southern Atlantic coast affected as far north as Washington, DC. The map shows the most severely affected areas to be southeast Arizona, southern New Mexico, 2/3 of Oklahoma, almost all of Texas except the extreme northeast, all of Louisiana, south Mississippi and Alabama, the lower 2/3 of Georgia, the Florida panhandle and Miami areas, southern South Carolina and southeast North Carolina. Some drought areas are thousands of square miles, like most of Texas and some are smaller and spotty, like southeast North Carolina. The problem is huge for everyone living in these areas!
Consider the animals, both domestic and wild. Recently, we have written and blogged about animals and how they are impacted by natural disasters such as floods, hurricanes and wild fires. The current drought situation promises to impact animals just as severely as the floods and fires of 2011. It would be wonderful if everyone with any capability to help alleviate the devastating effects of droughts on animals could pitch in, but that would only happen in a perfect world. Unfortunately, the animal advocacy groups equipped to lend a hand, Wildlife WayStation example, are too few and far between in a crisis of this magnitude. According to a recent www.usatoday.com article, last year wildlife officials hauled water into the White Mountains for elk, and into the southern deserts for bighorn sheep.
Further east, The Wildlife Center of Texas, collects, restores good health and releases wild animals back into the wild. The Center has wildlife specialists and veterinarians to meet the animals' medical needs. So, they are released in the best possible condition.
Anyone who would like to pitch in and help animal drought victims survive and thrive, can do so by volunteering at local animal advocacy organizations- SPCA, PETA, Humane Society, etc.. If you live in one of the dozen or so drought stricken states, your time and energy, as well as, (tax deductible) financial donations will be welcome. In fact, you can live anywhere and lend a financial hand. Of all the recent natural disasters, this historic drought has the potential to be the most damaging to wild animals.
If you have wildlife encroachment on your property, humane live trapping is another solution. Professionals are extremely busy in these times, so the do-it-yourself method may be the best, least expensive route for you to take. It's not difficult to find volunteers who will move your captured critters to another, wetter location.
You can buy humane live traps online at reasonable prices from a variety of websites; http://www.prolivetraps.com/ is one where we have had good success. (U S Drought Monitor: www.drought.unl.edu/dm/monitor.html )
Robert M Oates
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