The nasty weather mentioned previously has produced severe flooding of rivers and streams in my area. This morning I went out to a site along the nearby Cedar River where members of ARES (Amateur Radio Emergency Service) were monitoring the change in the river level to help predict flooding downstream. Not only are people victims of this flooding, but wildlife is also affected. At the monitoring site (which was surrounded on three sides by water) were these twin fawns.
There was no sign of their mother and I fear she was lost in the flooding, or maybe just unable to reach her offspring. I was told that the fawns have been in that area for at least two days, confined between the water and a nearby county blacktop. The DNR has been contacted but it is not known if they can rescue the pair. If it weren’t illegal, I would have figured out a way to do something for them myself.
Via amateur radio I heard a number of reports of wildlife being forced out of their normal habitat. In some cases the only place left for them to go is onto the roadways. This involved not only deer but smaller animals including snakes and rodents.
Unfortunately the weather is predicted to stay nasty through Friday and the rivers are still rising. A number of towns have issued mandatory evacuation orders for low-lying areas. Not a good situation. Our home is safe as we are on a hill about 50 feet above the normal terrain and at least a mile from the nearest stream of any size.