DAILY TRIFECTA: No One Told The Animals That Climate Change Is A Hoax
We're far dumber than the average bear
TITLE: Kitten season is out of control. Are warmer winters to blame?
https://grist.org/science/kitten-season-animal-shelter-cat-wildlife/
EXCERPT: Across the United States, summer is the height of “kitten season,” typically defined as the warm-weather months between spring and fall during which a cat becomes most fertile. For over a decade, animal shelters across the country have noted kitten season starting earlier and lasting longer. Some experts say the effects of climate change, such as milder winters and an earlier start to spring, may be to blame for the uptick in feline birth rates.
This past February, Dunn’s shelter held a clinic for spaying and neutering outdoor cats. Although kitten season in Northern California doesn’t typically kick off until May, organizers found that over half of the female cats were already pregnant. “It’s terrifying,” Dunn said. “It just keeps getting earlier and going later.”
Cats reproduce when females begin estrus, more commonly known as “going into heat,” during which hormones and behavior changes signal she’s ready to mate. Cats can go into heat several times a year, with each cycle lasting up to two weeks. But births typically go up between the months of April and October. While it’s well established that lengthening daylight triggers a cat’s estrus, the effect of rising temperatures on kitten season isn’t yet understood.
One theory is that milder winters may mean cats have the resources to begin mating sooner. “No animal is going to breed unless they can survive,” said Christopher Lepczyk, an ecologist at Auburn University and prominent researcher of free ranging cats. Outdoor cats’ food supply may also be increasing, as some prey, such as small rodents, may have population booms in warmer weather themselves. Kittens may also be more likely to survive as winters become less harsh. “I would argue that temperature really matters,” he said.
Others, like Peter J. Wolf, a senior strategist at the Best Friends Animal Society, think the increase comes down to visibility rather than anything biological. As the weather warms, Wolf said people may be getting out more and noticing kittens earlier in the year than before. Then they bring them into shelters, resulting in rescue groups feeling like kitten season is starting earlier.
Regardless of the exact mechanism, having a large number of feral cats around means trouble for more than just animal shelters. Cats are apex predators who can wreak havoc on local biodiversity. Research shows that outdoor cats on islands have already caused or contributed to the extinction of an estimated 33 species. Wild cats pose an outsized threat to birds, which make up half their diet. On Hawaiʻi, known as a bird extinction capital of the world, cats are the most devastating predators of wildlife.
TITLE: Bears are coming out of hibernation early in Ontario due to mild temperatures. What does this mean?
https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/bears-are-coming-out-of-hibernation-early-in-ontario-due-to-mild-temperatures-what-does-this-mean-1.6811259
EXCERPT: Earlier this month, the provincial government released a statement warning residents to be “bear wise” as officials have received reports of the animals coming out of hibernation early.
Annie Langlois, biologist and co-ordinator of the Hinterland Who’s Who program at the Canadian Wildlife Federation, says that while bears often wake up during hibernation, it is unusual for them not to go back to sleep.
This is problematic as there is no natural food growing for the animals to feed on, she said.
“That's the biggest issue that we're coming across right now because wildlife, basically they need a habitat where all their needs are met in terms of food and in terms of shelter,” Langlois told CTV News Toronto during an interview.
“So animals that are waking up too early from hibernation, (or) are coming to Canada earlier than usual, they're met with conditions that are not the best for them.”
Bears can feed on berries and even “juicy twigs” in the springtime, but Langlois said that because trees haven’t started to turn, those food sources remain sparse at this time. As a result, animals such as bears may seek food elsewhere like garbage dumps or bird feeders.
“Bears are a bit of a menace right now,” she said, noting they may be a bit more aggressive towards small animals.
“They have lost a lot of weight throughout the winter… The fact is, we don't know what's going to happen in the long term.”
In a statement, a spokesperson for the Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry said that bears normally come out of hibernation early to mid-April in central Ontario, and mid-April to early May in Northern Ontario
“With the unseasonably warm temperatures, bears may be emerging early or in some cases, be flooded out of their dens,” a spokesperson said. “Some bears might find another spot to sleep or may start searching for food and because of this we have opened the bear reporting line one month early.”
Climate change is also having an impact on population movement, said Langlois.
Robins, for example, are coming to Canada and are confronted with a lack of insects to feed on.
Red foxes are moving further north, pushing arctic foxes out of their natural habitat, she said.
“All over Canada there are examples of differences of dealing with either shorter winters or milder winters or less sea ice, less ice on lakes. And for sure we'll see impacts of that on many species,” Langlois said.
TITLE: Climate change and boat strikes are killing right whales. Stronger speed limits could save them.
https://grist.org/solutions/stronger-speed-limits-save-right-whales-one-step-closer/
EXCERPT: Fewer than 360 [right] whales remain; only about 70 of them are females of reproductive age. Every individual whale is considered vital to the species’ survival, but since 2017 right whales have been experiencing what scientists call an “unusual mortality event,” during which 39 whales have died.
Human actions — including climate change — are killing them.
When the cause of a right whale’s death can be determined, it is most often a strike by a boat or entanglement in fishing gear. Three young whales have been found dead this year, two of them with wounds from boat strikes and the third entangled in gear. One of the whales killed by a boat was a calf just a few months old.
Climate change, meanwhile, has disrupted their food supply, driving down right whale birth rates and pushing them into territories without rules in place to protect them.
“Our impacts are so great right now that the risk of extinction is very real,” said Jessica Redfern, associate vice president of ocean conservation at the New England Aquarium. “To be able to save the species, we have to stop our direct human-caused impacts on the population.”
This is not the first time humans have driven North Atlantic right whales to the brink of extinction.