How a hot, dry summer could alter Utah’s wildlife behaviors

SALT LAKE CITY – A hot and dry summer this year could change the behavior of some of Utah’s biggest animals.

Early forecasts show Utah could be in for another hot summer, with a 65% chance of above-normal temperatures.

“The temperature can affect their behavior, but really what’s gonna affect their movements more than anything is probably going to be vegetation and water availability,” said Dax Mangus, big game program coordinator for the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources. 

If the heat begins to have a negative impact on vegetation, “then we’re gonna see animals moving more towards north facing slopes and areas where it’s cooler and wetter, where vegetation hasn’t dried out or water may be more available,” he said.

High heat may also cause animals to become more active during the nighttime and early-morning hours rather than during the day.

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Overall, big game animals will want to migrate to areas that have a little more water availability whether it be near streams and lakes, or in areas with dense green vegetation.

Those planning to go on hikes near bodies of water may see more large Utah animals this year than during cooler summers, especially if you are going during the night or early morning.

“There’s probably some potential for seeing more animals near water. So, in some ways, there may be more animals in those areas, but I also think they’ll probably be less active during the during the middle of the day.”

Certain species and genders will handle the heat differently

As we come up on peak fawning season, female animals will likely migrate closer to water than their male counterparts.

“Once those does give birth to their fawns, they really do need more moisture because if they’re gonna lactate. They’ve gotta have more water. Whereas a buck male deer is likely to stay in higher and potentially drier elevations because they don’t have that demand on them to nurse,” explained Mangus. “So we’ll see some behavioral differences based on the gender of the animals.”

Most all of Utah’s big game animals are fairly acclimated to the state’s wide temperature swings throughout the year, but some animals handle the heat better than others.

Moose, for example, do not often tolerate the heat well and are more likely to be found in cooler areas near water where they can wade into streams and lakes.

On the other hand, desert big horn sheep are well adjusted to hot summer days and can be found sunning themselves on red rocks in Southern Utah during the middle of the afternoon.

“Our animals are pretty well adapted to their environment and they seem to know how to make it through, and we’ll  keep an eye on things and see how it goes,” he said. “Animals were in pretty good condition coming out of this last winter, so that’s a positive thing and if we can just continue to get at least some rain here and there. That’s what we all kind of have our fingers crossed for, hoping that we can get some rain even if it stays hot. We just hope we can get some water.”

Protocols in place for overly dry summers

If the summer becomes too dry in places Mangus said the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources has a plan. 

“In our driest areas, in the areas we don’t have as much water availability, the Division of Wildlife has actually been working for decades on increasing water availability in those types of areas,” Mangus said.

The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources has what are called water guzzlers that catches rain water and stores it in a tank. Mangus said this allows the water to last longer on the surface rather than being soaked up by the ground. 

Mangus estimates there are hundreds if not thousands of these guzzlers across Utah. And some of their big projects include repairing and replacing them.

In extreme cases the Utah Division of Wildlife will seek volunteers to help haul water up to these tanks to make sure that wildlife can survive. 

For now the hope is that it doesn’t come to that, but the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources will be keeping a close eye on the rain.