Unlike humans, wildlife is little affected by the heavy snowfall. Squirrels find plenty to eat in the treetops and tree-feeding birds, such as chickadees, titmice, woodpeckers and nuthatches are not impacted at all. Some mammals, including fox, raccoons, opossums, skunks and cottontails, usually den up until conditions improve while voles and mice remain active beneath the snow, less vulnerable to the hawks and owls that prey on them. River otters, which feed on fish, mollusks and crustaceans, no doubt enjoy the chance to slide and frolic in the snow.
Berry-loving bluebirds, robins, waxwings, cardinals and mockingbirds should have no problems, but ground feeders, such as sparrows, juncos and mourning doves will have to improvise for now, looking for open areas around buildings and scratching for seeds beneath dense thickets or evergreen shrubs. Young and aging deer are also vulnerable to these storms and are more easily killed by coyotes. Those that do succumb to the weather or predation will provide winter sustenance for fox, vultures, crows and field mice.
