Think about how fragile birds can be, weighing only ounces, and they are still flying around out there.

They once survived a global extinction event.

Also I see rabbit tracks and bird tracks in the snow all the time, including this morning.

They come to eat the leftover dry dog food my dogs leave behind after I put them on the leads outside every morning to do their thing. (I live in the country, there are no sidewalks, I’m in my 60s and I’m not walking them in this weather)

The wildlife is doing OK. I do wonder what they do in temps like these but somehow they do reappear every spring to reproduce.

FWIW we have a really old cat who lives in an unheated outbuilding because inside the main house the other cats terrorize her to the point where she will find a hiding spot and poop and pee in place there and it takes me an age to search the house and find out where she has ended up. Last time it was in a crawlspace that was once supposed to “hide” the flat screen TV before we just more or less kept it out permanently. Absolute nightmare to clean back out.

I went in there this morning to feed and water her and it’s like she’s grown whole new levels of fur. She looks janky but if it’s keeping her warm then OK.

Anonymous wrote:It’s a problem. I’m worried sick about the wildlife, livestock and the cats and dogs that don’t get to live inside in this very long-lasting frigid weather. Is anyone else? I can’t stop worrying.

Me too

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Animals are built for outdoor weather.

+1
I can’t even believe this needs to be explained.

- the level of mental illness on DCUMAD just keeps going up by the day.

“Feed feral cats” ?? OMG.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I worry about them too. I feed a neighborhood feral cat and haven't seen her for 2 weeks, until yesterday. I was hoping she was eating- I put food out twice a day. She looked okay yesterday but I still worry.

Why not bring her in your house?

Even the basement with a light on would be better than outside, if you don't want her upstairs. Pop to Petsmart and get a litterbox.

I moved from the neighborhood a year ago but I tried often to bring her inside when I lived there. This past fall, I tried to trap her to bring her to the vet and have her live with me, but it didn't work. I also put out a heated shelter for her in a neighbor's yard when it started to get cold, but I see no evidence that she's been using it. I'll keep trying... thanks everyone.

Feral cats often have their hiding places that they are used to.

The foxes and occasional cats in our neighborhood like the storm sewer. It is always above freezing down there.

Although I agree, that wild animals are built for the cold, I wonder if the wild animals in our area grow the thick undercoat since normally it doesn’t get this cold. My neighbors had a dead deer in the back of their yard the other day.
The other issue, for those areas that got a lot of snow, is being able to dig down to the grasses underneath. The animals in Canada know how to do this because they do it every single winter. The animals here might have the instinct to dig, but probably aren’t practiced in it. Kind of like animals in the zoo don’t know how to effectively hunt, they have instincts to hunt, but they never learned how from their parents since they’re in a cage. Although they could try and hunt, the likelihood of them capturing their prey is fairly low.

Me too! 😿
Unfortunately there is nothing that I can do however…..

Anonymous wrote:It’s a problem. I’m worried sick about the wildlife, livestock and the cats and dogs that don’t get to live inside in this very long-lasting frigid weather. Is anyone else? I can’t stop worrying.

This is bizarre. Animals lived outside before you. If you send your freakishly bred tiny dog outside to live, they couldn't. Otherwise, animals know what to do. You need a therapist.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I worry about them too. I feed a neighborhood feral cat and haven't seen her for 2 weeks, until yesterday. I was hoping she was eating- I put food out twice a day. She looked okay yesterday but I still worry.

Why not bring her in your house?

Even the basement with a light on would be better than outside, if you don't want her upstairs. Pop to Petsmart and get a litterbox.

I moved from the neighborhood a year ago but I tried often to bring her inside when I lived there. This past fall, I tried to trap her to bring her to the vet and have her live with me, but it didn't work. I also put out a heated shelter for her in a neighbor's yard when it started to get cold, but I see no evidence that she's been using it. I'll keep trying... thanks everyone.

You are a kind person but please understand, this cat wants to live outdoors and has places it goes. I moved here from a much colder climate way up north and deers etc still lived outside.

Some animals are built for outdoor weather but not all. Some government run animal shelters only have outside runs and dogs are literally freezing to death, in America, because of how cold it is.
Worrying doesnt do anyone any good. Reach out to rescue groups and offer to foster, or look into other tangible ways you can actually help, like the cat shelter idea.

The squirrels who eat my bird seed were SHIVERING on my back deck yesterday. Normally I am vexed by them eating my seed but they looked so pitiful. I understand you op because the wind is crazy, the temps low, and the ground covered in snowpack. I worry about them too.

If the animals don’t like the cold, they can relocate to Florida, just like everybody else.

Same as with the deer, the red foxes can survive WAY colder weather. They have thick fur on their paws and body and their body is designed so they don't lose much heat from the paws. They're built to hunt in snow, even heavy snow, and hunt by hearing. Snow can actually be an advantage to them in hunting.

Lol...don't worry about the deer...deer survive the intense cold of winters in Canada. They do just fine and have extremely thick undercoats they grow in winter and higher body temperatures than we do.

They can eat a lot of different things including tree bark and pine needles that are still around in the winter, and they don't need a lot of food in winter.

They also don't need much water in winter can eat snow or get what they need from things like pine needles and evergreen.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I worry about them too. I feed a neighborhood feral cat and haven't seen her for 2 weeks, until yesterday. I was hoping she was eating- I put food out twice a day. She looked okay yesterday but I still worry.

Why not bring her in your house?

Even the basement with a light on would be better than outside, if you don't want her upstairs. Pop to Petsmart and get a litterbox.

I moved from the neighborhood a year ago but I tried often to bring her inside when I lived there. This past fall, I tried to trap her to bring her to the vet and have her live with me, but it didn't work. I also put out a heated shelter for her in a neighbor's yard when it started to get cold, but I see no evidence that she's been using it. I'll keep trying... thanks everyone.

Feral cats often have their hiding places that they are used to.