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Boise Interagency Fire Center Emblem
Did you ever wonder what happens to animals in the path of a wildfire?
It is a good question, and the answer might surprise you.
It is natural for people to think of escaping a wildfire from our own perspective.
But animals' senses of sight, smell and hearing are often far stronger than anything
we can imagine.
How an animal escapes from a fire depends on the animal.
Those that can fly away, run away, waddle away, swim away,
slither away, or hop away will do just that.
Some will bury themselves in the dirt until the flames have passed.
Before it ever comes to a race to safety, animals in the wild are almost always
aware of a fire growing nearby.
Even in calm winds, small flames crackling and popping through dry grass are easily
heard,seen and smelled from great distances.
So escape from a wildfire is easy for most animals large and small.
The most vulnerable animals are those that are very young, old or injured.
The percentage of large animals such as deer or bear that die from wildfires
is so low that scientists have a difficult time measuring their numbers
Sometimes firefighters report finding dead mice or other rodents in a fire area,
but finding large animals that apparently died from a wildfire
is uncommon.
And it is hard to say just how an animal died after it's discovered in a
burned area.
What is clear to scientists is that many animal and plant species depend on
fire for their survival,
whether it's a naturally occurring welfare caused by lightning or a planned
prescribed fire.
Prescribed fires are not new.
For centuries Native Americans carefully set wildfires at cooler times of the
year to clean up overgrown forests and grasslands, their hunting grounds,
by burning off dead grass, brush and fallen trees.
Within days new vegetation takes root in a burned area.
Soon more animals make their homes there
meaning more food for people to hunt and eat.
Today, state and federal agencies use prescribed fires to help animal, fish
and plant species survive and thrive.
Fire managers set fires between boundaries such as roadways or waterways
keeping flames in check.
Fire crews stay in place until the fire’s out or no longer a threat
to leaving the area.
These fires are timed around critical bird nesting seasons and burning
patterns are used to give animals time and ways to escape.
Animal and plant habitats play a critical role in in determining exactly how,
when and where to burn.
In some areas the naturally occurring cycle of fires is just as important as rain
is to a rain forest.
For example,
the red-cockaded woodpecker,
the Swainson’s warbler,
many types of quail,
and the fox squirrel all live in ecosystems that depend upon fire to stay healthy.
Without fire stopping undergrowth from taking over these forests, grasslands and
prairies, most animals would have to find new homes, sometimes very far away.
Several types of pine trees need the intense heat of a fire to open their
cones and disperse their seeds creating more trees.
Some important insects find freshly burned trees irresistible for laying
their eggs in.
And believe it or not these fierce looking wood wasps don't even sting,
or bite.
The most destructive fires are those caused by carelessness.
Unplanned fires often grow too large and intense
destroying even the soil.
We all need to help prevent unwanted wildfires
from burning our homes and animal habitat, too.
So do animals need our help escaping from wildfires?
Not really.
But it is up to all of us to take care of our precious public lands
and amazing creatures that live there.
This is Mike McMillan with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.