DEER CREEK, Colo. — Evacuees of the Quarry Fire are still settling back into their homes after they were evacuated earlier this month. One family reached out to Denver7 after they noticed an uptick in wildlife visitors, including one that almost cost them a family pet.
The Wohnoutkas' family rabbit is aptly named Foo Foo and true to its namesake, it had quite an adventure recently in the forest.
"When my husband and daughter walked by, they saw that the cage was open, the bunny was missing," said Colleen Wohnoutka.
She went to her surveillance camera for clues, as it's not unusual for wildlife to visit their property every once in a while.
"We would maybe see deer, maybe some turkeys, almost on the daily or a couple times a week," she said.
But since her family returned home after evacuations were lifted, they said they have seen more visitors than usual.
"We saw two or three times the deer coming on the road. There was tons of turkeys going by," she said, adding that her family has seen more bear sightings at the house than all of their 17 years living in Deer Creek.
That includes one that tried to eat Foo Foo for dinner after breaking into the rabbit enclosure in the family's yard. The whole thing was caught on camera.
Foo Foo escaped and narrowly avoided a close encounter with a hawk. The kindness of strangers ultimately got the hare back home.
Wohnoutka wondered if the nearly 600-acre burn scare just south of her house is pushing wildlife closer to people.
"I'm just really concerned if somebody's hiking or if you're going to the woods," she said.
Wildfire
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Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) said it is possible.
"Certainly, animals leaving the fire or that area that's going to be impacted could make them more visible to homeowners in that area," said Kara Van Hoose with CPW.
She added that it is unlikely wildlife would hang around neighborhoods for too long after.
"Elk, deer, bears — those sorts of things — this just really impacts their migration patterns or their corridors that they'll move through, especially in like summer into winter," Van Hoose said.
CPW said since the Quarry Fire was relatively small, they do not anticipate any dramatic impact to wildlife or their behavior, but they will monitor how things develop regardless.
"These are things that we see in the longer term with a much larger lens, not necessarily right after the fire. So it's something that we keep an eye on with fires. We do wildlife surveys on the terrain, in the air, and then we do keep an eye on our aquatic populations as well," Van Hoose said.
The size of a wildfire and how long the fire continues burning also plays an important role in the impact to wildlife.
"That habitat, while it can be wiped out for that time, could actually bring some benefits for [smaller animals], because it could grow new types of things to forage, or new sorts of places for them to hide or find shelter," Van Hoose said.
The Quarry Fire stayed relatively small and didn't burn long-term, so CPW is not anticipating wildlife to experience deep negative impacts.
CPW also said they noticed many well-intentioned people left food or water out of wildlife during the Quarry Fire. They want to remind everyone that doing so is a bad idea, and only encourages those animals to come closer to humans.
How do different types of wildfire impact the ecosystem?
Wildfires often clear thick vegetation and make way for new growth of native plants and healthier soil, which creates an improved habitat for animals, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
When brush, grass and smaller trees burn and fall to the ground, they open up venues for sunlight and precipitation to reach the forest floor. The ashes from those burned plants also helps enrich the soil for new growth to serve as food for a multitude of creatures.
Meanwhile, mature trees often survive the fire and will sprout new leaves the following spring.
Nancy Kelly, wildlife biologist for the U.S. Forest Service’s Sequoia National Forest in California, said it doesn’t take long for animals to begin exploring the burn scars. Mice and squirrels scavenge for seeds, attracting predators like owls, foxes and coyotes. Deer, rabbits, moose and elk wander in to eat the new grass shoots.
“We will see wildlife come back through the area as it cools back down,” Kelly told the USFWS. “They’re curious like we are. They take advantage of the new growth and other food sources that are available after the burn.”
It’s a different story for high-severity fires.
In the wake of many of those incidents, regrowth does not happen or comes back weakly and in smaller amounts. Tree roots underground may get scorched, killing the tree, and a heavy layer of ash may take a while to break down, which prevents new growth, the USFWS said. This leaves a barren area, which is unappealing for smaller creatures that eat seeds or herbivores that need leafy, green meals. In their absence, predators do not have anything to hunt. Aggressive wildfires can also destroy wildlife corridors, isolating individuals from access to food or others of their kind.
“Unfortunately, in some of these large, high-severity burns, we’re seeing more invasive grasses and weeds grow because they can survive in less ideal conditions,” said Kelly. “These species can outcompete native grasses and plants for water and light.”
Runoff, which typically contains ash and debris, flows downhill into lakes, streams and ponds. After high-intensity wildfires, this can damage not only the water as a resource, but the lifecycles of the animals that live there, such as fish and frogs. The muddy waters can also bury their eggs before they hatch, the USFWS said.
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