The ultimate goal of the plan is to restore populations of naturally reproducing walleyes in Red Lake. The walleyes stocked in 1999 will be of spawning age by 2003 or 2004. Back to top 6. After three years of balmy winters, the return of more normal conditions has prompted some Minnesotans to wonder if deer will have trouble coping with the snow and cold. They want to know if they will be okay.
Merchant says that deer are well adapted to survive winters.
The animals build up fat reserves in the fall, have hollow guard hairs that make their fur a warm insulating layer of protection against wind and cold, and modify their behavior to conserve energy. By no means are our deer winter stressed. But it's far too early to tell how this winter will turn out and how it will affect deer numbers. Most of the heavy snowfall has been in agricultural areas where deer have access to high-protein food such as corn and acorns. Northern Minnesota has had less snow.