For some wildlife populations, the climate news is not all bad. White-tailed deer, for example, would not be perturbed if Minnesota looked like Nebraska. Pheasants and wild turkeys, also at the northern edge of their range in Minnesota, could multiply, too. In some parts of the state, observers have noted the appearance of new wild neighbors that could be reacting to climate change. Cardinals have flown north to Duluth.
Raccoons now range north into Canada.
Opossums have ambled north into Minnesota. True katydids, an eastern and southern U.S. species, recently arrived in the Twin Cities. Species adapted to specific habitats are most vulnerable to changes. The disappearance of boreal forests would dislocate boreal species such as pine marten and fisher. Unlike whitetails, moose cannot tolerate heat and need boreal vegetation to survive.