When the River Rose

By Mark Russell Sanders

Late last April, the Mississippi River did something it had not done since 1927: it flooded. Tremendously. The water swelled to levels not seen in more than 70 years, taking everything in its path that could be uprooted, relocated or washed downstream. Southern states – Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee chief among them – had already seen abnormally high rainfall that spring, and the melting snow from further upriver only added to the high water levels. At present, the flood’s cost has been more than $2 billion. The human impact has been enormous.

But consider the flood’s impact on the Mississippi River’s other residents. Countless turkeys, waterfowl, deer, pigs, snakes, bears, beavers, raccoons and other forest critters were displaced by the Great Flood of 2011. And, unlike people who lived in the river’s floodplain, these animals had little to no warning that the waters would rise. They couldn’t exactly check the evening news for updates on flood conditions. Some species did better than others, says Nick Smith. He’s the regional biologist for Ducks Unlimited in  Monroe, Louisiana.

“A lot of our nesting was already over, so it may not have had as broad of an impact as I initially thought,” says Smith. “The deer get away real well. But turkeys are a different ballgame. I'm hoping the turkeys have already hatched and up and mobile by the time the floods actually started breaking the banks.”

As it turns out, turkeys are the biggest concern for wildlife experts investigating the flood’s impact. The big reason for this has to do with turkey’s particular nesting habits. They roost in tree branches. This means they can at least stay dry when the floodwaters rise.

However, with no dry place to land, Smith says, “they got flustered and they tried to land back in the tree. If they were fortunate and they were across the edge of the forest, they might have actually flown to a levee or a high spot, so they can get something to eat, drink and take care of business and get back to the tree. But the ones who ended up in the deep water, where there was no high ground, they sat on the tree limbs until they starved to death.”

Turkeys also lay eggs on the ground. This was a big concern for biologists, since those eggs would be washed downstream along with everything else in the Mississippi’s path. So, in addition to the turkeys going without land to feed on, the next generation of turkeys is lost as well.

What is the longer-term impact of the flood on turkeys, particularly as far as hunters are concerned? It’s too soon to tell.

The floods didn’t have nearly as dangerous an impact on other animals though. Deer did fine. They can swim, and they are fast on their feet. Other large mammals, such as bears farther upstream in Arkansas, did alright as well.

Wildlife experts’ biggest concern regarding large animals didn’t have so much to do with the critters escaping the flood, but with their unexpected encounters with humans and predators. Deer have been spotted in neighborhoods near the Mississippi River levees, where they have had to go looking for food. Smith says, “they will eat some plants and stuff, and irritate some ladies when they eat their flowers, but they're not going to hurt anything.”

While deer-human encounters are relatively harmless, other human-animal interactions tend to be less friendly. In early May, the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency sent out an alert, warning west Tennessee residents of the dangers snakes posed.

“Residents should take special precaution to avoid risk of injury by approaching these wild animals, already under stress, as they are forced from their natural habitats by flood waters,” the alert read. It added, “According to TWRA [Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency], this also is snake mating season for cottonmouth water moccasins, making the reptiles more aggressive.”

Not only do reptiles become more aggressive. So do humans. When people find snakes hiding in their house or yard, too often they tend to kill snakes out of concern for safety. This adds to the problem of snakes losing their habitat – not only did floodwaters force them out of their home, but when they found a new home, they didn’t find a welcome reception.

Which brings to mind another danger faced by snakes, as well as other animals fleeing the floods. Cars, Smith says, became a bigger issue than ever when the waters rose.

Think about it: animals trying to find higher ground often had to cross highways, interstates, country roads and dirt paths during their journey. The Ducks Unlimited biologists says, “The high water portion could lead to more roadkill. All roadkill’s bad, but this would be catastrophic.”

Lastly, wildlife faced problems from each other when the Mississippi River rose this year. Since all the animals sought higher ground during the flood, it understandably brought different – and sometimes predatory – species closer together. Coyotes and deer found themselves running into each other more, for example. Smaller mammals such as rabbits were easy prey for hawks, since they were being forced into more concentrated areas as well.

Smith believes these species, with the possible exception of turkeys, will bounce back just fine. The nesting season for birds was mostly over by the time the floodwaters reached their peak, and a lot of migratory birds that might have stopped along the Mississippi just continued south to the Gulf Coast. That’s not an abnormal occurrence either, Smith says. Animals have an amazing ability to adapt to situations like floods and bad weather. They have, for the most part, learned to move out of the way of the water when floods come. While the 2011 floods are the biggest since 1927, they are certainly not the first floods to affect birds, reptiles and mammals living along the river. And if history has shown us anything, this year’s floods certainly won’t be the last ones we see, either.