From pronghorns to hummingbirds, life gets on the move when the weather changes

By Mark Herwig, Editor Upland Tales and Cheryl Riley, PF V.P. Education and Outreach

Animals, including humans, migrate for various reasons, but mostly to escape winter.

Some Wyoming pronghorns migrate to escape the severe cold and lack of food near Yellowstone National Park (photo: Mark Herwig).

Most animals migrate out of the north in winter to warmer southern climes to escape the cold and lack of food that would kill them. Many people do the same: older folks, in particular, leave the north to avoid winter’s diseases, cold and ice which can injure or kill them.

Here are two outstanding examples of animal migration that fascinate.

Wyoming’s Pronghorn
I used to think big game migrations in Western America disappeared with the end of the frontier (1893).

But in Wyoming, a small herd of pronghorn has been trudging the same 200-mile route, the longest migration in the lower 48 states, for over 6,000 years. more…