Geese hatching eggs in winter? Experts concerned climate change is reshaping wildlife

The sight of two fuzzy goslings waddling after their mother on a dreary Wednesday afternoon in late December put Londoners in awe, but it's also raising concerns among environment experts.

Brian Salt, director of Wildlife Rehabilitation at Salthaven in London, Ont., said he's been seeing a lot of strange wildlife behaviour in the last few months.

"Eastern gray squirrels in this area, at least in southwestern Ontario, have had not two litters as they normally do spring and fall, but this year they had three and I've never seen that before," said Salt.

'It's not likely that they'll survive'

He's also never seen geese hatch eggs in December in the last 40 years that he's worked as a wildlife expert. But Salt is keeping an eye on the newborn London, Ont., goslings to help them survive the winter.

"Here we are in December and we've got goslings that are about a week old running around at University Hospital," said Salt. "It's not likely that they will survive."

Gordon McBean, professor emeritus in geography and environment at Western University, fears the two little goslings may be a sign of a bigger issue on the horizon.

"The temperature is changing at a rate much more rapidly than has historically been the case," said McBean. "[This] confuses the animals.... Their biology is such that they respond to certain temperature conditions, and they're thinking it's spring."

McBean, an outspoken advocate on climate change, believes Mother Nature's unusual behaviours will eventually become more and more common as the Earth continues to get hotter.

The mild December temperature is affecting how animals biologically respond to different weather conditions and, in turn, may disrupt ecosystems and wildlife altogether.

"There are all kinds of … multidimensional implications of climate change as it's happening," said McBean. "It's not just getting warmer, it's getting warmer in the sense of affecting ecosystems."

Flooding, wildfires and survival challenges

McBean said there may be more flooding, wildfires and survival challenges for animals born in mild weather to survive the colder months.

And it won't be long before human life may be impacted as well.

"[Climate change] also affects the occurrence of flooding events and that affects the wildlife, but there's also affects Canadians in their homes and properties," said McBean. 

"Our farmers will be impacted in Ontario.… There is a possibility of growing crops that previously weren't there, which also means the ecosystem will grow and propagate in certain ways as they didn't in the past."

Unusual wildlife activity may be the new normal, Salt said. 

"Young people today are growing up with [this] new reality and it seems normal," said Salt. "We're not headed in the right direction."