Mild winter with effects on humans and animals

Mild winter is not optimal for all animals

08/01/2014

In Germany, the mildest winter temperatures prevail for years. Already last year record temperatures were measured around this time. This also has effects on the flora and fauna. Some people are more worried about the development of winter temperatures, because in many places there are appearances that are usually observed only in March or April.

Allergy sufferers will get problems sooner
Pollen from trees and grasses, which are considered to be the main cause of allergies, will migrate earlier this year in many parts of Germany than before. The German Weather Service (DWD) in North Rhine-Westphalia, the Saarland and the Frankfurt area is already burdened registered, if only to a limited extent. Pollen has also started in northern Germany.

Many birds change their habits
Some migratory species, such as cranes and starlings, do not appear to be traveling to warmer regions of the world this year. Also some species of tits are already looking for nesting sites. The animals find here in the countryside or in the woods just enough food, explains Lars Lachmann from the nature conservation Germany e.V. (Nabu). Instead of investing time in the search for food, the birds can start now with the Dating. Even if it came to a sudden cold snap, there would be no problem for the animals. "Then the birds move further south or increasingly go looking for food in the cities," says Lachmann.

Mosquitoes will have a hard time
There is widespread the opinion that a too mild winter will be followed by a mosquito plague. But the spring-like temperatures in the winter months contribute little to a high mosquito presence in the summer. Rather the opposite is the case, because insects overwinter in frosty temperatures mostly well protected and the cold can not harm you. The eggs of the insects but get problems when too mild weather prevails, because then it comes increasingly to mold infestation and the animals die even before they hatched. This also applies to cellars or caves where mosquitoes like to spend the winter. The fungal spores are just too aggressive. Mosquitoes do not make the mild temperatures so much anyway. They prefer to lay their eggs on moist meadows or in ponds. It does not matter whether there are plus or minus temperatures, according to the common opinion of mosquito experts.

Ticks like it mild
For ticks, the temperatures are pleasant. They usually become active at six degrees Celsius and go looking for their blood. "This is an optimal winter for the ticks," explains Christine Klaus from the National Reference Laboratory for Ticks-Transmitted Diseases in Jena. The expert sees in a mild winter but not necessarily a tick plague on the people in Germany to come. When temperatures are too low, ticks simply retreat, and a too warm and dry spring has a negative impact on the development of the animals, according to Klaus. A mosquito plague in the coming spring is therefore currently not to be feared, according to experts. (Fr)