The Canadian Geese have already begun to fly back and with the cold temperatures we've been receiving it could leave the thought of why. 

"Geese have a long memory, and if they know they can return earlier, and there's open water for them, etc. they certainly will, explains Darrell Crabbe Executive Director of the Saskatchewan Wildlife Federation. "This, historically, has been the time frame they return in. We have a number of spots in Saskatchewan now where we have resident populations that don't leave, they stay all winter. If they can get to open water and access to feed they certainly aren't going to make that long journey south, so it's something we've seen over the last few years."

With the pheasants not being a native bird to the province, our Saskatchewan winters can be particularly harsh.

"We've seen over the last number years, the pheasant population like any other game bird that we have in Saskatchewan, especially upland, the winter conditions especially the snow depth certainly ends up being the major factor for survival over the winter. The deeper the snow is, the more difficulty they have accessing food."

The last number of years we've had pretty heavy snow covers in the south and it certainly impacts them as they are not native birds to Saskatchewan. These birds are resilient and we only need one or two good years and the populations will bounce back.