DNR Advises Against Feeding Pheasants & Other Wildlife this Winter

Minnesota — Despite a tough winter and dense snowpack, the Minnesota DNR urges folks NOT to feed wildlife.

DNR staff has recently seen evidence of well-meaning people feeding pheasants along highways.

But doing this can cause conflicts with humans, and make the pheasants vulnerable to predators and disease, and also victims of cars and snowplows.

Pheasants are resilient birds that can go up to two weeks without food and shouldn’t be lured out of winter cover. Habitat is key, according to Marshall area wildlife supervisor Wendy Krueger.

“Habitat is the critical piece for pheasant survival. It provides cover for the winter and can also play a key role in nesting success the following spring”

Krueger says that hen pheasants can lose more than a third of their body weight and still survive by gaining that weight back quickly in the spring.