Backyard Corridors: Do you see evidence of climate change

While humans debate the degree, extent and (still) the mere existence of climate change, scores of species are left to deal with its realities. We dont all live at the seething edge of a major wildlife migration route, but many of us have observed subtle changes in the behaviors of the animals that live (or used to live) in our Backyard Corridors. In these changes lies a message; thus our question for this week: Do you see evidence of climate change affecting animals in your area?Please share your observations in the comments on our blog, The Cleanest Line, or on Patagonia’s Facebook page. Author and wildlife biologist Douglas Chadwick offers this take on some of the changes taking place in his back yard as a result of global warming:Rationalization is an overwhelming human force. Once you form opinions, your mind works overtime, often subtly and even subconsciously, to select information that supports your biases while ignoring or purposefully giving less weight to observations that threaten to prove you wrong. Hey, I think I just described the cult of Climate Change Denial. But that wasnt the point I wanted to make. In fact, I set out to admit that Im probably biased the opposite way, believing that climate change is happening. Im pretty sure that global warming is real and potentially devastating to the ecosystems we know and depend upon. Consequently, Im that much more likely to interpret what could be ordinary variation in weather cycles and wildlife activity as evidence of an overheating planet. I find myself in a constant struggle to tell hints and hunches and unusual sightings -- anecdotal stuff -- apart from the kind of solid information that someone could test and verify.Im a wildlife biologist, but Im not trying to play the cautious scientist here. Im just trying to be honest. So Im not going to tell you that what I report below is due to climate change, only that it sure looks like it might be. After all, I live in the Montana Rockies and spend most of my outdoor time in nearby Glacier National Park, home to 150 glaciers when founded in 1910. The reserve now has no more than a couple dozen and is expected to lose its last one within the next 15 years or so. Having watched great, grinding landforms of ice blue as lapis lazuli shrink in a relatively short time to pieces that barely qualify as dirty snowfields, Im not too sympathetic to arguments that climate change is strictly tree-hugger propaganda.