Cold Is Taking Its Toll on Wildlife

Manatees and pelicans hit by frostbite, sea turtles nearly dead from the cold, fish and shrimp killed by plummeting water temperatures: All are among the casualties of the record-breaking cold that has settled in across the South. “It has been especially severe this year,” said Cindy Mosling, founder of the Bird Emergency and Kare Sanctuary near Jacksonville, Fla. The last two months of 2000 were the nation’s coldest November-December period on record, according to the National Climatic Data Center. While the Northeast had a big snowstorm, the South and the southern Plains were struck by devastating ice storms.