Walker Nature Education Center
A LOOK INSIDE
• Calendar of Events 4 • Kid’s Corner 6 • American Holly 7 • Watershed Education 7
Nature Notes By Sharon Gurtz
December • Woodchucks hibernate. • Starlings form flocks. • Waterfowl populations peak. • Look for bird and squirrel nests in the bare trees.
January
• Great horned owls begin to nest. • Red fox search for mates. • Deer shed antlers. • Robin flocks dine on holly berries.
February
• Spring peepers begin to call. • Bluebirds and wood ducks look for nest sites. • Maple trees start to bloom.
BRANCHING OUT More Than a Nap
True hibernation, however, is more than simply sleeping through the winter. During hibernation, an animal’s metabolism is depressed. As metabolic rate decreases, so do rate of breathing and body temperature. When these By Ken Rosenthal changes occur in true hibernators they are remarkable. While the subject of hibernation causes many to immediately Having lived along the Great Lakes, think of Black Bears, Woodchucks (also winter meant cold, snow, and seemingly known as Groundhogs) are a true example constant cloud cover. These weather of hibernation. conditions often produced a personal lethargy, keeping me under covers on ALL YOU CAN EAT the couch with a good book. I often In late summer, Woodchucks prepare found myself envying the for winter by gorging on food to build hibernation of other up their fat reserves. This timing mammals that could is important, because a fattened sleep away the Woodchuck is easier for a predator dreariness of to catch. There must be a balance our winter. between its need for a layer of fat to survive winter and its ability to escape predators. Woodchucks also mate early, ensuring that cubs are weaned prior to maximum food availability. This allows adults to concentrate on eating when food is available, and gives cubs the chance to pack on the necessary fat layers before winter, too.
• Striped skunks begin to breed.
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Winter 11-12 Volume Fourteen