Walker Nature Center
BRANCHING OUT
A LOOK INSIDE
• Calendar 4 • Kids’ Corner: Bearly Awake 6 • Holiday Fest 8
Nature Notes How to Bear the Winter DECEMBER By Pam Findley
By Susan Sims
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The leaves have fallen, and the air is spongy with a winter chill. The soft drift of snow blankets the forests surrounding Reston. Frosted rain chips away at exposed bark and dormant land. There is a crunch of footsteps in the woods. The scratch of claws gathering a bed of leaves. Then the chuff of a bear echoes as it prepares its warm den for winter. Yes, we have bears.
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Goldfinches are active. American Holly have red berries. Small mammals have winter coats. December 21 – Winter Solstice – the shortest day of the year. Christmas Fern and Running Cedar are evergreen.
JANUARY • • • • •
American Witchhazel blooms. American Robins forage in flocks. Eastern Gray Squirrels begin to breed. Sweetgum trees drop spiky, round seed pods. January 6 – Full moon known as the Wolf or Old Moon.
FEBRUARY • • • •
Marginal Woodfern is evergreen. Pine Siskins may be seen at feeders. February 5—Full moon known as the Snow or Hunger Moon. Listen for fox yelps as mating season begins.
Black Bears feature extensively in Native American history as a protector and healer. A bear named Winnipeg, who resided at the London Zoo, inspired the story of Winnie the Pooh, and the U. S. Forest Service cultivated the persona of Smokey Bear as a reminder to act responsibly and prevent forest fires. As we move into winter, our native Black Bears will be preparing for the coming cold and nestling in to welcome the spring with vigor.
Black Bears are crepuscular creatures that are most active at dawn and dusk. They are omnivorous and primarily consume berries, sedges and insects. They’ll also eat fish, carrion and small mammals. They can smell food up to two miles away which may attract them to pet food and human garbage. Black Bears live up to 30 years and are solitary except for a female raising cubs or occasionally a pair of yearling siblings. Black Bears are usually shy and will flee from loud noises. Sometimes, Reston has a bear visitor who inevitably makes the news. In the case of this past summer, the visiting bear was likely a youngling headed out on his own. The cubs will typically stay with their mother for about a year and a half before heading off into adulthood.
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The Bearable Weight of Being
Black Bears have been found in various habitats including wetlands, forests and suburban areas of Fairfax County, even Reston. Ursus americanus is the only type of bear in Virginia. They range from four to seven feet long from nose to tail with rounded ears, dark fur and nonretractable claws. Female bears, called sows, weigh 90 to 250 pounds with males weighing 130 up to 500 lbs. They are the smallest bear in North America even though that size may seem large.
Winter | 23-24 |