When the mercury dips down around zero, most of us are fortunate to have heated spaces to take refuge. Wildlife isn’t so fortunate, but they do have special adaptations and behaviors to battle the elements.
Some wildlife escapes the cold by migrating south. While such travel is effective, it comes at the expense of a lot of energy, and most animals would rather stay put if possible.
Warm-blooded animals must maintain an internal body temperature, and wildlife certainly can succumb to cold and frostbite. Thanks to biological features, our neighbors of the wild can withstand frigid temperatures much better than humans can.
One of the primary tactics for many species is to take things down a notch. They either hibernate or enter the period of slowed activity known as torpor. And depending on the animal, there may be herding, denning, burrowing and roosting in tree cavities involved.
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A certain amount of “porking out” also helps, as nature’s smorgasbord of food in fall helps animals prepare for months ahead. Wild turkeys, which are heavily dependent on ground forage, often carry enough fat into winter to roost in a tree without food for a week if a snowstorm forces them to do so.
Like many birds, you often will see turkeys fluffing feathers to boost insulation. Most terrestrial species use a natural coat of some sort to stay warm. Deer gradually replaces the hair of their summer coats with heavier ones for winter.
The Canada goose has up to 25,000 feathers, which, like other waterfowl, it keeps waterproofed with oil from a gland in its lower back. The thick undercoating of fluffy down feathers traps body heat close to the skin.
Also remarkable are the goose’s feet, which use an artery of warm blood to heat the frigid blood returning to the heart from below.
The cottontail surely prefers being too cold rather than too hot. When not foraging, rabbits take refuge in underground dens lined with grass, straw and twigs. Regardless, winter is a tough time for the species as estimates say only 30% make it through to spring.
Of course, one of the most important considerations for an animal to stick around in winter is the availability of food. Most wintering herbivores can adapt from eating the green leaves of summer to the woody twigs and bark that remains. While chickadees certainly like seeds at feeders, the small birds also will eat fat from decomposing animal carcasses.
For deer, a keen sense of smell helps them find food under the snow, and the pads of their hooves harden for winter to make it easier to dig through the snow and ice.
There are many ways animals survive in the wild, whether during winter or other times of the year. It’s something to think about while we’re huddled up near the fire with a hot drink.
