How Animals in the Credit River Watershed Survive the Winter
The colours and warmth of fall are fading, a sign that winter is on its way.
To survive the coldest season, animals migrate, hibernate or adapt.
Migration: A Change of Place
Birds are perhaps the best-known migrants once the seasons change. Some insects, like monarch butterflies and dragonflies, migrate too; often completing multigenerational journeys spanning thousands of kilometres from summer breeding sites to over-wintering grounds.
Hibernation: A Time for Rest
Other animals prefer to spend the winter in various forms of rest. Some mammals, like little brown bats and groundhogs, enter true hibernation, a deep sleep typically lasting until spring.
Other animals, like eastern chipmunks and raccoons, stay in their dens in torpor, a short form of hibernation in which they wake, eat and drink.
Reptiles and amphibians, like Blanding’s turtles and northern leopard frogs, brumate in frozen waterways and remain there until spring thaw. Brumation is similar to hibernation; however, brumating species will wake up at times to drink but not eat.
Adaptation: A Way to Keep Warm
Black-capped chickadees and beavers are animals that adapted to colder months and winter conditions. Chickadees cache food, which they eat during the day, and enter a state of regulated hypothermia during the night. On very cold or windy days, chickadees will puff themselves up to keep warm or seek shelter in trees.
Beavers stay in their lodges to keep warm and, by storing food underwater, they avoid the cold air above.
A Cold Challenge
Despite all their amazing efforts, it’s becoming harder for some animals to survive the winter.
Some may struggle because of human activity. For example, fewer leaf and brush piles means more exposure to the deadly cold for insects that don’t migrate.
Other animals have increased exposure to diseases. For example, white-nose syndrome is a fast-spreading fungal disease. It irritates the faces of hibernating bats, waking them early and depleting fat stores vital for survival.
And increased freezing rain could limit access to food for animals that forage in the winter.
A Helping Hand
We can help you take action to help wildlife survive the winter.
Through our Landowner Action Fund, we’ll help you grow a native plant garden, with wildflowers that bloom in early-spring and late-fall to feed pollinators and other wildlife in the cooler seasons. Leaving plant stems, grasses and seedheads standing in the garden once winter sets in also gives insects a place to overwinter. These leftover plant parts also provide birds and other migrating animals with a source of food.
Through our Full-service Tree and Shrub Planting Program, we’ll plant native trees and shrubs, which have adapted to the climate alongside native wildlife, for you on your property. Planting native trees and shrubs improves and connects habitat and increases sources of food for wildlife, and encourages biodiversity. Funding is available to cover up to 100 per cent of the costs. Book a no-obligation site visit to start planning your spring planting project.