This week, in additions to offering programs at Crossroads at Big Creek, I am going to be presenting a program to kindergarten students at the Boys and Girls Club and their leaders suggested that I talk about how wildlife deals with winter.
Local animals have three options. They can migrate, they can sleep through the winter or they can cope. (And of course, they don’t get to choose.)
Beavers cope. It’s common knowledge that beavers build lodges and dams and gnaw down trees–that they are busy as beavers throughout the spring, summer and fall. Addicted to work. Tireless. Compulsive.
So what do these workaholics do in the winter? They can’t go outside–their flat tails and ears would get frost-bitten if they did. And besides, most ponds and rivers freeze over.
The way researchers describe it, the winter lodge-live of a beaver family sounds a whole lot like that of most human families during our holiday cold snap. They just sit around inside. Whenever one is hungry–or maybe bored–he or she goes and gets something to eat.
The beavers go into winter well prepared. Not all of the trees they actually chew down are used for building materials. Beavers store a generous supply of branches under water. The tree of choice is aspen. Beavers love aspen. They’ll eat the bark of other trees–willow..birch…if they have to, but aspen is their absolute favorite–which is handy. Aspen often grows near water.
The beavers clip the twigs from the saplings and branches. Then holding the wood in their teeth, they drag it to the bottom of their pond, jamming the sticks into the mud near one of the underwater entrances of the lodge. By the time the pond freezes over, the underwater cache usually has more than enough bark to see the whole beaver family through the winter.
The whole family? Often two or three generations spend the winter in the frozen lodge. Well, it’s frozen on the outside. Inside, all those warm bodies keep it quite warm. Dark, but warm.
When a beaver wants food during winter, it is a simple matter for him to swim out to the cache and play pickup sticks. He has an amazing adaptation on his mouth–sort of a flap–that seals out water so well he can cut wood while submerged.
He swims it back into the lodge, chews it down to a convenient size, and then gnaws off the bark. All this chewing is essential.
A beaver’s big orange incisors grow continuously. If the beaver did not wear down his teeth, they would grow to such grotesque proportions he would starve.
But it’s unlikely that beavers would starve during winter. If they run out of food in the cache, they just eat their lodge. This reminds me of my childhood. During the holidays, my mother was sure we would eat her out of house and home.
Our Friday Film will be a documentary on beavers, oftcn called nature’s engineers. Following the film , viewer will be invited to our Wildlife Exhibit to get a close-up look at our beaver mount.
If snow is adequate an no wild chill warnings are posted, we will offer Ski For Free on Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays from 1:00-3:30. [Yes, we have children’s sizes.
Crossroads is a donor supported learning center made up of the Big Creek, Ida Bay and the Cove Preserve. All trails are free and open to the public. The Collins Learning Center , located at 2041 Michigan is open 2:00-4:00 daily and during scheduled events. Visit www.crossroadsatbigcreek.org for current trail conditions and cancellations.
Thursday, January 11
1:00-3:30 Ski for Free
Conditions permitting, ski equipment and snowshoes in a wide range of sizes will be available from our Ski Distribution Center (a.k.a .the Maintenance Building), free of charge. This program is staffed and sponsored by Friends of Crossroads and the Door County Silent Sports.
Friday, January 12
2:00 Friday Film: Beavers
Our Friday Film will be a documentary on beavers, oftcn called nature’s engineers. Following the film , viewer will be invited to our Wildlife Exhibit to get a close-up look at our beaver mount. Lecture Hall. Free and open to the public.
Saturday, January 6
1:00-3:30 Ski for Free
Conditions permitting, ski equipment and snowshoes in a wide range of sizes will be available from our Ski Distribution Center (a.k.a .the Maintenance Building), free of charge. This program is staffed and sponsored by Friends of Crossroads and the Door County Silent Sports.
Sunday January 7
1:00-3:30 Ski for Free
Conditions permitting, ski equipment and snowshoes in a wide range of sizes will be available from our Ski Distribution Center (a.k.a .the Maintenance Building), free of charge. This program is staffed and sponsored by Friends of Crossroads and the Door County Silent Sports.
