Wildlife in Winter - Strategies Animals Use to Survive

Wildlife and Winter
Bay Buddies / By Kathleen Gaskell - Bay Journal

Winter can be hard on wildlife in the Chesapeake watershed. The weather may be harsh. Food is harder to find, and those venturing out have less cover from predators. How much do you know about the strategies animals use to survive winter?

1. Some animals decide to leave it all behind them and head for warmer winter digs. Animals who do this are:

A. Adjustiflying

B. Flighting

C. Migrating

D. Vacationing


2. Other animals find a warm place to hole up and hibernate for the winter. Hibernation is more than just “sleeping through the winter, ” though. Which of the body changes below is not a typical sign of hibernation:


A. Lower body temperatures

B. Hardening of skin

C. Slower breathing

D. Slower heartbeat


3. Not all of winter’s deep sleepers are true hibernators. The body functions of some “sleepers” do not change to the same extent as hibernators. They will wake up to eat, and in milder weather, may even venture outside to forage for food. Which of the following are true hibernators and which are deep sleepers?

A. Black Bear

B. Bog Turtle

C. Chipmunk

D. Garter Snake

E. Gray Squirrel

F. Groundhog

G. Little Brown Bat

H. Striped Skunk


4. Which of these adaptations is not used by a fur-bearing animal during the winter?


A. Color change

B. Denser coats

C. Outerwear order to L.L. Bear

D. Thick layer of insulating fat


5. Insects often take hibernation one step further, and enter into a state of almost suspended animation. This process is called:

A. Diapause

B. Hypo-animation

C. Suspension

D. Transition


6. While the monarch butterfly travels thousands of miles to escape winter, other butterflies stick around. Match the butterfly with the life stage it overwinters in:


A. Giant Swallowtail a. Adult

B.Question Mark b. Chrysalis

C.Regal Fritillary c. Egg

D. Tawny Crescent d. Larva


Solutions

1. C 2. B 3. Hibernators: B,D,F,G Sleepers: A,C,E,H 4. C 5. A 6. A-b, B-a, C-c, D-d


Kathleen A. Gaskell, the layout & design editor for the Bay Journal, has been involved with several environmental programs for children.



Wildlife and Winter
Article: Bay Journal
Jan, Feb 2000