Animals In Winter (1949)

there are several ways by which they manage to do it and to learn about them you have to start in the fall that's when this badge spend much of the winter in the burrow he's digging now he's alert like animals have to be out in the Wilds on a constant lookout for danger by Autumn the badger has fattened up considerably plenty of fat and a good thick coat of fur help keep an animal warm through the winter now he's turning and facing outward and this may mean that Danger's near he sniffs the air and holds his ground this time it's only a Wandering Hound now the badger had just one answer and this is it near the edge of the forest you'll find woodchucks perhaps you call this fellow a groundhog what's he doing about Winter's coming on the woodchuck is working on his winter home when it's finished he will probably sleep there till spring comes such a long deep sleep is called hibernation and for a sleep sleep like that an animal needs a home that's really safe and snug his job is first to dig a tunnel that's deep enough and then to make a den that's big enough to sleep in we'll look in on the woodchuck later while he digs away there's another animal nearby getting ready for winter he's made his nest in this old Hollow stump this little fellow is a chipmunk he needs fat to carry him through the winter season ahead and fattening up is easy with so much food all around Chipmunks like woodchucks hibernate through cold winter months often they store up food in the nest apparently our chipmunk won't go hungry on a twig not far away a much smaller animal is building its winter home it's a caterpillar spinning its cocoon you realize of course that a caterpillar is an animal as his head goes back and forth he's spinning a tiny thread of silk the silk comes out of an opening in the caterpillar's lower lip as soon as this work is done and the caterpillar is inside its cocoon something begins to happen to to it later on we'll have a look inside to see just what has happened the woodchucks winter home is ready we have dug alongside his burrow and find him already sleeping soon he will start hibernating almost anywhere in the Northern woods you will find Snowshoe rabbits like all rabbits the Snowshoe depends on nose eyes ears and legs for his safety but the Snowshoe has a special winter Safeguard by the time snow has blanketed the countryside his fur has begun to change to a lighter color and later it will be nearly white forming an excellent camouflage the porcupine doesn't change color but his fur is studded with long sharp quills there's no reason for these two animals to fear one another in fact many wild dwellers of field and Forest get along peacefully together but they have dangerous enemies this G seems excited it's a bobcat a killer the Snowshoe sits Frozen one way of protecting himself perhaps the Bobcat won't see him white fur against white snow is good camouflage but the Bobcat is hungry and will work tirelessly to find the meal now the rapbit uses his legs for defense another cunning Hunter a fox foxes have sharp eyes and ears and a keen sense of smell and rabbits are a favorite food of both these Forest Hunters this time the Snowshoe leaps out of sight out of sight and quickly away from the fox's Keen nose thus far the fox hasn't caught the scent of the Snowshoe and soon he is safe for the present but in the winter Wilds the Snowshoe is seldom really safe and he would be in even greater danger without his white coat some birds fly south when winter comes but not the hearty blue Jade his thick coat of feathers helps to keep him warm the caterpillar's cocoon too helps keep out the cold if cut away in winter it shows that the caterpillar of last fall has changed to a puper that's what regularly happens after a caterpillar has spun a cocoon furthermore the pupil will change before winter is over remember the badger during winter he sometimes comes out of his den usually to hunt for food he appears to be quiet and peaceful but the badger is one of the most vicious fighters in the Wilds his coat of fur is even thicker now than it was last fall such heavy fur keeps its owner quite warm but it doesn't keep him from getting hungry he has to hunt for food and how's our woodchuck passing the winter hibernating if you touched him he'd feel cold his temperature may be almost 50° lower than when he's active and the Chipmunk in the old stump is hibernating too he's breathing very slowly and his temperature too is lower than normal early spring returning warmth the Chipmunk begins to stir shivering and trembling gradually he comes back to act active life within a short time he is wide awake very hungry and starting all over again and there's action at the Cocoon the winter home spun by the caterpillar our winter examination showed that the active caterpillar had change to a quiet Pupa now the pupa has made the final change this time into a moth and out into the warm air of spring come the delicate body wings and legs of that moth neither The Moth nor the caterpillar that spun the Cocoon could have endured the cold winter but life was carried on in the pupa to live through the winter this animal not only Built a protective home but changed to a more hearty form this moth is a sopia and soon it will be ready to fly now what have we learned about animals in Winter for one thing that the moth lives through winter as a pupil that the woodchuck spends the winter in a deep sleep called hibernation that the chipmunk and some other animals also hibernate that still other animals that build dens come out of them when they're hungry that these animals grow thick coats of fur which protect them from the winter cold that most animals have extra layers of fat during the winter that some birds and that a few animals like the snowshoe rabbit change color all interesting ways by which therefore and in spite of cold