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Wildlife can be elusive in winter

If you are a frequent reader of The Marietta Times you have noticed that wildlife is a frequent subject of the daily photo that runs on page 2 of the newspaper.

Since 2017 we have featured deer, turtles, spiders, fish, bees, wild turkeys, racoons, ground hogs, snakes, foxes, many species of birds and even a few tiny insects in the daily spot.

The creatures add an interesting element to photos and help to make them more compelling for the reader – you – to look at.

During the warm months, things are out and about and are easier to capture. We are now in the middle of the least warm month of them all and for the most part, many of my go-to subjects have vanished from view.

I don’t like the cold weather any better than my furry, scaly and feathered friends, but I am here, so I asked myself the other day. Where did everyone go?

That is a simple question with a complex answer. They go to many places.

A relatively small number of animals hibernate in Ohio. Jumping mice, groundhogs and little brown bats are the only mammals in the state that take a season long nap. Others enter a state called “torpor” or temporary hibernation. This sounds like something I could get used to in the middle of winter. They only get up to eat and drink during periods that can last as long as a few weeks.

Turtles enter a stage called burmation where they will burrow into the mud at the bottom of the ponds and get the oxygen they need by absorbing it through their skin. They slow their heart rate down to just a few beats per minute during this stage. They can stay in this stage for months.

Some animals get through cold weather by adapting to cold weather by growing a thicker coat, like a deer or a fox. Others get through by collecting, like a squirrel, food earlier so they have enough to eat through the cold weather. Owls will hunt for food when it is mild and will later thaw it out by sitting on it.

A lot of birds leave town for the winter, traveling great distances, like some retirees, to warmer climates for a few months. Shorebirds, some songbirds and hummingbirds are some of the birds that pack up and leave for the winter.

Cardinals, which happen to be the state bird of Ohio, bald eagles, woodpeckers and many species of hawks stick around for the winter. Blue Jays are common as well. Take a winter walk through the woods and you will see a surprising amount of wildlife.

Part of the beauty of spring is the return of animals that left us for the season and a return to normalcy of those species that never left in the first place, but were simply hiding out, in some cases, literally under our feet.

Art Smith is online manager of The Times, you can contact him at asmith@mariettatimes.com

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