![]() Loggers sometimes rouse a bear out of the den by moving a pile of logs, or even a single log. In the 18 winters we’ve spent snowshoeing our woodlot and surrounding woods, I’ve seen bear tracks only twice. They seldom leave the den in winter and even then don’t go far, and don’t eat or drink. We know now that bears aren’t especially sound sleepers. 3 (skunk), according to our game camera photos. In mild winters like last year’s, both were out for two weeks, on Feb. We often see our part-time hibernators, skunks and raccoons during January thaw before the coldest part of winter sets in, and again in late February. Unlike other rodents that stash seeds, jumping mice don’t need them. Once dug, jumping mice line the chamber with dry plant material, close the opening with soil, and don’t emerge until spring. Their den is a small chamber less than two feet below the surface, often beneath logs. Unlike most animals preparing for winter, jumping mice spend only two weeks fattening up. Meadow jumping mice, the third true hibernator, do well to survive winter, though many don’t. If groundhogs are hibernating in your woodlot they’re likely at the edge, near a clearing. Body temperature drops to 38°, heart rate to four beats per minute, and breaths to ten an hour. They dig a den near the tunnel where they spend the rest of the year, located below the frost line and above the water table. Like the little brown bat, groundhogs settle in from early to mid-fall. Have you noticed resident groundhogs giving your late-season garden a break? They’re the second of Maine’s true hibernators. The little brown’s heart rate drops from one thousand beats per minute to five. Unless you have a cave, mine or empty building in your woodlot you probably don’t have hibernating bats. The little brown bats, struggling with white nose syndrome, go to their hibernacula in September and October to spend the winter, and don’t emerge until early to mid-spring. There are only three true hibernators in Maine. Should have known that was too good to be true. I was in awe of the bear’s ability to give birth while sleeping, and of the cubs’ ability to find their way to nurse all winter. ![]() In elementary school, we learned these animals fell asleep in a cozy den and didn’t wake up until spring. The smell wasn’t strong but it was unmistakable and I didn’t need a closer look to know that a skunk had come out of hibernation for a walk in the snow. I assumed from its black fur that a neighbor’s cat had fallen prey to a coyote or fox until I got closer. Late one December I stumbled upon a soaking wet carcass. We can let the dogs out in the evening without worrying about them bumping into raccoons, skunks, porcupines and bears.
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