On our first outing as a monthly chapter, the crew of eight Nature Guardians ventured out into the deep snow at Hemlock Ravine in Bedford to have some fun and to see who has been out and about in all this snow. First, we saw many ducks hanging out at the heart shaped pond and learned from one Nature Guardian about how ducks’ feet don’t freeze in the winter- the answer has to do with minimizing blood flow and heat exchange in the feet. To read more about it, visit this page http://askanaturalist.com/why-don%E2%80%99t-ducks%E2%80%99-feet-freeze/ From there, we talked about animals’ strategies to withstand the extreme winter weather- like the piles of snow we’ve had this week! Some animals, like the ducks, stick around in winter, are active all winter, and have special behavioural and physiological adaptations that help them survive. Other animals stick around but hibernate, such as woodchucks, and some just sleep a lot, like black bears. And of course, many other species just opt out of winter by migrating!

So in looking for tracks, we were looking for animals whose winter strategy is to stick around and stay active. We also talked about how if you are really good at tracking, you can read stories in the snow! Most of the stories we saw in the snow were of rambunctious puppies running circles in the snow, small children climbing up logs, making snow angels and eating snow, and of course lots of adults with their snowshoes. But we did see some neat wildlife signs and tracks! The snowshoe hare was the most distinct track we saw and we were able to identify it thanks to modern technology, and follow it across the stream and under the cover of some small hemlock trees. We also saw a big gooey drop of blood with no other signs or tracks around it (an owl or raptor having a snack above is the only possibility we thought of) and perhaps related, an owl wing and claw print.

Along with some hiking and tracking, we enjoyed a good natured snowball fight and climbing up and sliding down steep hills! We also discussed our hopes and plans for future outings! Stay tuned for the next date and location! All kids ages 10-15 welcome!

To read more about animals in winter, check out this great article written by biologist and friend of the Young Naturalists Club Soren Bondrup-Nielsen : http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/animals-in-winter/