Animals in Indiana Winter

Grade 2

written by J. Trusedell

You are a part of a research team studying how animals survive Indiana's cold winters.  Birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians and insects have many different adaptations that help them get through the winter.  In this WebQuest, you will learn about some of the ways animals find food, save energy and sometimes sleep away the winter.

 

Tracking Animals in Winter- Here is a fun web site to see how good
you are at tracking animals in the Winter
                                                (Click Here for your Research Sheet)

You will be working with a partner or small group to explore animals survival in winter.  You will get the change to visit a variety of different Internet sites.  Some may be really easy to read, while others will be more challenging.  If you need help reading information, please ask a friend or click on the sound icon that will help you. 

Don't worry if you don't have time to read every site.

To get to the to sites, use your mouse to click on the underlined links.

You are going to choose one of the ways that animals adapt in winter.  Animals will either hibernate, migrate or adapt to the weather conditions.

Research about Animals in Indiana
 

Hibernation Facts- This site will tell you all about which animals truly hibernate and which animals just take a long winter's nap.

Animals that eat and sleep during the winter.  Use this site to learn about what skunks, squirrels, and beavers do during the winter.

Rabbits, Weasels and Rodents in Winter.  Lear what these animals do during the winter months.

Migration- there are many animals that migrate or move during the winter to be able to find food and a warmer climate.
Click here to see those animals that migrate.

Winter wilderness- Why deer eat poison ivy in the winter
and other cool facts.
 

 

Click here to get information
about the White Tailed Deer of Indiana.

 

 

 

 

Choose an animal that lives in Indiana

Decide how that animal lives through the winter

Create a "Who Am I" game to play with your friends

Snug in the Snow

Chipmunk hibernating
 
Nature Discovery Press

What happens to animals when the days get shorter and the snow starts to fly? Many head for warmer climates. Others get ready for winter by putting on a thick coat of fur. Some animals head underground for a long winter's nap. This is called hibernation. These hibernators go into a deep sleep. If you saw a hibernating animal you might think it was dead.

Sleeping all winter takes preparation and animals that hibernate begin preparing for it in the fall. They try to put on as much fat as possible because they won't be eating much during the winter. Animals that hibernate also put on a special kind of fat, called brown fat. This special fat is found across the back and shoulders of hibernating animals, close to an animal's organs (brain, liver). Brown fat works fast to deliver quick energy to an animal coming out of hibernation.

Hibernation is still a bit of a mystery for scientists. How does an animal know when it's time to get ready for hibernation? How does its body know to slow down during hibernation? Scientists have found a special substance in the blood of hibernating animals. It's called HIT (Hibernation Inducement Trigger). If blood is taken from a hibernating ground squirrel in the winter and injected into an active squirrel in the spring, the active squirrel goes into hibernation. (Pretty weird, huh?)

There are different kinds of hibernation. The "true" hibernators sleep so deeply that they are almost impossible to wake up. Woodchucks, ground squirrels and bats are "true" hibernators. A woodchuck's heart rate goes from 80 beats a minute when active to 4 or 5 beats a minute when in hibernation. Its body temperature drops from 98 degrees Fahrenheit to 38 degrees Fahrenheit. And, the woodchuck's incisors, which grow continuously and are kept short by all the gnawing it does, quit growing during hibernation. True hibernators do get up every few weeks to nibble on food, and in the case of the woodchuck, use an underground toilet room. When bats are ready to hibernate, they must find a place that stays above freezing. They gather together in caves called hibernacula.

[hibernating bear]
 
Can you find the bear in there?

Bears are not "true" hibernators. They are one of the "light sleepers." They are easily awakened from their winter slumbers. These in-between hibernators are simply taking long winter naps. Skunks, raccoons, opossums are also in this group. These animals breathe a little more slowly and lower their body temperature a few degrees while sleeping, but they wake up to forage between winter snows.

Can you think of any other animals that hibernate? How about our cold-blooded friends--snakes, turtles, and frogs. Since cold-blooded animals can't warm themselves up, they need to find a way to protect themselves from the cold. Frogs and turtles bury themselves in the mud below the frostline. They get oxygen from air trapped in the mud. In the spring when the sun warms the mud, out they'll come. Some snakes head underground to hibernate, others gather together in sheltered places, like rotted out logs. Imagine walking in the woods on a spring day and coming across a bunch of snakes emerging from their wintering spot. What a sight that would be!

Hibernation is still somewhat of a mystery and an amazing animal adaptation. The next time you are sitting around the fireplace all snug, warming up after playing outside, think about all the animals that are sleeping, snug in the snow.

NAPPERS AND SNACKERS- Animals that Adapt to the Winter

Animals that sleep and eat to survive the winter

skunkSKUNKS, BADGERS, and RACCOONS do not hibernate for the entire winter. During the coldest times, they enter a state of "torpor" where they are able to live off the fat that they stored in their bodies. During nicer weather, when the temperature rises a bit, they do come out and find some food to eat.

 

squirrel

SQUIRRELS like to make their winter den in a hollow tree where they build a cozy nest of grasses, leaves and twigs. They grow a thick winter coat and their body heat keeps them warm in their nest. In the fall, squirrels hide nuts and pine cones to eat. They use their sense of smell to find the food they have buried. Squirrels also like to visit bird feeders. On very cold days, squirrels stay in their dens and snack on the food they have stored.

chipmunk

CHIPMUNKS often have their winter burrows under trees. They sleep in a nest made of grasses, leaves and plant fluff which helps to keep them warm in the winter. They wake up often and snack. During late summer, chipmunks gather seeds and nuts. They are able to carry large amounts of food in their cheek pouches. The food is stored in the den under their nests. They also bury food around their dens.

beaver

BEAVERS spend the winter in their lodges. The lodges have entrances below the frozen surface so they can leave the lodge and swim to the branches they have stored a short distance from the lodge. If the pond freezes all the way to the bottom, beavers may become trapped in their lodges and starve.

ANIMALS IN WINTER - MIGRATION

blue bird

Animals "migrate" or travel to warmer places

where they can find food, shelter and water.

Some birds migrate for the winter and some birds stay all winter.

There are a few animals that migrate - the Monarch butterfly, caribou, moose, wapiti (elk) and some species of bats.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Animals that Adapt in the Winter

rabbit photo

Some animals are able to survive the winter

by growing warm winter coats.

The coats of some animals change color for the winter.


 

MICE, MOLES, AND SHREWS


Snow is very important to these small mammals.
During the winter they live under the snow.
The temperature is much warmer beneath the snow.
Weasels burrow under the snow to catch these small animals


 
 

 

THE MIGRATION OF BIRDS

Vs of migrating geese and ducks can be seen in the sky in the fall. Not all birds fly in a V.
Many birds migrate to where they can find food for the winter months.
Geese, ducks, and other waterfowl will use the same fly way year after year.
There are four main flyways in North America.
Birds have to eat a lot of food to store fat for their journey.
Owls and hawks may not have to fly very far south in search of food.
Birds fly south at different times of the year. This depends on how far north they live, and when their food supply is disappearing.
Mallard ducks do not fly south until they really have to ... sometimes as late as December.
 

 

WHITE-TAILED JACK RABBITS


They are members of the hare family. They can be found in fields and are often seen near cities and towns.

The White-tailed Jack rabbits turn from brown to white in the fall and from white to brown in the spring.

The tips of their ears stay black and their tails stay white all year round.

The white coat helps the hare hide in the snow.
In spring , the hare loses the white fur and it grows back each fall.
They have three layers of fur.....

  • inside layer - thick , dark brown

  • second layer - longer fur, lighter brown

  • outer layer - longest fur, white in color, covers the brown layers.


During winter they eat whatever they are able to find, including bushes in your garden and bark from young trees