Brumation is a bit like hibernation, but warm-blooded animals hibernate while reptiles and amphibians brumate. Somewhat different. Our box turtles that we’re so familiar with dig burrows in soft soil in late autumn as the weather cools.
They often return to the same location year after year, often to a site that is covered with leaf litter. Good for holding moisture in the soil, preventing the turtle from dehydrating. The covering of leaf litter also helps prevent the soil from freezing. BUT if the turtle does freeze it can survive for a just couple days. I hope there’s a thick layer of leaf litter.
Unlike an animal that hibernates, a box turtle doesn’t sleep but is instead in a state of dormancy during its brumation. Some of its bodily functions shut down until spring as the soil surrounding it finally warms. Right now with snow still on the ground, I think it’ll still be a while till we see the box turtles again.
I’m on the watch for the Wood Frogs (Lithobates sylvaticus) to arrive at my little manmade pond. During the cold of winter Wood Frogs hibernate in the soil under leaf litter where their bodies go through freeze and thaw cycles depending on weather conditions.
In mid February they awaken from their hibernation and search for vernal pools for breeding, often returning to the same pool year to year. They sometimes begin their breeding even before ice is totally gone from the pond.
While actively hunting for mates they’re quite the noise makers, sounding a “clack, clack, clack” particularly during and after rain.
Their egg masses are impressive to see, and can contain one thousand to three thousand eggs. The eggs hatch in nine and thirty days, depending on the temperature of the water.
The tadpoles undergo metamorphosis at about two months and crawl out of the vernal pool as tiny frogs. At this point, I’ve got to watch that I don’t step on any of the cute little things.
A fully grown Wood Frog varies in size from one and a half to three inches, and they generally live no longer than three years.
I’m looking forward to hearing that, “clack, clack, clack” sound!
About a week ago I noticed a favorite patch of Woodland Sunflower, Helianthus divaricatus, being quickly gobbled up by gregarious, tiny caterpillars. I took pictures of the less than one half inch critters, and started pouring over my many books on butterflies, moths, and caterpillars.
I always love a mystery – caterpillars eating beloved plants – good or bad? I was relieved to find that the sunflowers were being eaten by the larval stage of a lovely, native butterfly. The culprit? The butterfly, Silvery Checkerspot, Chlosyne nycteis. This is good! My woods, up here on the Blue Ridge are a butterfly garden!
Silvery Checkerspots have a wingspan of between 1.5 and 2 inches. Their host plants, or plants that their caterpillars eat, are Black-eyed Susans and Sunflowers. Adults chow down on the nectar of Red Clover, Common Milkweed, and Dogbane.
Almost grown caterpillars of the Silvery Checkerspot overwinter at the base of their host plants. I’m so pleased that the woods up here provide a good environment for Silvery Checkerspots!
AND I have no problem sharing the gardens around my cabin with native butterflies, even if sometimes things end up looking a bit battered. It is all for good.
Egg mass of Red-spotted Newt, resembling a wad of cotton
I have an adult Red-spotted Newt, Notophthalmus viridescens, in my small pond. Doing research, and learning about this newt has been a fun journey.
A type of salamander, they start out their life in a pond, marsh, stream or small lake, as an egg mass that resembles a big wad of cotton, attached to a piece of underwater vegetation.
Egg mass of Red-spotted Newt
The Red-spotted Newt,lays her eggs, one at a time, and the eggs, often numbering a few hundred, will hatch in a month or two, depending on the water temperature. When the eggs hatch they become larvae with feathery gills and a coloring much like the adult Red-spotted Newt.
Juvenile stage of the Red-spotted Newt, land based, Red Eft
The larvae live in their watery environment for 2 to 5 months eating aquatic insects and small snails.
At the end of summer, larvae will leave the water, shedding their gills, developing sac-like lungs, and begin another stage in their lives, as Red Efts, remarkably beautiful orange beings with brighter orange spots, surrounded with black circles.
I enjoy finding Red Efts, while I’m out in the woods. They are slow moving critters, appearing to be willing models for my photography.
They spend as many as 4 years as terrestrial creatures. During this stage the Red Efts will hibernate during the winter under a log or rock. During the summer in dry weather they may seek shelter under those same logs or rocks to keep their skin moist, coming out during rainy weather.
An adult Red-spotted Newt in his underwater world
For the next couple years, the Red Eft will become darker, and develop a longer, blade-like tail. He will find a body of water to enter, where he will live for the rest of his life as an aquatic adult. In this stage he will eat insects, frog and fish eggs, crustaceans, and worms.
Notice the long tail of the adult Red-spotted Newt in my pond
Red-spotted Newts can live to be 12 to 15 years old. Quite a long life for a critter so small, generally growing as an adult to 5 inches long.
It took me a few years, first to find that I had a newt in my pond. And then to have the information click in my brain, to realize that this newt, and the Red Eft, and all the cottony masses of eggs were all the same species.
Perhaps these are my pets, the birds that come to my feeders. Wild birds that give me comfort just by being there. The bird you see in the picture, above, is a winter bird in my area (the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia), a White-throated Sparrow, Zonotrichia albicollis. He has a sweet song that is easy to remember, using the mnemonic, “Poor Sam Peabody, Peabody, Peabody.”
I know that autumn will not last much longer, when I see these little birds, rustling around in the leaves on the forest floor. I have to look very closely to see them. Their feathers provide a great camouflage against the dry, brown, fallen leaves.
I must wait for the bears to retire for their winter slumber, before I put out the feeders for the cold months of the year. Otherwise I am likely to need to purchase a new feeder. Believe it or not, the bears do like bird seed too, and will carry a feeder off, or just totally destroy one with ease.
The bear, above, came out of his den, unannounced on January 17th, to cart off one of my feeders. He chose a new model that was designed to keep squirrels out. Needless to say, bird feeder designers don’t aim to keep bears out of the seeds. I suppose that would be an impossible task. If I know that bears are roaming, I don’t put out feeders.
I’m hoping Mr. Bear, is now back in his den. Hoping that the cold will keep him all snug and warm, and away from the bird feeders for while longer. Not only do I enjoy simply watching the birds and their antics, I depend on the feeders to bring them within easy shutter range, so that I can get pictures of my winter pets.
Another bird of winter, is the Dark-eyed Junco, Junco hyemalis. Most of them summer in the far north, some going into the Arctic. A few however, do stay in this general area year ’round. I have seen some summering in the Shenandoah National Park, which is just a short distance from my cabin. Here at my feeders though, it is only the migrating Dark-eyed Junco, that I see.
I speak of the wild birds as my pets. I don’t have any “all the time” pets living with me. A frequent visitor, though, is my son’s and daughter-in-law’s cat, Betelgeuse.
That’s Betelgeuse, in the picture above. She’s a rescue, Maine Coon cat. She is a predator. For her own safety and health, and for the sake of my wild pets, she is an indoor pet. I hope your cat is an indoor cat as well, for the sake of my wild pets.
The family of flowers that this hybrid cultivar is from – Tricyrtis – has 18 species. Some of the species are cultivated for their beauty. Looking on the web, at the variety of those cultivars, I think of orchids growing in the garden. They are that beautiful. My cultivars are mundane in comparison to some of the spotted lovelies.
The family, Tricyrtis, is from the area of the Himalayas, China, Japan, the Philippines and Formosa. Seeming to be quite at home here in my garden, they thrive in a moist soil and dappled shade. They are even tolerant of what my winter weather throws its way. Going into a winter sleep, just waiting for spring.
They are blooming right now, in this blustery weather. Tough, but gorgeous flowers. I’m looking forward to their resurrection from their winter beds, as spring comes. Looking forward to showing them even more appreciation, now that I am armed with more knowledge about them.
Sleeping through some, or most of the winter, as Black Bears (Ursus americanus) do, has been referred to as winter sleep, carnivorean lethargy, dormancy or torpor. Now leading physiologists simply call this long sleep, hibernation.
We humans sometimes get up in the middle of the night for a midnight snack. Black Bears are known to do a similar thing in the middle of winter. During a warm spell, one may stumble from his den in search of something to eat. I saw one here in my yard about this time, last year, looking like he needed something to nibble on.
I’m hoping the bears around here will sleep through this warm spell. I’m putting out black oil sunflower seeds for the birds, and I would prefer that the bears do not tamper with the feeders. Last year, the bear I saw didn’t damage the bird feeders. Maybe I’ll be as lucky this year. Stay tuned!
