The winter is the cold months. As the weather gets colder, days become shorter and nights become longer. During winter extreme cold is felt and in many places snow covers the ground. People wear warm clothes, eat hot food items and keep their houses warm in many ways. But what happens to the animals?
Animals spend their winter in many ways. They do many different, amazing things to get through the winter. Those are:
1. Migration:- Some animals migrate to escape from the winter. This means they travel to other places where the weather is warmer or they can find food. Many birds migrate in large flocks to thousands kilometers distant places. For example, the Arctic tern nests close to the North Pole in the summer. In autumn, it flies south all the way to Antarctica. Each spring it returns north again. Other animals migrate, too. Mammals like bats, caribou, elk, and whales travel in search of food each winter. Many fishes also migrate. They swim south, or move into deeper, warmer water. Insects too migrate. For example, Monarch butterflies spend the summer in Canada and the Northern U.S. They migrate as far south as Mexico for the winter. Termites and Japanese beetles move downward into the soil. Earthworms also move down, so as far as six feet below the surface.
2. Adaptation:- There are some animals who adapt themselves to the winter and stay active in the winter. They adapt to the changing weather. Many of them make changes in their behavior or bodies. New and thicker fur is grown on some animal’s bodies to keep them warm during winter. Animals like squirrels, mice and beavers gather extra food and store it to eat during winter. Rabbits and deer spend winter looking for moss, twigs, bark and leaves to eat. The red fox which eats fruit and insects in other seasons eats small rodents in the winter. Some animals also find their winter shelter in holes in trees or logs, under rocks or leaves or underground. Some mice even build tunnels through the snow.
3.Hibernation:- Some animals hibernate in the winter. Hibernation is a very long sleep. In winter some animals’ body temperature drops, and their heartbeat and breathing slow down. As a result, they use very little energy. Hence, these animals get ready for winter by eating extra food and storing it as body fat. They use this fat for energy while hibernating. Some also store food like nuts or acorns to eat later in the winter. Bears, skunks, chipmunks, and some bats hibernate.
4. Other Ways:- Cold-blooded animals like fish, frogs, snakes and turtles have no way to keep warm during the winter. Snakes and many other reptiles remain in holes or burrows, and spend the winter inactively.
When the weather gets cold, some water animals like frogs, turtles and many fishes move to the bottom of river, lakes and ponds, and hide under rocks, logs or fallen leaves. They may even bury themselves in the mud.
Some insects take their winter rest in holes in the ground, under the bark of trees, deep inside rotting logs and in the gall, the swelling on a plant. Many insects spend the winter as dormant or in diapauses, which is like hibernation. Some insects spend the winter as worm-like larvae. Others spend the winter as pupae. Some insects die after laying eggs in winter.