Into the Woods with Curio: Winter Homes

“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” Psalm 46:1

All of the animals at Beacon are looking for a winter home right now. Dark-coloured mourning cloak butterflies gently flap about the outside the buildings, searching for any small opening in the siding where they can tuck themselves in and hibernate. Ladybugs are more intrusive, coming into the buildings and settling in any tiny crack around the windows and doors.

The groundhogs go deep underground, where they sleep until spring, safe and warm. Jumping mice also hibernate all winter in a burrow somewhere underground. There they curl themselves into a tight ball, their super-long tails wound around them and their extra-long hind feet tucked up.

Green and bull and leopard frogs spend their winter at the bottom of Beacon’s lake, surviving in the oxygen-rich water throughout the long, cold months. Toads stay on land, but dig deep into the sandy soil to avoid freezing. Some frogs, such as the spring peepers and tree frogs, can actually tolerate a frozen state. Hidden under tree bark or leaf litter, as much as 40% of their body’s water content may freeze, scientists have discovered. They don’t breathe, there is no blood flow and their heart stops, yet they thaw out again in the spring!

Snakes slide into their hibernaculum, a secret space known only to them. These caverns run deep underground, and are often shared with other snakes, all of them remaining dormant through the winter.

Other animals choose not to stay here for the winter. They are on their way south to warmer climates. Muted chirps and whispers from the underbrush reveal that white-crowned sparrows, robins and hermit thrushes are moving through. For them it may be a short trip to the ravines in Toronto, or the vineyards in Niagara, or the ‘banana belt’ in Windsor. Other birds have much further to go, so they left camp about the same time the summer season ended. Hummingbirds and swallows are on their way to Colombia and other tropical destinations in Central and South America, where they’ll enjoy the insects and flowers they need to survive until their return here next spring.

What about those that stay, but don’t sleep through the winter? Where do they make their winter home? The chickadees and other birds that stay around Beacon find a location protected from the wind and snow - such as a coniferous stand - to use as a home base (the nests they make in the summer are just for raising a family, and not a permanent home, though they may roost overnight in a bird box if there is one). The squirrels that live around camp, especially the flying squirrels, will also use a bird box if one is available, though usually they use tree cavities for the winter. Even mice will live in a bird box, though they prefer the inside of one of the camp buildings, where they stay warm and fed, and safe from predators.

Predators such as foxes and weasels have their dens, and a thick winter coat to help keep them warm. All of these homes and adaptations make it possible for these animals to survive the rigours of a Muskoka winter.

Where is your ‘winter’ home? Do you have a safe shelter to go to when conditions become tough? May we all, like the psalmist, find our shelter in the Lord Jesus Christ, who loves us with unfailing love and gave his life to save us and make us his own.