Animals in Winter: Survival at Zero Degrees

Monday, 21 November 2005 10:42

GREENWICH, CT.-When winter’s chill sets in each year, we turn up the thermostats indoors, but wildlife must adapt in other ways. How animals deal with winter and cold is the focus of the new exhibition titled Animals in Winter: Survival at Zero Degrees organized by the Bruce Museum of Arts and Science in Greenwich, Connecticut. The exhibition highlights more than 50 specimens from the Museum’s animal mount collection and includes touchable furs and hands-on activities for the whole family. Animals meet the challenges of the winter season and the effects of long term cold with diverse adaptations for enhancing survival. Dropping temperatures and shorter days trigger physiologic and behavioral changes in wildlife. These changes demonstrate the variety of successful strategies that animals use to continue the persistent cycle of life. Some animals escape the rigors of the coming deep freeze and scarcity of food by migrating to more favorable locations, some slow down and enter a state of hibernation or shorter term torpor, while others tough it out by remaining active. All have evolved adaptations that help them adjust to environmental conditions and survive the stresses of winter. The exhibition explores these three primary strategies for dealing with winter: migration, hibernation or torpor, and remaining active. Adaptations to winter may be temporary, seasonal ones within species, such as changes in fur and feathers, internal physiology, and eating habits. One example contrasts the bright yellow spring colors of the American goldfinch with its drab gray-green winter plumage. Other adaptations are morphological ones that demonstrate differences between similar species. Visitors can compare the eastern cottontail and the snowshoe hare, for instance, and learn why the hare’s wider feet and a larger size help it thrive in colder, snowier environments. Many birds, fish, and some insects such as the monarch butterfly migrate long distances in response to the changing seasons. Animals that cannot survive the stress of a New England winter leave this area, traveling thousands of miles to subtropical and tropical habitats. Some creatures, including numerous waterfowl that frequent on Long Island Sound, come into our area after leaving northern breeding grounds. Are Canada geese really from Canada? Find this out in the exhibition and learn the connection to the yellow neckbands on the geese in local parks. Examples of reptiles, fish, amphibians and insects are also on view to demonstrate how their metabolic rate slows down until a state of suspended animation is reached; they barely breathe and the heart slows almost to a stop. Some, such as the wood frog and spring peeper, can partially freeze without suffering damage to their tissues and revive again in spring; their secret involves a biochemical equivalent to antifreeze.

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