What's Your Nature?

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Cozy Quarters

Posted by Joshin Atone,
North Country explorer from San Francisco, California
February 11, 2013

While for many humans snow can casually be disregarded as nuisance or a recreational perk, it can be a life-saving blessing for many land mammals, particularly rodents. The evidence lies in a sharp decline in rodents in the North Country following a dry winter with little snow. In the winter, animals depend on natural shelters for protection, storage, and temperature regulation. Many animals find comfort in hybrid spaces that result from previous structures (such as trees and rocks) getting snowed over. This type of shelter can exist in areas of low snow and can form quickly (shelter made exclusively of snow requires much more time and many more layers of snow). Although cold when touched, snow contains large amounts of air, which functions as a powerful insulator and regulator of heat—an imperative necessity for North Country animals. Snow also serves as a camouflage device from air predators such as hawks; smaller rodents will crawl into the small space between snow and land, while other adapted organisms such as the snowshoe hare can use its while coat to blend into the glowing white surface.