February 14, 1985 - When the Snow MeltsPage 14 The SuffOlii Times FebruaryA4,, 1985
When the Snow Melts
By PAUL STOUTENBURGH
The recent snow has hidden and pro-
tected many events under its surface
and only when the snow melts will we
see evidence of what was going on
through the winter. Take any vacant
lot that has had a few years to revert
to weeds and bushes and you'll have an
area that's been invaded by mice and
voles. These perpetual consumers are
on the go all winter long, eating and
storing their food supply despite the
blanket of snow covering the ground.
Later, when the snow melts, we'll see
their semi - tunnels of dried grass and
debris weaving their way along the
ground from one bit of forage to another.
Without the snow cover they could
fall prey to hawks by day and owls and
foxes by night. Of all the hunters, the
owls are by far the most specialized. Not
only do they have keen eyesight but
their sense of hearing is unbelievable.
In laboratory tests owls have located
their prey in total darkness. We can
marvel at today's electronic advances,
but a ball of feathers weighing a few
ounces is a hard match for man.
With winter snow and ice our ponds,
creeks and bays freeze over. The frozen
freshwater pond surface protects the
water below from freezing solid, and it
is here in the mud in an almost death-
like stance that snails, turtles, fish and
insects live out the winter. I can re-
member skating as a kid and falling on
tl._ ice, then looking down to a super -
clear icy pane to the bottom below. It
was like looking into another world, one
of stillness. Yet lying half- hidden on
the pond bottom was a big snapping tur-
tle. I'm sure if we could have checked,
its heart would have been beating al-
Focus on
Nature
most undetectably. This is nature's way
of getting through the winter months.
Some Live - Some Don't
I know the goldfish in the old irriga-
tion pond down back survive, but even
here winter takes its toll. For each
spring, after the ice has broken up and
melted, dead goldfish come to the top
and are found around the pond edges.
What proved to be a disaster for the
goldfish becomes a reward for the rac-
coon. I can find his footprints around
the pond's edge as soon as the goldfish
come to the surface.
The same is true about creeks and
bays. Below in a semi- dormant world
clams, scallops, starfish, worms, killies
and untold others hang on to a thread
of life through winter. Perhaps you've
seen men out on our creeks spearing for
the dormant eels through the ice. I've
done this many times. As you probe you
"feel an eel," then up comes the long -
handled spear dripping with icy water;
hopefully at the end there's a slow -mov-
ing eel that's been disturbed from its
winter's sleep.
Besides animals, there are some
plants that never stop though the snows
and ice persist. Skunk cabbage is one
plant that, through a chemical in its
makeup, generates its own heat thereby
melting the ice and snow around it. This
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Photo by Paul Stoutenburgh
SKUNK CABBAGE - -Right now you can go into almost any freshwater
swamp and find the skunk cabbage breaking through the frozen ground.
In its internal chemistry, heat is created to melt the surrounding area.
permits the plants to grow right
through the winter. True, when it is
extremely cold growth practically stops,
but just let it warm up the slightest bit
and it will flourish and even flower. It
has to get a head start, for once warmer
weather comes, all the rest of the green
world will flourish and shade the
swamp where the skunk cabbage grows.
Just as the mourning cloak butterfly
can be seen throughout the winter
whenever there's a "warm spell," so it
is with other insects that move about
and find the flower of the skunk cabbage
and pollinate it.
The more we study the world around
us, the more we see that each niche in
the "big story" has its player. Knowing
this, we come to realize that in this big
story we are just a part. It behooves us
to try to play out our role without un-
duly jeopardizing the rest of our world.
I - ;, inI
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