Dear Oberon,
This long winter and heavy snow has been giving me the blues, even though my house is nice and warm.
How do animals handle it when they have to live outside in this weather?
Sincerely,
Thinking Spring

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Dear Thinking Spring,
Winter can feel like an endless time when you’re a summer bird. Well, my friend, there are several ways that different animals deal with the long, cold winters here in Vermont, and maybe one of those can help you cope.

There are three basic ways that animals can deal with these tough conditions. One is adaptation, where a species changes over time through natural selection to favor genetic traits such as thick or hollow fur, downy under-feathers, specialized circulation, thick layers of subcutaneous fat, and shorter extremities. These traits allow an animal to survive harsh conditions while still maintaining (or not substantially decreasing) their level of activity.

The second way that an animal might handle the cold winter is through long periods of dormancy. In warm-blooded species, this is called hibernation. There are several types of hibernation depending on the species of animal and their specific requirements, but they all involve massively slowed down metabolic rates. Some animals can stay in this state for months without any sort of activity. Some even have the ability to recycle their own wastes internally, so they don’t have to get up and go, if you know what I mean.

Finally, while some of us have the feathery fortitude to stick around and tough out the cold weather head on, some animals favor migration away from the cold climate. You’ll see this behavior in Monarch butterflies, Canada geese, and some nomadic humans.

So, to help you get through the winter, if you’d like to do like the animals do, you can either get better at keeping yourself warm using natural advantages such as fur, feathers, or fat; shack up and snooze until spring; or pack your bags and head for warmer climates.

As a human, you have a few other options as well, including purchasing a therapy light with a full-spectrum bulb to help your mind shake off the cobwebs of winter. You can also take up winter recreation to keep your body active such as cross country skiing/snowshoeing or igloo building.

We have just passed the Vernal Equinox, so spring truly is right around the corner for us. Hang in there, and keep thinking spring!