Four months of blissful sleep. In the spring they usually appear as sleek and fat as if they had been well fed all the time. The secret lies in the fact that during the period of hibernation the bodily functions all but cease. Heart action is barely perceptable and respiration becomes very slow and light. Digestion of course ceases entirely.
Robins are back.
Varied thrushes are whistling from the tree tops. Jays are building nests. Snowshoe rabbits are changing their coats. Skunk cabbage is blooming. Elderberry bushes are budding.