The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-03-18

oyerseed-lOvers that it generally prevails.
Ihey are a pouch-cneeked family with
ootn the means and instinct of storing
winter supplies-a condition il would
seem favorable to activity. while beavers.
N uskrats, moles, etc, that depend on
growing things, and weasels, minks,
Shunks, OpOsSums, etc. that deDend
largely on living things. have never ac-
CURED the habit. The seed-storinp habit.
however, implies that in the warmer DAYS
OF winter these creatures awake and take
1000. Prominent among these are the
squirrels (SpermOphilesl ground SQUIRRELS
(tamlas) gophers (geOmys) and to a GER
Tain extent our common tree squirrels.
Inc marmots, including our wood
chuck or ground hog and the vari-
Gus species of prairie dogs of the west.
are very similar TO the spermophiles in
| their torpor, but their food is much more
succulent and much less capable of being
| stored. This may account for the tradi-
tlonal February appearance of the wood
chuck, for if he wakes and is hungry he
| must come aboard to eat The only re-
manning mammals that l can now recall
| which hibernate are our bats They seek
| caVerns and crevices and hang up bv
thum bs and toes the winter through. 1t
Is SAID, however, that their diurnal sleep
exhibits all the physiological phenomena
of true Information.
1t Will be seen from these examples-so
diverse in structure and habit, that there
IS no law running through the usual class
i1cation which regulates this condition.
Among the mustellid@ martens, minks,
| etc., Which are all carniVorous the
badger is the only winter sleeper (except
a slight tendency to inactivity in the
skunk already noticed.) This NAV posi-
bly, be on account of the torpor of the
spermophlles on which he so largely feeds
and the suggestiveness of his cozy bur
row.
OF course all the amphibie hibernatein
the mud of streams or ponds. This in
cludes the frogs, salamanders, etc, and
the turtles. Dry land tortoises bury
| themselves in the earth. Pets of this
creature will remain content in confne-
ment during summer, but at the approach
of winter, they begin scratching at the
| door for escape. Sometime during the
night they disappear, turning up" in the
| spring again with the dirt on their back.
Snakes, it is well known, often hiber-
| nate in great bundles. Varions spe-
| C1es that are enemies in activity now
| tolerate each other in a community of
warmth. They are usually under large
| rocks or in burrows of some other Crea-
! ture-below the frost line. A curious fact
is noted, that the bite of some poisonous
snakes are harmless when they are first
awakened. The venom, exhibiting many
elements of highly nutritive fluid, is
perhaps absorbed during this time of
| need, but in the 8stivation of poisonous
kinds in the tropics this is found not to
be the case. Lizards lie around under
logs and stones and come out early to bask
| in the sun.
1t is well known that insects and spid-
ers hibernate. The continuation of the
species OF many-like the common house
ty-depends upon it. Some of our but
tertiieS hibernate, some emigrate, other
live only through the winter in the chry-
sails condition. Even some caterpillars lie
dormant ontside of a cocoon. The "woolly
bear" or lover worm" Of the tiger moth
may often be seen crawling about in the
early warm days. All our air breathing
mollusks go into torpidity early. Our
| common snail is an interesting example.
BY collecting a few in the early fall it
may be observed how they seal them
selves up for this purpose.
Perhaps the first creature not an insect
to show its release from the continuous
torpor of winter is the little cricket frog,
whose peep" usually indicates the de-
parture of frost from the earth
JAMES NEWTON BASKET.