Northern Wisconsin advertiser. [volume] (Wabeno, Wis.) 1898-1925, 1903-03-12

survive the winter spin for them
selves cocoons so compact, so dense
and tough of texture as to be scarcely
penetrable by cold or any other
enemy. A curious fact, and one worth
noting, is that alternating insects al
ways try to ensconce. themselves in
shady place-somewhere where the
sun will not strike them. The reason
for this is that the greatest danger
to which they are subjected during
their period of coma is that of alter
nate freezing and thawing, If they
freeze and stay frozen till, spring, no
harm as a rule will result. But if
they should freeze and then thaw out
with temporary renewal of vital
functions, and then freeze again,
death would probably ensue-it GER
tainly would l. the process were re-
peated several times. So you VIII
always find your alternating worms,
bugs and beetles on the shady side
of buildings, etc, as well as under
boards. logs and stones that should
protect them from the rays of the
ST.
Ants seek winter quarters by bur-
rowing deep into the ground, far be-
low the chambers which they use In
the warmer months. Many other bur-
rowing insects have foresight enough
to get below the frcst-line before they
curl themselves up for their winter
maps.
Some fishes sleep during a good
share of the winter, lying partly i'm
bedded in the mud at the bottom OF
streams, lakes and ponds. Occasion
ally they will huddle together in over
tapping masses, somewhat after the
manner of alternating snakes.
Natures more highly-developed chill
dren are provided with even snugger,
although less curiously interesting,
beds than those of the lower orders.
The woodchuck, with thick coating
of autumn fat for nightgown, retlres
to the farthest and lowest chamber
of his underground burrow, where
he has provided a bed of grass, curls
himself UP in ball, and sinks into
slumber as profound as that OF the
seven sleepers-to emerge in the
snring as thin as a rail and as hungry
as a shark. What an inexpensive
and care-free way of getting through
the most necessitous period OF the
wear, To be sure, the positive joys
of existence are Cancelled, but so are
IFS labors. sufferings and anxieties.
And then that newborn joy OF waking
in the spring, and greeting with re-
freshed body and spirit the sun ana
fields. as if one had been Immersed
for four months in the fountain OF per
petual youth, 1t is a signlhcant TACT
that the alternating animals i've com
naratively long lives-the woodchuck
LONGER than the fox, the bear longer
than the dog, the chipmunk longer
than the rabbit. Much sleep conduces
to longevity. This is a fact worth
remembering.
There is a curious folklore notion
about bears with as much truth IN IL
as in folklore tales generally, and
they AL nave a gram VI u uth's 49,
during the winter sleep they SUCK
their paws. and thus derive sufficient
nourishment to sutsain them until
cnring This is true to the extent
that bears do lie, during Information
with their faces buried in their paws,
and that they do subsist until spring
upon the food stored up in their own
bodies. the accumulated fat, or
"bear's grease" of commerce Hunt
ers seek to capture bears either Just
before Information begins, or Just
otter # has begun, for the sake OF Sc
curing this valuable supply OF tat ialo
mn for the animals winter food. !
Among our common New Enlgand
souirrels there is a remarkable Varld-
tion of habit as regards alternating.
Tbus. ,ae red squirrel does not pass
into a rtate Of coma at all during the
winter: the gray squirrel does SO
only for periods of the coolest
weathe-: the chipmuni wakes, pei
hans 2 dozen times before spring, to
seek the food stored up by it in ante