Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1903-12-09

The month has come when those of
earth's creatures which know not the use
of fire must make their preparations for
winter if they would survive its hard
ships. They are confronted with prob
lens which, if they are not already
solved. must be attended to ar once In
most cases their problems are those of
food and shelter; sometimes one, some
times both. Of coarse, the question OF
protection also comes up, and although
this Is always before them in some cases.
at least II requires special answer in
winter. For this reason the fur Of the
| Canadian hare, the ermine and some
other mammals, and the plumage of the
whlte-tailed ptarmigan, change from the
brown color of summer TO pure white,
making them practically invisible in the
SNOW. Then i'll order that they may
travel more easily over snoW-covered
ground, the feet of many animals are
subject TO peculiar notifications at this
season.
AS we all know, horny fringes grow
upon the toes of grouse. the hOofs of GER
tain deer become broader and the feet
OF rabbits become wide. hairy pads. But
these latter advantages. derived from
change of color or growth peculiar to the
season, are attained without any effort
on the part of the creatures themselves.
the winter. however, some animals are
obhged TO make active PREPARATION
Perhaps the best-known example of
such preparation IS that IF the beavers
which first make a pond by damming
stream with trees. brush, stones and
mud, and then, in the pond thus made
erect Stanch hutS whose roofs are well
above the water and whose doorways are
well below It. Here they spend the win
ter. swimming out under the ice III
search Of aquatic roots, or the bark of
trees and bushes growing near the water
or. when other food fails them, eating
the bark Of saplings carried to the bot
tom of the pond and stored away near
their huts in the autumn. Unfortunate
~, few of us ever get chance to see
either Of these animals or their works
| for not only have the beavers been al
most eXterminated, but those which still
survive often spend their winters III
holes in the banks Of streams. afraid to
make dam or rear hut lest it be the
| signal for massacre.
| We can, however. get some idea of the
beavers natural preparation for winter
by watching the muSkratS which have
somewhat similar habits. The muskrar
makes no dam, but chooses for the site
OF his winter home a pond already in
existence. Here he builds q hut or lodge
on the same general plan as the beavers
but much smaller. The material used
III It's construction is usually that which
is easiest to Obtain-sticks, leaves, moss
grass, and the stems of bulrushes, being
among the materials | have seen used
by this animal AS far as know, musk
rats lay up no food for the winter. but
depend entirely upon what they can pick
up from day to day. Like the beavers,
they are partial to the roots of aquatic
plants, and fragments of these are often
seen beneath the ice, where they have
i1oated from the spot where some raj
has been at work. Muskrats also go
out INTO the fields through holes in the
ice to eat any winter apples they may
ind under the trees, or to CLEAN corn or
other grain which may have been left
by the farmers. They occupy their we'll
built houses chiefly in the daytime
The Little Chief Hare or Plea of the
west IS another of our provident wild
creatures This little fellow is appar-
emily related to the rabbits on one side
and TO the rats on the other. Pleas live
on the slopes of the mountains. where
IN heles and crevices among the rocks
and boulders they find safe retreats
much time i'll gathering mountain plants,
which they pile into 'haystacks'' for
their use in the winter.
1t would probably be difficult to men
ton more provident animal than the
common chipmunk, which for months
now mas been carrying INTO his long.
winding. underground tunnel q store of
nuts. grains and seeds of different kinds
which would probably last him for two
winters if there should be a famine next
year
The red and the gray squirrels. too.
have been busy collecting nuts for sew
eIal weeks past. and many are the piles
of shellbarks and butternuts hidden away
in hollow trees, old woodchuck burrows,
and under PROSTATE logs in the woods
But these creatures are not nearly so de-