The Elbert County tribune., 1904-12-29
Animals Feel
Coming Winter

q SibH- you nave ITcQuenteQ the
woods enough to claim an acquaint.
ance with the squirrels you can easily
detect whether they are making an
elaborate and hurried preparation-a
sign of a cold and early winter-or
slowly and listlessly preparing their
winter beds, which is regarded as a
sign of a mild or open" winter.
When in the early fall nearly every
squirrel you meet is carrying a big
bundle OF the fibers of cedar bark for
bedding. and is working with an en-
ergy that seems to show that he feels
he will very shortly need every scrap
he can get together to keep himself
warm, then. as my old hunter re-
marked, "the pine squirrel says we
are going to have early snow and lots
of 1t, and cold, hard winter"
But If. on the other hand, he gath
ers his bedding slowly and little at
time, just as he feels the need of 1t,
and seems to say by his manner:
Last night | slept little chilly:
guess l had better have another COW
erlet''; that is understood to be sign
of moderate winter.
After the pins squirrel the part
ridge, or ruffled grouse. is honored as
a weather prophet When in the fall
the hollow boom of the partridge's
drumming is heard in the thickets
bordering on the clearings. the woods
wise old-tlmers will tell you it Is
sign that tells of mild winter, or at
least long, warm fall season. The
partridge is drumming. they say, be-
cause he is happy. and he is happy
because he knows 1t is going to be a
mild winter If you find a partridge
with feathers on his legs and feet 1t
is sign of a severe winter. The in
ference is that the wise partridge,
knowing 1t would be cold, ordered a
pair of leggings along with his winter
suit. My chief objection to this sign
is that SO few get the information in
time to get their leggings. Partridges
with befeathered feet are always very
rare. and the rest of the poor things
must suffer with cold shanks.
The woods rabbit is also considered
weatherwise fellow. One of his
chief projections against his keen
eyed enemies is the harmonious
changing of the color of his coat. In
summer he is dead-leaf brown; in win
ter he is almost snow-white. But If.
when the first early snow covers the
ground, the rabbit is observed still
clothed in brown. or wearing a coat
of mixed brown and white, the OBJ
server believes that the snow will
soon melt away ard leave bare
ground. And when the rabbit appears
in, white in early fall 1t is considered
1. sign of a deep and lasting fall OF
snow. and that very soon.
For some the loon foretells the com
ing of winter. An old trapper once
said to me: when the loon leaves
it's time to be ready for winter" The
loon loves so well his summer haunts
on the northern inland waters that
he delays his trip south until the last
moment The mercury may take a
sudden drop; snow may fall in blind
ing clouds; but IL through the whirl-
ing, spectral whiteness the wild, trem-
ulous call of the loon comes tn your
ears be assured that the storm will
not be severe. Before the icy grip of
winter closes in earnest over forest
and lake the knowing loon will be
well away on his journey toward the
south.
Another sign to which trappers pay
attention is the fall house-building of
the beaver and the muskrat. These
two fur-bearing animals, although diff
fering widely in structure and habits,
build themselves winter quarters quite
similar in material and construction.
On the edge of their fagorite stream
they construct mound of mud and
sedge, with chambers in the center,
in which, when the ground is frozen
solid, the occupants are almost as Sc
cure as If they were incased in block
of granite. When these winter houses
are especially large, denoting an un-
usual thickness of the outer walls, it
is said to be sign of hard winter.
the builders having made their wall
extra thick to keep out the cold. II
the houses are built on higher ground
than usual, and farther away from the
waters edge, it is taken as a sign that
there will be extraordinarily high
water the following spring.
Still another sign which old hunters
often mention concerns insects in
stead of animals. When the hornets
nest hangs high in the bush they say
1t Is going to be severe winter, for
the hornets have hung their nest SO
high to keep it above the snow. When
the nest hangs low it will be an open
winter. l can vouch for this sign go
ing wrong once. A cold, rough winter
followed a fall when / noticed that
the hornets nest hung low.
Indeed, the signs are not always
infallible. Once l asked a man locally
famous for his experience and wood
craft his opinion of the approaching
winter, and all his predictions proved
to be faulty. The next spring when l
took him to task he repliad that drr.