Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1912-01-01
HOW ANIMALS KEEP WARM.
Why They Fluff Out Fur or Feathers
or Flick Their Muscles.

! One day III the early part of the
winter I had my camera pointed at
the distant snow covered woods, when
| my attention was attracted by the
sight of two rabbits crouehing to-
gether at the foot of a hollow tree.
/ had often seen rabbits sitting in this
position in a cage and knew that it
was a habit among the members of the
rabbit family to sit side by side for
mutual warmth, sometimes heads to-
gether and sometimes head to tail
Every naturalist is familiar with
the fact that quail will cluster to-
gether under an overhanging bank.
\ naturalist told me that he once
found quail in such situation partly
imbedded in the ice and frozen. 1t
appears that the birds went there for
mutual warmth; then came a rain,
and the water trickling down the
bank, thoroughly soaked the birds,
froze before morning and thus held
them prisoners.
The thoughtful poultry man does
not let his hens go around the yard in
the winter, as was the old time GUS
tom, but keeps them in warm sheds
with glass fronts. Hens dislike to
have their feet touch snow or ice. If
they do so the hens try to keep them
warm by lifting up first one and then
the other ard holding it under the
feathers.
During the greater part of the day,
hens, when left to run about the yard
will get on a piece of wood and SEEM
ngly go to roost. What they are try
ing to do is to keep their feet warm
The better method is to house the
hens in dry place where they can
scratch clean straw and thus have ex
ereise and at the same time keep
their feet from the snow or the ice.
The eat has similar habit of get
ting on a high fence or a board in
some sunny place and then turning
her paws inward, 50 that no part re-
mains uncovered by fur and exposed
to the cold.
The dog that is apparently SILVER
ing with intense cold is not really
shiVerng, but is voluntarily Ticking
his body muscles and is thus aiding
the circulation, much as the circula
ton in your hands is aided by rub
bling them together or by rapidly open
ing and closing your fingers, or as the
circulation in your arms is fastened
by whipping them around your body.
The thick coat of wool on the sheep
is the best protective covering. not
only because it prevents the cold air
from touching the surface of the body
but because the great amount of air
entangled within it keeps the heat of
the body from passing freely away,
while the mass of wool itself keeps
the external air from rapidly cooling
the imprisoned warm air. and thus
cooling the body. But when the VIM
ter is unusually severe even the sheep
show their desire for warmth by
crowding against shed or a haystack
to protect their faces and legs from
the searching wind that forces itself
through the wool and forces out the
warm air entangled there.
The gray squirrel is heavily furred
in cold weather, but he delights to
snuggle down in the nest within the
hollow tree amid the dry grass. dead
leaves and tree dust which he has
collected to make his warm and cozy
quarters.
Warm air Is poor conductor of
heat. For this reason loose clothing
is warmer than tight The warm air
between it and the skin prevents the
heat of the tody from escaping rapid
~ Birds and other animals take ad-
vantage of this law of nature. a
sparrow in the crevice of a wall is not
only warming his feet against the
sunny stone but ne is pretty sure to
have his feathers so "huffed" up that
he seems to be much bigger than
natural, because he is letting the air
under his feathers get warm to pro-
tect his body,-A Writer in St Mich
olas.