The Bridgeport evening farmer. [volume] (Bridgeport, Conn.) 1866-1917, 1917-01-31
BRUINS WINTER
SLEEP NOT SOUND
AS is PICTURED
alternating Mammals OF
Maine Discussed. By
Hunter.

According to an old hunter, there
are manv mammals in Maine which
sleep so soundly through the Winter
as to be oblivious of what is going on
around them.
"Our raccoons and SkunkS and
bears crawl away to hiding places
and seem to be torpid" says the vet
eran, "but they quickly awaken and
become active when their dens are
invaded by human Or other foes.
ssTwice I have seen bears uncover
ed from under fallen trees during
very cold weather in Mid-Winter, and
in both cases the animals were awake
and on The defensive as soon as the
choppers could get at them.
"Raccoons do not hibernate in the
sense of becoming unconscious. They
den up in hollow trees and logs, but
let some one come along and strike
the tree a smart blow and they are
up and dressed and ready to flee as
family aroused by a fire alarm.
During nearly every Winter thaw
bears, skunks and raccoons come out
and prowl around, sometimes going
miles away from their Winter quar-
tiers.
'"The greedy little chipmunk sleeps
no more hours in Winter than in Sum-
mer. He stocks up well with food
and lives comfortably in his hole, far
below the frost line, generally alone.
I have talked with many close observ-
ers of animal habitsS and as yet 1
have found none who ever saw two
chipmunks dwelling in the same
apartment.
..Skunks, however, are very soc1able
in their Winter ways. One Winter.
when a barn in Waldo County was
burned, the charred bodies of eight
skunks were found in the ruins. Rae
coons have slight objections to receiv-
ing sleeping partners in their dens, but
bears seem to be morose and solitary
brutes, which have no liking for their
kind.
saThe woodchuck, however, sleeps
soundly enough to make up for the
wakefu1ness of the other creatures.
Boys who have put tame woodchucks
in barrels in the cellar to spend the
Winter have taken the torpid animals
out and carried them miles in their
arms without disturbing their slum-
bers.
"a fat Eoodchuck may be taken
from its Winter quarters, and placed
beside hot stove for half an hour
without awaking 1t, but when slum-
bering woodchuck is warmed and
rubbed until it is fully awake 1t is
about the most disagreeable beast liv-
ing. Although it may have been as
tame as pet kitten when put away,
it will gnash its teeth and show every
sign of rage if aroused from it's long
slumbers before the pussy willows be-
gin to show.
cit requires long hunting and great
patience to find slumbering bat in
mid-Winter. They are so small they
can hide in almost any crevice, and
their color is so subdued, that unless
one looks sharply he can't find them.
The general impression is that bats
hibernate from October to April, as
they are never seen lying about dur
ing cold weather.
Years ago I found seemingly tor
pid bat concealed in a wade of hay in
the mortise Of beam in the hay
barn. It was mid-Winter and cold at
that, and I tucked the little creature
into one of my thick wooden mittens
and brought it home to thaw out as a
pet.
Before I had time to study much
into its habits, however, the ungrate-
full pest bit me sharply on the thumb,
and when I had recovered from my
surprise 1t had flown away.
Nearly all reptiles, including frogs,
toads, snakes and turtles, bury them
selves below the frost line in Winter
and remain sluggish and, at times,
torpid until Spring. If a frog is taken
from it's Winter bed of mud and plac-
ed in a pool, it will at once swim
away, although slowly at first.
'The little nevis, or salamanders,
and the lizards are not among my
close studies, and I cannot say any
thing as to their Winter habits. I
have left nevis out of doors in a pail
of water over night and had. them
freeze as solidily as ice, and when
they thawed put they did not show
any i'll effects from the, refrigerating
process"