The sun rises for fewer hour each day; light is low on the horizon. The scent of wood smoke is common, blowing in on the prevailing wind from the northwest.
While humans are warming up by the stove or fireplace the creatures living in the woods find their comfort in the pine and hemlock forest. These native conifers provide a break from the snowpack of winter. Squirrels have hidden their food caches and deer can move easily with the reduced snow cover. By day, deer will often move to the oak stands with southwestern exposures, where it will be warmer and the snow will settle and melt more quickly. The settled snow allows them to “paw” down to find acorns to maintain calories.
Beavers are snuggled in their lodges. They can swim under the ice and find dinner from the branches they had stored in the late fall. Bears have slowed down. The females are patiently waiting for the cubs to be born. The males become a little slower but are revived with any day that warms up above freezing; the search for food overpowers their desire for dormancy.
Predators do what predators do, they hunt. Constantly on the move, searching for any other warm-blooded animal to make a mistake. Each animal leaves its stories in the snow of the drama that played out between hunter and prey. After each snowfall, another chapter begins.
Winter in the forest is an important part of its cycle. Sustained frigid temperatures of below zero are necessary to kill or slow down the spread of forest pests like Hemlock wooly adelgid and Red pine scale. Variations in winter temperature ranges can mean the thriving or failing of species.
A tree’s winter dormancy is important for its health. Prolonged unseasonably warm temperatures during the winter, which then flash freeze back to normal winter levels can cause tree trunks to crack. These cracks become points of entry for disease and forest pests and can also depreciate potential forest product values.
New England foresters embrace the winter. Deep frost, heavy snowpack, and cold temperatures are all the ingredients for a healthy forest.
