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To the Vole Cave! To the Vole Cave!
(2 days later)
Violent winds and snow, temperatures in the negative numbers — humans have it easy these days.Violent winds and snow, temperatures in the negative numbers — humans have it easy these days.
Staring out the window into the heart of a blizzard, I have only to walk over to the thermostat for heat. But life continues in the brutal conditions outside. There are plants that lose their leaves, or even their entire aboveground stems in preparation for winter. And though some animals sleep through the worst of winter, some simply have no choice but to live through the frigid weather.Staring out the window into the heart of a blizzard, I have only to walk over to the thermostat for heat. But life continues in the brutal conditions outside. There are plants that lose their leaves, or even their entire aboveground stems in preparation for winter. And though some animals sleep through the worst of winter, some simply have no choice but to live through the frigid weather.
Winter is not an easy time for most plants and animals; even in the best circumstances, it often means the grinding, slowing-down of existence. It often spells the end of weak or incapacitated individuals. So it may seem odd for winter’s symbol, snow, to be a force of moderation. In the northeast, snow can be a surprising game changer for its smallest residents.Winter is not an easy time for most plants and animals; even in the best circumstances, it often means the grinding, slowing-down of existence. It often spells the end of weak or incapacitated individuals. So it may seem odd for winter’s symbol, snow, to be a force of moderation. In the northeast, snow can be a surprising game changer for its smallest residents.
One of the miraculous, tiny creatures which remain active below the snow is a small, warm gray mammal, the meadow vole. Chief among its attributes, Microtus pennsylvanicus is cute. Measuring five to eight inches from the snout to the tip of a tail just a bit longer than a hamster’s, they are pudgy, with short rounded ears, a rounded head, and though perpetually active, they’re somehow not very mousy. They forage throughout the four seasons, and during warmer months can even be observed in broad daylight, scurrying through the matted vegetation in damp meadows and fields. Active night or day, they are driven by an enormous appetite and the ever-present need to feed their young. Locally, meadow voles may produce six or seven broods a year, which is handy for an animal at the bottom of the food chain. One of the miraculous, tiny creatures that remain active below the snow is a small, warm gray mammal, the meadow vole. Chief among its attributes, Microtus pennsylvanicus is cute. Measuring five to eight inches from the snout to the tip of a tail just a bit longer than a hamster’s, they are pudgy, with short rounded ears, a rounded head, and though perpetually active, they’re somehow not very mousy. They forage throughout the four seasons, and during warmer months can even be observed in broad daylight, scurrying through the matted vegetation in damp meadows and fields. Active night or day, they are driven by an enormous appetite and the ever-present need to feed their young. Locally, meadow voles may produce six or seven broods a year, which is handy for an animal at the bottom of the food chain.
Also handy for the meadow vole are the mysterious and contradictory insulating qualities of snow.Also handy for the meadow vole are the mysterious and contradictory insulating qualities of snow.
The white blanket that winter throws over the northeast is actually a fluffy, air-filled barrier between worse weather, and many plants and animals have learned to use it as a tool for survival. Though hardly balmy, temperatures beneath the snow rarely dip much below freezing. Just a few inches of powder is all the insulation necessary between brutal and tolerable. With arctic cold fronts and “bomb cyclones” assaulting New York with -9 degree results, temperatures under the snow remain roughly 32 degrees — about 40 degrees warmer.The white blanket that winter throws over the northeast is actually a fluffy, air-filled barrier between worse weather, and many plants and animals have learned to use it as a tool for survival. Though hardly balmy, temperatures beneath the snow rarely dip much below freezing. Just a few inches of powder is all the insulation necessary between brutal and tolerable. With arctic cold fronts and “bomb cyclones” assaulting New York with -9 degree results, temperatures under the snow remain roughly 32 degrees — about 40 degrees warmer.
By the time snows have arrived, meadow voles have started to undergo an interesting transformation; they experience a reduction in the level of sex hormones. This allows these highly territorial animals to live and forage more closely. The tiny mammals excavate yards of trails beneath the snow, and are not only safe from winter’s worst cold, but are surrounded by their preferred foods, and hidden from the ever-inquisitive eyes of hawks and owls, foxes, coyotes and feral cats. There is not a winter-active predator that doesn’t have a taste for meadow vole.By the time snows have arrived, meadow voles have started to undergo an interesting transformation; they experience a reduction in the level of sex hormones. This allows these highly territorial animals to live and forage more closely. The tiny mammals excavate yards of trails beneath the snow, and are not only safe from winter’s worst cold, but are surrounded by their preferred foods, and hidden from the ever-inquisitive eyes of hawks and owls, foxes, coyotes and feral cats. There is not a winter-active predator that doesn’t have a taste for meadow vole.
When wind whips thick snow drifts into modern sculpture, and blizzards transform the familiar five boroughs into an alien landscape, there is some comfort to be found in the season’s underlying benefit for some of the smallest New Yorkers.When wind whips thick snow drifts into modern sculpture, and blizzards transform the familiar five boroughs into an alien landscape, there is some comfort to be found in the season’s underlying benefit for some of the smallest New Yorkers.