RICHARD – Where Animals go in Winter
Most of us know that some birds fly south for the winter, and some animals hibernate through the cold winter months, but where do all the rest of the animals we usually see around Wisconsin go when the snow flies? Well, there are many things animals can do in the winter.

For instance, there is a difference between true hibernators and animals that are called sleepers. True hibernators put on extra weight in the summer and fall and sleep so deeply in the winter that they’re almost impossible to wake up; they slow their breathing and heart rate to almost none. Small hibernators like gophers and woodchucks burrow themselves into the ground. Amphibian and reptile hibernators like frogs and turtles bury themselves too, but in the mud of their lake, creek, or river below the frostline; they breathe by drawing oxygen from the air in the mud. The little brown bat happily sleeps away winter hanging upside-down deep in a cave. Some people think bears, like Wisconsin’s black bear, are hibernators, but they’re not! Black bears and skunks also store up fat and sleep very deeply, but they might get up and move around if the weather gets warm enough in winter.

Other types of animals stay active in the winter. It’s fun to look for tracks in the snow from animals like porcupines, deer snowshoe hares, and – if you can see them – voles and mice. These animals keep eating and moving around their habitat throughout the cold winter months. Fish are winter active animals, too. They move down to the warmer, deeper waters of their lakes and ponds. This is why you can go ice fishing in January!

Some insects lay their eggs just before it gets too cold and then die of old age. Adult crickets lay their eggs deep in the soil, and in the spring, more chirps fill the air as baby crickets emerge from the ground. Wasps are a little different. Worker wasps help prepare the queen wasp all summer. When the weather gets cold, the workers die, but the queen stays alive in a state called diapause. Their bodies shut down almost like they’re dead, but they’re not!

Lots of winged creatures fly south for the winter. Birds like the Canada goose migrate from Canada and the northern U.S. states like Wisconsin to more southern states like western Kentucky, Tennessee and southern Illinois. Butterflies fly south, too. Many species go to Mexico, but the same butterflies don’t return in the spring. Midwestern monarchs continue south all the way to the Sierra Madres of middle Mexico, where they spend the winter among fir forests at high altitudes. Winter monarch butterflies are kind of sluggish. On warm days they head out to look for nectar, but they don't reproduce. In spring they head north, breed along the way, and then die.

There are lots of animals that make their home in Wisconsin throughout the year. Can you think of more Wisconsin animals? Go try to find out where they go during the winter!