A Love Letter to Beavers
Beavers get a bad rap that they really don’t deserve. These skilled engineers are a keystone species across North America, positively altering habitat and creating entire ecosystems that benefit many more organisms than just themselves. Trapping for the fur trade and habitat destruction have reduced their numbers, but lucky for us, beavers are alive and well in our neck of the woods!
Bat Hibernation
When winter comes around, and the last of the bugs disappear until the spring, a particular group of flying mammals must find a way to survive the winter without their only food source. Bats, along with groundhogs and chipmunks, are one of the few groups of mammals in the Blue Ridge that enter a state of true dormancy or hibernation. This state of low activity and reduced metabolic rate is called torpor, a state of efficient energy consumption that lets bats go for up to a month without drinking, eating, or moving.
Fox Squirrel
The fox squirrel that first appeared in the yard on December 12 continues to return periodically. This morning, Christmas Eve, it came to the pole feeder in front of the study window, enabling me to take a photo in spite of the cloudy weather.