The Warmth of Snow

A blanket of snow covers Central New York and with it come chilly temperatures. Although the freezing temperature may keep us inside, the snow gives us a great opportunity to see what kinds of wildlife are right outside our door.

Winter is a time for dormancy for many animals, but not all. Take a walk through The Woods and you'll find tracks from deer, rabbit, fox, raccoon, squirrel, and maybe even mink. These mammals have great furry bodies to help keep them warm during the winter but the smaller mammals use the snow to keep themselves warm.

Yes, that's right. Small mammals use the snow to stay warm. This actually isn't as crazy as it sounds. Layers and layers of snow can create an insulation where animals like mice, voles, and shrews can seek shelter from the cold and from predators. As they scurry under the snow, they make tunnels. You can see evidence of tunneling that look like this:

 And when all the snow melts away, you'll find their tunnels in the grass like this:

Seeking shelter under snow eliminates the wind chill factor and with the benefits of the snow's insulating properties, this makes a huge difference to those small animals and for humans, too. Have you ever built a quinzee? Although you may not have heard of this term, if you have ever dug into a pile of snow that was plowed to the end of your driveway, you've made a quinzee.

Try it!
You will need:

• A lot of snow
• A shovel
• Waterproof winter apparel

Build a snow pile that's as tall as you are. Once you've made your pile of snow, go find yourself a hot beverage or go for a hike: the snow needs to settle for at least an hour. To make an easy quinzee, start with snow that's already piled up. As I mentioned before, those piles of snow left by plows are great starters and they've already been sitting around and settling. When you come back to your settled snow, now you can start digging. Once you've excavated a space for you to crawl into, spend a little time in there. Maybe even spend the night! Eventually your body heat will be insulated by the snow and you'll find the space to be quite comfortable.

The snow and cold is inevitable in CNY and many of us embrace it through sledding, snowshoeing, cross country skiing, downhill skiing, or snowboarding. Our time is mostly spent on top of the snow but I'd like to challenge you to spend some time underneath the snow!


Blog post by Anna Leiss