UMaine's forest is home to a variety of animals during the winter
In February, I set up a game camera in the University of Maine Forest. Here's what I found.
By Kathryn Busko
4/2/24
A stream in the UMaine Forest on January 27, 2024, shortly after a snowstorm.
Photo By: Kathryn Busko
According to Ed Robinson, a lifelong naturalist writing for the Harpswell Heritage Land Trust, gray squirrels eat nuts and seeds during the winter. They gnaw on deer antlers and bones for calcium and other minerals. Gray squirrels do not hibernate, rather, according to Robinson, they sleep for a few days at a time and then venture out to eat and avoid freezing. Several squirrels may gather in one place for the winter to share body heat. A group of squirrels is called a "scurry" or a "dray."
A white-tailed deer investigating the game camera. According to an article by Joe Wiley and Chuck Hulsey, two wildlife biologists, deer have several adaptations to help them survive the winter. Their large body size helps them conserve heat by lowering their surface-area-to-volume ratio, i.e. how much of their body is exposed to the elements as compared to its volume. Their winter coat features a dense undercoat. To cope with a winter diet that has less protein than their summer diet, they store fat in the fall. This also creates insulation. Deer travel in large groups during the winter to help conserve the energy needed to maintain a trail system for food and to avoid predators. A Deer Wintering Area (or "deer yard") is a place where deer gather in the winter to avoid the wind and deep snow.
According to Meghan McCarthy McPhaul, an associate editor for Northern Woodlands magazine, raccoons can sleep up to a month at a time, but they don't hibernate during the winter. Like deer and squirrels, raccons will gather in groups during the winter, despite their usually solitary nature. They will make tree cavities or underground burrows their home. They will even steal dens from other animals.
According to the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, Maine is home to two species of fox-- red foxes and gray foxes. Researchers at the Univerisity of New Hampshire studied Maine foxes. They found that snow depth had a significant effect on where foxes are found in the winter, possibly because deep snow interferes with their ability to capture prey.
Crow feeding on pieces of a deer carcass. According to an article by Ron Johnson, an Extention Wildlife Specialist, crows in the northernmost part of their range will migrate to winter south of the U.S.-Canada border. They use wooded areas for nesting. They are omnivores and appear equally adept at hunting, pirating, and scavenging. Notably, crows congregate in huge flocks during the winter.
I set up the game camera in the section of the forest beside the Bryand Global Science Center. On this map, the forest is to the right of the building.