The animals native to Oakland County Parks get creative to survive—and thrive –in winter. Some animals bulk up, and some store food. Others migrate. And then there are the animals who produce natural antifreeze!
The animals whose habitats we maintain and protect at Oakland County Parks continue to impress us with their ability to adapt.
“Take a minute outside and think about how amazing it is that everything from butterflies to blue jays survive even our coldest winters without the benefit of clothing or furnaces,” said Oakland County Parks Wildlife Program Coordinator Sean Zera.
In preparation for winter, some mammals found in Oakland County Parks eat extra food to increase their body’s fat storage. Thirteen-lined ground squirrels and groundhogs, two “true” local hibernators, sleep through the entire winter living only on their stored fat.
Other mammals hide extra food like acorns and hickory nuts in their homes. Species such as gray and fox squirrels even bury food in multiple places. And they remember! The squirrels return to the exact place where they buried food to dig it up.
Some mammals snack throughout the chilliest weather. Chipmunks store food in their burrows and spend much of the winter sleeping and waking every few days to eat. Beavers move leafy tree branches to the bottom of ponds to refrigerate and eat all winter even when the surface of ponds freeze.
Many Michigan bird species migrate in spring and fall. Great Lakes nesting birds spend only a small portion of their lives in Michigan and surrounding states, spending far more time migrating or living in warmer areas. Nearly 200 species of songbirds, waterfowl, raptors, marsh birds and shorebirds, including warblers, hummingbirds and sandhill cranes, migrate seasonally from the Great Lakes region south.
Other birds, such as snow buntings and crossbills move to our area from farther north. The white snow bunting with its black wings has been called a “snowflake.” South of the Arctic, snow buntings are winter birds and arrive to the Great Lakes region in fall and depart in spring, according to Audubon Great Lakes. In summer, they return to the Arctic, nesting in Greenland and northern Canada.
The American Robin spends the winter in Michigan. In fall and winter, robins roam in flocks of hundreds and gather at sources of food.
Species such as turtles move to deeper ponds that don’t freeze to the bottom, while snakes winter below the frost line in abandoned rodent burrows. And then there are the creatures who produce natural antifreeze! Wood frogs secrete a glucose that lowers the temperature at which they freeze. Many animals change the composition of their body fluid—to allow them to supercool without freezing.
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