Nature’s Notes: How wildlife survive ice, snow

Ice storms present the most dangerous weather for many wild animals and much of the Midwest experienced thick ice in mid-January. Humans are lucky. We enjoy snug, heated homes and plentiful food during awful weather. So how animals as tiny as chickadees survive cold, ice and snow is one of nature's miracles.

Throughout winter many animals forage seeds, berries, and even frozen insects on the ground. An ice glaze seals off their food supply, and makes walking as hard for animals as it is for humans. Deep snow also restricts movement and makes finding food difficult.

During severe winters many wild animals don't survive. They normally can tolerate severe cold but when deep snow and ice keep them from eating, starvation results. Fortunately, animals have developed strategies that helps them survive the worst weather.

Most animals tolerate a few terrible weather days by staying in a sheltered place. Hunters call it 'holing up”. Wildlife forego eating and temporarily live on stored fat. In most years the ice melts before their fat is exhausted and they can resume seeking food. Squirrels and some birds cache food in fall that they retrieve during the winter, but perhaps the wisest animals hibernate and ignore wintry blasts.

Whether an animal survives often depends on the severity and, especially, the duration of bad weather. Ice and snow lingering for extended periods so restricts wildlife movement that starvation is common. In contrast, heavy snow or ice that melts soon after the storm passes is much less lethal. Usually the death season is late winter when food reserves are exhausted and the ground has been snow or ice covered for months.

Fortunately, snow and ice came late during the 2016/2017 winter making it more likely that many animals will survive.