This program has been sponsored by Southern Health-Sante Sud Public Health, Healthy Living and Healthy Together Now funding.

This program has been sponsored by Southern Health-Sante Sud Public Health, Healthy Living and Healthy Together Now funding.

SPECIAL NOTE: This is also Vita & Area Winter Festival weekend, so plan to come out and spend the rest of your day in Vita enjoying dog sled races, curling, kids activities and so much more.

More Adventures with Nature Norm is coming up this weekend, learning about prairie species winter adaptations. 

Norm Gregoire from Shared Legacy says during a cold snap with heavy snow, like last week, we must remember that most of us have warm homes to return to and can easily prepare meals. 

“But every other species out there is going to have to find some way to survive these extreme temperatures. We’re talking about temperatures we get out here in the negative 40s with the wind chill and snowstorms and everything.” 

He says the idea of the adaptations our species has developed to survive in these climates and conditions is incredibly fascinating. 

A common way people think about species surviving the winter is through migration, similar to how snowbirds head south to escape the cold. 

“It’s easier for them to spend the calories flying out to search for warmer weather, so that’s a really easy one.” 

On last month’s adventure, Norm talked about bears and the idea of winter torpor or hibernation. 

“There are all sorts of species that do these sorts of winter dormancy periods, it’s not just bears, it’s not just small mammals,” says Norm. “We don’t think of it, but what about species-at-risk like snapping turtles or northern leopard frogs? Do they survive the winter? A snapping turtle sure doesn’t migrate hundreds of miles south. That would take them a long time.” 

He shares that they enter into something called a brumation, which is a reptile or amphibian version of hibernation. 

Norm continues, “What about the species that we see commonly throughout the winter? All these different hearty birds that we have, well, they have nice downy feathers.” 

The more common large animal we see is a whitetail deer and Norm says they are surviving the cold by making sure they have a nice layer of fat, an insulating layer. 

The event is taking place this Saturday, December 21 from 10 am to 12 pm at The Weston Family Tall Grass Interpretive Centre, and Norm says they will have some time exploring outside but then head inside for the rest of the presentation.  

“With these weather conditions, as hardy as we are here in the southeast, to spend a full two hours outside might be a bit of an ask.” 

Norm adds that he actually loves the colder weather and adventuring through the Tall Grass Prairie Preserve and any wooded area during winter. 

“It is much quieter, and you just hear a lot more as well. It’s a totally different experience out there and I think it’s easier for people to come and get out in warmer weather, but for me personally, it’s just so beautiful in the winter, it’s so pristine looking, with all that beautiful fresh snow.” 

Register for the walk by contacting Norm at 204-408-6166 or info@sharedlegacymb.ca.  

Love them or hate them, winters in Manitoba are inevitable. How we choose to spend the months of cold, snowy weather differs from person to person. Some people put on an extra layer and head outside to enjoy the fresh air. Some stay inside where it’s warm and protected. Others escape the winter completely by vacationing in the south. Every living creature that calls Manitoba home has their own way of spending this time of year; many of them resemble our own coping mechanisms.

When we think of how to get through the winter, one of the first thoughts is to avoid it altogether. For many species that call southern Manitoba home during the warmer months of the year, migrating south is the preferred choice to avoid the cold. This is most common with the many species of birds found in the province. Some birds, like the bobolink, have incredible migrations that can take them as far as Argentina to overwinter. There is risk to these migrations, including having to deal with variable weather, collisions with man-made structures along migrating routes, and being more susceptible to predation.

Although we think of birds as being the main migrators in our province, one of the most impressive migrations is done by an insect, the monarch butterfly. A creature that weighs less than a paper clip will make its way from southern Manitoba all the way to central Mexico, where they overwinter. It’s also impressive to think that the Monarchs that are making this journey were born in Manitoba during the summer and have never been to their overwintering grounds. How they know where to fly to is still somewhat of a mystery to researchers.

Another butterfly, the Powesheik skipperling, has an entirely different way to overwinter compared to the monarch. Like most insects found in Manitoba, the Poweshiek enters a state of diapause. This is a state of dormancy where an insect will suspend the development or growth of itself through challenging environmental conditions. The Powesheik spends the winter in a larval (caterpillar) state nestled in the dead grass and other plant material layer called the thatch layer, which provides some insulation from the elements. On top of the thatch layer, another important insulating layer, snow, is key to a successful overwintering.

When speaking of diapause in insects, the more familiar term of hibernation may come to mind. Hibernation is a term that is mostly associated with mammals such as ground squirrels. Brumation is another similar term that is used to describe the winter dormancy period of reptiles and amphibians like the snapping turtle and northern leopard frog. All these overwintering-dormancy terms differ slightly, but the key points to all are that the species bodily functions decrease significantly or become dormant until warmer weather and easier living arrive in the spring.

A special shout-out goes to the species like white-tailed deer who survive the winters by relying on putting on an extra layer of fat to survive through the lean winter months. This is my own personal way of surviving the deep cold, and luckily for me, the holiday feasts come at a great time to add a little extra insulation for the remainder of the winter. 

Adventures with Nature Norm

If you are interested in learning more about how Manitoban species survive our winters, join the next Adventures with Nature Norm event on December 21st from 10 am to 12 pm. I will be hosting a trail walk followed by an indoor presentation at the Weston Family Tall Grass Prairie Interpretive Centre. For more information or to register, please contact info@sharedlegacymb.ca.

Photo: Sunrise Corner