How do frogs survive the winter?

One of our patrons, who has in the past been concerned about how deer and birds stay warm, was recently concerned about how the tree frogs and peepers around their house make it through the winter. We found the answer in Frogs: A Chorus of Colors by John L. Behler and Deborah A. Behler and a Scietific American article helpfully titled “How do frogs survive winter? Why don’tthey freeze to death?” that cites Rick Emmer, a former zookeeper at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo.

While aquatic frogs will hibernate in the water, resting on the mud, and toads will burrow beneath the frost line, peepers can’t dig as well. They’ll find cracks and crevices to nestle down in, or find old leaves to hide under. When the weather gets cold, though, these can’t protect them from freezing. Fortunately, some frogs have found a way to adapt. As temperatures gradually dip, their bodies become saturated with glucose, which acts as an antifreeze protecting their vital organs. The rest of their bodies freeze, their hearts stop beating, and they stop breathing. Once the weather is warm again, they thaw and return to life.

How Do Deer Make It Through the Winter?

"How do deer make it through the winter?” 

Even as hot as it’s been lately, one of our patrons is looking ahead to colder months, concerned for the deer that have to weather them. We found our answers in Leonard Lee Rue III’s The Deer of North America and Way of the Whitetail and the websites of New Brunswick’s Natural Resources Department, the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department, and the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.

In the fall, deer begin to grow out their winter coat. Grayish-brown in color, the winter coat is comprised of hollow hairs and a dense undercoat and provides excellent insulation. Deer’s metabolism will also drop, allowing them to get by on less food.

Even with their winter coats, cold winds can chill, and deep snow requires a lot of energy to move through. To avoid the wind and snow, deer in the north will move to wintering areas, also known as deer yards, which can be anywhere from a few to a hundred acres and can draw in deer from all over the area. The most important function of a deer yard is to provide cover, so they’re typically found in swamps and gullies with good stands of evergreens.

While moose will lie down in the snow and use it as a blanket, deer prefer to make their beds by pawing down to the leaves and sleeping there. As another way of conserving energy, they’ll move as little as possible. During a bad snowstorm, they may not even leave their beds – an impulse many of us can understand.

How Do Birds Stay Warm In The Winter?

"How do birds stay warm in the winter?" One of our patrons stocks several birdfeeders year-round. With the cold weather we've been having lately, she was worried about how her birds were keeping warm. Putting "how do birds stay warm" into an online search engine showed that this is a popular concern.

Some birds will fly south for the winter, especially the species that eat insects rather than seeds. However, the ones that stick around in snowy climes have their own ways to stay cozy. Birds' natural oils help waterproof their feathers, and some birds will grow extra feathers for the winter. Like people, they can shiver to stay warm, and they're also known to sit in the sun when they can, sometimes spreading their wings to get as much sun as possible. When sunshine isn't an option, they fluff up their feathers to trap pockets of air, which then serve as excellent insulation. On especially cold nights, some will enter a torpor, dramatically lowering their body temperature and heartbeat so as to conserve warmth. They may also huddle together and share heat that way.

To keep their legs warm, birds can either stand on one leg, tucking the other up under their feathers, or hunker down to keep both legs cozy. According to an article at birding.about.com, the special scales on birds' legs also can help retain heat.

Bird lovers have several ways to help their feathered friends make it through the winter. Providing good winter food such as suet and black oil sunflower seeds will give birds the calories they need to stay warm. Keeping a heated birdbath will give them a reliable source of drinking water. Finally, having a clean birdhouse, roost box, or just a yard full of evergreen trees and shrubs can give birds a snug place to roost. Sally Roth's "Attracting Birds to Your Backyard" suggests putting your old Christmas tree outside where it can serve as a shelter.

For information on building birdhouses and birdfeeders, patrons can check out some of the books we have here at the library, including Paul Meisel's "Bird-Friendly Nest Boxes & Feeders" and Don McNeil's "The Birdhouse Book." For information on attracting and feeding birds, we have "North American Birdfeeder Guide" by Robert Burton and Stephen W. Kress, and "Attracting Birds to Your Backyard" by Sally Roth.

Did I Experience A Frost Quake?

"When it was so cold out, I heard a loud sound and felt my house shake. I heard it might have been a frost quake. Could you give me more information about that?" The extreme temperatures on January 6th and 7th caused the Newton Falls Public Library to close, and we wouldn't be surprised if they caused some strange weather conditions as well.

Breanna Draxler explains the science behind frost quakes in an article for the Discover Magazine blog. Also called cryoseisms, frost quakes occur when a cold snap follows a warm spell. Rain and melting snow seep into the earth, and then when it's cold again, they freeze and expand, cracking the frozen soil around them as they do. Frost quakes typically happen between midnight and dawn, when the night's at its coldest. They're fairly rare, and, fortunately, they don't often cause any damage.

According to Bob Downing's article in the Akron Beacon Journal, there's no way to prove that the loud boom that some Northeast Ohio residents experienced was a frost quake. However, the conditions were ideal, so it's a strong possibility. If people have been hearing their houses creak a lot lately, that can also be explained by the weather -- wood contracts in the cold, and wood joints may move a fraction of an inch.

For more information on unusual weather conditions, the Newton Falls Public Library has the National Audubon Society's Field Guide to Weather, Christopher C. Burt's Extreme Weather, and Bruce Buckley, Edward J. Hopkins, and Richard Whitaker's Weather: A Visual Guide available for borrowing.

Can I Really Save on Fuel Consumption by Changing Gasoline Companies?

“I was talking to my car mechanic; lately I’ve been using more gas, getting about 20% less miles per gallon. He said that in the winter, gas companies change the formula which results in a mpg decrease. He also said to change from company A to company B, and that I would notice a improvement after a few tanks. Is that true?” Considering the rising gas prices, the staff of the Newton Falls Public Library found this to be extremely interesting.

First we searched “miles per gallon in winter months” at http://www.ohioweblibrary/. Not finding an article there, we did a Google search of the same words, and were amazed by the number of hits for online forums and discussion groups. It seems that this topic concerns everyone from Ford to Mercedes Benz owners. Searching Click and Clacks’ website http://www.cartalk.com/ brought up an article as well as one at http://ask.cars.com/. After looking at the various articles, it seemed to our patron that the consensus was gas doesn’t burn as well in lower temperatures, tires are less inflated due to the cold, and the winter-blend gasoline which stations begin using in the late fall affect gas use. While our patron cannot control the outdoor temperature or the necessity of using winter-blend gas, she did plan on making sure her tires were properly inflated.

Our patron’s second concern was if changing the type of gas would improve miles per gallon use. We searched “mpg gas station” for her and again found a variety of opinions as to which was the best to purchase. Many recommended recording the odometer reading each time the gas tank is filled. Subtracting the old reading from the new to determine how many miles were driven. Then dividing the miles by how many gallons were put in the tank will give the miles per gallon use. To determine accurately how a different gas affects this number, the car owner would have to consistently use one type of gas over a period of time, until the gas from another company is no longer mixed in the tank of newer gas.

Is the Sun Closer to the Earth in the Summer or the Winter?

“We have a bet riding on this question. Is the sun closer to the earth in the summer or the winter?” The Newton Falls Public Library staff found this to be an interesting question, considering how much snow we have been getting this December.
Our staff member Googled “sun closer to earth in winter or summer” and found several websites which seemed to supply the information we needed. The Library of Congress’ site has a section called Everyday Mysteries [www.loc.gov/rr/scitech/mysteries/seasons.html] where the question “Why is it hot in summer and cold in winter?” is answered. The sun is closest to the earth in January and furthest in July. It explains though the sun is closer in the winter than the summer, because of the tilt on its axis, the sun’s rays hit the earth at a shallower angle with more atmosphere to go through.This causes less energy to hit any given spot on the surface and factoring in the shorter days and longer nights the earth does not stay as warm. Our staff informed the patron, who was happy that he was going to be a little richer.

Researching further for this article, we went to the website www.space.com/spacewatch/301206_happy_perihelion.html. There we discovered that while the information given in the Library of Congress article was correct, in relationship to the seasons, it is only true for us living in the Northern Hemisphere. As explained, the seasons are determined by the tilt of the earth’s axis, not the distance from the sun. Hopefully this will not void our patron’s winning since in December the earth is always closer to the sun than in July, no matter what the season or hemisphere.

Tracks in the Snow

“These are the tracks we saw outside our house following the last snow,” said the Newton Falls Public Library patron as he showed us a photograph of the single file line of small animal tracks. “Can you help me figure out what kind of animal would make them?” Even though it is hard to think of snow and winter now that spring has arrived, the library staff finds the photograph intriguing. The tracks appear to be about 2 ½ inches long and spaced approximately 8 inches apart. The patron had not measured them, so we were estimating based upon their size in comparison to the solar lights.

Tracking & the Art of Seeing: how to read animal tracks & sign by Paul Rezendes includes both photographs and drawings of animal tracks. Browsing through the book, we read that there are different kinds of patterns. The “domestic dog is a double- or indirect-registering animal (p.178).” The red fox has a regular walking pattern, going in almost a straight line. It is a direct-registering animal. The walking gait of the red fox “is usually a straight, precise, narrow line of tracks (p.179),” and the accompanying drawing bears that out. This is because the fox walks with the hind foot directly on top of the track of the front one.

 Using the Key to Tracks in The Peterson Field Guide to Animal Tracks by Olaus J. Murie and Mark Elbroch, the shape resembles those of the weasel, the coyote, and the red fox. The weasel track is a bit small, measuring less than 2 inches. The coyote and red fox are both much closer matches. The coyote has a print of 2 ¼ to 3 ½ inches long. The red fox’s is between 1 7/8 and 2 7/8 inches. The coyote trail through snow (p. 163) shows the tracks in a straight line, but they are spaced 14 to 15 inches apart.


Both coyotes and red foxes have been seen in the area around our patron’s home. Going by the size, spacing, and straight line of the tracks, our patron feels satisfied that they were left by the red fox.