Nature Journal Notes

Winter is a time for resting and conserving energy for most animals, including humans! Because of animals’ need to seek shelter and use resources sparingly, we don’t see as much animal activity going on as we do during other times of the year. That being said, there are still animals who venture out into the cold when they can and even a couple of critters who aren’t really affected by cooler temperatures and snow-covered landscapes at all! Even though we may not see as much animal activity, there is definitely still a lot going on in the forests and other habitats throughout the winter. We know this because we can looks for signs that animals have been present in certain areas. One sign, that we have mentioned before in our blogs, is animal tracks, but there are all sorts of other clues and indicators that animals might be frequenting or just passing through a particular area during the winter.

A great place to record these alternative signs is in our nature journals! A very fun activity to do while journaling is to pick a specific place in nature that you’d like to examine more closely. There is no limit to the size of the space, it could be a backyard, a certain location within a larger green space, or even a trail that you would like to explore. Once you have your green space in mind, record where you are, the time of day, the date, the weather, the temperature and anything else you think will be useful to you when you look back at your notes.

As you are exploring this area, look for as many possible signs of animal activity as you can find! You can look for animal scat, broken branches, places where animals might have been eating, bark on tree that looks like it is scratched or rubbed, etc. While investigating, start to think about what kinds of animals might be the cause of what you are seeing. A good place to begin is to determine what animals are most likely to be active in the winter in the area you are exploring. There are many great resources online for determining which animals migrate, which animals stick around, and which animals go into deep sleeps for the season. You may need to do a little bit of investigating, but knowing which animals could be seen will definitely help to narrow down who the culprit of your winter animal activity signs could be.

In Massachusetts during the winter, many mammals will stay at least partially active and some won't have much change to their routine. Animals that can be seen pretty much at any time throughout the winter in MA are deer, coyote and fox. Birds are also animals that will stay active throughout the winter if they did not migrate. Reptiles and amphibians will pretty much become completely inactive, unless there are a couple of really warm days, which in New England isn’t entirely out of the question… For the most part, you can expect that any animal signs in Massachusetts and other parts of New England will be cause by either birds or some kind of medium to large mammal.

Some signs to look for while out exploring are:
​

Trees that have bark stripped from the outside

• Many critters will turn to bark as a source of food during the cold, winter months as the trees become bare. In Massachusetts, it isn’t uncommon for deer, squirrels, porcupines, rabbits and others to turn to bark when the going gets rough. When determining who the culprit is, be sure to think about how much bark has been stripped, and where on the tree. A deer is not going to be stripping bark from the same place as a rabbit. You can also look for teeth marks in the trunk!
• In addition to eating bark, some animals will strip bark for other reasons like in the case of the American Black Bear. Oftentimes in the spring, bears will strip and mark the bark of trees using their teeth and claws to mark their territory. Deer can also cause gashes in bark when males begin to get irritated by their antlers and use trees to itch them! This behavior usually happens midwinter.

Bark stripped by large animal with antlers

Snapped branches low to the ground

• A trail of branches that have been bent and snapped is a wonderful sign that an animal has been walking through an area! You can examine the broken branches carefully to determine how tall (or short) the animal that bent them must be. You can also make some assumptions about the size of animal that is big enough to snap branches. Smaller mammals don’t weight enough or take up enough space to cause branches to snap, but larger mammals such as deer or bears could definitely be the culprit of many snapped branches.

Scat & Tracks

• Of course, tracks and scat are exceptional clues to what types of animals might be in an area. Tracks and scat can be one of the more helpful clues because of the ability for them to help us decide definitively which types of animals have been around. That being said, in conjunction with other clues such as stripped bark, pieces of hair, and places where animals might have been eating, we can begin to paint an entire picture about the secret life of animals that’s happening when we aren’t around.

Bird tracks in snow

Possible feeding sites

• Another great animal sign is looking for places where animals may have stopped for a snack! One place to look for signs of feeding in the winter is on the tips of branches that may have had buds. Animals, especially deer, will take full advantage of the nutritious fuzzy buds produced by plants as they overwinter. If you find a bush or cluster of plants with buds or berries, see if you can spot any areas that looks like the buds/berries have been clipped of right at the end! Nuts and seeds that have been recovered by animals such as squirrels are often found on rocks and at the base of trees throughout the winter. Here in Massachusetts, we have two types of squirrels that might be leaving traces of their meals around. Gray Squirrels will hide acorns, hickory nuts and other seeds in various places during the fall months so that they can find them throughout the winter when they are in need of energy. Because of this, it isn’t uncommon to find nut and seed shells scattered throughout the forest floor where squirrels have been digging up their winter supplies. Signs of Gray Squirrels are one or two nuts uncovered as well as the remains of some shelling. Our other winter residents, the red squirrels, have a slightly different approach to winter food storage. Red squirrels will hide all of their food in one location called a “cache”, so if you find many shell casings in one place, this is usually a sign that a Red Squirrel has dipped into their winter “cache.” Pinecones are a favorite of Red Squirrels, so be sure to keep an eye out for piles of pinecone scales in one spot when looking for signs of Red Squirrels.

Many pinecones stripped of their scales in one location indicates a red squirrel may have been eating here

Hickory nut casings scattered in different locations indicates a gray squirrel is snacking here

​There are all sorts of other signs that help us to determine what type of animal activity is happening in an area when we aren’t around, so do your best to note any oddities in your journals and try to make connections between your recordings. How you keep track of your findings is completely up to you! You can draw pictures of your observations, or keep detailed notes! Once you are done with your investigation, try to figure out what the signs are telling you about which types of animals are in the area. As always, happy journaling!