Samhain Thanksgiving Moon
Another implication of the fallow season had escaped me, at least at the level Jim Gilbert describes in a recent phenology column in the Star-Tribune:
“Hibernation is a winterless life chosen by reptiles, amphibians, insects and some mammals. During the winter untold millions of animals — including toads, frogs, salamanders, snapping turtles, garter snakes, bats, woodchucks and mosquito larvae — are hibernating across Minnesota.”
We often miss the warm period lives of these creatures because many of them are small, secretive and prefer to remain well away from humans. Their winter lives, in the millions, untold millions Gilbert says, never massed together in my mind.
(this wonderful piece by Travis Demillo.)
Walking in our woods right now there are thousands of salamanders, toads, frogs, garter snakes, woodchucks, various insects, ground squirrels and gophers in a state of suspended animation, dreaming small animal dreams until the weather becomes more suitable for their life again next year. It gives the woods a haunted, Snow White sort of atmosphere with so many of its active and vibrant lifeforms stilled to the point of coma. And by intention. Well, evolutionarily adapted intention that is.
Here’s a lifted glass to their long night, a safe sleep and a welcome return.
