December 8, 2022
And just like that, the holidays are upon us! In case we had any doubts before, we spent all last weekend at Hill-Stead’s “Holiday Boutique”.
It seems like the shorter the days become, the longer our to do list grows. We spend hours every day hauling hay, breaking ice on water troughs, draining hoses, feeding our wood furnace, and keeping an eye out for predators.
It’s an ongoing battle, especially this time of year, to keep our animals safe from coyotes and bears. Most of our coyote kills happen in the fall, when the young males have been booted out of the family territory and are roaming around looking for a new home. Hungry, restless, and more reckless than their parents, they are highly motivated to kill. They clearly try to avoid our pigs, so this time of year we keep the sheep and pigs together, wherever we can. We also spend more time monitoring our fence lines and removing downed trees quickly. Bears are also more likely to kill in the fall when they need 20,000 calories a day, to gain the fat reserves needed to survive the winter. So, until the temperature drops, or there is snow on the ground, we are constantly on bear alert.
Once food and water become scarcer, they enter a state of torpor. Torpor is different from true hibernation and is more like our own sleep. Metabolic rates and body temperature drops a bit, but torpor is something the animal can slip out of easily. Unlike hibernation, a bear in torpor can wake up immediately and defend its den. (Good to know!)
The males will sleep most of the winter, waking up to eat, if food is easily available. The females will wake up to give birth and then every few days to take care of their newborns. The cubs remain awake and active, nursing and staying close to their sleeping mom.
The holidays may indeed be upon us, but I’ll feel much more festive once the temperature drops and there is a blanket of snow on the ground. I prefer my bears asleep!