Now a black bear’s heart will beat as few as five times per minute, compared to 60 times a minute when it is not hibernating / Gray treefrogs hibernate not far below the surface, under litter, logs, or rocks. Because they produce glycerol as antifreeze, they can tolerate a temperature of about 21°F for at least five days / In tunnels beneath the snow, meadow voles, shrews, red squirrels, deer mice, and moles are protected from bitter winter weather

Redpolls often travel in large flocks, sometimes of over 100 birds / Both woodland jumping mice and meadow jumping mice hibernate below the frost line, curled in tight balls / Courtship activity of great horned owls gets underway / Chickadee flocks have a hierarchical structure and are stable, unlike the loose-knit flocks of most other small birds / The pyramidal old flower stalks of meadowsweet last through the winter, shedding small seeds over many months

If mice find their way into your house, weasels may come looking for them / Turtlehead, a flower of wet ground, keeps its stalks through the winter. Curiously, both the flowers and the opened seedpods look very much like a turtle’s head / Evening grosbeaks may be feeding in boxelders, the only maple to hold its seeds all winter / Bad weather will send American tree sparrows to birdfeeders. In normal times, they prefer self-reliance and feed on weed seeds