Turtles in Winter

While most species of aquatic turtles are inactive, tucked-away on the bottom of a pond in the leaf litter and mud, our resident sliders tend to become active throughout the colder months. All it takes is a few bright sunny days. Among the local turtles, yellow-bellied and red-eared sliders, eastern painted turtle, common musk turtle, and common snapping turtle, it’s the sliders that are most often seen out basking in late fall and winter. The water is shallow in ourRead more

Getting Ready for Winter

Of the mammals that reside on the Museum property, two have been conspicuously preparing for the oncoming winter season. They are both members of the same family (Sciuridae) but each has a different life style (one is a tree squirrel, the other a ground squirrel) and they have different strategies of how to cope with the cold. Gray Squirrels cache food away for later use for the times when their fair-weather food items become scarce. During the warmer months they eat roots,Read more