To Explore, Enjoy and Enhance

Friends of Studham Common

The pre-Christmas spell of snow and ice was an unpleasant experience for motorists and other travellers but the snow-covered trees glistening under a blue sky were a magical sight.  After the first snowfall we saw fresh molehills bursting up through the snow on West Common, a reminder that some animals have to keep active whatever the weather.  In fact most of our native mammals remain active though some, such as badgers, may become dormant and ‘sleep in’ during the coldest weather.  The exceptions are bats, hedgehogs and dormice which go into a true hibernation state with reduced heart-beat and metabolism.  Few cold-blooded animals are able to stay active when the temperature drops below about 4◦C but it needs only a small rise in temperature to bring out the winter gnats and some moths.  Many insects and spiders can survive encased in ice because they secrete a form of anti-freeze in their tissues but how do they know when winter is coming in time to make the necessary changes in their metabolism?  Except near the equator, the only cue in the environment that changes consistently through the year is the length of daylight.  Many animals and plants sense the changing daylength and produce chemicals which switch their physiology into a state appropriate for the season to come.  But we carelessly light up the night sky with street and house lights!  This light pollution may well contribute to the decline of many species because their lives are no longer properly synchronised with the changing seasons.

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The moles seem to have adapted to the winter weather

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