Winter is not an easy time for all wildlife. Each species is saved in its own way: bears hibernate, birds fly south, and some other animals make winter food supplies.
Winter protein stores
Even children know that the squirrel is one of the most thrifty animals. Squirrels begin to make reserves in the summer and are engaged in this until the first cold weather. These animals hide nuts, acorns and mushrooms in secluded places. The squirrel is very selective - only good products are selected for the winter pantry, not spoiled by parasites and larvae. By the way, thanks to these rodents, forests grow. The squirrel's memory is not very good, and therefore the animal may simply forget where the seeds or acorn were buried. Later, new trees grow from these seeds.
In addition to eating its reserves, the squirrel does not hesitate to steal seeds from woodpecker nests.
Winter pantry mink
The mink, a small animal of the weasel family, also stocks up for the winter. But since the mink is a predator, the content of its pantry is not as harmless as that of a squirrel. This furry animal stores live food - frogs. Minks bite their prey in the area of accumulation of nerves on the head, and the frogs remain immobilized. The mink keeps frogs in a shallow place at the bottom of the river. Also, these animals store carcasses of small rodents, birds and fish, often stealing prey from fishermen's nets.
The mink is capable of storing several kilograms of fish.
Live canned food of moles
These small insectivores, despite their size, are quite voracious. At one time, a mole can eat an amount of food approximately equal to its own weight. Therefore, winter stocks are a prerequisite for the survival of moles. These animals make a kind of live canned food from their favorite food - earthworms. Moles, like minks, bite their prey in the head area, biting the motor nerve. Immobile, but still living worms are transferred to an underground chamber, where they are kept throughout the hungry winter.
Food during hibernation in chipmunks
Chipmunks would be very jealous of women who are always losing weight, because the prohibition of eating before bedtime is not about these animals. Despite the fact that this animal hibernates, it still makes supplies from several buckets of seeds and nuts. The pantries of the chipmunks are located right in their nest - after waking up in winter, the animals have a light snack and go to bed again. In addition, supplies help chipmunks to feed in early spring, when the animals are awake and there is still no food. However, chipmunk nests often suffer from bear attacks. These predators simply adore pine nuts, which are stored by economic chipmunks. A bear may work all day long to dig a deep hole, but will not hesitate to have a tasty meal. And small animals can only watch how their hard-collected stocks perish.
