Anticipation of Winter 



333 



sheepfolds and the like, and profit by forethought and industry 

 in which they have had no share. They are usually welcome, 

 for their condition for the time being is very pitiable. 



Leaving here the improvident Birds, we now proceed to 

 consider in somewhat greater detail the provisions which are 

 made for winter by various Mammals. Our remarks will be 

 restricted to those found in England. 



The Mole's dwelling place and hunting ground is the very 

 uppermost layer of the earth's crust ; the epidermis or scarf- 

 skin of the world. He never burrows deeply, and he seldom 

 comes to the outside. He is an enormous eater, and abhors 

 fasting, which, indeed, is very injurious to his health. He 

 does not, however, seriously fear being frozen-in during 

 winter. Snow is his great friend during long frosts, and 

 he has learned to trust to it. Under a thick coverlet of snow, 

 which may have opportunely fallen just before the frost 

 became severe, the soil will have been kept unhardened, 

 whilst the worms will have been driven down to just the 

 depth which suits his habits. Having selected sites to which 

 he is well accustomed, he has no anxiety as to his Christmas 

 dinner, and would not dream of sleeping past a time so 

 cheerful. The only provision which he makes for winter 

 is to look well after his burrows in autumn, and to open- 

 out new ones where wanted. 



The Otter is for the water what the mole is for the earth. 

 He does not usually go very deep, and he never seeks his 

 food on the surface. He, too, has learnt by the experience 

 of long ages that even the most terrible winters have their 

 mitigations. Under a thick layer of non-conductive ice, the 

 deeper water will continue to flow, and the fish will still swim 

 in it. It comforts him also to know that however low the 

 temperature may be above the stream, the water will never 

 fall below 32 0 , and will usually be considerably above it, 

 and thus not too cold for a bracing plunge and swim. With 

 these prospects before him, he neither lays up a store of 

 frozen fish, nor does he risk degradation of his moral sense 

 by going to sleep. 



