L
ook at the calendar. Winter is coming. This means
breaking out sweatshirts, coats, and making sure the heat
works in our homes and cars. We are ready for winter
when it arrives, though we may not always like it. But how
do animals – specifically amphibians and reptiles – prepare
for winter? How do they know it's coming? And where do
they go?
When it comes down to it, amphibians and reptiles do
two things: breed and prepare for winter. Body condition
is an important factor contributing to survival during harsh
winters. Preparing for winter means eating – building up
energy reserves so what little metabolic activity occurs
during winter can continue uninterrupted.
More importantly, there must be enough energy for
the following spring as reproductive success is directly
dependent on feeding success. For frogs such as the boreal
chorus frog, accumulated sugar molecules from food act as
a cryoprotectant – a sort of biological antifreeze – protecting
Preparing for Winter
When You Can't Read the Calendar
Each spring, we once again see amphibians and reptiles across the
landscape, but only after they have used a variety of tactics to survive
through the harshest time of the year.
Story and photos by Dan Fogell
34 NEBRASKAland • DECEMBER 2014
Boreal chorus frogs use high amounts of glucose in their
tissues as a cryoprotectant that allows them to survive
below-freezing temperatures.
This copperhead, muddy from spending six months
underground, is slowly warming up in the early spring sun.
Amphibians, such as this Plains spadefoot, take advantage of
summer's abundance of insects to build up energy stores for
the long Nebraska winter.
