Tacking Small Subnivean Animals
Metamorphosis transform individual snowflakes into ice crystals and create spaces under the snow where small animals can move. Subnivean animals include small mammals such as mice, voles, and shrews that must rely on winter snow cover for survival. These mammals move under the snow for protection from heat loss and some predators. The sinuous tunnels left by these small mammals can be seen from above when the snow melts to the final inch or so.
ES students have tracked small mammals by placing toilet paper rolls in these tunnels . The inside of the rolls are coated in soot by placing them over a candle with a long wick. The rolls are cut open after two or three days placed in the tunnels. A narrow channel is cut in the snow to find the tunnels. Once found, the locations are marked. We have also cut similar channels across snow machine trails to observe what happened to the tunnels. In all cases where the snow was less that 60 cm in depth, the tunnels were collapsed.
Metamorphosis transform individual snowflakes into ice crystals and create spaces under the snow where small animals can move. Subnivean animals include small mammals such as mice, voles, and shrews that must rely on winter snow cover for survival. These mammals move under the snow for protection from heat loss and some predators. The sinuous tunnels left by these small mammals can be seen from above when the snow melts to the final inch or so.
ES students have tracked small mammals by placing toilet paper rolls in these tunnels . The inside of the rolls are coated in soot by placing them over a candle with a long wick. The rolls are cut open after two or three days placed in the tunnels. A narrow channel is cut in the snow to find the tunnels. Once found, the locations are marked. We have also cut similar channels across snow machine trails to observe what happened to the tunnels. In all cases where the snow was less that 60 cm in depth, the tunnels were collapsed.