Revised Manuscript

Here are the first two chapters of my book, not including the one about hibernation itself.

Enjoy but note that they are not finalized, though they are the basic format of the final, with more chances happening to spelling, grammar and syntax (some content).

Besides that my new to-do list is:
-Draw the pictures
-Plan Layout
-Finish Chapters

Western Jumping Mice:

The western jumping mouse is the smallest of the creatures talked about in this book. However, he is one of the best hibernators. A western jumping mouse can live in a variety of places including fields, thickets and woodlands but are usually located within 50 metres of water. In the city of Revelstoke British Columbia, these specific mice live deep in the mountain forests.

The Harvest:
The season of the mouse-harvest begins somewhere between September and October. One of the great wonders of this species is that they know exactly when to start the process of gathering food. Being such a small creature, they are more attune to all the happenings around them so that when it is time for harvest, they are almost always the first ones to know about it. If you do not believe such a claim, imagine a falling tree in a forest. Who do you suppose would feel the tremors of such a great fall, an 18-gram mouse or great bear? Just as it is physically sensitive to the ongoing of forest life, likewise the mouse can sense many other wondrous and almost magical things such as the return of the harvest season. That is not to say that they harvest way ahead of everyone else. It may be only a few days before the other animals catch on or see a busy little mouse scurrying away with double his usual helping of ponderosa pine seeds in which case they know that they should also get to it.

Thus begins the harvest time for the western jumping mouse. At any moment during this time the little mouse can be found working away gathering and eating food for the cold days ahead. It is increasingly difficult to spot a mouse’s den for they go almost so fast that it is hard to keep track of them as you try to follow them. Their yellow and brown colouring hides them in the forest grounds so much so that when you think you’ve caught a glimpse of one, it disappears into the brush. The easiest way, perhaps to locate a mouse’s den is to catch it as it is entering the den but usually happens entirely by luck.

When it comes to gathering food greens are the unanimous favourite of the mouse. Fruits and grass are a tasty delight but they must be gathered quickly before the frost comes over. Many of the seeds they gather are brought to ground level by cutting the stalks of the grasses until they tumble down. If need be, the western jumping mice may find nourishment in an insect (usually arthropods). Generally, they go searching for foods that will give them high energy, which increases their fat storage. The goal of the mice is to put on up to 17 grams over the month before the winter sleep starts. The average size of one of these mice is 18 to 24 grams, so this is a significant amount of weight. When a mouse crosses paths with another mouse who is obviously underweight for the season, the mouse can’t help but feel a sense of pride and accomplishment, for nothing satisfies these creatures more than being punctual and fastidious. However, if you should find pity for this poor creature who could not seem to gather enough food, you are not alone. The western jumping mouse is not a solitary being. It would invite with pleasure another mouse into his home for the winter or for an Eve of Hibernation where the undernourished mouse can get his plenty.

The Eve of Hibernation:
Any good, respecting jumping mouse would not dare skip the wonderful festivities of the Eve of Hibernation. It is perhaps one of their oldest traditions and for anyone who may catch a glimpse, the most fun. It is not sure how the Eve is decided, for each year it falls on a different time. It is speculated that the mice know when to hibernate based on the fullness of their stomach and the preparation of their dens. However, the Eve of Hibernation for the mice is constant across all mice of the forest and unless they all work at the same pace (which is highly doubtful considering the jumping mouse’s appreciation of individuality) the Eve would not fall on the same date. The most likely of reasons would be attributed to the aurora borealis, for upon it’s arrival, most jumping mice walk around quite sleepily and something deep within them realizes that the Eve of Hibernation is upon them.

If you consider mice to be one of the quieter species of the forest, then you surely have not been near their dens on the Eve of Hibernation. It is on this day that the mice boisterously make use of the voices that they’ve been saving up all year. Some of the other animals of the forest – the ones who do no hibernate, such as the deer - even say that the reason mice are so quiet is because they have lost their voice from the Eve of Hibernation and do not regain enough of it’s strength until the next year when they lose it again. It is unlikely that you have ever heard their voices, as their dens are significantly underground and covered with quite a bit of snow at this time of year. But oh, the songs they sing! They sing, they dance, and most of all, they eat. They usually celebrate with the mice they plan to den with for the winter. It would be most unusual to celebrate with someone and then leave the extreme comfort of the den to go to another, for on the way there the mouse could easily fall asleep and then there would be no hope for winter survival. All this singing and dancing (which surprisingly uses less energy than you would think) creates warmth in the den and tires the little fellows out to the point that they merrily fall asleep and enter into hibernation. Being the exacting beings that they are, if you should stumble upon a western jumping mouse den, you will surely never see the remnants of their party for they always find the time to tidy up as they are falling asleep for the winter.

Hibernation:
You may think after reading about how the western jumping mice gather food and celebrate before hibernation, that hibernation itself may be a rather dull topic in comparison. On the contrary, it is a most exciting and comforting time, however quiet it may be. The mice sleep for six to seven months, generally from October to April. They rarely wake up during this period, preferring to stay in a deep sleep, which conserves energy. Of course, the lack of movement makes their body temperature drastically drop, but this is part of the plan. They have stored up enough energy throughout the harvest season that they hardly need to use more to keep warm. Furthermore, their dens are located deep in the earth, below the frost line so that their dens do not get very cold.

Now, not all animals hibernate during this period, and it is their goal to find food during the winter months. Most animals have migrated or hibernated and vegetation is scarce so if any animals are found, they are quickly eaten. Luckily, for the western jumping mouse their hibernation chambers are deep in the ground and they give off little amounts of odour during this timer period so no one can find them. These mice are very practical, after all, and do not think wearing an odour or perfume adds much to character when character deals mostly with productivity.

So, deep in the ground lays the comfy western jumping mouse and her friends, if she has invited them to spend the winter with her, curled up, tail wrapped around their bodies to gather just a bit more warmth. If you could look that close, you could probably detect a faint smile or some fluttering of eyes on each mouse as they dream about the coming spring and a fresh new mating season.

The Awakening:
Although the western jumping mouse copiously celebrates the Eve of Hibernation, there is no special celebration for the awakening. You may be thinking, how do they know when to wake up? The answer to that is simple. They just simply know. Just as mice can sense the changing of the seasons before most other animals, they also sense the time to wake up so that when they do it, it is usually right. If the mouse is denning with a friend they may awake and look at each other pleasingly, another hibernation season completed safely and successfully.

As they emerge from their dens and you happen to see them, they may look a bit dazed, but that could be because they thought it was night and it was not (they are nocturnal after all), or simply because they are sensitive to light after all that time below the earth.

So now the little mouse is free to go on with life as it once knew before hibernation. The only difference is that now, if the female mouse is older than about 2 years, it may mate soon after coming out of hibernation. When they do mate, they have litters of 3 to 9 babies. Western Jumping Mice females can have many litters but usually just the one after their awakening. If they have a litter too far into the season, it may not be old enough to survive the next hibernation season.


The Columbian Ground Squirrel:

The Columbian ground squirrels are one of nature’s best “true” hibernators. These bushy tailed creatures can be found in the alpine meadows of Revelstoke.

The Harvest:
Being one of the more jovial creatures of the forest, the Columbian Ground Squirrel rejoices at the mere thought of hibernation. While many others may find it a nuisance, these squirrels feel it is the most amazing time of year. Although they are considerably larger than the Western Jumping Mouse (with a weight that ranges from 395 grams to 820 grams) and so cannot feel within their bodies the coming of hibernation time, they are one of the first to learn of the hibernation season and they find out in the most peculiar ways. Logically, all they must do is keep a calendar of the year in order to predict the coming hibernation season. However, being such silly and laidback animals, this idea has never even crossed their minds. Instead, their love for the time of year means that they know just exactly when it comes. They can sense it with every bone in their body.

Being the impractical creatures they are (and if you could understand squirrel talk), you may often hear a squirrel in June exclaim - with a little uncertainy -that he thinks it’s time to hibernate. Just one fond memory of this time can set one of these fellows off. However, before another squirrel can catch note of this, a wise owl will croon down from the trees that it simply is not time yet. This doesn’t devastate the squirrel as much as you would think, for he knows that it has to come eventually, and when it does, he’ll have no doubt about it nor the need to ask the owl for guidance on the matters. That is how these squirrels know: they are so happy about it that they could not even hear the opinion of the owl if they tried.
In preparation for this time, the Columbian Ground Squirrel dig their winter home (or make modifications to their summer one). These year-round dens are incredibly intricate; their houses can reach a great length (18 metres) or can be more modest (3 metres) and usually has multiple (12 is the average) entrances. As well as having main doorways, they also have secret holes in case there is need of a quick exit. In the summer before hibernation season, they add a hibernating den which is usually located off the main tunnel and can go down 2 metres into the earth. For all their silliness, they do take hibernation seriously and so they realize that safety is a must. Thus, they dig a low reservoir, which ranges from 0.3 metres to 1.5 metres which acts as a method of draining off water that might seep in and flood the bedchamber. Crafty as they are, they use the soil from this reservoir and seal this chamber from their summer one. Then, the chamber is lined with dried grasses which in the eyes of the squirrel is absolutely the best interior decade one can find with their budget. Grasses and other foods are placed in the chamber, which was intelligently designed to fit the size of the squirrel.

The Eve of Hibernation:
Now, hibernation does not occur at the same time for every animal. Similarly, male and female Columbian Ground Squirrels hibernate during separate times. The reason behind this is that male ground squirrels gain weight very quickly after the summer mating season. With all the excess fat stored in their bodies, it is very easy for them to overheat and so they enter hibernation time at different times. Most males enter hibernation at the same time, and so their feast is a rather robust one which only adds to their heavy fat layers under their skin. Without any ladies around, they really have very little reason to boast a strong phyisique, and so their feast meal is so hearty containing such foods as wild onion, glacier lily, buttercup, gooseberry, strawberry, rose, thimbleberry, serviceberry, penstemon, balsamroot, whortleberry beargrass lupine, dendelion, willow, and camas, some of which you may not have heard of through no fault of your own, for you are not a ground squirrel. They may also eat fish and beetles. They tell jokes that would make a female ground squirrel blush, and have such fun that it is no wonder that it is their favourite time of year. Although they have eaten quite a bit, the excitement of the season makes it so that they are not one bit sleepy. That is the reason that they can all celebrate together, and yet return to their dens without risking falling asleep on the way. Once they are in their den and it is plugged up, there is so much fondness on the squirrel’s mind when thinking about the events that past that he can barely keep his eyes open and falls into a deep slumber.

As for the female squirrels, because they must give birth and nurse their young after the mating season, their ability to gain weight and store energy must wait until their young are no longer dependants. Thus, the female festivities are much quieter and dispersed than the males. Depending on the earliness or lateness of the squirrel’s pregnancy, her hibernation eve will vary. When it is her time she joyously gets her fur ready for the event and finds others in her colony with which to celebrate. Conversation among these women, if you could be there, would range from stories of their young, to hilarious stories about their male mates. After these festivities and the same types of meals enjoyed by men, the women proceed to hibernate in the same fashion as their masculine counter-parts. Young squirrel children occupy a chamber that is connected to the chamber of their mother.

The Hibernation:
Once in hibernation, the Columbian Ground Squirrel is very content. If you could wake him/her from the slumber, which would be very difficult to do, you would encounter a very sleepy, but very angry squirrel, for sleeping is their favourite time. The male ground squirrel can spend an average of 208 days in his den. About every 19 days both male and female squirrels will awaken, stretch and eat something little which has been stored in onec of the chambers to tide him over for his next sleeping break. When asked how they really feel about it, they may say that it is a blessing and a curse. It is nice for them to wakeup and eat, but they’d rather be sleeping.

Being one of the true hibernators of the forest, something they pride themselves on, the body temperature of the Columbian Ground squirrels can reach only 35- 50 degrees Fahrenheit and may breath less than once a minute.

The Awakening:

Who should you think awakens first from their winters slumber: the males or the females? You will find yourself very clever if you guessed males, because they do nearly everything else before the women (only because they don’t have childbearing to do). About ten days ahead of the women, the men start to apprise. This is in early April depending on the geographical locations the latest being June. The cunning male has stored extra food in his den for when he emerges from the ground. If you could only see him emerge (sometimes through feet of snow) you would get a laugh, as well understand just why the male ground squirrel has saved so much food for his awakening and the female did not. The area and vegetation around him is quite bleak. It usually still has snow all around and not much greens have poked their heads through the earth to welcome spring. There is not much to eat at this time, and so all the food they stored for this occasion makes it’s very handy use. Female ground squirrels wouldn’t dare emerge until the grass has begun to grow, and so do not do this.

Soon after both sexes are back to their normal routine, the mating season begins. Although they are a bit depressed that their favourite time of year has passed, the mating season provides a fun distraction from their emotions. It could possibly be their favourite time of year, but being the silly beings they are, they are likely to be heard saying “This is my favourite time of year! Yes yes! I cannot think of any other moment, which is as exquisite as this! Dear me!” multiple times during the course of a calendar year and so it is quite debateable what they love most.