Winter World: The Ingenuity of Animal Survival

Heinrich has a real love of the natural world that shines through in his writing. Though 'Winter World' is ostensibly about various interesting physiological mechanisms that allow the creatures - particularly the ones outside of Heinrich's Western Maine cabin or on his Burlington office at UVM - to survive winter, it seemed to be just as much about the process of scientific discovery in its rawest form: 1) author wonders about something he notices, 2) author thinks about how he could find an answer, 3) author's method comes up short, 4) author repeats steps 2 and 4 until he succeeds. In the text, Heinrich has not reached the `succeeds' step in all of his endeavors, and so the reader is invited to think along with him on how the next experiment might be devised to give more insight. The result is a text that serves as much to make the process of discovery fascinating and accessible as it is about the discoveries themselves. As Heinrich notes in his acknowledgments, "Nature exists. But the wonders of nature dwell in the minds of sentient beings who are receptive to them."The stories of animal winter survival are fascinating. Honey bees survive through huddling, winter food storage, and a uniform genome that drives a high degree of cooperation despite the fact that they're so small that they die within seconds of leaving the hive on cold days (Heinrich can tell you exactly how many seconds for a given temperature based on his "prod stick with hive" experimentation). Some amphibians produce proteins that allow them to survive body temperatures below freezing. Black bears simultaneously appear to select certain tissues for down-regulation (typical of hibernation) while up-regulating mammary gland function so that the nursing young can survive the winter; this is made all the more impressive by the fact that the nursing mother drinks and urinates minimally all winter.Woven throughout the rest of his tales, Heinrich reports of his ongoing fascination with the Golden-crowned kinglet. The kinglet weighs little more than two pennies and its metabolic demands are particularly high in the winter because of its small mass (in proportion to its surface area, through which body heat is lost to the environment). Yet the kinglet can be observed feeding and surviving all winter long. So through careful observation, Heinrich identifies the larva that make up the kinglet's winter diet; he collects samples at daybreak and dusk to find out how much energy the kinglet must burn each night. One simple discovery at a time, he shows the reader how he goes about answering the questions of a fascinating creature's ability to `make it' to the next day and the next generation.I read Winter World as an extra credit assignment for a comparative physiology course. It was an excellent introduction to how physiologists approach their work and how animals use different mechanisms to achieve similar goals. The writing is engaging and reminiscent of other recent, excellent non-fiction narratives (i.e. 'Secret Life of Lobsters,' or 'Cod'). For those interested in physiology, naturalists, outdoors-people (particularly New Englanders), or budding scientists, the tales are fascinating and educational and the text is highly recommended.

Couldn't beat the price for the book. It actually was in better condition than I expected - very good condition. It also arrived early! Overall excellent experience with this vendor!

This book has a lot of interesting facts about how animals and plants that survive in the winter. For example, bears put on up to a 5 inch layer of fat before winter and sometimes hibernate in the open (and are buried by snow), some frogs tolerate being frozen solid, and snapping turtles can lay in the mud of a frozen over pond for over six months without going to the surface for air. One of the most fascinating things I learned is that arctic squirrels can supercool themselves, meaning that they can maintain their body temperature below the freezing point of water without freezing.The author shares many stories of his personal experiences in the winter, some interesting, others not so much. Overall, an interesting read for anyone interested in how animals can survive in the winter.

I will use this book as a reference again and again. Heinrich's writing is clear and his observations keen. He focuses on a few species but does not make the mistake of then drawing broad conclusions through induction. In the first dozen pages, for example, in clearing the air on hibernation and its various forms and nuances, he concludes "Different terms may apply in any one animal in varying degree, depending on circumstances, but ultimately the species, and often the individual, fashion their own solutions to fit the situation or occasion." A few degrees in temperature difference, for example, can greatly alter adaptive response, as his later examples document.His keen and unrelenting observation is insightful and inspiring; it inspired me to use a few of his examples in an interpretive poster I developed for a Master Naturalist class project I just completed (winter, 2014). What's great about the book in this respect is that it motivated me to learn more. What I discovered are the inconsistencies--updates, really--from source to source, particularly over time. As Heinrich mentions, today's "truths" are refuted by tomorrow's discoveries. That's what science is all about.

I enjoyed the style of this book in that the author provides details of his own personal interactions with the wildlife outside of his cabin, but does so in a way that highlights nature and focuses less on his own personal narrative. He allows for them to be the star and includes good drawings and descriptions for anyone to enjoy and feel like you are there too. Overall a good read!

I am a wildlife biologist working in the deep south. I have long been interested in adaptation strategies of various species, but winter is not really a topic that comes up when learning about southern ecosystems. This book was suggested to me by a fellow biologist, and I was looking for something to read on an upcoming flight, so I took the advice and ordered this book.I only give four stars because I was hoping for something a little more science-heavy. The author's anecdotal style was not terrible, but it reminded me of a memoir, or a set of articles reminiscing about his youth in the northern U.S. while I would have enjoyed more technical discussions of physiology. Overall, a good set of short stories about winter and the animals that endure it,

I’ve always been interested in how animals survive in extreme environments, but living in the desert it’s hard to get a good perspective on wintertime survival mechanisms. The author’s descriptions were were vivid and his observations were thought provoking. I have a wildlife biology background, but this book would be appealing to anyone interested in the natural world.

Limited to describing practices of small animals it is interesting, informing. I was a bit disappointed that the book doesn't cover larger animals such as skunks, badgers, coyotes or deer. In especially harsh winters I wonder how they survive, too. It is an easy book use more as a reference.

I am writting those words after shoveling snow for a couple hours ( one of my favorite winter pastime). I just finished to read this great book. As I was reading the book, I felt like I was walking a trail with Heinrich at my side on a good winter day, while he shared is knowledge and explained to me the science of winter survival of living things, including amphibians, birds, mammals. Winter lovers,,,this is a book for you...

A very informative book about the natural world and the behaviour of animals we take for granted, but shouldn't.

Loved the book. Someone recommended it, and out of respect for this person it bought it. I so DO NOT like winter, yet again seeing through Bernd Heinrich writting, I find winter explain in the nicest way. All that life underneath the snow!! So now, I look at a 10 foot pile of snow and I know things most people don't......and more.

One of the very best books on the natural world that I ever read. Most of Bernd Heinrich's books are very educational and written in a manner that makes them very interesting.

A very interesting read for anyone who loves nature and wonders what happens to creatures when the temperature drops!