Chris Rothery.

As regular Stanley Park Notebook columnist Jacqui Birchall begins her winter break and Nate Lewis prepares to take over until the spring, the following winter updates on Stanley Park were provided by Chris Rothery, community engagement coordinator for the Stanley Park Ecology Society (SPES).

Click images to enlarge.

BEAVER FENCING

SPES has recently started installing new beaver fencing around Lost Lagoon.

The metal wire surrounding the base of trees near the water helps to prevent beavers from gnawing on the trees. As trees grow the fencing can constrain the growth of the tree, so it is important to occasionally update the fencing to make sure it is not damaging the tree. As SPES staff and volunteers have been removing the invasive English ivy from the base of these trees recently, we’ve been able to start replacing the fences with new ones that give the trees more space to grow.

**Fattening up for a long, cold winter.** *(Jacqui Birchall Photo)*

WINTER ANIMALS

You might be wondering, as the winter goes on, how some of the different animals of the park survive the winter.

Many of the birds that visit the park each year are migratory species who head south for the winter, but we have plenty of animals that spend the winter here in the park too. To survive, some common strategies that animals use include growing thicker coats, storing extra fat, and seeking shelter (like nests or dens) for longer periods of the day.

California sea lions, like the ones that have been around Coal Harbour lately, have extra insulating blubber during the winter and make use of a thermoregulation ability that allows them to warm their entire body just by holding their flippers up to the warmth of the sun.

Bats, like the little brown bat, are known to migrate short distances within Canada to their winter roost locations. They use a type of hibernation called torpor — where their heart rate slows down dramatically — and roost in big groups.

Most species of frogs seek shelter to avoid freezing during the winter, but some species — including the Pacific tree frog — create a natural anti-freeze by accumulating urea and glucose in their blood to protect their organs from being damaged by freezing.

52 Ways to Walk

If you are a walker, or need more encouragement to walk, this is a very informative book. It is available at the Vancouver Public Library, including an audio edition, so one may walk while listening. I did just that.

Abbs-Streets’ 52 chapters cover everything from walking in various weathers, beside different bodies of water, walking in the city, under the moon, on hills, at night, walking when hungry, in an evergreen forest, foraging, and even barefoot.

She writes about forest bathing, the Japanese concept called shinrin-yoku. This entails connecting with nature as you walk, through the senses of sight, taste, smell and touch. The trails in Stanley Park offer us all of this.

Abbs-Streets also talks about petrichor, the earthy scent produced by rain falling on dry soil. Australian scientists coined the phrase in 1964 to describe the smell caused by the rain mixing with such compounds as ozone, geosmin and plant oils. A smell most of us love.

I encourage readers to borrow this book. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

An excellent article on forest bathing is found here. Read more about petrichor here.