Micro-Season: “Hibernating Creatures Close Their Doors” (2023)

September 28 – October 02 is the micro-season of “Hibernating Creatures Close Their Doors”.  This is the second micro-season of the mini-season of Autumn Equinox.  The micro-seasons within Autumn Equinox are:

• Thunder Lowers its Voice (Sep 22 – Sep 27) 
• Hibernating Creatures Close Their Doors (Sep 28 – Oct 02) 
• The Paddy Water is First Drained (Oct 03 – Oct 07)

These seasons were established in 1685 by Japanese astronomer Shibukawa Shunkai. While they are specific to Japan, you can use them as a starting point to explore your environment.

To celebrate this season, we will learn about hibernation and other similar winter survival strategies. Then we will read seasonal haiku by Basho, Issa, and Buson.

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What is Hibernation?

Hibernation is an adaptive strategy that allows an animal to survive many months without migrating or foraging for hard-to-find food resources. Hibernation usually occurs in the winter and is marked by minimal activity and the depressed metabolic function of the animal.

True Hibernation

Not every animal that transitions into a dormant stage enters what is called True hibernation. Brittanica defines true hibernation as “body temperature is close to 0° C (32° F); the respiration is only a few breaths per minute, and the heartbeat is so slow and gradual as to be barely perceptible.”  Hibernators survive by relying on body fat reserves and residing in a well-protected den. An animal in true hibernation stays in this state until they are exposed to warmer temperatures. Since the animal is so cold, it could take several hours for the animal to wake up from true hibernation.^(1,2)

Mammals that enter true hibernation are some bats and members of the order Rodentia including woodchucks and ground squirrels.⁽²⁾ Since hibernation is an adaptive strategy used to survive periods of cold and limited food, the exact time animals enter hibernation depends on your location.  For example, woodchucks in Vermont usually enter hibernation in October, whereas those in Alaska may enter hibernation in September.^(3,4)

What is Torpor?

Torpor is similar to hibernation with a decrease in breathing and heart rate, lower metabolic rate, and slightly lower body temperature.  However, unlike true hibernation which is a voluntary process that lasts until the animal is exposed to warmer temperatures, torpor is involuntary and is often broken up by periods of activity where the animal regains a normal body temperature, breathing, and heart rate. ^(5,6)

One of the benefits of torpor versus hibernation is that it is easier for an animal to emerge from its “sleeping” state. For animals in hibernation, it takes hours for them to emerge from true hibernation.⁽⁵⁾ While animals in torpor are able to awaken quickly if needed.  

To wake up and warm the body during torpor, the animal begins shaking and contracting its muscles to warm up. This process makes the animal look like it is shivering.⁽⁶⁾

Bears are one of the most common mammals that use torpor as a winter survival strategy.

A Quick Note About This Season

The authors of the 72-season app tell us that this season marks the arrival of a period of seasonal dormancy for many insects. However, insects don’t hibernate.

To survive the winter, insects will either migrate or enter a period of seasonal dormancy known as Diapause and Quiescence. Diapause is described as “suspended or arrested development during an insect’s life cycle,”⁽⁷⁾ and Quiescence is defined as “a temporary slowing down of metabolism and development in response to adverse environmental conditions”.⁽⁹⁾ Although these conditions sound similar to hibernation, the scientists who study these types of things noticed that there are enough differences between them that they need different names.

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Seasonal Haiku

For today’s selection of haiku, I wanted to focus on the ways humans prepare for winter. Jane Reicchold provides us with several potential kigo in her Dictionary of Haiku. These kigo, which can be found in the Autumn-Livelihood section of the dictionary, are “canning”, “cutting wood”,  “fire starting”, and “raking leaves/burning leaves”.  I would also add “stacking firewood” to this list. 

Now with this in mind, let’s read some haiku about humans preparing for winter.

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Basho

felling a tree
and gazing at the cut end - 
tonight’s moon 
(translated by Makoto Ueda)

An alternative translation

chopping a tree,
then looking upon the cut end- 
tonight’s moon. 
(translated by David Landis Barnhill)

Both of these would be considered autumn haiku. The first one has “moon” as its kigo and the second haiku has “chopping a tree”. The World Kigo Database tells us that the “moon without further connotation, refers to the Autumn Moon.”

beneath the noodles
building up the fire:
the night’s cold. 
(translated by David Landis Barnhill)

Issa

rain falling--
tomorrow's chance of firewood
is nil 
(translated by David G. Lanoue)

one, two, three, four
counting the firewood...
autumn dusk 
(translated by David G. Lanoue)

staring at the man
burning leaves...
stone Buddha 
(translated by David G. Lanoue)

Buson

In a field of bracken
gathering firewood
dead azaleas 
(translated by Allan Persinger)

In front of the gate
the old woman covets the young firewood
a wintry blast
(translated by Allan Persinger)

The smoke from
the lit hearth shapes
the red maple leaves 
(translated by Allan Persinger)

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A Haiku Invitation

This week’s haiku invitation is to write a haiku or senryu that references preparing for winter.  

Share your haiku in the comments below, or post on your own page and link back to this post. I can’t wait to read what you write!

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Thank You!

Resources:

1. “Hibernation”; Britannica.com
2. “Snug in the Snow”; Environmental Education for Kids
3. “Woodchucks”; Vermont Fish and Wildlife
4. “Marmot”; Wildlife Notebook: Alaska Department of Fish and Game
5. “Snug in the Snow”; Environmental Education for Kids
6. Chris Bachman; “Do Bears Really Hibernate” National Forest Foundation.
7. “Diapause”; Wikipedia
8. “Diapause in Insects”; Though Co
9. “Quiescence”; Wiktionary

Issa’s haiku were retrieved from HaikuGuy.com by David G. Lanoue.  Basho’s haiku was retrieved from Matsuo Bashō’s haiku poems in romanized Japanese with English translations. Buson’s haiku was retrieved from Foxfire: The Selected Poems of Yosa Buson.