Autumn Verse

“Fall leaves fall”….As the dappled sunshine twinkles through the golden leaves, autumn might feel like a time to slow down, mellow out and chillax after all the bustle of the spring and summer months, but not everyone takes it easy during the fall …

“Autumn’s golden hue”… Deciduous trees are busy showing off their latest autumn fashions.  They shrug off their green finery of chlorophyll to reveal those autumnal shades, donning coats of reds, yellows and golds, before finally daring to bare it all for the winter season!

“Nightly sings the staring owl, tu-whit, tu-who”.. Tawny owls turn up the volume in the autumn as they establish their territories for the coming winter time.  They even give the cold shoulder to their once nurtured youngsters, driving them away from their cherished spots – time to leave home and stand on your own two claws kids!

“Here we go gathering nuts”…Squirrels crazily dash from tree to tree collecting as many nuts as they can lay their paws on to bury in secret stashes for winter dinners…now all they need to do is remember where they put them…. Despite their brain size actually increasing during autumn months (to help them recall where all their hidey holes are) inevitably, they do forget some and the buried nuts take advantage of their memory lapse by happily growing into trees, which of course will produce more nuts for the squirrels!

“Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness”…. is a definite boost for little rodents like voles, mice and shrews, who busily stuff themselves silly on all that autumnal fruit and veg, to put on as much weight as possible – their voluptuous figures will help them keep toasty warm in the wintertime –embrace those curves!

“When you’re full of sleep”…hedgehogs opt for hibernation, finding themselves a cosy spot in which to bed down to snooze through the worst of the weather.  On the other paw, water voles prefer to go into a torpor, so they can slumber through the storms but still have a little rummage around on the milder days.  They work hard on harvesting as much grub as possible to store in their little burrows – after all, they need something to satisfy those winter comfort food cravings!

“Where are the songs of spring?”...Whilst spring gets the sap rising for many, it’s autumn that stirs a sense of romance for deer.  Bucks grow fearsome-looking antlers, which they rub against trees and bushes to remove the velvet and harden up ready to face any cheeky interlopers, who might try their luck on their patch.  They partake in a little beauty treatment in the form of a mud bath, which seems to make them smell irresistible to the females (gives a whole new meaning to musky!)  They will partake in a little autumnal promenade to eye up the competition so they can work out who’s likely to come out tops in any tussles.

“Come into my parlour”…once small spiderlings seem to have grown to rather disturbing sizes come autumn and they like to pop into our homes to give us a little surprise at this time of year! Having spent the summer feasting on bugs, these fully grown specimens start searching for that special someone to cuddle up with on an autumn night. Some species lay their eggs in autumn and as the offspring hatch out, they are careful to upcycle their egg case to use it as a warm hideout for the winter, ready for spring and the hunt for dinner again.

“Busy as bees”…There’s still a buzz in the air during autumn, as new bumble bee queens and males emerge to get together, before the young queens fly off to select a sheltered spot – a little burrow in the earth will be all the palace she needs to keep herself warm during the cold season before emerging in the spring to set up a new des-res.

“Ladybird, Ladybird fly away home”…ladybirds like to get friendly in autumn and cosey up together to help keep each other warm – this is so effective that they’ve even been known to survive being frozen in the frost!  Thankfully they gently thaw out again with no harm done.

“Will sunny days appear again?”...If winter isn’t really your thing, then why not plan an extended trip to warmer climes?  Many birds opt for a winter sunshine vacation and set off on an autumn migration – but not all are sun-seekers.  The artic tern is an ardent snow lover – it loves life in the freezer so much that it embarks on the longest migration ever, to leave one icy world (the Artic) for yet another (the Antarctic) – a journey of almost 56,000 miles (90,000km).  On the other wing, the American blue grouse can’t be bothered with all that flying – it waddles up a mere 985 ft (300m) to the pine forest for winter – that’s quite far enough thanks!

There’s definitely lots to ‘squash’ in during Autumn!