Mammal hibernation surfaces about now and is discussed by those admiring animals who sleep through winter.

If we don’t see an animal during February — skunks, opossums, ground squirrels, chipmunks, and bears — they must be hibernating, right?

Not necessarily, says a tale coming from folks who believe groundhogs who routinely show in early April, but instead awaken the first week in February. Out they come with squinty eyes and look for the sun, which scares them back underground. Spring’s postponed.

Naturalists and outdoors lovers are not that gullible, are they?

Groundhogs, or woodchucks if you prefer, are as true a hibernator as Wisconsin has. The name woodchuck comes from a Cree Indian word, wuchak, which denotes nothing about this animal’s habits and habitat.

After putting on a layer of fat, groundhogs dig in and their body temperature drops from 97 degrees to less than 40, with breathing at one breathe every six minutes and heartbeats at 4 instead of 100.

One groundhog kept awake for this February show bit the holder’s ear years back, which is something more than a human would do if aroused from a heavy sleep.

So put the groundhog issue to sleep other than that they are true hibernators.

Skunks, opossums and most porcupines are almost indifferent to cold, unless it’s a subzero cold, when they hole-up for a few days, sometimes longer.

Ground squirrels and chipmunks are more like groundhogs, but at least chipmunks come out occasionally to see the sun, even in late February, eat a bite and then head underground before the sun rises.

Wisconsin bears’ hibernation gets more ink than most. This may be more a case of changing the name for what a sleeping bear does before, during and after.

It seems those who researched black bears in the north, called bears hibernators, then said they exhibit torpor instead, and now some like to use the phrase super hibernator for our black bears’ winter mood.

Take you pick but here’s what most of Badger State bears do.

The bears’ stored fat allows the animal to keep its body temperature within a dozen degrees of 100, the normal rate. And metabolic rate drops in half.

Bears do occasionally leave their dens during winter, too, so don’t let super hibernator mislead to suggest they sleep longer, harder, and awake angrier than skunks or even badgers.

We’ve been stuck on caterpillars, groundhogs, even robins to predict spring, without much success so why not settle in on plants flowering, rattlesnakes rattling, or morel mushroom fruiting to procrastinate?

Normally morels first appear in late April-early May, but in 2012, I saw the first on March 25, when the temperature hit about 80 degrees.

That was an early spring, signing in with that first morel fruiting body.

Having nothing much to do with spring, but an eastern Iowa County man recorded what he suspects is a wolf howling.  He also picked up some scat in case the DNR would like to do a DNA analysis.  Two wolves have been caught in recent years, and released, by coyote and bobcat trappers close to where the recording was made.

The DNR’s wolf sage said, “Probably.”

One mature bald eagle, unable to fly, was picked up roadside and rushed to the Dane County Humane Society in Madison: Lead poisoning.

Guarded optimism. In addition, this bird may be the mate of a nesting pair, who were about to begin their tenth year in a red oak tree nest.

Several golden eagles have been sighted in the area, too, but no snowy owls, evening grosbeaks, or great gray owls.

Don Martin, at Martin’s in Monroe, doesn’t have a pet spring sign, but knows when it does come some outdoors enthusiasts will likely be disappointed. “Shortages have impacted everything; I’m still getting about 80% of what I order,” he said. “Turkey gear, ammunition, and even ice fishing items are in short supply.”

Ice fishing along the Mississippi in southwest Wisconsin has gone quiet the last week. “If someone was catching, they’d be in getting bait and telling about it, maybe not where, though,” said Glen at Tall Tails Spirits and Sports in Boscobel.

Doug Williams, in Portage, relies on robins leaving early and then returning early to forecast a quick start to everything spring. This gives robins, and Doug, two chances to be correct. “The blackbirds just took off, didn’t flock last fall; early spring when they return,” he said.

Snow-demanding activity is brisk, including skiing, snowmobiling, snowshoeing and ice fishing, which he describes as pretty good in the Wisconsin River areas.

“But we’re continuing a low supply on most items, even LP for heating shacks and fish locators, so if you find it, buy it, and that includes turkey hunting supplies. One supplier said ‘I have shells but can’t get the boxes to put them in to ship.”’

Now, just when there was an uptick in outdoors activity, some of those new-to-the-recreation are likely to get turned away if they can’t buy what they need to continue.

Share a box of turkey loads, and an old box call, with Mr. Grasshopper.

— Jerry Davis is an Argyle native and a freelance writer who lives in Barneveld. He can be reached at sivadjam@mhtc.net or at 608-924-1112.