Seasons are changing in South Central Iowa and area wildlife is preparing for the winter. Marion County Naturalist Marla Mertz says that mammals in the area have started storing their food for hibernation.

“We have a few animals that are going to be hibernating, so they’re fattening themselves up to get through the winter. But a good portion of our animals that are wandering around the woodlands right now and collecting nuts and caching, they are going to probably go into a type of torpor for hibernation. It’s a type of hibernation where they’re asleep for a couple of weeks and then they must get out and get nourishment and then they go back to sleep for a couple of weeks.”

Hear more from Marion County Naturalist Marla Mertz on today’s In Touch with South Central Iowa.