I live way up north in Michigan. While we’ve had a recent warm-up that has gotten rid of most of the snow, things have gotten down to sub-freezing again.
The warm-up, however, got rid of most of the ice cover on our inland lakes. Today on my way to work, I passed a particular lake and saw some swans swimming along.
That water has to be frigid, not too far above freezing. Didn’t seem to bother them any, however.
How do swans (and ducks) avoid hypothermia in their kicking legs underwater? A person’s extremities would be affected in a half-hour or less at those water temps.
“You should tell the truth, expose the lies and live in the moment.” - Bill Hicks
IIRC from my Environmental Zoology course, waterfowl combat hypothermia in their legs by having their blood vessels arranged in a countercurrent fashion. Blood vessels that carry warm blood from the core of the bird are right next to the blood vessels that carry the cooler blood away from the legs.
The blood that leaves the legs is warmed up by the blood that is entering the legs. This makes the birds generally more resistant to cold extremities.
Gypsy: Tom, I don’t get you. Tom Servo: Nobody does. I’m the wind, baby.
I have ducks and geese on my pond next to my house. Recently it was 18 degrees outside with snow on the ground. I was worried about my ducks in such extreme weather. I looked out my window at the pond to see if they were alright and was suprised to see that the ducks were busy screwing…
ahhhh don’t think the cold weather bothers them much.
