It is M's turn this time. Can you identify any of these "M" Arboretum residents? Click here for a printable version. The answers are at the bottom of the newsletter.

by Shelley Hunt

It feels like spring is already here, and this year at The Arboretum, spring comes with some changes in the names, faces and job titles you will encounter when you come to visit or call to ask about a workshop or book a meeting space. I wrote last time about how delighted we were to call Sean Fox our new Manager of Horticulture – and now there are other changes to talk about as well. Polly Samland, a familiar face here for several years now, is taking on the role of Horticulture and Plant Records Technologist. Polly began working at The Arboretum as a summer student in 2010, and has since filled various positions here over the years, including a Horticulture Conservation Internship and a Horticulture Technician Fellowship. Polly brings with her not only a Master’s degree in Landscape Architecture, a diploma in Horticulture, and an undergraduate degree focusing on fine art and writing, but also years of experience as a professional gardener and horticultural technician. More recently, she has achieved designation as a Certified Arborist. Polly is not afraid to get her hands dirty and has been instrumental in maintaining our living plant collections over the past few years, even bringing some, like the Dwarf Conifer Collection, back to life. Her contributions to the updating and maintenance of our plant records database and plant labels have also been invaluable. And in addition to these core responsibilities, Polly has been lending her design skills and her writing process to various other projects and initiatives, as well as supervising a group of volunteers. We are so fortunate to have Polly, with her wide range of skills and expertise, remain part of our team in this new position!

Another familiar face taking on some new responsibilities is Barb Watson-Ash, whom many of you will know as the coordinator of this newsletter as well as our promotional and marketing materials. Barb was also in charge of event space bookings here at The Arboretum, but this too has changed – Barb’s new title of Office and Marketing Co-ordinator will see her take on a key supporting role here, handling the office tasks that keep things moving along, as well as the co-ordination of our wonderful volunteers, all the while continuing with her marketing and promotional responsibilities. We are so glad to have Barb, with her excellent multi-tasking abilities and efficiency, in this role.

Now you may be wondering – who is looking after the event space bookings? With the restructuring that we undertook after longtime Manager Ric Jordan’ retirement last year, we created a new part-time position focused solely on handling the bookings. Dawn-Ann Webster is now our Bookings Co-ordinator, and her excellent customer service skills and friendly personality are proving to be really valuable to our organization. Thank you, Dawn Ann!

Looking ahead to the rest of March, there’s an event I’d like to mention – The Arboretum will be hosting a free talk by Ben Porchuk, a U of G Alum and now the head of the Canadian Chapter of the Association of Nature and Forest Therapy Guides and Programs. He will be speaking about Shinrin Yoku (forest bathing) and Forest Therapy on the evening of March 31st. Doors will open at 7pm, with the talk starting at 7:30. Everyone is welcome to attend.  A flyer is available by clicking here.

Finally, we have an exciting opportunity for anyone interested in nature-based travel: The Arboretum will be running a trip to SW Pennsylvania this spring (May 26th-29th) to witness the emergence of the 17-year cicadas, and explore the area. We still have a few spots available! For more information, go to: http://www.uoguelph.ca/arboretum/Listservnewsletter/March_2016/Cicada_trip_poster_itinerary.pdf.

   
    Polly Samland

    
Dawn Ann Webster                         Barb Watson - Ash

As spring slowly rolls into our cold winter wonderland, we find ourselves praying for those signs of spring to tingle our senses: melting snow, the smell of defrosting earth, sounds of robins singing, the sun’s warmth on our faces, budding trees, crocuses breaking through the last sheets of ice and snow, migrating animals returning, and hibernating animals waking up after their long sleep.  But who was truly deep sleeping?

Those hibernating mammals that we learned about as kids are not actually sleeping through the winter, it’s all a lie! Bears, nope. Chipmunks, nope. Skunks, nope. A true hibernator is an animal that goes into a deep sleep - and when I say deep, I mean deep. These animals lower their heart rate, body temperature, metabolism, and breathing to the point where they appear dead. This makes true hibernators are very difficult to wake up and it allows them to sleep through the entire winter.

The other animals that are not true hibernators simply sleep as much as they can to avoid the lack of food and harsh weather conditions that come with winter. These sleepers also have to drop their heart rate, breathing, etc. but not to the same extent as true hibernators. Some examples are squirrels and chipmunks. They will collect nuts and seeds in the fall as a winter stash, curl up in a log or burrow, and will sleep for a few days straight waking up every-so-often to eat. They will even explore outside if it warms up a bit. Bears will eat as much as possible to gain body fat for their winter sleep and are also easily awoken, so they too are not categorized as true hibernators. After all, female bears give birth to two cubs during the winter. Skunks are also sleepers, but they will actually wake up as early as February to start mating.

In our area, the only three mammals that are true hibernators are the Groundhog, the Meadow Jumping Mouse, and the Woodland Jumping Mouse. So if these mammals are so close to death each winter, how do they wake up from that? They prepare for hibernation by eating as much food as possible to store two kinds of fat. The regular white fat gets broken down throughout the winter to compensate for the mammal not finding food and eating every day. They also form brown fat which surrounds all the important organs and gives a burst of energy when it is time to wake up from their deep winter slumber. When is it time to wake up? Only that animal’s internal clock and body chemicals can tell!

A printable version of this newsletter is available by going to: http://www.uoguelph.ca/arboretum/Listservnewsletter/March_2016/Fake%20Sleepers%20vs.%20True%20Hibernators.pdf

                        
                         Groundhog

 
Meadow Jumping Mouse                     Woodland Jumping Mouse

Are you looking for a fun activity to do with you kids over March Break? Come visit The Arboretum and enjoy the grounds.  Alex our very talented Interpretive Naturalist Intern as created an activity booklet for kids.  Some of the activities in the booklet could lead to ideas of what to look for on The Arboretum grounds and help you create an adventure on your outing to The Arboretum.  Click here to download your copy or stop into The Arboretum Centre during business hours.

Does your organization book meetings at off site locations? Do you have a special occasion such as a wedding, anniversary, birthday, retirement or other event coming up? The Arboretum has three meeting rooms available for rental, all with ground to ceiling windows and spectacular views of the gorgeous Arboretum grounds. The Auditorium seats 150 people at round tables (120 people for weddings) or 225 lecture style. The Boardroom seats 20 people and the Sun Room seats 14 people. The Arboretum's location gives you the feeling of a tranquil country setting with the convenience of being within the City of Guelph. Catering is provided by Hospitality Services, University of Guelph. For further information on booking The Arboretum please contact Dawn Ann Webster at [log in to unmask] or ext. 54110.

 
Auditorium                                    Sun Room

Gardening Fundamentals, Buidling Ponds and Waterfalls, Warbler I, Warbler II and Introduction to Birds workshops are approaching. The dates and registration deadlines can be found in our Coming Events Listing in the column on the left side of this newsletter. A detailed description of each course is available on our website. Help us promote our programs … please forward this e-mail on to your friends and colleagues who may be interested. The more participants we have, the more programs we can offer.

Registering early is important for us because we need lead time to decide if there are enough people registered to run the workshop or not. To encourage registering before the deadline, we now have an Early Bird Fee. You can still register after the deadline, but it will cost an extra $10, so why not register early?

Registration is available on-line, which allows you to register for our programs at anytime, not just during our regular business hours. A secure link is provided on our website for this easy registration process.

If you do not have internet access, registration can still be made by phone or in person at 519-824-4120 ext. 52358 as in the past. Please remember that a decision is made on the registration deadline as to whether the workshop will run or not, based on the minimum number of required registrants. You may still register after the deadline as long as the workshop is running and there is space.

Having those spurts of warm days has been stirring some animal activity around The Arboretum. We spotted skunk tracks which weaved in and out of forests and foot paths around the property. Skunks tend to sleep during the winter, and they will start waking up around February to start mating. We wish him luck in his search for a mate! We also got a glimpse of what looked like a Merlin! While participating in The Arboretum’s feeder watch, the hungry chickadees frantically started a warning call and all dove into the trees. Seconds after, a bird sized in between a robin and a crow, with very pointed, bent wings, and a white underbelly swooped through the feeder area outside The Arboretum Centre. With this quick look and seeing how the birds reacted, we guess that it was a Merlin! He wasn’t the only hungry creature we’ve seen lately; a hungry raccoon went scrounging for leftover seeds underneath the feeder in The Gosling Wildlife Gardens when the snow had melted. At the time we were banding chickadees, so each time we came to retrieve a bird he would run to the tree just in case he needed to scurry up! And believe it or not, the snow melting also brought out some surprising company… a green frog! Our chickadee bander Jacob Lachapelle was taking a walk around the disk golf course and spotted this frog sitting in a chilly looking puddle.

          
           Green Grog
           Photo by Jacob Lachapelle

                              
                             Racoon
                             Photo by Alexandra Kocher

             
              Skunk Tracks
              Photo by Alexandra Kocher

Be a part of the BetterPlanet Project by donating on-line:

Your donation can be directed to The Arboretum online through the secure University of Guelph donation page: http://uofg.convio.net/arboretum

If you prefer not to make an online donation, there are several other ways to provide your financial support. You can choose to donate by telephone, mail, fax, or in person:

UNIVERSITY OF GUELPH Attention Alumni Affairs 50 Stone Road East Guelph, Ontario, Canada N1G 2W1 Tel: 1-888-266-3108 ext. 56934 Tel: 519-824-4120 ext. 56934 Fax: 519-822-2670 Email: [log in to unmask]

If you would like information on bequests and planned giving to The Arboretum please contact:

Ross Butler
Director, Gift Planning
at (519) 824-4120 ext. 56196 or by e-mail at [log in to unmask]