DURANGO WEATHER HISTORY  

Record High: November 15th, 1999, 70 degrees F.
Record Low: November 25th, 1952, -15 degrees F.

November has an average high of 47 degrees, and an average low of 20 degrees. Average precipitation is 1.42 inches, Average snow fall 8.1 inches.

PLANT HAPPENINGS

Wild
November is a tough month for plants, be they native or non-native landscaping. The cold winter nights and lack of snow cover offers means they receive little protection. Drying winds sap moisture, and browsing animals nibble on their now often bare twigs.

Garden
If you have not already done so, cover tender and not so tender perennials (plants that will come back year after year) with a deep protecting mulch of fallen leaves, straw, wood shavings or what have you. Make sure that your mulch is permeable to snow and rain fall. Dormant plants still need moisture to survive the winter and return in the spring. Store all outdoor equipment away for the winter to prevent rusting or bursting from frozen water left inside.


ANIMAL HAPPENINGS 

For some animals, we are "south for the winter". Many migrant birds have arrived, including common goldeneyes, buffleheads, and hooded mergansers. The bald eagles come out of the high country- see them on the northern end of Vallecito Lake, soon to be moving down into Animas Valley and other valleys. Mountain chickadees and nuthatches are migrating to lower elevations for the winter. In the pinon-juniper forest, the piñon and scrub jays, as well as the Clark’s nutcracker have been caching nuts for the cold season ahead. Wild turkeys are gathering in large flocks, roosting in high in the ponderosas at night.

Most snakes are underground for the winter, including rattle snakes.

Moose and elk complete the rut, and mule deer rut is in full swing!

Black bears are entering dormancy (not officially hibernation!). Bear dormancy facts:
. Body temp. drops only a few degrees (down from the normal 100° F). Metabolism is cut in half. They do not eat, drink, urinate, or defecate.
. Breathing slows and heart rate drops from 40 to 8 beats a minute.
. They can (and do) become active during the winter a number of times, and may even emerge from their den periodically, especially if they are disturbed for some reason.
. They lose no significant skeletal or muscular strength, calcium, and very little protein (due to recycling of nitrogen from urea), but can lose up to 1/3 of their body weight.

True hibernators include ground squirrels, some bats, and the yellow bellied marmots. Ground squirrel heart rate drops from 350 to 2 beats/minute, and body temperature drops from 98 º F to 34 º F!

ASTRONOMICAL HAPPENINGS 

CELESTIAL HAPPENINGS 

(Based on the Old Farmer's Almanac).

OTHER HAPPENINGS