Under the snow and ice there is alot going on , roots and are growing and supplying water and nutrients to trees and perennial plants, bulbs are swelling and preparing to break thru the frozen ground, and mice and other creatures who don't hibernate are raising their young. It still looks pretty desolate and wintery out there, but it surely is not. Soon dormancy will give way to swelling buds and the first snowdrops breaking into blossom. Maple sap will rise and be tapped for maple syrup. And then the Turkey Vultures will be aboard in the landscape, cleaning up what remains of this winters remains.
This post was prompted by the following explanation, simply because it makes so much sense the natural curiosity of animals was the origin of this this belief rather than their ability to predict the weather patterns for weeks at a time.
