Hibernation

Does everybody know what the word "hibernation" means? That's right, it means to sleep through the winter. Woodchucks do it. So do some chipmunks, ground squirrels, bats, and some mice. Bears do a lot of sleeping in the winter, too, but they're not true hibernators because they sometimes get up and yawn and look around a little on a warmish winter day.

Did you know that some Scouts are hibernators, too? They're what we call warm-weather Scouts. When the air gets cold and there is snow on the ground they'd rather stay at home than go outdoors as Scouts do.

I hope we don't have any hibernators in this troop. Leave hibernation to the animals who really need to do it because it's part of their life cycle. The most important part of the word "Scouting" is "outing" and in this troop we like to get outdoors rather that try to find our adventures in front of a TV set. Part of the fun of Scouting is learning to live comfortably outdoors all year round. You will find that there is a lot of satisfaction in knowing that you can take care of yourself in any weather. That doesn't mean that we're nuts, though; if we get caught in a blizzard with sub-zero temperatures, we'll come home. But we know how to take care of ourselves in ordinary winter weather.

So you newer Scouts can tell your folks that you'll get along just fine with the troop when we go out later this month. In this troop, Scouting really is outing.