"Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe."
- Abraham Lincoln
What I like the most about New Year is that it happens at the single deadest time of the year. Everyone is still full and worn out from the holidays. It's bitterly cold outside, and there are no visitors pounding at the gates. Many of the animals are tucked into winter holding; the native species are mostly hibernating or in torpor or whatever it is they get up to at this time of year. It's the perfect time for coming up with projects to do indoors, ones that you know you will never have time for come March. It's a time for planning, because it seldom seems like there's time for it in the busy season.
Animal transfers tend to happen most often in the spring and fall, when the weather is the most temperate and conducive to safe shipping, so now is the time to start researching the animals that are coming into your collection - be they new species, or new individuals of species that you already have - so you're as prepared as possible. For animals that are going out, it's a good time to get their paperwork ready so as to set the caretakers at their new home up for success.
Outdoor construction also is often on hold until the ground isn't frozen. This is the time of year to take the adage, "Measure twice, cut once" to heart. Thoroughly plan your projects for the spring so you can get right to work enhancing your exhibits. What materials do you have? Do an inventory. What do you need? Start pricing and sourcing. How will everything come together? Work on blueprints and doodle and experiment with ideas, so you can hit the ground running when the temps go up.
If you have a studbook, now might be the chance you've been looking for to actually do your updates, ponder your population, make breeding recommendations, and catch up on your backlog of correspondence.
I've never met a keeper for whom winter has been the favorite season. Aquarists don't count, because by and large every season is the same for them. Still, every season has its advantages, and it's important to know how to use them. For winter, it's best to use that season to prepare. Then, you're ready for the good months ahead
