December 21st marks the winter solstice, which you may know as the "shortest day of the year" and when the sun is the farthest south from the equator, resulting in the least sunlight and the longest night! The day also marks our official first day of winter. Do our animals see the difference? It would depend on the animal; some animals, like birds, feed during daylight hours (though some nocturnal birds, like owls hunt at night), so a shorter day will cut into the time they are feeding. And of c